I remember clearly how I felt this
time last year. I had just booked the tickets to travel to a foreign country
for the first time in my life. Alone. I was excited, yes; also very happy that
the long process of applying to colleges and waiting for replies was finally
over. I had a wonderful prospect at hand and the future looked promising. I was
also finally breaking free from the monotony of the nine-to-five, for a couple
of years at the least. But, at the same time, I was petrified. With the tickets
booked without any return date, it hit me hard that I was leaving, for better
or for worse, and everything would change before I knew it. The feeling didn’t
leave me for all of the next month while I was packing and saying my goodbyes
to family and friends. And it was there in the pit of my stomach all through
the long journey from home to New Delhi to catch the flight that would take me
to a new destination. Thus, a terrified self-conscious young woman arrived in
Copenhagen.
My first reaction on arriving in
the city was noticing how beautiful it was. The skies were a pristine blue as
the sun shone brilliantly, accentuating the green of the trees and grass along
the city’s roads. The ride from the airport to my university took around thirty
minutes and I couldn’t keep myself from peering out of the windows like an
excited child. I have traveled extensively in India, bore witness to some of
the most breathtaking views- but the idea of such an aesthetically pleasing
city was new to me. Adding to my amazement also was the near absence of crowds
and traffic on the streets. This was something that had often been told to me
by people who had traveled overseas, but it was only when I witnessed it
myself that it registered. By the end of that day, my nerves had calmed down
considerably. The university campus was spectacularly huge, swanky and
modern. The administrative staff was
welcoming and cordial. I was provided keys to my own fully furnished studio
apartment. Anybody who has studied in a public Indian university would know how
much of an impact the above might have had on me. It was like Christmas come
early. :)
Following in the cycle track :) |
One of the lecture buildings at DTU |
The first couple of months just
flew-by in getting to know my surroundings better, meeting new people and
keeping up with the coursework and the cumbersome housework. The language used
in most public places was Danish and we had to quickly learn how to read and
translate common words (most importantly in the supermarkets and on the public
transport system). The university campus, on the other hand, was totally
multi-cultural and one ended up meeting people from all over the world. I was
once invited to a dinner party where we had to bring dishes from our home
countries to the table and ended up sampling Greek, Italian, Spanish and German
cuisine (I took shaahi paneer and naan). I look back on this as one of my most
colorful learning phases- interacting with people of different cultures and
nationalities provided me with a new perspective on the world and the
oft-invoked term called ‘globalization’. I got to know some interesting
viewpoints people held about my country and also got to break some of the
stereotypes that i had subconsciously collected over the years. All in all, it
was a big learning experience as I became aware of the differences across
cultures and nationalities and also about the things that we all had in common-
goals, concerns, and love for art, music and food.
Autumn gradually gave way to winter as the days started getting shorter and the nights chillier. I had come to Denmark prepared for brutal cold, complete with thick woolen socks and mitts. But I soon found out that it was not the cold that bothered me but the lack of sunlight. Come December and my days began with a pitch black sky that slowly gave way to only grey clouds before immersing into darkness again. It was difficult to adjust to this and I could feel my mood dampen. It didn't affect me for long though as, on consulting with friends, I was told that a bright and cheerful lamp in the bedroom could make all the difference. Another thing that worked to raise my spirits was experiencing my first snow. I remember scanning the weather forecast a week before to know the exact date when to expect the showers. I had read earlier that it did not snow much in Copenhagen and when it did, it got usually mixed up with hail or rain. But, did it snow that weekend! The entire city was covered in a thick, glistening layer of white. And I observed how the white also made the nights somewhat brighter, emitting a soft phantom-like glow. Being the good foreign resident that I am, I made my way to the nearest park and played with snowballs.
Autumn gradually gave way to winter as the days started getting shorter and the nights chillier. I had come to Denmark prepared for brutal cold, complete with thick woolen socks and mitts. But I soon found out that it was not the cold that bothered me but the lack of sunlight. Come December and my days began with a pitch black sky that slowly gave way to only grey clouds before immersing into darkness again. It was difficult to adjust to this and I could feel my mood dampen. It didn't affect me for long though as, on consulting with friends, I was told that a bright and cheerful lamp in the bedroom could make all the difference. Another thing that worked to raise my spirits was experiencing my first snow. I remember scanning the weather forecast a week before to know the exact date when to expect the showers. I had read earlier that it did not snow much in Copenhagen and when it did, it got usually mixed up with hail or rain. But, did it snow that weekend! The entire city was covered in a thick, glistening layer of white. And I observed how the white also made the nights somewhat brighter, emitting a soft phantom-like glow. Being the good foreign resident that I am, I made my way to the nearest park and played with snowballs.
Snow in the nearby park |
The one drawback to the weather
though was that it had become very difficult to cycle. Even though the tracks
would be cleaned of the snow, the winds and dipping temperatures would turn my
fingers gripping the bike handles to ice. Anyhow, soon there were more pressing
things to fuss about other than mode of transport as with December also came
the end of the semester and with it, you guessed it, examinations. I found
myself spending hours in the library printing notes, going over assignments and
frantically finishing up reports. The written exams themselves were all
open-book, with the use of a computer allowed in some. But preparing for an
all-aid exam was a task in itself as one had to be absolutely thorough with the
methodologies used to tackle every problem. People tend to think that
presence of aid would make the exam easier as there would be no cramming
involved (like in our universities back home), but in my opinion they actually
free the examiner to set up challenges for your analytical ability and not just
test your memory. The Danish grading system is a tough one where one has to
demonstrate understanding of at least fifty percent of the course to obtain a
passing grade. This meant that to obtain a top score, the examinee has to have
a thorough grip on at least ninety percent of the tasks asked for in the
examination. Needless to say, I found this requirement extremely stimulating,
especially after the format at my undergraduate university where scoring above
eighty in a paper was a rarity. I would exit the exam hall thoroughly spent and
exhausted, having exercised my mental abilities to the fullest.
The DTU library in festive mode |
With the end of the exam week, the dormitory started emptying out. Christmas was one week away and my fellow students were looking forward to seeing their families. I, on the other hand, was excited about witnessing my first Christmas in a foreign country (and was also secretly praying for snow on the day). The city was adorned for the holiday season as lights and baubles went up on the streets. A Christmas market was also set up in the city center and I was very delighted to walk through it and immerse myself in the festive spirit. There were fireworks every night leading up to New Year’s Eve and the whole city life was as if suspended. I too found myself truly relaxing for the first time in four months- taking walks in Copenhagen’s famous gardens and enjoying the scenery, watching street artists perform in the marketplace and observing the evening sky light up with the shimmering fireworks. I had made it through the semester. I had successfully negotiated the differences between two countries, cultures and technical frameworks. I had made it through, presumably, for the better. :)
The city getting ready for Christmas |