We're Dogs

You know what I’ve been thinking a lot about recently? (Besides Thai food). How friendships form. How DO friendships form?

Coming to Copenhagen and having orientation week reminded me a lot of freshman year of college, where everyone is new, nervous, and wide eyed. The air is thick with pressure to find your Best Friends Forever and everyone is bopping around with a bubble above their head that says “Are you friend material?” It’s very animalistic if you ask me. It’s like we’re all dogs sniffing each other's butts, and either scrunching up our noses and moving on, or wagging our tails and taking another sniff (heehee).

After the initial butt sniffing, the conversation usually goes as follows:

“So where are you from?”(Answer)

“Cool! What college do you go to?” (Answer)

“Oh! Do you know [insert name]? She’s a junior. She’s really good at playing the [instrument].” (Answer)

“What are you studying?” (Answer)

Based off of these three questions, you either become friends, or you don’t. You internalize their behavior, the way they laugh, the smell of their breath, their eyebrows, the sound of their voice, their shoes, their posture, and you decide: Yes, I like the smell of your butt, you’re my friend now, or, No, I don’t like the smell of your butt, you’re not my friend now. (OK I’ll drop the dog analysis). But really, how do you decide? What is it about their eyebrows that turns you off? Why are you completely drawn to the way they say “yeaaaah.”? WHAT IS IT??? Will someone tell me? Have you figured out yet that I’m extremely fascinated by this topic? My heads going to explode if I keep thinking about it.

I’ll just talk about it a little more.

Because after orientation week is over and classes start and you see those friendships in action, it is extra duper fascinating. Who is friends with who? How do they greet each other? What’s their body language? Wow, aren’t humans amazing? Is anyone else feelin’ me or am I alone on this one?

Anyway, I’ve made a few friends. It’s funny, because I don’t consider myself someone who automatically looks for people that dress the same/look the same, but then last weekend this picture was taken of me and my friend Bridget, and I couldn’t help but laugh.