City Sites

  • Danish things 101:
    • Lego (big store on Strøget)
    • Tiger (stores with everything in them)
    • Netto (cheap grocery store whose logo includes a Scotty dog, apparently since the Scots are reputed for being cheap)
    • Lagkagehuset (bakery with amazing everything)
      • Definitely try flødeboller (marshmallows typically brought to class on one’s birthday to share)
    • Smørrebrød (Danish open face sandwiches)
  • Food:
    • Glass Market (Torvehallerne): lots of upscale stalls (good place for smørrebrød)
    • Meatpacking District: lots of casual eateries with good drinks
    • Copenhagen Street Food (Papirøen): lots of grungy street food stalls
    • Individual places:
      • St. Paeder’s Bakery for cinnamon rolls
      • Dessert buffet at Nimb Terrasse (reserve in advance, come hungry)
      • Peter Beier Chokolade St. Kongensgade (hot chocolate, highly Instagrammable chinaware/setting)
      • Kalaset (brunch)
      • Aamanns (smørrebrød, but $$$)
      • Illum cafe (in basement, lots of desserts)
      • The American Pie Company (exactly what it sounds like)
      • Wulf og Konstali (brunch tapas)
  • Castles:
    • Christiansborg, Amalienborg, Rosenborg, Fredericksborg, and Fredericksberg
    • Rosenborg is much older and more traditional with drafty windows and a dungeon-type castle feel, complete with a very intense cellar with jewels (I would plan around 2 hours here)
    • Amalienborg is where the royalty currently live and much brighter with better insulation. There are parts of it that are only open on Saturdays so I’d recommend going then – otherwise, you can only tour about five rooms (on a Saturday, I would plan around 1 hour here)
    • The combined ticket is only a good deal if you are an adult; for students, two separate tickets are cheaper than the combined ticket
  • Art/Museums:
    • Glyptotek
      • It’s a museum opened by Ny Carlsberg (the beer dude) to house his extensive statue/art collection. It is free on Tuesdays, fairly manageable in 1-2 hours, and has an Isabella Stewart Gardner vibe in certain parts, particularly the centre courtyard/dome space that contains live plants
    • Danish Design Museum (my favourite, includes art ranging from furniture to paintings; great courtyard cafe)
    • National Gallery of Denmark (free!)
    • National Museum (extensive, also free)
  • Downtown:
    • City Hall Plaza, Strøget (pedestrian-only shopping street)
    • Trinitatis Church, Nyhavn, Illum (department store), Magasin du Nord (department store), Nørreport
    • Three Lakes
    • Vesterbro, Meatpacking District: going out/bars/clubs
  • Malls:
    • Fisketorvet, Field’s, and Fredericksberg
  • Other:
    • Christianshavn area
    • Little Mermaid, Langelinie, Kastellet
    • Carlsberg Factory/Brewery Tour
    • Christiania: free town

Good to Know

  • Laundry machines here take forever… Sometimes if you’re unlucky and pick the wrong setting, you’ll end up waiting 2-3 hours for a wash cycle. The dryers are ambiguous, on the other hand, and don’t tell you how long a cycle is at all… (Apparently this is a European thing, not just Danish?)
  • Grocery shopping
    • They sell sour milk and yogurt in milk cartons at the grocery store – google the words on the packaging before you buy it!
    • There are very few white grains/breads; mostly I saw whole grain food (e.g. bread and pasta)
    • Netto is the cheapest/grungiest of them all, then Føtex is a bit fancier, and Irma is nicest
  • Always keep a 20kr coin on you to use at lockers in museums/galleries/castles! I was not allowed to carry my purse or coat with me in most museums
  • People here apparently don’t like to sleep in late on weekends. I was told that most people will sleep until 8 or 9am and consider that sleeping in since it’s an hour later than usual. “Brunch” is something that happens around 8 or 9am as well

————————————————

Thoughts from my time abroad

3/31/2016

  • Realized that I was able to go to H&M and try on clothes for fun and then go eat cake and drink tea at a department store between classes and was just mindblown by how I’d never get to do this back at school – reminded me of my high school days and made me miss being in the middle of downtown in a city

3/29/2016 (Geneva, Berlin, Amsterdam)

  • I’ve noticed that the number of posts has gone down substantially, but I’d say that it’s because I’ve started to feel more at home in Copenhagen and had significantly fewer realizations
  • I did realize that I had my first *real* bagel of the year (or maybe with the exception of that one I ate in Taipei in January) yesterday, though I did ask my friend who was visiting to bring a half dozen bagels from Au Bon Pain (they’re barely bagels though)
  • Today is my first day back from Easter break and I’m so glad I only had one class in contrast to the usual four I have on Mondays following breaks/weekends
  • Thoughts on most recent travels:
    • I was supposed to go Copenhagen > Geneva > Brussels > Amsterdam but the day I left was when the Brussels bombings happened so I ended up rerouting to Berlin for the Brussels chunk
    • Surprising how calm everyone was here in Copenhagen at the airport after the attacks; rationally, not much reason for them to not be calm, but still surprising nonetheless
    • Geneva: underrated by far – it is a beautiful city with a decent amount to see, beautiful lake, love the backdrop of mountains, and the unique mix of French and German
      • City itself is very French but surrounding regions (i.e. rest of Switzerland) is pretty German
      • Things are quite pricey here but it reminded me of Denmark – high minimum wage, safe society, expensive things
      • Lack of cute cafés was surprising; it’s much more food and bakery centric but there aren’t many places to just sit and read or people watch
      • No particularly distinctive cuisine except fondue!
      • Scooters everywhere, grown ups and kids alike
      • They say huitant instead of quatre-vingt for 80 and nonant instead of quatre-vingt dix for 90
    • Berlin: rainy this time around, nothing is open there on Good Friday except the Easter Market at Alexanderplatz
    • Amsterdam:
      • Beautiful with as many canals and bridges as one would expect
      • Lots of expensive tourist trips (e.g. tulip fields, canal tours)
      • Odd mix of bus and public transit systems (i.e. some buses are run by one company while others are run by a different one, on which your passes will not work)
      • Side streets like Strøget in Copenhagen
      • Hard to find locals in the downtown core because there are so many tourists
      • Red light district surprisingly civil
      • Very lively on Easter weekend despite the rest of Europe being seemingly asleep
      • McDonald’s with very fancy Lipton tea caddies – made of wood!
      • Good English language skills, like Denmark
      • Strong Indonesian presence from their colonial era

3/20/2016 (Prague)

  • Weekend trip to Prague – spent less than 48 hours there but still felt good about what I did get to see!
  • Lots of Italians in Prague…and very cheap food, even when compared to rest of continental Europe
  • Interesting that they use crowns there as currency (cause only Scandinavia uses it otherwise, at least as far as I have encountered)
  • Their subway stations are decorated with Nespresso-pod like things on the walls, which is both very beautiful and very puzzling at the same time
  • There are a lot of stairs down for subway stops and it can take ages to get to the platform from street level and vice versa
  • Their English ability is not as high as what I have encountered elsewhere in Europe so far

3/13/2016

  • One of the perks of having guests is being forced to see everything I’ve seen before again, and through different lenses! Today was crazy different because suddenly there was sun everywhere, people on the streets, eating outside coffee shops, lots of street musicians, and just so much livelier in general. Not sure if it’s cause I haven’t spent many weekends in Copenhagen or if it’s cause the days are longer and the sun was out. But ahhhh! I’m starting to feel the city come to life

3/9/2016 [Nørrebro]

  • In my sociology class, we’re talking about sex education in different places and it’s surprising how liberal Canadian sex ed is as compared to American sex ed – my peers talk about what they learned and it strikes me as being very conservative! Canada is, in contrast, quite liberal – just like Denmark. Surprising? Not?
  • Nørrebro is a fascinating area with a lot of projects intended to combat gentrification and focus on urban renewal; I visited and walked around today and found so many people walking their babies – is that just a weekday middle of the day thing?

3/7/2016 (Barcelona, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Berlin)

  • Amazed at how quickly I settled back into routine once I got back from traveling!
  • Over travel week, I saw Barcelona, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Berlin
    • I’m glad I didn’t go to four crazy tourism cities in a row (like Barcelona) because in those cities, it feels like you have to be on constant-go mode and see everything. Instead, I was able to sit and relax and take my time in Frankfurt and Stuttgart and really just take in the area. I spent a lot of time in coffee shops reading for fun
  • Today in Danish class, I learned that in Danish there is a word for female-cousins and another for male-cousins so when referring to one’s cousins, one has to use both words joined together with and
  • The Danes really enjoy saying “that’s perfectly good” or “that’s perfectly correct” and it confuses me. I wonder if it’s because they have gern in their language or something else… (I also suspect I’ve mentioned this before but it really does stand out to me!)

2/24/2016

  • Learning about the Danish Jews today in Danish class was a reminder of how unique Denmark’s history is, relative to other European nations. Here are some thoughts:
    • The government’s relatively neutral response to the German invasion is a fascinating thing to consider (they cooperated in hopes that Germany would mostly leave them be, and it did work for awhile)
    • The Holocaust feels so much more real here than it did to me before (when I learned about it in high school), perhaps because people here have stories about their parents and grandparents, and they have relics and sites to show for them; I find that listening to these stories is more bone-chilling than it has ever been and really does make me uncomfortable though that may be a function of not just location but also my age
    • There were old Torah scrolls that were taken from the synagogue when the Jews were taken away and the scrolls were hidden in the crypts underneath the church in Copenhagen with the round tower, which is one of the most touching acts I’ve heard about
    • Also touching is hearing people describe how the Jews came home to Denmark after WWII to find their homes maintained and up-kept just the way they had left them three or four years before. Really says a lot about Danes
    • Some interesting facts about Jews in Denmark:
      • There is only one synagogue in the country, and it is in Copenhagen
      • Most of the Jews are in Copenhagen
      • There are ~100-200 Jews in Aarhus
  • I also got my bike today! Now I have my own bike until the end of the semester…
    • Biking back was scary as the seat is really high and it’s hard to stop and start again since my legs don’t fully reach the ground
    • The bike is heavy but offers me fairly good control
    • I think I broke some implicit cyclist rules on my way back since I was wobbly and sometimes ended up in the middle of the bike lane rather than the right side
    • I also didn’t really know my signals… They’re not the same as in the US! In fact, I find the signals here much more intuitive
    • Definitely a huge challenge for me to get used to cycling but also something I know I’ll come to be proud of myself for doing
  • I went to an event at a labour union for workers at the airport tonight – a screening of Robert Reich’s Inequality For All and dinner
    • Really fascinating to see the documentary and learn about one perspective on inequality
    • Also interesting to see how Danes perceive America and discuss it, and also how frequently Bernie comes up!

2/23/2016

  • [Royal Ballet]
  • It really doesn’t take long to form a routine – I realized that we’re merely on lecture 9 for Danish and it already feels like a routine to go to class and sit down and I already know what to expect quite well. To be honest, I think routine hit around lecture 3-4, though the names of the people around me only started to stick these past few lectures…
  • The two week on-and-off schedule at DIS makes for a weird learning pattern. I feel as if we haven’t made a lot of progress in some classes whereas in others we’ve gone quite far. If I’m not mistaken, I think lectures 10-12 are the midpoint of our semester and I guess that gives some shocking insight into how short a semester really is and how much longer classes in high school were
  • Adult moment: when you have a your own fridge stocked with your own food, you have to take responsibility and figure out what to do before you leave for ten days…i.e. eat the same thing every day or eat lots of very different things all together so that you don’t leave any perishables
  • Went to the Danish ballet with my Danish class tonight:
    • Beautiful setting, the building is intricately adorned with gold touches
    • We saw La Sylphide and also a Tchaikovsky ballet
    • There were two intermissions and both felt longer than average
    • There are nice little lounges for drinking wine and eating chocolate (if one so chooses to purchase these delicacies) instead of awkward standing spaces as is common in North America
    • The wine is about the same cost as it is in North America (55-60DKK for a glass of cheaper wine)
    • Ballet started very punctually
    • People hang their coats on communal coat racks instead of using coat check here
    • I realized how rooted in tradition ballet is when I watched the dancers bow a billion times at the end of the show
    • Watching a ballet where it’s just dancing and music must be like watching a Charlie Chaplin silent film…

2/22/2016

  • I had quiche at a Dane’s house for the second time today…but they call it pie?
    • I’ve also had curry and Asian noodles once, then Vietnamese summer rolls another time, and lasagne otherwise
  • Things that I have pinpointed as being Danish so far:
    • Lego
    • Tiger (stores with everything in them)
    • Netto (cheap grocery store whose logo includes a Scotty dog, since the Scots are reputed for being cheap)
    • Lagkagehuset
    • Flødeboller, smørrebrod
  • It’s a good time to be in Copenhagen:
    • Bernie, America, socialism, Danes denying socialism, American election, etc.
    • Refugee crisis, European attitudes towards refugees
    • See urban changes in the city and appreciate the place for the now and what is happening in the moment rather than indulging in history, as is the case in much of Europe

2/21/2016

  • [Fredericksberg]
  • People here apparently don’t like to sleep in late on weekends. I was told that most people will sleep until 8 or 9am and consider that sleeping in since it’s an hour later than usual. Brunch is something that happens around 8 or 9am as well. And, I was at a mall this morning around 10am and I can tell you it was actually quite busy and traffic was heavy!
  • Copenhagen Business School has an in-house co-working space that is offered to students for free when they have startup ideas
  • There are lots of malls in Copenhagen. To date, I’ve been to Fisketorvet, Field’s, and Fredericksberg
  • There are also lots of castles. To date, I’ve seen Christiansborg, Amalienborg, Rosenborg, Fredericksborg, and Fredericksberg (they’re different)
  • There are also lots of bakeries…but I’ll spare y’all the list here

2/20/2016

  • [Movies]
  • Movies here are a bit more expensive than they are in North American cities though the popcorn is similarly priced! Also, people really like going crazy with candy – there was a lot of bulk candy available at the theatre
  • The Danish Girl is a well-made movie although very emotionally intense. It has less Copenhagen scenery than I expected. Seems like Dresden is also a very beautiful city

2/19/2016

  • I still feel like I stand out in my white coat since most people here wear dark/neutral colours in the wintertime but today was very happy when I realized that in the spring, I get to wear my navy blue jacket and will blend in with the locals!

2/17/2016

  • [Christianshavn]
  • Making dumplings can be really difficult but is also really rewarding!
  • Asking where the food is when you’re lost in a small store can often be the smartest and most efficient way to do things
  • Even when your fingers are tingly from the cold (because you were texting on your phone while walking), they will warm up fairly quickly and go back to normal!
  • Having free time is so incredibly liberating. Today I woke up and genuinely did not have an idea of what to do so I started by watching half a movie and then looked for nice coffee shops in Copenhagen, grabbed Tuesdays with Morrie, headed out, found one of the coffee shops, sat down, read, and finished the book in one go, along with a piece of cake and a latte. It was incredibly rewarding to just spend my day however I wanted – something I feel like I usually only get in the summer on rare occasions. I didn’t see anyone I knew, I didn’t talk to many people – I just enjoyed myself and my book. Afterwards, I wandered around Christianshavn and then enjoyed the sunshine and the beautiful harbour, then came back home very fulfilled
  • Ended the day with a friend from back at school, with whom I made dumplings (for the first time on my own!) and chatted until the hours whiled away
  • I’ve realized that being able to do what I want, when I want, and being able to enjoy my free time has made me feel so fulfilled

2/16/2016

  • Denmark’s history with regards to the Holocaust and Nazi period is significantly less traumatic than that of many other nations, primarily because the Germans used Denmark for its resources and wanted to maintain a peaceful relationship
  • The sun really does make it much colder here; someone explained to me that when it’s sunny, the clouds don’t trap heat and so it feels much colder. That being said, I had a lovely time in a park downtown today, where I just sat and sunbathed for an hour or so

2/14/2016

  • Valentine’s Day is not as big a deal here as it is in the US; there isn’t as much pink commercialism as expected

2/13/2016

  • [Malmö, Gothenburg]
  • Malmö and Gothenburg (Sweden) have better multicultural food than Copenhagen, at least based on what I’ve seen
  • Given that the Swedish crown is worth less than the Danish crown and numeric values for food tend to be similar, it’s easy to see that Swedish food tends to be cheaper
  • 7-Eleven is a big deal in both countries
  • Sweden has lots of Espresso House stores (their local Starbucks, I guess?) whereas Denmark has Baresso
  • Not everyone who stays in a hostel goes crazy every night and stays out really late – something I discovered upon checking into a hostel at 10pm and finding some people actually sleeping
  • Hostel bathrooms can be surprisingly nice – and clean! Who would have thought?
  • Gothenburg is hilly, like SF
  • There are parts of Gothenburg with fairly wide streets that feel both European and North American at the same time
  • Gothenburg has both old and new streetcars/trolleys in service, which makes taking the trolleys quite the experience

2/12/2016

  • Malmö is much more like Copenhagen in design and vibe, which makes it a little less appealing to visit from Copenhagen (though perhaps would go for cheap food, although the train ticket offsets savings)

2/9/2016

  • The traffic lights go from red to yellow to green here
  • The rush that I get from walking into a department store playing loud music with beautiful interior design and incredibly bright lighting is surprisingly very, very comforting. Today I went to a coffee shop in the department store’s dining floor and just felt very calm and at home…

2/8/2016

  • Laundry machines here take forever… Sometimes if you’re unlucky and pick the wrong setting, you’ll end up waiting 2-3 hours for a wash cycle. The dryers are ambiguous, on the other hand, and don’t tell you how long a cycle is at all… (Apparently this is a European thing, not just Danish?)
  • 3:30-5:30pm is considered rush hour here on the Copenhagen metro. I think this in and of itself says so much… I will resist commenting further on this
  • Perhaps the lack of Danish national pride that I was confused about earlier in my time here is attributable to how the government has acted with respect to the Danish refugee crisis. It would seem that the government has taken quite a strong stance and not been afraid to say what it thinks should be done with refugees
  • On the topic of frankness, it does seem that Danish politicians get away with saying a lot more than a North American one would…lots of non-PC items go unpunished
  • In discussing refugee and asylum situations in class today, it dawned on me just how much emphasis is placed on marriage and children-parent relationships in a legal context. It was kind of surprising – I’m not particularly sure why – but there seem to be (in theory, at least) many allowances made for families in immigration contexts

2/7/2016

  • [Little Mermaid, Langelinie, Kastellet]
  • The Little Mermaid is disappointingly small for something that attracts so many tourists!
  • The area is quite walkable and some of the surrounding streets feel much older
  • I found a Chinese grocery store today – well, I was shown to it – but I realized there really is nothing like some spices, some vegetables, and some certain foods that remind me of home and comfort

2/6/2016

  • [Rosenborg, Amalienborg]
  • It feels like royalty lived in such excess that it’s hard to differentiate between royalty of different places and nations
  • Rosenborg is much older and more traditional with drafty windows and a dungeon-type castle feel, complete with a very intense cellar with jewels (I would plan around 2 hours here)
  • Amalienborg is where the royalty currently live and much brighter with better insulation. There are parts of it that are only open on Saturdays so I’d recommend going then – otherwise, you can only tour about five rooms (on a Saturday, I would plan around 1 hour here)
  • The combined ticket is only a good deal if you are an adult; for students, two separate tickets are cheaper than the combined ticket

2/5/2016

  • [Board games cafe, Danish Design Museum, SEB Building, Nykredit Krystallen]
  • Hygge exists! I had a lovely dinner with my classmate and his Danish host family

2/4/2016

  • [Vesterbro, Joe & the Juice (near Strøget)]
  • Starting to feel worried about my coffee/juice/latte expenditures…
  • Learned a lot of fun facts in my classes today:
    • Apparently kale was originally food for the poor
    • The most common carrots used to be purple and then the Dutch bred orange ones instead because they love orange
    • Potatoes used to be associated with poverty and people would avoid eating them at all costs; this all changed with Parmentier’s potato campaign
    • In old Medieval gardens, people used to just skinny dip in fountains and drink wine/beer to relax (apparently)
    • There aren’t many famous Danes in Danish history – they’re mostly Norwegian (from when Norway was part of Denmark)
  • We took a walking tour for my urban studies class and saw Vesterbro and learned that:
    • The sidewalks are paved distinctly from the roads (not in plain concrete) and they’re intentionally designed to continue through intersections so that the space is marked as pedestrian rather than car space
      • This also doubles as a warning/reminder to drivers to slow down
    • There are ping pong tables randomly scattered around this area
    • The playgrounds in this area were designed by a firm with very specific goals, one of which is that in order for a playground to be successful, they have to see the kids draw the playground in their pictures (meaning it’s an important place to the kids)
    • One of the apartments built in this area had a lot of balconies and was originally intended as a brothel (with the intent of the women using the balconies to attract business) but then as the construction was finalized, new laws came into place and these buildings never became brothels; instead, they’re now fancy apartments
    • Many of the neighbourhood’s old bodegas remain today and are an emblem of the past. Over the past few years, the area has been gentrified but the city has taken care to make it more manageable for residents. One of the things they’ve done is to focus on public space instead of specific buildings; this way, value increases across the board rather than in specific buildings
    • Carlsberg is designing a new area in the city…
  • Dried cranberries here (or at least from Berlin) are way more tart and cranberry-esque in flavour than the Craisins in North America, which leads me to think that those are sweetened in spite of what the packaging says

2/3/2016

  • [Fredericksborg Slot, Fredensborg]
  • Today, at Fredericksborg Slot:
    • I learned about King Christian IV and his many women in his life
    • I also learned that the Danes used to be scared of the dark and nightmares comes from their fear of mares
    • To combat this fear, they used to sleep in groups (and apparently would do so naked, though not sure if that’s for a related reason)
    • Danes also thought that if one lay flat in bed, he/she would die and thus never lay flat when sleeping – instead, they would sleep sitting up, propped against a lot of pillows
    • One of the kings hired a bunch of people to go to France and study the art of tapestry-making, then had them spend 28 years to make tapestries to adorn one of the rooms in the castle
  • I had dinner with my visiting host family – a local family that is meant to give students who aren’t living in homestays some insight into Danish culture – and got to see a Scandinavian house. It looked almost just as I had expected – indeed very IKEA-esque!

2/2/2016

  • [Glyptotek]
  • Finally getting a feel for which coffee shops are nicer and have a more local vibe; have been to two nice, local-populated ones two days in a row! I am breaking the bank though, as $5-8 coffees are no good
  • Nutella is expensive here. The grocery store brand stuff is cheaper
  • Went to the Glyptotek, which is a museum opened by Ny Carlsberg (the beer dude) to house his extensive statue/art collection. It is free on Tuesdays, fairly manageable in 1-2 hours, and has an Isabella Stewart Gardner vibe in certain parts, particularly the centre courtyard/dome space that contains live plants. There were a few things that fascinated/confused me about the statues:
    • The statues are much more realistic in shape/size than many mannequins are, which was surprisingly pleasant
    • Making beer must make a man very rich, thus enabling him to own many nice things
    • There are lots of paintings of women whose breasts are showing yet they always drape a piece of cloth over them; perhaps I’m missing a deeper tradition here but that seems very futile to me. “Oh, I was trying to cover myself, but you know, the wind blew…”
  • Always keep a 20kr coin on you to use at lockers in museums/galleries/castles! I was not allowed to carry my purse or coat with me in the museum today

1/31/2016 (Berlin)

  • Just got back from my first trip out of Copenhagen (for more than half a day) – to Berlin
  • Someone on the plane was offered “water with gas or regular water”
  • Discount airlines are really like glorified Greyhounds. You spend a lot of time walking to far away, dingy corners of airports (past all the nice stores and waiting areas), waiting in holding areas, standing around without seats, trying to get onto a plane, jostling for spots for your luggage, and walking up/down stairs instead of through nice, insulated gangways
  • Quick thoughts on continental Europe vs Scandinavia (based on only one city of comparison):
    • Things are cheaper in continental Europe: e.g. frozen pizza is only 3 euros!
    • The subway is much, much older than here but also much more developed as a system
    • Buildings are generally older
    • There is more sunshine
    • There are more people
    • Things are bigger and taller
  • Thoughts on Berlin:
    • Döners! So good… And currywurst. Literally the worst things one could eat because of sodium and oil but so delicious. Kind of fascinating that these are the things the city is known for given their (partial/full) roots in immigrant cultures
    • The city is large but small at the same time. Downtown core feels very tightly packed and it seems easy to get around but then there are major train (railway) stations spread out around the supposed suburbs. As with Paris, the suburbs aren’t always easy to pick out as suburbs!
    • There is history everywhere, yet it’s a bit paradoxical in that some of the buildings are actually quite new given that the wars destroyed a lot of the city. There’s also a lot of juxtaposition of old and new, e.g. there are retail stores everywhere down the street from Checkpoint Charlie and there are people who dress up in American military uniforms there to make money off tourists (à la Times Square)
    • It’s like living through my high school history classes in real life – everywhere I go, there are things I spent a lot of time reading about. It’s more powerful in Berlin than it is elsewhere
  • Today marks just over 2 weeks here and the beginning of lots of travels! I’ve spent a lot of time booking my trips and flights and hotels, partially because I wanted to get things organized but also because prices fluctuate and could go up a lot more in the next few weeks. I’m a bit tired of booking things and doing logistics but I am, at this point, as done as I can be!
  • I’m glad I traveled a lot last semester because the Sunday night rush/panic is much more manageable as it’s been part of my routine; otherwise I think I’d feel a bit too overwhelmed by coming back late Sunday night before a full day of classes on Monday

1/29/2016

  • [Sluseholmen]

1/28/2016

  • [St. Paeder’s Bakery]
  • My classes have really converged! For my two urban studies classes, I had to read Jan Gehl – in one of them, I watched a video on him, and then for the other, we read the same readings I’d already read for the other one. Felt so good… In my Strategies for Urban Livability class today we talked about social capital, which was what we’d spent the entire Sociology class discussing
  • January is a government-mandated sale season here; I picked up a pair of Birkenstocks for ~USD$50, which was surprisingly cheap (and this was at the grocery store…)
  • Tomorrow I head to a different country – realized how much I love new countries and how much I hate idle weekends. I think the hardest part of being out of high school was just that weekends didn’t feel like weekends since I was still stuck on campus and often had to still do extracurriculars. I love being with different people on weekends and being in a changed environment, which is what my summers have afforded me (and now my study abroad semester too)

1/27/2016

  • [Malmö]
  • Zoned subway systems can be quite scary if you miss your stop and live on the edge of two zones…
  • Rain makes everything here very slippery and glum
  • Sweden looks about the same as Denmark…initially, at least
  • One of the most livable neighbourhoods in Scandinavia is alright but not super livable
  • Handball seems to be a big deal here

1/25/2016

  • [Straeget]
  • I had class outside for Strategies for Urban Livability and loved it! We got to walk around and discuss our impressions of various streets (ranging from heavy auto traffic to pedestrian only to mixed use). I’m excited for class trip to Sweden on Wednesday
  • Saw the Queen’s Guard playing music today
  • With my class, discovered this amazing street just behind the touristy one that’s filled with lots of cafés and restaurants
  • Found out that apparently croissants are from Vienna and were made in celebration of beating the Ottomans after the Siege of Vienna today in one of my classes – no idea whether this is true but it sounds kind of interesting

1/24/2016

  • [Three Lakes, Vesterbro, Glass Market]
  • Didn’t notice until I did some extensive walking in the city but the pedestrian traffic signals don’t include countdowns and often will switch from green to red abruptly and I will find myself stuck in a traffic island in the middle of the road
  • There are no stairs in the subway stations and people just have to take escalators (no choice…)
  • Saw the Queen’s Guard today (I think that’s what they are…) and followed them down the street while they marched into the Royal Guard Museum; it was quite amusing to see them slow down traffic and whatnot
  • Perhaps cheap airlines are cheap because they buy the worst positioned gates and often are subject to gate changes at the last minute. It would seem that there are also absolutely no jetways provided for these airlines. Now we know where they cut corners and costs!

1/23/2016

  • [Frederiksberg]

1/22/2016

  • [Strøget, Glass Market]
  • People actually do leave their baby prams outside of coffee shops (with their babies in them!) when they go in for a coffee – this was something I heard about in classes but didn’t believe until I saw it
  • There are lots of chairs outside for seating for restaurants/cafés (even in the winter) and they all have fleece blankets on them to keep people warm, though I’ve yet to see anyone in these seats
  • Most of my class readings seem to actually teach me about the city around me, which excites me as they will hopefully feel much more purposeful!
  • Class structure here is interesting; we have class reps for each class and they’re responsible for relaying feedback to the profs at multiple points per semester. It feels simultaneously a bit like grade school with class reps yet also very progressive
  • People don’t really have a habit of holding open doors for people behind them…
  • Conflicting messages about national pride here; some seem super proud (I even saw a brand of hand dryer with a Danish flag on it) yet others have alluded to people not being proud of being Danish (variety of classes and also the singer who performed at our opening ceremonies all mentioned it). Guess only time will tell (if at all)

1/21/2016

  • Had my first classes today: Danish language, sociology (social capital and cultural diversity in Turkey and Scandinavia), garden art in European culture, and strategies for urban livability
  • One more class tomorrow
  • The classes were all somehow themed around Copenhagen (duh), the Danes (duh), and culture and language (duh?!) – I guess I was surprised by how well they’ve managed to integrate these topics into the environment around us and our study tours (lots of trips planned to go into the city for class)
  • I’m actually fairly excited about the material and think it has thus far exceeded my expectations though we’ll see how that goes as the semester progresses. They say that most teachers at DIS are working professionals who only teach one class that’s their specialty but actually 3/4 of the teachers today were not working professionals… I’m a bit disappointed because in principle the pedagogy behind having working professionals teach is pretty appealing
  • I wonder whether it’s just the snippet I got of different classes today but it seems that WWII is a much bigger topic of relevance and discussion here than it has been in Canada/the US for me
  • Finally bought stamps – it’s 17kr to send a postcard…that’s about USD$2.50…
  • Bought dinner on my way back since my last class goes late on Mon/Thurs and realized how easy it was to not have to clean dishes, wash and chop food, and wait for things to heat up on the stove…

1/20/2016

  • [Vesterbro, Meatpacking District]
  • Wandering does really get you places. I ended up in the Meatpacking District, which has a bunch of hipster restaurants and bars
  • Meeting new people takes up a lot of time – not necessarily in a good or bad way – but talking and getting comfortable with people is a task that does detract away from other productivity
  • Everything comes with pros/cons: the dorm that is nearby campus is (not surprisingly) also near the very popular bars there. One girl I met who lives in that dorm said the noise doesn’t subside until 4 or 5 in the morning and then it can get loud very early on as well, so her sleep isn’t that good – glad that I’m in a residential area where it’s nice and quiet and I can get uninterrupted sleep!

1/19/2016

  • [Trinitatis Church, Rosenborg, Amalienborg, Nyhavn, Magasin du Nord, Nørreport]
  • How much a day can change things! I think I figured out that the things that made me the most lukewarm on being here were moving around in big groups, not having good food to eat, and not feeling like I had some space (since everyone was on the same schedule, therefore around the dorm at the same time)
  • Today I overbought. I bought postcards, souvenir cups (Danish made plastic that’s supposedly super high quality), and plastic containers…
  • I loved, loved, loved walking around the city! We had a tour and saw the summer palace, the actual royal palace, and also an old church. These were part of a city tour/challenge from the program. Later, I saw the area around Nyhavn (for lunch), Nørreport (opera, Magasin du Nord), Christianshavn, and the mall in Amager. Copenhagen is beautiful everywhere and just amazes me, the same way that Paris felt
  • I also got lost today. We took the bus the wrong way by accident because we were too excited about the dessert we’d just bought
  • I spent most of the day with one friend, which was quite enjoyable. I don’t know if it’s that it was simpler to move from A to B or just simpler to socialize in small groups, but definitely felt more relaxed and enjoyed myself much more. I’d hoped to read in a coffee shop alone this afternoon but ended up having company the whole day – will read later tonight!
  • Starting to get course work…there are readings for two of my classes that should be done before I go to class over the next few days
  • If I can cook three meals a day (2.5 on average?) for myself the rest of my time here, then maybe I can afford a pastry every day! (I’d love that…)
  • Why are the pastries here so good?

1/18/2016

  • [City Hall Plaza, Strøget]
  • Couldn’t get stove to work this morning; same with the toaster (is it my general domestic ignorance or is it Europe?)
  • Yogurt and milk come in similar containers and can be easy to confuse; my roommate bought sour milk (buttermilk?) instead of milk the other day
  • Grocery stores are generally messier (or at least the one near us) and they’re arranged in haphazard ways; pasta is found in multiple locations and then the body care aisle has items scattered everywhere (bottles are also stored lying down rather than upright) – it seems like people care more about the practicality of getting what they need rather than the presentation. There’s less emphasis on selling aesthetics and with bargains/other ads
  • There are very few white grains/breads; mostly I saw whole grain food (e.g. bread and pasta)
  • The residential area we’re in is nice despite my initial reservations; it’s only about 20 minutes from the city by metro or bus. There are still some stores and restaurants nearby!
  • Most Danes keep their heads down when they’re out and are quiet and reserved. I can see why this comes across as them being cold sometimes
  • I don’t feel like I’m at school here at all – the campus we have is integrated into the city centre and the street we’re on has lots of stores, restaurants, and souvenir shops, as well as cafes and bakeries. The buildings are all mixed together and most of our rooms are second/third floor. It’s probably like being in American school since we’re in our own bubble. I’m going to have to be conscientious about not always spending my time with others in the program and actually going out or meeting locals
  • Copenhagen is incredibly beautiful; I haven’t seen a street that hasn’t been beautiful in some way or another so far and I’m blown away by the scenery
  • A homestay may have been nicer for me in the sense that I really enjoy socializing with older people but I think through the Living Learning Community I’m in, I’ve been able to push the boundaries of my comfort zone a bit and get to know more people my age. It certainly makes going to orientation activities a lot easier since there’s people I can go with! It also makes it nice that whenever I come back to my dorm, there are people around so I can socialize if I want to. It errs on being more social that not and I can bet that a homestay would have erred more on the solitude side than social