First Day of Class

Classes began at DIS today.  Here's the lowdown of my day...

European Sustainable Development 8:30-9:50:

I think I'm really going to like this class.  This is my core course, so pretty soon we have a week dedicated solely to this class where I take a trip to Southern Sweden, then there is also a long study tour to Devon and London.  My professor (Deborah) is originally from the States, studied in the UK, but married a Dane and has lived in Denmark since 1982.  She doesn't believe in exams so all our assignments are papers.  In class we went over the syllabus, introduced ourselves, and discussed sustainability vs sustainable development as a brief introduction to the class. 

Scandinavian Classical Music 10:05-11:25:

My professor is a Danish composer (Knud) who seems like an interesting guy, a little awkward, but interesting nonetheless.  I don't really know what to expect, but I know I have to write a research paper, do a presentation on a song, and write critiques on 4 music performance field studies.  He explained that the history of Scandinavian music is just Germanic music up until the 1900s.  Anything written after the 1900s is technically called "contemporary" music, so most of the course will focus on that.  

Quick Lunch Break (good thing I live 5 minutes from class)

Renewable Energy Systems 1:15-2:35:

This class seems extremely difficult.  My professor (Carlos) seems like a nice guy, but made sure we knew right off the bat that many people drop the class because of the intense workload.  DIS apparently believes this class should span over a year, but he crams it all into one semester.  We have 2 exams, a group energy presentation, a 1-page proposal and final research paper, and an individual presentation, along with a massive amount of reading and a 1-page reaction assignment every night.  All of my classes have a lot of reading, but this one definitely has the most.  The class is 50% engineering/physics and 50% economics/politics, with a little technology thrown in there.  Me + economics + politics = disaster.  I'm not too thrilled for more physics either.  Ok I'm done complaining, I'm in Copenhagen for goodness' sake.  

Tomorrow I have one 3 hour class Environmental Policy in Practice. 

After classes I went exploring by myself to sign up for a bike which I pick up on Monday, and just to walk around the area.  Little did I know that awesome tea shop A.C. Perch's Thehandel is right around the corner from my house.  Also, when I was trying to find the gym (to figure out if it's worth paying for a membership) I stumbled upon a really cute cafe/bookstore that is perfect for doing homework in.  

Everything is going great so far.  My floor and SRA are so nice, I found out about so many activities going on this weekend (The Little Mermaid's 100th Birthday, Pride, Yoga Fest), and we are starting up the Green House dinners and organization projects soon.  I'm looking into Øko Caféen 32, a 100% organic cafe run by students at the Organic Production School in Nørrebro.