Home Sweet Home

Hej everyone,

I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to write this last post... with finals the last week of Copenhagen and then packing and then spending the past week home at Lafayette and the beach, I haven't had much time. In fact, I should be packing for my next adventure in North Carolina right now as I'm leaving in less than 5 hours, but oh well.

Den Lille Havfrue

My final days in Copenhagen were a blur of finals and being a tourist.  I finally saw Den Lille Havefrue (The Little Mermaid) statue... so anti-climactic.  I climbed the Spiral Tower on top of the Church of Our Saviour.  I saw Amalienborg Palace and the Black Diamond library.  These are all things that I probably should have done throughout the semester, but of course I waited until the end.  It was strange viewing Copenhagen from a tourist's perspective (especially when I went into tourist shops to buy a couple souvenirs) because I had come to really feel at home in the city.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous for once, but as much as I enjoyed the barbecues and sunshine, it was probably for the best that I had to go since my 90% of the clothes I packed were geared toward the winter.

Hej Hej, Nyhavn

Our core class had a final dinner at a cafe with delicious steak.  After a few too many glasses of rødvin (red wine) and sad goodbyes, a couple of us decided to bring more wine to Nyhavn and sit on the side of the canal as the sun went down.  It was such a sad night in one of the most beautiful places in the city, but it was a perfect ending to an amazing experience.

Last night out with the Keops girls

On my 2nd to last night, a student from DIS arranged a farewell event at a nightclub called NASA, which was apparently Copenhagen's hottest club in the late 90s/early 2000s. We went up in an elevator and all the walls were white... definitely an interesting venue.  It was a great way to see everyone in order to say goodbye.  I was even able to convince my Scottish/Irish friends to come as well for one last night out together.

Mine Danske Familie

I spent the very last day with my visiting family.  Thomas and I went shopping together and then cooked dinner for everyone else, and then we just sat around and talked for a while.  They were really a fantastic part of my time abroad and I am so grateful for all that they did for and taught me... it was so nice having a family to visit once a week and it really allowed me to understand Danish culture in a way I would not have otherwise.

The last morning, I said goodbye to the bikes and weinerbrød and then carried my extremely heavy luggage up and down stairs, onto the S-tog and the metro, and finally into the airport.  My flight home was non-stop, which was nice albeit long, and I arrived in Newark safely.

Now that I have been home for over a week, I can celebrate the fact that throughout my entire time travelling abroad I was never once pick-pocketed and I never lost my luggage.  I had such an amazing experience and have made some amazing friends with people from all over the world.  It's crazy to me that it's over- I've never experienced life move so quickly.  I'd like to end this with a big thank you to my parents for supporting me on my trip, and though I would love to post their gift (which some of you may have seen on Facebook), they still have yet to see it as it has not arrived.  I guess I'll add it on once it finally comes.  Also stay tuned on my Shutterfly for the final Copenhagen pictures which will be added soon.  Oh, and if you're interested in learning a bit more about the society I've grown to love over the past 4.5 months, check out this article recently written for the Huffington Post and this fun BuzzFeed piece.

Thanks so much for reading this semester! Now it's off to new adventures in North Carolina... and by adventures I mean Duke neuroscience lab and my apartment/MCATstudycentral.  Not super fun.

Vi ses,

Stephanie

Edit:

Thank You Mom and Dad for Giving Me the World!