Holy cow has this week and a bit been another whirlwind! Some highlights include renting a bike for my four months here (and I bought a helmet, yay!), almost crashing on my bike but not (yay!), going to Sweden when I didn’t have class on a Wednesday, cooking some pretty tasty tomato basil soup along with some other meals, having my first full week of classes, going to the independent activist record label, Demos, with my Music LLC, touring the popular area of Nyhavn with my flatmates, taking a canal tour, stumbling upon a super cool live blues venue, walking around the city to places like Nørrebro, bumping into Copenhagen fashion week outside of The Round Tower as I was walking to the grocery store (very unexpected), playing round after round of card and board games in my living room with my flatmates, and enjoying each day as I simultaneous develop a routine and try new things.
I can say after my first full week of classes that I really enjoy each of them. I find the professors and the course work really unique and interesting. I already feel like I’m learning theory and knowledge that can be applied to the type of clinical work that I am interested in doing as a career. Due to the curriculum structure at my school, the classes are very research centered and statistically based. While this is, of course, valuable, I feel reinvigorated by the opportunity to study psychology that is more tailored to my interests and future counseling career goals at DIS. I have been especially loving examining case studies in my Psychology of Crisis class and Psychology of Human Sexuality class. The professors at DIS are experts in their field and work every day with the material they teach, so I constantly feel like I am absorbing so much priceless information from them. In my Identity Lab class this past week we conducted an exercise in empathy with our classmates, and while it was emotionally intense, it was truly an experiential learning experience that I will never forget. Next week my Positive Psychology class will be having our first core course week where we will spend the first half of the week in the city of Copenhagen and the second half of the week in an old Danish town, Aarhus. I can’t wait to learn hands-on here in the city and in a new place. I will make sure to update you all as soon as I get back!
I think one of my favorite things about Copenhagen is making a plan to go to one place, but finding about 17 other incredible and unexpected things along the way. For example, this weekend my flat and I planned to go to the popular Copenhagen waterfront, Nyhavn, and on the way, we saw these steel igloos on the side of the road. We saw people coming out of them so of course, we went over to take a look. When we ducked in through the little door, it was one of the most incredible sites I have ever seen (see picture featured below). We also saw an ice skating rink to the side of the path with a sign that had icons that portraying “no shoes” “no drinks” and “no hotdogs” (people in Copenhagen really love their hot dogs!). I also love seeing people biking with the carriages in the front and what they put them in. So far I have seen children, suitcases, dogs, adults, groceries, and a large musical instrument (I find it very amusing and am constantly on the lookout).
Meet Me in Copenhagen ♥ Michelle 