Six weeks flew by, and my summer in Copenhagen came to a bittersweet end. Here is a brief overview of my last week in Copenhagen:
7/29-7/31
These few days were spent studying for my final exams: Organizational Behavior on Thursday and Danish for Beginners on Friday. Zzz...
8/1
On Thursday I had my final exam for organizational behavior (BUS 387). The exam was at CBS's beach front testing facility at Amager Strand (a 35 minute bike ride from my dorm). My friend Brianna and I left our dorm at 7:30am to get there 30 minutes early for our 9am exam. I thought it was bizarre to have our exams so far away, especially since CBS was a 5 minute bike ride from my dorm. However, only the facility at Amager was equipped with enough computers to take the exam. The facility was very nice-- I think Cal Poly needs a beach front testing facility?
The four exam had sixty multiple choice questions, two short answer questions, and one case study analysis. For many Danish students, this was their first multiple choice exam. Multiple choice exams are pretty common in the US so I knew what to expect. Excluding some odd question structuring by my German professor, the exam was pretty straight forward and doable.
After my exam let out at 1pm, I got lunch with my Danish friend from class Line (pronounced like Lina). We went to
Grød, which translates to 'Porridge,' a trendy grain-centered restaurant. Grød has a variety of porridges, risotto, and even Asian porridge (jook). We got a fresh summer greens and peas risotto. Line said it was the best risotto she ever had, and I thought it was pretty darn good. After eating our lunch, we moved to the center courtyard of Torvehallerne (marketplace), and to our surprise we found a full orchestra performing for the
Copenhagen Opera Festival. The Copenhagen Opera Festival is similar to the
Copenhagen Jazz Festival. It was a bit hard to talk over a soprano singer and a full orchestra but it was enjoyable to have :)
On my way home, I made a pitstop at
Strangas dessert boutique to pick up some 'study fuel.' I got three macarons: passion fruit, salted caramel, and raspberry. They were good, but not the best I've ever had.
8/2
Friday was the last official day of the international summer university program. Most students left Copenhagen the next morning, but I stayed for an extra day to squeeze in some last minute activities. Several things were on my Friday agenda: return my bike, take my final oral exam for Danish, begin packing, and go to the goodbye party at night.
I woke up around 8:30am with the ambitious goal of teaching myself Danish in about six hours.. (I wasn't very productive the night before). After several hours of rehearsing Danish phrases (ie talking to myself in my room), I left the dorm to return my beloved bike. Having a bike was an essential part of my Copenhagen experience. Bikes are
ingrained into the city culture and are the best way to get around! After getting my bike during the first week, I rarely ever took the metro again-- biking is cheaper, more convenient, and more fun. After returning my bike, I had two hours to make it back to CBS and study some more. While waiting for the bus, I asked a Danish lady if she could help me practice Danish by asking me some questions and vice versa. She gladly obliged and was helpful in correcting my mistakes. A Danish stereotype is that they are xenophobes (don't like foreign things) and are reserved. However, this has not been my experience. I have practiced Danish with a handful of random people and they have been pretty kind to me. Perhaps it's because I look trustworthy/harmless, either way, I think the Danish people are pretty friendly.
Once I reached school, I studied by myself some more and then asked the woman at the help desk if she would practice Danish with me. Soon, it was time to show how much Danish I learned in six weeks. The exam consisted of a 1.5 minute personal introduction (memorized), 3 minutes of me asking the instructor questions from a randomly chosen topic, and 7 minutes of them interrogating me. I was nervous before the exam but once I got in there I was eager to show them what I knew.
In Denmark, you receive the score for your oral exam right after you take it. There were two examiners-- my Danish professor, a really sweet guy, and a censor, whose expression resembled Squidward (but he was a nice guy). When I returned to the room for my review, I just wanted to hear 'tolv' (12 in Danish) which is the
equivalent to an A in America. And yes.. I heard that magic number!! My professor said that my intro was strong, the interview portion had some errors but I showed recognition of them, and I struggled a little with the interrogation... but my enthusiasm for Danish was very apparent so I received a 12! This was a great way to finish my study at CBS.
After finishing my exam, I met up with my good friend Marlene for dinner at Torvehallerne (the best market!). To celebrate the ending of our summer in Copenhagen, we had a couple of beers (Tuborg and Carlsberg, of course) and sushi from
sushilovers.dk. I had the San Francisco roll which was fresh and delicious. After our lovely last meal, we returned to the dorm to get ready for the farewell party.
The farewell party was a blast! It was held at
Café Nexus, a bar that CBS hosts every Thursday throughout the school year. How crazy is that?! A university held party is something that would never happen in America. I said my farewells to all the international friends I made this summer and told them all to call me if they're ever in San Francisco or California!
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Nexus during the school year. I had class on the second floor haha
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One of the best things I gained from studying abroad is an international network of friends and colleagues. Having a familiar face in Mumbai or Paris is something that I am so excited about!
