On Pre-Departure, and Honoring the Impulse

Unbelievably, when I arrive in Copenhagen on Saturday, it won’t be my first time in the city. I first visited in May, last May (wow! new year, huh?), through a very generous short-term abroad program at my home university, University of Richmond. We were partnered with DIS for this trip, and there was even a day when we visited one of the DIS buildings and heard an incredible lecture from a brilliant professor (whose name I wish I remembered, so I could write it here).

Though I was there for only ten days, there was something about the city that spoke to me. It was walkable! (a rare sight to my American eyes). It was beautiful! (the buildings, birds flying up off the roof). And it was filled with art! (the record stores, small, hole-in-the-wall blues and jazz clubs). To my romantic eyes and now even more to my romantic memory, it felt modern and free; a place where one could explore forever, endlessly, and still find something new around every corner.

A jazz duo we saw perform -- they were incredible

Before coming, I was pretty uninterested in going abroad, but after leaving, the possibility of living in a foreign city suddenly felt achievable. For the rest of the summer, I stewed on the possibility of going back, obsessively checking the study abroad website for information about DIS. And when it came to applying, no matter what other available programs I saw, it was always at the top of my list. In submitting my application, there was no question at all. It simply was; I was going to DIS.

And now I am! I am absurdly excited for everything: my classes, the Arts LLC I’m housed in, and meeting the other students. But with that excitement comes an almost equal amount of fear. How will I do in my classes? How will I commute to class? How will I make friends? It takes me a little bit to adjust to new environments, and I’m definitely one to think (often a little too much) before I do. It all makes me feel like a freshman again, and trust me, that’s not a time I love revisiting. And yet, with freshman year, everything worked out in the end. I love my friends back home, and I’ve loved the work I’ve done there. So, the greatest preparation I’ve done, am doing, is holding onto the idea because things worked out back then, they will work out now.

Westhampton Lake at UR

This is an incredible opportunity. Here’s a new place where I can pursue my own independence. Do the small things, be uncomfortable; go to the store, ride on the train, walk in the park, and linger on those subtle moments of living. Moments that remind me that I’m alive. And in those places and moments, that's where I’ll find, or perhaps create myself. I suppose this is why I named the blog, drafting denmark. Knowing me and how I perceive the world, this will be an experience that will be deeply internal, difficult, unique, and terribly beautiful.

There was something that seemed to always draw me back to Copenhagen. And to be honest, I’m not sure what it is. It seems to me that there is something that I need to do there, some “work” to do. So, here I go, honoring that impulse, that curiosity, to wherever it may lead. Here’s to finding out!