Week 5: Group Project due, Copenhagen Light Festival & Date with a Dane

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February 17, 2025

I was a bit nervous that I was gonna be late to my 10:50 am class. After a 8 hour sleeper bus from Berlin, I was on the next metro to class. Thankfully I made it in time. Today's class was important because it marks the start of our presentation lineup. My group hadn't started since we weren't sure how to go about it. Let me tell you, this is my first group project at CBS and it really is different from UH Manoa. My group mates are all from Europe. From Sweden, France, Switzerland, and Spain. I felt like they were quite used to doing presentations in a short time whereas I struggle if I don't plan ahead. After I made it home from class, I got straight to work and spent the rest of my night preparing for the next day-- Presentation Day.

February 18, 2025

I woke up early to prepare for the presentation. I also had my retail marketing class so I was out the door at 9 am. Today in class we had a guest speaker from MENY. She had discussed supply chain/relations and tackled different concepts of retail strategy. I had to leave a bit early since I had 10 minutes to get to my next class. I made it on time and everything went well. Unlike my other group mates, I don't have an art background; I come from a sports background. So this task was hard to do, but my group mates reassured me and said that it would provide a different perspective. They were right. Our professor loved that we took a different path and supported the prompt well.

Key Takeaways:

• In Nordic countries, students are exposed to art and creativity at a young age. Makes them more aware and prone to understanding things from a higher perspective. The class I am taking is all about art and perspectives. For me, it is hard to articulate things in an artsy perspective. This class pushed me to go beyond the thinking box.

February 20, 2025

After four days of not seeing the Hawai'i gang, we decided to walk around the city and explore the Copenhagen Light Festival. Essentially, there are light sculptures placed around the city and they make a guide listing in order which one to see. It is kind of like a scavenger hunt. Since we were short on time, we only went to a couple spots. My favorite one was located in a little shopping lane. The colorful lanterns hung from the ceiling and what made it 10x better was the ambiance. There was an elderly man singing and playing the accordion. It was romantic. In one of the other spots close to the canal, there was a trampoline. LIKE WHAT! So crazy but we tested it out and it is indeed fun. We got a bit side tracked but we were also very hungry. So before I made my exit, we ate Danish Hotdogs and got churros from this ice cream place.

February 21, 2025

I debated writing about this because I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to talk about. Today is my first date and it is with a Dane. The reason why I decided to include this is because in my language class, the teacher had mentioned stereotypes and what dating is like here in Denmark. And let's just say, I beg to differ. She pointed out that Danes are direct, can come off a bit rude, are often reserved and they usually split the bill. Here in Denmark, it is normal for people to split the check on dates. Whereas in America and anywhere else, it is normalized that the man pays. My teacher also said that if the man does end up paying for both of you, it means he is interested.

Anyhow the date went very well and we decided to go on another one the following week. I think I just got lucky with this one because he was very bubbly and open-minded. His English was very good, I would say better than mines. He also ended up paying which I was a bit surprised. I was expecting to pay but when the lady came, they conversed in Danish and the next thing I know, she is telling me "God dag."

Trust me, this was very unexpected and what better way to get immersed into the culture than meeting with a first hand source. This experience opened my eyes and even though it wasn't in my plan, it was a great experience.

February 22, 2025

After a very fun night, I woke up and decided to get matcha from Sonny CPH. I went with Archie and we rode our bikes there. It felt nice to feel the wind pass through my hair and the sun warm my face. After getting matcha, we pulled up to Buka Bakery and got ourselves a sweet treat before making our way back to the dorm. Tonight, we are celebrating Ben & Diego's birthdays. As requested, they wanted burgers. The dinner was prepared in a timely manner. And it was a success. The burgers were bussing.

@rchoshi on instagram

This week's recap is short since all I really did was go to school and come back home.