Quarterly Overview

As of now, I feel extremely comfortable in Copenhagen.  I've even started using my very minimal Danish with the storekeepers, such as "Hej" (Hi), "Tak" (Thank you) and "Ja" (Yes)...pretty impressive, isn't it?? Haha, actually my Danish class is going pretty well and I feel that I'm learning to recognize words very quickly now and can even read random billboards around town.  I'm just a little embarrassed about my pronunciation of the words since Danish words are pronounced nothing like they are spelled.

Other than the language, though, which is not a very significant barrier considering EVERYONE speaks English and is happy to switch into the language as soon as they see the blank look on your face, school is going very smoothly.  I've been meeting some really great friends, especially in my European Union class, which is great because that's the group I'm going to be traveling to Brussels and The Hague with in a few weeks!  My teacher just announced that we're even going to be able to stop in Amsterdam for the last day, which we are all VERY excited about!  However, this class still can't compare with my Hans Christian Andersen class, which I absolutely love!  Not only do we get to read tons of fairy tales, but we get to do such fun study tours.  For example, the other day our class went to Tivoli, which is a famous amusement park, and watched a pantomime of "The Tinderbox".

My kollegium, which I was having some trouble adjusting to in the first couple of weeks, now feels like home, and I know most of the people living in my sub-unit.  However, since DIK (Danmarks Internationale Kollegiet) is mostly a kollegium for international students (hence the name), I haven't had the chance to meet as many Danish people as I would like.  This is why I signed up for the Danish Visiting Family Program, which is set up for people who do not have direct interaction with the Danes (such as the Americans living in host families, with Danish roommates or in the Folkehojskole).

In this program, people living in a kollegium or DIS shared housing are assigned a Danish family with whom they can meet as often as they would like to do whatever they would like, such as have dinner together, travel around Denmark, etc. Since I signed up relatively late, I didn't have especially high hopes, but just the other day I received an email telling me I was matched with a family with two children of the ages 18 and 22!  We have been emailing to set up a time for me to go over to their house and have dinner, which I am very excited about!  Hopefully this way, I will get to experience Danish culture even more first-handedly!