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Today marks my first full week of classes at DIS and my first two weeks in Copenhagen! I have had quite a few adventures already, and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the city where I’ll be living for the next four months.

On Friday after class, I went to the DIS Sustainable Boutique, where I got some useful everyday items – all for free! The sustainable boutique is where past DIS students can donate items for future students to use. I was able to get a tote bag (widely used for environmentally-friendly grocery shopping here in Denmark), some picture frames (added some photos from home to brighten up my desk), lots of school supplies, an umbrella, a fun mug, and some playing cards (to share with my smaller unit in my Kollegium). I’d definitely recommend any future DIS students checking out the sustainable boutique!

For dinner on Friday, Hope and I went to the meatpacking district in Vesterbro, where we met her friend Lauren and Lauren’s roommate Claire. We went to Mother’s (apparently the #11 pizza restaurant in the world!). I can definitely attest that their pizza was very delicious.

The meatpacking district was super fun and had a great energy to it! However, it did take Hope and I a little while to get there, as we’ve recently had a problem of getting on buses on the wrong side of the street. We’ve been using the app CityMapper, which has been really helpful for getting around Copenhagen (it integrates biking, walking, and public transport) (CityMapper is my life), but we have the unfortunate habit of waiting at the wrong bus stop and only realizing we’re on the wrong bus once it starts moving. This tendency has caused some minor delays and some major laughs. At this point, we’ve just decided to get on the opposite bus stop of whatever we think it should be. In all actuality, public transport is super straightforward here in Copenhagen – two metro lines that run in parallel and diverge (they’re opening two more lines in September) accompanied by a very accessible bus system. This has been helpful in getting around everywhere (when we do get on the right bus).

On Saturday, we had quite a relaxing day – some grocery shopping and laundry. I wanted to try some more authentic everyday Danish food, so I bought skyr (similar to Greek yogurt) and muesli. I’ll keep you all posted on how that tastes.

On Sunday, Hope, Lauren, Claire and I went to Amagerstrand beach. It was super crowded, as the weather has been uncharacteristically warm here in Copenhagen the past week (upper 70s). The ocean water felt amazing, and there were little jellyfish swimming all around us. The weather in Copenhagen definitely feels like the beach – the breeze is always refreshing, and it cools down at night and in the mornings. This reminds me a little bit of home.

On Sunday evening, I went to dinner at my visiting host family’s house. This was definitely my favorite part of the week! My host mom picked me up at the metro station and took me to their home, which is super cool and stylish – it encompasses Danish style to a T. That evening, we enjoyed conversation, a traditional Danish meal of meatballs and potatoes, and a garden party game of “king’s game” in their backyard (tossing wooden blocks in order to knock down other wooden blocks, in a nutshell – the girls’ team won!). We talked about differences between the U.S. and Denmark, both large and small – our healthcare systems, our transportation, our towel hooks, our demeanor on the streets. We also enjoyed some koldskål for dessert – I think this is my new favorite Danish treat (tied with flødeboller).

My host family has a fifteen-year-old daughter (who loves the U.S.) and a twelve-year-old son (who loves soccer). I’m excited to go to the Louisiana art museum with them and to an FC Copenhagen soccer game (and to go shopping on Strøget!), but most of all, I’m looking forward to a window into the daily life of a Danish household. I absolutely can’t wait to be part of their family for the next few months. I’m already seeing them again next Monday!

My classes this week were fantastic – I’m absolutely loving my medical ethics class, where we talked about the Hippocratic Oath and compared it to the Danish Oath and the contemporary U.S. medical school oaths. We reflected on what the oaths say about their time, what their respective societies valued, and what they viewed to be within the scope of medicine. In my human health & disease course, we learned how to take a medical history, including signs, symptoms, and diagnosis. The cool thing about that class is that it’s focused on things that I simply can’t find in a typical undergraduate education. It’s very medical-school-esque, which I think will really help me discern my path to medicine.

In my health policy class, we had our first field study this week – a “street study”! Last week, when I found out that this would be our field study, I couldn’t have been more excited – comparing the U.S. and Danish healthcare systems is exactly the reason why I came to DIS Copenhagen, and right off the bat, it was one of the first things I would be doing. We designed a survey as a class and then split into small groups and asked people of Denmark how they feel about their healthcare system. My small group went to a park by Rosenborg castle. It was a beautiful area, and we got some really interesting insight into the mentality of Danish citizens – very community-oriented, solidarity-focused, and proponents of social welfare and risk-sharing. “Health isn’t something off of which people should profit,” said one man who invited us to sit with him in the park. “Of course everyone should be covered – we can’t have people dying in the streets,” said an elderly woman. “If we all share the risk, it strengthens our community,” said the man who was enjoying a rye bread sandwich on a bench with his father.

In terms of exploring this week, a group of girls and I went to Reffen for dinner on Monday. This is an outdoor street market with lots of fun places for food (and ice cream!). We ate at La Banchina, which is beautifully situated on the water. Watching all of the local Danish people laugh, have fun, jump in the water, and lounge in their boats really encapsulated summer hygge for me (first described to us by Allan, our free walking tour guide). The sun was setting, people were sitting in small groups talking, and the energy was warm and summery. As my feet dangled off the dock above the water, I wanted to capture that moment and hold it forever.

On Tuesday, we rented a GoBoat and explored the Copenhagen canals. We brought some picnic food for the table in the middle of the boat and enjoyed some flødeboller and rye bread. This is when I discovered that rye bread is quite an acquired taste. I love sourdough, and I also love pumpernickel. I thought rye bread was somewhat of a blend between the two, but for some reason, it just was not my cup of tea. At least I tried it! We also got a *little* bit lost in the canals and ended up arriving back half an hour late (we were the last boat back), but we got to explore some less busy areas, which actually turned out to be quite fun.

After the DIS Activities Fair on Wednesday evening (I’m excited to try the CBS Sport tennis team and hopefully meet some more Danes though that!), we went to Desserthuset for some crazy fun milkshakes (I got the PB-Fluff), and then we hung out on the roof of our Kollegium with our smaller unit.

It was such a fun and busy week, and I’m loving my time here so far. Stay tuned for updates on this weekend – we plan to go to the concert at Tivoli on Friday night starring Mø (a famous Danish pop star) and to Malmö, Sweden, for a day trip on Saturday. Thanks for following along with my adventures!

Bucket List Items I Accomplished This Week:

• go boats
• biking to class successfully – a lot easier than I anticipated! the hardest part is the stopping and starting, but I think I’m getting better at it – biking is a fun mode of transport and a great way to see the city and live like a Dane!
• home-cooked Danish meal (thank you, visiting host family!)
• vesterbro
• meatpacking district
• amagerstrand beach
• reffen
• corner coffee shops – I tried emmery’s this week and really enjoyed their kanelbrud (cinnamon bread) – plus we get a student DIScount!

Unexpected Things that Happened This Week

• enjoying koldskål – cold buttermilk soup sounds kind of strange, and I had never heard of it, but I actually loved it
• being asked by danish people for directions – I guess I must look Danish, because I get stopped almost once a day by foreigners or tourists asking for directions places, and I have to tell them I’ve only been in Denmark for ten days
• summer hygge – I didn’t believe Allan when he said it existed (I pictured hygge to be more of a winter thing), but the go boat and the dock by la banchina convinced me otherwise