7 september 2018
I was originally going to give an update after the first full week of classes. After some laptop issues being five days without a computer this is more of a two-full-weeks-of-class update.
Danish Design
Chairs. So far there’s been a lot of discussions and readings and videos about chairs. Also the occasional sofa or bookcase. Tuesday are lecture days and Fridays are spent walking around Copenhagen visiting different furniture showrooms. So far this has included Fredericia, Fritz Hansen, and Carl Hansen & Søn.
Danish Language and Culture
Being around so many people who speak multiple languages makes me want to learn another one, however Danish is hard. I still don’t know which letters make what sounds and which ones don’t get pronounced at all. So far I’ve learned a few phrases and some words, the most useful ones being ‘jeg taler ikke dansk’ -- I do not speak Danish -- and the seemingly infinite ways to say thank you. The most interesting one so far has been ‘tak for sidst’ which means ‘thank you for the last (time)’. This is very important for being polite in Denmark. You use it when you see someone again or a few days after you saw them and thank them for the last time you saw them.
Graphic Design Studio
Meeting twice a week for 4 hours each time, this is by far my most time-consuming class. Our first project tackles differences and similarities among the Nordic countries. Step one is creating a new flag for the combined Nordic region and then from that design creating a crest and uniform designs for a Nordic Football Union. Maybe the excessive amount of World Cup games I watched this summer and the past two years critiquing Big 12 football and basketball uniforms is actually going to prove useful.
Next week is core course week. I’ll be spending all of Monday and Tuesday in studio and at museums near Copenhagen. We visit western Denmark Thursday through Saturday.
Watercolor Painting
This class has been pretty straightforward. It only meets once a week and so far there’s been a lot of learning how to mix colors and how to handle watercolors. In the next few weeks we’ll start going around the city and painting. One of my goals for the semester is to get better at drawing from life so I hope this class will build that skill while providing a nice way to remember these four months.
On Wednesday I walked around all day with Grace. We went to Amalienborg and saw the changing of the guard and the museum. Then we walked to Nørrebro, went into some antique stores, saw Hans Christian Andersen’s grave in the most beautiful cemetery, and had the best cinnamon roll I’ve ever eaten. We went into a CD/DVD store, passed a table full of Elvis pictures, and went the wrong way several times. Lots of walking and visiting new places.
A note about Danish people and Iowa
Maybe because Danes have a more in-depth education, or maybe there’s an unspoken connection between Danish people and Iowas who both come from a place where pigs outnumber people, but every time I tell someone I’m from Iowa "which is in the middle of the United States," they act as though it’s silly I need to clarify where to find Iowa. This is a very different reaction to the usual one of people -- usually Americans -- not knowing where Iowa is or very confidently asking about all the potatoes we grow.