Timmy the Scholar

So I lied about the whole every Sunday thing; however, in my defense, Monday is only one day after Sunday. Don't believe me? Check your calendars. Check them all.

I've finally begun my second full week of classes, or as I like to call it, the week when real work begins. No more syllabus. No more "getting back into it." It's here. Have fun. Good luck. Welcome to... ~*September*~.

Although September doesn't begin until tomorrow, it already feels like it's in full swing. We've had rain nearly every day this week and nightly temperatures are dropping faster than my tolerance for Donald Trump's "campaign." On that note, I couldn't count the number of Danes who ask me everyday if the USA is seriously considering electing Trump. My answer is always the same - either Americans are joking or I'm moving to Canada.

On the topic of Canada and off the topic of politics, The Weeknd just dropped his newest album this "weeknd" (pun 100% intended) and it is definitely one of the highlights of my week. This was a difficult feat to accomplish, seeing as how other highlights included food (this is always its own highlight) and spending the weekend at my host family's summer house in some Northern coastal woods with them and their friends. It was amazing. I always forget how calming the silence of the ever-scary woods at night is, regardless of however real the imminent threat of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre guy flying over to the Danish countryside is (very real).

Anyway, let's bring this back to classes. Here's some courses you won't remember reading later when you ask what I studied this semester:

• Video Game Development (with lab)

• Danish Language & Culture

• Conspiracy Theories & Historical Controversies

• Television & Culture

Now that's what I like to call 15 credits of fun (maybe not so much that last one right now, but we'll get back to that eventually). My professors are all pretty cool and well-versed in their respective fields, so studying here really feels like a unique experience. Nerding it up in Video Game development, and I'm totally loving my two three-hour gaming classes a week.

As you can clearly see, I have returned to my scholarly roots. Timmy the Scholar has returned. Hide your books. Hide your calculators. Because he's back. And his intellectual curiosity is increasing rapidly. Maybe even... exponentially.

#TheReappearance

Greetings fans of the world and everyone else, aka soon-to-be fans!

You may have noticed that I haven't written a post in a while (and by that I mean my first and only one), since before I even left for Copenhagen a week and a half ago. I'm not one to get into details, but recaps are all the rage right now.

After a surprisingly short 8-hour flight, an exhausting 6-hour time change, and only one brief what-am-I-doing cry on the plane, I arrived in Denmark on August 15, #ready. My host family picked me up from the airport and I had officially said "See you later!" to America.

That was until two days later, when I was swarmed by 1,200 other American students at orientation. I ran into dozens of Georgetown students without even trying. Regardless, I think I've done a good job balancing meeting Americans and Danes, partly because I seek out Danes, but mostly because my host family does a great job of keeping me involved in Danish culture.

I definitely made the right decision in choosing to live in a homestay, especially because my host family is the coolest and we live right in the city, so I'm still connected to everyone around me. Plus, I've regained my flawless physique from the inordinate amount of biking I do on my bike made for "short" people, which in Denmark is still a few inches taller than my 5'10" frame. It's been difficult dealing with how short I am here. Seriously, what do these people eat and why isn't it working for me yet?!

As far as classes go, they just started last Thursday, but I'm really not deep enough into those to even give some feedback on that so we're just gonna skip this topic for now. Don't worry mom and dad, I won't forget to study. Then again, let's not make any promises right now.

In terms of traveling the globe, I spent way too much money this weekend booking flights everywhere and back. I'll be traveling to Munich, Madrid, Amsterdam, Paris, and way more in the coming months, but we'll get to those when I get to those, ja feel?

I think I've covered all bases with this post, but let's do a recap just to make sure. Topics covered in this post:

• Classes (barely)

• Traveling (or rather, travel planning)

• The dopest host family known to man (but I'll definitely post more on them soon)

• Meeting people (and being #social)

• Biking (aka the third best way to travel after time travel and flying like Superman)

• Spending all my money / going broke (definitely more on this later)

Well, I think that's it for this one! Also, I've decided to write posts on Sundays to give myself some structure and keep me posting regularly. And of course because all you subscribers need a riveting Sunday night tale to start the week off right.

Ciao for now. Or as we say in Danish, hej hej!

Counting the Hours...

I would be lying if I said that I've already started packing. Honestly, I'd be lying if I even said that I was sure I have everything I need. But I wouldn't be lying if I said that I'm excited to fly out of JFK this Friday night at 11 pm.

For those of you who have no idea what's going on in this blog, let me rewind. I was born on a dark Friday evening many moons ago...

Actually, that's probably a bit too far back to be relevant to this story. Let's jump forward to 2015. This past spring semester, I applied to the Danish Institute of Study Abroad through Georgetown University's acclaimed study abroad program and I was accepted to study Video Game Development for this upcoming semester in Copenhagen, Denmark.

I spent this past summer doing software development at an awesome healthcare tech startup in NYC and, having ended my internship only a few short days ago, I'm still suffering through extreme coffee withdrawals and incessant headaches. All in all though, I'd say I had a great summer working on stuff I actually enjoyed and meeting cool people.

And in just a few short sentences, we return to the present. As I sat in my bed mere minutes ago, staring at an empty suitcase and an overflowing laundry hamper, I thought - wow, I'm so excited to go abroad and to procrastinate packing. So excited, in fact, that I want to keep a journal capturing my worldly experience as a tech nerd leaving the nest, or, in this metaphor, the computer. But what better way to journal than to blog for all the world (or just my mom) to read? In other words, give me back my computer.

So I began this blog as a way to keep track of my semester, as well as act as a memory of times past when I'm old and in my 30s, in need of a good cry and something to remind me of the excitement my life once contained.

There you have it. An introductory blog post. We're officially off, guys. Just three short days away from flying some 4,000 miles to a new world. We are 20. We are young. And we are going to rock the socks off Denmark's metaphorical feet. Let's get it.

#TimmyTakesDenmark2k15