This post will consist of three things, the first being adjusting to living abroad, the second being Denmark’s friendly culture and lastly the realisations that I’ve made since living here.

Adjusting to living abroad

The first major transition that I’ve experienced involves being more independent, which includes learning how to cook, budget my expenses, buy groceries and fend for myself in areas beyond just being a student. As we all know, food in Denmark is expensive. Restaurant prices are pretty equivalent to those in Singapore, but Denmark doesn’t have cheaper alternatives like our hawkers or kopitiam. Thankfully, groceries here is pretty cheap! It was soon apparent that if I wanted to live a sustainable lifestyle, I had to learn how to cook. Cohabiting with three fellow Singaporeans – Chin Yong, Zachery, and Sue-min – made meal times more delightful and something I’d look forward to. Learning how to cook came naturally, as we would try different recipes and lent helping hands whenever needed. We were able to unleash our inner Singaporean aunties and created an excel sheet to compare grocery items prices. Initially, we would spend nearly 3 hours in the kitchen every day, but we later mastered the art of meal prepping, which we fondly called “economies of scale“. Cooking is a skill that gets better with experience, and a tip I would give to anyone learning how to cook is to truly enjoy the process. Cooking for myself has also led me to adopt a healthier lifestyle, as I would ensure I ate a balanced diet at a prescribed timing every day. This became a routine I thoroughly enjoyed, and you will come to understand more why.

Another significant experience that I got to try is cycling, and cycling a lot. For context, the 4 of us (Chin Yong, Zachery, Sue-min and I, let’s call us Markers) stayed further from CBS than the rest of our course mates. Since public transport is rather expensive (about ~8 SGD for a 2-way trip daily), we decided to take up cycling as our mode of commute. This was a new and interesting experience for all of us, because even as an avid cyclist, I was only used to cycling at parks and park connectors. Thankfully, Copenhagen is a really cyclist-friendly city! You could say cyclists rule the road here, with a noticeable 10:1 ratio between cyclists and cars. Everywhere was cycle-able, and there will always be a cycling path at every road we go to. This made cycling a really convenient mode of transport, and a cheaper one too. However, cycling here is a totally different ball-game than in Singapore. In Singapore, people do it out of leisure and enjoyment. In Copenhagen, people cycle with a purpose – always in a rush, frenzied, but surprisingly organised. We got used to this pretty quickly, and learnt the cycling signals fast. What also helped was that we could bring our bikes on the trains as they had special carriages where we could park, allowing us to go hybrid on days where we felt tired. The routine of cycling 7.5 km to and from school, a total of 15 km, became a rewarding and fun habit. As winter approached, we started to grow a love-hate relationship with cycling – it’s still a very beautiful place to cycle in, but it was too cold to be enjoyable. However, time and time again we pulled through despite contemplating every morning as we were too attached to return our bikes. This led us to cycling even in the coldest of winters, and only returned our bikes on 13 December. What a feat!

Cycling in the city.

Beautiful sunset on our way home.

Getting caught in the rain and had to bring our bikes on the train.

Gearing up to cycle home in 8 degrees weather.

Returning our bikes.

Friendly culture

The first time I arrived at my student housing, I was so pleasantly surprised at how friendly everyone was. People here really take the effort to make you feel welcomed, even if they don’t live in the same floor/building or frequent the same kitchen. It became an unspoken rule that we would greet everyone, and I really mean everyone, that we came across. One particular encounter stuck with me; while cooking in the common kitchen, everyone who passed by on the outside (we were partitioned by a large glass) would deliberately look in to make eye contact with you just to smile and wave. This really took me by surprise, because it felt like they didn’t do it out of convenience (they were outside!), but really because they felt a sense of connection and camaraderie from simply being in the same housing. This made all the difference, and these were people I had just seen for the first time! It took me a while to get used to their friendliness, but I later embraced this culture myself and took the effort to make our living place a friendlier one.

This friendly culture extended beyond the confines of our housing. In CBS, our classmates were remarkably amiable – striking conversations when we bumped into each other, and taking interest in our lives and cultures. Our group chat was also pretty active – people openly asking everyone out for meals, sharing current deals and affairs, mindless chit-chats. This was rather surprising to me given the relatively large group size (67). I couldn’t help but notice the openness and proactiveness of Europeans. People in Singapore are nice too, but we are not nearly as proactive as they are, especially in public spaces. Europeans will gladly help you carry your luggage when you are struggling, usher people to give way when you are on your bikes, and greet you even when they know they’ll probably never see you again. It’s the way they put effort into these little things, whether out of habit or deliberately, that made the world seem like a better place. I really loved the interactions I had with strangers be it in my housing, school or even public spaces, where people are genuinely so happy to strike up conversations and make small talks. It made me feel closer to humanity, and, in the same vein, made me become more proactive in offering and asking for help. Life is better when we have each other.

Free education in Denmark

A big shock that I encountered was how higher education is free in Denmark for domestic students and students from the EU, EEA and Switzerland. In addition to that, Denmark offers a unique educational model called SU (Statens Uddannelsesstøtte, meaning State Educational Support) which grants financial aid to students enrolled in approved higher education programs – essentially being paid to study! This has prompted me to reflect on my own experience as an Indonesian living in Singapore. Throughout my education journey, I’ve always felt privileged to be able to study here, so much so that paying for education, no matter how expensive it is, felt like a given. Hence, it was pretty surprising to me how good they have it here (of course, this large investment comes with a higher income tax rate, but that is a different discussion for another day). Denmark’s approach to higher education was truly eye-opening. The notion that university education is free for all, regardless of socio-economic background, challenged my preconceived notions about the accessibility of quality education. Moreover, the fact that students are financially supported during their studies adds another layer of support that goes beyond the classroom.

Returning to my roots in Singapore, a developed country with a thriving economy, I couldn’t help but wonder about the potential benefits of a similar investment in education. If Singapore were to allocate a higher percentage of its budget to education, perhaps it could alleviate the financial pressures on students. Currently, students in Singapore often find themselves juggling various part-time jobs in industries such as grab, retail, and F&B to make ends meet. While there is no inherent flaw in students gaining work experience through part-time jobs, there is a profound difference when it becomes a necessity rather than a choice. By investing more in education and reducing the financial burden on students, Singapore could foster an environment where students focus on their academic pursuits and personal development without being burdened by financial constraints. Essentially, allowing students to deal with student-problems only.

In conclusion, my journey in Denmark so far has been a tapestry of personal growth and eye-opening experiences. Adjusting to life abroad involved embracing independence, mastering the art of cooking, discovering the joys of cycling in a city designed for it, and stepping out of my comfort zone to give and receive help.