Recently I had to register for classes for my spring semester back at SJU (not the best scheduling experience I’ve had), which has made me realize that I definitley am not staying in Copenhagen forever and life back home is still going on and soon I will have to enter it.
My current life is taking four classes, involved in absolutely no clubs or organizations, a new coffee shop everyday, long weekends, and a week or two for traveling the world thrown in for good measure. Classes at DIS definitley aren’t the easiest things I’ve ever taken, but they are all so incredibly interesting which makes it all worth it. So yeah, the thought of 8AMs, club meetings, sub par coffee, and too many cars on City Ave has been A LOT.
But, here I am, still in Copenhagen, still some travels left, just enjoying my time! On Saturday, November 11th I decided to have myself a DAY and explore Nørrebro, a funky neighborhood north of where I live. I was here once before for a Wednesday field study with my travel writing class where we chatted with an american author living in Denmark in my professor’s cozy little office writing space.
On this day though, I had the area to explore by myself, camera in tow! I remember how in the beginning of the semester it was a big deal for me to plan out my day beforehand, making sure I was getting on the right form of transportation. This time though, I knew my bus, my stop, and from there I thought I would just take myself wherever looked best!
My first stop was Superkilen, which is a cool park area that has the white lines running along the black pavement. Connected to it is another park area with red pavement, where after some photos and walking I stopped at a bench to watch all of the skateboarders doing all the tricks on the clear skied and sunny Saturday! There were people sitting down, playing with their kids on the swings and jungle gym equipment, biking, and running–always so much activity in Copenhagen and especially when it’s a beautiful day outside.
I then walked towards a street that has a bunch of little stores and on my way I passed a block full of soccer fields which was so fun because it felt like an AYSO Saturday morning.
To warm up a bit I stopped in a coffee shop, their sign adorned with ‘damn good coffee’, so naturally I got myself a chai tea and read some of the book a friend here lent me titled, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry–big fan so far because he’s traveling to Berwick 🙂
I continued down the street, stopping in all of the different little shops along the way. Finally, I warmed up at GROD before walking to find the bus. The actual GROD store is 10x better than the one in the glass market because they go all out on the toppings for the porridge which I very much appreciate. So basically I was eating a caramel apple with chocolate (there is oatmeal underneath I swear).
I went to the DIS library to get some work done before meeting my friend Alexa at Sticks’n’Sushi, a sushi place everyone has been raving about. It definitley did not disappoint! Afterwards we felt like a sweet treat seemed right, so we headed to Desserthuset, for the most INSANE milkshake I’ve ever had. I mean WOW.
We parted ways afterwards where I thought I would take the bus back, but then my phone died and I definitley do not know the bus line, so instead I got myself back to Copenhagen central station and from there to my metro station. So yeah, I was pretty pleased. Also, the longer walk was definitley much needed after my day of treats!
Apparently the Danes were playing the Irish in a football match, so on my way home there was a huge screen playing the game, the square absolutely packed with people. Always something fun and cool going on in Cope!
I have come super accustomed to being with myself, doing things with just myself and have realized how much I actually very much love and value time I get to just spend with myself. I’m sure for a lot of people this may sound kind of sad or lonely or even frightening. But for me, I think it has made me not afraid to do absolutely anything I want to just because I don’t have someone by my side. I get to experience a new place or a new thing by myself, so I get to see if it’s actually something I enjoy. I also really love to people watch and there truly is nothing better than getting a bite to eat by yourself, and just observing everything around you. I think something I really enjoy about abroad is the feeling of walking down new streets and into different places and people not knowing anything about you and you nothing about them. It’s just incredibly important to be so comfortable with yourself and independent. I think it makes who you chose to surround yourself with all that more special and meaningful.
Some quotes I’ve been really enjoying:
“You come home, make some tea, sit down in your armchair, and all around there’s silence. Everyone decides for themselves whether that’s loneliness or freedom.”
“Of all the people on the planet, you talk to yourself more than anyone. Make sure you’re saying the right things.”
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning.”
