A lovely surprise :)

Today, I woke up to the surprise of 60 degrees and sunny. I never thought I'd be so happy to see the forecast, and after stepping outside my bedroom door, I knew it would be a travesty to stay inside all day. So, I hopped on the metro and then took the first bus to explore an uncharted area of town - Nørrebro!

I got off the bus when I saw some cool shops and cafe's, and then settled into a cafe with my kindle. I was lucky because this particular cafe was doing a deal - 50% off everything on the menu! One chai latte and a lox and cream cheese sandwich later, I was satisfied and feeling the hygge :)

After, I wandered down the streets of Nørrebro, going into some shops and little trinket stores. As I was crossing the bridge back to downtown, I noticed a hammock on a little grassy hill next to the water. I decided to settle into the hammock for a little while and read some more, soaking up the sunshine.

I then went to my favorite market, the Nørreport Glass Market, sampled some cheeses and salami, then went for a cup of coffee at Studenterhuset. I'm now home getting ready to welcome a group of friends from my Medical Practice and Policy class to Amager for a bonfire! We all leave on our trip tomorrow, so we're doing a little bonding beforehand which should be really fun, especially since it's so nice out!

I'll post updates from my trip when I can!

Sickness and Visitors

The past week had many ups and downs, including several visitors and my first trip to a  Danish doctor!

When I got back from Poland, I had developed a horrible throat infection to the point that my fever wouldn't go down and it was so swollen I could barely eat. I had to wake up at 8 to call the doctor's office and make an appointment for that day. I got lucky and ended up getting an appointment for noon, and headed over to the doctor's office. When I got there, he saw me right away, did a rapid throat swab and prescribed me pennicillin within 3 minutes - the results of the test showed strep. I was so relieved that it wasn't a virus so I could just pop the pills and continue on with my week! Too bad I ended up getting a cold on top of the strep, so I've still been recooperating, trying to drink fluids and sleep as much as possible.

Anyway, then Saturday, my friend Matt from birthright had a layover in Copenhagen, so I spent the day showing him around Nyhavn and Strøget. That night, my friends and I went to the Meatpacking District, a trendy area of town for a warehouse party. It was overall a really fun night!

Then, Sunday, I welcomed two Australian travelers into my home - I met them briefly in Berlin, and they found me on the Couchsurfing website and asked for a place to stay for a few nights. We spent a lot of "hygge" time hanging out at my apartment with candles, drinking tea and talking about our travel stories. They've been traveling around Europe for 6 months, and have at least 3 more to go. I envy their lives!!!!

The rest of this week has been filled with numerous exams, and a field trip to the Science Center with my Communicating Science class! It was actually really fun, we played on all of the equipment and felt like little kids again. I'm preparing for my study tour, which leaves this Sunday, to Vienna and Bratislava. More updates to come!

Sorry for the delay...

I've been horrible about blogging. I got wrapped up in my travel weeks that I've been MIA for quite some time, but I'll do my best to sum up what I've been up to for the past few weeks!


Amsterdam: was really fun! I visited my friend Lily and she showed me around the city - from the Cheese Museum to the Red Light District, Anne Frank House to the beautiful canals, I got a really good overview of the city. I even tried a savory pancake with chicken, pineapple and cheese. It was interesting but really good!

Came back to Copenhagen for 4 days, then left on solo travel to....

Milan/Budapest - Me and Tim got to Milan late at night on Friday and went right to the hotel/to bed. The next day it was raining and really ugly out, but we walked around the city pretty much all day, seeing sights such as the Duomo and shopping on the famed streets. We ate some authentic Italiano pizza and gelato. We got really lucky because it usually costs 12 euro to go to the top of the Duomo, but that day they were doing a medical study where they check your heart rate before and after you climb the stairs to the top and then you get to go up for free! We did that - the sculpture at the top was gorgeous, as evidenced by the pictures:

At night we flew to Budapest. We were in our cab to the hostel from the airport at around midnight and didn't know what to expect at all about the city, but we ended up driving by a bridge that connects the Buda side to the Pest side and were seriously blown away by how gorgeous the lit up buildings were. Winding through the small streets, we were so excited to start exploring the next day. On our first real day there, we took a long walking tour of the city and learned all about the history and sites of interest. After the tour, we relaxed for a few hours and then went to the famous Restaurant Street, where we sat outside and had a really good (and cheap!) dinner. We walked along the river and then went to a ruin bar, a building that was bombed during WW2 and was later turned into a bar. It had awesome artifacts and there wasn't really a roof, its really hard to describe, but it was a really cool place to experience!!

After Budapest, Tim flew back to Dublin and I flew to Berlin. I arrived in Berlin at night and went to my hostel located in Kreuzberg, which is the "up and coming" neighborhood (read: ghetto). My hostel was really cool, though, and had a big common room where other travelers were mingling. After settling in, I walked up to a group of people who turned out to be from Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Colombia, and ended up spending the night with them! It was really cool how friendly and open everyone was, since I was traveling by myself. The next day I took a 3.5 hour free walking tour of the city with Jonathan, one of the Costa Ricans I had met. We saw amazing sights of Berlin - the holocaust memorial, Brandenburg Gate, the "Car Park" over Hitler's bunker, parts of the Berlin wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Book Burning Memorial, churches, the parliament, you name it! It was a really informative tour, even though I was completely exhausted afterwards!

After the tour, I went over to Jochen and Beate's house for dinner - Jochen was my uncle Doug's host brother when he spent a year in Berlin in high school, and Beate is his wife. Doug told them I'd be in Berlin and they invited me to their home. It was so nice getting to know them, and they fed me very generously!! After the dinner, I headed back to the hostel and went out in Kreuzberg with another traveler I had met earlier that day.

The last day in Berlin, I wandered by myself along the East Side Gallery and partied for Reunification Day (Oct 3) in Alexanderplatz. I got back to the hostel around dinnertime and ended up sitting on the couch with a girl named Gemma from Australia, and we decided to go to dinner together. Some people around us heard us talking about it, and we ended up getting a group of 4 to head out to a Vegan restaurant for dinner! I had vegan zucchini and cashew pizza and "cheesy" pasta with cauliflour..it was a really interesting, but DELICIOUS meal. After dinner, we went on an alternative pub crawl that our hostel sponsored. That was a pretty interesting night...but I'll save that for my journal ;)

Early the next morning, I flew from Berlin to Krakow where I met Jack, Doug and Dubi for our Roots Trip. We spent the first day exploring Kazimierez, the Jewish area of Krakow. We ate amazing Polish food like peirogies and potato pancakes....comfort food at its best! The next day, I woke up with my throat completely swollen and a fever - perfect. It was pretty miserable but I couldn't miss what we had planned for that day - a private guide was taking us through the history of Poland, from the old Jewish ghetto of Krakow, to Schindler's factory, to Plasow work camp, and finally to Auschwitz-Birkenau. The tour was completely moving - it was so sad to retrace the steps of my history, and words can't describe the feeling you get when you enter all of these places. I made a video to commemorate the experience - it is below.

The next day, we did a day trip to Nowy Sacz, the town my great grandparents were from, and where my Saba Dov was born. We explored the city center as well as went to several synagogues and cemetaries. We even got to see Dov Beresh, my great great great grandfather's grave. It was interesting seeing where I'm from and spending time with my family.

The following day we all headed back to our respective countries. It was an amazing travel week, and I was so thankful to get to experience everything I did. It ended up being so much more historic than I thought it would be, and I learned SO MUCH about the world around me and also about myself - what it is like to travel alone, how to navigate a foreign country, and how to always stay positive in the midst of illness :) I'm happy for what I have and so lucky to have my friends and family!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W97ALc6tRQQ&feature=results_video

Amsterdam bound!

I'm currently on the overnight train to Amsterdam! It is 16 hours long and I am already starting to go crazy after only one hour. Luckily, I bought a "couchette" car so I kinda have a bed (its more of a bench but it'll do)

Here's a little cultural insight! One of the top songs in Denmark right now, Lækker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k22VMbhAnzw

Last night we had a bonfire with the DISers at my kollegium in the forest near our dorm. It was SO much fun being in the woods, we made smores and sang old 80's and 90's songs :) the nice thing about being in Denmark is that people are so laid back and don't care about things (such as noise) like they do in the US, so it didn't matter that we were belting out songs and drinking beers in an open area because the police really don't care about things like that. I think that mentality should really be brought back to the states.....

I'll write again once I have stories from Amsterdam! :)

Week of Classes

This week was pretty busy with school and not much recreation unfortunately... though I did have an interesting field trip yesterday to a cancer rehabilitation center with my complexity of cancer class. We visited the "house" (as the tour guide kept saying), that is part of the municipality of Copenhagen and provides cancer patients access to personal training, nutrition and cooking classes, group workshops and social events. It was a BEAUTIFUL building with so many little nooks for chatting with other visitors and rooms to watch films and do yoga and other physical activities. She told us about 1000 cancer patients and survivors use the facilities regularly, and it seemed like a really wonderful resource that I haven't seen any similarities to in the US.

Other than that, I started my work-study job at the library this week. It is pretty boring (I just sit at a desk and check in books, which rarely happens because the library is tiny!) but I've talked to a few students who come in so I guess I may meet some interesting people! Also the money can't hurt when I'm planning TONS of travel.. my list of destinations follows:

Sept 21-24: Amsterdam to visit Lily
Sept 29: Milan with Tim
Sept 30-Oct 1: Budapest with Tim
Oct 1-4: Berlin by myself (I have some contacts I can hangout with!)
Oct 4-7: Krakov and Novy Sacz with Jack, Doug and Dubi!
October 21-26: Bratislava/Vienna with Medical Practice and Policy
October 26-29: Possible after-tour trip to Prague with MPP friends
November 10-18: Madrid and Barcelona with Anna!!!
December 1-3: Possible trip to Greece with Aly, Genna, Maggie and Marissa!

Little Surprises

I'm continuing to be charmed by Denmark more and more each day. I went into the city yesterday (Saturday) to feel a little more productive, even though all I wanted to do was get hyggelig (cozy) in my bed and watch TV on my computer - I woke up feeling really homesick and just overall unhappy, but after a good cry and Skype with Tim, I was ready to get out of my room. I'm only here for 4 months, so it would be a shame to waste a beautiful day! I took the metro in and went to my favorite coffee shop, Studenterhuset. However, when I got there, it was filled with tables and people selling all sorts of clothing/accessories/shoes...like a flea market! I knew at that point I wouldn't be getting much homework done so I perused the stands. Clothing here is extremely expensive, so it was great to find some name brand items that people were reselling for extremely cheap. I found a pair of shoes that I fell in love with instantly (picture below) and asked the girl how much they were. She replied "15 kroner" and I thought I heard wrong... did she mean 150? "15?!" I said. "Yes!" she replied. There are 6 kroners in the USD, so I had just stumbled upon a pair of shoes for just over 2 dollars. Day. Made.

Ok, I know they look kinda dirty (and that's mostly because I wore them out last night to a bar) but they are awesomely comfortable!!!

I then sat outside (since there was nowhere to sit inside) and actually did get some homework done. After that, I was going to walk back to the train station, but I got seduced by my favorite place in all of Copenhagen - a place we refer to as "the Glass Market," eventhough I'm sure it has another name. It is two huge glass buildings right behind the train station that are hidden so that most people don't even know they are there. But, it is a huge market with different vendors selling fresh fruit and vegis, fish and meats, spices, chocolates, baked goods, and olive oil. Almost every stand has a table of samples, and the owners are usually very generous with their portions. So, instead of going home to make lunch, I decided to have lunch at Glass Market by wandering from stall to stall and taking advantage of the samples. Much better than Costco.

After a hearty meal of cheeses dipped in dill honey mustard and freshly baked bread soaked in garlic infused olive oil, I spotted Maggie, a friend from my kollegium who, surprise, was doing the exact same thing as me! We went back to our kollegium together and I rested before a night on the town with 3 of my girlfriends.

At one of the bars we went to, we hungout with a group of 8 British guys who were hilarious and really fun. What started off with me crying into my pillow about how much I wish I was home turned into one of the best and most surprising days here so far. I think I'm starting to call this city home :)

Short Study Tour

My Medical Practice and Policy left on our short study tour to western Denmark on Monday, and spent 2 nights in 2 different cities - Vejle and Århus - doing both cultural and medical activities. There are 20 of us in our class, and we were accompanied by Henrik, my biology of cancer teacher, and Stephanie our TA.

We first took a bus to a place called Koldinghus, one of the original castles in Denmark. We got a guided tour of the castle which was interesting (but somewhat anticlimatic because the castle had burned down in the 18th century and there wasn't much original stuff left).

After that, we went to the Monkey Trail, which I was really looking forward to since me and my roommate Mathias found a monkey hat in our apartment's junk bin... so I brought it to wear on the ropes course. Our class really bonded with each other after attempting really tough rope obstacles, and though many of us got injured, I was the most proud of my huge bruise on my arm ;) It was beautiful outside and we were in the forest doing ziplines, climbing and jumping from platform to platform. Fun stuff. We then went to a hostel in Vejle and spent the night playing games and bonding some more. I really love our class and we all get along really well!!

Our group at the Monkey Trail! (Henrik my professor is in the monkey hat..)

The next morning, we woke up and went to visit the Jelling Stones, another cultural artifact in Denmark. It is supposedly the place in which Denmark got its name, and there are old stones with inscriptions about the start of Christianity in Denmark. We had a tour and got to climb the mound in which it is said that an old king of Denmark is buried under.

Next, we went to Aleris-Hamlet Hospitaler, a private hospital in Denmark. A little about the Danish healthcare system - all citizens of Denmark are covered under socialized medicine, and have access to a general practitioner for free any time they need. Everyone is assigned a GP based on their geographical location, but if you want to switch, you are allowed to as long as the GP you want doesn't have too many people in their area already assigned to them. If you get sick, you visit your GP and they can refer you to a specialist, also covered under the national health insurance. However, you cannot just go to a specialist whenever you want. The reason their system is so successful is because the GP's are the gatekeepers to the system, meaning that they handle most of the "trivial" issues, which is much more cost effective, and the specialists are only used when absolutely necessary. One may ask, isn't the wait time an issue? Well, Denmark has combatted this with the invention of private hospitals. There are several private hospitals that have opened, and citizens can buy their own health insurance to go to them if they do not want to wait for a public hospital. Additionally, if the waiting list to see a specialist is longer than 1 month, the Danish healthcare system will pay for you to see a private doctor. This is good and bad - the good thing is that it eliminates the long waiting lists and gives everybody access. However, it leaves less incentive for doctors to stay in the public sector if they will be funded by the government to work in the private sector. Still, many Danish people resent the private system and choose to stay public to withhold the integrity of the country.

SO, the first visit was with the CEO of the private hospital. He was very pretentious, and while he was a good speaker, you could tell he was trying to sell us on the concept of privatization - which, I do understand there is a need for. Public hospitals do not cover cosmetic surgery or elective surgery (such as some opthamology surgeries or cosmetic reconstruction). They also give competition to the public sector, which helps the public sector to constantly improve. What else is interesting is that their "right and left wing" governments all fall under the American Democratic party. So, if people are concerned that the government may be "too conservative", it is still liberal by American standards.

Our group at a port during a quick ice cream break :)

Next, we visited a GP. It was my favorite visit of the trip because he was so warm and friendly, and stressed that holistic treatments to illnesses are both cost effective and the best approach. At one point in the talk, he said "you guys look tired! everyone up!!" and taught us a Danish children's song and dance.  One interesting thing was that as a GP he takes care of people from "cradle to grave", so he is basically a pediatrician, ObGyn and internist all in one. I would love to do what he does, but it is hard because in the US, family medicine is very different (from what I've heard). I'll definitely need to do more research.

That night, we stayed in Århus, the second largest town in Denmark. I had a really good dinner with some friends, and there was a street festival going on so we just listened to live music and walked around. It was a really nice evening!!

The next day we went to Aros art museum, which has really weird modern art. After, we visited a research center, but it was really boring so I won't even explain it. We then ventured back to Copenhagen! All in all, it was a really great week and I"m looking forward to going to Vienna and Bratislava with the same group of kids in just a few weeks :)

Classes and Nature

It's been a busy week of classes in the happiest place on earth! I haven't really been doing much besides going to class, biking to and from school, and drinking coffee at Studenterhuset. But, on Wednesday, my Communicating Science course did a field trip to the botanical gardens. It was more of a social outing, but it was a gorgeous day out and it was really beautiful to walk around! Pictures below.

After that, I went out to Ballerup to meet with my visiting family. I was paired with this family by DIS since I am not living at a host family's house, and they serve to be that familial influence on students during their stay in Copenhagen. They had me over for dinner, and it was a really nice night! The parents are really interesting people, both engineers who grew up in Denmark, but they have both done a ton of traveling for work and have actually been to Phoenix. They have 3 kids, an 11 year old girl, and 15 and 17 year old boys. The boys were totally antisocial, but the girl was really sweet! They were telling me about their backpacking trips - they go at least twice a year - all over the world, from Argentina to Thailand. A few years ago, they bought round-the-world plane tickets and saw a ton of countries. They said while it is less common for families to travel with young kids, the Danes are really worldly and well traveled people. When I asked the girl what her favorite place she'd been was, she answered Oman! The boys responded that their beds were their favorite place in the world. Typical boys!

A class got cancelled today, so I've just been relaxing at my kollegium until I have to go to the hospital for my medical class in about half an hour. The doctors who teach my class are all recent medical school graduates, and are really interesting people. Last class, they taught us about the process of going through medical school in Denmark. There is no "undergradute" period, so students must decide if they are going to go to medical school when they are 18. They have 6 years of courses/clinicals, then a 1-year internship followed by a period in which most doctors get a PhD and then go onto their specialization. If they choose not to specialize, they still have to train with a general practitioner for 4 years before they can own their own practice.

This weekend a bunch of my friends are leaving town, but I plan to explore Amager (my island) and Copenhagen much more on bike while the weather is still decent! Pics to follow :)

I am almost officially a resident of Denmark! We went to the consulate yesterday and processed our papers to become temporary citizens of Denmark, entitled to the basic benefits such as free healthcare and public library access. I’ll be getting my CPR card in the mail, a card that I can show to any doctor to take advantage of the country’s socialized medicine. Awesome!

I had a really fun weekend socializing with new friends. I met some other international students in my kollegium and went out with them on Friday night. I joked that we were the most diverse group of native English speakers! A girl from London, a girl from New Zealand, a girl from Denmark (who had always gone to American schools, so we’ll count her), a guy from Canada and myself. We danced and listened to an apparently famous DJ at a venue called Culture Box. It was a really fun night!

Saturday I spent the day exploring Nyhavn and shopping with Nicki. I was so excited to finally get to visit the place I had seen in so many pictures!! It was even more beautiful in person, and made me really happy about being in Copenhagen. Our snacked turned out to be the most delicious dessert I had ever tasted in my life – a box of churros covered in delicious warm chocolate! We then went into a few clothing stores, and then went back to the Kollegium where I made us a delicious dinner. At night, we went to a few bars with our American kollegium friends, which ended up being a fun (but late) night.

Sunday morning, I woke up and went for a little bike ride around Amager. I saw some new beautiful places that are in need of exploring! After that, it was into the downtown for the visa process. It was fairly easy, which was a relief because I’ve heard about students who don’t do it through DIS having a really hard time getting into the consulate office. In the evening, my friends and I went into Christiania, the “free town” in Copenhagen that is home to a hippie community. Although it is still technically illegal to smoke pot in Denmark, the culture of Christiania is centered around “Pusher Street,” the city’s self-proclaimed “Green light district.” There was a free concert there last night, so the streets were packed with people both purely witnessing and also enjoying the local culture. I ate a “Danish Hamburger,” which is slightly different from the ones in the US. Besides the typical burger-bun-cheese combination, they put pickled cucumbers (much more strong than the typical pickles) and remoulade, a condiment that is almost like mayo but also has ketchup and mustard in it. It was really good and sweet, almost like honey mustard. It was delicious. After the concert, we went back home and I slept a very long and much needed night.

This morning I woke up and went across the street to the gym and became a member. After not having worked out in a week, it was so great to be back in the gym. It was hard getting used to the machines though, which measure everything in km/hour! After running 2km (and learning that meant 1.25 miles) I was proud of myself to say the least J

I had a class this morning (Communicating Science) and am now sitting at Studenterhuset (my favorite coffee shop) waiting for my next class to start just after 4pm. I absolutely love Denmark so far and can’t wait for more adventures to come. Oh, one last thing! I booked my first trip to Amsterdam and will be visiting Lily the weekend of Sept 22! I am taking an overnight train (luckily I got a sleeping cabin!) on the way there, and flying back. I can’t wait!! On a parting note, I am obsessed with schwarma and not a day goes by where I don’t frequent one of their stands on the street. This is a problem (but it is tooo damnnn good!!! I hate to say it, but better than in Israel!) but luckily, not on my wallet because the average schwarma runs around 40 kroner (6 dollars)

Language Woes

Today I had my first Danish Language and Culture course. Even though I could barely wake up this morning (thanks Kulørbar....) I made it to class and really loved it! My teacher was really sweet and cool, and she was genuinely interested in getting to know each student, where we are from, where we had traveled to internationally before and why we were taking the course. We then started learning some phrases in Danish to get us started. Just to give you a little taste of how hard it is, I've compiled a list of words:

Hej (pronounced "hi"): Hi
Hvad hedder due? (pronounced "ve hedduh do"): What is your name?
Hvad studerer du? (pronounced "ve stu-de-uh do"): What do you study?
Østerbro - pronounced "oo-ster-brrah" (a burrough of Copenhagen)
Amager - pronounced "ama" (where I live)

It is going to be a tough feat to learn how to speak here, but I'm excited that I've taken on the challenge. I don't want to be seen as an extended tourist, but really as a student with the purpose of learning the local ways.

In other news, I biked home from school yesterday and took the "scenic route" which was longer than normal, but I had gotten lost and it was basically my only choice. I rode along the main roads and highways for a while, but there was a point where I had to go on a detour because one road was closed. My detour (thankfully, clearly marked with signs) took me into a tunnel and when I got out on the other side, I was at this extremely rural place with a huge lake with boats and a gorgeous view...I biked around the lake and ended up biking along a meadow with sheep! It was an amazing contrast to being in the bustling city just 5 minutes earlier. I wish I had my camera on me because I'm not even sure how I'd get back there if I tried. I'm sure there are many more  of those little pieces of rural scenery around the city just waiting to be discovered...

Learning the way

I've spent about 4 days in København so far, and am (almost) learning the lay of the land! We had a few days of orientation workshops, learning about things from navigating the city, interacting with Danes and their very liberal attitude towards partying, my medical practice and policy class, and even a student fair where I met representatives from volleyball orgs and the local Chabad. The city is small, but very confusing at times to navigate because streets are always changing names (if you can even pronounce them!) But I've been getting the hang of it, and know the area around my kollegium as well as DIS pretty well.

I've become good friends with the group of Americans living at my kollegium, and last night a few of us went to an event in our apartment building that was a social for all the students. I met a few girls from Germany, a guy from Australia and a few other Americans. I might go out with them tonight to a rooftop party in another town! We've also found a really cool spot called Studenterhuset, a "student house" which is a coffee shop/lounge where students can get really cheap coffee and snacks and sit and do homework, hangout with friends, etc. At night it also turns into a bar with different events for international and local students and often has live music performances. I'm actually here right now writing this blog :)

Today I decided to bike into city for my first day of classes. I was told it would be about a 25-30 minute bike ride... and I must have done something TERRIBLY wrong because even though I stopped every mile or so to ask for directions, it took me over an hour to get to DIS. Oops! Maybe I'll have better luck next time. At least it was some decent exercise. I have two classes later on today, so I'm just hanging out in the student house catching up on emails until then. It's been hard to find time to blog with all the exciting things I've been doing! This weekend, we are planning on visiting Nyhavn, the famous colored houses that line the canals of Copenhagen. I'm also hoping to go to Tivoli and buy my seasons pass (which is apparently the same price as going twice!) I also want to continue to explore the area on my bike and try to find new neighborhoods to go to. Bye for now!

Nyhavn

Tivoli Gardens

I'm HERE!

After 2 days of travel, I have finally made it to Copenhagen!!! I just finished unpacking into my new place and I am already in love.

I met up with a group of about 20 students at the Sweden airport to get onto our connection to Copenhagen. When we got there, the DIS representatives picked us up in buses and drove us to our housing. My apartment is on the same island as the airport, so it was only about a 10 minute drive! Me and one other girl who is in my building met with our RA, who took us to our rooms. My roommates are Linda from the Netherlands, Vincent from Singapore and Mathias from Denmark. It is such an awesome apartment and a very multicultural room. And, though I've only been here a few hours, it's actually feeling like home :)

We're meeting up with everyone from DIS who lives in our apartment complex for an orientation, tour of our suburb and dinner. Tomorrow starts the real orientation. I'll post some pictures soon!

In a little over 24 hours, I'll be trading in this:

Beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona


FOR

Strøget, a shopping street in Copenhagen

I am just starting to pack and am overwhelmed because of the weather - how do I pack for a high of 60 degrees this month when I've been in 115 degree weather for the past 3 months!? But, I am so ready to leave and so excited to begin this journey nonetheless. Here's the start:

LOVE my new traveler's backpack!

I've found out a few more details about my life in Copenhagen over the past few days. I found two of my future roommates on Facebook - both are guys! One is from Singapore, and he's doing an exchange at UCPH. The other is a Danish student. I have yet to speak with the Danish student, but the exchange student from Singapore seems really cool. We all have our own bedrooms, so I will get my own space, but it will be a unique experience living with guys. I think I am up for the challenge!

I also was put in contact with a family who lives in Ballerup, a suburb of Copenhagen, who I can visit with, almost like a host family (but just for dinner and other family events). I emailed back and forth with the mom, Richa, who seems really sweet! They have 3 teenage kids and are a very worldly family; Richa told me that they traveled around the world for 6 months with backpacks a few years ago. I'm excited to get to know them and see what family life is like in DK!


When I am abroad, I can be contacted through Facebook, email (caileyindech29@hotmail.com) and Skype: caileyindech29

One Week Away

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain

I have a thirst for knowledge and a lust for travel that has so far been unquenchable. For the past three years, there hasn't been a time in which I wasn't planning my next adventure. My love for exploring the world began when I went to Europe with my senior class; we spent 21 days in 6 countries (8 cities) skimming the very surface of culture, history and adventure of Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and England. My next adventure took me to Quito, Ecuador, where I spent a month in the summer of 2011 shadowing both rural and urban doctors, trying new cuisines (guinea pig egg rolls?) and enjoying the sights and nightlife of a bustling up-and-coming Latin American capital. My next trip? A 10 day trip to Eretz Yisrael, the land of my ancestors, where I spent a whirlwind 10 days traversing the entire country, learning about my roots, about the future and present of the Jewish people and eating lots and lots of falafel. When I arrived back in DC, my home away from home, the question surfaced - where shall I go next?

My decision to spend a semester abroad came with many obstacles. As a pre-med student at a rigorous university, I was always told that studying abroad for a semester would be impossible due to the prerequisites required to apply to medical school. This fact was not about to deter me; I figured out that if I were to take a year off between undergraduate studies and medical school, I could afford to take the semester to study abroad. The search for a country began - I needed to take classes in English, which was my first struggle, because I so badly wanted to return to South America. I found the Danish Institute for Study Abroad, and at first, I barely gave it consideration. I didn't have a strong desire to go to Copenhagen, and felt that the program was too "American" due to the fact I'd be taking classes only with Americans at a study abroad center rather than at a University. My second option was University of New South Whales in Sydney. After lots of consideration and talking it out (thank you Jessica and Tim) I decided to go to Denmark to ultimately experience another chance in Europe - and I haven't looked back since! I have realized that going to Copenhagen will be much more outside of my comfort zone than I had originally suspected. While the locals do speak English, many of their customs and ways of life differ greatly from those I am used to at home. Also, I planned to immerse myself by applying for one of the more "integrated" housing options, as well as signing up for activities within the city. More on that later!

The program I will be participating in through DIS is called Medical Practice and Policy. After doing research, I found that this program is truly fit for me! The way DIS works is that students are enrolled in a "core program" (mine being the Medical track) where you take one class in that discipline that also includes a study tour for a week to other European destinations. With my course, I will be taking weekly lectures at a nearby hospital and also be traveling to Vienna and Bratislava to tour hospitals and see how the medical infrastructure differs in Europe (I can now contrast it to the American as well as Ecuadorian system!) In addition to my core course, I will be taking Introductory Danish Language and Culture, Biological Conservation/Biodiversity, Biology of Cancer and a history course about how plants have shaped history. I am really excited to embark on this educational journey!

In addition to my courses, my time in Denmark is going to be extremely recreational. I recently found out that I will be living in a Kollegium, the Danish equivalent to a college dorm, in the suburb of Amager, an island just south of Copenhagen. I will be living in a 4-bedroom apartment with 3 other students (most likely not Americans...also, the apartments are co-ed!) and we will share two bathrooms, a kitchen and living room. Our building, called Signalhuset, is a "dorm" for ~280 international and Danish students studying at a variety of different institutions. It is located across the street from the biggest shopping mall in Scandinavia, as well as a metro station to take into the city. I have also rented a bike, so I hope to also bike to class as often as possible! The Danish are known as some of the most environmentally-conscious people, and most do bike every day to work. I am excited for both the cultural immersion and exercise this practice will bring!

Signalhuset on Google Maps!

While I am abroad, I will also be participating in a volunteer program, a visiting family program, and Danish buddy network where I can socialize with Danish peers. I will also be joining a gym and a volleyball club and will hopefully meet other like-minded students through those social outlets! I am already planning several trips for my break weeks - in addition to the core course trip, I am planning to travel to Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Amsterdam and Prague. I look forward to sharing my pictures and experiences on this blog!

It was hard to find just one quote that I loved, so I will have to close with one as well:

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”