Submitted by Brooke Levinson on the 2018 fall semester DIS program in Copenhagen, Denmark…
My third week in Copenhagen has brought on many adjustments. When I signed up to study at DIS I had a few different housing options to choose from. I could live in a homestay, which means I would live with a Danish family in their home. The next housing option was a Folkehøjskole, since I couldn’t even pronounce the title, I was automatically intrigued. A Folkehøjskole is a dorm that makes you feel as if you’re living on a rural campus of a small liberal arts college, amongst Danish students. A DIS student studying abroad can also live in a Residential Community which is strictly DIS undergraduates. If you are more focused on a certain area you can choose to live in a living and learning community, targeted towards a specific topic, like the arts or outdoors. Other than finding your own housing there was only one option left. A Kollegium is a co-ed residential building that houses Danish students from several different universities. Since, I went abroad to immerse myself in the Danish culture, I felt that the best housing option for me would be living in a Kollegium.
I came to Denmark with a preconceived idea of what my housing would look and feel like. I prepared myself for the abroad experience by reading blogs and watching videos made by former DIS students. I analyzed their rooms in the background of the videos and meticulously read the blog’s descriptions of the living spaces. Since the main population of students at DIS are American, I assumed that I would be with at least one or two other Americans in my Kollegium. My mom always told me not to assume as a kid and she was right!
I live in a Kollegium in Frederiksberg with five other people. The Kollegium is made up of apartments. My apartment is on the fourth floor, it has two bathrooms, four bedrooms, a kitchen and a small living space. The largest bedroom is occupied by a Danish couple, Laura and Fredrik. I had never heard of a couple room in a school housing building so they must be very committed to move in together at such a young age. The concept of a couple room definitely confused me at first, but the more questions I asked, the more I understood. Laura and Fredrik signed a three-year agreement to live in the Kollegium together, but they can end this contract if needed. They both attend Copenhagen school of Business.
My apartment also has two single bedrooms. Shereen lives in one of the bedrooms. Shereen is Egyptian, but lives in Kuwait and attends Georgetown University in Qatar. Shereen is attending DIS and studying prostitution and the sex trade. Lærke is a Danish student studying medicine at Copenhagen University and she lives in the second single. Our first conversation consisted of her saying her name and then I repeated, but I consistently pronounced it wrong. It is very hard to pronounce Danish words. The Danes, including my Danish roommates say that “our language sounds like we are choking on a potato and throwing up at the same time.” Although this is a very peculiar saying to me, this is a very common saying among the Danes.
I share a room with a girl named Indira, who is from India. Indira attends school at Grinnel College in Iowa. Indira is also attending DIS; she is studying innovation and entrepreneurship. When I first met Indira, she told me to call her Indi, which is her nickname back at home. I immediately thought it was ironic that I had an Indian roommate who lives in India and wanted me to call her Indi. Indi and I get along amazingly. I was originally nervous that the cultural differences would make things difficult, but to my surprise, our differences create more laughs than complications. The other day, I was frantically searching our room for my wallet and blurted out “Houston, we have a problem.” Indi looked at me confused and asked what I had just said. It didn’t even occur to me that she wouldn’t have heard that saying, but she hadn’t. We then spent the next fifteen minutes talking about NASA. When we are both in our room, Indi and I spend most of our time giggling, sharing music, telling stories, snacking and of course singing as if no one can hear.
There are so many things happening around me at all times that I find it hard to really take a moment, to sit back and think about how much I am truly growing here. I came into this study abroad experience thinking I would be living with Danes and Americans, yet here I am and I am the only American. I do not think it gets more abroad than this. What happens when you take an Egyptian, an Indian, three Danes, and an American and stick them all in an apartment? The answer to this question is they simply all become friends. I think my living situation is impacting my experience in the most positive way and I can’t wait to learn more with my new flat-mates.
