“I’d pack my suitcase with myself / but I’m already gone…” –Kurt Vile

I’ve been living out of my own suitcase–or, more accurately, a string of backpacks–for the last few weeks now. I just came back from a spectacular-transformative-every-positive-adjective semester abroad in Athens, and then spent Christmas week at home in Virginia, sleeping off jetlag and waking up to my string lights at 3am. Right now I’m ringing in the new year surrounded by family at my grandparents’ house in New Jersey. Tomorrow, I depart for Washington, DC to volunteer at a classical studies conference. And then I have just a few short days to get right with my credit card company and stock up on multivitamins before flying out again–to Denmark…

…sorry, reader(s?!), I should introduce myself. I’m Claire–classics/education student, semi-frequent journal-keeper, gummy Coke bottle addict. And right now I’m a little frazzled. I’m lucky to be spending my spring semester with the DIS study abroad program in Copenhagen, where I’m hoping to take in everything I can about philosophy, learning, and sustainability in this global city. (Here’s the fine print about the classes I’ll be taking and where I’m living.) I’m not sure if, between loading and unloading my backpacks, I’m fully aware yet of what I’m getting into. Do I have enough knowledge? How many Danish phrases on Duolingo should I be memorizing before I take off? My family has spent the break quizzing me:

“So, Claire, are fish a big thing in Denmark?”

“What do people there do for fun on cold winter days? How much do you know about any of this? Hey, Alexa–” –poking a head into my grandparents’ kitchen towards their smart speaker– “–what’s the national game of Denmark?”

(Answer: football–or soccer, in my American understanding. Among many others.)

I also feel as though I’m at a tangled personal crossroads, the sort that comes prepackaged with junior year. Going into this semester, I’ve been mulling over why I’m studying the things I am, and what I want to do with them, and the sort of person they’re shaping me to be.

I don’t think study abroad itself can instantly generate conclusions to any of these–that’s something I’m going to need to come to in my own time. But I think the cultural experiences I take part in can help. So for now, I’m focusing on everything I’ve been dreaming about doing for the next five-ish months in Copenhagen: picking up some Danish; volunteering in my host city; getting into Norse myth and the Viking past; finally reading Kierkegaard; embracing my love of cycling in one of the most bike-able cities on the planet; learning about art and history and educational traditions in Denmark; and visiting every museum humanly possible. Plus: documenting all these in words and drawings and photos to share here.

Tonight, I’ll transition once more, from 2019 into 2020. May I look back on this post in May and laugh–or cringe because I’ve grown a little more. Hopefully you’ll stick around and read for part of the ride!