I'm writing this entry for two main reasons: 1) To publicly enjoy the fact that while the temperature at Bucknell was in the single digits, it was in the low 40s here and I got to explore some really beautiful parts of the city without my winter jacket; and 2) Because I imagine when I get back from my short study tour this weekend I will have too much to write about at once.
I think I was pretty confused last time when I said I was leaving for a few days and, as it turns out, that study tour isn't until tomorrow. My core class, News Media in Transition, takes us to two cities in Western Denmark, Odense and Viborg. We'll get to visit different media centers and tourist spots, but I'm sure I'll have more interesting things to write once we return on Saturday.
Today, however, I had my first Wednesday field study for that class. We went to Netposten, an online financial news station that my professor used to work at. We took a quick tour of the office (it was pretty sparse), and then sat down and listened to one of the employees discuss the pros and cons of reporting news strictly on the Internet, commercialization of news media and its effects on traditional media, and then had a group discussion on the credibility of the media and whether or not it is trustworthy.
While I have found a lot of the reading for this class somewhat dry and boring, I definitely thought today was a much more interesting way to learn about the practical side of all the theory we discuss in class.
Backtracking a bit, this past weekend was absolutely amazing. The weather has been legitimately nice with temperatures in the low 40s, very little wind and no rain. Saturday a few friends and I went to the top of the round tower in the center of Copenhagen and were able to see the entire city; it was unbelievable and solidified the fact that I am so happy I chose to come here.
We then went to Nyhavn, the most photographed area in Copenhagen, characterized by lots of colorful buildings and restaurants and an idyllic canal. There's also an outdoor ice-skating rink that we have every intention of taking advantage of in the coming weeks. The pictures will speak for themselves.
Soccer has also been going really well, and I definitely enjoy being able to play in just a T-shirt and shorts, as opposed to the underarmor and sweatpants I was previously used to. We have our first game on March 2 and I'm really excited to see what kind of competition we'll have. My team consists of about half American players and half Danish, and most of the Americans either play at their home colleges or at least played competitively through high school. The Danish players are really open and talkative and we have some team social events planned so that should be another way to really get immersed in living here.
It's ridiculous how soon the semester seems like it will be over once I start counting my free weekends. My upcoming (tentative) schedule looks something like this:
Feb. 14-16: Short study tour in Western Denmark
Feb. 22-24: Weekend in Prague with some friends from here (and meeting up with some from Bucknell too!)
March 8-15: Long study tour to Paris and London
March 16-22: Italy (Rome, Florence, Pescara)
March 23-27: Spain (Barcelona, Granada)
March 28-30: Amsterdam
...And then before I know it it's April; I don't understand how this happens but I am really looking forward to all the traveling so it should be pretty exciting! I also have a weekend canoe/bike trip to Sweden with DIS, and I have plans to visit a friend in Vienna as well.
While I am responsible for some of my travel, some of it is already arranged for us. The way DIS is organized, everybody is in a specific program; mine is Communications and Mass Media. As a result, you take a core class and with this core class you travel on both a short and long study tour to a variety of places; my long one takes me to Paris and London, both of which I am extremely eager to visit!
Following this week of educational travel, we are all given a two-week spring break to go anywhere we want and classes resume again on March 31. I know I am getting a bit ahead of myself, but time really is flying here and plane tickets continue to get more expensive so I have to think about this as though it is imminent. Anyway, my favorite activity of packing is calling me so I'm wrapping this up.