Hey everyone! My name is Jenny and I am currently a junior at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). The reason why I am writing this blog is because I am going to Copenhagen, Denmark in about a week. I will stay there for a period of about two months to complete a project that is a graduation requirement for my school. This project is called the Interactive Qualifying Project, or IQP. The goal of this project is to work in interdisciplinary teams to attack problems encountered in society today. My project will deal with improving the plastic collection system from households in Denmark, and I will be working with two others for this project. We have already submitted our project proposal to our sponsor, the Danish Waste Association. From the two interviews with our sponsor, it seems as though my group is making good progress so far with the project. I am looking forward to the work that my group and I will do once we are actually in Denmark.
I hope to gain a lot from my time in Denmark. First off, during the preparation stage for the project (ID 2050), which was last term, I was not always focused on my work. Granted, I had other classes in addition to ID 2050, so it was understandable that sometimes I just absolutely needed to focus on stuff for my other classes, such as exams. I hope that since the only academic thing I need to worry about is this project, I will be able to immerse myself more fully in the project and get to understand not only the project, but also the people I will work for. This includes not only the sponsor, but also the stakeholders that will be affected by this project.
Second, it would be nice to experience a culture that is different from the culture here. One of the reasons I wanted to go to Denmark was that I really wanted to visit Europe in general, and Europe has a great sports culture. I am a big sports fan, so hopefully I will be able to see a soccer (err, I mean football) match, or a handball match, or any sports match, for that matter. I'm not sure which sports are played from March to May, but I'll be sure to find out as soon as I can. There are also great opportunities to see a play, or an orchestral performance, or even a ballet. The first week of my time in Denmark is orientation week, and I believe we will get to see a ballet performance, which I am really looking forward to. Third, I really want to try the food. I am on the varsity swim team at WPI and one of the things I learned from being a swimmer is to eat. A lot. I know that herring is popular in Denmark. I have only tried a few types of fish, with salmon being my favorite. However, I think it would be a good idea to try it as well as other foods that I am not accustomed to having. Some food may be pricey, but I sure hope it will be worth it. Plus, the taxes and tips are included in the price of the food, which will be interesting to get used to.
The most important thing I want to gain from my experience in Denmark is happiness. This term and last term in particular, I experienced many ups and downs. I won't go into too much detail, but it involved someone who constantly kept breaking my heart. We are still friends, and I'm starting to get used to this and even starting to feel happy again, but sometimes, I feel like I cannot move on and I need to look back. I hope Denmark will be a place where I will gain happier memories that will help me get over those feelings of sadness. I know that I will have three awesome suitemates: "Hannah" (my roommate), "Ian," and "Ryan." The contact person from my sponsor, "Niels," seems very laid back, and I heard from last year's group that he gave each of them CDs of Danish music. (Did I mention that I like listening to music?) There will also be opportunities to travel to other countries during the third week of my stay, since it is Easter break and there is no work that week. Switzerland and Italy are my two top choices for now, but I'll see where the rest of the group wants to go before making a final decision. Perhaps I will also meet cute European guys, which would be great, although I can't count on it, haha :)
I hope to blog as often as I can while in Denmark, once a week at the very minimum. I will also be sure to take as many pictures as I can, which is saying something, since I don't usually take pictures. Feel free to comment or ask any questions along the way :)
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