By Ollie Thompson
I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to some nearby countries during my first semester in Copenhagen. Within the first few weeks, I took the train to Malmo, Sweden with a group of friends, which only took around 20 minutes from my apartment! We had a great time and some fantastic Vietnamese food but I wouldn’t recommend going on a Sunday like we did as most businesses were closed!
My next trip was my first ever solo trip, to Latvia and Estonia. Getting to Latvia only took an hour by plane, and after a few days I took the bus over to Estonia, which only cost around £10 and took a few hours. Latvia was very pretty but there not too much to see. Estonia, however, was one of my favourite countries I’ve visited in Europe, and I would definitely recommend making the trip there. I explored the medieval castles and museums and took an electric scooter around Tallinn. I would recommend taking opportunities to see nearby countries during the year abroad as you will often end up seeing places you probably would never have thought to travel to.
A few of my friends and family members have come to visit me in Copenhagen,
which creates a nice opportunity to become a tourist again in your host country.
Showing them around the hot spots and taking lots of pictures reminded me just how great a destination Copenhagen really is! It is also great to explore other places in your host country, as I did when I went to Helsingør to spend the night with an Australian friend of mine who was also taking part in a semester abroad. We explored a different area of Denmark, which helped us to get to know our host country and its culture more. We also took the ferry over to another area of Sweden. It’s great to be able to travel with other students who are also on year abroad as you get to experience new things together.
I also spent a few nights in Warsaw, Poland with one of my flatmates and a few
friends. Although I had visited Poland before, I had never visited Warsaw and I
really enjoyed seeing the mixture of old and new throughout the city. We visited
museums and restaurants and explored the city. It was a great opportunity to bond with my friends, who were all on a semester abroad, and I ended up booking tickets to Korea to see two of them in September! That is one of my favourite things about the year abroad, you get to meet so many people from so many different countries and this allows you to experience different cultures you may never have! Not only will I be visiting my friends in Korea and experiencing the culture there, we have also done Korean food nights and I have learned how to make gimbap and speak some basic Korean!
In conclusion, travelling has been one of my highlights of the year abroad so far
and I would recommend anyone planning on doing a year abroad to take any
opportunities that come your way. Not only do you get to see exciting new places, it is also a great bonding experience with people from all over the world!
Global Opportunities 