A Letter From Over The Seas
Hello,
UNC Greensboro! This is Zack Weaver, English Major and student far afield in
Copenhagen, Denmark. The seasons here are beginning to turn, changing the
weather from warm to cold before my very eyes. (No snow yet, though.) I am
accompanied in my travels by my Lloyd Honors dragon Elva, and a better
companion one could never hope to have. She’s been most accommodating to being
stuffed into breast pockets and hauled around for sightseeing and photo ops.
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| Demonstrated here |
I
suspect she enjoys the attention though. It’s not every day that a dragon can
sightsee without unwanted hysterical attention!
Elva and
I have been getting along wonderfully. She’s been coming along with me on all
my classes’ cultural activities. We’ve been getting a lot of mileage on these
travels. We’ve been to Fredericksborg, the Peder
Skram (a retired Danish frigate), Viking museums around Denmark, Viking
graveyards and runic stones in Sweden, and even up to London with the
professors Hodgkins’ class. She’s been
quite the well-traveled dragon!
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| My University |
We
arrived in Copenhagen on July 28th, a month early, owing to a
pre-semester Danish course. It was with no small apprehension (not schoolwork
nervousness, that came later!) but rather stemming from the simple task of
finding my residence and figuring out basics like transit and food. Researching on the internet is one thing, but
on the grounds of a foreign country was another. There’s no really good way to
be prepared. Fortunately I adapted fairly quickly, finding food with the help
of dormmates and figuring out the transit system with the assistance of
University people.
(A side
note: we were told about the five stages of coping with being in a foreign
nation, and how this would be a gradual process. I actually went through them
all on Day One and was fairly comfortable after that, odd logistical issue
aside.)
I am
living with a roommate; his name is Mingjia, and he hails from China. He is
studying Computer Programming at the University of Copenhagen, and will be here
for two years. We’ve gotten along wonderfully, and have had some cultural
exchanges.
