The Week with Kierkegaard

Original Post Date: July 13, 2019

Original Post Location: VED MØNTEN, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

---

"The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen, but if one will, are to be lived."

- Søren Kierkegaard

This was the first full week of classes for Session 3, and we had a lot of material to cover before our study tour, so I spent a lot of time reading philosophical books about happiness and writing papers about them. It was also Natalie’s last week in Copenhagen, so we tried to fill it with things that she wanted to cross off her list before leaving.

I am getting ready to head off to the French Riviera for the study tour with my Philosophy of Happiness class. While there I will being doing another Instagram takeover for DIS, so keep an eye out for that! During our trip we will be going on multiple hikes as well as swimming in the Mediterranean Sea.

7.08.19

As Mondays sometimes do, this day did not start out very well. I woke up late for class but still managed to leave my apartment on time. Although as I was coming up on the bridge to cross the large canal, I saw the caution arms come down and the bridge start to raise. There was a large boat passing through the canal, which meant that all the bridges were up, and I would just have to sit and wait for it to pass. It wasn’t long before it had passed under the bridge and they began lowering all the bridges, except the one I was needing to cross. This bridge is fairly new, and they were struggling to get it to go back together. It was also a drizzly morning so by the time that they got the bridge to work I was very wet. After all this I was still late to class, thankfully by only five minutes, and dripping wet. Three hours later, after multiple lectures and discussion, we had a break for lunch. I chose a restaurant nearby called “The Greasy Spoon.” I went in and ordered a very delicious cheeseburger and spent the break enjoying the very cozy interior while trying to get a head start on some of the homework. The afternoon session of our course was a walking tour around Copenhagen to various places that Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher we are studying, lived and worked back in the 1800’s. As we walked around the city our guide told us stories about his life and the various circumstances that shaped him into the thinker that he was. We ended the tour at a café that used to be one of his apartments and had a snack in what used to be his living room. When we were dismissed, I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and exploring the nearby neighborhoods that I haven’t spent much time in yet. By the time I got home it was already after 5 PM so I started working on my homework for the next day. After Natalie got home from class, we walked to the nearby grocery store with Hazel to buy cake mix because we were all wanting a sweet treat and thought it would be fun to make a cake together. Once it was baked, we ended up having an impromptu get together in our apartment with our neighbors to help us eat the cake.

7.09.19

In class we had a guest lecturer speak to us about Kierkegaard and try to explain the books of his that we have been reading. We then resumed class after lunch to have a writing workshop for our reflection paper that was due later that day. I got home from class at 3 PM and continued work on my paper as well as our other homework. Later, after dinner, I went on a long bike ride to explore parts of Copenhagen that I hadn’t seen yet. Once I made it passed the Nyhavn Canal and all the tourists I rode through the surrounding neighborhoods towards the Amalienborg palaces and emerged near Kastellet and stumbled upon a classic car show. This was a beautiful experience to see all the old cars cruising in with their tops down and lining up along the canal. I then rode along a small yet gorgeous marina with families and older couples sitting on their boats enjoying the evening with good food and company. I continued to ride along the water and found an old metro station that had been converted to a walking path with trees planted in the middle. This was similar to the High Line in New York, but a more casual version of it. I rode along this track to the point where it ended at a small pier and the ocean. At the end of the pier there was a little lighthouse and a small ice cream shop called “The End.” After watching the sunset from here and taking in all the views I made the ride back to my apartment and called it a night.

7.10.19

We started class with a biking tour of Copenhagen. There was nineteen of us, plus our tour guide, and only three people had ridden bikes here before. It ended up being quite an interesting two hours as we rode around in a huge line struggling to make it across many of the intersections as one group. During the tour we visited approximately ten urban parks located in Nørrebro, a neighborhood north of the city center. At each park we would stop to talk about the history of the area and how each one helped contribute to the overall happiness of the people living in the community. My favorite park was one shared by a school and a nursing home where they worked together to grow vegetables in a garden. This park was a large space that also had a small petting zoo and no city noise because of its location and the vast amounts of vegetation that was growing there. After the bike ride we had a break for lunch, so I went to King’s Garden to eat the lunch I had packed and spend some time relaxing in the sun. The afternoon session of our class consisted of a group discussion about the readings we had completed. Later, when I got home, I worked on homework and after Natalie got back from class, we ate dinner and went over to Delaney’s room to hang out and chat with friends.

7.11.19

Natalie and I woke up early because we were going to go to the canal to do a small photoshoot with the morning light, and before it got busy with people. Although we had forgotten that because the sun rises so early, we would have to take photos at 5 AM to take advantage of the good light, and we didn’t get up until after that. So, we decided to postpone the photos until the evening. I then went to class where we discussed the new book we were reading and for the first time this session we got out of class before lunch. When I got home, I ate lunch and began working on homework while I waited on Natalie to get out of class. After she got back home, we spent some time talking about her class as well as reminiscing about the summer because her class is moving to Greece in a couple days and we will no longer be roommates. We then got ready for our photoshoot and headed to the Nyhavn canal to start taking pictures. We took full advantage of the beautiful light and ended up taking photos for two hours. All the while dodging cars, bikes, buses, and people. On our walk back home, we tried to stop at the Gasoline Grill to try the claimed “Best Burger in Copenhagen” but they had run out of food and were closed for the night. Instead we stopped at 7 Eleven for chicken kebabs. Once we got back home, we stopped by our neighbors for some snacks and to chat with everyone.

7.12.19

I had class until 1:30 PM where we discussed our upcoming study tour to the south of France and had another writing workshop to work on our second reflection paper that was due later in the day. After class I went to the doctor’s office for a quick check up to make sure that my cold was not turning into something worse. They were happy to tell me that I am healthy, it just sounds like I caught three colds in a row. I then rode my bike home to get started on the large amount of homework that I had for the weekend. Later, for group dinner, my friends made food for burritos, including homemade tortillas. After dinner I finished my very uneventful day with more homework.

7.13.19

After waking up I worked on homework again before heading to Bakken (the amusement park) and the beach with Raechel, Meredith, and Delaney. We left on our bikes for the train station to head to a neighborhood up north called Klampenborg. Both Bakken and the beach are located in this neighborhood. We started with Bakken where I showed them around a bit and Meredith and Delaney rode the old wooden rollercoaster. We then decided to get a snack, I got a soft serve ice cream cone dipped in chocolate powder and they all got falafel. After they felt that they had seen enough of Bakken we walked to the beach, which was surprisingly not very busy. We found a nice spot on the sand and spent a couple hours relaxing, chatting, and listening to George Ezra. Around 6:30 PM we decided to make our way back home. On the way we stopped at Nicecream, a vegan ice cream shop that had amazing ice cream and so many flavors to choose from. I ordered the Kjøbenhavrnen flavor, which was coconut vanilla ice cream with pineapple. When we all finished our ice cream, we headed back to the train station to pick up our bikes and ride home. Before making it all the way back home we stopped at the grocery store to buy some sweet potatoes so we could make fries. Making the fries turned out to be a longer process than we were expecting because we are still not quite sure how to use any of the appliances in the kitchen. After one and a half hours of cooking though we had delicious sweet potato fries.

7.14.19

I started my Sunday the way I have started every Sunday here, an hour and a half spent in my favorite place, the Hillsong Church. I am definitely going to miss it and all the amazing people when I go back to the States. I went to church with Raechel, and afterwards we went to a nearby shopping center to pick up some last-minute things for our study tours. This shopping center ended up being under construction, but fully operational, so we found ourselves weaving between machines and under scaffolding, all for some toothpaste and sunscreen! Once back at home I ate lunch and started cleaning and packing and preparing to be gone for a week. Sadly, I have another early flight and have to be at the airport at 4 AM, so I will be sleeping a little earlier than normal tonight.

Weekly Overview – Copenhagen Week 8:

1. Places Visited

• Søren Kierkegaard’s Homes

• Nørrevold

• Langelinie

• The End ice cream

• Nørrebro

• Klampenborg

• Bakken

• Bellevue Beach

• Nicecream

2. Favorite Moment

Running around Nyhavn taking photos with Natalie.

3. The Best Food I Ate

Our homemade sweet potato fries!

4. A Helpful Tip

A bike tour is an easy way to quickly see a lot of the city, but I would not recommend doing it with 19 people.

5. The Best View

Watching the sunset from the small pier I found on my bike ride.