Arrival

Swiss Alps

After a gorgeous plane ride where I admired the glowing peaks of the Alps as we passed through Zurich, I was quickly welcomed by the DIS staff. They took us on a bus to my housing, where I met my roommate, who was sound asleep when I came. Exhausted, and content with not having the burden of introductions, I too took a nap before dinner. 

The SRAs (Social Residence Advisors) kindly provided us with dinner and introduced themselves. Their role is essentially like a more laid back version of an RA, and they help facilitate social activities, but really I think they will be more helpful as a window to Denmark. They are quite friendly and I they are a great way to learn about Danish culture without the awkwardness of accosting random Danes on the street. After dinner, I spent a couple hours getting to know my roommate, who is quite nice, and putting things away in my room, which is quite spacious and moderately well furnished. 

We took a tour of the neighborhood, but everyone was too busy chatting to really notice what was going on. Then everyone went to sleep because they were super tired. 

DIS Opening Ceremony

The next morning, my roommate got up and got breakfast from the local grocery store. I had a little bit of an awkward encounter with my American credit card and lack of Danish, but now I've got the paying for things skill down like a pro. Here goes my life savings! We then used the s-tog(subway basically) to get to the opening ceremony. The s-tog is very efficient and modern, but a little too quiet for American tastes. Our SRAs explained that Danes thoroughly enjoy a silent commute. I spotted an older man quietly enjoying a beer on the s-tog at 9:30am, providing silent reminder of the lack of open container laws. The opening ceremony was thoughtful yet concise, and featured speeches from faculty as well as an acrobatic performance. 

 Following a coffee and panini lunch, we had a new student orientation. We met a nice Dane and played some games, and talked a little about cultural differences. We didn't really get too deep, but this gives me a chance to bring up some of the things I've been thinking about on my own. 

Nyhavn

People always say Denmark is the happiest country on the planet. However, happiness is subjective. I think that the American standard of happiness is quite different from the Danish standard of happiness. I think that content may be a better translation of the phenomenon, but I still have much more investigation and thinking to do before I make more generalizations. 

I spent the rest of the day wandering the city with some new friends, and came back to the dorm to cook dinner. I made a grilled chicken salad with apples and a balsamic honey seasoning. Yum. The night consisted of playing Cards Against Humanity, foosball, and cleaning up my room.

To be continued!