Submitted by Haley Stanko on the 2017 fall semester DIS (Denmark’s International Study Program) program in Copenhagen, Denmark…
Checking in for my first IGS blog post. My name is Haley, and I am studying in Denmark this semester. I am taking classes in Copenhagen through a program called DIS with American students from a lot of different universities that are taught by professionals who are currently in the field they teach. The classes I am taking are focused on urban design and history. Copenhagen is a great city for studying how to design for the human scale; one of the most influential contemporary writers on urban design, Jan Gehl, lives and works in Copenhagen, so a lot of my classes have focused on his impact. Gehl believes in prioritizing public life in urban design, and I get to see what that means first hand as I explore the city. There are a lot of beautifully designed public squares, parks, and walking streets that exemplify what it means to design on the human scale. All of my classes have a field study component that brings us outside of the classroom and directly into the spaces we are learning about. This week I got to visit a neighborhood built on an island with canals running between buildings called Sluseholmen, visited the Danish Jewish Museum to analyze its unique architecture, and took a couple walking tours with a class that focuses on strategies for urban livability.
In addition to all the great experiences I am having in class, I also have been very busy outside the classroom spending time with my host family, playing for a hockey club, and getting to know American students from all over the country. My host family is a mom with three kids under 12, and the younger two don’t speak much English with me, so I spend a lot of time trying to practice Danish with them. Last week, I went to a Crossfit session with my host mom, which was very challenging, but a great experience to interact with other Danes and immerse myself in the language more. Most people can speak English, but Danish is definitely the default here so I am determined to learn as much as I can, which is becoming easier since I am surrounded by it all the time.
I’ve been practicing with a field hockey team in Copenhagen, and we have our first game on Sunday! I am really glad I made the effort to find the club, practicing twice a week is a great time for me to relieve some of the stress of being in a new place. It’s important to have that time that I get to do something familiar and get to be creative on the field. I also have a lot of really great teammates that are from a couple different countries and it’s great to connect with them through sport.
It’s only been two weeks but I have really settled into a routine and feel like I’ve been here a lot longer. I am looking forward to the hockey match this weekend, another week of classes ahead and a bicycle tour with one of my classes on Wednesday!