It just so happened that the break in classes for Exploration Elective landed in the same week as Thanksgiving. In true DIS fashion, many of my friends were spread out all across Europe, whether travelling with their courses or exploring for fun. However, I felt like I had only just gotten back from my own globetrotting. So I took a step back, bailed on my travel plans, and kicked back for some quality time at home.
Wednesday, a fellow DIS student and I planned to meet up at the Open Air Museum, but it was closed (whoops), so we hopped on the A train up to Klampenborg to walk through the deer park.
It was a little chilly, but we had a wonderful time walking through the park. After observing an inordinate number of deer, we strolled through the trees to visit the “dwarves house,” a wood-and thatch construction hidden away in the park itself.
Then it was onto the main event of the week: Thanksgiving!
Since I had no plans of places to be, I wanted to go all-out and cook the whole meal for my host family. After a few trips a couple different stores for ingredients and supplies, I settled in for the long haul of chopping, cutting, dicing, slicing, sautéing, toasting, simmering, and preparing dishes.
Six (or was it seven? They all blur together) hours later, we were ready to feast upon a traditional Thanksgiving meal! I had an absolute blast cooking in the kitchen, juggling tasks and making delicious food, but the real treat was spending time with my host family during the meal itself.
I got to share some history about US history related to Thanksgiving and talk about my own family traditions too, which was really nice. On that note, I am so thankful for my host family here at DIS, in their enthusiasm for doing things with me, their support of me, and their willingness to entertain my strange bucket list items.
And as if one Thanksgiving wasn’t enough, the day after I ventured up near Nyrup to visit with some family friends. While it was just a coincidence that we ended up hanging out during this week, we still decided it was a perfect time to have a home-cooked Thanksgiving meal. Myself and another American friend of the family divided up dishes, tallied tasks, and searched for emergency substitutes to ingredients we just couldn’t find.
While the meal and dinner conversation was phenomenal, I really want to highlight the beautiful landscape in that region: we went for a walk to the coast and I absolutely loved it! It was quite blustery, but we hiked around the “cliffs,” walked along the beach, and stacked some rocks (and got blown around).
Saturday was supposed to be the day I was going to get some work done, but I instead ventured into town to visit a few Christmas markets and walk through a park or two. Much more fun that sitting at home and working all day. That afternoon, I juggled homework, tidying, and reading in my bed. Cozy.
I spent Sunday with my host family as well, joining my host dad and sister for a soccer match and then meeting up with my host siblings at the Creative Space, a ceramic painting studio in Copenhagen. They had gifted me this experience for my birthday earlier this month, and we had a great time creating some fun glazed pieces and hanging out. I can’t wait to see how they all turn out!
I entered into this week with the goal of regrouping, recovering, and relaxing. I’m so so glad I didn’t travel this week, as I feel rejuvenated and ready for my last weeks in Denmark. The holidays are setting in, and final assignments are approaching. I don’t want to think about going home quite yet.
Ingenthron, abroad. 
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