On Q&As and Things I Wondered

I had my first person enter their information in my contact me page, and it was so fun to email them back. After answering her though, I realized that I don’t have many blog posts explicitly answering questions about DIS. 

I’ve always found those little Ask [Insert Name here] magazine columns charming, so I’ll do a little exercise creating scenarios (slightly schizophrenic maybe) inspired by fears and questions that I had myself, so hopefully they can be helpful to someone else :). 

ASK MAKAYLA:

Hi, 

I’ve been accepted to DIS for the fall semester. I’m a little worried that I won’t be able to navigate public transportation that well. I’m from a pretty small town, and I usually just drive everywhere. Can you give me any tips? 

Thanks! 

Freaked-Out Country Girl  

Dear Freaked-Out Country Girl, 

I get exactly what you mean, That's so funny. I was the exact same way… anyway, getting around the city definitely won’t be as scary as you think. In fact, the public transportation system in Copenhagen is one of the best things about it in my opinion. When traveling to DIS it’s likely that you’ll take either the S train or the metro. I take the metro everyday and it is so easy. DIS gives everyone who lives a decent distance away from DIS a commuter card, which enables you to travel a certain distance (2 zones) around the city. The fun part is, you can use the card to travel to other places within those zones other than DIS. Just read the signs, show your card if someone comes to check, and be aware of your surroundings. 

You got this!

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Hello!

I’m sort of worried because I’m more the high strung type you know? And I just have a bad feeling that I’ll be stressed out my entire time abroad and sometimes I have trouble regulating my anxiety — it’s a real pain, you know, and so I was just wondering if you could give me a little help in that department.

Does that make sense? Thank you in advance!! 

Slightly Stressed Girl

Dear Slightly Stressed Girl,

It makes perfect sense. I’m the same way sometimes. I definitely recommend going to see one of the staff on the DIS Care Team if you are having stress that you can’t seem to shake or if you just need someone to talk to. I went myself for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and I just attended a follow-up appointment the other day. I found it really nice to talk about the things that were bothering me in a low-stress environment. People are here to help you, sometimes you just have to take that first step to seek it out yourself. 

Hope this helps, (it did!)

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Hey!

I plan on living in an LLC like you and I’m a little curious on how the grocery stipend card works. Will it pay for all my groceries, or will I have to pay for some things myself? 

Thank you!

Inquiring Shopper

Hi Inquiring Shopper, 

I touched on the grocery card a little bit in an earlier blog about food but, here I’ll give a more in-depth answer. When you live in any housing option other than homestay you automatically get a grocery card with around 600 dollars on it. You can use this card at a couple of grocery stores. The ones that I know of are called Netto and Fotex. I always go to Netto because it’s the closest grocery store to me and I’ve just gotten used to shopping there. I found out the other day that it also works at Starbucks, too. As far as actually shopping, it pretty much works like your average grocery store, albeit maybe a little smaller than the ones we are used to in the U.S. 

Good luck! (she figured it all out fine.)

My local Netto <3, that I've somehow have never taken a photo of, photo credit: https://dk.polomap.com/k%C3%B8benhavn/304830

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What’s up!

I’m a little curious on what living in an LLC actually looks like. I’m pretty interested in the arts LLC but all of them look pretty cool! How do you get to know the people that you are living with, and what kinds of events have you ended up doing? What’s the structure look like?

Thanks!

Artsy Girl

Dear Artsy Girl, 

I have a feeling that the format probably differs by year and who the community leader is, but I’ll give you a rundown of what my Arts LLC group has done, as well as what it’s like living in one. We have events every Tuesday around 5:45, and they usually end around 8 or so. The last one we had was an exhibition at an art house called Gammel Strand, but in the past we’ve gone to music venues, interpretive dance plays, and talked to a lot of artists who tell us about the kind of work they are doing. 

I would say that I recognize pretty much everyone in my LLC group pretty well because we see each other each week, so it’s nice to have familiar faces around. Finally, as far as the actual housing, all of the LLCs this year (except for Green) live in an apartment/hotel complex called Stay Bryggen. It’s very nice, and every Friday, housekeepers come and clean the apartments, which was unexpected but entirely appreciated. I’m not sure if it will stay that way in the future, but it might make a good baseline for what you could expect. 

I hope you get the housing choice you want! (she did).

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And I hope that these fake scenarios and real answers gave you more insight into what life is like at DIS.  Maybe one day I’ll get real emails to be able to answer real people one day ;) …if you need any more detailed answers or have different questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!