My favorite time of the year…exams season. During the first two weeks of December, you would have caught me with a coffee, wearing unfashionably comfortable clothes, and located at either my desk or Coffee Industry Sweden (my favorite coffee shop). Final exam stakes are higher in Denmark because for most courses, 100% of your semester grade is taken from your one exam. Luckily, I was pretty caught up with all of my class’ readings and notes, so I felt positive about how prepared I was. Quite different from my typical sit-in exams at UH Manoa, two of my exams were individual essays, one was a group essay, and one was a combination of a group essay and an oral presentation. The two individual essays involved a secret prompt that I received on the day the exam period began. This means that no matter how prepared you are, your writing and analysis skills will be put to the test, and you aren’t completely sure of what the exam question will be. Definitely a nerve-wracking form for exams that I am not used to, so I made sure you use as much time needed in order to write thoughtful answers. Fingers crossed everything went well!
Unfortunately, as the Winter season approached and the COVID-19 omicron variant began spreading rapidly fast in Denmark, the city was quickly shutting down. The Danish government is very proactive and announces quick decisions in regards to COVID-19 restrictions. After not having a single public COVID mandate/restriction for three months, within only two weeks mask mandates were imposed in any indoor setting, while museums, cinemas, theme parks, clubs/bars were shut down. As the city was shutting down, many individuals in my dorm building specifically were contracting the virus. Considering Americans are required to test negative in order to enter back into the United States, this was incredibly concerning. With the original intention of spending Christmas and New Year in Copenhagen, the risk of spending the holidays sick and in quarantine for an unknown amount of time did not seem worth it anymore. With my refundable/changeable plane ticket, I decided to leave 2 weeks early on December 22nd. Although I am incredibly grateful for how amazing the entire semester was, the abrupt ending to this adventure was heartbreaking. I wasn’t able to properly say goodbye to the friends I had made, and a lot of activities I wanted to do in Copenhagen I purposely saved to do after exams when I had more time (Tivoli Gardens, Bussing to Aarhus, The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art). I ended up staying awake until my flight at 6:00 am, so I said goodbye to my room to catch the 2:45 am metro. If you have a metro station near you, I definitely would recommend catching the metro for the airport because a taxi ride to the airport can be very expensive. Although dragging 2 large suitcases isn't the most pleasant experience, it definitely does not matter when your metro ticket is less than $3. I was trying to hold back my tears on the metro, but on the bright side, this sad ending to my adventure in Denmark gives me another reason to come back!
Now being home in Seattle, something that surprised me was that I felt more of “culture s
hock” when coming back home than going to Copenhagen. People have warned me of the “reverse culture shock” that I could experience, but I wasn’t expecting to feel so stunned to be back. The abrupt decision to leave Denmark early and jump into my “past life” was most likely a factor in that. I’m really bummed to not be spending the holidays abroad, but I am also very excited to be with my family that hasn’t been together since pre-COVID. Given this was my first international experience, my time abroad gave me a plethora of perspectives about myself, what is out in the world, and my future. The idea of living or working abroad doesn’t seem as intimidating anymore, and it definitely something I would love to do in the future. I still keep in touch with my friends I have made from CBS almost daily, and one has already booked a trip to visit Hawaii! I am eternally grateful for this opportunity that has brought me experiences and people I will never forget.
