Time is Decieving

Time needs to slow down. As assignments pile up for studio and digital design, the clock is winding down faster and faster with my return to the US peaking over the horizon.

There is something special happening in Copenhagen right now. Although the freezing weather almost mandates the use of gloves, scarves, hats, heavy coats, wool socks, and the like, Denmark is turning into the coziest place I've ever been. I went for a run yesterday, and decided to purposely turn a direction that I had never run before. The next 4 hours of my day were spent exploring some of the hidden parts of the city that I hadn't seen before.

One thing that I am constantly reminding myself is that learning doesn't just happen in school, It's happening all the time. Looking back on the last 4 months, everything in my mind is altered.

Köln Cathedral - Cologne Cathedral (Tallest Cathedral Façade in Europe)

Never let the enormous earth we live on disenchant you. Life is much better when you are actively engaging with it.

Beets and other varieties of root vegetables are quite good baked. Especially when coupled with lemon-caper chicken and rice.

Food is so fun to make. Mashed potatoes with green olives, cheesy cauliflower, cooked mushrooms, chicken parmesan, etc.

When you miss somebody deeply, and know that you will not see them for a long time, don't forget you have a phone in your pocket. Sometimes it's worth the international fees to use the international functions.

No matter where my life takes me, I will always hold this particular time close to me. Copenhagen is the place where I: learned to cook (really), was the poorest - ever in my life, watched the sun come out at 4:30am, watched the sun barely even come out, learned a new way of eating, made my first and definitely not last drømmekage, became semi-fluent in a foreign language, traded a year of university for 6 months of so much more, learned about onions and their versatility, made too many friends to count, started my life of travel, pleased myself first, laughed, loved, cried, danced, lost, found, pretended to know, everything.

I find myself writing blogs only to keep them hidden and never post them. In fact, I wrote this blog earlier in the week with no intention of posting. But I really want to share my feelings and activities with you all.

UNESCO World Cultural Heritage industrial monument

It's the center of the week now. Only 1.5 weeks until my long break, where I will be traveling to Lund, London, Oxford, and Barcelona. Cannot wait to see Leslie/ friends in the UK (along with Natalie's friends)/ Barcelona. I have never been to Spain before, and unfortunately I don't have the funds to take a longer trip throughout Spain, but it will be amazing to see a part of it.

I have a list with 10 or 12 things on it that are pressing, so I absolutely NEED to get going to. But I hope the world is wonderful for you all.

AT

Hvad Drømmer Du Om?

So, I officially had my first dream in Danish. It wasn't very elaborate, but it's important to me because it is the first time that I have had a conversation in a dream in a foreign language (and actually remembered it in the morning). It has been 3 months now that I have been working on this language, and I think things are going really well. I have no problem ordering food or going through the check-out anymore, I am much more confident asking people to repeat themselves and to strike up conversations where I otherwise would have been too shy or maybe not fluent enough before. Danish is turning out to be a great adventure and not the horrible impossible task that so many try to make it out to be.

Copenhagen is a wonderful big city with so much to do, but this weekend I got a chance to explore some of the parts of Denmark that tourists don't normally go to. We started off in Ålborg, a city in the far northern part of Jylland (in the west), touring the university there and several museums en route. The goal of this trip was to work on freehand sketching with simple utensils i.e. pencil, pens, paper - the basics. That first night we were there, our drawing teacher took us out to a street that is apparently very well known all throughout Denmark, Jomfru Ane Gade, where there are about 20 or so bars and diskoteks. We spent the night in a quaint little hostel outside the city a mile or so - it was really wonderful waking up super early in the morning and having the mist and fog coming in off the ocean. It was a really meditative sort of place.

The next leg of our trip brought us to the second largest city in Denmark, Aarhus. Here we toured the university, the city hall building that was designed by Jørn Utzon, and several other points of architectural interest. Aarhus was really a neat little city, sort of like a miniature replica of Copenhagen.

Before I left, several Danish friends had mentioned that Danes that live in the west of Denmark speak with a different accent, and after going for myself, I can say that it is true to some extent. I think it is comparable to the difference between English from California and English from the south. They simply have some slight spoken differences and maybe a few different slang words.

Now I must get back to the studio. Too much designing to do. Too much homework. Maybe it is just enough.

Oooh.. I almost forgot to let y'all know that I bought a new pair of jeans. So relieved. I think I may buy another pair tomorrow. And then I am going to the fleamarket on Saturday morning. Hopefully I can find some sweaters, shirts, and shoes to mix up my outfits.

With love,
AFT

Getting Over The Laziness

Wow, I think it has been a little under a month since my last entry. Unfortunate, as I thought I would update considerably more often. The important thing is that now, this minute, I am writing something worthwhile about Copenhagen. Stay tuned.

So the day is September 3rd, 2009. I have officially been living in Denmark for about 2 1/2 months. The weather is changing from sunny, breezy, and slightly warm to gradually darker, damper, and today it even haled!

With this change of season comes a change in daily routine. DIS started last Friday and boy has time been flying! We were thrown into 4 person architectural teams, with the task of visiting, analyzing, and visually representing a high-density housing development about an hour outside of Copenhagen. My team (consisting of 2 Meg(h)ans and a Brandon Hall [no relation to Brandon N. Hall]) went to a small coastal town to the north called Helsingør. We toured a community designed by Jørn Utzon in the late 50s called Kingohusene. After hours in studio, we are finished nice and early before our 1pm deadline tomorrow afternoon. Our designs are actually going to be in an exhibition as part of Copenhagens Design Week!

Besides Architectural Studio, I am taking a class called Digital Design Journal. I think this should be a really interesting course. Our first assignment is to create a powerpoint presentation, utilizing images, film clips, and sounds, in order to create a specific scent in the nostrils of its viewers. My group toyed with the idea of B.O. We have the weekend to work on it, so not quite sure what will come of it!?

Last night was a great "getting to know eachother" kind of party between the American and Danish networkers at DIS. I met loads of Danes and spoke a lot of Danish. Great times.

I discovered the best bakery I have ever been to: Sankt. Peders Bageri... I had the most amazing chocolate croissant ever. I think I will go back tomorrow. By the way, Ondsdags Sneglen = Wednesday's Snail/Pastry.

Next Thursday, I am going to be traveling around Denmark, doing a small survey of the Architecture with our studios.

Lots of exciting things going on here.

Miss you all loads.

Love, of course,

A.T.

I realize it has been a while since my last blog entry, so I will give you all a short summary of recent excitements!

To start, I have been incredibly sick. After the fun of Leslie's visit here in Copenhagen & taking her across the Øresund to Sverige, I became very ill the evening I was returning back to Denmark. It all started with a cough. And then another & another and pretty soon I was on a train headed the wrong way with a fever. When I was finally back in Copenhagen, I was running a high temperature and uncomfortably scurrying back to my apartment. That night was full of cold sweat nightmares and delusional periods of altered consciousness. The next couple of days were just as uncomfortable and I finally saw a doctor. Her prognosis was that I had the flu (possibly even the swine flu) and that I was in a condition such that I would definitely be fine. Which I am now, nevermind the prolonged sore throat.

Besides being sick, I have been in bed doing little to nothing - except watching movies & documentaries! I have watched everything from a documentary about men who make life companions out of their life-sized dolls to amazing films like The Royal Tenenbaums and my other favorite Me & You & Everyone We Know. So all this down time has been made a bit more fun that way.

Last night, a friend of mine threw a BBQ on the roof of her apartment and I got to meet some exchange students from all over the world; The UK, Austria, Germany, Australia, etc... Even though I am still recovering, I needed to get out!

Starting last Monday, the University of Copenhagen has been buzzing with newness. About 300 new foreign exchange students have arrived to take Danish for beginners alongside us pros who have been here all Summer. I have missed a couple of days of school, but really am looking forward to going back tomorrow!

Today I listened to a really great song - These Days, by an artist called Nico. It's from the sountrack to The Royal Tenenbaums and I think it's really fantastic!

Looking forward to a package from home. Not going to look back on the past week of sickness. Looking into my bed for sleep now.

I promise a really great story should come soon. I can feel it. My hands are aching to write it.

Until I encounter it, adieu sweet friends.

-Adam

Miss Tilde & My Weekend Until Now

Right this very moment, my roommates daughter is running circles 'round the apartment with one of her friends from "børnehave" pronounced boor nih haoowa (in English - day care center). They are playing force-the-cats-to-chase-us-until-someone-stubs-their-toe! Actually it is quite cute, and I am thoroughly enjoying watching and listening to them. I spoke to her a little in Danish, and she responded so I know she understood me! She is just learning English now, and I think we can really benefit from each other!

Friday was a big day! I took the oral final for the introductory Danish course, partook our class party (I brought these really fantastic caramelized oat cookies with dark chocolate filling, yumm!), then headed for Kastrup with the intention of boarding my flight at 16.25. Unfortunately, due to weather delays, the flight didn't leave the ground until about 18.00! The flight was short and sweet and I made my way through Heathrow, past customs, past passport check, down to "the tube" and off on the Piccadilly line towards South Kensington Station.

It's funny being in an English speaking country again. No more being timid while ordering -- I can speak my mother tongue freely! In fact, my brother and I went to a kebab kiosk and I was so awkward while I was ordering. I kept wanting to say "Ja, og, eller, tak skal du have, tak i lige måde, jeg har en spørgsmål", etc...

Today (July 25th) was a really rewarding day. I loved being able to go with my family to the places in the UK that I have been to before, namely Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and the absolutely picturesque village of Bath. I proudly ordered bangers and mash* for lunch and shared a traditional pasty** with my mom later. My mom seems to have taken a fondness to the architecture, bustle, and lifestyle of London -- I wouldn't be surprised if she and my dad move here within the next 4-5 years. Just sayin'.

Today was quite long, tomorrow will be long as well, I am going to take the advice of a great friend and explore some of the wonderful sites here in London. Tate Modern, Royal Academy, Royal Opera House, and Convent Gardens are high on my list!

Monday morning we all fly to Copenhagen!

Until again,

A. Taylor

*Bangers & Mash is a traditional dish from the UK: Sausages on top of mashed potatoes with onion gravy, scrumptious!

**Traditional Pasty is another traditional dish, more for on-the-go eating: Think of one handed pot pie! Superb as well.













Pictures:
1) My mom hated Stonehenge... JK! Isn't she pretty with that umbrella there?
2) Is this a real castle? My family w/out dad. Gosh I just love my calves...
3) Look at all the umbrellas. I need to fool around with the umbrella shots, some of them will be really cool I think!

To Start

I have been living in Copenhagen now for exactly one month. I live on the 4th floor of a lovely apartment in the center of the city, extremely close to clubs, stores, bars, museums, amusement parks, the main train station is literally 1 block away, the longest pedestrian street in Europe is just a 5 minute walk! To say the least, it is an ideal place.

It's such a good feeling when you are walking down a street that isn't familiar to you, and then at the end, it makes perfect sense how this street fits into the map of the city. And then you have made a new connection! This is what I feel almost everyday now. I have explored many parts of the city - finding many fun and fascinating nooks and crannies - and everyday some more of the map is burned into my mind.

Copenhagen is such a beautiful city, I think the weather has been truly ideal since I have arrived. However this past weekend, I decided to take my first vacation here in Europe, I went to Berlin!

This was such a trip! I went with the night bus from Copenhagen to the south of Sjælland and then the bus drove onto an enormous ship and sailed across the water to Germany. I had been nodding in and out of sleep for several hours by the time we reached the ship, so boarding the ship was sort of surreal - I hadn't expected to be taking a ship - but I guess that is what you get for living in a country with over 400 islands!

I met a lovely friend of mine in Berlin for breakfast and we took a long walk all around the city. It was also nice to be able to use euro's in Germany (I think they have a better conversion factor with the American dollar than the Danish Kroner!). I was so excited to see some of the really interesting pieces of contemporary architecture that I had recently studied.

We traveled to her hometown of Leipzig that afternoon with a program called Mitfahrgelegenheit (something like carpooling or car sharing program). We were smashed into the back of a small green geo or something (very very small) and made our way down the unruly autobahn! Only nearly crashing 4-5 times. Leipzig was a beautiful city, full of beautiful and memorable people. I cannot wait to go back!

The trip back home was equally as entertaining as the journey there. I will paraphrase it here: Mitfahrgelegenheit again, Uzbeck driver, Lot's of German, Confusion, Lost, Late, Which Train Do I Take?, Thank You Kind Stranger - Stefanie!, Running, Panic, Sprechen Sie Englisch?, Bus Finally, Ship Again, Copenhagen Again, 4th Floor Again, Sleep Finally!

I have a final this Friday that I shall cram for soon, but for now - some light classical music and perhaps responding to a few e-mails. All is peaceful. All is calm here in Copenhagen. Cannot wait to see my family in London on Friday night! These next couple of weeks are going to be spectacular!

All the best,
Adam