Living in a new culture and trying to understand or spot differences in ways of doing simple things has been an important part of reflecting on my everyday experiences. Below is a list of some preconceived notions prior to my arrival, their transformations as well as things I hadn’t thought about prior to my arrival and their specialness through my eyes.
- When I thought of Denmark before coming I imagined Nyhavn as a central and mainstream location, where most people come to hang out. I understand this is a very silo-ed view of Denmark, which is why I am so happy to understand the general makeup of the country as a whole.
- While it is very bustling, beautiful and probably a wonderful place to hang out in warmer months [ i.e. summer] — it is not my favorite place to hang out. I have enjoyed exploring the “burrows” of Copenhagen, also called neighborhoods; and finding small coffee shops which are hopping with few foreigners and a vast amount of Danes.
- “I should probably make a budget section special to paying for bathrooms”
- I’ve been to Europe before with my family and a summer Archaeology Dig (via Ohio State University) so I knew about street bathrooms that require a fee. I was semi-worried about paying for something that is more or less a publicly given right in the United States. Luckily, I’ve been able to strategically plan my needs along with wanderings and find myself in coffee shops or nearby DIS buildings when nature calls.
- Goals for semester before arriving in Denmark: TRAVEL as much and as widespread as possible
- new goals; understand the culture beyond the “tourist’s perspective”, travel where possible (loads of study breaks) but also make time to explore Denmark in general, stay in my homestay/CPH area enough to feel like a local and part of my host family
- The arrangement and set up of streets is very strategically planned to be biker friendly or pedestrian friendly or both.
- Many places/streets are set up by those guidelines (much more than most large cities in the United States). As far as car usage, due to the fact I live in a suburb of Copenhagen, cars are a main form of transportation. Also through my Core Course Study Tour we were able to explore different neighborhoods and determine that not every place in Denmark (even very urban neighborhoods) focus on the biker/pedestrian culture. This means that many places are very unsafe to bike in, or require much more attentive navigation and much more understanding of one’s surroundings.
- As such a green country the way they reuse things must be SO innovative and utilize new ways to “be green”
- not quite. Yes, Denmark is very green, they have many Wind Turbines, very windy country. Things I saw as “basic” are not quite so basic. Recycling of bottles, paper, and cardboard is much trickier than expected and selective on terms of where to recycle and which bottles can be recycled– and normal paper is not recycled.
- “only bring simple, black and neutral clothing”
- NOT TRUE. the moment I got here I longed for my Pink Doc Martens and ended up having my mom [ thanks mom] send them to me. Bring clothes you like and be okay with re-wearing things a few times between washing. Also, comfy shoes are #1 essential item.