Sign Up for the Visiting Host Program
Sign up for the Visiting Host program! If you are not living in a Homestay, this will give you the opportunity to meet locals and engage in local culture by being matched with a local host, who you can visit or go on excursions with.
If you are genuinely interested in a building a relationship with locals, and can commit to taking the time to get to know them, then this is a program for you!
DIS Visiting Hosts are volunteers, and sign up because they have an interest in learning about another culture and want to share their own. They may or may not have children, and may be a single parent, a retired couple, an individual with a tight-knit extended family, and have various ethnicities and orientations.
Exactly how many times you meet up is up to you and your host. The majority of hosts expect to meet with their visiting student(s) every other week, and some even hope for weekly visits. A few are only looking to meet up once a month, but this is a minority. It is therefore a good idea to consider how much time you will have during your semester to visit or go on excursions with your host – and whether your class schedule, housing programming or extracurricular activities will pose an impediment. While some hosts live in the city, others may live an hour or more away from DIS by public transport.
DIS will subsidize your transportation costs, covering up to four return trips to your Visiting Hosts using public transport (with a cap at 400 DKK). Be aware that if you choose to go on an excursion with your host, they are not expected to pay for food or any entrance tickets, etc. – so keep this in mind when making plans.
Engaging with a visiting host can be enormously rewarding, and can offer a unique perspective on local life in and around Copenhagen. You will get the chance to form lasting friendships with your hosts, and forge a deeper connection to Denmark that can last beyond your semester abroad.
Apply for the Visiting Host Program before you depart for Copenhagen in DIS Student Registration.
DIS will endeavor to find Visiting Hosts for as many students as possible, but depending on demand cannot guarantee a match.