By Nikki Thevannoor, Hosted in Denmark
“On arriving in Denmark, we were greeted with the bleak weather we had to come to terms with throughout our stay here. We had the introduction camp and there were nearly 200 other students from all over the world as confused and as scared and as terrified as Sonu and I were. The camp gave us a lot of insight into what it was like to be a young person in Denmark. After three days in the camp we were off to meet our host families it was a nerve wracking meeting, for both sides I have discovered. And what a great meeting it was. We had coffee, and cake and managed to squeeze in a shopping trip for dinner all before 6.
The first week, I was left with not much to do as my school wouldn’t start till the 16th of August. So I would familiarise myself with the area, meet with the other students and generally try to get a good footing in Copenhagen. When school started it was a whirlwing of Danish and new people and it was pretty hard the first few days. But eventually I managed to find my current friends, who are the most wonderful people. Of course the language proved to make making friends harder but with a little initiative I was able to do it.
After about two weeks, my host sister decided that they’re going to speak Danish in the house more to give me more practice with it, which of course proved helpful as I do understand a lot more Danish than i initially thought I would after a month.
School is definitely hard, not going to lie. It’s all in Danish so productivity isn’t the easiest but my friends translate the lessons during our breaks and I take notes in class so I can translate it later once I’m home. All in all, the first moth was eventful, hard and amazing all at once, and I already love it here in Denmark!”