Holy catfish what
an intense last week of Cast B 2013 it has been. The emotions are all very high
this week because it is not only the last week with Cast B, but for me when
this semester is over, the UWP program is over me. Honestly, I am not sure what I will do without it. I know
that life goes on and new (maybe even better) opportunities and experiences
will come to life, but at the moment I am so full and rich and happy with the
UWP program that I cannot bear the thought of it being done. This time it is
for real. When I go home it is not just for a week and then back to the crazy life
of UWP. So needless to say this past week has been full of “lasts” and
bittersweet moments, tears, laughter and
joy as well as I soaked up every last second.
The week started out fabulously with
a long travel day from Sweden into Denmark for the second time. We arrived and
received our final allocation cards and I lucked out. I was roomed with Emelie from
Sweden, one of my best friends from the past semester and we had an amazing
week. Our host family was wonderful and we had a great week having family
dinners, making Christmas cookies, sharing stories, meeting the various
animals, playing music in their beautiful, old country home and driving through
the countryside seeing the different mansions of the starter of Lego Land etc.
We had a pretty big family during that week and it was a ton of fun. They all
loved the show and so did their nanny – Gurly from the Philippines. Overall
they were the perfect host family for Emeilie and I to have during our last
week together. We spent so much time talking and writing goodbye letters,
laughing and crying when we realized our days were dwindling.
In UWP during the week we had a lot
of last times as well. We had our last cast meeting where we talked about how
far we had come in the past 6 months. We had staff appreciation where we told the
staff how much we loved them. We also had a laughing session, which is a time where we
look back at the past 6 months and watch all the funny videos and pictures and
just laugh our butts off. There was also a big windstorm that caused the town
to shut down for a day, but that just meant extra time with our host family. My
professors of my study abroad came to Denmark to finish off the semester with
us and it was a ton of fun, bittersweet of course, but a great way to conclude
a full year of studying with two outstanding professors. I cannot even begin to
thank Pete and Theresa for all they have taught me as my first college
professors. We had our last two show days, which were wonderful of course, but
also, very hard since we knew it was coming to an end. The last shows were
incredible, but the last one did not end without tears. Both tears of joy and
happiness openly flowed from our eyes as we sang the final song of the show for
the final time. We had our last strike and got showered in champagne, a
victorious way to end a year of touring the world with an international show
and an amazing group of international people. On our last day together before
we traveled to the airport to say heart-breaking goodbyes, we had our final
banquet as Cast B. We ate delicious Danish food and drank wine from all over
Europe. We took our last pictures together and shared any words with each other
that needed to be said before we headed back to our separate lives. It was an
elegant night with a touch of bitter sweetness drizzled over the whole room. It
was time for our semester to end, but that definitely doesn’t make it any
easier. So the banquet ended and we had a huge sleepover on the floor of a
large gym before we all loaded the buses before we headed to the airport to say
quick and painful goodbyes.
And
just like that it was done. All that energy and all that time it took to
develop our UWP family, it only took one split second to say goodbye. But
that’s life I guess and as hard as it can be, no matter what you do and where
you come from, the people you meet and lives you touch, with one split second
it is all done. But somehow those memories you savor in your heart forever and
moments that change your life, they make that one-second of goodbye all worth
it. You may feel a lot of pain and heartache as you close that door but the
pain is worth all the other amazing moments that had been and it is always just
the beginning to another door that is swinging wide open.
After that goodbye, a chunk of us
are fortunate enough to be able to travel on an extended trip to Rome, Italy as
a special UWP cast. So that is where we are headed now – the land of the
ancient Romans and gladiators and historical artists and masterpieces older
than America itself. Bonjourno Roma!! Viva la Gente!!
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