The Glare is Too Bright

For those of you that don't know, I studied in Arhus, Denmark last semester, January-June, and had an amazing time. I really fell in love with Denmark. Two nights ago I went to Club Bud with a bunch of fellow Mizzou students. Club Bud is a semi-exclusive have-to-be-on-a-list-to-get-in kind of place run by Budweiser. Somebody knew somebody so we were able to get in. The place is packed with Olympians and media types, plus friends and family. Another important note: free beer. Half way through the night I noticed a few guys in sweaters with the Danish flag and Olympic rings. Obviously they were Olympians but I had no idea which sport. I worked up the courage to go talk to them and they were extremely nice, per usual of Danish people. I found out they were Sailers and had won the gold medal in Sailing aboard the 49er. After chatting for a bit I moved on. A little later I noticed another possible Sailer that I hadn't met earlier. And deciding that my chances here were limited I went to talk to him. Turns out he lives in the same area of Arhus that I lived in, Risskov. We chatted for a bit more and I asked for a picture. At this point he takes his Gold Medal out of his pocket and tells me I need to put it on for the picture. This obviously is a stunning turn of events and so naturally I'm stunned. He puts the medal and me and we snap a photo. He gave me some time to inspect the medal for myself: it's decently heavy, shiny, made of gold, had his sport and boat name engraved on it, was inset with jade on one side and had some crazy design on the other side. I didn't want to take it off, but something about it being his persuaded me to give it back up. What's awesome is that I didn't even know he had the medal with him and he volunteered to have me wear it which is sweet. A truly cool experience to be wearing a gold medal!