As a student with DIS, I had the opportunity to apply to have a visiting host family. This means that I was matched with a local family who I will meet with throughout the semester to meet locals and learn more about what it is like to live in Denmark. I wanted to be a part of this because I knew that I did not want to live with a host family because I wouldn’t be living within the city and I wanted to be able to meet more students, but I still wanted to meet a local family.
A few days after arriving in Copenhagen, I received an email from DIS telling me that I was paired with a visiting host family, and a few days later they reached out to me. Their names are Steffen and Susanne, who are 51 and 54 years old, and they have two daughters Sophie and Sandra, who are 23 and 26. They live 10 miles outside of the city in a town called Albertslund. They told me that they love being in nature hiking and kayaking in the warmer months, and they are both vegan and enjoy cooking at home.
On Saturday, February 4th, I took a bus and a train to Albertslund Station where Susanne and Steffen were waiting for me. It was a rough start to the trip when I realized I got on the bus going the wrong direction, and ended up being 20 minutes late. Luckily they were very nice about it and understood that the bus system is a bit confusing. (Enjoy this picture of me stressed and lost after getting off the bus and realizing I was significantly farther away than I was when I started)
When I got off the train I was worried about being able to find them because I had never seen what they looked like, and vice versa. But I think they were looking for the person who looked the most lost and confused, so they found me pretty quickly.
They were extremely nice and we did some quick introductions as we walked to their car in the parking lot. We drove about 5-10 minutes to their house in the suburbs, and I got a tour of their home. It has so many windows that let in so much sunlight. I am taking a class about danish design so I noticed the different light fixtures and furniture that they had. We made coffee and talked in their living room about our interests, studies and careers, and families. I learned about their two daughters who both have moved out, and their extended families that live nearby.
It was a bright and sunny day, so we decided to go on a walk to a large public space in their area. It was a man-made hill that was created to be a lookout area for their community. Denmark is incredibly flat, so this hill really stands out in the area’s landscape. We climbed to the top and there was a huge circular installation with an arrow in the center. When moving the arrow you can line it up with notches on the outer circle that tell you what city or important building you are pointing at.
There was a nature center nextdoor that is used as an education building for field trips. They had a small cafe inside where we grabbed warm drinks and the classic danish snack of bun with cheese. It was my first time having this and it was better than I expected because the bun was warm and it melted the cheese.
Then we continued our walk and took a tour of the neighborhood surrounding this area. We passed a small private elementary school, and Susan and Steffen told me that private education is pretty rare in Denmark since their education systems are free and high quality. We passed very old homes that had very old roofs made of straw. People are still living in these buildings and they are historically protected by Denmark so they cannot be replaced. We also walked around their Protestant church.
When we got back the sun had gone down and we were beginning to get hungry. Susanne had picked out a recipe in advance and didn’t need help preparing it, so Steffen and I sat on the couch and talked. They showed me a photo book they had made of their three week travel to the US over the summer.
They began by flying into Wisconsin to meet up with a DIS student that had stayed with them in the past. They spent a few days with her and her family seeing her University and going to their first baseball game. Then they rented a car and drove West and did a road trip to many of the major national parks. Then they few to Washington DC, drove to NYC and took a train to Boston. It was really cool to flip through their book and imagine what it would be like to see the United States for the first time through someone else’s eyes.
Both Steffen and Susan are vegan, so we had so much to talk about. I think that DIS partially paired us together for this reason and it definitely took stress away from the eating situation. For dinner we had a vegetable and cashew soup that was really, really good. She prepared fresh bread as well and it was definitely the best home-cooked meal I have had since arriving in Denmark. We talked about their favorite foods and what it is like to be vegan in Denmark.
They are both on the board of the Vegetarian Society of Denmark, which serves to bring people together as well as work on increasing vegetarianism throughout the nation. One issue that they told me they are working on is increasing vegetarian options in schools, hospitals and nursing homes. I also learned that there is a vegan political party in Denmark, although they never gained very much traction.
Both Susanne and Steffen are involved in many hobbies and organizations. Susanne plays badminton, crochets, gardens, and loves to read. Steffen is in a workout group and plays guitar and writes songs with a group of friends.
After dinner, we went back to the living room and we had some snacks. Licorice is very popular in Denmark, and I had not had an opportunity to try it yet. It was much stronger than any licorice I had tried in the US, and it is definitely an acquired taste. One was a salted gummy and one was regular. We also enjoyed some chocolate, oranges, and bananas.
We talked for hours, watched some Danish television, and made plans for what we want to explore the next time we meet up. We all like to explore and be outside so we are thinking about going to some cliffs/lookout points and castles.
I really enjoyed my day with Steffen and Susanne and it was a really cool experience to escape Copenhagen for a day and spend time with a local couple. I learned so much from them about Danish history, culture and lifestyle, and I am looking forward to meeting up with them again.
