Submitted by Zachary Shulman on the 2019 fall semester DIS program in Copenhagen, Denmark…
As with any new experience, whether a person, place, or idea, the first impression is the critical factor in establishing the emotions, convictions, and interpretations I will associate with that experience for the extent of my relationship with it. My college experience so far has been (and continues to be) punctuated by new people, places, and ideas, each with their own unique first impression. As I reflect on my first week in Copenhagen, Denmark, I carefully consider each first impression that these new experiences have had on my experience so far.
First and foremost, this week has been a flurry of faces, scheduled orientation events, and the stressful process of developing a routine for myself in a foreign country. What I discovered, however, more than made up for the near-constant exhaustion of the first week of any study abroad. As a political science major, I was primarily interested in learning about the Danish lifestyle as it relates to their high cost of living, extensive social services, and reputation for being the happiest country on the planet.
After a series of conversations with my host father, Bent, I learned that the willingness to sacrifice, inconvenience oneself, and take care of others at great personal cost is built into a tradition hundreds of years in the making. The Danes are admirably committed to building a functioning benevolent society in which each citizen happily contributes their share to the whole. They regulate their own actions to conserve, pay great attention to their personal impact on those around them, and reject the notion that small, incremental actions can’t make a difference.
While I have only been here for a week, and expect to learn much more about the culture, traditions, and society of Denmark, my curiosity and interest in gathering as much as I can about it continues to grow exponentially because of this wonderful first impression. I would encourage anyone who studies abroad to pay close attention to emotions, perceptions, and tones that they experience in that critical first week. Keep an open mind and allow yourself to be fully immersed in the sights and sounds; they will set the course for an unforgettable semester.
