I'm finally getting around to making my first post from Kobenhavn (Copenhagen in Danish) and after only being in CPH for about a week, I feel like time has been passing slowly, but in a really good way. So much has happened within a few days that it feels like i've been here for quite a while! So where to begin....
Copenhagen is an absolutely charming city and it really has a picturesque image of a European town; cobblestone roads, cafes along the street. Cophenhagen is a place that is far more environmentally conscious than the States. Many people, if not the majority of ppl ride their bikes around the city. It's pretty amazing to see tons and tons of the bikers riding along the bike lanes. The metro and bus systems are also very popular. Everything is recycled, in fact you get paid when you recycle beer bottles and cans. My dorm is in the heart of the city, which is right outside the longest pedestrian walkway in Europe. Being in the heart of the city, as well as in Europe in general, means that everything is pretty expensive. I learned within the first two days that I needed to learn out to cook...fast.
(view from my room) (outdoor area of a restaurant)
Like i mentioned before, it's been quite a whirlwind of a week. The first few days/first weekend I met a lott of people, some international and some americans. It was really just refreshing to hear where everyone is from and meet new people.
On the very first night that I was in copenhagen, I got to eat dinner with a few of the danish globers, and for the rest of the weekend, I mostly hung out with the other exchange students and the few unc globers that had arrived. By sunday, the rest of the unc globers as well as the hong kong globers had arrived, and the next day all 45 globers began the GLOBE intro week.
So much has happened within the last week that its particularly hard to recall my first few days in cph. Once the GLOBE intro week started, i barely got to see anyone i had met in the first few days, and those first few days seemed like they happened ages ago. For our intro week, we had a barbeque, a long lecture about strategy (which was surprisingly interesting), a scavenger hunt around the city, nights out, etc.
But probably the thing that sticks out most of this whole week, was our GLOBE case competition, which we literally had 2 days to read/research everything we had to know about Vestas, and write a 9 page report and prepare for a presentation in front of one of the original GLOBE program creators and a Vestas representative. We were put into groups of around 6, with 2 UNC globers, 2 Danish globers, and 2 HK globers. For the next 48 hours we spent most of our time in a study room researching, reading, and writing. We'd arrive at the school early in the morning, not get back until around dinner time, and feeling exhausted in the way that you feel exhausted after you've just watched tv for 6 hours straight.
Despite the fact that the topic of the case competition was quite boring, i really enjoyed working with my team. It was interesting to see how people from completely different educations and societies worked together towards one objective. Even though there were moments that we were all so drained and got a bit antsy, our team for the most part got along really well, which I can't say the same for some of the other groups...For some of the other groups, there was definitely a struggle and somewhat of a tension to collaborate with ppl with different styles of working.
In the end, our team did not win the case competition, the winning team won MP4 players, and we all let loose at our GLOBE dinner (which was probably the first real meal any of us had had in the past week). They served champaigne, wine, and good food. An interesting note is that we were all sipping wine and getting a little tipsy with the vice-deans of cbs and ppl up high at the international office. We all then went out for the rest of the night where everyone proceeded to have interesting adventures...
So again so much has happened and since I'm writing so late, most of what i'm writing about is what has happened within the past few days. Today, I went out with a few globers to get brunch, and then visit the Rosenbort slot, which is an old summer palace. It was a great way to end a crazy week with a lazy afternoon around the city.
Just a few more lasting thoughts about the time that I've been in Copenhagen. It's been an amazing experience so far. Copenhagen is a beauttiffulll city. I'm getting really excited about getting to know all the globers over the next year and a half. I also hope that i can meet other exchange students, because the globers are really secluded from the rest of the exchange students, we don't even really get to do the same intro week activities with the other exchange students. One more interesting note is that danes have a rep for being "rude" or impolite in that they don't sugar-coat anything, and that they are pretty much upfront and real to everyone they meet. Americans, on the other hand, have a rep for being too superficial because we are too nice upfront. The Hong Kong students have a rep for not going out to the bars and not partying as much as everyone else. Whether the stereotypes are true or not, there are definitely moments where these cultural differences are obviously apparent when all the globers are interacting, and I hope that everyone, including myself, will learn to overcome them. And finally, I've been having a blast and I'm really glad to be doing this program because it's just been amazing, so refreshing, and eye-opening to meet so many new people!
Here are a few pictures from my past week...
I miss everyone so much and get skype! So, until next time...
~Jenny
