Howdy! I’m Zach Wachtel, a Computer Science and Communications major at UNC. I’ll be spending six weeks in Copenhagen, taking two courses with DIS, and messing around as a summer writer.
“Copenhagen is as flat as a pancake.” 50% of people commute on bikes. The biking is extremely convenient but much less leisurely than America.
Honestly, I don’t really know what I’m doing. I’ve never been much of a planner, and I’ve never been out of my home country before. I wanted to travel to Europe to see another culture, trying to gain some insight on the world.
I’d always seen people say that Americans were so boxed into their own way of thinking and self-aggrandizing their own viewpoints and importance. I figure I was probably in that group, so I want to learn from other people’s perspectives to see where I fit in the world. I’m just a 20 year-old trying to get a grasp on myself. I think most people my age are similar, and I figured this kind of freedom could only help me gain some greater perspective.
I definitely don’t have a great plan here. I wanted to come to Denmark for the express reason that everyone speaks English, and I saw a video saying, “It’s like if Bernie Sanders was the President of the United States.” That was pretty much all I needed to hear. And with DIS providing me a few credits for my majors, I’m hoping this is gonna be a real fun summer. And apparently, according to every quote I’ve read about traveling, it’s going to make me smarter too. I don’t know too much about that, but new places always bring a new appreciation to the subtleties in my life. That’s another way of saying that I miss Chipotle and ice machines.
Sunset is about 10pm everyday. The grey buildings in the back are around 20 miles away.
As for this blog, I’m trying to become a better writer all-around. On my own time, I’ve only ever written sketches and screenplays, and I figured journaling would have to be a whole heck of a lot easier than that. I was sorely mistaken, as it has already proven to be more difficult than I first expected. I just hope to explore my voice a bit more through my own stories while studying abroad. I’d like anyone reading this to keep reading my blogs and see any progress.
I’ve lived here for a week now, and there aren’t enough words for me to describe all the differences between this city and my own, but trust me, I’m making note of each one. The transition to another country isn’t the easiest, but it is fun. I don’t know why I thought I’d fall in love within the first five days. I can’t even read the menus at restaurants. But it is a pretty cool country that I’m excited to see more of.
I found this missile. Isn’t it awesome??
My friends wanted me to have some sign-off message like that god-awful show Felicity, but I couldn’t think of anything cool, so I’ll just have a running counter of how many people have complimented my mustache.
Mustache Compliments: 5