#hillary lacks

Having been abroad for three months, I feel like I have done and seen a lot. I immerse myself in Copenhagen’s culture on a daily basis: I live with a host family, I explore different parts of the city, I take the public transportation, I eat obscene amounts of food. Up until recently, there was one part of the culture here that I felt I hadn’t exposed myself to: the bike culture.

Biking in Copenhagen is a huge part of life. Around 55% of Danes bike to work, and 58% bike to school. It’s better for the environment, it’s less expensive and requires less maintenance than driving, and it’s extremely efficient. It’s totally normal here to see a grown man in a suit aggressively ding his bike bell on the way to the office.

I went out on a limb and rented a bike for the remainder of the semester.

Having not ridden a bike for nine years, my confidence was lacking. I was told by friends that riding a bike was, well, “just like riding a bike.” Many told me this was an activity I could revisit with ease. Clearly, no one took into account my absence of natural athleticism. Twenty seconds after hopping on my bike, I found myself laying on the ground of Copenhagen City Center with my bike on top of me. An embarrassing fall left my body and my ego bruised. I had tried so hard to blend in with the locals and basically just screamed “I AM AMERICAN” to everyone who witnessed this scene. I walked my bike for the rest of the day. I was sure I wasn’t going to use it again, and considered returning it.

When I got home in the evening and told my host family about the whole ordeal, I was pressured to go outside and try again. Accompanied by my 15-year-old host sister and her best friend, I was worried about making a fool of myself failing at something that was so natural to them. I wobbled up and down the street on my bike while my host sister effortlessly glided next to me. I biked on the wrong side of the street momentarily and definitely got a lot of stares from locals passing by, but I didn’t fall. The next day I biked to the beach, and I didn’t fall. Yesterday I biked to the grocery store, and I didn’t fall.

Today, I biked to and home from the train station and I didn’t fall. When I was laying on the ground in city center, I couldn’t even fathom the idea of getting back up to try again. Just days later and I’m basically ready to start my training for the Tour de France. I feel empowered and successful. I challenged myself, and thanks to the friends and host family support I had in place, I was able to persevere despite being scared to repeat my mistake.

Studying abroad is about a lot more than just traveling. This semester has basically been a crash course on learning about and developing myself. If I dwelled on a mistake every time I messed up or faced a challenge I wouldn’t have any time to enjoy the incredible country I’m in. If I wasn’t able to laugh at my mistakes I would honestly be in such a constant state of misery and embarrassment because I really make a lot of them. 

Living in a new country is hard! It’s not going to come easy; a lot of things won’t in my lifetime. The newfound patience and perseverance I have are my biggest takeaways from studying abroad. The skills I’m gaining here I’ll have forever. Souvenirs and weekend trips are nice, but falling on my face and exposing myself while trying to indulge myself in the culture is something so much more valuable (apparently).