Studying abroad is a genuinely exciting experience, but it can also be somewhat overwhelming. Perhaps I’m the only student afflicted with this (although in talking to my peers I don’t think that’s the case) but when you’re abroad, you have a constant feeling that you should be doing something. It’s a Friday night and you feel like staying in and watching a movie, but your conscious is screaming “Oh come on! You’re overseas, you’re immersed in culture, get out there!” I’m not a big party animal in general, but in Copenhagen I always feel far too guilty to quench this inner thirst to be a lazy hermit.
After one month of this mindset though, I’ve decided that there has to be some sort of balance. To an extent, the inner voice scolding me for enjoying the warmth of my dorm room is beneficial. It gets me outside and exploring, and I’ve seen a lot of the city because of it. But sitting around with some friends last night in my room, sharing a bottle of peach wine and enjoying a card game, I realized that there’s something to be said for relaxing, too, and sometimes you really do just need to chill.
For the past three weeks I have checked travel websites literally every single day for good travel deals. I’ve planned hypothetical trips for every weekend I’ll be in Europe, and then decided with friends which ones were worth pursuing. I was a crazy person, trying to get as much out of this experience as possible, and see as much as I can. I would spend hours a day planning and crunching numbers. Before I came here I was convinced I’d be travelling every weekend, seeing dozens of countries and being a jet-setting world traveler. This morning, though, I was biking to the grocery store on a beautiful sunny day in Copenhagen and I decided I am going to stop stressing about not seeing or doing enough while I am here. I bought a chocolate croissant and sat on a bench in the sunshine and watched the world go by. What’s so wrong with that? Why have I not been embracing the idea of a quiet Copenhagen weekend?
Perhaps I’m too high strung as a person, or perhaps it’s the inherent differences in American and Danish cultures (I have no homework to keep me occupied) but I’m going to make a conscious effort to embrace “hyyge,” which is enjoying the environment and people around me. There’s an endless list of things to take in from this city. I biked downtown and stumbled upon a peaceful student protest,
I walked around with some friends and found a wonderful, indoor farmers market, with everything from chocolates to fresh cheeses, meats, spices, etc.
I even spent a nice Saturday evening with some friends at Bartof, a local bar that has live music on the weekends. Usually they feature jazz, but we stopped in on Hawaiian night! There’s nothing like sipping a cold Tuborg (Danish beer) closing your eyes, and pretending you’re somewhere warm.
There really is so much in Copenhagen to take in that I’m sure even after over four months, I still won’t have seen everything.
That being said, I do still want to travel. I’ve already booked ventures to Dublin, Vienna, and Berlin, and I’m working on a few other small excursions. But I’m going to shift my daily priorities to finding the next best thing to realizing that learning this great city of Copenhagen is the best thing; the best use of my time.
The bottom line is, I have to personally find my own balance, and I advise future study abroad students to do the same early on in their experience. If you feel like staying in on a Friday night, eating chocolate and watching a stupid movie, do it. Go out the next night and try a new venue. List the top 4 or 5 cities in Europe (or wherever you may go) that you really want to see, and plan your trips there early on. For the remainder of your time, get to know your city as a local resident.
List of things I’ve done
– Gotten lost on a 4 hour bike ride. 20+ miles. Woo!
– Discovered and fallen in love with a low-key local bar with free pool, darts, foosball, etc
– Planned a trip to Vienna with my roommate
To do list :
– Go to the Opera/ Ballet in Copenhagen
– Sit outside and read a book in the queens garden
– Plan out my familys’ trip to Copenhagen, March 24-31. (I’m so excited!)
– *** Catch the ice cream truck!!!!*** They drive SO fast! I hear the bells outside and BAM, they’re gone. But one of these days, I’ll catch it. I managed a photo …. notice how blurred the details are around the truck. I did not do any editing to this photo at all. How does it make economic sense to drive that fast? I know I’m an American but surely plenty of others are having trouble with catching this thing!!!
Location: Holger Danskes Vej, Frederiksberg
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Really interesting that this is universal.
I have the same feeling here in Beijing.
Every weekend or free afternoon I feel like I should be doing something more productive, going out and about, traveling, and exploring other nearby places. But like you said its also really important to take some time for yourself, and relax and just hang out with friends!
Cool pictures and nice post.
I feel your pain Stephanie!
I’m by no means a night owl so I’ve skipped a lot of pub invitations from friends and I always end up questioning my choice–should I be pub-hopping now?
So when I went to Edinburgh this past weekend, I finally said yes to an invitation to the pub crawl (it’s the British equivalent of a bar tour) which our hostel was organizing.
It was okay. I had 2 shotglasses full of green, apple-flavored mystery liquid and a sip of strawberry beer in one single weekend! That is a new record for me. Of course I did not lose my consciousness and kept on watching others losing themselves (I can be mean sometimes haha).
It was nice catching up with some of the kids from the program who I wouldn’t normally get chances to hang out with.
I wouldn’t say he inspection officer who prophesied that I’d leave UK an alcoholic was right but I’m becoming less uncomfortable with the idea of drinking than I was before.
Here’s both of us getting the most of this wonderful semester abroad! =)