There’s a Mozart concerto is floating above my head. Quite literally, I’m sitting in the library of the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where I’m taking two classes this semester. Some violinist is playing Mozart 5 and it’s sparkling and everything, weaving its ways through the walls above. The librarian is speaking in rapid Danish. I cannot make out a word.
For the most part I have transitioned to Denmark startlingly easily. Denmark feels much like home, except a home in which all the commercials are in Danish and you have to push buttons to open doors. Transition to conservatory life, or what little of it I do get to experience, has not been so easy. For one thing, the Danish approach to education places much more emphasis on independent learning than the U.S. system. For the American student abroad, it feels unstructured. I still don’t have any form of a lesson schedule, or even know who my teacher is, even though I am supposed to be meeting them in less than a week. I don’t know what I am supposed to prepare other than to just keep working on what I already have.
One of the hardest things about being here so far, at least as someone who does not come from a music school, is listening to other people “practice” through the practice room walls. I say practice in quotations, because it sounds more like near-flawless performance than work in progress. When I practice, it doesn’t always sparkle. In fact, most of the time is spent… polishing. I can’t help but feel a little impostor syndrome here, surrounded by so much talent and in such a prestigious place. I have to keep reminding myself that I do deserve to be here, got in on my own talent, and that I’m here to learn and grow. But still, there’s a sparkling Mozart 5 opening sounding above my head.
I don’t want to make it sound like I’m not having fun abroad. I am having a LOT of fun abroad, and each day brings with it something new. On Saturday, we (my host mother, host sister and I) went to Rosenborg Castle to see the Crown Jewels. That was really something else, seeing the throne room, and the fifteenth century crowns and all. I’ll put some pictures below. The next day, we met up with all the other homestay families and DIS students in my local area for a tour of the Carlsberg Brewery. It was a cold and misty day for an outdoor tour, but we were all warm and friendly by the end of it (although the beer that “tastes like Christmas” probably helped in that regard). We made a big group chat at the end of it so we can plan some exciting adventures and outings in Copenhagen.
Rosenborg Castle in the mist
Somehow it escaped me that “crown jewels” actually include crowns…
The throne room…
Inside Carlsberg brewery
Anyways, that’s what’s new with me. I’ll have more stories from Denmark next week but until then;
Ever lovely yours,
-Eleanor