Hi everyone!
I’m most looking forward to biking around the cities and seeing what we in the United States can learn from Denmark and the Netherlands. I’m especially excited to go on the long bike rides between the cities, as I love biking in open spaces and for long distances. Additionally, I want to try new food, ride on a canal in Amsterdam, participate in Midsommar in Copenhagen and watch the end of the Tour de France. I’m excited to have class time and free time, so that I can learn about biking, while also exploring the city on my own.
I bike around Eugene for transportation and recreation so this course is applicable to my everyday life. I want to learn more about specific bike infrastructure techniques that would make biking in Eugene more attainable for everyone. Even people who might me scared of biking or feel that it’s too complicated of a way to commute. Additionally, I study public policy and environmental studies, so this course will help me gain new experiences to support my coursework and experience sustainable transportation as a biker. I also hope to learn more about what it’s like to live as a local in a foreign city, as my travel experience is limited and has been more tourist activity focused in the past. Lastly, I hope to learn about the bike culture in these countries and know more about the history of biking. For example, why is Amsterdam so world-renowned for bike accessibility? Why do so many Danish people bike to work? What encourages these policy choices? I’m looking forward to answering these questions and many more on my month abroad.