It’s not that I don’t like sharing. In fact, I created this entire blog to share. It’s just that, well, I don’t quite know yet.
First a bit of background. I chose Copenhagen for two reasons:
Because the neuroscience classes looked amazing.
Because Denmark is one of the happiest countries in the world.
And that is where Hygge comes in. According to Uncle Google (oh and I’m from New Zealand so sorry if I accidentally let some kiwi slang slip), Hygge is defined as “a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture).” And believe it or not, this way of life is thought by many to be the key to happiness.
So as I build my new life in Copenhagen, I hope that along the way I can begin to pick up the Hygge way of life and share what I learn with whoever happens to stumble upon my page.
Fall break could not have gone better. From sunbathing and swimming in Santorini to learning more about the Ottoman empire in Istanbul, there was never a dull moment. But I must say, come Sunday we were all missing Copenhagen with all its Christmas markets, fairy lights, and Hygge that we have come to love.
The Dane’s definitely manage to keep it Hygge despite the cool weather. Tivoli has recently been revamped in the spirit of Christmas, with fake snow decorating the grounds and Christmas lights in abundance.
But it’s not only Christmas that the Dane’s have been celebrating. Surprisingly there have been quite a few Thanksgiving treats around the place (although I still haven’t figured out why). Earlier today we stopped in at The American Pie Company to find that the only savory pies they were serving for the day were Thanksgiving themed. It wasn’t quite the Turkey, sweet potato, pecan pie, and everything else feast, but it was a decent shot nonetheless!
Copenhagen’s cafes were also something I’d missed. A while ago I had received a gift card from DIS to Next Door Cafe and a few days ago decided to cash in on it. One of the things I love about Copenhagen are all of the random vibrant spots you kinda just have to walk into by accident, and Next Door Cafe was no exception. It’s the kind of place that would have been too easy to walk right past because of its underground location and small hidden doorway. But luckily the chatter and laughter coming from inside was hard to miss. The food was great but the atmosphere was even better, and my favorite part of it had to be the secret little downstairs area that much more closely resembled a bar than your typical cafe.
Of course, classes were great to come back to as well. In Danish we’ve been learning about and discussing the Mohammed cartoons, which were a set of controversial cartoons published by a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, that ended up producing serious repercussions. It was interesting to explore this from a Danish perspective, especially given Denmark’s history of being a very homogenous society. This led to discussions around free speech and it was really interesting to compare and contrast the views of Danes with those of Americans. Another one of my classes, Thinking Lab, also decided to explore the concept of freedom this week, but in this case it was in terms of surveillance. The discussion ranged all the way from Snowden and the US government to how McDonalds is now testing the use of license plate and facial recognition to predict orders.
Outside of our regular class hours, another school highlight of the week was my Danish field trip to the language department of the Danish military. We attended a talk by one of the leaders of the institution and learned about everything from the rigorous training program undertaken by military translators to Denmark’s involvement in international relations. After the talk we were also lucky enough to have the opportunity to check out the housing quarters of the students.
All in all it’s been great to be home. But this post wouldn’t be complete without at least a few photos from our incredible week in Greece and Turkey.
The light that used to stream into our room waking us up for our 8:30am classes disappeared long ago. Now the wide open curtains serve only to remind us of the inevitable rain complementing the 45 degree weather. But it’s not just the mornings that are dark and gloomy – the sun now sets at 4pm, and it’s only November.
So how can it be that despite the 17 hours of darkness Danes are still some of the happiest people on the planet? I was determined to find out.
My first great idea was to ask a friend who has spent the last two years doing his masters in Copenhagen what he recommended doing to make the most of the city despite the inescapable overcast skies. Unfortunately, he had nothing for me (maybe because he wasn’t a Dane). But I had no intent on wasting my remaining time sitting inside watching Netflix. So my next port of call was actually figuring out what Danes do in the dark season from a local. Luckily my Outdoor LLC leader had my back and through our most recent Thursday night activity he introduced us to winter bathing, known in Danish as Vinterbadning.
So what exactly is winter bathing? Well it’s extremely close to how it sounds – you jump into the icy waters of Copenhagen. But it’s really not as terrible as it sounds, in fact it’s by far one of the best things I’ve done here, and that’s all thanks to the sauna right next door.
Let me run you through how the night went. We left home at 5:45pm (by which time it was pitch black outside) and made our way via metro and train to where we were going winterbathing, arriving just in time to meet out ‘Sauna Master’ at 6:30. Although, I’m pretty sure our ‘Sauna Master’ was just the guy who had a membership to the winter bathing club. But given the club had a 12 year waitlist he definitely deserved the title! After stripping down into our swimwear we stepped outside into the cool air and quickly migrated to the sauna. Unsurprisingly, like everything else in Copenhagen, the sauna was beautiful. The fourth wall was a huge slate of glass overlooking the water and lights of the city and inside the environment was about as hygge as it gets. It didn’t take long for people to start complaining of the heat and the executive decision was made to brave the cold and head down to the water. It seemed that we were all so eager to experience it that within a few minutes all 20 or so of us had managed to pluck up the courage and make the jump off the dock into the icy depths, and of course proceed to rush back to the warmth of the sauna. Jumping into the water was an amazing feeling and I can definitely see how it gets addictive, with many Danes doing it multiple times a week. Once we were back in the sauna our Sauna Master told us the story of how this particular winter bathing club came to be. I was surprised to find out that there was actually no single owner, but rather every member of the club co-owned the saunas for the reasonable price of just over 100 USD a year. In fact, the saunas were built after a group of the original owners agreed to compile their cash and all buy into the great idea. When our Sauna Master suggested that we try to bring this collective effort back to the States and start a sauna club there, his comment was met with chuckles, but maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try out back in New Zealand!
While winter bathing was definitely a foolproof treatment for seasonal depression as well as a great edition to my ‘survival list for Denmark’s winter’, I was still looking for more hygge. So next stop: Bastard café.
This cafe – dedicated to board games – literally screams hygge. The cozy atmosphere coupled with hot drinks, snacks, and multiple walls lined with board games invites everyone within its walls to enjoy a wholesome night of games, and that’s exactly what we got.
While we were hoping the sun would continue on from Marrakech, unfortunately that wasn’t the case at all. But in the small town full of beautiful museums, cathedrals, and streets lines with winerys, there was no shortage of places to explore.
We arrived at our hostel around 3pm and skipped the walking tour to go grab some food from the famous Cafe Santiago. In hindsight I should have taken a photo of the Francesinha Sandwich I got. Between some hearty bread they’d managed layer 5 different types of meat all the way from steak and sausage to complete mystery meat.
With stomachs filled, it was time for some exploring. We decided to wander through the (extremely steep) streets to a cathedral that had caught our eye earlier in the day and after some serious deliberation (which I’ll admit included google imaging the inside of the building), we decided we were too stingy to pay the 7 Euros to go inside.
But the outside was beautiful!
Not quite sure where to go next, we made the safe bet to head down to the Luís I Bridge, because you can never go wrong with bridges. And I’ll admit, the landmark was pretty spectacular, but even cooler were the little alleyways and staircases that led down to it!
Next we visited the place I was most excited about – Livraria Lello, a bookstore frequented by J.K. Rowling. After queuing up in the longest bookstore line I’d ever seen, we were finally able to see the elegant staircase and shelves lined with books that very likely helped inspire Hogwarts.
During our time in Porto we also crossed paths with a really interesting shiny store that we originally guessed to be either a candy shop or a boojie toy store. It turned out to be about as far as possible from both – a sardine shop. And from the photos below I’m sure you can see where our shock came from. We never quite figured out what Porto’s obsession with sardines is about, but I’ve decided there are some things in life I can go without knowing.
Of course, we couldn’t take a trip to Porto without educating our palates through a wine tasting tour of the Calem Winery. And as it turns out, a lot more goes into creating wine than I had ever imagined. After being toured through Calem’s cellars and appreciating the years of hard work stored in giant barrels, we sat down in front of our wine and faked being adults as well as we could by doing that swirly thing with our glass. What was meant to be a short tour was extended by a long conversation with our fellow wine tasters from all over the globe.
Wine, as we found out, was not all Porto had to offer. The water’s edge was overflowing with interesting restaurants that seemed to be built into the hillside. I had the best portobello mushrooms of my life paired with a perfect cheese board.
The rest of our time in Portugal was spent walking around and exploring whatever we came across. Despite the fog, we were lucky enough to admire the views and appreciate the historic town of Porto.
Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona was the obvious choice for Halloween and it didn’t disappoint. A group of us from DIS rented out a small airbnb to use as our home base during the trip while we explored the city. It seemed like everyone from America was there and most of our time was spent running into friends we hadn’t seen in months. Despite it being my second time to Barcelona, the beauty of the city didn’t fail to impress. We spent hours walking around appreciating the architecture and my friend who was studying abroad there gave me a great tour. And of course, the trip wouldn’t be complete without paying a visit to La Sagrada Familia and other Gaudí buildings.
Overall, the week was a great success and surprisingly nothing went terribly wrong! My travel week ended the best way possible with a nighttime picnic in the bunkers overlooking the lights of Barcelona.
Who thought we’d be making it to a new continent this semester? Not me. But Friday morning saw an early morning flight all the way to Marrakech, Morocco.
From the airplane above all I could see was a desert that seemed to go on for ever and ever.
A beautiful and much needed wave of heat hit us as upon exiting the airplane, standing in stark contrast to Copenhagen’s deteriorating weather. Not long after, a 30 dirham bus ride from the airport dropped us right in the hustle and bustle of the city center where we made sure to stop for food (in what was definitely a tourist trap) before finding the way to our hostel.
Our accommodation turned out to be a little building tucked away in the pastel walls of Marrakech. And after taking an embarrassingly long time to figure out how to get in, we were welcomed by our host with Morocco’s famous mint tea and an array of sweets.
kkkkkkkkkkk
We spent the first day exploring the streets and enjoyed wandering through the markets. Unfortunately, with my only luggage for the 10 day trip being my school backpack, window shopping was all I could do. However, if I ever go back I’ll be sure to take a bigger bag because the markets were packed full of beautiful items. But luckily, what was lost in goods was gained in food. The prices sure were a nice change from Copenhagen and we could actually afford to eat out!
Pictured above is a section of a massive market dedicated entirely to straw products ranging all the way from clothing items to household decorations.
Saturday was spent exploring the monuments around the city which was full of beautiful museums and Mosques. Our first stop was the Museum of Marrakesh which held an amazing array of artwork displayed through the twists and turns of the maze like building. The walls were decorated with beautiful paintings featuring recurring themes of hands and faces.
Following the Museum of Marrakesh we made our way to the Bahia Palace, and I later found out its name means ‘brilliance’. The gardens surrounding the palace definitely did not fail to live up to the name and the open building plan helped us make the most of the beautiful weather.
Sunday, however, was what we had really been waiting for. It was the day we had booked for the Hammam. Thanks to the great tip from a friend who’d travelled to Morocco during her gap year, we too decided it would be satisfying to be scrubbed until we were the softest we’d ever been. For those who don’t know, Hammans are traditionally a public steam room where people go to be cleaned. However, ours was slightly more private.
After the Hamman we walked to the Jardin Majorelle – a botanical garden created by the French Orientalist artist, Jacques Majorelle. In fact, the garden was so beautiful it was purchased by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé.
“For many years, the Jardin Majorelle has provided me with an endless source of inspiration, and I have often dreamt of its unique colours.”
One thing I’ve learned over the past few weeks is that apparently Halloween isn’t only celebrated on Halloween, but also throughout the entire month of October.
Last Friday the other Outdoor LLC living on the floor above me put on a Halloween party where they decked out the entire common room and provided a ton of scary snacks.
The Saturday straight after we went to Tivoli (yes, again) to find that the entire amusement park had been redecorated to celebrate the holiday. And by redecorated I don’t just mean they hung up a few spider webs up and stuck a couple of ghosts around, I mean the park was almost unrecognizable. Copenhagen never fails to impress and Tivoli was no exception.
After exploring the park and talking about how cool it would be to be a kid again, we decided it was time to get some lunch. Of course, I couldn’t resist the ‘Scary Halloween Hotdog”.
But if that wasn’t enough pre-Halloween Halloween, we also somehow ended up carving pumpkins too.
One thing that hasn’t become Halloween themed (yet) is classes, but they’re still going just as great. In Danish we had a really interesting guest speaker come in from Christiania. He was so genuine and it was an amazing opportunity to be able to discuss what life inside Christiania is like, rather than just hearing it second hand or reading about it. He explained everything from how their politics works all the way to what it was like to bring up a child in the freetown.
To finish off the week a group of us attended a Space conference in Christiania where the group who recently photographed a black hole presented their incredible work.
Our past week was absolutely jam packed with academic visits, lectures, food, and activities.
Day 0
Unsurprisingly, Sunday morning started with me sleeping through my alarm and almost having to find an alternative way to meet my class in Munich. But luckily, a friend woke me up and we made it to the airport ready to begin our week long Psychopharmacology Study Tour!
Upon arrival we dropped our bags at the tower of terror (in a good way) vibey hotel and made our way to Apostel’s Restaurant for our first group lunch. We then had the rest of the day off to explore Munich and even got to catch the tail end of Oktoberfest!
Day 1
The first academic visit of the week was to the Institute of Medical Psychology at Ludwig Maximilians University where we attended a talk about placebos and nocebos. Something that’s so often overlooked in medicine and many of the classes I have taken is the effect that the environment and even the patient’s own beliefs in the medicine can have on the effects of a drug. This talk was a great way to learn more about how the placebo effect can be advantageously used to improve medicine.
Following the talk we all met up at the famous Hofbräuhaus München for a group lunch, and then spent the afternoon visiting the Deutsches Science and Technology Museum.
Day 2
Tuesday’s academic visit was a great follow up to Monday’s with a discussion of homeopathy – an interesting system of alternative medicine. The effects of homeopathy come from the belief that our bodies are able to self cure using miniscule amounts of active substances as stimulation.
It’s no secret that car companies run Munich, so straight after the homeopathy talk we made our way to the BMW museum to explore the car culture of the city.
It was incredible to see all the old and new technology that BMW uses and the flawless car designs they implement.
Day 3
This was the day I had been looking forward to all week; it was the day of our Bavarian Food Tour.
Upon meeting our guide he walked us to a traditional German restaurant where we all got to try Weisswursts (Bavarian white sausage) with pretzels and sweet mustard. But that was only the start. We proceeded to spend the next two hours walking around the streets of Munich trying a range of different cuisines from organic spreads to fruit and desserts.
Wednesday’s academic visits also exceeded expectations with a series of four interesting talks on:
Drug discovery
The genetics of schizophrenia
Cannabis use and schizophrenia
Animal models of psychiatric diseases
Did you know it costs $5-10 billion to discover a new drug?! Neither did I until the drug discovery talk.
Day 4
Our final academic visit was to Diakonia – an economy-profit organization that offers those with mental illnesses perpetual social insurance contributions ranging from small jobs to full-time employment. They also aim to provide the unemployed with short term jobs while preparing them for re-entry into the mainstream labor market. At the end of the talk and tour we even got the opportunity to shop in one of Diakonia’s second hand stores, which really reinforced all the amazing work that they do. Given that Thursday was also world mental health day, the timing was perfect.
Day 5
After packing our bags and checking out we made our way to the the Dachau Concentration Camp where we spent the final day of our trip. While it was a tremendously saddening experience, our tour guide made sure we understood the importance of what happened in Dachau and around Germany to ensure it never happens again.
I know I said I’d post about my travels on the other page, but I thought Oktoberfest deserved a blog post of it’s own 🙂
It all started (not so bright) and early with a 3:30am wake up to ensure I made my 6am flight, which I for some reason thought was a great idea when I booked 5 months ago. Unfortunately, with the new metro being in the final stages of its development, public transport was hard to come by between my stop and the airport at 4 in the morning. So in a panic I downloaded the first taxi app that came up, and an 8 minute drive (and $25 check) later, I had safely arrived at check in.
The early arrival in Munich gave us a chance to explore the city and of course go shopping for Dirndls. We also made sure to get an early night in the hopes of lining up before sunrise to score our spot in the HB tent on Saturday.
Surprisingly, we did it! The 5:30am wake up was rough but we were in line by 7am awaiting the opening at 9. As soon as the gates opened hundreds tried storming in with the security guards pushing back to keep us somewhat orderly, but really it was every man for himself. We sprinted to HB, found a table and then ordered the obligatory giant pretzel and liter drink.
After catching up with school friends from all over Europe we decided to venture out of the tent and explore the grounds a little. I don’t even know how to describe it, and the photos do it no justice either. The grounds seemed to continue on forever, with the paths lined with everything from crepes and waffles to giant swings and ferris wheels.
On Sunday we were lucky enough to book a table at a traditional German tent, which was much much calmer than the ‘American’ one we spent Saturday in. We actually managed to order a meal and had fun sitting and eating while watching the live band in the center of the tent. At the end of the day we had time for one last loop around Oktoberfest before heading to the airport to catch our flights home.
I still remember how stunned I was the first time I biked through København Universitet (also known as KU). Now even after a month of taking classes on KU’s South Campus I’m still in awe of its beautiful and distinct architecture. For anyone who has the chance, I would definitely recommend checking it out!
Too Good To Go
I actually managed to get a bit of a reputation in my apartment for my obsession with this one. Copenhagen food tends to be expensive, which is a shame cause I love food. And this is where Too Good To Go comes in. The concept is an innovative Danish app that allows restaurants, cafes, and even supermarkets to sell off excess stock that would otherwise go to waste at extremely low prices. For example, guess how much the feast in the photo below cost (there was also more but we’d already eaten it).
39 DKK, which is less than 6 USD. For Copenhagen that’s a steal! I’ve also scored great deals from Espresso House, Cafe Phoenix, and even the famous Mad & Kaffe.
Biking
Not gonna lie, I really didn’t think I’d like biking to my 8:30 AMs. Not because I don’t like biking itself, but more because exposing myself to the elements first thing in the morning is generally pretty low on my list. But it turns out I love it! First of all, it pretty much does the job of a morning coffee by waking me up, but it also warms me up and gives me a great chance to catch up with whoever I happen to end up biking next to. The other bonus? It somewhat helps cancel out all the waffles and gelato I “just have to try” every weekend I travel to a new place.
Candles
I don’t have much to say here, but sometimes it’s just really nice to catch a glimpse of the Danes candlelit dinners when walking home at night.
I’d love to have a few candles in my Copenhagen apartment, but we’d probably end up accidentally burning the place down.
Surprises are fun. 21st’s are fun. And in Copenhagen, as you know, or will soon come to know, Tuesdays are fun. So it was no surprise that the combination of these three things, along with great friends and pizza, brought us one step closer to understanding how hygge really feels.
I’m not the best baker by a long shot, but sharing a big kitchen with the rest of my apartment, where everyone cooks every night gave my friends and I no excuse not to bake up some birthday cupcakes to celebrate our friend finally being legal in America. And I’m so glad we did!
We also hit up a great restaurant called Gorm’s for dinner, and I’d highly, highly recommend the Sweet Potato and Truffle pizza!
Unfortunately, on Thursday our Outdoor LLC’s fire making workshop was called off last minute. But they made it up by getting us all tickets to Tivoli! As we sat down together in the park, all sipping on our hot chocolates and teas, we discussed designs for our LLC’s souvenir shirt and got excited for our trip to Denmark’s Youth Island next week.
And last, but definitely not least, a shout out to my Innovation Through Design Thinking elective. This hands on class amazingly manages to keep me highly engaged despite being the last class on Monday’s 8:30am to 5:45pm schedule. Currently, my group is a few sessions into designing a website to help optimize the abroad experience for DIS students. This is a great way to play around with new features I would love, and also to get to know other students through interviewing them about their DIS experiences.
Monday started bright and early with us boarding the bus to Sweden at 7:45am. But despite the early rise, everyone was pumped and ready to go.
Our first stop was a psychiatric prison in Skåne. Although photos were
Our first stop was a psychiatric prison in Skåne. Although photos were
Our first stop was a psychiatric prison in Skåne. Although photos were prohibited, at a cost of over 600 USD per night per inmate, I’m sure you can imagine it wasn’t your usual Alcatraz. A tour of the prison began with us clearing security and then entering a foyer where the color-changing cloud shaped lights were synchronized with the sky outside. We then made our way to the visiting rooms which were decked out with beds, couches, and toys, all ready for friends and family to pay a visit. The rest of the facility was full of surprises with an activities room that resembled a high-school arts and crafts area, an ear acupuncture office, a couple of gyms, and of course, a sauna.
The conclusion of the tour left us awestruck. Fortunately, straight after we had the opportunity to talk to a psychologist and research coordinator in the Division of Forensic Psychiatry, to whom we were able to ask all our burning questions. We learned about why most of the patients were there, the views Swedish taxpayers had towards this beautiful facility that housed murderers, and the treatments the patients in the facility received.
After the visit we hopped on the bus back to Malmö and checked into our hostel where we were given a couple of hours to rest before heading to Boulebar Drottningtorget. Now, I don’t quite know how to explain the boulebar, but it was essentially a restaurant and bar combined with an indoor bocce complex. I think you’ll just have to check out the pics below to see what I mean.
Our first stop was a psychiatric prison in Skåne. Although photos were
Day 2
Tuesday morning started with breakfast at the hostel and then a 30 minute drive up to another Swedish town, Lund. Upon arrival we were each given 200 Swedish krona to buy lunch, and with the favorable exchange rate it went pretty far. After a bit of exploration through the botanical gardens we met back at the Lund Cathedral just in time to watch the astronomical clock do its thing.
prohibited, at a cost of over 600 USD per night per inmate, I’m sure you can
prohibited, at a cost of over 600 USD per night per inmate, I’m sure you can
We then made our way to the day’s academic visit at the Lund stem cell center where we heard the stories of two researchers and got a tour of their labs. This was a great way to get to know the ins and outs of pursuing a career in neuroscience research and what opportunities are available abroad, as well as how to find them. On our tour of the labs we had the chance to see how mouse brains were sectioned and stored as well as exploring astrocytes through microscopes.
prohibited, at a cost of over 600 USD per night per inmate, I’m sure you can
Day 3
Wednesday was the day I had been looking forward to all week – it was the day of our cinnamon roll baking class. Usually I’m not a morning person, but I had no trouble being ready for breakfast at 7:30 when I knew our first activity of the day was going to trigger a big hit of dopamine. Instead of explaining the class, I’ll let the pictures do the talking.
prohibited, at a cost of over 600 USD per night per inmate, I’m sure you can
You’d think things couldn’t get any better, but DIS pulled through yet again taking us straight from the baking class to a great lunch at Smak.
After filling our stomachs with warm homemade cinnamon rolls, a huge lunch, and one of the best chocolate mousse cakes I’ve ever had for dessert, we continued on to Malmö’s University Hospital where we learned about the diagnosis of mental illnesses as well as the horrific history of psychiatric hospitals. It was interesting to learn about everything from the history of lobotomy to current ways of diagnosing mental illnesses and modern medications.
prohibited, at a cost of over 600 USD per night per inmate, I’m sure you can
Days 4 and 5
Thursday and Friday were spent back in Denmark and consisted of lectures at DIS as well as a field study to an old psychiatric facility in Roskilde. Our study tour was an interesting way to learn about different topics within psychopharmacology from three different mini lectures. The first was an introduction to genetic research in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders where we learned about the central dogma in biology including mutation and its role in disease, as well as general approaches for disease mapping. The second speaker talked about alternative strategies for detecting rare genetic variants. And lastly, our final speaker for the day covered pharmacogenetics and tailored treatment, including individual variation in drug response, the concept of personalized medicine, and disease heterogeneity.
We wrapped up the week on Friday with a class reflection on what we had learned over the course of our Core Course Week, and how this new knowledge might impact our lives going forward.
Overall the week was a great opportunity to learn more about what’s currently happening in the field of neuroscience, as well as a fun way to get to know our peers outside of class through all sorts of planned and unplanned activities.
The Pursuit of Hygge 