Arrival

Hey everyone! 

If you hadn't heard, I am spending this semester in Copenhagen, Denmark.

I have been here for 5 amazing days and finally had time to set up my blog. So, this post will be long because I want to fill you in on everything I've been doing for the past few days.

My trip began this past Saturday at Newark Airport. At first I was just sitting by myself at the gate for my flight reading a book. But then I began to notice several other students around me, some looking apprehensive or nervous and all looking excited. I figured they must be DIS students as well. After a few minutes we all began asking who was with DIS and formed a large group of about 20 or so. It was really nice to know that I was on a flight with so many people from my program. I have traveled alot in the past and am no stranger to traveling without my parents or friends. However, this trip is unique and it was nice to know I wasn't alone. It was also great to meet some people before I arrived. It is really comforting to see a familiar face in a group of 500 DIS students.

The flight was fine and took about 7 hours. I watched a movie, listened to my Ipod, read a book, and ate dinner and breakfast. I did not sleep very much though. Because we took off around 5:45 pm and landed at 1:00 am US time (7:00 am Danish time) I was not very tired for most of the flight and could not fall asleep no matter how hard I tried.

When we arrived in Copenhagen there were DIS representatives at several different points checking us in and giving us directions on what to do and where to go next. At about 8:30 am we boarded buses that took us to Copenhagen University where we were given some breakfast and all of our orientation materials. While I was there I signed up for a Piccell cell phone to use while I am in Europe. My incoming calls are free so if you feel a strong desire to call me I would love it! Just let me know and I will send you my number. It is actually really great that DIS had this booth because most people here got the cell phone and we are able to text each other and make plans with each other.

After some preliminary meetings about the program and our chosen housing we were brought to our new homes for the semester. I am living in DIS shared housing which is basically a dorm. My dorm is called Tåsingegade (but it is pronounced more like tolsinggald). There are about 70 DIS students living here on 2 floors. There are also Danes living in our building. I am living in a double room and my roommate's name is Linda. She is great. She is from Connecticut and she goes to school at Elon. We are really getting along well and seem to have alot in common. Our room is basic but really nice. We have a little kitchenette (2 burners, a sink, a microwave, and a minifridge) so we will be trying to cook as much as possible because it is cheaper. We also have our own bathroom which is great. The shower is a little odd because it is the bathroom. There is a shower curtain to contain some of the water but there is nothing to contain the water on the floor and the drain is on the exact opposite side of the room from the shower head so the entire floor gets wet and only one person can be in there at a time. The wet floor is a little inconvenient but it won't really be a problem. We also have a common room on our floor for us to congregate in which will be a great way to meet new people.

After we all unpacked and settled into out rooms we went to dinner as a group. However, instead of having something traditionally Danish for dinner, we had chinese food! As funny as it was to have that on my first night in Copenhagen it was delicious. With dinner I also had my first Carlsberg beer which is made in Denmark. I really liked it! but I'm not sure that it really went well with chinese food... Anyway, after dinner Linda and I went back to our room because we were so tried from traveling and ready for our first nights sleep in a new city.