TFW you know that you are loved

So now it’s been a year since I went on SMT in the US Central Territory, and I did start to feel that I missed being there. It was a magnificent experience, after all. So I decided to check out the livestream of the annual commissioning, just out of curiosity to see if the SMT-teams were presented on stage again, like we were last year. If so, then I missed it, but I did see Erin and the CAST team on stage.

This year a team from Central Territory is visiting Denmark, so I checked the official SMT-webpage in March to see whom, if any, of my friends would be going. This is a six man-team – huge compared to West’s three (wo)man and East’s four man teams the previous years – and only one of this year’s team members I hadn’t met before. Reunion time! :-D

I knew the team would be joining us at Landslejr, but I didn’t know anything else. Then Wednesday I received a text from Nathanaël, that Vejle corps would hold an event, and that the missionteam would be there. He asked if I wanted to go, and I was like: “Yeah, sure, whatever you want”. Nah… I was actually more like “(Squeeel) ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod… uhm, yeah! OF COURSE I would love to go, and see my friends. Just try and stop me!”

So Nathanaël and I drove to Vejle Friday, to participate in the event. Lyndsey (who had been on team Japan) was the first to recognise me, and went: “Hi, Daniel!” 😊, as I was taking off my jacket. Then Sean (Central Vibes, yeah!) saw me, and said: “Hey, Daniel. So how’s Aarhus been treating ya?”, as perfect a pronunciation of Aarhus as you can expect from a foreigner – but then again, Sean was raised in Sweden, so he isn’t unfamiliar with the ‘Å’ sound. I remember a few people last year who tried to learn how to pronounce Aarhus, and let me say, the closest English words I can come up with, that would match the pronunciation the best would probably be “Oar-Whose”.

Lyndsey and Sean were in the kitchen along with Chaslyn making waffles. The next person I met was Kristin from THQ? I was not expecting to see her, what joyous bonus. Then down the stairs came Sam and Jake (both S/portugal), their reaction was something along the lines of: “oh, Daniel, cool”. Then, as I was walking past the stairs, I suddenly heard: “DANIEL!”, I turned towards the stairs: “Hi Lauren….”, and before I could finish my sentence Lauren (Costa Rica) had run down the stairs and gave me a massive hug, to the point where it got a little uncomfortable, but it told me, that I had definitely been missed.

During the football-event at the park – where 80+ kids arrived to participate – Sean, Jake, Sam and Jack registered for the tournament, whilst the girls presented this year’s SMT-dance, and did some face paint. Lauren and I decided to take a handful of empty bottles to Rema 1000 for recycling, and surprised by how much money you got back for every bottle, she said she would keep every bottle from now on, and recycle them, instead of just throwing them out. She asked me if I could see her living in Denmark, walking with a bunch of bottles to recycle? I answered: “with the many restriction laws on immigration the last government has made the last couples of years, sadly not anytime soon.” But maybe if you’re persistent 😉 If you really desired to, yes, I think I could see it.

Back at the corps, we had waffles and slush-ice, for the kids. We had a fun afternoon, and evening, and before I knew it, suddenly I was spending the night in Vejle. That wasn’t planned, like at all. If it was, I would probably have had some extra clothes for Saturday, but…yeah…

Central Vibes mini-reunion

Saturday we spent together in Horsens, for a camp-leadership orientation, and then we said goodbye for now, as they were headed to Sønderbrg with Sabine (Central Vibes, yeah!), and I finally headed home to Aarhus. Josephine was also going to Aarhus, so on the way to the train station, she commented that I apparently got along very well with Lauren. Uhmm… What can I say? Yes? I cannot really say “no”, that would most definitely be considered lying. I was told, that Josephine had been asked all week, “will Daniel come? Are we going to see Daniel? How can we get in contact with Daniel?” etc. I guess they didn’t ask about Sabine, because they already knew they would see her in Sønderborg, but whether they would see me was up in the air. Of course I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to see my friends again. If it weren’t for the fact I knew we would see each other at Landslejr, I would find some way to meet you during the Summer, one way or another.

It is a lovely feeling to know that I am loved enough to be missed, but don’t ever forget that it goes both ways, I have missed you guys as well.

- Daniel L. Pedersen