confidence and classes

(note the small children in onesie snowsuits in this one, in the square by my school DIS)




day four? i am still figuring things out— like the best use of my three-hour break between classes and the fastest way to get to the train station— but i'm feeling a lot more confident than i did when i first arrived. i know that i'd rather wander around and explore the city on my own than cautiously stay at school with some acquaintances. the orientation activities and act of getting to know new classmates reminds me a lot of the beginning of college, but i definitely feel more sure of myself, where i'm going, and what i enjoy than when i did this two and half years ago. and instead of diving head-first into a jumble of activities and extracurriculars like i usually do, i think i'm going to take advantage of my ample free time this semester and try to relax, explore, and try new things. i have gotten lost several times here, but i've now adopted the attitude of being lost with a purpose: being lost in a foreign city is a great way to explore it. i'm going to embrace that and try to get to know the side-streets on my own. in general my navigation and map-reading skills have been improving rapidly since i've been here!

i ventured north, past my usual train station nørreport, this afternoon. i think i made it to "the lakes" that once served as a sort of moat around the old city (but they could be giant ponds that just weren't on the map...i'm not quite sure.) it was really pleasant and i wish i could have stayed longer, but without gloves or a hat i was beginning to shake a little. citywalking will just get even better as denmark becomes warmer and the days get longer this spring. on my way back i found rizraz, a veggie mediterranean restaurant that i'd heard about, which was a pleasant surprise.

i think classes will be really good. i had my core course, cross-cultural encounters (relating to migration) in a european context, this morning. the professor is a young danish man who is completely fluent and really funny in english. i was surprised and impressed that he knew pretty much everyone's name by the end of class! in contrast to goucher and most american universities, many of the instructors here actually hold full-time jobs in their respective fields and just come to teach a class or two here. they are generally not professors who hold phds but experts in the "real world" application of knowledge. i think that it's a good system. i also had my history of copenhagen class, which seems like it will be a real treat. i've never taken an urban studies class but i would have liked to if goucher offered them. we will be learning about the morphology of the city from its beginnings as a medieval merchant's town to today's cosmopolitan capital. i can't wait! i also took danish this afternoon, which also seems like it will be unique, refreshing and challenging. i'm still completely boggled as to how to pronounce anything in danish, but hopefully i will conquer this by the time the semester is over. i like to practice in the 20-minute walk to and from the train station every day, although this probably makes me look a little crazy as i mutter to myself.

DIS (still not 100% sure if it’s denmark’s international study program or danish institute for study, because i swear i’ve seen both!), is awesome. they have been doing it for 50 years so they've really got their stuff together. we got free soup on our scavenger hunt, free bags at orientation, free entrance to a club tomorrow night...of course our tuition pays for it but they put the money to good use (and lord knows money can be tight here...i'm still in shock over some prices!) their facilities are amazing. dis owns a few buildings in the heart of the old city, literally a few minutes' walk from the biggest squares and grandest palaces, which makes it a real pleasure to walk around between classes. the buildings themselves can be kind of labyrinth-like but are really quite charming. i think they were built around 1790, in the neoclassical style, like much of the area around us.