A Room With a View...

[note: There are 3 posts from today. Scroll down to where they begin with Overview, then read Arrival, and then finish off today's entries with this post here!]

The view out the window of the common room

The hostel where we spent the first three nights of our trip was perfect. The facility was made up of many small cabins and one larger cabin/building. Our group was given the entire upper floor of the larger building, which meant that in addition to clean, comfortable, spacious rooms (each with their own bathroom), we also had a giant common room with couches, chairs, tables, games, and books. There was a kitchen downstairs for our use and was WiFi (though most of us were glad to be away from technology for a while). We spent pretty much all of our free time in the common room: playing cards or charades during the evenings, stretching after our various physical activities, and just resting/napping.

A snapshot of the far end of the hostel cabins

We stayed in rooms of four: we had HUGE comfy beds, private bathrooms and even a table and chairs. My roommate is getting ready for an afternoon hike

Everyone mingling at a break at a waterfall on a long hike

One nice thing about going on a trip where we were all strangers was that we were all pretty eager to reach out, learn about each other, and make friends. I think that’s why so many people were always in the common room, why we chose to sit with new people at our meals and why during hiking/other activities, we often moved around, talking to one person and then another (and then another). I got to know probably 75% of the other students very well (which was also cool since they are people I would never have met otherwise).

Faith (L) and Mad (R)

By the end of the week, we’d started to figure out who we connected with the most. My two closest friends became Mad (short for Madeline) and Faith, who are both architecture students. You’ll get to know both of them and many other students in future posts. 

Our group (photo taken using self timer)

At this point I am ready to begin describing the fantastic experiences that we had on our trip. However, I also have a Danish exam tomorrow, a presentation Thursday, and I need to work on the discussion section for a professional presentation with people from my internship last summer (which I am overwhelmed with excitement about). So I leave you here for tonight! Tomorrow I hope to wow you with photos of the fjords from every angle (from boat, foot, train, and kayak). Until then, vi ses!