Blogs from Copenhagen, Region Hovedstaden, Denmark, Europe - page 59

So, this is it. My time in Denmark is over. I have spent my last days fervently trying to see sights and say goodbye to my favorite places. It is an extremely sad time for me. I think the thing I will miss the most is the people. You can travel the world, but you won’t know a culture unless you understand the people. Danes are blunt, loud, fun, and good-natured. They have a strong desire for everyone to be happy but put their own happiness above all else. And when individuals are happy with themselves, they project that to others. It’s a positive feedback cycle. As I was saying goodbye, I was talking to my friends about how we all had changed. One of my friends went through a radical transformation, but my transformation was ... read more

I saw a depressing movie in my cancer course and so many insecurities rushed to the forefront of my mind. Oftentimes, when I am frustrated, I make lists. I show the lists to no one and end my handwritten fury by ripping up the paper, crumbling it into a ball, and throwing it away. Because I am trying to find out more about myself, I was thinking, maybe I should keep these thoughts (at least sometimes) as a reminder that, while I try so hard to be optimistic and write about how much I am learning, I often find myself going in circles. I am going to copy the list down exactly as written, fragments. This is not easy for me to share: “I’m sad, dunno if I wanna be an oncologist, life changing decisions, want ... read more

Denmark, the country of socialist values, liberal ideas and an inherent notion that no one should think better of themselves. Copenhagen is the second stop on my trip visiting my friend Piet, a fellow traveller I met 5 years ago in Arequipa, Peru. I had the not so bright idea of cramming in as many museums as I could into one day, knowing that scandinavian prices, including museums, are more expensive and well, they were free on Wednesday. The museum list included the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Nationalmuseet and Statens Museum for Kunst. After reaching museum overload rather quickly into the first day, the only information I can really tell you is that the Danish Golden Age of art thrived like never before from 1800-1850. Bourgeouise yuppies enjoyed depicting their family life, the countryside, nude hussy ... read more

I am still becoming increasingly aware of my surroundings. I am glad the bug-eyes me has not disappeared. One thing I realized while here is that money is more common to discuss. My friends in the military tell me how much they make without me asking and the girls on the soccer team tell me their government allowance they receive while in school. I am not sure if they tell me to inform or just because it doesn’t matter, though it doesn’t seem like it does. I really like knowing though because it puts the prices on items into perspective. Students there can make anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000 dollars a month just for going to school. I really like the emphasis on getting a good education. Also, it is nice that no one feels ... read more

Home sweet home. I am still in Copenhagen, learning just as much about myself in one place as I can traveling all over. Funny how that works. Most recently, I realized something SI directors tried to tell me but I didn’t want to believe- I consistently get really excited about an idea or a future project and then have trouble following through on it. The problem is, I want to do so many things that I simply do not have the time and then I just randomly choose what should have a higher priority. There have been three separate things- giving my host family a calendar of my plans for the semester, going to a soccer game with my host brother, and going to Paris with my host sister that I have told each I ... read more