Ti Dix Ten: January in Indre By

It is February 1st as I write this, which means January, the longest month of the year (emotionally speaking) is finally over. It also means that I have been in Denmark for exactly 15 days now! Busy days and new experiences have made it feel like so much more. A lot has happened in this short period of time, not all of which fits easily into its own blog post. With that in mind, I want to briefly reflect on these past two weeks. Here is the first in a monthly installment of what I am calling Ti Dix Ten: 10 favorite small moments, 10 favorite photos, all in one of Copenhagen's 10 districts. I'm starting in Indre By, the center city where I live.

1) Stumbling upon Kirekergaard's statue

Søren Kirekergaard was born in Copenhagen just a few blocks away from the DIS offices and worked here his whole life. He is one of my favorite philosophers and a large part of the reason I chose to study abroad here. I am taking a whole class about him, after all. Coming across his statue on one of my first days here felt like a sign reaffirming my decision.

2) Playing board games wit my host family

I finally met my visiting host family last weekend and went over to dinner at their house in the suburbs. We played a fun imagination based board game. Their whole family welcomed me with open arms and made me feel so at home.

3) Family style taco night with the Arts LLC

My whole LLC spontaneously decided to make tacos together Saturday night. We each cooked an ingredient and ate all together, buffet style. It was the first time the 9 of us had sat down for a meal all together, and made for a great 'family' moment.

4) Finding Degas' Little Dancer at the Glyptotek museum

The Glyptotek museum has an absolutely beautiful interior, including a lobby with palm trees, and is filled with terrific art. I stumbled upon the Little Dancer and sat contemplating it for a while. This sculpture means so much to me that it will in fact get its own blog post coming up soon.

5) Picking out art for our living room

Our Art LCC events last week was to visit the Artoteket, an art library, where we got to sort through piles of contemporary art. We all agreed on two grey and white large paintings made by the same artist, which we hung on opposing walls of our living room. They really tie the room together and make it feel like our space.

6) Walking through the Botanical Garden

I've never seen a green house as big at the one at the University of Copenhagen Botanical Gardens. Named the Palm House, it has multiple rooms with multiple climates, it is filled with beautiful plants, but most notably it has a spiral staircase that leads to a walkway at the base of the domed roof.