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Packing a Semester in Two Suitcases

January 5, 2019

Getting Ready to Leave: 

After a 70℉ winter break in Texas, I’m loading my  suitcases with all of my sweaters and winter coats that have yet to be worn this year. I’ll miss not seeing my friends from Vanderbilt for 8 months and my family for 4 months, but I’m super excited to get settled into Copenhagen and I plan to keep my friends and family updated through this blog, photos, and facetime. This will be my first time in going to a lot of other countries in Europe, so sadly a lot of people will get to see my post-wisdom tooth surgery passport photo.

Vandy friends anchoring down before a game

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Me

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Packing:

Packing Tip: Just don't unpack your suitcases from the past semester when you get home from school! Even though I left most of my things together after moving out of my dorm, I still had a huge packing list and lots of things to leave at home to make sure I could pack everything I needed for 4 months in two suitcases. Making space for bulky winter sweaters, coats, and boots to avoid the 25% sales tax in Denmark took some extra effort.

 

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packing list...

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  • Chargers

    • Laptop

    • Phone

  • Outlet Adapter (I got the Apple World Travel Adapter kit)

  • Backpack

  • Sunglasses

  • Glasses

  • Contacts

  • Camera

  • Headphones

  • Kindle

  • Medicines

  • Water bottle

  • Pillowcases + Blanket

    • (DIS provides these but I decided to bring some)

  • Toothbrush

  • Travel sized things

    • Shampoo + Conditioner

    • Toothpaste

    • Face cleanser

  • Smaller tote bag/purse for days without class

  • Swimsuit

  • Shoes

    • Everyday boots

    • Rain boots

    • Tennis shoes

    • Sandals

  • Exercise clothes

  • Lots of layered clothing

  • Basic pants/leggings/jeans

  • Sweaters

  • Jackets

    • Rain jacket

    • Warmer weather jacket

    • Winter coat

My DIS plans So far:

So far my class schedule and housing assignment are already picked out for this semester.  DIS has so many different classes, and it was the studio course that eventually convinced me to pick Copenhagen. As an Economics major and History of Architecture minor, I've been trying  to find more art related courses. Vandy doesn’t offer the architecture or design studios that DIS does, so I thought the Architecture Foundations Studio would be the best core course for me. I'm also taking Urban Economics, Environmental Economics, and 20th & 21st C Danish Architecture. I think all of these classes will be interesting and I'm excited for the course travel weeks around Europe.

 

I chose a Residential College as my housing option, because I knew I wanted to be close to classes and live with a lot of students from different home universities. RC’s are dorm-style buildings with other DIS students and can either have a shared kitchen or a kitchenette in the room. I thought living with DIS students would be a good way to meet other people in the same program. My RC is about a 15 minute bike ride from the DIS office, but whoever said you can’t forget to ride a bike is wrong because you can and I'm one of those people. Hopefully after renting a bike and getting some practice, I'll be able fit in with the locals and not get run over in a bike lane.

Expectations:

Going into this semester, I'm hoping to find some good coffee, travel, visit museums, and bike a ton. Being in Europe for a whole semester seems like the best time to explore and travel during during our built-in study tours, field studies, and breaks throughout the semester. So many Vanderbilt students are studying abroad in Copenhagen, Florence, Barcelona, etc, so I also plan on meeting up with some of them throughout the semester too. Museums are probably the main thing I'll be visiting when I travel, so I'm going to keep track of all my visits on the maps page that will also track countries and architectural sites that I see.  I'm also excited to explore Copenhagen and learn to become a local by using my beginner biking skills and public transportation to travel.

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