As I briefly mentioned in my first post, I am living in a Kollegium for my three weeks in Copenhagen. This means that I live with both DIS and Danish students! I was slightly nervous about being assigned this housing option, at first. However, I truly feel so lucky that I am able to live with locals, just like I did back in Stockholm with my host family.
Each Kollegium is a bit different. My flat is made up of four bedrooms and two bathrooms with a shared kitchen, dining table, and living room area. There are four DIS students split up into two rooms, and two Danes who each have their own room.
My favorite part of our flat is our balcony. I love being outside as much as possible. The balcony allows me to eat or do homework outdoors while not leaving my home! This is also where some people hang their laundry to dry, as you can see in the following picture!
My Kollegium, located in Frederiksberg, is only about 20 minutes with the metro to DIS! The area is very nice and feels very safe and comfortable. There are at least three grocery stores, a bakery, a couple take-out places, a gym, and a cute cafe all within a few blocks! Also, as I said, I love to be outdoors. I guess I got lucky because there are two beautiful parks only a couple minutes away. I’ve already had a few picnics in them, but I wish I had more time to walk around or go on runs to explore them further!
In just two weeks, I’ve become so close with my flatmates, and I’m already planning on visiting the American ones back in the states! The two Danes are also amazing. One is super busy studying medicine so we don’t see him much, but the other one hangs out with us all the time and we’ve already had two movie nights to show her classic American films (The Lizzie McGuire Movie and Bridesmaids, of course!). We also try to cook together as much as we can, but it’s usually difficult with our different schedules.
I love that I get to live with both DIS students and Danes. It’s the best of both worlds! I have friends to do touristy things with, go to class with every day, and who I can visit back in the States. But now, I also have friends who have taught me about the Danish culture and their daily life, who I can visit if I ever (hopefully) come back to Denmark. I’m so sad to already be leaving my flatmates in just a few short days, but I feel so lucky to have had such an amazing experience!