Day 2!

Today I woke up to an extraordinary sight: my world map. At first sight, all the pins seemed overwhelming. I've put a pin in all the countries I've been to in the world (and not just places I've quickly passed).
There are 25 of them, which actually doesn't sound like a huge number, when you just say it - since I am perfectly aware that several of my readers will most likely have beat that number a long time ago.
But these 25 places have not just been a rushed tour. When I turn back to look at the map, I see millions of memories. The pins symbolize my own world, that I've created full of memories. Out of some of the pins, roots are founded, my family lives, my different homes are, and my best friends live. So even if I hadn't had the chance to visit, I'd still have a reason to write to most of these countries and have some sort of relation to them.

In Africa I've lived a great part of my childhood, and seeing the strength of a fantastic social network. And one summer I went with the family all the way down to Mozambique driving by car down most of the coastline of the Indian Ocean, living in tents and eating what we found in little shops on the way - Africa is my ideal Paradise!

On Tahiti (a Polynesian island) my great great grandfather Paul Gauguin painted his greatest paintings, and I saw the place and put flowers on his grave, when the whole of the Gauguin family was given a trip on a cruise ship from a company who wanted to name the ship after him.

In Madeira I lived some months with my parents and my granddad. Even though I was only a couple of years old, I still remember studying every wonderful part of the island, smelling the flouts than an only be found in that part of the world, walking the mountains, running almost naked around in the insane heat, being sprinkled by my dad in the garden, watching my mum hand wash our clothes, which afterwords dried in 10 minutes, playing with the dogs of the street, riding a 'wooden sledge' with wheels in, that drove from the top of the hills in the city, wearing the traditional spiky hats and hearing harmonica-players from the street.

In Portugal is my other home, my grandparents live here and we have come to visit almost every summer, always to discover new and beautiful things in the country. Here is my best friend, my dog Koke', who I played with when he was newly-born. From the massive land my grandparents own, we've watched the sun rise and set from unforgettable breakfasts and dinners eating my grandmas homemade marmalade on fresh portuguese bread or for dinner, fresh fish from the market. Here I also lived a couple of months with my parents, when I was only a couple of months. I remember a back garden and a baby pool in the corner of it (when I look at pictures today, I can see that it was my dad's childhood house).

In Italy I had a fantastic trip with my gymnasium class, and watched the sunset from the top if the Spanish staircase, ate an orange fresh from the trees on the street, and prayed in Sct. Peter's cathedral.

On Cyprus one of my best buddies lives: Alexandra Demetriou. She went to my school in Malawi, and she was the first one I visited when came back to Denmark. I took the trip alone as a 13-year old.

In Shanghai I sang over 5 concerts with my gymnasium choir. We warmed the opera house, the music conservatory and the school of drama, dance and performance.

In Prague I went on a fairytale trip with my friend Andrea. Fairytale-like because the towers of the city are magical. One especially looks like the tower of the Sleeping Beauty. This inspired me to write a novel I'm calling 'Devotion', which is still in working process.

I went to Berlin on a school trip, and I remember bonding with class mates like I never have before. I also have roots from Germany.

In France I lived a couple of weeks with a family who took me in dearly. I visited a vineyard, ate tons of baguettes and saw the exquisite view from Le Sacre Coeur.

In Amsterdam I visited my 'bigsister', from Malawi - Genoveva. Her boyfriend's mum was a pianist, who had previously played to musicals. All day long she eagerly played, while I sang.

In England I have roots too, and my mum's sister and her family lives there. I've been more than 5 times in the last few years to be with my dear cousins, and be closer to the world of musicals. The first West End show I saw was Les Miserables, my favorite. And then I came back again to audition for several drama schools, but God knows my destiny was to be sent elsewhere.

In Scotland I saw Bella from Malawi. Right at the top of the country, in the city Inverness, her family has a cottage. I've never seen anything so beautiful and peaceful. The landscape was ravishing.

In Ireland I took a spontaneous trip all alone to Dublin. I knew no-one, but I needed time alone. I climbed a mountain one day, in the town Kilmacanagou and was literally shocked the view. The Irish landscape had colours of bright yellow, purple and red. I could see all the way to Whales and the coast of England. I wrote a lot of songs, bought tons of books, and learned the Irish accent.

In Denmark I was born, and in many ways this makes it the place I know the best. The greater part of my family lives here. Danes know how to celebrate christmas! And the word 'cosey' is used a lot!! I've been to 4 different schools here, out of the total 8 around the world. Danish is my mother tongue, and I know Sealand inside out, but it's never been my favorite place. I think the people are prejudiced and not as open-hearted as many other people I've known.
My fear is that it has affected on me, which is one of the reasons I've always travelled.

My grandparent's summer house in Sweden, is a quiet little cottage in the middle of the forest - one of my favorite places in the whole world. We go moose hunting (but rarely see any because my cousins are too afraid, so they always break the silence to scare the moose away!), we ride bikes, sail on the lake, find berries, learn to drive a car by mortar (real one!), and sometimes we even get lost in the forest (my fault - because I claim to know the forest as good as my granddad), build bird cases and sit by the fire telling stories.

In Norway and Finland my grandparents lived, serving the Salvation Army as commissioners of the country. Here I've played in the snow, and seen the special places my grandparents wanted to show us grandchildren. As an 8-year old, I flew over a couple of times alone. My grandparents took me for a day trip to Tallin in Estonia where we walked around the cute little house in the market place.

And now, I've come to New York. A pin I've created all by myself, and I'm so proud. I've been used to packing my life in a suitcase, and traveling to a new home, not knowing hat lies ahead. But this time it wasn't my parents who dragged me, I made the step all by myself, and that's huge turning point.
In my audition room, in february, the musical director told me that "if you really want musical theatre that much, New York is the place for you!". So we'll see.