Reflections

As my time here in Copenhagen draws to a close, it seemed like an apt time to stop and think about this semester - these four months in my new favorite city in the world.
Over the past four months, I have traveled to 14 cities in 8 countries. I took 10 flights, 4 trains, 4 buses and 3 ferries (only missed one!). I've eaten amazing food and drank amazing drinks, met incredible people and seen beautiful places. I've stayed out all night and watched the sun rise. I've swum in the Baltic Sea. I've spent far more money than I should and walked more miles than last semester and summer combined (I assume).

Red points are places I've stayed. Yellow points are places I passed through (airports).

Sunrise after a night out with my floor.

I've become comfortable on a bike again learned to find my way in a new city where I don't speak the language. I've gotten to the point where I can understand signs and decipher directions and letters with some effort. I still can't understand spoken Danish for the life of me, but that will come (oh yeah, have I mentioned I'm going to look into getting my Master's here?). I've fallen in love with the city. I am so thankful to all the amazing people I've met here. Each and every one of you has helped to make Copenhagen my home, delaying homesickness until the last couple weeks. As crazy as it may sound, I'm going to miss Socialt Kollegium and all the wonderful people in it. I'll miss looking out my window at the sunrise or the people playing soccer on the fields across the street. I'll miss chatting with people in the kitchen and watching Game of Thrones in the cinema. I'll miss the Danish sunsets, that seem exceptional, every time.

The SK DIS Squad. 

Luckily I'll have my memories to carry with me during the next year. And I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family at home. The reverse culture shock will be interesting, and taking the T will be downright painful after the clean, timely Copenhagen Metro and trains.
I know it's cliche to say it, but I've learned so much this semester - about myself and sustainability and Danish culture. I've traveled on my own in countries where I don't speak the language at all - WITHOUT DATA - and somehow I've managed to make it home safely and enjoy myself every time. I've had to cook for myself, and as much as the Danes on my floor make fun of me and my cooking abilities, I think I did pretty well considering grocery shopping is a challenge and a half - not only a different language, but also cooking for one AND the food goes bad faster (probably because it's actually real food). Sure, I ate a lot of spaghetti and rice with chicken, but I'm not a foodie, so it worked out.
I've had many assumptions challenged this semester. For instance, I had never really considered consumption level as a part of sustainability, but now I realize that the developed world needs to drastically decrease how much we consume if we want to have a planet to live on - our current rates are incredibly unsustainable, not only in the amount of waste generated (and how it's being managed), but in terms of natural resources. A paradigm shift needs to occur, and it needs to happen soon. It's starting here in Denmark, but only slowly.
I've never seen how a city can function effectively without cars. Sure, Boston is a walkable city in terms of scale, but it still gives preference to cars over bikes, pedestrians and public transportation. I've had some real Eureka! moments in my classes this semester - now I need to figure out how I can take what I've learned and use it to make things better in the US.
There are so many things from this semester that I can't even begin to cover them all. I hope you've enjoyed following along on my journeys, as sporadically as I was able to write. See you Stateside!

Spring has sprung in Copenhagen and jumped right to Summer.