EDIT: When I wrote the line "deliberately spit at me and hit me directly in the face," I meant that the spit landed in my face, not that the boy actually hit me. Sorry for the confusion.
I've been in Copenhagen for over a month now. It's hard to believe it was seven Saturdays ago that I got on a plane. Although I am having a great time, it's not all perfect. Like I said, this blog would be for the good and not so good times.
This week has been a roller-coaster for me. I wasn't sure if I was going to write about this story because I didn't know if it was something I really wanted to remember later. But I think no matter if I write it down or not, I'm going to never forget it. On Tuesday I was riding my bike from the train station to the house. A few Turkish kids (there's a large Turkish immigrant population in Denmark, surprisingly) were in the road. I skidded to a quick stop because I was going to have to maneuver around them since they weren't moving from the middle of the bike path. As I passed them, one of the Turkish boys (who was about 8 or 9) deliberately spit at me and hit me directly in the face. I was shocked. I kept riding past because I didn't know what I could do. There wouldn't be a point in yelling at him, he wouldn't understand me. So I kept riding and when I got home I felt terrible. It was something I would have never expected. I had known that there was a lot of hostility between the immigrants and the Danes, but I had no idea it could be like that. Not all the Turks act that way of course. The immigrant neighborhood close to mine, as Irene explained to me after I told her what happened, is a problem area. It was horrifying to me; I felt so little and helpless. I also felt disrespected, embarrassed, frustrated, and extremely angry. It put me in a funk for the rest of the day.
This week I've felt not as positive as before (starting from the incident on the bike path). I really love where I live. Yet living in a host family is an interesting situation. I do feel "at home" here; I'm comfortable in the space. But sometimes it hits me that this isn't my home. These aren't my things I'm surrounded by. Sometimes I miss my bed and other little things, like the comfort of the my kitchen (I can navigate easily because I know where everything is). And of course I miss Ruckus and Friskers a ton.
Living a host family is a dynamic in itself. But there's also the struggle of meeting other people from DIS. It's been a bit difficult because unlike in a dorm, I come home at the end of the day to a house. Other students that live in DIS shared housing, Kollegium , or Folkehøjskoler are surrounded by each other all the time and therefore it's easy to make connections. Although I feel I am building a strong, lasting relationship with my host family, it's been a little bit of a struggle to make connections with other DIS students.
I want to make the most out of my study abroad experience. I want to look back and think "that was the best time of my life." My worst fear is to have mediocre study abroad experience. It's only been a month- I think right now I'm just hitting a wall (mostly homesickness I think). I'm hoping that my trip to Scotland (Sunday-Friday) with my Positive Psychology class will revive my spirits.
I'm well aware that not everything is going to be perfect, fireworks, and rainbows all the time here in Copenhagen. It's impossible to have life-experiences every day. But sometimes it's just nice to reflect on the battles as well as the adventures.
I don't really have any pictures to share. But this is a song I've been listening a lot to while I'm feeling down or homesick. I don't really know why, it's just seems fitting.
