I thought that last week was pretty busy, but boy was I wrong! Since I’ve last written, I’ve had the pleasure of taking quite a few day trips, finished my first official week of classes, met my visiting host family, and went to a sauna!?! Let me explain…
Last Saturday, my roommate Maggie and I decided to spend the day further exploring Copenhagen after our first week of classes. We started our day going to Freetown Christiania (the name kind of says it all). Christiania is a community that operates independently in Denmark and it is a huge tourist attraction. Although cameras are very taboo here, I managed to sneak a few pictures (shhh)! Christiania was different than anything I have ever seen and quite colorful! I also got to pet a few dogs which reminded me of how much I miss my own. I will not go too much into it, but feel free to click on the link above to learn more about Christiania.
While leaving Christiania, Maggie noticed this pretty spiral on the top of a building and we decided to walk towards it. This building stood out drastically from the rest with it’s beautiful architecture and it’s mighty stance over the rest of the buildings. We finally found the building and it happened to be a church! Maggie and I were able to go inside the church and look around and it is easily the most stunning church I have ever been in. I am unsure of what denomination the church is, but I would love to be able to attend a mass there while I’m here! The spire on top of the church is actually walkable and supposedly has the best view of Copenhagen. Unfortunately, tours of the spire are closed until February, but I will definitely have to make my way back to check out the unbeatable view. The church is called The Church of Our Savior if you would like to learn more about it, the history is very interesting!
The organ in the church- built in 1698.
Fast forward to Monday- this is the day I met my visiting host family! DIS has an awesome program where you can sign up for visiting host family. Your visiting host family consist of locals from Copenhagen who would like to invite you into their family during your time abroad. This program matches you with a family who has interests similar to you and your commitment can be as much as you make of it! My visiting host family consists of four people- my host mom, dad, sister, brother, and dog. I was nervous at first to meet my host family. I was invited to these complete strangers home for dinner. Would it be awkward? Would we have anything to talk about? I’m also a picky eater… would they serve me food I strongly dislike? Honestly, I was worried for NOTHING. My host dad and sister met me at the train station where we walked back to their home. I immediately felt very comfortable with the whole family and felt like I had known them for a while. My host mom also cooked a delicious dinner which consisted of beef in some sort of yummy sauce, mashed potatoes, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, and bread- literally my favorite foods. I spent a couple hours at their house talking with them and getting to know them. It was a very hygge night. I cannot wait to get to spend more time with them and get to know them even better! I am meeting with my host sister on Tuesday and she is going to show me some of her favorite spots in Copenhagen, I am so excited! My host sister and brother are also right around my age which is an added bonus!
One of the unique things about DIS is that we do not have classes Wednesday! Wednesdays are reserved for field studies for our classes (basically field trips) to different locations relating to the material we are covering in our classes. On this Wednesday, I did not have a field study so Maggie and I decided to take an adventure outside of Copenhagen! We had both heard great things about the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, so we decided to go there. The museum was about an hour trip to Humlebæk. We took the regionaltog (which was surprisingly very nice, quiet, and peaceful). The museum was lots of fun! All of the art was very beautiful, but my favorite exhibit was an exhibit called Generation Wealth. This exhibit showcased photos of what most could consider “the American Dream” along with its downsides. Some of the photos had excerpts next to them from the people photographed, allowing their insight of America to shine through. The museum also had breath-taking views of the ocean and very good (and cheap) pastries! The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is definitely a must see and I would love to go back again!
To finish off this exciting week, I got the opportunity to participate in a popular Danish wellness practice. My LLC went to a Sauna last night in Copenhagen and it was amazing to say the least. I’ve been in a sauna before, but this was far different than any experience I have ever had. For this session, we had a sauna master who guided us through our time with different meditations, towel performances (for lack of a better word), music, and essential oils! We had three different 13 minute long sessions in the sauna. The sauna reached up to 90 degrees celsius (which is about 195 degrees fahrenheit). Between each, we drank tons of water and were instructed to take a cold shower. By the end, I was exhausted, but felt incredibly relaxed and my muscles felt very loose. As a result, I slept great last night. I never realized that being a sauna master was such an art. After our sessions, I got to talk to our master who placed top 8 in the world championship of sauna masters- pretty cool. This was a great experience and I would love to go back again! The sauna was a great way to end the week.
So far, Copenhagen has been a dream. All of my classes are going great, I really like all of my roommates, and I am living in Europe! I am so incredibly grateful and lucky to be able to have this experience. I just booked my first trip with some girls in my LLC for one of our study breaks and I am very much looking forward to that. This week has been so so busy, but definitely one for the books! I cannot wait to see what next week has in store. As always, thank you so much for reading and I am counting down the days until I write to you next week!
Xoxo,
Julia
Coping in Copenhagen 
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