Me standing on a boat while fishing in the fjords of the Faroe Islands

Author: Ethan Moss | Major: Computer Engineering | Semester: Summer 2023

While sitting in an empty classroom out of breath after turning what should have been a 7-minute bike ride into an hour-long series of wrong turns, I found myself wondering how I would make it through the next 10 weeks studying abroad in Scandinavia. I landed in Copenhagen just 20 hours prior and was completely jet lagged, but I had already attended a canal tour, picked up a program long bike rental, and unintentionally explored way more of the city than I had planned. Soon enough, though, my first class of the DIS Summer in Scandinavia program had started and I could let go of the overwhelming morning and focus on starting a summer of wonderful new experiences and friends.

I started the program with a 3-week course on developing serious games in Copenhagen, Denmark. I had previously done small, personal game development projects in high school, but getting to take a formal course on it and learning about the genre of serious games that are designed for a purpose outside of entertainment was an incredible experience. The course culminated in a final project in the last week. I worked with 2 of the friends I met in the class to design and develop our own serious game in just three days before presenting it to the class.

While there weren’t any other classes that fit specifically into my major of Computer Engineering and Physics, I wanted to also capitalize on being abroad and take classes that explore the culture of Scandinavia in a way that I wouldn’t be able to back in the US. For the next 3-week session, I stayed in Copenhagen to take a course on culinary culture in the Nordic countries. We explored various aspects of Copenhagen’s food scene as well as the recently emerged New Nordic Cuisine that has inspired a culinary revolution worldwide of utilizing fresh, local foods to make more sustainable dishes. During the second week of the course, we stayed in the Faroe Islands, an island country situated between Scotland and Iceland that is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. There we explored several different farms and restaurants to learn about their unique culture. They strongly value eating what they can produce locally and utilizing everything their animals and plants have to offer, even though their soil and climate hardly allow them to grow any food. The course ended with an essay that brought in all the knowledge we learned throughout the class to analyze a restaurant or culinary experience thoroughly.

For the remaining 4 weeks of the program, I went to Stockholm to take a course on migration and its relation to the city. We talked in depth about Sweden and Europe’s history with migration and the recent shift in tone on the subject since the 2015 boom in immigration into the area. We explored areas of Stockholm that are known as immigrant communities and discussed how they are viewed by locals and how they formed within the city. We talked to several immigrants from all over the world about their experience immigrating to Sweden and their experience since arriving to the country. During the third week of the course, we stayed in Palermo, Sicily, a city that is one of the most prominent places immigrants enter Europe through. There we talked to several immigrants about their experiences with Italy, as well as several support groups for immigrants and their experience with the Italian government. The course ended with students working in groups to explore an area of Stockholm and guide the rest of the class around it explaining the significance of the area to the city as a whole and to immigration in Sweden.

While each class was extremely interesting and rewarding, the experiences I had outside of class were what made my experience abroad so special. Whether it was hiking through the misty ridges and being guided by a sheep dog to a beautiful view of a water fall and puffins in the Faroe Islands, or snorkeling off an island in Sicily, or attending a music festival with thousands of people that took place in the streets of inner-city Copenhagen, I had so many wonderful experiences I will remember for the rest of my life. Even just getting from place to place always felt like a unique adventure, from navigating Copenhagen on a bike to exploring Stockholm’s extensive metro system with art lining the walls, floors, and ceilings of each of the stations.

After returning home and reflecting on my time abroad, I can truly say that it was one of the best experiences I have had and would recommend it to pretty much anyone. If I could do it again, though, I would have taken better advantage of my time abroad from the start. It was easy to stay in my dorm to avoid having to navigate a new area and culture when everything seemed to just leave me exhausted at first, especially when it felt like I had plenty of weeks left to utilize. The program went by quickly, though, and soon the lengthy time left turned into just a couple weeks or days. With that said, I don’t have any regrets about my time abroad and am excited to continue my life in college taking those amazing experiences and classes with me.