Tick Tock

  It’s my last week here. Living in Copenhagen for the past 7 weeks has been surreal .I eternally oscillate between feeling like I’ve been here forever and feeling like I haven’t been here at all.I’ve developed a routine,have a list of favorite haunts and also bike with the confidence of a Dane.I now am struggling with the fact that I leave in a few days.

I’m trying to see as much as I can these last few days. While I let my bicycle sleep for the past two weeks while I was in studio, I made up for it right after I got done with the final presentation. I biked to the red plaza and the superkilen. It didn’t look as impressive as it did in the photos but it was nice to sit on the grass and muse for a bit.While biking back towards Skindergade, I stumbled upon Assistens cemetery. It was profoundly beautiful. I felt like I was in a fairytale forest, with little clouds of cotton sprinkled around on the grass and little trails snaking their way in between the shrubs.

I will miss so many things about Copenhagen- It’s parks, the colourful houses,even its infuriatingly indecisive weather. I will miss the many friends I’ve made at DIS- My suite mates Leila and Melissa have already started planning a reunion in New York. In such a short time, we’ve all become used to living together and sharing our stories every day.

The last seven weeks are now a blur of sights and sounds-the street musicians and performers, drunken laughter from Hive,late night Netto runs, sudden showers, the scratches on my studio desk, cycling through cobblestone streets and this list goes on. My stay at Copenhagen will be a happy memory that I can look back on. Although I’m looking forward to going home where the city doesn’t shut down at 5, I hope I can come back someday.

The list

I started checking things off of my list!

1. Visit  Region Sjælland 

Now that the study tour is over, it’s time to focus on seeing Copenhagen! This is what I told myself. It’s ironic that one of the first things I did when I came back was plan a trip to Møns Klint.I had heard so much about it and when I saw an image of that white cliff along an azure blue sea,  I had to go see it for myself. It’s a great haven for nature lovers and I spent a day just hiking around the place. 

2. Party like a Dane

Every morning I wake to sounds of people leaving the clubs. I knew I had to experience the nightlife here and try and “party like a Dane”. Or atleast like the Danes I see coming out of Hive at 5 in the morning. A couple of us decided to go to the meatpacking district. Jolene is a favorite haunt of DIS students.The whole district was alive with activity and music blasting out of all the different clubs and bars there.It was very grungy which was a stark contrast to the pubs I had seen towards Skindergade. The bars were filled with hoards of people, dancing under neon lights. Imagine my surprise when one of the bars I went in to started playing an old Indian song!

3. Experience the local music scene

With the Jazz festival coming to an end, I knew I would miss the sounds of the saxophone I had grown accustomed to hearing from outside my window. I also saw a jazz concert in Kings garden.I wanted to explore the local music scene a bit more-something exclusively Danish. Maria, our student residential advisor, recommended that we go to the TopGunn concert at Tivoli. TopGunn is a Danish rap artist and it was fascinating to listen to music without understanding the language.I went to the concert with a couple of my friends and it was funny to see how we were attempting to sing along to songs we had never heard before, using words that may or  may not have been Danish. I think 
we all left that concert feeling like locals and now 
I have some new songs to add to my playlist.

  

The last leg

After Norway, it's Sweden!

http://discoverstudyabroad.org/2015/07/14/the-study-tour-the-last-leg/

A summer with the midnight sun

I spent the summer in Scandinavia. I visited Norway on an architectural study tour. Click below to read about it!

http://discoverstudyabroad.org/2015/07/13/the-study-tour-the-first-glimpse/

The land of light

I've taken up an architectural summer course at the Danish Institute of study abroad. I'll be spending the next two months in Copenhagen as a summer writer for the DIS blog. Check out my first post!

http://discoverstudyabroad.org/2015/06/22/the-land-of-light/

Through a looking glass.

I spent the last week in Ladakh.It's a mountainous region nestled in between India, China and Pakistan.This is one of the Indian regions where there is a significant military presence. However,the locals boast of its complacent atmosphere and are inspiringly patriotic. Many of them have relatives and friends in the army and are staunchly proud to be the guardians at the confluence.

The land here is creased and weathered, much like the faces of its inhabitants.The mountains don't have trees and are painted in hues of browns and reds.The atmosphere is clear,but harsh.When the sun shines,the air radiates with an arid heat that permeates into every molecule . When it cools down, the weather is as fickle as the rains in Bangalore.It may snow at any given point.The mountains don't follow the seasons.

The people seem to compensate for the harsh environment of the mountains.Most of the people here survive on just enough.What is "just enough"? Warm clothes,three square meals, and a roof seem to do the trick.

I met a  boy named Dorje.With sunburned cheeks and a carefree grin,he didn't really talk much.He was playing cricket, just like any other boy in India would.However, he was playing by himself.Luxuries like neighbors don't come often with the privilege of living at the roof of the world. He was staying at Pangong lake and the nearest school was 2 hours away. I watched him, swinging his bat, dreaming the big dreams that little children have.Unfortunately, he ended up losing the ball in a nearby pond. I saw him cry and wail, his heartrending sobs echoing as his elder brother, unsuccessfully, tried to fish his precious companion out of the pond. He would have to drive 6 hours to buy a ball.

There are no postboxes up here.The folk here are content to live and simply be.They know of mountains, not buildings.They tend to their plants and their animals and they stock up for the winter.They live life the way it was meant to be lived.

I admire them and I wish I was able to live like them. I do not know if I could.
6 hours to the nearest store. 6 hours.

Twinkling dots

I know it's "Mumbai" but "Bombay" has more of a punch to it.Take a look at the new page!