It’s been almost four months. I’m sitting at a cafe in Copenhagen, Denmark right now reflecting back on my semester and getting ready to pack up my apartment and return to the U.S. Soon I will be back at Hamilton for my senior fall. There will be snow, late nights in a KJ study room and long lines at Diner. It might seem like I never left; my semester abroad feels distant, and I feel at home again already. Yet, I am bound to compare and reflect. Studying abroad has made the stark differences between living in a city and going to Hamilton quite clear.

I have loved Copenhagen — it’s probably my favorite city in Europe. It’s manageable, safe and clean. Everyone is a rule-follower (like me!) and would never dare to jay-walk. The public transport is timely and people do not engage in small talk on the bus. Danes keep to themselves, but not in a rude way. They love to have fun, drink and eat with their friends. They just have an understanding and trust between one another that no one wants to talk or give everyone fake smiles on the 8:00 a.m. metro ride during rush hour. I mean, who would blame them?

And the weather! I expected cold; I know cold; we all know cold in Central New York. I wasn’t surprised to arrive mid January to Denmark’s capital and find myself covering up in multiple layers, hats and gloves each day. That was just life at Hamilton. Of course I hoped for a slightly better spring and my wishes have kind of come true! April began with a bit more sun, and the days are only getting longer. Northern Europe means the sun stays out until 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. It’s the beginning of May, and I think I walked around today without a jacket for the first time this semester. The little victories I suppose.

Being so far from home has certainly opened my eyes. This sounds cheesy, I know. Yet, it’s true. I don’t just mean it’s taught me about a different culture (which it has), but it has made me aware of what I need and want in a personal, social and academic sense. I am at a program with 1500 students (mostly American students who are current juniors at their home universities), and am learning from teachers who spend most of their time researching or working. Teaching is usually their side gig. Now this is not a bad thing; that is not what I am saying. Simply put, it means they are incredibly passionate about their work and want to share their knowledge with others. My sociology teacher travels on the weekend to do research, while my design professor is a renowned architect. They are truly living. I’m also not saying that professors at Hamilton don’t love the topics they are teaching or have an intense love for their field of study. I am sure most of them do. But it’s a different way of learning for the student. It’s just a change.

I am not the biggest fan of change. I can’t say I’m a “go with the flow” type of girl. However, this semester has made me deal with drastic shifts. I moved to a foreign country with a new language, a new culture and a new way of existing. Walking into that grocery store the first day after my bags got lost in Frankfurt, Germany and I needed to have any sort of fuel in my body, I came face-to-face with aisles of products in an incomprehensible language. Applesin was orange. Hygge was pronounced “Hoo-guh.” Where was I? I felt that change, that shift in my environment. I wasn’t in Clinton anymore.

But by embracing the newness, it led to growth. I realized how much I loved seeing my friends on Martin’s Way outside rather than walking into a bar and not recognizing a single soul. I understood my desire for a small, tight-knit liberal arts community and professors that pushed you to become better writers. There was something about driving past Groad and into the world of cows and cornfields that I adored. My time in Copenhagen hasn’t just allowed me to learn what I miss and love about Hamilton; I also realized new things I wanted to incorporate into my life.

For starters, hygge should be added to your vocabulary if it has not been already. Pronounced ‘hue-guh,’ it’s a Danish word that doesn’t have a clear definition, but describes a feeling or place that is seemingly cozy, warm or special, sipping hot chocolate by the fire, making dinner with friends or board game night. So keeping a sense of hygge in mind (always), I hope to return to the U.S. and continue making a cup of tea each night or getting together with friends for a potluck. It makes the day exponentially better. Danes know what they are doing in this sense.

In terms of my Danish academics, I certainly want to continue my studies with graphic design. Each student here is enrolled in a core course in which they spend most of their time in, and it’s sort of like one’s “homebase.” My class of eight students has been one of the best parts of my experience, and we got the opportunity to travel to western Denmark and the Netherlands to learn about design. I want to incorporate my knowledge of American art studies with Danish and Dutch art. The philosophies are drastically different; they focus on simplicity and rationality here rather than aesthetic. Artwork should have purpose. I love that mentality and plan to incorporate this attitude in my studies and thesis for senior year.

As I mentioned, the semester is coming to a close. I have taken certain lessons away; some of which you have read here, but there are too many to write or some I haven’t even considered yet. Continuing to think back on the past months, the multitude of ‘newness’ has certainly made me excited to return to life on the Hill — Diner B, avoiding the map on Martin’s Way, and running from KJ to the Science Center in ten minutes — all of it.