You have to be a tourist before you can become a local 

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Friday, January 20th

     Today a couple of my friends and I went exploring after classes ended to visit some of the iconic Copenhagen tourist attractions. First we stopped at a cafe and juice bar called "Joe & the Juice" and had some delicious juices to fuel ourselves. Surprisingly, this cafe chain seems to be more abundant in number of locations than there are Starbucks or MacDonald's in America. For our next stop, my friend wanted to try a traditional Danish street food, a Danish hot dog (which she said she loved). Afterwards we visited the very photogenic Nyhavn where colorful buildings are lining the water. This area was rather touristy but still so charming. Not too far from Nyhavn are very entertaining trampolines that are built into the ground and our inner 7 year old selves clearly couldn't resist this attraction. After a hours of walking around the city we were very exhausted and headed back to our Kollegium dorm and made dinner and met some Danish students from our floor who were very nice! We are hoping to organize a schedule where at least once every couple of weeks we have a group dinner together. 

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Saturday, January 21st

   Today was my most memorable day abroad so far. This morning my friends and I participated in Copenhagen's Women's March. I cannot express in words how inspiring it was to see so many people from different backgrounds and parts of the world coming together in support of Women's Rights and in support of numerous other important causes such as the Black Lives Matter movement, LGBT rights, freedom of religion, protection of the environment and the list goes on. Despite not having lived in Denmark for very long, it was really moving to see the people from the culture I am about to live in for the next 4 months come together and stand up for causes that should be basic human rights. It honestly made me feel a lot closer to the culture and people of Denmark after seeing such support for topics that have caused a lot of contestation in the U.S. and in other parts of the world. 

    Later that evening I went with my friends to Paper Island, which is actually located within a 5 minute walk from Nyhavn. Paper Island used to store paper for the Danish press until it closed down operation. This previously industrial area is now open to the public and one of the main buildings houses numerous delicious street food vendors (they are all currently located indoors since it is the winter season). The food options there are SO delicious and the variety is very impressive, ranging from Danish to Korean, Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Thai, Colombian, Middle Eastern, Indian and even American food. There were also several stands where you can get different beer and wine. What made the overall experience even better was the price....I will definitely be returning soon.

 

 

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