Coffee and pastries

Week 5 (22/02/16) – Personal and Cultural

Hej!

It is a peculiar thought to think that as I begin writing this fifth blog, the ‘honeymoon period’, as it is referred to by Hannah, is over and we have now become accustomed to the daily reality of living in a foreign country, away from everything that we know and everyone that we know. Life in Copenhagen is becoming much more familiar and with the business and excitement of our initial arrival now seeming like a distant memory, I find myself having a lot more time on my hands.

I have been particularly challenged throughout the past week by a small group Bible study that the four of us attended on Tuesday night. It was organised by a Brazilian couple, Priscila and Bruno, who welcomed us into their home with open arms and fed us with homemade pizza and traditional Brazilian chocolate cake. We had the amazing privilege of studying the Bible with other international students and listening to Bruno speak on the theme of ‘Discipleship’ was particularly challenging. We were also given a person each to pray for throughout the week and having just received a Facebook message and Bible verse from a Lebanese friend who was at the Bible study, I feel extremely encouraged and blessed to be able to share my faith in a foreign country and listen to the views and opinions of others as we discuss different aspects of the Christian faith together. However, Gibson (2016, np.) once wrote that “Making new friends shouldn’t mean losing old ones” and as I relish the opportunity of establishing friendships that will hopefully last a lifetime during my stay here in Denmark, chatting to a number of friends from home this week on Facetime was also particularly enjoyable. It was lovely to catch up with the girls that we used to live with in halls and also to receive useful advice from our friends, Lynn and Laura, who studied in Denmark two years ago.

 

Small group at Bruno and Priscila's house

 

We have continued to embrace the culture of Denmark and, being an extreme lover of food, I have to admit that the temptation to enjoy a cup of coffee and a Danish pastry has been too strong to resist on a number of occasions this week. On one such occasion, being the Royal School Armagh enthusiasts that we are, Hannah and I were accompanied by our former Spanish teacher who was visiting Copenhagen with her friends during her half-term break; it was lovely to reminisce with her about school and hear the familiar Northern Irish, albeit Fermanagh, accents. However, we had a less enjoyable ‘cultural experience’ this week when we went to the Post Office to pay our 790 Danish kroner metro fines, equating to roughly £80. We just had to accept this rather than dwell on it; as Bach (1936, np.) writes, “Mistakes – call them unexpected learning experiences.”

 

Danish pastries in Torvehallerne

Royal School Armagh reunion!

 

 

 

 

 
Reflecting on the past week, I feel it is appropriate to finish with a few words of wisdom from Dahl (1979, p. 31). He writes, “I began to realise how important it was to be an enthusiast in life…if you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good.” In the coming weeks and months I hope to take on this challenge and fully embrace every opportunity that I am given. But, for now, farvel!

Reference List

Bach, R. (1936) GAIAM Life, available at http://blog.gaiam.com/quotes/authors/richard-bach?page=1 (accessed 22/02/16).

Dahl, R. (1979) My Uncle Oswald, London, Penguin Books.

Gibson, L. (2016) Quotes Gram, available at http://quotesgram.com/old-friend-quotes-and-sayings/#TcGiH5vFBU (accessed 22/02/16).