Goodbye Lolland and hello Aberdeen: Returning to uni life

Two years, one month and one day. That’s how long I lived on Lolland. Sure, I had two long breaks in between, first for six months in 2021 and then for two months in the summer of 2022, but I always knew I’d be coming back to my life on Lolland. Those days are now gone, I’ve moved from my flat beautiful island for good. A new life chapter is about to begin.

Rewind to November 16th 2020, and a nervous and curious me was on my way south to live and work on an island I’d never been to before. I’d booked a room on a farm near Rødby on the southern end of Lolland, thinking I’d stay for a month and then find my own apartment. But that month turned into 25 months. Because the family that rented out my room quickly took me in and made me feel like I was part of their family. The cat Crowley and two adult dogs, Kanzi and Modig, greeted me, the latter with a bite as soon as I got in the door. Crowley and Kanzi loved me straight away, and Modig and I eventually developed a great relationship. Unfortunately, we lost Crowley shortly after I arrived, and Kanzi a year later.

Two weeks before I arrived, Modig had given birth to four little puppies, and little did I know, I’d be losing my heart big time to one of them. Chico and I developed a bond like no other. While his three siblings, Zuko, Golda and Theo were adopted by my host family’s children, we kept Chico at the farm, so I had the honour to live with him this whole time.

Life on the farm was pretty sweet, with animals all around me, no close neighbours, farmlands as far as the eye can see and Friday night Shabbat dinners with the host family. I’m glad I never found an apartment, as I’m sure it would’ve been lonely living on my own, and my life was so enriched living with this family.

The reason I came to Lolland in the first place, was to work on the archaeological excavations prior to the construction of the Fehmarn tunnel and the new highway on Lolland. It’s a huge project that had been running for eight years before my arrival, and continued until a month before I left. I’d participated in a few summer excavations in Denmark and Russia before this, but never full-time. I was definitely nervous that I might find out I’m not suitable for excavation work, but thankfully, I discovered the opposite. I even discovered that I can thrive with an 8-16 job!

I learned that I absolutely love working outside no matter the weather conditions. That I thrive doing physical work. That I LOVE the thrill of not knowing what the day will bring, never knowing what we’ll find. How special it is that I get to be the first person to see something from a prehistoric time. How lucky I was to work with the most inspiring and fun people on this planet. I will always remember our inside jokes! I also loved my walks to and from work where I’d often meet the neighbours, their horses and their cute dog, Rosa. Three kilometres each morning and each afternoon, with almost daily sightings of deer, hares and migrating birds. It was the perfect way to get some exercise while enjoying Lolland’s countryside on a daily basis.

Being an excavating archaeologist is a pretty special job, and I’m so thankful to Museum Lolland-Falster for hiring me despite me only having a Bachelor’s and not having much experience beforehand. Working on various excavations was a blast and I even enjoyed the few indoor days spent flotating, cleaning artefacts, taking photos of artefacts, registering documentation from the excavations, etc. Everything related to archaeology is so interesting to me, and I’m forever grateful that I got the chance to do it for two years!

While living a static life on Lolland, my adventurous spirit also had to be fed. I did that by spending my weekends out and about on little local adventures on both Lolland and the neighbouring islands of Falster, Askø, Lilleø, Femø, Fejø, Skalø and Enehøje – and even parts of southern Zealand and the islands of Farø, Bogø and Langø. Static life never got boring because I always had these adventures to look forward to, and I honestly don’t think there’s a corner of these islands that I haven’t seen. Even though I was working full-time, life never stopped being an adventure!

During my time on Lolland, I….

• Went on a 26-kilometre hike along the old railway trail from Rødbyhavn to Maribo
• Went on two hikes to the end of Hyllekrog, a headland at the southernmost end of Lolland
• Explored Rødby, Rødbyhavn, Maribo and Nykøbing Falster in depth
• Went thrift shopping in Rødby, Rødbyhavn, Maribo, Nakskov and Nykøbing Falster (and bought loooots of goodies!)
• Saw the gorgeous murals in the church of Tågerup
• Went on a day trip to the islands of Aksø and Lilleø
• Went on a hike through Ravnsby Bakker, the hilliest part of (very very flat) Lolland
• Visited Dodekalitten, Lolland’s most famous sight, five times
• Went on a 50-kilometre bike ride along the Maribo Lakes
• Spent a day walking around the island of Femø in snow
• Brought Kanzi along for an overnight stay on Falster, where we walked in the snow from Vordingborg across the Storstrøm Bridge to the island of Masnedø and back to Falster
• Explored the town of Sakskøbing and biked through nature reserves to the end of the Vigsnæs peninsula
• Biked 30 kilometres and hiked 16 kilometres to Albuen, a headland with an abandoned village, the remains of a Medieval herring market and beautiful, untouched nature
• Hiked the entire length of Rødby Kanal over two days
• Visited Kong Svend’s Høj, Denmark’s second-longest passage grave
• Explored the islands of Farø, Bogø and Langø with my family for my 26th birthday
• Took the dogs for several walks to neighbouring villages, of which Sædinge and Nebbelunde were my favourites
• Spent a day biking through the islands of Fejø and Skalø
• Spent an extended weekend at a colleague’s idyllic farm on Northeast Falster, and explored the area extensively by bike, visiting places such as Corselitze Østerskov, Halskov Vænge, Sortsø Strand, Denmark’s longest passage grave near Listrup, Borremosen and Denmark’s largest tree, Valdemarsegen
• Walked through Frejlev Skov, explored the mystical gardens of the Fuglsang manor and visited the beautiful town of Nysted
• Spent a weekend at Nakskov Fjord, camping, sailing and walking around Nakskov, Albuen and the island of Enehøje
• Camped and hiked with Kanzi on the island of Femø
• Visited the open air museum in Maribo and the Medieval Centre in Nykøbing Falster
• Celebrated Midsummer 2021 by the beach in Marielyst on Falster, and Midsummer 2022 at the Medieval Centre
• Hiked from Sakskøbing to Toreby, past Krenkerup Castle and through Flintinge Byskov
• Visited the cozy bewery at Krenkerup Castle three times
• Biked to the church in Holeby and through Sædinge and Nebbelunde
• Biked 66 kilometres around southern Lolland, visiting a few manors, a small local museum, Lolland’s largest rock and six tiny marinas dotted along the coast
• Stayed overnight in the village of Gedser and walked to Denmark’s southernmost point
• Hiked through Corselitze Østerskov on Falster
• Took the historic steam train from Maribo to Bandholm and back
• Met “wild” horses on a hike through Bøtøskoven on Falster
• Went on a run to the lighthouse on Hyllekrog
• Biked 44 kilometres along Sundruten on Lolland and Falster
• Went on a bike ride to the Vejlø forests and Kappel Stubmølle on Lolland
• Visited my friends’ farm and walked through a wintry forest to the Binnitze manor

In addition to these local adventures, I spent a few weekends in Copenhagen, often visited my family in East Jutland, visited a friend in northeast Zealand and often took trips to Germany which was literally just a ferry ride away for me. I spent many weekends in Berlin, walked around Burg on the island of Fehmarn and recently spent a weekend in Rostock. Yes, my weekends were always eventful!

I had several people visit me during my time on Lolland. My family came to celebrate my birthday in 2021, my best friends visited a few times, my aunt came for a weekend, my younger brother visited for a few days and then-partner came over several times. Each visit was a wonderful excuse to revisit some of my favourite places on Lolland – and it’s also the sole reason why I’ve been to Dodekalitten so many times!

I remember regretting that I didn’t explore Copenhagen much when I lived there for two years, so I swore to myself to never let that happen again. Well, I think I can say that I definitely made the most of my time on Lolland and saw every little piece of my local area!

I’ve written about my adventures on Lolland extensively, but there are still many more posts to come! You can find them all under my ‘Denmark’ category!

The next chapter

Four days ago, on December 16th 2022, I officially moved away from Lolland. Teary eyed, I kissed the dogs goodbye and joined my host parents on the ferry to Germany where I hugged them goodbye. It was so tough, but I’m thankful to know that I’ll see them again. They have enriched my life, and will always be part of it.

I joined my family in Lübeck for a weekend of Christmas markets, and now I’m home in East Jutland for a month of Christmas and New Year’s fun. I’ll spend this time getting ready for my next big chapter in life: moving to Aberdeen to study a Master of Science in Archaeology of the North.

I’ve already prepared lots for my new life. I’ve got myself a nice little room in a student accommodation in the Hillhead Student Village near the university, and I’ve applied for a bunch of scholarships to fund my tuition fee of £21100 as well as other expenses I’ll have while studying there (around £35000 in total). So far, I’ve been granted seven scholarships; from William Demant Fonden, Knud Højgaards Fond, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond, Ib Henriksens Fond, Augustinus Fonden, Nordea Fonden and the Aberdeen Global Scholarship. I’m still waiting to hear from a few foundations, and I’m also awaiting the Danish Educational Support, which helps pay my tuition fee as well as monthly payments throughout the duration of my degree. Thanks to these foundations and the brilliant Danish educational system, I believe I will be fine economically.

I can’t describe with words how excited I am for this move. I can’t wait to study again, to learn more about archaeology in the northern regions that I love so much, to meet many new people and hopefully make lots of international friends, to make my own schedule, to study in a beautiful historic university from 1495, to wear normal clothes instead of bright orange construction gear, and last but definitely not least, to explore more of gorgeous Scotland. I’ve lived in Scotland once before (2,5 months on the Isle of Skye in early 2020) and travelled there a few times, and I’m just so hungry for more. Scotland is one of my favourite countries, and there’s a LOT I still want to see, especially the 142 islands I have yet to set foot on.

I leave for Aberdeen on January 13th 2023. The countdown is on!