For being the shortest month, February was definitely the busiest. ?School started, travels started, and I got adjusted to a somewhat everyday life here in Copenhagen.
The first weekend in February, a group of my friends and I headed to Budapest for our first trip. There is usually one downfall to the cheap Ryanair?flights throughout Europe- they have weird times. So we left Copenhagen on Saturday night at around 9 PM. Budapest for being my first trip was amazing! We got one day of sunlight which was completely foreign to us at that point. We met up with other students studying abroad there and they showed us around. If you know anyone in the cities you’re traveling to, I highly recommend?reaching out! They know the city way better than any hop on/hop off bus. Also, Hungary is SO CHEAP! We got a nice sit-down meal with drinks for only about $6 which is impossible to find in Copenhagen (even McDonald’s is more). This weekend was Superbowl?Sunday, so we went and watched the super bowl at a Hooters in Budapest. It was an interesting experience but also so fun. However, my favorite part is the commercials but Hungarian TV didn’t show American ones.
Since my schedule changes each week, I only had class on Wednesday so I went to 2 3-hour lectures which I still do not think I will ever get used to.
Thursday, a large group of us headed our for?Belguim. I had no expectations for this trip, but it was a cheap flight and since I have never been to Europe, I was down for anything. We spent a night in Brussels, 2 in Brugge and then left from Brussels on Sunday. Brussels felt very American to me, walking around the street the buildings could be found in a major American city. First stop was to get waffles. We ate waffles, chocolate, and fries every single day in Belguim. Brugge can be described as a storybook town. I highly recommend it to anyone who is in Belgium!! Except for the freezing weather, we had a great weekend. This trip also taught me that when you travel with people is when you learn people’s true personalities. There is nothing like being together 24/7 to realize how people like to travel or spend their time.
After this trip, it seemed like EVERYONE got sick. Since we live in a dorm again, sickness spread like wildfire. I suggest to anyone going abroad to being all types of medicine even if you don’t think you will need it. My mom made me a survival kit and I swear someone each day asks me if I have some type of medicine. They have different brands here of medicine and everything is in Danish so medicine shopping can be overwhelming.
Our next trip was Iceland. This trip is so hard to put into words, it was incredible. Iceland is a place every single person needs to see. We all piled up in rented cars and went on a 3-day road trip across the Southern part of the island.
After this trip, we had 2 weeks in Copenhagen and I was so excited to be home. I definitely know I made the right decision on where to study abroad because when we travel, I miss Copenhagen. Studying abroad comes with a hard balance of spending time in your city and also traveling. I suggest you give yourself a weekend in between or do 2 trips back to back then give yourself a week. Travelling is exhausting and can take a lot out of you mentally and physically.
Until next month (when it hopefully warms up!!)
Rachel