30 september 2018
It’s already been 6 weeks in Copenhagen and I can’t believe how fast time is passing.
This is a wrap-up post about things I've done in September that haven’t been mentioned in previous posts.
Tivoli
Opened in 1843, Tivoli is the second-oldest operating amusement park in the world behind Dyrehavsbakken which is also in Denmark. I managed to make it to Tivoli before they closed for the summer season thanks to my Danish class. We all met up and ate dinner and then watched a short pantomime show. After all the planned activities were finished I ended up staying until close to enjoy the weather, listen to some jazz, and watch the light show done at the end of the day. I’m not huge on amusement parks but Tivoli was so nice I ended up getting a monthly pass since it pays for itself after two visits so I can go back whenever during the Halloween and Christmas seasons.
Copenhagen Zoo
With the constant threat of each 70 degree day being the last nice day I spent a free Thursday at the Copenhagen Zoo. Like every zoo, compared to the Blank Park Zoo in Iowa this one seemed very big with just about every animal imaginable -- from polar bears and reindeer to capybaras and alpacas. There were rabbits, sea lions, and most importantly giraffes. I spent almost 5 hours walking around the zoo seeing all the animals. It was surprisingly empty and quiet which made for a nice experience. I also really enjoyed all the graphic design work on the informational signs. There was also a sand sculpture exhibition that I walked through at the end of the day.
Visiting a Danish High School
A couple weeks ago my Danish class had a field study to a Danish high school to learn more about the education system. It was interesting to hear about a different educational experience and also see what surprised them about US high schools and what surprised me about Danish high schools.
I was surprised by:
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Alcohol allowed at school events
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Rather than attending a certain number of days of school each class needs to meet a certain number of hours
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Lunch at school must be bought or brought from home
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Students are free to come and go between classes
Things the Danish students were surprised by:
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School doors are locked all day after classes start
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The constant monitoring of where students are
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Snow days
City Hall
Last week I visited City Hall with my Danish Design class to see a building where everything from the building to the furniture and elements like doorknobs had all been designed by one person. Finished in 1905, everything in was designed by Martin Nyrop. During our visit we got a tour explaining all the symbolism, messages, and connections to Norse myths within the architecture. The visit ended with going up to the top of the tower and getting a view of Copenhagen.
Graphic Design Project 01
On Sunday night I submitted my final plot and on Tuesday I finalized the digital presentation. On Wednesday we did critiques from 9:30-2:30 with a break for lunch. As always, it was interesting to see what everyone else made and hear feedback on what I had done. On Friday my class visited our professor’s studio to see what he’s worked on. In classic Danish style the visit ended with everyone drinking beers he’d bought, in classic designer style, based on their labels and graphics.
After the studio visit we all walked back to the DIS studios to see the work the other two graphic design classes had done along with the architecture and urban design studios.
Some other takeaways from the first 6 weeks.
Grocery shopping takes me forever. This isn’t anything new (shout out to my roommates back home who put up with it). However, instead of this being because I’m indecisive or am trying to figure out which item has the best price per ounce it’s because I can’t read 90% of the words on labels and am only just starting to have a sense of prices in Danish kroner without having to use my phone to convert DKK into USD. I’ve been to the store at least 4 times with the intention of buying cheese and end up leaving without it because I get overwhelmed. I finally bought some “Anna” cheese this week because it was one of the cheaper options. I think it’s a mild cheddar, but honestly I’m not 100% sure.
Not driving is still great. I’ve only gotten on the wrong train once and gotten off at the wrong stop once. There have been a couple close calls of almost getting hit by the doors but they always reopen. I’m too short to reach some of the rails on the ceiling but my balance is getting better. Most days I have to commute during rush hour and I’m going to credit game days back home for getting me used to large crowds; the worst part is trying to fight through people 14-inches taller than me when the metro gets to my stop.
My Danish is still bad but I’m slowly making progress. Usually I can make through checking out in Danish because it’s a pretty standard script where they tell me a number, ask if I want a bag, I sign a receipt, and then I say “tak” knowing they’re probably aware I don’t speak Danish. On Friday I had my first interaction in Danish, outside of class, where I knew exactly what was happening. It wasn’t anything major, just someone asking me if I knew when the next 5C bus would come, but it felt so nice to understand a question in Danish and be able to give the appropriate response back.
October is going to be ridiculously busy and if September went by this quickly I don’t want to think about how fast the rest of the semester will pass.