Guest Blog: A Day in My Life by Michaela Sabbag

Today we hear from Michaela Sabbag who shares with us a typical day for her as part of Session 1's Climate Change Policy and Advocacy Group.

A Day in my Life as a Study Abroad High Schooler in Copenhagen

My day started bright and early when I woke up around 7 am to do a yoga flow. It was an awesome way to loosen up my muscles and my mind after a long return from Samsø yesterday. I then got ready for the day; it was nice and sunny, so I only slipped a light layer into my backpack after putting on a sundress. We had an open breakfast block, which meant that I could show up to Bagerdygtig, the sustainable bakery where we eat in the mornings, at any time before 9:15. I walked over with some friends at around 8:45 and got a delectable chocolate croissant. 

In class today, we learned about sustainable companies and creating ethical startups. After identifying key factors of successful businesses, we went through several Danish companies and analyzed how they marketed themselves as sustainable brands. This led to fascinating discussions about the fashion industry (generally bad for the environment) and the effectiveness of a sharing economy (it's a promising system).

Although we always have the option to get lunch as a group, I went with my friends to get Danish street dogs and soft serve today. We then perused some thrift stores in the Town Center where we found some awesome secondhand clothing.

In the afternoon, we heard from two people: Niels, our Danish language instructor, and Bodil, the founder of @made_by_my_butts, a program that highlights cigarette butt pollution. Niels taught us the alphabet, how to count, and what he calls "survival Danish" for two hours before Bodil showed us how she makes art from cigarette waste. She taught us that, as of 2017, 4.5 trillion cigarette butts had been improperly disposed of. She then gave us a project: we're collecting cigarette butts, and we're going to create designs similar to hers in a park this Saturday. I'm really excited for it.

We had Danish meatballs, potatoes, and falafel for dinner tonight. The Board Director of CIEE David O'King was in town, and he graciously offered to talk to us about his work with air cargo and how he's working to be more sustainable. He's partnered with one of the world's biggest shipping companies, Mærsk, which is based in Denmark, so he had a lot of insight into how companies are working with the government's ambitious climate plan and how we can all play a role in it.

After the discussion, we headed back to Basecamp, talked, and ate snacks until curfew at 10 pm. I journaled and reflected on all the things I had learned. Every day is packed full of learning opportunities and fun activities, and I'm so excited to see what the rest of the program brings!

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Thank you, Michaela, for your reflections!