Jeg plejer…

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

Nørrebro

View from Paper Island

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.

Christianshavn

Sunny park

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

Tivoli at night

Spring in CPH

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

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.

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.

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.

Processed with VSCO with m5 preset

Buckingham Palace

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.

Processed with VSCO with m5 preset

Hyde Park

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!

Borough Market: I wrote ‘write a book’!

Tate Modern

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.

Oxford Uni

Oxford Uni

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.

Soft Serve Society

Fortnum & Mason tea

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

‘The beautiful view’

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.

Processed with VSCO with c1 preset

Processed with VSCO with m5 preset

Boat Tour

Processed with VSCO with c1 preset

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.

Brussels street art

Processed with VSCO with b1 preset

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).

Processed with VSCO with m5 preset

Amazing park

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

Trash that says “I exist”

Flea market

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.

Processed with VSCO with m5 preset

Processed with VSCO with m5 preset

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.

Processed with VSCO with c1 preset

View from the Round Tower

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.

Processed with VSCO with m5 preset

War Pigs most popular blonde beer

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

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.

Chairs in the Design Museum

 

Sign found while wandering for dinner

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).

Tasting of 5 microbrews!

Dokk1 in Aarhus

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!

Pink feathered heli

Homeless signs from around the world

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.

“Low Key”

Andy Warhol

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