The First 48 Hours

DAY 1, SATURDAY, JANUARY 12TH

After some typical Anna overpacking, and a sleepless flight I arrived in Copenhagen at 7 AM on Saturday, January 12th. After picking up my bags, DIS students were escorted to a hotel across the street from the airport to check-in. After being split up by housing we had time to grab a snack and set up our new SIM cards in our phones. At about 9 AM we were given a short presentation about what to expect over the next couple days and info about homestays. We were then called out one-by-one to meet up with our host families! I was met by my new host mom, Helle, and one of my host brothers, Anders. We picked up all my bags and then briefly said hi to my host sister, Amalie. She lives in the city while going to school but she was working with DIS to help with arrival day. After a brief hello, the three of us headed to the car to drive to my home for the next four months. We drove about 30 minutes north of the city to my host family's home in Gammel Holte. My host dad, Morten, greeted us once we arrived. I was treated to a nice breakfast of bread, ham, cheese, marmalade, chocolate, and cinnamon roll pastries!! After breakfast I settled into my small but homey room and unpacked.

After Morten and Helle ran an errand and I relaxed, the four of us gathered for a quick late lunch. After that we went on a quick walk around the neighborhood and they showed me where the bus stop is for the bus I will need to take to get into the city. Although I was completely exhausted by this point it was nice to get some fresh air! I was trying to make it until night to go to sleep to prevent too much jet lag but I couldn't quite make it so I took a short nap after the walk. My other host brother, Søren, arrived home from work around 6 PM and then the five of us sat down for a delicious dinner of homemade pizza. I was able to last a couple hours after dinner so we all went upstairs and watched a world cup handball match. The Danish men's national handball team is very popular and are one of the best teams, and the world cup for handball is happening right now in Denmark. My host family said that most Danes watch when they play as they are definitely one of the most popular teams in the country and have a chance of winning the world cup! While watching the game we had some coffee (tea for me) and I got to try a Danish dessert for the first time: flødeboller. It is a chocolate-coated marshmallow treat that is fairly popular here, so basically sugar + chocolate = YUMMY. Eventually it was a reasonable time to go to bed so I showered (finally) and went to sleep. I did get a bit jet lagged so it wasn't the best night of sleep but some sleep is way better than no sleep!

DAY 2, SUNDAY, JANUARY 13TH

On Sunday morning I woke up around 9 AM and started the day with a cup of tea. My host mom noticed that I looked so much better and less pale compared to my exhausted state the day before, so I guess that's good. Around 10 AM, Helle's sister's family, along with a friend of Søren, arrived for brunch. Helle's sister, her husband, and their two children all came and they are also hosting a DIS student so she came as well. We had a great meal with lots of fruit, bread, salmon, sausage, and eggs.

It was great to chat with another DIS student and spend time with the whole family. Everyone speaks English fluently so it was easy to communicate! Not to say there weren't a few moments of me laughing along at some joke in Danish that I didn't understand one bit. After we brunch was over and we said good bye, Helle took me into the city so I could find the building I needed to be at for orientation the next day and see a few DIS building. While walking around we got poured on, which I wasn't quite prepared for but the Danish people are so used to it since it rains a lot here so we kept on walking. Me and Helle noticed that you could tell who other DIS students were walking around as they either were a student with and older, parent-looking person pointing out buildings, or were walking around in big packs of college-aged people speaking in English. While in the city we walked along a popular pedestrian shopping street, called Strøget, and stopped in the Royal Copenhagen store. This store sells china/porcelain dishes that are apparently extremely popular in Denmark, my host family has some of their mugs and plates. We eventually made our way back home where I spent some time relaxing and getting organized for orientation activities that begin Monday. For dinner Sunday night we had a delicious Italian meal with a small Danish twist. The dish was called Saltimbocca which is traditionally made with veal wrapped with prosciutto/ham and sage that is cooked in a wine sauce. We had it with pork rather than veal, I've learned that pork is very popular in Danish cooking. It was served with some pasta and roasted veggies- a super yummy meal I may have to try at home! After dinner I went upstairs with my host family and did some reading, had a cup of tea and looked at Søren's pictures from his gap year travels last year. He spent four months traveling in Asia and Australia last year so I got to see his pictures from that trip. He is currently doing a second gap year and will be traveling to South America for four months starting in a week, so he will not be home the rest of the time I'm here.

Orientation activities begin on Monday so I'm looking forward to getting started with school stuff and getting into the city!