#and the whole added school activities were AMAZING building bonds with staff??? so fun?????

[kissucrose]

no because now i need to actually talk about it like. i love every pokémon game pokémon has been such a dear thing to me since BIRTH literally i came out the womb w a pikachu ive loved pokémon for as long back as i can remember. but no game has ever done it for me like POKÉMON VIOLET DUDE the last pokémon game i can genuinely admit to being invested in like i was with violet was LETS GO PIKACHU and let’s be so fr it ain’t even have a real narrative storyline like violet like this was a real EXPERIENCE and i would do anything to play that for the first time again

[myjourneymyworld-blog]

Re-adjusting

It seems so odd to be starting my semester. I have been planning this and finding way to fit it into my schedule for so long that it actually feels weird to have it all coming together. The weekend was a whirlwind of introductions full of names and faces I may never remember. I met DIS students in the airport both in Newark and Copenhagen; I also met DIS staff, locals, and my host family. My Host family is lovely. They are all very happy, welcoming, and interesting. I feel like I will learn a lot from each of them. The very quickly accepted me, and later my roommate, into their home... and their family. They told us about the area, took us to the grocery store, and made us delicious food. By Sunday night I felt I had adjusted to the time difference, the family, and maybe even the weather. I was happy to have had those two days to prepare before a busy week began.

           Monday was the start, and quite a start it was. We began with an opening ceremony. The ceremony was also the first time I got to go into the city of Copenhagen so it was a big day.

The Ceremony was held at the Cirkus building. The Cirkus building did in fact used to be a circus and beneath the floorboards is a pool that used to be used for seal shows. For now though the building is mostly used for dinner shows and as a dance club. History aside, it is a beautiful building. During the opening ceremony we met new people and learned about life as a Dane (are they really the happiest people?) We also got to listen to music by Chinah, a popular Danish band who recently won their equivalent of a Grammy for best up and coming group.

After the ceremony we had a DIScover Copenhagen tour. Now keep in mind that Denmark is rather cold and dark. And we are all new to the climate. So, as I'm sure you can imagine finishing all the stops on the scavenger hunt seemed like a bit of a stretch. However, we did get to see some really cool locations and learn about the history of those areas. We went to the Danish Parliament building and learned about the many fires Copenhagen has endured. Next we made our way to Nyhavn, which turns out was not on our specific tour but did allow us to document the beautiful houses and boats that are a Copenhagen archetype. Once redirected to where we were supposed to be we found the Queen’s Castle in Ameliaborg. It was a beautiful yet humble castle that I think does well at personifying Denmark as a whole. From there we picked up some free chai lattes and head to the Studentehuset. The student center for all students in Denmark. It is a very crowded and cozy building full of studying, drinking, and socializing students.  There is definitely some thing to be said about challenges as team bonding activities. By the end of the walking tour, the 4 of us that spent the day wandering lost together became pretty good friends.

 Tuesday was a lovely day where we were able to (for probably the only time this semester) sleep in a take a later train. We had a housing meeting that we didn’t have to get to until 11:40. The housing meeting was informative and it is nice that DIS takes time to make sure no one feels overwhelmed. That day also involved book pick up. Another DIS plus is no need to purchase textbooks; you simply pick them up from the library and bring them back in May. (Take a hint Tulane) Tuesday ended in perfect hygge fashion; we spent the evening reading by the first place in our pj’s and sweaters.

 Wednesday brought another early morning orientation. Today was all about the Core Course. I went to my orientation about Child development in Scandinavia and was able to learn a lot about what my program entails. However, it was extraordinarily long. When it was finally over I walked to Studentehuset to meet the other girls who had been there for a while. I had enough time to eat my apple before heading back to DIS for the facilities tours. We left the facilities tours to head back to our home in Hedehusene and get some homework (ugh!) done.

Thursday was the beginning of classes, for me however that meant another long day of orientation about my practicum site in a school with children 0-3. The plus side of a long day of orientation came in the form of free tea and muffins in a café full of board games. The Bastard Café is café open daily form 12-12 that is full (I mean FULL) of board games. Whatever you’re picturing right now, they have more than that. It was a really cool place that I look forward to revisiting in a context where I am more able to enjoy the games. After practicum the four of us once again all met up at the Studentehuset. There we talked about our first day and made plans for the weekend.  We also got distracted talking about the end of an amazing presidency and the start of a terrifying one. And finally made some plans for traveling Denmark together before realizing how late it had gotten and all rushing out to get home for dinner. Elsa and I had to take an added detour to recover Elsa ID card. The adventure brought us to a new part of Copenhagen we hadn’t seen with a lot to offer so it was worth the stress.

Friday was the start of my actual classes. My first class was Danish where I finally learned the correct way to pronounce the town I am living in. Throughout the rest of the day I attended my Gang Crime class, my Pop culture class, and figured out the lay out of the facilities. Everything at DIS is pretty wonderful. The classes and the professor seem really engaging and I am excited for the rest of the semester. For dinner we ate the national Dish of Denmark. Which also happens to be our Host mom’s favorite dish. It was really good, but I found it funny that it would be Denmark’s national dish when we all think of Denmark as being so healthy. The Dish was fried pork, and potatoes with parsley sauce and it is called stegt flæsk med persillesovs og kartofler. After dinner we took a much-needed rest before heading out for the night. Our first night out in Copenhagen consisted of buying drinks from the local grocery store, but forgetting a bottle opener (but don’t worry we found a way) then going to the student center and having a bottle of wine and chatting before heading over to A bar to dance. The discotek at A bar was really fun, the music was full on throwbacks of mostly American Pop music, although there were some Danish songs (or at least I assume they were.) we caught the 3:14 train home and struggled with getting our sore and cold feet to make it the whole mile back from the train station to our home in Hedehusene.