MY LIFE IN DENMARK: February - part 1

TRIP TO DENMARK

The trip... kinda complicated. First, a bus from Pilsen to Prague. Then a bus from Prague to Copenhagen (containing a ferry ride between Germany and Denmark). And then a bus from Copenhagen to Viborg. Eeeeyyy.

Diary notes: 

saturday 2nd February, 6:22 AM

So, I’m on a ferry, having a nice cup of Earl Grey. It took me a while to feel safer on this ferry, cuz I was confused, worried and sleepy. Now I’m just sleepy.

The drivers are nice. They also liked my polar bear pillow. Also some drunken guy in Prague said to me he liked it. My polar bear is famous.

I wanted to buy a bottle of water but I got it for free, since there was a problem they needed to solve, so the driver told me to accept it as a refund for the obstacles caused. The drivers were kind to me anyway, because I was Czech just like them.

We made like a gazilion stops in Berlin, so I slept like... two hours? Then maybe one and one? Not baad.

7:45 AM

Brushing your teeth on a ferry is funny.

To shorten this up, my first impression of Copenhagen was „oooh, whatafuck, ok, don’t panic, it’s not ugly, not ugly, don’t look at the ugly train station, don’t think about it, Viborg will be pretty“. 

Then I got lost, bought hella expensive food and water and got attacked by a drunken woman by the elevator. 

I would describe this experience as rather lovely.

ARRIVING TO VIBORG AND CAMP LOGOS

After arriving to Viborg, I thought I was safe and nothing else could go wrong. All i wanted was warm shower, warm bed, warm food, tea and sleep. ... haha.

Spent two hours waiting for +++ and looking for her, which in that fuckin cold was so so so splendid – did i mention i stood one hour in rain in Copenhagen and then five hours in a bus without heating? (I sound mad, but well, I was completely devastated)

After getting into our apartment, well...

Problems w/ our flat:

• ·        heating doesn’t work, therefore the temperature inside is the same as outside
• ·        the cooker works so poorly, you need twenty minutes to make a tea
• ·        shower – super weak water pressure, no hot water
• ·        almost no furniture, gadgets or things you usually need to live

Since heating up the apartment using the oven did not work so well, I immediatly informed the teachers about this. One of them tried to navigate me in the panel with gas and water, but then I got almost killed by hot water randomly bursting out, so I refused to touch anything else.

I tried not to panic, so I decided to accept this whole thing as a challenge and as an adventure. Boy, was I brave that time.

FIRST DAYS, FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I reconcidered many of my first impressions. Like, I thought the uni would be a super formal place where we will do a lot of academic things and it would have some Yale kind of vibe. I dont know why, maybe because everything was so white. And maybe because I compared my whole going to here thing to Rory Gilmore going to Yale. Instead of all what I expected, I ended up in a high school like playground for Danes, and foreigners in their last tries to make this place less of a kindergarden mess. Not saying that the kindergarden mess was always bad. I believe there is a huge need of a daily portion of a kindergarden mess in lives of us all. If that is their way of doing things, alright then, let’s explore that.

I arrived on saturday night. On sunday +++ showed me some important places and i bought many things, mostly to eat. On Sunday evening our classmates, except for one, had a meeting in a nearby bar. It was nice to meet before starting the school, because it made the next day feel much safer. It was a really nice evening and I came home with a good feeling.

Also I reconcidered some impressions of some people. Some positive stayed, some became more positive and unfortunately vice versa. My feelings were mostly positive, but there was one very rude moment when a person without any warning approched to me and talked to me in a different language. I was like: "sorry?" and then the person asked: "you're not from +++?" and i said no, and the person was like "i thought there was another person from +++ ... eh" and left. ehm, hello? No matter where i'm from, we're still classmates, don't you wanna say hi at least? But I guess that was just it with the negativity. I also got to discuss the housing problems.

Our first week in school was full of introduction and team building games, which was fun, but then the thing started: the *** Challenge. (I don't wanna mention the school name, so let's just call it The Challenge)

The deal about this was: there were quite a few student groups, made up of 2 internationals and 3-4 Danes, or just only Danes, from different fields of study, and our task was to make a product based on some of the UN goals. 

It was the fourth day of being in Denmark, so eeeeyyy.

Diary notes:

sunday 3.2.2019, 9:23

I found a dead fly under my table. Poor girl.

monday 4.2.2019, 8:30

Ø  When you use oven instead of the heating, it’s stupid to use fridge for the light.

Ø  I had a challenge to sleep in only one pair of pants. I made it but not doing it again.

Ø  Using the hairdryer to warm up your body after a cold night is the best, really.

Ø  I still sleep in my coat, maybe I should buy a blanket. Well at least I do not worry about where to hang the coat.

Ø  I said, that when I travel, I leave all of my troubles and problems in Czechia. It’s true. At least I think. I’m feeling a lot here. Love, hate. But I finally learned to live in present, not past or future. It feels great. I guess I will be happy here. Or... maybe I already am.

Our first week felt like a month. It was exciting and full of activities. The first days, we mostly just talked about ourselves.

My first talk on a walk to city centre with +++ made me feel like the funniest person ever. Happy to leave others behind and talk about Harry Potter. I still remember, first thing she told me she was obsessed with Johny Depp and her boyfriend. I was like girl u crazy but good crazy lets be friends, save me here. Actually later on it was very easy to open to +++, since she was so open about herself. So, yaay a friend.

thursday 7.2.2019, 20:56

I met a bulgarian girl in Rema (supermarket). She heard me speaking in English to the cashier and when we went out of the store she asked me if I was an Erasmus student. She studies here permanently. She told me that Viborg is so ugly and danish students are drunk and stupid.
Well, I guess that’s an opinion of someone who studies here permanently.

I’m doing my best to be social and to talk to people.

8.2.2019 16:43

I think I understand now why people in Denmark drink so much. I think I need to drink to survive The Challenge.

I made many notes, but lets just rephrase. I went to the city centre again with +++, which was fun, on the other hand embarassing since my scarf hit +++ face like a milion times and we were three shy introverts on a walk, but alright. 

Also me and a couple of classmates went to the lake, which was fun, cuz i really wanted to see the lake. IT WAS SOOO PRETTYYYY!

Two things: omg i have friends!
Second: yes, almost everybody thought i was romanian like wtf just because i do not study social pathology and prevention i dont have to be romanian ok.