The Taste Of Friendship

Sometimes it feels like you are all alone. Then you remember your language school. As a group, we are growing closer. The people around me make me feel alive again. I love connecting with others and sharing joy. I have always been surrounded by good people—friends of different ages, and now also from different nationalities and cultures, from all over the world.

“Life is made for friendship,” reads the cover of Ella’s notebook. Friendship is a great joy. Even though we don’t talk much yet, we already share some common memories. Together, we visit museums. We sat at the same desk and discovered we were born in the same year and both love tea—hers with cardamom and cinnamon.

She is my saffron friend—early in our friendship, she gave me this special Iranian spice as a gift.

We walk through the city center and see many journalists. We laugh, as if we were taking an exam right there on the main street: “What is your name? How old are you? Where are you from?” We find ourselves repeating the very first questions from our first school test.

Our language skills have grown from zero to the level of a two- or three-year-old—full of questions. Who? Where? When? Why? During the exam, we reviewed topics and quizzed each other while waiting for our turn. Cuban Lizaida calls me “Tanya extra spørgsmål” [extra questions]—our little joke. Whenever the teacher asks for questions, she winks at me.

Somehow, one day, everyone wanted to feed me—with cookies, chocolate, a bun, and even advent calendar tea. I’m not usually hungry in the mornings, so I took their treats with me, saving them for later. And as I ate, I cherished the memory of our class and these sweet moments.

Sharing sweets and bread, drinking tea—these simple acts make our time together even more special.