By Martha Kyriakou, 18/03/2020
There has been an unexplained looseness in the country for many days, partly due to the Danish “can’t happen here” mentality and to the general confidence for the state. Even though everyone knew that many people were going skiing in northern Italy and Austria, no checks were made.
Even now (with Denmark having reached 1044 outbreaks), and with schools, universities, public services, bars, clubs closed and gatherings with more than 10 people banned, many believe that everything will go well and soon they will return to their normal lives.
When the Prime Minister announced the measures (closing the borders) and before he could even finish his message, everyone rushed to the supermarket, buying mainly toilet paper, yeast, pasta and cleaners.
And here I am, an Erasmus student, completely alone in a foreign country, with breaking news every hour bombarding my homepage in social media, trying to think sensibly and calmly.
I am not going to lie, the first thing I thought about was going back to Greece, to my family. I am not generally a panic-stricken person and I try to think of everything reasonably, but when you have to encounter this storm of information all alone and seeing things change from time to time, you stressed out.
My home university has given to all Erasmus students the opportunity to return if we want to, and especially if our courses have been canceled, they also said they will cover the transportation costs. However, I do not want to go back. I am here for almost two months, my whole experience has not even been at its half. I do not even want to think that things can get even worse and that I may have to go back.
At the moment, most of us are locked in our homes and working from distance. Universities have been experimenting with lecture streaming since last week so as not to miss the semester and all scheduled conferences have been canceled, our school trip in Brussels has been as well.
Many of my fellow students from DMJX are already back to their home countries, I was not even able to salute them. The other students from the US are waiting if they are the next ones who have to go back. It’s so sad to come to Denmark for one of the greatest experiences in your life and get ruined it in just a few days.
At the moment, everything is completely immovable outside my window. The sounds of ambulances break the silence from time to time. The streets are silent, the cafes empty and the monuments bright and lonely.
I am trying to keep in touch with my friends and family by phone, with messages and via WhatsApp. We exchange information all the time. Every night, after dinner, my parents and my sister communicate via Skype. It’s a ritual, a way to keep the family connected.
At least, there are some good things in this situation. I will try Greek recipes for my roommates and me and we have the opportunity to eat together every day. With our regular programs, we eat in a hurry and we do not see each other that much. We can enjoy these moments together, give a festive tone and try to forget about all this chaos. At least, I hope that this is temporary, we will be soon back to normal, and when I am back in Greece again and think of my time in Aarhus, I will surely remember those specific weeks as something quite special.