A Farewell to Abroad

*Haha see what I did there? Like Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms…eh? Clever, huh?

My last week in Copenhagen flew by. Luckily, I did not have any finals left so I was free as a bird!

Saturday was glorious: we chilled in the park…grabbed gelato & hotdogs…went to Superkilen & ended our day at Paper Island.

On Sunday, Lauren & me woke up to see the sunrise at Amagerstrand (beach). Then Jenn & I went to Café Flottenheimer for one of my last Danish brunches – truly magical! She & I then strolled around and shopped for a bit.

Monday, people from my floor and I chilled with beers by Nyhavn to enjoy the sunshine. Afterwards, I went to the Copenhagen Contemporary.

Later in the week, Lauren & I went around Rosenborg Castle to see the crown jewels.

On Friday, my last full day with my fellow DIS students, Danielle & I hung out by Nyhavn after having breakfast at the Glass Market. It was just a lovely day, and I am so glad I got to spend it outside with friends.

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Early Saturday morning I departed for Malta. I would first fly to Munich and have a four hour layover, then continue onto Malta – flying over the Alps, Venice, & Capri (probably the prettiest flight I’ve been on).

Malta, for Melissa & me, was a bit underwhelming ahah, in that it was not as sunny or warm as anticipated. Sad for us, but we made the best of it.

Sunday: We were recommended this fish market in Marsaxlokk and this restaurant, 3 Sisters. We also ventured out to Peter’s Pool. Afterwards, we strolled around Valletta then finally bussed back to St. Julian’s to get ready for dinner.

To get to Peter’s Pool, you have to take a boat over or take on a rocky 35 minute walk there and through a factory. We were on the fence, but opted for the boat as this smooth 10 year old (I’m sure – I asked) convinced us that it would be worth it. She said we would have an hour there…false! We did not. We got off the boat for about five minutes & then hopped right back on the boat. Mel & I just thought ‘we were conned’! While we were joking, we were a bit serious at the same time!

After dinner, we popped up to the hostel’s bar & then we were told to venture to Paceville for a taste of the club scene – but shocker (not) it was not poppin…once again we were conned!

We joked that Malta has a very good marketing team since nearly every activity we planned encountered unexpected bumps in the road.

So when you can’t go clubbing, opt for gelato instead! Like we did 🙂

Monday: We planned to go to the island, Comino to see the legendary Blue Lagoon (not to be confused with the one in Iceland). To get to where the ferry departed, we had to take a winding bus ride which would take an hour. After being very confused (asking 4 people) about which bus stop was correct, we were finally on our merry way.

It was so blue! Lots of tourists, but I can for sure see the appeal. Because there was a lack of sun, I did not dip into the clear blue water 😦 What Mel & I did do, though, was get these giant pineapple cocktails! Very tasty & then we grabbed a water taxi to the smaller island across the lagoon – much less crowded.

(Back in St. Julian’s) Seeing as it was the day before my birthday, we grabbed a romantic dinner by the water ahha. Afterwards, we drank prosecco on a rooftop & Mel surprised me by ordering a slice of birthday cake for me – complete with candle & all! 😀

*Funny side note: the waitress only spoke Italian to us…meanwhile Mel is acting like she understands every word

May 16 – my 21st birthday!

My early flight (6:30am!) stopped through Frankfurt; the Germans are very efficient. When I was still looking at the connecting flights board (long after everyone had left), an employee came up to me asking if I needed assistance! Also, all the employees wear tags that have the flag of the language they speak – super convenient!

For my birthday, we went to an Italian restaurant called, Scarpetta.  Lovely time, and then we were going to try Escape the Room – which I have done before with my class. We went to Clocked In, and we did not escape in time but it was fun anyway!

May 17

Unlike the previous chilly, misty day today was gorgeous! Very warm and bright out.

We started the day off at Luna’s Diner (which was super yummy) and then took a train out to see this garden in Chartlottenlund. Afterwards we decided to go exploring…

There is this art installation/treasure hunt called the 6 Forgotten Giants. It is so cool – there are 6 giant wooden statues scattered throughout the greater Copenhagen area with no real address so it is up to you to find them! I mean you are given the general area for where they are, but other than that good luck!

I am so happy that my very last day in CPH was a sunny and happy one – it is surreal that these past four months even happened at all. I will cherish the memories I made with the people I met, and I will carry these valuable experiences with me always.

It has been grand, folks. Vi ses.

Chloe xx

1 more week in KBH

May 13th is when I will depart from Copenhagen & travel to Malta with a friend. It is unreal how fast the semester has flown by, though.

I remember arriving on my first day here & seeing snow fall right outside my window – I couldn’t believe I’d be living here for the next couple of months. Then, maybe a month in, I would think: wow, I’ve been living here for a while now…

Fast forward to last week & I didn’t even think about how I’ve come to call this my home.

Here is a recap of what went down this week: 

May 1

It was worker’s day – a holiday in DK! There is this one park that everyone flocks to. We, of course, had to join in the festivities. There was music, drinking, and sunshine – a great recipe for hanging out in the park with friends.

May 2

After taking my final for advertising & surviving my Danish oral exam, I joined other DIS videographers, photographers, & bloggers for the end of the semester media screening & dinner. It was super fun to see all the hard work that everyone had been doing all semester.

We got champagne before moving to the restaurant & I even won a raffle of caramel candies wee!

I was so happy to try Väkst because I had bookmarked it on Yelp. It was a 3-course meal with two different wines – simply spectacular. It was a great time spent with other creative people.

*I also booked a trip to Malta with my friend, Melissa! Need to book accommodations now…

May 3

After dining at Union Kitchen with two friends, we headed on to see Hamlet’s Castle (Kronborg Castle). It was beautiful right on the water & such a wonderfully sunny day! We indulged in a bit of soft serve.

We also met this very lively American woman, named Holly (she added me on FB)…what a character. Luckily though, she informed us that the queen of Denmark would be sailing by & the guards would be shooting off canons as a salute. THANK YOU HOLLY! Later on we found out that this only happens once a year! We picked a good day to go.

We actually saw her from the boat because while a band played for her on shore, she got off into a waiting vehicle.

What a day.

May 4

After my last journalism class (sad) our floor had planned one more group activity (free for us! – thanks DIS). We would do GoBoats for 1 hour and then head to Tivoli.

Although it wasn’t sunny, at least it wasn’t freezing cold out on the water. We even made an adventurous pit stop at Paper Island for their legendary mojitos! Shoutout to Will for grabbing them for us.

Then, at Tivoli we rode the swings – such a great view of the city! Afterwards, we went to Wagamama – an Asian restaurant, where I got chicken ramen.

Up next…

I still need to walk up the Golden Spiral here and go to Rosenborg Castle – there is one more weekend here, though! Let’s get it 😀

Have a great week to all!

Vi ses, xo

Jeg plejer…

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Sunny Nyhavn (new harbor)

Hiya there friends. Long time no post…shame on me. The semester is actually, slowly but surely, coming to a close – ah say it ain’t so!

It’s crazy how time flew, especially after spring break – during which I stayed in Copenhagen instead of traveling because flights were too expensive.

There are two things that I won’t miss about Copenhagen though.

  1. The damn cobble stones that make me trip everywhere I go
  2. The cold that lasts well into late April…I just want some warmth, man

I’ll talk a bit about what I did during my spring break in chilly CPH. I’d say the most notable thing was my friend & me going to Carlsberg brewery on Easter Sunday. Hey, it was open & nothing else was – it had been our Cope to do list too!

You get 2 free beers with your entrance pass and we got to ride in a horse pulled carriage! What a day.

Oh, & I had also visited the Louisiana, a modern art museum, one rainy afternoon!

As the semester winds down, group presentations have been increasing. Luckily, I have one down & 2 more to go! I also have my Danish oral exam next Tuesday – wish me luck.

This past weekend, I went to Tivoli Gardens (one of the world’s oldest amusement parks!) for the first time! I also had a really nice little get together with people from my Core Course on Saturday night…gonna miss those kids!

Tivoli was so pretty all lit up at night. It was a clear sky, but, of course, too chilly to want to stay there the whole night. I went on 5 rides – I think?

Story time: as my videography group (we were at Tivoli to get night shots) is waiting to get on our first roller coaster…it suddenly starts going. My whole group leaps into action & gets on while I’m frozen back on the platform & yell that I’ll get on the next one.

So as I’m waiting in the roller coaster seat this little 5 year old Danish girl comes up to me & asks to sit next to me (in Danish). I smile & nod – still can’t speak Danish, folks!

So on certain rides they take pictures of you at a point on the ride…at the end we all look at the photo they took of me & this little girl.

The photo is absolutely hilarious. I look petrified on this ride; you can see the terror on my face. Then, when you look at the little girl she looks so unamused it is ridiculous. The contrast between her and me is simply priceless.

Good times…anyway I’m going to try and relish in my last few fleeting weeks here in Denmark. Goodbyes are always hard </3

-CK

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Tivoli at night

Spring in CPH

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Good morning, early morning Copenhagen! So this will be a mini post, as not much has been outrageously exciting since London haha!

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It’s weird that the semester is practically winding down – I blinked & it was gone!

For two classes of mine, we’re beginning to work on our final group projects. Besides that, I’ve been trying to hit up the gym as often as I can while volunteering at Studenterhuset as a barista.

I have even still been applying to a bunch of summer internships…with little luck. I will persevere, though!

I have two Netflix recommendations for you guys (yes, I am abroad but not every second is a wild adventure – disappointing, I know).

#1 Amy Schumer’s The Leather Special – raunchy & hilarious

#2 The 2nd season of Chewing Gum (a UK show) – truly a bright spot of my day…my cheek bones hurt from laughing

As for my DIS videography team, we have stopped shooting footage and are moving on to the editing process. This is very exciting; I just hope that it will turn out as good as we have hoped.

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So these have just been some photos of CPH that I’ve snapped while walking around. The (still sparse) Danish sun has been the most wonderful thing to grace this city.

Starting April 12th, I will be on spring break, but I’ll be staying in Cope. Fingers crossed that the sun makes an appearance or two!

Vi ses (see you!)

London Calling

March 19 @ 8 am – listening to ‘London Calling’ by The Clash

Travel week two has arrived! For this whole week I would be traveling with my core course class, strategic communication, to London. I cannot tell you how excited I was. I had heard that London is pretty similar to NY & I was pumped to experience this world class city.

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After popping over to the UK (& waiting in the long border control line) we settled into our hotel in Kensington before setting off to ride the London Eye.

*Just 3 days later the attack on Westminster happened. We were so lucky not to be near there at the time. It was shocking to hear from my friend who got a news notification on his phone. So sad to hear about these acts. Nowhere is safe, but I think London is a resilient city & they did not let this hinder their daily routines. The families affected are in my thoughts.

We then had dinner as a group at a Turkish restaurant – so yummy! Three others and I popped into a pub at night to embrace the English way.

Monday: Our first scheduled visit was to Wimbeldon. Seeing as I played tennis in high school and I’ve been to the US Open, I was beyond ready to see Wimbeldon. It was incredible hearing about growing the grass and their seating lottery. We also had a very funny guide. I got myself a strawberry mug (strawberries n cream hello!?) with a Wimbeldon logo on it – I couldn’t resist.

Afterwards, we got fish n chips (classic) and then went to The Guardian. It was awesome to hear about their analytics and coverage…so shoutout to The Guardian – I’ll need a job in a year, hit me up!

With the rest of the day free, some classmates & I hit up Topshop (their flagship store!) & Primark. My one friend and I also decided to test out the London night life. We had heard this place called Mahiki is lit on Mondays…little did we know Drake would be in the same club later! Crazy times guys.

Tuesday: We had the first half of the day to ourselves so three others and I had a long list of activities to cross off. We started off at Buckingham Palace, strolled through Hyde Park, popped over to Camden Market, visited Abbey Road, and then took pics at Harry Potter’s platform 9 & 3/4!

We then had to meet our class to participate in a public speaking workshop before seeing Les Mis! I had never seen it before, but I am glad I got to experience London’s theatre scene!

Wednesday: We had one activity in the morning. We talked to the Comms&Marketing department at QBE, an insurance company.

After that, though, we trekked through the rain to see the Tower of London! Once done with that, we walked over the London Bridge to eat lunch at Borough Market. The English are apparently big fans of markets…but hey I’m not complaining. They’re excellent!

The Tate Modern was really close so we went to check that modern art museum out. Plus, it is free!! Check it out if you can – very cool pieces.

Thursday: Off to Windsor Castle & Oxford we go! I think I enjoyed Oxford more than Windsor to be honest. It is a quaint town with lots of history. While there, I of course had to buy an Oxford University sweatshirt – pretending I’m a scholar, ya know.

For dinner, two friends and I traveled to Shoreditch once back in London. Box Park is another modern market where we got sushi and falafel. So. Good.

Our main goal though was to try a dessert place. A friend had found these AMAZING milkshakes on instagram, so we had to try them! Look at them! MASSIVE. We got chocolate, matcha, & strawberry. We also made some English friends who asked us about the Cheesecake Factory (too funny) & Trump (a true horror).

Check out Soft Serve Society if you’re in the area.

Friday: Our final day in London came all too quickly. We had two guest speakers talk to us. One worked in government communications which was fascinating to hear about, and the other speaker was a very inspiring author. Both amazing!

Our final activity was high tea at Fortnum & Mason. It was delicious not going to lie – I think I could live off scones & clotted cream. The server was not the best, though. In fact, he was quite rude & I did not appreciate the service. I did not want to stay, which was sad because he ruined a great experience!

Oh well. And with a blink of an eye, it was time to go back to Copenhagen.

Thank you, London! I had a wonderful time & I’ll be back 🙂 xo

-Chloe

Belgium: Brussels & Bruges

March 10-14

My friend Mary & me did not have much down time in Copenhagen before catching a flight to Belgium. We actually stayed in an Air BnB; it was my first time and quite nice!

The first day there, we took an hour train ride to Bruges. We got so lucky while there…the whole weekend was warm & sunny – yessss!

We wandered around the small, sleepy town….grabbed delicious Belgian waffles & fries…we took a boat tour (the tour guide switched between Flemish, English & French – so impressive), and went to the French fry museum – not kidding.

Such a lovely town. I highly recommend going 🙂

Brussels

While there, I got to utilize my minimal French skills, but not gonna lie I was impressed with myself. There is undoubtedly room for improvement, though ahah. I probably said only 20 French words the whole time. Better than nothing.

We spent our time strolling bright Brussels. Our schedule was essentially eat, sit, then eat some more.

We saw the square, a chocolate museum, and the famous Delirium (a bar with an obscene amount of beers on tap).

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Belgium. I think if I were to go back soon I would want to check out Ghent.

It was so much fun! Strolling through a sunny city can be quite peaceful, actually. Bisous!

In between

So this post is a quick blip of my time in Copenhagen between travel break one, Belgium (coming soon!), and travel break two (which will be up shortly after Belgium). As you can tell, I’m trying to catch up as time has just been flying by.

Spring is slowly awakening Copenhagen & it is fantastic. Oh how I have missed the sun.

My friend also came to visit so I saw her for a day, which was really nice.

I took her to do all the touristy things, of course. We also popped into a pie shop on pi day! What a coincidence. We also walked up the Round Tower on this gloriously sunny day. Just lovely.

Before setting off to London for travel break two, some people on my floor & I went out. There is this place called War Pigs which I had been meaning to try…they sell American BBQ and beer. I’ll just have to go back to try their hushpuppies haha!

Hope you guys enjoyed seeing a bit more of Copenhagen again!

Vi ses

Our Scotland & Iceland Expedition

* This is so late, many apologies.

Wakey wakey! 4:30 am wake up call to get our butts to the airport for our trip to Scotland!

So my friend, Mary, and I spent our first travel break exploring Scotland (Edinburgh & the Isle of Skye) and Iceland (Reykjavik). It was a great trip so I’m happy to share with you all that happened. It’ll be a rather lengthy post so grab some tea & nestle in…

*If you want to see more photos check out this page

I will start with our first official day in Scotland. We (me & 2 others) woke up early enough to see the sunrise for our bus tour to Glen Coe, Loch Ness, & a whiskey tasting at Deanston Distillery. We even got to taste more because their ’till’ was broken so they felt bad for making us wait longer.

We thought we would do the whiskey tasting last…nope! 10 am we were having some scotch – it woke us up.

Next up, to Glen Coe we go! With our tour guide Ryan. Glen Coe is amazing. Even though it was pouring the scenery was unreal. So mountainous Scotland is!

Our last stop was to go on a Loch Ness cruise. I found out that it is essentially like a giant bath tub (always keeping temperature) so even in the summer it is still freezing cold!

Monday: We woke up to go have breakfast at the Elephant House, which is where J.K. Rowling apparently came up with the idea for Harry Potter!! After our yummy food, we explored the near by graveyard because Rowling used a name off a tomb in Harry Potter…the name was ‘Tom Riddle.’

Our next stop: climbing Arthur’s Seat! It was a fabulous day with lots of sunshine, but man that was a bit of a hike.

The views were well worth it, though! Afterwards we did a little window shopping (we’re on a budget here people, but don’t get me wrong if I could’ve I would’ve bought everything in Topshop!).

Tuesday is when things start to get interesting…and this is when Mary & me depart from the other two girls we were with. The plan was to take a six hour train ride and then hop on a ferry to the Isle of Skye in northwest Scotland.

The train ride up through the highlands was magnificent. I like train rides usually, but to make it even better the train went over the famous bridge featured in the Harry Potter movie! :O It was, as you say, like a movie….hahaha.

But lo and behold, when we got off the train in Mallaig & happily sauntered off to catch the ferry, we realized that it closes at 4 pm. And guess what. It was almost 6 pm. In a frenzy, we set off to see if we could ask people if there was another way to get to Skye.

Thankfully, we ran into two train attendants at the grocery store who tried to assist us. One went to check if there was a bus going there from Fort William (we would have to get back on the train), but there wasn’t.

In a team effort, he tried to call his buddy in Fort William to see how much a taxi would cost while Mary and I went to a bed n breakfast to see how much a room would cost.

The verdict: we would be staying at the b&b for 30 pounds for each of us versus 140 pounds to catch a taxi from Fort William.

Yay for overcoming obstacles! The next morning we set off to actually catch the ferry…& then a ‘bus’ which was more like a van, really.

We finally arrive to our hostel and look a hearse! Our hostel was actually right next to a funeral home – how cozy!

So this part of the leg really taught me to plan ahead in the future! The island was a lot bigger than expected and we weren’t exactly in the correct town to see the iconic fairy pools or Old Man Storr.

We did attempt to catch one of their public ‘buses’, but it never came – even 20 minutes after the scheduled time. Luckily, while we were waiting, two nice Scottish hikers told us that there was a short trail near by. So that is just what we did! We even saw a rainbow during our little excursion.

After our hike, we met the second Scot who saved our asses! Because we missed the bus earlier, we figured we’d go into the public library & ask before our ferry back to Mallaig in the morning (which would leave at 9:25 am). We could not afford to miss one of two ferries to take the train back to Edinburgh.

This woman, Espeth, heard our woes & all of a sudden (with her cute pup by her side) said, “You know what I’ll just drive you girls!” Of course in her endearing Scottish accent.

Mind you, we also had two other librarians trying to assist us before Espeth’s offer. We were shocked, but she insisted and then we all exchanged numbers. She said she would pick us up at 8:45 & then we skipped off eternally grateful for the Scottish saving our butts again!

Side note: Espeth heard about our hostel situation & commented, “well one thing is for sure: they won’t wake you up & you won’t wake them up!”

So…being in Broadford there wasn’t a whole lot to do! With that being said, we made an event about going to their one cute café in town called Café Sia. Mary brought her laptop and ordered tea…I got beer – but we both enjoyed our own personal pizzas! We tried to extend our time there as we weren’t exactly eager to head back to our hostel next to the funeral home.

Before heading back to our hostel though, we stopped by to get Espeth’s chocolates for her kind offer (even though she deserved much more!).

Once in our hostel room, though, we met this awesome hitchhiker from Portugal. He told us some wild stories and it is for this reason only that I enjoy staying in hostels!

The next day we faced yet another hurdle: what to do in Mallaig for six hours till our train departs.

Saved yet again by helpful Scots(!), we got on an earlier train to Fort William, which has much more going on than Mallaig! (Although a very pleasant seaside town)

While in Fort William we walked along a bit of the Great Glen Way, explored the town, and enjoyed some fish n chips & cider at a pub.

This messy trip wouldn’t be complete without one final bump in the road, though. After our long haul train ride (back over the Harry Potter bridge we go!) when we were about to transfer at Glasgow station we see that the tracks are under construction & that we’d have to get off and take the bus part of the way.

There was a solution, luckily. Take another regional train…it would just take a little longer. So that is what we did & after finding our way through Edinburgh’s dark & windy streets we found our new hostel (just one night). It was a 10-person room, pitch black so we couldn’t see anything when we first got in, but we heard snores. Oh yes we did – loud and clear.

Funny way to end an overall really great trip. I thoroughly enjoyed Scotland & all of the people. I will definitely be going back. Hopefully, I can take my mom one day! (Got her Keith tartan scarves though! As ordered to)

ICELAND:

Landing in Iceland was SO  cool. The snowy mountains and winding rivers greeted us from below while sunlight poured over the landscape.

FYI, in case you’re planning on going to Iceland, prepare yourselves. It is quite expensive food & drink wise.

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Icicles 

We booked two tours and our first one was called “South Coast Classic”, which we were set to do on Saturday. Our trip entailed visiting a glacier, black sand beaches, & 2 waterfalls.

Our second one was for the golden circle & secret lagoon (not necessarily so secret, but cheaper than the blue lagoon!).

#1 We were picked up at our hostel to be loaded onto a coach bus, but luckily it wasn’t completely full. Within the first 30 minutes, though, we had a bit of a health scare as Mary said she felt like her throat was itchy…hm I wonder why?

She had just eaten a little nut bar…& turns out she’s allergic to pistachios! So while on the bus we ask the tour guide if there is benadryl. Turns out, he had none but gave her some advil…

As we were getting farther from the city, Mary was growing more nervous as she didn’t know what the allergic reaction would entail. She called her parents, but after an hour nothing more drastic happened so it was all ok.

We passed by Eyjafjallajökull (that infamous volcano that stopped air travel in 2010) and went onto the black sand beaches. We also got to pet hairy Icelandic horses! Too cute.

We grabbed lunch after seeing Vik, but then quickly moved on to seeing the final sights of the day – stunning waterfalls! I quite enjoyed Skógafoss as it had the clearest rainbow ever! We were so lucky to see so many rainbows on this trip – magical.

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Day 2: We saw geysers, lagoons, and Gullfoss…It was a lovely excursion, but I think I prefer the South Coast.

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I’m happy we got to see Iceland as I think it was a unique experience to have.

Overall, I enjoyed these two places tremendously! Iceland is a special place, and I will have visit Scotland again 🙂

xo Chloe

I’m Late!

Hi there.

This post will cover Feb 19-24, as I was too busy that week before our first travel break (that blog will come out shortly after this one!).

On the 19th, I was so lucky to have been offered a free ticket to a Copenhagen soccer game! I was actually about to go do work, but ended up going to this instead because – when does a free ticket fall in your lap!? It was a great experience…even though no team won haha.

During the week I made a pit stop to The Donut Shop near school & boy was it good! The cashier recommended ‘Daim’, which you can see in the middle right of the picture. I also volunteered at Studenterhuset twice this week & five hour shifts manage to keep you quite busy. I quite like working there, though! I think it’s good coffee making/bar experience – plus the people are fun!

On Tuesday, my Danish class went to see the ballet at the Royal Theatre! It was fantastic as I had never seen a professional ballet before. Unfortunately, I looked like a hobo (not really) because I had to come straight from volunteering at Studenterhuset. Oh well.

The next day I had a field study (actually 3!), but the most interesting one was to DR Byen. It’s like the Danish BBC and we got to see their newsroom :O

Anyway, I suppose it warmed up in Denmark by about 3 degrees, but that gave the Danes enough reason to break out the flowers! That and sunshine were welcomed sights.

On Friday I was supposed to meet up with my visiting host family (finally!), but she never answered me after 2 pm to see when/where we were gonna meet. I had bought her flowers, but around 8 pm I was done waiting for her response.

Saturday I would leave for Scotland!..at 7:15 am 🙂 oh my

Vi ses! (See you!)

Busy Bee

Hellooo again,

Diving right on in, last Saturday I went to the Design Museum with a friend. I was a fan for two reasons: it’s free for students (oh yeah) and there were such cool designs in there from everything from tea kettles and bikes to lamps and clothes. Later that night some friends and I were going to try this place called the Greasy Spoon, essentially an American style diner so I didn’t think we would need reservations. Wrong! They were booked for an hour, but luckily we ran into our SRA who suggested a Thai place (Green Mango) in Christianhavn. Eating much later than expected, the curry and pad thai were welcomed sights.

 

Skipping right over Sunday (because who wants to hear about laundry and cover letters? – it isn’t all fun & games while abroad!), the first half of my week was Core Course week.

Now what is Core Course week exactly? Well, it is a week off from classes when you travel with your core course class (Strategic Communication for me) and go on educational field trips. Incredible!

My class started off in Odense (about a 2 hour drive from CPH) to see TV2, which is a government funded channel like PBS or BBC. An anchor even chatted with us for a little bit! I also got a free pen – woohoo! We also saw the local DR news station (also a government funded network).

That night we went to a microbrewery called Midtfyns Bryghus, which is owned by this crazy American guy named Eddie (married a Danish lady hence his presence in Denmark!). He was great and had many funny stories to share with us – all while we tasted 5 of his beers. Couldn’t have asked for a better night with tasty beers and delicious food! Quite a cool experience. We even got to keep the glasses :O

Tuesday: We traveled north to Aarhus (Denmark’s 2nd biggest city). We got a tour of Dokk1. None of us really knew what it was or what to expect, but it was actually quite unique! It is a library, basically, but also a gathering place…business space…it adapts to people’s needs. I liked hearing about how design was used as a communication tool. A pleasant surprise for sure!

Wednesday: On our last day in Aarhus, we explored ARoS. This place is an absolutely awesome art museum. So. Much. Fun! There’s so much movement and interaction throughout it.

I think my favorite piece (tough call) would be the keyed Lambo called “Low Key.” And of course, I had to see the iconic 360 colorful roof…

*Also, it was flurrying snow the whole time – quite scenic…but also very cold haha.

Overall, the trip was fantastic! I loved all the visits and it was a nice break from the typical classroom setting.

Core Course continued today with two different guest speakers, but a friend and I found a hidden gem during our lunch break! It’s a little café called ‘Voulez-Vous?’, and we chatted to the store worker  – from Lyons, France! We practiced our extremely minimal French, but it was nice to discover a quieter space with less students. I’ll be going back for sure.

There is one last visit tomorrow to cap off Core Course week, where we will go to the Mystery Room which is the Danish equivalent to Escape the Room.

Coming Up >> This weekend I venture out of Denmark! I’m going with a friend of mine to Stockholm, Sweden. Catch ya on the flip side…

-Chloe