Hej!!

It’s hard to believe that I’ve only been in Copenhagen for 5 days! The past few days have been so busy that I feel like I’ve been here for weeks. Here’s what I’ve been up to for the past few days:

Saturday, January 12

I took a red eye flight from JFK to Copenhagen and landed at around 12:30 pm. After breezing through customs and baggage claim, I went across the street to a hotel where DIS staff greeted us and led us to a room where homestay & rented room students had a short orientation. Afterward, we all anxiously awaited the arrival of our host families. After waiting for about 30 minutes, one of the DIS staff members called my name and I went into the lobby area to meet my host family! The family consists of my host dad Morten, my host mom Mette, my 18-year old host brother Mads, and my 21-year old host brother Martin (who no longer lives at home). They are all very sweet and make me feel at home! Their house is in a small town called Nivå, about a 30-minute train ride north of central Copenhagen. I have my own room, and the house is very cozy, minimalist, and hyggeligt. 

Sunday, January 13

I had a much-needed opportunity to sleep in. After a refreshing 10 hours of sleep, my host family showed me how to take the train to Copenhagen and showed me around the city center. We got coffee at a market in the city center and found some of the DIS buildings before heading back home and relaxing for the rest of the day.

Monday, January 14

First day of orientation! I had to wake up early to make it to an 8 am opening ceremony, where we heard from the executive director of DIS, some former DIS students, and a Danish singer named Elisha. Afterward, some friends from my homestay network and I went to Studenterhuset, a student-run café for students attending school in Copenhagen, for a free chocolate croissant.

In the afternoon, I had a housing workshop with the other students in my homestay network. DIS does a great job of connecting homestay students living near each other by organizing an event at the beginning of the semester for us to get to know each other and providing funding for group activities.

Tuesday, January 15

More orientation! I went to the Danish Immigration Ministry to get my biometrics taken for my visa, hung out at a cozy café called The Living Room, and attended some orientation workshops in the afternoon.

Wednesday, January 16

I had my core course orientation in the morning. I’m in the Religious Mythos & Philosophical Logos core course, and we ended the class session by taking a walk through a nearby park, looking at statues of Greek gods, and eating croissants – I can’t complain 🙂 I spent the afternoon doing some solo exploring and stumbled upon some beautiful sights:

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I’m posting this a day late so it’s actually Day 6 in Denmark! I had my first day of classes today and am feeling pretty good about the semester, albeit not quite ready to get back into school mode yet 🙂

Vi ses,

Dana