ONE MONTH IN (and three months to go)!!! Although I am loving my time here, it is undeniable that everything seems to have a ticking clock attached to it. Although a semester feels like such a long time when you say goodbye to your friends and family, when you are actually in the middle of it, the time flies by WAYYYY too fast. Highlights of week four include Valentines Day, having a good friend from high school in town, a traditional Danish dinner and some really dope study tours!
Valentines
Celebrating the day of love (or capitalism) in social democratic Denmark, meant that the holiday was quite different. It’s hard to believe, but stores didn’t advertise expensive chocolate and overpriced cards, instead the country seemed to bypass the holiday like it was any other Tuesday. However, as someone who loves an excuse to do something special with friends, I still made sure our floor did a wine/painting/cheese night to celebrate! Also, there is no better way to celebrate anything, than with pizza, so I made sure to grab a slice (or an entire pie), with a friend earlier in the day!
Danish Dinner
On Wednesday, I went over to the family home of a Danish girl who lives on my floor for a fun dinner with her parents. Her parents cooked a traditional Danish meal (or converted Danish food to be vegetarian for me, because all Danes subside on is meat), and hosted us for a few hours!! I honestly don’t even know what most of the dishes they served us were, but they were delicious, and it was really nice to get the opportunity to get out of Kollegium life for a little bit and see more of Danish family life!
Maggie in town
About an hour after I returned back from Hamburg on Saturday, I met up with my high school friend Maggie, who is currently studying abroad in Madrid. It was bizarre, but SO fun to have her in the city, and it was exciting to show a friend around the place that has become my home. Highlights included a really good lunch at the Glass Market, exploring the botanical gardens (which I had never seen before), and walking around Nyhavn as it started to snow!
Wednesday Field Studies
I had two field studies on Wednesday, both of which were really cool. The first was a refugee lawyer who came in to give us a three hour seminar on international refugee law. I learned a lot about the actual qualifications to be a refugee as well as the Danish process for granting refugee status. A major plus also came in the form of class-provided cinnamon rolls from St. Pedar’s bakery (my FAVORITE). After that, I went to the Danish Parliament with a different class, to hear from one of the spokespeople for the Red-Green Alliance, the most left-wing party in the Danish Parliament. They are anti-EU and anti-capitalist, among other things, so hearing their perspective was really interesting, and different than what I am used to hearing from politicians in the US, especially in Arkansas. Overall, a busy but really intellectually fruitful day!
That’s all for this week! Hej hej.
--
Maya is a senior International Studies major, spending the spring 2018 semester in Denmark through DIS Study Abroad in Scandinavia.
Read more from Maya at travelingpapaya.wordpress.com
Don't miss your opportunity to study abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/.
Maya is a senior International Studies major, spending the spring 2018 semester in Denmark through DIS Study Abroad in Scandinavia.
Read more from Maya at travelingpapaya.wordpress.com
Don't miss your opportunity to study abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/.
