Week Five: Getting to Know Home

Last week was full of exploring distant parts of Denmark. This week, I got many opportunities to explore life more fully in the place I’m calling home right now. On Saturday, my host mom, Veena, showed me some shops in a part of Copenhagen I hadn’t been to yet before going to her sister’s apartment for her birthday party. This was a nice time of feeling more like a part of the family; I had a lot of fun chatting with Veena’s mother and we made plans to cook Indian food together for dinner next week.

On Sunday, I went to a football game with Morten, Marcus, William, Caitlyn, and another friend, Julia. We cheered on our local team, Brøndbyoster. There was one section of the stadium where the super fans all sit together, singing and making gestures in unison. It was pretty cool to watch. As someone who lived in Costa Rica, I definitely was happy to watch a football game and cheer on the local team.

One of my classes is called Identity Lab: Overcoming Prejudice, Discrimination, & Conflict. This class explores prejudice and discrimination that is rooted in clashes in identity. We utilize psychology and sociology to think about how we can bridge the gap between people who are very different from each other. This week, we went on a field study to Khora, a virtual reality workshop. Here, we were able to play virtual reality games that are supposed to encourage empathy by putting you in the shoes of someone else. Some of the virtual reality games we used included learning more about homelessness, being a refugee, blindness, and more. Afterward, we had a discussion with one of the game developers about the impact and effectiveness of these games. 

On Wednesday, I went on another field study, this time with my Danish Language & Culture class. We had a walking tour of Christiania and learned from a resident who had lived there for about thirty years. For anyone who isn’t familiar with it, Christiania is a free town inside Copenhagen. It was started when some hippies began squatting in an abandoned military compound. Today, Christiania is a thriving community that is a bit like a commune. Instead of abiding by Danish law, Christianites believe in being able to do whatever one desires as long as others are not hurt. The community has eight rules that they follow and they all own the land of Christiania collectively. Christiania is often raided by the Danish police force and seems to be a source of quite a bit of controversy in Denmark.

My favorite part of this week has been connecting with friends. On Tuesday night, I hosted a hygge dinner at my homestay. Hygge is a Danish word that refers to the comfort and warmth of spending a peaceful time with people you care about. My host family was delighted about not having to cook as I and other DIS students made everything ourselves. It was nice to be able to introduce more of my friends to my host family and my host parents really enjoyed meeting some other students and making jokes about me. Though I’m still learning what it means, I think our time was hyggeligt— and most of all I’m happy that I’ve formed friendships that allow me to experience hygge. 

That’s the highlight of what I’m feeling this week: just really thankful for those around me. It can be a little overwhelming to keep up with at times (especially with midterms around the corner). There are friends I met in the beginning of the semester, new ones I met during Core Course Week, those in my homestay network, my host family and their family, and the friends and family back home who keep up with me and reach out with love when I need it the most and expect it the least. I was worried about finding friends in my time here— people that I would enjoy being with and that I could also give something to. I am having a great time and I have so many people who are making this experience richer and richer. So, to everyone who is making my time here even better, thank you. I am having one of the best experiences of my life thanks to the love, support, friendship, and quality time I get from those around me