Week 2 in Denmark!

I actually can't believe that it's already been two weeks since I got to Copenhagen! It has gone by so incredibly fast I know I need to make the most of every day while I'm here. Monday and Tuesday I just had class and did some homework in-between. I am starting to love all of my classes. Wednesdays we don't have class, so I met up with a new friend and we walked around the Botanical Gardens and then the Statens Museum for Kunst which is Denmark's national gallery of art! The museum is really cool with half older Danish and Nordic art and half Modern Art. Friday after class I met up with a few friends to get some lunch. We got delicious creamy asparagus soup in a bread bowl. That night after dinner, my host mom, her granddaughter, and my two roommates went to Borup Culture Night! It was so much fun. They closed down the main road, had a band, a horse drawn carriage, and food stands set up in the street! I had to go to sleep early because I woke up at 5:45am Saturday morning to go on a field trip for my Biology of Marine Mammals class.

Saturday morning bright and early, I met up with my class to take a two hour bus ride to the island of Fyn which is the smallest and most central island of Denmark. The first stop on our field trip was the Fjord & Bælt Centre which is a research and training center for seals and harbor porpoises. There were two baby seals and they were absolutely adorable! I could have watched them swim and play for hours. It was really cool to learn about what they're doing in regard to etiolation and hearing research.

After the Fjord & Bælt center, we drove 30 minutes to a place called Fyns Hoved at the northern part of the island to hike and look for wild harbor porpoises. The hike was absolutely beautiful! The water is a gorgeous bright blue color and there is a cliff at the end that has an incredible view. On the hike, we saw sheep, cows, and even some wild porpoises! 

While waking up early was kind of a pain, I would say that this was a pretty great Saturday. Today I'm just doing some homework, cleaning up my room and getting ready for next week at school. I can't wait to keep exploring all that Denmark has to offer! 

Love, 

The First Weekend!

I can't believe that it's already been a week since I got to Copenhagen! I have a feeling that this semester is going to fly by. Friday night was my first night out in the city but sadly didn't take any pictures. I just met up with Sally and the girls from her dorm and we went to a couple bars by DIS, so we ran into a few other kids from school!

Saturday afternoon I met up with them again and we went to the Islands Brygge. It's this docked off part of the canal where you can go swimming. We just so happened to get there as some sort of diving competition was going on! There was an announcer, DJ, and tons of people watching. It was so much fun. I was expecting the arctic tundra, so it was nice to have a warm and sunny weekend even though the water was absolutely freezing.

 After going swimming, we got some ice cream and walked along the water to Paper Island where they have all of the street food. This time I tried out the chicken tacos. They were delicious!

The beautiful Black Diamond library.

Today, all of the students in my homestay network plus our host families got together for a picnic in Roskilde which is two stops away from Borup on the train when heading into the city. We hung out on blankets, ate some lunch, and played disk golf! While I was not very good at it, it was really fun!

Unfortunately my host mom couldn't come so it was just my two roommates and I. I can't wait for this next week to get into a routine with my classes and continue to explore the city!

Love,

First Few Days in Copenhagen

After a wonderful week in Austria with my mom, on Saturday I was off to Copenhagen! I had an easy flight from Munich to Copenhagen with a short layover in Berlin. The Copenhagen airport was exactly what I expected; super sleek, clean, and stark white. Once I collected my bags and somehow made it through the airport and across the street to check in with DIS people, I met up with one of my roommates and we took the 30 minute taxi ride out to our homestay. Borup is this tiny little town consisting of a train station, small main street, four grocery stores, and vast farmland. On Saturday afternoon and Sunday we just unpacked, biked around the town to explore, and got ready for orientation Monday morning!

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were just orientation days for the 1,000+ American students dumped into the heart of Copenhagen. We explored the city, met kids who are living in a homestay around us, went to talks about the transportation system and arts and culture, and met with the other students in our core class. It was really nice to meet some other DIS students.

Thursday was the first day of classes! Luckily, one of my professors is currently on vacation to Sicily, so I only had one class in the afternoon. I went into the city early to explore around DIS and do some work for my Friday classes. For lunch, I met up with my two roommates and we took the bus to Papirøen which is a big warehouse on one of the canals filled with street food stands. There are chairs that you can set up by the water and picnic tables to sit outside. We tried smørrebørd which is a traditional Danish open-faced sandwich on rye bread. It was delicious!

I'm writing this ion my train back to Borup. I really liked both of my professors for today's classes which is making me super excited for the semester. I can't wait for my first full weekend in Copenhagen, but that will get its own post.

Love, 

The Hills are Alive

To say that I was excited for this day would be an understatement! The Sound of Music has been my favorite movie for as long as I can remember and we were FINALLY going to see all of the sites in Salzburg where the movie was filmed. The day started bright and early with a drive outsite the city to Castle Leopolskron which in the movie was the back of the house, the lake, and the outdoor gardens and to Castle Hellbrunn which in the movie was the gazebo, the front of the house, and the yellow wall where Maria sang Confidence.

Next up was a trip to Halstatt! Haltstatt is an adorable little town that wasn't featured in the movie, but definitely work the trip. The town in in the lake district of Austria and because it's so old, cars aren't allowed to drive into the city. In the catholic church in Halstatt is a bone house that has over 1200 skulls. As someone who wants to go into forensics, the bone house was one of my favorite parts of the day! On the way to Halstatt, we stopped to go down a summer toboggan! It was so much fun. We ate lunch on lake Wolfgansee where I had a pretzel, beer, bratwurst with mustard, potatoes, sauerkraut! It was delicious! 

After Halstatt, we headed to Mönsee to see the church where Maria and the Captain got married! It was just as beautiful as I remembered from the movie; so elegant and extremely detailed. The tour ended in Miralbell Gardens where multiple scenes of Do Re Mi were filmed! The castle and gardens are absolutely beautiful. I though that ending the tour here was perfect because it allowed us to walk back into the old town to see the second fountain where Maria sang and the Nonnberg Abbey. This was one of the best days ever. 

Love,