My final blog post– I’ve been struggling over this for weeks. As I write this on New Years Eve, it feels like the right and necessary time to finally finish it. This post has been challenging to write because it feels like after I complete this post, my abroad experience will be ‘officially’ over, though I’ve been back in the U.S. for two weeks now. 

I think struggling to feel and conceptualize the ending of something big and meaningful is a fairly universal experience, particularly after studying abroad. In some ways I expected this, but truthfully, towards the end of my semester in Denmark I was more than ready to be done. As I mentioned in a previous post, after my friend visited for Thanksgiving, the big exciting parts of my semester were over, leaving me with the cold and rain. I loved my time in Denmark but was ready to return to all my creature comforts. This was a feeling many of my peers shared too, and it was easy to get lost in it. 

My summer job was leading multi-day canoe trips for kids, and often kids just do not want to go on trail. Maybe they didn’t want to come in the first place or maybe there’s rain, but the phrase that I’ve heard and passed on time and time again, is to count up, not down. Instead of saying, “today we have 3 days left and tomorrow we will have 2 days left,” framing it as “we are on day 3, tomorrow is day 4, and we get back on day 6” can be really beneficial. In theory, it can help keep us rooted in the present, not just waiting on time to pass so the trip can just be over with. In the last few weeks of my time in Denmark I caught myself counting down rather than up a number of times, and I would always internally kick myself. I felt like I was overlooking how cool and exciting it was being in another country, but it’s wasn’t that simple. In those moments, I worked to remember and appreciate all the really incredible experiences I had while in Europe. It helped me stay grounded in all the amazing things I was still doing. I looked at lights, visited Tivoli all decorated for Christmas, stumbled into multiple Christmas markets, and went to the canals for the Saint Lucia kayak singing. My last few weeks were wonderful, and had I only focused on my readiness to return to the U.S. I would have missed out on so much. I desperately wanted things to be black and white– I’m ready to be done here or I love this place and want to stay another month. It was never that simple though; my time in Denmark was constantly some shade of gray. I never hated my time nor did I ever want to stay forever. I am truly so grateful I had the opportunity to study in Denmark, and I learned and grew so much while there. And, I was ready to come back to the U.S. Those feelings could coexist, and I had to let that be okay.

In the days leading up to my departure I visited so many places I knew I would never step foot in again. Leaving my room was particularly challenging, as I loved living there and I will never again live there. I may visit Denmark in the future, but I will never ever live in that space again. Even if I do live there, it would be after I graduate. The realization that I will never live in and experience Copenhagen again as a student was somewhat startling. It all felt so fleeting. My last train ride from Sorgenfri Station to Nørreport, and my last metro ride from Nørreport to the airport were tinged with sorrow. As I walked through the Copenhagen airport I was overwhelmed with the feelings of leaving Denmark and the excitement of returning home. On my flight back, as we began our descent over New Hampshire and Massachusetts the sky was a clear blue and I looked out the window smiling.

At last, the long promised post on being gluten free while abroad. This is by no means a comprehensive guide of locations to find gluten free food, simply my favorite places. Before I begin I should preface this by saying, I’m not gluten free by choice and feel fairly sick for a few days after eating any amount of gluten. However, I’m not celiac, and while some of the locations in this post are dedicated gluten free facilities, others are not.

First on the list and first in my heart is H.U.G. Bageri. H.U.G. is fantastic in every way. The shop is a quick 10-15 minute walk from DIS buildings or a 5-10 minute walk from Østerport Station, the nearest metro and train stop. It is a dedicated gluten free bakery and offers a number of goodies including croissants, cinnamon rolls, breads, and tiny pastries. Most importantly they sell brunsviger, a Danish coffee cake that I most closely equate to monkey bread. This is the pastry I’ve mentioned several times on this blog, this is the pastry I am getting to fly home with so my mom can try it, this is the pastry my non- gluten free best friend was swearing over. Does this taste like true brunsviger? I truly have not a clue, but it does taste fantastic and is far and away the best gluten free baked good I have ever had. The brunsviger along with all their other treats are reasonably priced, and around the corner from the shop is a lovely park you can go to. I cannot recommend this shop any more highly.

For Emma was my go-to for gluten free bread throughout the semester. While H.U.G. has phenomenal brunsviger, their bread is less mind blowing and the loaves are smaller than those offered at For Emma. For Emma is a dedicated gluten and lactose free bakery, and most of their goods are also dairy free and vegan. They sell bread, pizza dough, cookies, and other sweet treats. Their treats aren’t as incredible as H.U.G.’s but if you’re in search of GF vegan goodies they’re a good option. I loved For Emma because they keep several freezers of frozen breads, rolls, crusts, and more in the front of the shop. It’s a little bit farther from DIS, so I often got one fresh loaf to eat, and a frozen loaf to keep and bake when I needed more bread.

My two above recommendations were bakeries, but alas, I could not subsist on brunsviger alone and needed day to day food items. The food stipend card most DIS students receive lists specific grocery stores the card works at, so I generally only shopped at grocery stores that accepted that card. My go-to grocery store was Netto since I had one only a few minutes from where I lived, and they have a number of gluten free options, but less than I have historically found in American grocery stores. A major challenge of shopping for gluten free food in Denmark is that the labels are all, understandably, in Danish. Particularly in the first month, grocery shopping took longer because I spent a lot of time using the google translate lens on dozens of ingredient lists. Common allergens including gluten are technically bolded on ingredient lists, but I still struggled to determine what had gluten and what didn’t. In the U.S. many gluten free things are labeled ‘Certified Gluten Free’ and I rarely, if ever, see that here. DIS suggests shopping at Irma, a different grocery store, for gluten free goods and they do have more options including gluten free granola and bread. That said, the DIS stipend card doesn’t work at Irma and most things there are somewhat pricey, so I generally found alternatives to what I might want from Irma.

Being gluten free in Copenhagen is possible, but I do find it more challenging than it is in the U.S. Much of the challenge stems from not being able to properly read labels, but I think there are also just less options available here. Restaurants often have gluten free options, but I would highly recommend asking just to be sure. This little blog post is only a very small list of my favorite gluten free places, but there are a number of other larger and more detailed blog posts by others available online that I would highly recommend looking at.

Additionally, this list is specific to Copenhagen, but I traveled to a few other places during my time in Europe and feel the need to mention my favorites. In Helsinki, Finland I visited Green Hippo which offers a number of gluten free and vegan options for every meal of the day. The cafe was nice and cozy, the food was great, and everyone was super friendly. In Amsterdam, Netherlands I visited PANCAKES Amsterdam and had a massive gluten free pancake. 

I write this post on the eve of my last trip to H.U.G. to get a brunsviger for my mom and I, and it only adds to my complicated feelings about leaving. Oh, how I will miss my park pastries, but I also am also unexplainably excited to be able to bake again myself when I return to the states.

Brunsviger from H.U.G. (left) and pancakes from Green Hippo in Helsinki

While in Copenhagen, many people have friends and family visit. As I left for Copenhagen, I didn’t have any visits planned. My parents and younger sibling couldn’t come and I had no friends studying abroad to visit. However, a friend/ pseudo sibling unexpectedly decided to visit me in Copenhagen, before spending Thanksgiving with his sister in Finland. From the time this plan was made, I was excited about it. Being in another country away from all my regular routines and activities is exciting in so many ways, but it’s also exhausting. A number of DIS students come knowing others or even come with friends, but I wasn’t exactly one of those people. I know one person here (hi Kate), but I can’t say we’re close and we rarely see one another. Consequently, this visit was a small slice of familiarity that I was desperately looking forward to.

David arrived on the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving and I was shocked by the difference it made. I was showing someone around this city that I’ve been living in for, at the time, three months. I could show someone I’m close to all my favorite places and the semblance of a life I built here. We went to my favorite gluten free bakery (next post!) and he got to try my favorite treat as we sat in the park I always go to snack at. We went on an adventure to find another troll, but were blocked from getting close by pesky construction. Unfortunately he got quite sick with two days left, but even still, just hanging out in my room was so pleasantly comfortable. Him being here was so calming, and it made me long for things to feel… easier. 

One thing I’ve found while being here is that everything just feels harder to me. My surroundings are unfamiliar, everything is in Danish, and I lack the cultural literacy I have in the U.S. All of these things make sense as I am in Denmark, a different country with a different culture, but it was hard to prepare for that having never been out of the country. Pushing myself and exploring new places is why I came here, and while I love all I’ve learned and experienced, it’s tiring. It’s hard to always feel a little out of your depth, and I imagine that gap feels even more significant in countries where English isn’t widely spoken. Having David here made things feel easier just by having him here next to me. He was someone familiar making the world feel a little less big and me feel a little less small.

The challenge with this exciting visit, however, was that I was completely broken up when he left. His visit was the last big thing I was looking forward to in the semester. With travel weeks over and him gone, I was left with three weeks of final papers, presentations, and tests. Suddenly Copenhagen’s perpetual threat of rain, gray skies, and cold felt terrible like it never had, and my massive pile of work to do a modern tragedy. Immediately getting incredibly sick with Covid only exacerbated these feelings. Naturally it wasn’t really all that bad, but the loss of someone who I care about and loved having here made everything feel raw and hard in a way it hadn’t previously. I share this not to complain about the woe and misery of my life, but because it’s a sentiment I’ve heard from many others who had friends and family visit them recently. After their people left, they too were really ready to go home. Their visit brought joy with an abrupt ending and only work left to do. Creating plans and things to look forward to doing after your people leave is an easy remedy to some of these blues, but I hadn’t considered this may happen before it did. This is by no means a warning against having people visit if you’re reading this and preparing to go abroad. In fact, I recommend having someone visit if that is feasible for you*, but I think it’s important to consider that there’s more to it than just the pictures and cute family meals. Showing someone all my favorite spots felt so so special, and I’m so grateful David came, but I would be remiss to post about visiting friends and family without noting the fallout.

*If you can’t have someone visit you, not to worry, bring a DIS friend around to all of your favorite cool little spots:)

I live! Apologies readers, due to a concussion during the week I intended to blog about, I was unable to post for a bit. Unfortunately, my bad luck continued and as soon as I was feeling ready to blog I immediately got very sick with Covid. Needless to say, November has been a… trying… month for me. Never fear though, I am back with stories to share!

Earlier this November, DIS students embarked on Travel Week 2. For those of us who went on a class trip during Travel Week 1, that left us Travel Week 2 to go on our own adventures. My escapades took me to Finland, Estonia, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Many people travel over the weekends, leaving Friday afternoon and returning in time for Monday classes. I… can’t be that kind of person. It sounds truly exhausting and somewhat miserable. I know that choosing not to travel means I’m missing some things, but I also know that it enables me to be my most functional and happy self here in Copenhagen. That said, during this travel week, I wanted to make up for some of my lost time and discover new places. So, I did. I had a great time and I’m so glad I went the places that I did, but I was right in thinking that doing that over a weekend would be crushingly exhausting for me.

Being alone has become somewhat of a second nature for me during my time here in Copenhagen. Yet, there’s a distinct difference between navigating the now familiar streets of Denmark and finding my way around Amsterdam in the pouring rain. I visited Amsterdam earlier with my class giving me some sense of familiarity, but what I ate and when I did was entirely up to me. For someone often overwhelmed by choices, this was nerve-racking, but it ended up incredible. My first morning in Amsterdam was when I concussed myself (thank you built in shelving unit), but that did not stop me from having a busy day.

My self directed day was fantastic and I had an incredible time doing exactly what I wanted to do. I began the day by going to the touristy but delicious PANCAKES Amsterdam which served gluten free pancakes that I devoured at a frightening speed. From there, I walked a little under a mile to Nemo Science Museum*. Let me tell you reader, this was the best museum I’ve been to in a long time. Forget academia and art, forget profound, this was straight childish fun. This was a multi- story science museum of hands experiments to try all in bright colors with English directions right beside the Dutch directions. This was terrible for my headache, sure, but I spent three hours going from one activity to the next and had the time of my life. Alone, I could visit the exhibits at my own pace without the distraction or rush of companionship. From the museum, I went to a little gluten free restaurant of my choice without the back and forth of who wants what. I won’t like, the place I picked was a bit of a miss, but that’s okay, not everything can be as good as a pancake coated in Belgian chocolate. Finally, the big event of the day was upon me: the concert. All the way back in June, I begged a friend to get me tickets to the Noah Kahan concert in Amsterdam while I was in the woods with no service. From the time I came out of the woods and found out I had a ticket, I had been looking forward to this concert. My stop in Amsterdam was almost exclusively about this concert.

As I stood in line at the concert hall, I was reminded of the lesson I learned early in my time in Europe which is: ALWAYS bring a rain coat. I live by this and never go anywhere without it… except this concert. So, as I stood in line for an hour and a half  I got increasingly wet and cold. It was in this line that I began thinking about companionship the most. Everyone in line was with someone- a friend, a partner, a parent, someone, but I was there entirely alone. I suddenly felt very small and very alone. I had an acquaintance in the same city, yes, but we weren’t close and did nothing together. Going to concerts seemed like such a social thing, and there I was going entirely alone in a foreign country. When I finally made it into the open entry venue very cold and very wet, it was up to me where I sat. After finding a seat and sitting down to find my view terribly obstructed, I simply left to find another seat. I didn’t feel guilty about asking someone else to move with me and I easily found a seat for one much closer with a great view. When the Noah Kahan asked if anyone came by themselves I was one of very few ‘woo’s. Singing along felt comfortably anonymous because I didn’t know a single person in the building and I likely never will, but I can’t help but think would have been nice to have someone to enjoy it with. I wouldn’t change my experience, and I wholeheartedly suggest everyone go to a concert alone, just to experience it, but it did make me think.

Amidst the joy of my newfound independence, I couldn’t ignore the exhaustion that accompanied constant movement. Traveling alone, though liberating, demanded a different kind of energy—one that required recharging. The museums and concerts were exciting, but after my subsequent solo trip to Belgium via train, returning to the quiet of my room in Copenhagen felt so pleasant. I may or may not travel alone across Europe again, who is to say, but I am glad I did it and appreciate the sense of self reliance it provided me.

*NEMO has a great student discount so bring a student ID if you go!

I don’t consider myself innately good at being with myself. In this day and age, I would argue most people struggle to be with themselves. To quiet my mind I go into the woods- on a river, on a lake, or on a trail- because life is often simpler there. My time spent in the woods is incredible, but it wasn’t until I was alone under a tree here did I realize that my time amongst the trees is never, truly, very solitary.

While here, I’ve found myself alone quite often. Not to worry reader, I do have friends, however, I live alone and find I need more time to myself here. Everything around me is so often loud and busy, and sometimes I need less of that directly next to me. Thus, I have found myself exploring alone and forming my own routines. Every other Friday afternoon I take a quick metro ride to a gluten free bakery to get bread for the following weeks. When I have a free afternoon and need a treat, I walk to a different gluten free bakery and get the same little cakey bread every time. I take it to a nearby park and eat as I read, until I finally get too chilly and need to go home to warm up. I’ve been to Tivoli Gardens (an amusement park) several times, and have yet to go with anyone else. I get my own groceries, and I make my own dinners, and sometimes I go up to our rooftop garden to read. And it’s amazing.

I’ve never been alone with myself quite as much as I have been here, and that was challenging to adjust to. There’s the saying that being alone is not the same as being lonely, and I’ve never had the ability to fully understand that. It’s true though, they’re quite different. I don’t mean to imply that I never experience loneliness here, I do, but it’s infrequent and often after spending too much time bored in my room. Being alone forces me to be with myself; I still struggle to be alone doing nothing, but walking around Copenhagen with my only my thoughts has become more comfortable. I put my headphones in and walk around like I have my own sound track playing. I feel content. It drizzles often here and sometimes as I walk in the rain with my headphones in it feels a little too cinematic to be real.

There’s time for walking around with friends, but carving out time to be alone in the city has made my experience far better. In the hustle and bustle of living in Copenhagen, going to school, traveling, and spending time with friends, time alone has been essential to avoiding burn out. I feel safe walking here alone and it provides me with a sense of independence. Exploring Copenhagen by myself allows me to pay attention to my surroundings and everything I am experiencing rather than keeping up a conversation. As it grows colder and days become shorter, long walks and reading in the park will likely become less frequent, but I’m sure I will find solitary alternatives. Coming here I didn’t consider the need to recharge or how I would go about doing it, I simply feel into this pattern. My pattern will adapt as the temperatures drop, but it makes me begin to wonder what returning to Whitman will be like. Who will I spend my time with, how will my living situation change things, and what will I do on my own in Walla Walla? Maybe it’s the Psychology major in me, but I can’t help but be curious what will feel the most different after returning from Denmark.

I don’t know what the dessert on the left is, but it’s delicious. It’s a kind of a mix of monkey bread and a cinnamon coffee cake?

*One day I will have a gluten free go to post, but until then, the wonderful place I got the above dessert from is H.U.G Bakery and it’s entirely gluten free:)

A few days ago I finally began my quest to find the trolls of Copenhagen. The trolls, sculpted by Danish artist Thomas Dambo using recycled wood, are scattered around the world mapped on an interactive ‘Troll Map‘. Currently he is working on  Northwest Trolls: Way of the Bird King bringing trolls to the PNW, so if you’re a Whittie in desperate need of a troll adventure, you too can go troll hunting. Though he’s created sculptures globally, there is a particularly large concentration in Denmark with 11 in the Copenhagen area alone. So, in my time here I made it my mission to find a few.

On my recent adventure I found Sanka Suttetrold nestled in a park called Remiseparken and Green George located in Christiania. Getting to Remiseparken was a… challenging experience. My navigation app led me astray, leaving me at a bus stop far from the metro (which has a stop about 10 minutes from the park) or any bus that would take me closer to where I wanted to go. I ultimately walked the few miles to the giant, but being dropped far from anywhere I knew or any kind of useful transportation was somewhat of a hiccup in my big afternoon plans. It was likely a beneficial experience for me to have and made finding the park all the better, but as I got off the bus to find myself far from where I wanted to be my excitement was somewhat dampened. Arriving at the park to immediately find not only the troll but also a goat enclose you can enter to pet the goats immediately made everything worth it.

I hadn’t looked into the park at all before arriving, all I knew is that there was a troll there and that was enough for me. I’m glad I didn’t look, because it was a fun surprise finding there was so much more to see and do in this park. The area by the troll was cozy and wooded with a small playground, a fenced in bunny yard, chickens, miniature ponies, and tiny tricycles scattered for littles to ride. Walking out of that area the park opens up to long path leading to grassy fields, a bigger castle playground with a child sized Western town, basketball courts, put put, a garden, and a skate park. There was little noise from the surrounding area and a preschool was tucked into one side of the park. Equipment was readily accessible to borrow and a man removed scooters and helmets from a shed for any kids to use at the skate park. It made me wish there were more parks like this in America. Even as a 20 year old with minimal desire to play in a wooden castle and with no kids to bring I want to go back just to read in the shade and pet the goats. If more people searched for trolls and had goats follow them around nuzzling their leg I think we might be a happier society, but who’s to say.

As I settle into the semester, my new routine is forming and I’m getting used to my daily commute to and from the city. Before coming to Denmark, I seldom got the opportunity to ride trains, but while here I get to start my day on the train. My housing is about 40 minutes away from DIS classes, and commuting involves a little over 20 minutes on the train each way. Though leaving for class nearly an hour early can be challenging, the ability to ease into my morning as I ride into the city center is pretty wonderful. As the sun comes up, I put in my noise cancelling headphones and settle into my latest book.

I was a voracious reader when I was younger, but in high school my affinity lessened. I found less joy in my books and couldn’t get as invested. Even in college, I continued to struggle to read for fun and almost exclusively read for classes. Over the course of the last year, however, I’ve slowly been regaining my love of books and reading for pleasure again. Coming to Copenhagen, while exciting, has been a pretty dramatic change and I’ve found myself falling back into books. Reading has provided a sense of stability and brought some familiarity to my otherwise entirely unfamiliar surroundings. Everything here is in Danish, and it’s made me realize how much I subconsciously read in America. Directions, food labels, and signs are all normal things I read, and here I can’t easily do that. I rely heavily on Google Translate, and beginning and ending my day on the train gives me a designated time to read and decompress without struggling to cross the language barrier. Beyond that, reading on the train also gives me a sense of quiet anonymity and independence which I often find myself seeking in my regular life.

While reading on the train brings quiet joy to my day, there are elements to the train that are far more notably exciting points. Checking to see when your train comes and finding it will be there in one minute, then running to catch it before finally sliding into a seat in the last car breathlessly is exciting in a way I would never have anticipated. Finding a seat when the train is packed at the end of the day, or better yet, expecting a train to be packed and then finding it is nearly empty are both feelings that can make a whole day feel a little better. As I find my way in this new place, these little moments that fill my life and bring me joy make all the difference. I hope I keep finding these moments in the coming months.

Parting Pro Tip (in my not so humble opinion): I always leave with enough time that if I can’t take the first train, I can make the next train and still arrive to class on time. Denmark’s public transport is pretty consistently timely and efficient, but every so often a train is cancelled or arrives earlier than expected and you might miss it. If you miss the first you’ll still have the second and if you make the first train getting into the city earlier leaves you time to get coffee or breakfast:)

Hi there, my name is Tyler and I’m studying at DIS in Copenhagen, Denmark! I’m a Junior Psychology major, and in my free time I like to spend my time outside. In my usual life at Whitman I’m a member of the Whitewater club, President of KnitWhits, and I’m an instructor at Open Kayak (come say hi and try it out:)). 

I’ve never been abroad before and studying in Copenhagen is a new and exciting challenge. This blog will feature some of my favorite finds, exciting days, and favorite parks in the city. My time here has been amazing so far and I can’t wait to write about the exciting things coming up. I’ll be posting a few times a month, so follow along to hear all about my adventures!

ps. If you’re interested in the wooden giants in Copenhagen, you should check back every so often and see which I’ve found👀