Im here! Im here! I, along with my luggage and my dog are all safely in beautiful Copenhagen, Denmark! My friends have been anxiously asking, "Well Ran, what is life in Copenhagen like?" Sadly, I am afraid I cannot yet accurately answer this question because my life has pretty much been a nonstop whirlwind since I arrived. After two full days of orientation at Copenhagen Business School, crippling jet lag and going the wrong direction on the train ..(or is it called a metro here?), I have barely had time to sleep, not to mention think. I also need to figure out where to get my CPR(personal identification number), because without it, I pretty much don't exist in Denmark. So after I get a bit more settled in, I will post more in depth about this wonderful city, but in the meantime I will offer some of my first impressions:
Bicycles are everywhere! - Even though I most nearly got run over a couple times by fast-pedaling yet deadly silent cyclists, I must admit it is very refreshing and frankly damn cool that this city is so green! Back home in Chicago, publicly available rental bikes were only just recently added to the city over the summer, and while this is a step in the right direction, there are not enough bike lanes and safety is a very real concern(cyclists are required by law to wear helments). Apparently Chicago is making an effort to learn from the bike culture of Copenhagen:
I wonder if there are bike riding schools in Copenhagen because even though I am Chinese, I am ashamed to admit that I cannot ride a bike... :(
Everything is expensive! - Well I think this title pretty much says it all. I mean I just bought a THREE DOLLAR coke the other day! Yikes! And all the electronics, i.e. iphones, macbooks are 1/3 more in price and I have been told that cars are 150% the price of cars in USA. Wow, no wonder there are so many bikes in Copenhagen!
More international than Stockholm! - Even though I have been in Copenhagen for less than a week, just in these short couple of days I can already sense a very international vibe. My class is only 50% Danish, with the rest hailing from all over the world. In the bars, on the train and on the streets- I have definitely encountered my far share of foreigners in Copenhagen, much more than I ever did in Stockholm. I was pretty much the only asian person (other than a few adopted Koreans who were completely Swedified) that I saw out in Stockholm. This international feel in Copenhagen is amazing and I know there will be much for me to learn from this very diverse point of view!
BioBusiness and Innovation Platform
2nd Year Full Degree Students
-A Cycling Challenged Nomad -Ran
I am listening to:
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