Discovering Copenhagen

Could you introduce yourself and the study trip committee?

Yes of course! My name is Rien Looijenga, 23 years old, and I am currently in the last phase of the Honours Master’s program. I had the pleasure of being the chairman of the study trip committee this year, doing it together with Isabelle, Jochem, Roos, Milos and our very helpful supervisor Anne. We all signed up for the most exciting committee of the association, because we love traveling and having the possibility to make a fun itinerary for our co-members.

What did you think of organizing a study trip? Were there any challenges in organizing the trip?

First of all, organizing a study trip is a lot of fun. There is a lot of freedom to organize and arrange fun activities, to really leave a mark on the trip. But maybe the biggest challenge of the studytrip committee is to make a balanced program that works for everyone. Some like a busy program to go with the flow, others like to explore the city on their own. Some like to visit a consulate, others are ‘culture sniffers’. Our taste differs more than you think! You can not make everyone 100% happy, but I think we managed to do a fantastic job. You can not choose to do everything in 4 days. So there were some difficult decisions, but seeing everything come together during a wonderful 4 days is all worth it!

How did you choose the study trip location?

This went very quickly. Due to this year’s studytrip being shorter and more sustainable, we decided to go by bus or train. So, we let everyone research two possible destinations throughout Europe. We used the first couple of meetings to rule out most options to come to a short-list of 4 options. Eventually we made our final decision for Copenhagen already during our 4th meeting. A near-unanimous decision ruled out our other top contenders Munich, Vienna and Prague.

Can you describe what the week looked like? What activities did you do? What places did you visit?

Our trip got off to a great start days before departure, thanks to the perfect weather forecast. We left on Monday evening for our 13 hour bus ride, arriving after some little sleeping on Tuesday morning. On arrival we did a biking tour along major touristic hotspots. After giving everyone some time to settle into their room we ate dinner at a ‘folkehuset’ in an old church together with Danish locals. We saw some interesting statues in the Glyptotek museum on Wednesday morning. After that, two tours were on the program. The first on a boat through the canals on Copenhagen, the second with some enthusiastic older hippie ladies through the freetown Christiania. In the evening, there were some Kraket-only roller coaster trains in the amusement park Tivoli before enjoying the night in the Irish pub. Thursday was all about visiting the Swedish city of Malmö, where the Eurovision was hosted a week later. We started with a nice game organized by Jochem and Milos, before going to a big castle or a sauna on the beach of Malmö. Unfortunately, no one encountered our Dutch pride Joost Klein. On Friday we visited the Rosenborg castle, botanical garden and got a university tour from Nicolai. After some free time we headed back to Amsterdam. I saw a lot of sleepy faces on the bus (including myself), as was expected. 

If you would rate this study trip. How many stars would you give it? (out of 5)

★★★★★

I heard overwhelmingly enthusiastic reactions from our travelers. They really liked the action-packed program we followed. The majority did not go to Copenhagen before, and I think they really got to see what this beautiful city has to offer. Again, thanks to the committee for organizing this truly unforgettable experience together.