Being in Europe and actually realizing it are two very different things. My first impressions of Denmark have been ~cool~ in both senses of the word.
11:37 Monday, January 14th 2019 - my near death experience as I so ignorantly stepped into a bike lane...rookie mistake. I am forever grateful to Jamie, my downstairs neighbor, for saving me before I almost got wiped out by a bike before I even had my CPR card and could benefit from that mysterious universal healthcare.
Despite my lack of survival skills I've officially been living in Denmark for a week now. First things first I would already pack up my life and move to Copenhagen if given the chance. It's a strange and beautiful moment when the scenery on the way to the grocery store alone can bring a tear to your eye. I mean as a seasoned traveler I always knew Europe was stunning but Copenhagen is heart-stopping, breathtaking, and all those dramatic descriptive terms. Let me also just say the Danes are some of the nicest people I've ever met. Their niceness is not completely like Americans in the sense that small talk isn't really their "thing." Yet, when asked a question the Danes have been so friendly and helpful!
Oh yeah! And don't let me forget to tell you how much I've fallen in love with where I live. My residential community (RC) is located in Christianshavn. Living here is a blessing. At first I was a bit bummed to not be living directly in the heart of the city as some DIS students live in a building right across the street from one of the main DIS academic buildings but now I know that feeling was just plain silly. Coming from a small, small, and small town in Upstate New York where I had to drive a minimum of 30 minutes to get to civilization I wasn't thrilled about even a small commute to school everyday. My first lesson learned is that a commute in a beautiful place with some of the most efficient public transportation imaginable is WORTH every second. Walking past the canal to my metro stop has made me excited to get out of bed...and trust me when I say I'm not a morning person...
Okay so back to the school and "study" part of study abroad. One of my favorite parts of orientation with DIS was the scavenger hunt our entire RC participated in during our first full day here. My small group of four set out with a list of tasks, places, and challenges. Not only did we get to ride the metro and trains we just walked around for the first time. Even in the cold none of us minded because it was so beautiful. Now, lucky for us we have google and we were a little more motivated than other groups (some of which we saw taking a little break in the local 7-Eleven). AND did that motivation pay off as my group came in first! We won a gift card to the one and only stunning dessert emporium - La Glace. Now the promise of top-notch cake is better than winning a gold medal. I'll send my recommendations on the cake after we try it!
So far it's been a whirlwind of a week in the best way possible. Little by little I feel myself becoming a part of this amazing place.
P.S. a pro tip: say "hello" instead of "hi" when going somewhere so they know you speak English. Hi in Danish sounds like hi in English it's just spelled "Hej"! Being an English speaker is really okay here because the Danes speak better English than I do and it's my first language!
Stay tuned for more pictures of me trying (and subsequently failing) to be "artsy"!
That's all for now folks!
Talk to you soon world :) If you need me I'll be biking!
Med venlig hilsen/Best regards,
Mallory
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