Getting Lost and Finding The Incredible

Tuck that napkin into your collar and make room in your stomach because this post is going to be a full course meal.

Well, I made it!

I'm in Copenhagen, and loving every single minute of it. These first three days have been a lot of exploring, meeting new people, and getting over jet lag, but none the less, exciting. The flights over here were painless. My friend from Wheaton, Lucy, and I made it over here with no problems. Although, it's not to say that we weren't freaking out thinking our luggage didn't make it with us. That was a very real concern.

But, we made it, luggage in hand, to DIS.

Day one was, thankfully, not very busy. I did a couple walking tours with the 30 other students living in the building I'm living in, which I am thankful to say, is right across the street from where I will taking my classes, perfect for rolling out of bed at 8:15 for an 8:30 class. I live on the top floor of my building, meaning there were four full flights of stairs to lug my 50lbs bag up. I share my room with two other DIS students, and our room overlooks the courtyard with a cute little partial balcony with French doors.

The rest of the day was spent getting to know the neighborhood I live in, finding some quality food (croissant ham-cheese sandwich toasted with lettuce and spinach), and trying desperately to stay awake at least until 9pm. I might have snuck in a couple power naps here and there. While my roommates and most of my building went out the first night on the town, I was asleep in my room at 10pm, after watching Disney's Tangled.

Day two was pretty much a free for all, we had another tour around our building and a scavenger hunt to explore Copenhagen more. After that, a group of us went out to eat for lunch and discovered a really good sandwich place right down the road, where I feasted on a club sandwich with chicken, spinach, lettuce, tomato and curry sauce.

We wrapped up the planned activities for the day around noon, leaving me a lot of time to wander around the city, and, much to no one's surprise, get pretty lost. But I discovered a lot yesterday, about my city, and about myself. One thing I discovered about Copenhagen is that it's not only easy to navigate without a device, but it's very easy to get hit by a bike (worry not, I haven't been hit yet). I had no trouble finding my way back to my building. Along the way I came across Christiansborg Slot and its beautiful polo field, Tivoli Gardens, a bunch of historical landmarks, and the iron man race. I was out walking for a couple hours, but had to cut my exploration short due the rain.

One thing I learned about myself, and if you know me this might come as a shock, but I like to travel and explore a lot on my own. I feel like I've been experiencing more, and noticing more than I do when I'm with a group. I feel like by doing so, I'm finding my place here in Copenhagen. I was out walking for a couple hours, but had to cut my exploration short due the rain.

That evening, I popped over to the store which is right around the corner from where I lived, and attempted to grab some groceries for myself. Probably the most difficult thing I've done so far. No one reading this blog should be surprised that I grabbed maybe three boxes of pasta and a loaf of bread.

Day three, which is today, consisted of our opening ceremony where everyone in the DIS program gathered together at the Danish Royal Academy of Music, a 20 minute walk from my building, for a warm welcome from the DIS staff, some basic Danish 101, and some interesting opera. Was I expecting the welcome? Yes. Was I expecting the opera? Nope.

I did a little more solo wandering today after the opening ceremony, wandering a little bit further in a different direction than yesterday. But, as I had discovered yesterday, Copenhagen is easy to navigate and I ended back up near Christiansborg Slot, which was much more lively today than it was yesterday. There were horses on the polo field, and guards posted around the building. Everything is beautiful here when the skies are blue.

The architecture, which is one of the main reasons I came here, is absolutely stunning. I can't even begin to describe to you the feeling, as someone who wants to practice architecture in the future, of seeing and experiencing all of Copenhagen's castles and unique city design. The ideas have been flooding my brain since the first time I stepped into the city.

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Tomorrow brings more DIS activities and more exploring. I found out from our RC that there are many public pools here in Copenhagen. Some of them are outdoor, some of them are indoor, but the ones I'm most excited for are the ones in the harbor called 'Harbor Pools'. Basically, they are areas of the harbor that are roped off by boardwalks for people to swim in. So, it looks like I'll be doing some ocean swimming in my future. Next week is supposed to be in the 70s and sunny, so I will make my Copenhagen swimming debut then.

The rest of the week is more orientation meetings here and there, and Thursday begins our first day of classes.

As I said before, I'll try to update the blog twice a week and let people know what I'm doing. As always, missing my people back home, and looking forward to another day.

Stay tuned!

Absolutely floating after my lunch spread of tomatoes, salami, and a peanut butter and honey sandwich,

Lilly