Make it Work.

I spent every day of the following week in our studio, working on assignment 1. Thursday, my group and I worked through the night to finish Friday morning at 7 am. We slept for a couple hours and then presented our project multiple times to students and faculty. (model photos to come)

Assignment 1.

Friday was dedicated to Studio. All of the Architecture, Interior Architecture and Urban Planning students gathered together and were split up into groups for our first assignment. Each group was assigned a building that we will be visiting on our study tours. My group was assigned the Zollverein School of Business and Design in Essen, Germany. (Design by Sanaa Architects) In one week, we are to build a site model, a detailed and precise building model with interior and exterior detailing and views along with presentation materials giving information about the site and the building. Needless to say, I spent much of the weekend in Studio. Already.
The DIS Welcome party took place on Friday night at a local night club. Some friends and I continued the party at a local bar with some highly entertaining Danish students. The night concluded with a hilarious train ride home.

Saturday evening, my host family hosted a dinner party, sometimes called a “hygge (hoogah)” here. We ate delicious food and drank tasty wine to which we toasted “Skol!” and I was introduced to more friendly Danes. I still cannot pick up a word of Danish, but thankfully almost everyone speaks English.

First Day of Class.

Thursday was the first day of classes. It was almost time for my “Sustainable by Design” class to begin when a tall, gorgeous, young Danish man walked into the classroom. At first I thought 'Ooo some eye candy for class! Yum!' Turns out he’s my professor. Even better. After some discussion of his impressive portfolio, we hopped on the metro to visit a building designed by the architects of Vilhelm Lauritzen in the Copenhagen School of Business. My next class was Russian Literature with a very short, very enthusiastic Danish man that has an extreme obsession with Russia. That night, I went home to eat Lasagna, salad and smoothies with my family and then headed back into the city for a couple Carlsbergs with my new friend Alyssa and her Danish roommates.

New.

Walking in the streets of Copenhagen each day is a test of my patience. (I have close to none.) Often people bump into one another and these incidences are never followed by a “oh, sorry” or “excuse me, sorry.” Thus, it is a major cultural difference.
Another aspect of Danish life that varies greatly from American culture can also be seen while strolling the city’s streets: Danish people are nearly always on time, but never seem to be in a hurry.
Also, everything is extremely expensive here. I've already paid 65 Kroner ($12.34) for a latte and pastry and 45 Kroner ($8.54) for a Vodka Cranberry. Sheesh. Luckily most of my meals are provided by my host family and a few places offer 10% student discounts.

Scavenger Hunt

Tuesday's orientation challenged us to a city-wide scavenger hunt that put me on my feet from roughly 9 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon. The first photo is of the recently constructed Opera House and the second is of the Royal Theater. All of this is located just a block away from Amaliegade where the Queen resides. The third shows the buildings along the semi-frozen Nyhavn canal.

Independent Babies.

In Denmark, it is legal and common to leave your baby, carriage and all, outside on the sidewalk while you grocery shop, etc. This, of course, is completely illegal in the U.S. probably because we have people that are crazy enough to steal a baby. This particular carriage was parked outside a store near the harbor and the Royal Theater.

Welcome to DIS.

1.18.2010

Monday was the first day of DIS orientation. The opening ceremony featured live classical music and a speech from the head of the school who described the sound of the Danish language as "something close to a throat disease." The day continued with various orientation activities and friendly introductions. I took the train back into the city after dinner with my host family. (Claus was gone to Jutland on business.) Eva, a new friend from Chicago, and I made our way to an apartment to meet up with more fellow students. That evening, I had my first Danish beers: Tuborg and Carlsberg. (Carlsberg is better.)
Observation: The men wear much higher quality jeans here. Or maybe with all of the bicycling the country does, they just look better in them? Haven’t quite decided yet.