Freshman Orientation: Part Two

We started orientation for DIS on Monday, and it definitely felt like orientation at Bucknell all over again! There are just under 700 students studying this semester, so we were broken into two larger group to help with logistics. It began with an opening ceremony, held in a really beautiful, historic hall for ceremonies (Festhalen). This was actually a really cool way to begin the semester- we heard speeches from a few different people, including two interns who studied at DIS a couple years ago and talked about their experience in Copenhagen, and Anders Uhrskov, who is the Director of DIS. In between the speakers we heard the DIS Strings (basically a small orchestra from one of the big music schools in Copenhagen), and they performed Ode to Joy, and a few other songs whose names I forget, but it was really amazing!

We then broke up into smaller groups of 6 people, and were given a "scavenger hunt" to 

Danish children at the Trinitatas Church

complete- basically, taking us to the different buildings and classrooms at DIS to 
familiarize us with the offices and resources and where they all are. It was helpful, but walking around on the sidewalks of the middle of Copenhagen, we might as well have been wearing huge signs that said "Hi, I'm an American!" (we might as well have been wearing orientation lanyards and name tags- Bucknell people, you know what i mean!). We were standing on the sidewalks in our groups, completely blocking the way for pedestrian traffic, and spilling out onto the street as well, so bikes had to navigate around us. Oops! (Also, EVERYONE rides bikes in Copenhagen, and much of Europe as well- the amount of bikes parked by the train station would blow your mind!)


Later, there was an "Immerse Yourself" fair at "Studenterhuset", basically a 2 story cafe type place, to see the different clubs, sports, and activities DIS offers. Once again, as the hundreds of students waited on the pedestrian-only street to go inside, we completely blocked traffic, resulting in many irritated Danes. But we finally made it inside, although I didn't really sign up for anything, as I was already signed up for soccer (fudbold). It starts Monday, and I am really excited for that, and hoping it will be fun/at least semi-serious and competitive.


The next day, meaning today, we had day 2 of orientation. I liked today a lot. We first met in a group of about 17 in a classroom to talk about our expectations of Denmark. Then I went with 5 other students on a little walking tour of Copenhagen. We went to the Royal Palace, where we saw the big changing of the guards, which takes place at noon and midnight every day, the Danish parliament building, the Trinitatis church, and a couple other places. At each stop, there were people from

Changing of the Guard

DIS there to explain the story behind the building, the area, and/or some aspect of Danish history, which was really informative and interesting. I really enjoyed this part of the day today; it was really helpful to gain some sort of foundation for the country I'll be living in until May! I also liked the smaller group size; it was good to be able to get to know some of my classmates a little better, and I bonded with a girl in my group, Sarah, over the similar schools we go to (Gettysburg and Bucknell).

We then were given the challenge of navigating a Danish supermarket, which can be trickier than it sounds, and returned back to our classroom to debrief. After that, I picked up my textbooks, and headed back home. The commute is easy enough, even if it is slightly longer than the absolute maximum 15 minute walk I would have at Bucknell, from Vedder to the Observatory, or a similar route. Haha.

 With Sarah in Nyhavn, Copenhagen

I'm still not feeling 100%, which stinks, but I took a nap before dinner and will be going to bed once I post this. Dinner was great again tonight; we had sliced carrots (yum), pasta salad (literally salad chopped up pretty small with orange peppers and baby penne pasta mixed in; none of that gross stuff we eat in the US with dressing) and chicken, that was delicious and wrapped in some type of bacon maybe, made with gorgonzola cheese. I even learned the Danish word for carrot (gulerod; it took a few tries to be able to say it close to to how it is really pronounced), and taught Søs and Mads the word "refrigerator" (it's a tough one!), or just "fridge" for short. 


Then we just had "hygge" and hung out, with candles of course...I read an article for class (I'm ahead- whaaat?!), and we watched some tv and talked about the differences between the US and Copenhagen in public transportation and other areas. Bedtime now though; I'm all caught up with blogging :) Have a good night...or, have a good dinner, if you are at home!