A Recap of Week 1

It’s crazy to think that I have already been in Denmark for nearly a week! Just under a week ago, I was saying final goodbyes to my friends and family and wiping tears from my eyes as I departed from my parents at JFK. I enjoyed my last meal in America, which was some sort of rice bowl from a fast-food Asian restaurant- it was very mediocre. At the airport, I met a few girls who were also going to be spending their semester at DIS. We all made small talk- discussed where we were from, which university we attended, where we’d be living, and what our core course was. This has been a very common theme this week, but I’ll get to that. 

On my first leg of my flight, I was lucky enough to have the seat next to me open! Sleeping during the flight was hard. My body felt so awake considering the night was only starting, but knowing it would be 6 AM when I landed in Iceland I almost felt obligated to sleep. The second leg of my flight was smooth sailing and before I knew it, I had landed in Copenhagen! 

Once I arrived, I was instructed to head to the Clarion Hotel which was right next to the airport. Here I confirmed with DIS that I had made it and they separated all of the students by where we were living and we were eventually put on buses to take us to our housing. 

The bus dropped us off on a street corner where we briefly waited for our luggage. Copenhagen had looked quite different than I expected. The buildings were all small- tall, but not anything like the towering business and apartment buildings we have in America. However, everything looked uniform and the city appeared lived in- in a good way. 

When our luggage arrived, a group of us were escorted to our housing (which seemed like a mile away while dragging two heavy suitcases and a backpack down cobblestone streets) which was only about a two-minute walk up the road. I was in absolute awe when I realized where I would be living for the next four months. I got incredibly lucky to be living right in the center of downtown Copenhagen and to only have a three-minute walk from most classes! The building I am living in was built in the 1700s! I am living in an apartment with 5 other girls and a building with 24ish girls; we make up the Public Health LLC. Throughout our apartment, we have beautiful wooden floors and my window has a nice view of the colorful buildings and bikes that line my street. This apartment is way nicer than anything I have lived in during my undergrad. 

The first few days here we had nothing planned. I spent my time exploring the city of Copenhagen and coming to many realizations: 

1. Everybody here is so fashionable
2. The grocery stores are VERY small 
3. Portion sizes are also small too! 
4. Peanut butter is a lot lighter in color
5. It’s scary when it says 35 DKK for coffee- but that’s only about $5
6. “Uden brus” means without sparkes (I made the mistake of buying a HUGE bottle of sparkling water) 
7. The Danes all seem to speak better English than I can
8. I haven’t been able to find an equivalent of a Walmart or Target 
9. Jet lag is terrible!

Besides these minor adjustments, I think I will really like Copenhagen. I have missed city living a lot more than I thought… until it comes to carrying a bag full of groceries through the city streets. 

On Monday, my roommate Maggie and I headed to Nyhavn, which is what most people probably think of when they hear Copenhagen. This is where all of the colorful buildings that line the barge live! Yes, the buildings are just as colorful in person. We walked around the barge and took tons of pictures- in perfect tourist fashion. We also went to Torvehallerne (aka The Glass Market), which is a covered marketplace with different food, produce and beverage stalls. I got an acai bowl that had fresh fruit and homemade granola- it was heavenly. 

On Wednesday I had academic orientation for my core course, Health Delivery and Prioritization. Here we learned the general overview of the class and got a chance to socialize with my classmates and two professors. After orientation, my class, professors, and I headed to a Mexican restaurant, Mæxico, where we had these delicious tacos and got to know each other further. I am really looking forward to this class. Both of my professors seem very nice and knowledgable. My classmates also all seem to be very nice and I am excited to get to know them better. 

Fast forward to today, Thursday, and I feel like I have finally beat jet lag. Classes also started today. I had three classes today, my core course, Medical Ethics, and Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. After my classes today, I can tell that this semester is going to be far different from the rest- but in the best way possible. All of my professors seem to be incredibly passionate about what they are teaching. Classes here also seem to be more interactive than in America. I feel like my professors really want to hear our thoughts and opinions and want to learn from us as individuals as well. Tomorrow I have Epidemiology and Health Economics; I’ll write about those next week. 

It has definitely been a jam-packed week and I absolutely cannot wait to see where my journey in Copenhagen takes me. Although my time here so far has been brief, I can already tell that I am going to fall in love with Copenhagen and the culture here. I can’t believe it’s already been a week! I have a feeling this semester is going to fly by… just hopefully not too fast. 

Xoxo,

Julia 

P.S. – sorry this post was so long! I promise they will not be this long in the future!