Name: Emma Cripe
Home University: Northwestern University
Summer Session 2 Course: Emerging Markets
Summer Session 3 Course: Windmills Constructed: Energy in Scandinavia
I can’t believe I arrived in Denmark 4 weeks ago! It’s crazy how fast the time has gone. I think back to my first few days when I didn’t know how to pronounce the names of the Metro stops, or how to get to DIS from the Metro; now I can say all 8 stops to DIS from my kollegium and I’ve found many routes to class! The first few days were overwhelming, but not it all feels so normal and right! Returning from my study tour and then shortly after a weekend trip to Norway, I felt like I was returning home. I no longer felt like a tourist on the Metro with my suitcase, but rather like someone who lives here returning from vacation. Copenhagen has definitely felt more like home each and every day that passes.
In the past few weeks, I’ve done most of the tourist attractions that were on my bucket list. My most recent a climb up the Church of Our Saviour’s spiral for a great view of the city and a trip to Frederiskborg Castle (which I wish could be my new Danish summer home!)
In the next few weeks, I’m looking to explore more of the neighborhoods of Copenhagen, go to the beach, and find different cafes and parks to hang out at, since I’ve almost finished all of the tourist things. It feels like I’m in that weird transition state between tourist and not quite a local (although a lot more people try to speak Danish to me), but I’m hoping these next few weeks I can try to live more like the local Copenhageners. After class I’ve been going to cafés around DIS to do my readings for class and to try to feel more like a local, and I hope to continue this for the next few weeks as well. My goal for the next three weeks is to become more immersed and cherish the short time that I have left in this country that’s becoming a second home!