It's been just over a month since I left Copenhagen, and just over two weeks since returning back to the states. Everyone has been asking what it's like being home after a semester away; the answer surprised me - it's abnormally normal. I'm back in the town I've lived in my entire life - every street, every lamppost, every blade of grass is familiar to me. What's stranger to me is going back to the city guides I read before departure - outlining the must-see historical sites, most popular restaurants, the best museums - and realizing that those, too became familiar to me. Not in a bad way...in a "wow, this city really did become my home," sort of way. It's surreal to think that just over a month ago, my daily routine began with me waking up in an apartment in Copenhagen, strolling through the cobblestone streets to class, or past the Round Tower on my way to the grocery store, and ending the day with a too-early sunset and three added layers to my outfit (Copenhagen has my heart, but it never really did get warm). I know that when I go back to the city, It'll be surreal walking past my old apartment, knowing that for four months, I was lucky enough to call it home.
After spending some time scrolling through photos, reading old journal entries, and reviewing the same city guides that I so excitedly memorized before departure, I couldn't help but laugh at how adamant I was to see everything there was to see in the city. While I didn't come close to seeing everything Copenhagen has to offer, I decided to compile a list of my favorite places in Copenhagen that I was lucky enough to explore on weekends, after classes, or after my obligatory cinnamon roll on Wednesday mornings. Despite my statement in my last post that the Copenhagen experience is not one that can be condensed in a single to-do list....I gave it a shot anyway. By no means is this a comprehensive list of the DIS experience, but I hope it'll at least give you a few ideas.
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“Where are you studying abroad?”
The first question many students are asked when announcing plans spend a semester overseas. The short answer, for me, was Copenhagen. I wanted to immerse myself in the history of the Vikings, which I had never previously studied in classes back in the U.S. I wanted to navigate my way through the colorful buildings on cobblestone streets, which I would eventually learn to tackle without twisting an ankle; to find a favorite coffee shop for writing papers. I wanted to explore the castles in and around the city, to embrace my inner seven year old at Tivoli, the second oldest amusement park in the world, and to stroll along the canal at Nyhavn, past the apartment where Hans Christian Andersen once lived. My city of choice was Copenhagen, but the answer to their question is really much less concrete. While my home base was a big apartment in the city center, my semester was spent exploring and studying in cities all over Europe. For the last three and a half months, I have been living in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Sorry if I shocked anybody with that news. More specifically, I have been living in the Culinary Living and Learning Community. With only two more weeks to go before I leave Copenhagen (a fact which I am ignoring with all my might), I've decided to finally offer you all a look behind the scenes at what has been one of my favorite parts of studying abroad. For those of you that missed it, I wrote a post about this housing option at the beginning of the semester, which you can read here. In a nutshell, living in the Culinary LLC means I have been lucky enough to live in a gorgeous apartment right in the city center, along with 33 other DIS students, where we have weekly events to learn about/taste/cook/eat/appreciate the gastronomic delights offered by this wonderful world. In no particular order, here are the best things about the LLC life: If you can't a-fjord to miss out on the mountains...
Sincerest apologies that I haven't written in about two weeks...but I have a really good excuse, which is that I spent the last week frolicking around another Scandinavian country known as Norway. My friend Emily, who was on the DIS Stockholm program, recently moved to Copenhagen, and the two of us planned a six day trip to the city of Bergen. I really wanted a chance to explore more of Scandinavia, and especially to get a chance to see the beautiful mountains I had been hearing so much about - we were in the region that inspired the movie Frozen, if that gives you any idea of how stunning it was. We stayed the week in an air bnb that was just a 9 minute tram ride from the harbor, and spent our days hiking through the mountains, tracking down trolls, and indulging in copious amounts of fresh seafood. Here are some tips and tricks from the highlights of our trip: This week, I took my last weekend trip of the semester - to Amsterdam!
I've heard people compare it to Copenhagen a lot - mostly based on the canals and biking culture. Other than those two factors, however, Amsterdam and Copenhagen seemed like two very different cities...(but both have me considering what it would be like to move to Northern Europe full time). Our weekend was defined by copious amounts of stroopwafels, complete infatuation with the beautiful canals, and persistent repetition of the phrase "wow, I love this city." The list of places to explore is endless, but here are the top ten tips we collected during our two days of exploration: |
Hi Everyone!I'm Lydia, a 21 year old college student studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark for the spring 2017 semester. I'm excited to spend the next few months adventuring around Europe, and it'll all be documented here! Feel free to look around. Archives
June 2017
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