So It Begins!

After 2 full days of orientations, unpacking my suitcases and 30 some ziplock bags I can finally say I am all settled into my new home in Copenhagen. I still can’t get over the fact I will be living and studying in Copenhagen for the next 4 months!!!

I arrived into Copenhagen around 1:30pm. From the airport I was taken to my housing. I am living in Tåsingegade. My housing is DIS shared housing so I will be living with a large group of other American DIS students and one roommate. My housing is located in the town of Østerbro, which is a 15-20 minute bus ride to downtown Copenhagen. 

For the past 2 days I have had orientation all day. Our orientations consist of a few people talking and us splitting up into groups to go on scavenger hunts and explore the city for hours.  The first day of orientation consisted of the Opening Ceremony and exploring the area around the Danish Institute for Study Abroad. The second day of orientation was a scavenger hunt for the main sites of Copenhagen, such as the Christianborg Castle Square, Church of Our Lady and the Royal Palace. Later on we met with our core class to get a little background on the program and get to know the professor and other students. My core course is the International Business program. Once my day was over it was back to the housing to relax and socialize with the people I live with. All of this exploring has shown me one of the cutest things ever…groups of little Danish kindergarten children walking around the city in their winter onesies.

Adjusting to the Danish culture hasn’t too difficult. For the most part people speak English, which makes asking for help a little easier. Navigating around the city hasn’t been too bad, but I am looking forward to my day where I get myself lost in the city so I can learn the streets and how to get everywhere. At the same time, some things have been a challenge. Shopping for groceries was an experience. All of the food is in Danish and is in complete different packaging than American food so trying to figure out what everything is turned a simple group shopping trip into an hour long experience. The Danish language. What is there to say about the Danish language other than how the heck is that word pronounced and can you repeat that for me. Our SRAs (similar to US dorm RA’s) have had to tell us how to say the same words multiple times and when we get it wrong each time they laugh and say we will eventually get it. Hopefully we get the Danish language.

While I have been lost, confused, exhausted, and walked more than I have ever walked in a month at IU I have been loving my time here and can’t wait to experience more of the city and of course more wienerbrød aka the Danish pastry.