On an afternoon in 2023, myself and my partner in this endeavor, Alexander, sat in a room in Odense completing the application to transform USA-nyt from an idea to an actual entity. Following the completion of said application, we set off towards a rather delicious pizza place to celebrate. It wasn’t until Alexander looked at me on our walk over and said, “Did you know today is July 4th?” Truth is, I didn’t. Hadn’t even thought about it, to be honest. But in a moment of serendipity, it kind of felt like fate.
USA-nyt was born in part because I couldn’t find a job, and because there were too many talented people around me that needed a place for their voice to be heard. I wanted to create something that harbored that talent and magnified that voice. I wanted to create something for the people around me. It was always for them. It was never for me; I was happy behind the scenes. It never occurred to me that people would be interested in a guy from the United States who started a media company in Denmark about the United States. Turns out, that’s not entirely true.
If I had 1 kr. for every time someone came to me when I moved here and said, “Did you know that Denmark has the largest 4th of July celebration outside of the U.S.?”, I would probably have like 75 kr. I guess, as an American, it’s part of the initiation. That and, “Can you say rød grød med fløde?” For a while, that’s all I knew about Rebildfesten. The Queen has spoken there, the ambassador speaks, and other people so far above my station in life also speak there. Kind of a big deal.
After we started USA-nyt, and after I learned that the organization is in fact more than just a party, the Rebild National Park Society was on the top of the list of collaborators for us. So, we reached out and set up a meeting. Following the meeting, the decision was quite easy. I loved where they were going and they believed enough in where we are trying to go, so we became partners. The biggest takeaway for me personally, however, was when I was asked if I would be interested in speaking.
I’ll spare you the internal dialogue I had with myself and simply say I said yes. It turns out that after this wild ride of life so far, I may actually have something to say. Me, a guy who grew up on a chicken farm in a town no one has ever heard of. Who dropped everything to move to a country no one in that town had ever heard of. That, my friends, is wild.
So, it is with every ounce of humility that I can muster, that I tell you that one year exactly after USA-nyt was born, I will be speaking at Rebildfesten on July 4th, 2024. I will be sharing the stage with people far smarter than I, and it does not escape me that I do not belong. However, I do believe that I have something to say. And if you’re free on the 4th, I hope you can come and listen.
Jay
You can purchase tickets to Rebildfesten 2024 here:
