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Time for another update! This week flew by, but I absolutely loved every minute of it. After traveling to western Denmark at the beginning of last week for my short study tour with my Medical Practice & Policy core course, we spent the second half of the week back in Copenhagen. One of our activities was a scavenger hunt in the macroanatomy lab at the University of Copenhagen medical school. The med school building was brand new and absolutely beautiful – I ended up going back later that week to study for my MPP exam! It was fun to be surrounded by young Danish medical students (all of whom are BEAUTIFUL human beings… I still don’t understand how it’s possible), and there was a cool little café that I enjoyed while studying.

My MPP class also did a “patient trajectory” workshop to prepare for our long study tour in a few weeks to Berlin & Poznan. We simulated what it would be like to be a patient in the German and Polish healthcare systems and made it fun with some skits and Kahoot games.

We ended core course week with an ENT lecture about all of the pathologies and injuries that ear, nose, & throat doctors encounter. We learned about the “rhino rapid” for stopping epistaxis (AKA nosebleeds – picture She’s the Man). We all thought our professor was calling it a “rhino-rabbit” – he kept saying, “You know, when something’s fast or quick, it’s rabbit!” We finally realized what he meant and all had a good laugh about it. I love how clinically oriented my MPP class is – I’m actually surprised by how much I already know and how many questions I’m able to answer in class (mostly from a combination of shadowing hours and Grey’s Anatomy google searches).

On Friday afternoon, I met with a shared decision-making researcher here in Copenhagen – I’m excited to start working with her and explore the differences in SDM between Denmark and the U.S.!

I spent Friday evening with my host family after finding out that the metro was closed and getting only *slightly* lost on the S-train (the regional train here in DK). I eventually made my way to their house for a delicious pasta dinner, and then we all went to the Louisiana Museum, one of the most renowned museums in the world. We listened to their family playlist in the car ride (a mix of Tyler the Creator for my host brother, some Danish music, and some classic American hits to which we all sang along). It reminded me of car rides with my own family, when everyone takes turns playing songs. 🙂

Louisiana was super cool – there were some really fascinating modern art exhibits (we got to lie down on beds and watch videos in the ceiling) along with a photography exhibit called “Generation Wealth.” All of the pictures in that exhibit reminded me very strongly of home. My host family told me about janteloven, the Nordic concept of purposely avoiding being flashy or personally ambitious because it’s seen as very unbecoming. However, we also talked about the fact that in the U.S., it’s inspiring that someone could start with just an idea and then become a millionaire. This semester is really providing me with some firsthand insight into the benefits and drawbacks of individualistic versus egalitarian cultural mindsets. I talked with my host sister about what she wants to do when she grows up, and I realized that she’s fifteen and has to decide soon whether she wants to go to gymnasium or a trade/vocational school. I’m noticing that kids definitely grow up a lot faster here and are more independent members of society at a much earlier age.

DANISH DICTIONARY MOMENT

janteloven:

a code of conduct known in Nordic countries that portrays not conforming, doing things out of the ordinary, or being overtly personally ambitious as unworthy and inappropriate.

After we were done seeing the art, we wanted to get coffee at the Louisiana café. We had stayed so late that it was closed, so we went to McDonald’s instead (which made my host brother Villads super excited)! I really felt like a part of their family as we all ate our McFlurries at 10pm.

That weekend and the rest of the week was pretty quiet for me, as I had a lot of studying to do (two tests and a paper this week!). I chose to write my paper on the neuroscience of religious experience of a higher power – a really difficult topic (as I soon discovered) but very interesting.

On Saturday, I went to tennis tryouts for the Copenhagen Business School tennis team. I met some new partners that I’ll be playing doubles with every Thursday this semester – a Dane and two Germans! It felt really great to be back on the court, and it was fun to play on clay.

That night, Claire, Lauren, Hope, and I went to a jazz bar in the city center with Lauren & Claire’s Danish roommates. We went out with them afterwards to a bar called Tørst – it played lots of Danish pop music, and I had so much fun!! It was cool to hang out with some Danes our age.

On Sunday, we planned to go to Møns Klint, but after spending two hours walking around Cope to three different car rental places which either didn’t exist, were too expensive, or needed our passports (which we didn’t bring), we gave up and just got pizza and watched a scary movie with our smaller unit friends in the common room instead. It actually turned out to be a really chill day. That night when I was studying, I’m pretty sure I actually had 4000 bowls of koldskål. My addiction has shifted from flødeboller to cold buttermilk soup. SOS.

My favorite part of this week was how integrated and settled I’m feeling now – I studied every day in a corner coffee shop as it rained outside (and enjoyed some chokoboller bread, a kanelsnegl, and a brownie). I picked something up from the corner market to cook for dinner as I biked to and from class every day (so glad I did that cycling class this summer – shoutout to my fav instructor Lori C). I also studied in the København public library (with its own little kaffe shop and apparently the best croissants in Cope – my pain au chocolat was pretty dang good).

I had two field studies on Wednesday – in the morning with my medical ethics class, we heard a cancer patient speak about shared decision-making and her experience with the Danish healthcare system (which isn’t as perfect as I always make it out to be). For my afternoon field study with my Neuro of Fear class, we watched a movie and analyzed the different ways that fear conditioning and social fear played a role in the film.

I ended Thursday with a hyggelit night with my host family, my favorite part of the week as always. It was a super relaxing and cozy evening! I did homework with Tilde, my host sister, and proofread her essay about a topic in U.S. culture. We ate yummy homemade pizza for dinner, and I learned that Tilde enjoys salad on her pizza (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, dressing and all). Definitely will have to try that sometime. I watched the FC Copenhagen soccer game with Villads and my host dad, and we all ate some yummy apple crisp and stracciatella for dessert. We talked about the different holidays in the U.S. versus Denmark and what American holidays they have adopted here. I can’t wait to experience Halloween and Christmas in Denmark, and hopefully to share a little bit of Thanksgiving with my host family. 🙂

Gotta sign off now – I’m hopping on the plane to Germany for Oktoberfest! Farvel!