end of beginning | pre-departure

Traveling from San Diego to Copenhagen

In just 8 days I’ll be leaving my hometown of San Diego, California for Copenhagen, Denmark. Ever since I found out I was accepted into DIS and would be studying abroad during my winter semester, I’ve been waiting for the day where it would finally hit me that I’d be leaving. And it still hasn’t. What do you mean I’ll be leaving my friends and family and will be in a different continent and won’t be back in Ann Arbor, Michigan until August? And it probably won’t hit me until I’m hugging my family goodbye at the airport.

Why DIS Copenhagen?

In December 2019, I traveled to Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway with my mom and some family friends. It was such an epic trip. Yes, it was dark for most of the day but the holiday vibes made everything feel sooo cozy. (Anything Christmas-y makes me so happy.) I knew I wanted to re-visit these countries when I was older so when I learned about the DIS Copenhagen study abroad program it seemed perfect. I could take classes for my major and minor, and with the comprehensive housing form, study tours, and field studies, it felt like a great program for me.

Mom and I in Nyhavn (December 2019)

The current situation:

I haven’t fully unpacked from when I brought most of my Michigan winter clothes back home in mid December, which I’ve convinced myself to be a good strategy because I’ll have to use pretty much the same winter gear in Copenhagen anyways. Fall semester was the most challenging yet, and it often felt like what (I think) running a marathon feels like. Things would go from “this is doable!” to “do I have enough energy to push through?”. As a result, I’ve been using this winter break to gain my energy back through a combination of rest and fun activities!

So here’s what I’ve been up to this winter break:

Soaking up the San Diego sunshine (oh how I will miss the sun), hiking, watching TV (specifically Severance and The Morning Show), sharpening up my cooking skills, and of course spending lots of time with friends and family! I recently came back from a ski trip to Tahoe with friends and explored the Bay Area which was so healing and fun. How am I feeling now? Happy, bruised (from falling down so many times while snowboarding), and ready for a semester abroad! I do in fact miss going to school and learning…#hottake?

One of my ins for 2026 is journaling so I’ll be treating my blog, field notes, as a public journal entry while I reflect on each week.

Recurring thoughts:

Making friends. Homesickness. Code.

I’m going into Copenhagen without knowing anyone so I frequently wonder how I’ll make friends. I know it’ll come naturally so I’m not too worried, but I definitely am getting flashbacks to my first day of middle school. I know that at some point I will experience homesickness, but we’ll get through it together! I also just remembered that I have to learn Python for my Computational Analysis course so I will be spending this last week at home learning Python syntax.

Plans so far while abroad:

Very very minimal. For those who know me, this might come as a surprise. As adventurous as I am, I like going into things with a plan for some sort of organization. This might be one of the only times where I will be traveling and have no plan whatsoever. This could be good though! I’m waiting to meet new people before I start putting things into the calendar. But don’t worry, I have started creating a bucket list, so here’s what I have so far!

A bucket list (in progress) + general excitements:

Eat a cardamom bun

Work at a Copenhagen startup (and experience Copenhagen startup culture)

Cold plunge & sauna

Practice hygge

Ski in the Swiss alps

Volunteer at Studenterhuset cafe/community kitchen

See the northern lights (tried doing this with my family back in 2019 but it was unsuccessful)

Bike

Slow travel

Try a new food out of my comfort zone

See you in Copenhagen,