Tak for Copenhagen

Hi friends! It’s Friday night and I’m currently on the plane flying back to Copenhagen after an awesome week in Holland with my graphic design studio. It’s crazy to think that at this time two months ago, I was flying to Copenhagen for the first time, anxious to arrive at this unfamiliar new place. Now, I’m anxious to get “home.”

The past two months have really flown by. Copenhagen really does feel like a “home” to me now, as unbelievable as that is. I always thought that people were crazy or exaggerating when they said that studying abroad changes you, but it’s true. Adapting to an unfamiliar place isn’t easy and learning to be comfortable with the uncomfortable is something I know I’ll carry with me after this semester.

In Danish, “tak” means “thanks,” and because there isn’t a direct translation for the word “please,” people say “tak” much more than people say thanks at home. I just wanted to write a quick post about all the things and people I want to say “tak” to as I reach the halfway point in the semester.

Tak for friends

I am thankful for the friends I have made at DIS and my friends from Syracuse who I’ve become even closer with since arriving in Copenhagen. We have had so many laughs and fun times while exploring together.

Tak for host family

I am so thankful for my visiting host family. Helle and Johanne are so nice and I love hanging out with them. Johanne is the same age as my younger sister, Kyra, and she reminds me a lot of her. She shares many interests with me, like design, journalism and cooking, so it couldn’t be a more perfect match. They make me feel so welcome and at home when I spend time with them. A couple weeks ago, they took me to the most amazing sushi restaurant and I had a great time trying their favorite kinds of sushi and talking about the differences between Danish and American culture. I’m usually a little bit picky when it comes to sushi but I trusted their judgment and while I still have no idea what I ate, it was all so good. We are currently trying to plan a weekend for me to visit them at their house and I’m very excited!!

Me and Johanne at dinner

Definitely the best sushi I’ve ever had

Tak for beautiful weather

All the Danes have been warning us that it hasn’t been normal, but we had beautiful weather all the way into October. I only had to get out my scarves and warmer jacket about two weeks ago. I’m glad I waited to plan trips until later in the semester, because the weather has been too perfect to miss out on being outside and exploring around here. A few weeks ago, a few friends and I rented a Go-Boat and we got to sail around the harbor with wine and snacks for two hours on a Sunday evening. With sweaters and blankets, it was absolutely perfect. So hygge. Also, tak for Anya, the real MVP of the day. She drove the boat the whole time and we were ALL thankful for her!!

Tak for food

I’m not totally in love with all Danish food yet (it’s a often bit too much meat and fish heavy for me), but I have found so many cute cafes and bakeries that I love to hang out in. I’m thankful for Danish brunches and pastries, GRØD, and of course, Wednesday snails. So basically, I have a thing for breakfast food and I’m thankful that I get to try all these wonderful things with my friends.

Brunch at Paludan

Coffee Collective & Meyers Bageri

I love porridge.

 

Tak for design studio

I love my DIS design studio course. It’s a wonderful group of people and our professor, Jeanette, is the best. We finished up project one, and got to do formal presentations for a panel of student and professors. The process was slightly stressful, but getting to present in a more formal way felt much more rewarding and like we were doing something bigger than just a school assignment. And there was no better way to celebrate finishing assignment one than taking our long study tour to Holland! I am thankful that DIS has such a cool program and that we got to see so much in our week-long trip to Amsterdam and Rotterdam. (Another post about this trip will be coming soon!)

Graphic design studio and foundations students outside the EYE Film museum in Amsterdam

Me with my humongous presentation board!

Tak for travel

I am thankful that I have the opportunity to travel while I am here. My main goal is to experience as much of Copenhagen as possible of course, but I am happy that I have some time to travel to other nearby European cities that I would probably not go to otherwise. Planning these trips has been more challenging than I realized, and it’s also making me realize how short a semester is, but I am really excited about the places I am going to visit. In two weeks, I have a travel break and I’ll be going to Stockholm, Sweden and then Nice, France for the week. I’m also hoping to make it to Norway and Germany before the semester ends.

Tak for home

I am thankful to have so many people supporting me from home. I miss my family so much and I’m thankful that they let me move to another country for a few months. I’m so excited for them to visit me here next month. I am also thankful for my boyfriend Brett, who is the best and most supportive friend in the world, even though we’re spending 5 months apart. Shoutouts to modern technology for making staying in touch so easy.

Ellie fell asleep during our FaceTime date…

Tak for Copenhagen

I couldn’t have picked a better country to study abroad. I love Copenhagen and the experience I am having here. Thank you, Copenhagen, for being such a beautiful and wonderful city and for being a great home for the past two months.

Here’s a gif I made that was inspired by Nyhavn, my favorite place in Copenhagen

Tak for reading and tak for your patience between my posts this week. It’s been a little bit busy!

 

Feeling far away

I had a really good week that ended with some really sad news. On Sunday afternoon, I received word from my mom that my parents had made the very tough decision to put down our dog, Ginger.

Ginger was a 13-year-old jack russell terrier. We got her when I was in second grade, so she’s been around for almost as long as I can remember. She was a little dog with a big personality and just about everyone loved her. She had been slowing down a lot recently, and was suffering from some sort of eye problem, which was why my parents took her into the vet. Her eye would’ve required surgery but there was no guarantee that that would even help or prevent the problem from recurring. It was a tough decision for my parents, but I’m glad that little Ginger isn’t in pain anymore. I just hope there’s bottomless food and lots of comfy couches up in doggy heaven.

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Receiving the news from so far away was really difficult for me. I saw Ginger on FaceTime just the other day, but I wish I got a better goodbye. I can’t imagine my home in Virginia without the sound of Ginger’s paws pitter-pattering around on our hardwood floors or watching movies without Ginger trying to steal my popcorn. In some ways, being far away from home makes it easier, because I don’t have to feel what home is like without Ginger just yet, but it’s also harder to be thousands of miles away from my friends and family at home who are also missing Ginger right now. I’ve been so busy in Copenhagen that I don’t usually have time to feel homesick or think too much about the distance or time difference, but this experience has made me feel very far away.

Ginger was such an important part of my life, and although I wish I could be home with my family, I know that there would have been no easy way to deal with losing her. So at the end of the day, I’m very grateful for all the support I’ve received from everyone at home and from my new friends here at DIS. I was able to FaceTime with my parents for almost two hours yesterday, and tonight my floor had our weekly family dinner, which I cooked, so I got to share my favorite comfort food from home with my friends here and it was a really nice night.

Thank you for reading and thank you to my little Ginger for being a fun and spunky part of the family for past 13 years.