Catch-Up

So, I've been really bad at blogging, as usual, and the study trip didn't help. I did post some pictures, but WiFi in Sweden was terrible, so I didn't even get all of those uploaded. I have a lot of ground to cover, so I'm going to give some quick glimpses into what has happened.

Tusedat, June 25 was my first day biking into the city on Nørrebrogade (Europe's busiest biking street). It was magical. I felt so free, so independent, and so Danish. That is until I rode up on a street sweeper taking up the entire bike lane. All the other bikers were going around on the street or sidewalk, so I decided to join them. The curbs in Copenhagen are unforgiving. I didn't get my front tire high enough and next thing I knew, I was running next to my bike. With some audible Danish giggles passing me by, I hopped back on my bike and finished my ride in unscathed.

After a full day of classes, Andrew, Lindsey May, and I went to the market. We bought pork chops and veggies for dinner. I was still sick, so I fell asleep in the kitchen in the chair leaning on the wall... I awoke to a delicious meal, courtesy of my very kind friends. Even my coughing couldn't scare these two away.

Wednesday, we received out next project in studio. As a student in architecture foundations, I am considered a "pre" architecture student, even though I am going to start my senior year in architecture school in the fall... Oh well, easier grading. Each of the 12 students in studio was given a different neighborhood on the harbor front and told to explore. Through a series of 12 sketches, we were to communicate our experience of the area. I received the neighborhood furthest from DIS, Holmen. It is the area containing the Operaen (opera house) and completely on an island. It is also home to the Danish Design School, the Theatre School, the Film School, Music Conservatory, and the School of Modern Dance. Needless to say it is a fascinating neighborhood.

After several hours there, I rode the harbour bus back to the main city. On the bike ride home, I discovered an amazing wonderland of goodness, Føtex. It is like a Target, only smaller. It has almost everything I could ever want and more! I was looking for a pan, but was not about to spend 100dkk ($20) on one.

Because of that, dinner was everything I had cooked in the one pan I have. This included asparagus, bacon, and hot dogs all fried in sunflower oil with mozzerella cheese. Sounds interesting, tasted amazing! Finally, a good dinner cooked for myself with my limited kitchen facilities.

Thursday we had a (surprisingly) good lecture series on biking and sustainable urbanism in Copenhagen. Some people didn't like the lecturer (Bianca) because they thought she was being condescending to the US. Newsflash, she was telling the truth. That's how far we are behind the world in getting our cities back from the cars to people.

More site sketching and exploring the island. The more I discover the more charmed I am by Holmen.

The biggest news of Thursday was that my parents figured out how to get Skype to work! I'm so proud of them! They are growing up so fast. Now if only I could get them to switch off of Juno so I can send them more than one pic per email... Baby steps. They were doing great and were as goofy as ever. I swear sometimes I miss them ;) It was seriously great to talk to them.

Friday was a long day. I'll spare the details of class and studio. The worst part of the day was exchanging money and packing. Exchanging money was difficult because one exchange rate (USD>DKK) is bad enought. But for this trip I had to think through USD>DKK>NOK (Norwegian Kroner) and USD>DKK>SEK (Swedish Kroner). Not to mention, Oslo is one of the most expensive cities in the world... The other difficult part was packing. It is so hard to fit a week of my life into one duffel bag. I can barely fit a day, let alone a week. I cried a bit as I left most of my clothes in my suitcase. I brought my luggage in with me so I could stay at friends' apartment who live much closer to the departure site. I did forget one semi-important item in my room: my passport. Biked home Saturday morning to get that.

2:30pm, Frue Plads, pouring rain. This is how the Norway/Sweden study tour began. 25 wet students, an intern, and a professor. Thus began my week away from home away from home. To be continued...