Denmark Diaries: Copenhagen

Hej!

So this entry will be about my experience in Copenhagen, which was a great one.

I was up bright and early at 4:30 for a 6:15am train.  It was my first time in a [large] northern European city, and a city with street names I simply can't pronounce (no I'm not forgetting about Reykjavik, it was a -little- smaller). There were butterflies flitting about in the bottom of my gut. While I was nervous about being in CPH, the nerves weren't about the city. I was meeting a friend for the first time.

As a product of the digital age, I've made many-a-friend whom I've never met. Ten years ago, I made the acquaintance of a lovely Italian girl named Giada. We corresponded frequently (yes, mom and dad, I would like to point out you lectured me once about contacting this girl...). When previous attempt at meet did not happen, because we were far from where the other one was going to be (I, in Italy, she in the Ukraine) we had to wait for the next time one of us traveled either to New York, or to someplace close in Europe.

But when I found out that I might going to Denmark, I contacted her. I knew she lived in Germany and since they (Denmark and Germany) were neighbors, it could be possible if I went. For a couple of months, the idea was bounced around. She said she knew she was going to Denmark at some point, but didn't know when, and I didn't know if I was going at all. When I finally found out, I asked her if she knew, and she said yes, she would be flying into Copenhagen on the 15th of August.

Flashforward to my week here. I had obtained permission to visit her, both from my family and the Rotary Club, and I was finally on the train heading to CPH as the sun is rising. I'm wringing my wrists, watching turbines spin silhouetted in the sunrise, and I'm deep in thought. Ten years has led to this moment. What if I am not as she expected, or vice versa? What if we can't talk with each other like we do online? Or my worst nightmare, what if I simply can't find her in this foreign city? After all, I have a cell phone that can't really dial out because it thinks everything is in the US and adds a +1 to every number, and she happened to have been locked out of her phone.

I thought the latter issue was really going to be a reality. She told me to meet her at the shopping center, and I couldn't find a shopping center outside of Central Station in Copenhagen. After promptly connecting to the Starbucks Wi-Fi, I asked her where to find her... she told me that she was in Frederiksberg. I walked my way to Frederiksberg, which took a lot longer than I hoped because it took me quite a while to figure out where the street signs were and I got lost a couple, or six, times. I stopped only once to take a picture (a near-impossible task for me, mind you >>see photo to the left) and found the cafe we were going to meet at for brunch, but not the shopping center. I wandered around some more, asking directions left and right, but finally, I found the train station, and the shopping center...and there she was.

Conversation was easy and effortless and natural, and my worries dissipated as the day went on. We ate brunch, laughing and chatting about the things that brought us together in the first place. We walked around with no destination in mind, taking in the sights and killing time. Around noon, we hopped a subway to the airport to retrieve her boyfriend Benoit, and after picking him up we headed back into Frederiksberg to drop their stuff and his friends' house/flat/apartment. From there, we knew we wanted to do the boat tour, so we made our way towards Nyhavn to do so.

As we stopped to look at the map trying to establish our location, I saw a Ferrari and turned to take a picture. Benoit, perhaps a little bit in an amused tone, told me to turn around. With a quick swivel, I heard the roar of a line of perhaps fifteen or twenty Ferraris making their ostentatious approach. After the conga line of revving engines had faded, we continued. Instead of winding up at Nyhavn for our boat tour, we found another service, right near Børsen, the Stock  Exchange, that even went up to the Little Mermaid Statue which was something the other company wouldn't have done. I rather enjoyed seeing the city from the water (that seems to be a common remark, doesn't it?). I think I got a much better vantage point, and since I had/have the biggest blister I have ever had on my foot, I didn't have to walk around to see them. Disadvantage: Couldn't frame the pictures as well as I wanted to, and there were people's heads in the way.

Nyhavn

On this boat ride, I saw things like Christiania, the hippie government-free (reservation?) where marijuana was legal up until last year, nude beaches are a thing, and whatever else it is you do on a hippie reservation. We saw the Royal Library, and it's extension called the Black Diamond. I saw where the Danish Royal Family boards their yacht/schooner. We viewed the Queen's palace, the Opera House, and a canal made to look like the canals of Amsterdam. We did float past Nyhavn, with its beautiful ships docked along its pilings. We cruised past Trekroner Søfort, an old military fort, the home of Eurovision, and some place (that I can't remember the name of) that had a Danish Coast Guard Ship and a giant black submarine on display.  And of course, we saw a number of churches that I wished I could have gone inside, but one can't see everything in just one (and perhaps the only) day in Copenhagen.

 Anyway, the weather was great, the sights were beautiful, and it was a really enjoyable experience. We sounded like the beginning of a joke. An Italian, a Frenchman, and an American are walking through Copenhagen...

After the boat rides, we meandered back in the direction of Central Station. We were meeting Alex and Cecile, Benoit's friends for dinner not far from H (the station). They picked out a restaurant that, I was informed, was sort of located in the red light district of Copenhagen. Even if he hadn't told me that, I could have figured that out from the sort of shops and establishments we walked past on the way to eat. The restaurant was a great closing to an amazing day. While my comrades got some hamburgers, I opted for something less American (I went more Italian, since I couldn't find anything more Danish on the menu). We toasted our Danish beers to new experiences and new friends, and I was sad to have to leave. Of course, I told Giada that she could visit me any time in the States, and she said she would when she finally made it over there. She travels a lot, that one, so I look forward to the day I can show her around my country.

Now, my overall observations of Copenhagen are a lot like my observations of Rome (which I didn't blog about back when I was there, but I'll write about it anyway). It didn't have a whole lot of charm to it, really. It was beautiful, certainly, but perhaps I just don't like big cities. I much rather enjoy the environment of where I'm staying now in Middelfart. But interestingly enough, pertaining to the reservation I commented on in my last post, I thought people in Copenhagen were much more receptive of strangers than those in Middelfart. People actually stopped to ask me if I was lost or needed help on a number of occasions without being prompted or asked. Here in Middelfart, people are less likely to return a smile if you smile at them.

Everything was expensive in CPH, but that was expected. What I didn't expect was the number of 7-Elevens (albeit fake 7-Elevens since they didn't even have Big Gulps), and how early everything seemed to close in the train station on a Saturday night. Cecile and Alex surprised me when they said that they avoid public transportation (the surprise) and bike everywhere (not surprise). Let's see, what else...I already mentioned the street signs being very difficult to find (how does anyone see them in those tiny point sizes...for display type I mean?)

Other than that, nothing truly stood out to me as being so remarkable culturally about Copenhagen. While I understand Copenhagen as a city is much older, I kept thinking to myself that Albany would have resembled Copenhagen in a way if the late Baroque-era architecture had not been torn down (late 16th century, early 17th for those not educated in art history).

I do believe that's about it for my thoughts, if I think of anything else, I'll add it in. For now, have some pictures.

Until next time,
E

Benoit, Giada, and myself in front of the old stock exchange.

Københavns Rådhus, AKA City Hall

Børsen, the Stock Exchange

Børsen, the Stock Exchange

A pair of sailing ships out on the water.

Trekroner Søfort

Part of canal made to look like Amsterdam

The Royal Library, and its extension the Black Diamond

Frederik's Church, AKA Frederiks Kirke,
 AKA The Marble Church

Church of Our Savior, AKA
Vor Frelsers Kirke

Denmark Diaries: A Week of Danish Culture

Hi! As always, apologize for the poor layout...

Well, I've been in Denmark a week. I spent my last couple days trying to catch up on sleep, not freak out, and figure out my life here. So far it's been pretty nice, and pretty different. But I'll start with my departure from Iceland.

I had a beautiful sunrise greet me in my early morning zombie-state. The cloud that I had mentioned lingered, hugging the mountain closely. I rather enjoyed watching Iceland from the air, seeing all the glaciers from above was quite cool, and I took some pictures, though I'm not sure they're quality enough for this here blog.


For starters, I wasn't really terrified or nervous until I heard the captain announce our descent into Billund. Although an argument could be made that I started feeling nervous halfway through the flight, when I started getting nauseous.The plane descended down through the curtains of rain, and when I got off the plane, and I thought I was going to be sick. My head hurt, my hands were shaking, and I was anxious because our bags took forever to get on the carousel. But I walked out into arrivals, and there they were, waving Danish flags and American flags and holding signs, smiling--probably equally as nervous and as excited as I was.

For the sake of privacy, I will not use my host family's real names. For the future, the names will be Christian (10), Sophie (13), Ella (Mother), and Marcus (Father).

In the car, I tried to speak. I could already tell that Marcus was rather goofy. He reminded me a lot of David Tennant as the tenth doctor with his demeanor. They drove through the country side from Billund towards Vejle, and although I had been told Denmark was flat, I'd never seen such a flat land before. There were lots of wind turbines with their blades spinning majestically, but I can't remember a whole lot more about the landscape truthfully. I was so tired.

We drove to Carsten's house, the Rotary club member who arranged this whole thing for me. His house large and beautiful (they called it a Villa). I walked in, and noticed how short I was compared to everyone around me (for the record, I'm 5'7"). While Christian isn't very tall (he's ten), his sister easily stands 5'9", Ella close to 6', Carsten at 6'4", his wife at 5'9-10", and Carsten's son standing close to 7 feet.  I sat and listened to my host family and listened to them talk. That whole day is kind of a blur, so I couldn't tell you what we talked about, but I remember it happened.

After travelling across the bridge, we were finally in Middelfart, where I would be staying. Sophie would evidently be staying in the basement, and I have her room for two months...which is really cool. My desk and dresser are on the first floor, then I climb up a ladder to sleep in the former attic. It's very nice. They have a large beautiful garden, full of fruit trees (plums and apple trees from what I can tell) and vegetable plants. There are blackberry bushes everywhere, abundant with sour berries that are not quite ripe just yet. They are a five minute bike ride from the beach, which I got to go to the second day I was there. The water was cold, and there were jellies, but I jumped in like the my young Viking comrades. It was nothing compared to the 35 degrees I was in just a couple of days before!

On the second day, I was given a bike tour of the town, first showing me the route to the place I would be interning. We also rode down to the harbor, which was really beautiful. I was told, to my delight, that you could see marsvine, or harbor porpoises between the bridges. There will even whale watching boats full of (presumably German, as I'd been told) tourists. There were lots of jellyfish floating in the water (we all know how much I love to look at jellyfish--and yes, they were where I was swimming too). But overall it was really beautiful and I have been blessed with a great place to live. It's very cute here! I also played a memory game with Christian and Sophie, where I would say the words on the cards in English, and they'd say them in Danish. I learned a bunch of new words that way, which was great.

On Monday, I got to attend school with the kids. A short day, only an hour and a half, but it was a great taste of what the education is like, even if they attend a little private school. I was told that they, regardless of public or private, always gather around the Dannebrog (or Danish flag) and sing songs every morning. I thought it was interesting that they increased the length of the school day by about an hour each day (they end at 2:30ish, for the record), but are not allowed to have homework. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next couple months.


I started work on Tuesday the 12th (of August, of course) at a company called Uhrenholt, a dairy, seafood, and vegetable company. Uhrenholt is very close, a ten minute bike ride from where I am staying. It's located in a beautiful, Harvard Yard-esque building, the former location of an old mental hospital from the 1800s. I know not of any ghosts, but I was told it depends on who you ask. I have a terrible view from my desk (that's sarcasm). I have a standing desk, which is great because the chairs aren't all that comfortable, but the CEO of the company is behind me, so I suppose there will be no slacking off!

View from my desk...terrible right?

But on the first day, I was a little surprised to walk into the marketing/design department of this multi-billion dollar, international company and see that they used comic sans on their packaging. At Saint Rose, we talked a lot about typography, and Comic Sans is generally not held in high esteem, so I had a sinking feeling in my gut when I saw it used on some of the packaging. This packaging is used mostly in the Asian marketplace and sells well, but I still feel there is a better way (such as the typeface Comic Neue which is based off of Comic Sans). They also used Arial and our good friends Minion and Myriad and good ol' Internet Explorer. This is gonna take some getting used to. Although I am the bottom of the totem pole, I can be an advocate for change. Any company will have existing design parameters for packaging and branding, so it will be a new experience for me to be as creative as possible within them. I hope I can provide some inspiration to enhance the brand, while respecting that which has already been done.

That being said, everyone has been super friendly to me at the office. They gave me a grand tour of the building and introduced me to all of the 100-something employees. I constantly tried to say Mit navn er Elissa properly, but failed...though I've said it enough that I think I'm pretty close now. They also provide me free breakfast and a lunch buffet (LOADED with lots of Danish deliciousness) everyday so I get to try something new.

Speaking of food, let's move on to the cultural differences. Many of these I had been aware of before I left, but I'm now noticing them. First of all, diet is very different. Butter on everything, and butter first on everything. Bread, butter, jam, cheese (or is it cheese, then jam?) Bread, butter, Nutella...etc. etc. They also eat far more red meat and cheese than I am used to. My dad would say I ate too much cheese at home in the states, and then I got here and it's like, cheese galore. I mean, I had cheese fondue tonight for dinner. My stomach is trying to get used to all these changes, and it vocalizes that its getting use to the diet here quite often, to my embarrassment.

Then there are the other smaller things. Like 1)  the nudity and cursing on TV. Or that 2)  light switches are outside of the doors, and up is off and down is on. 3) Wine and liquor being sold in grocery stores. 4) Bikes and bike lanes everywhere. 5) Danes love their houses; each one is different, unlike all the cookie-cutter ones I see in the US. They take much better care of them too, from what I can tell. 6) There's the aforementioned height differences too.

Then the biggest difference is the 7) reservation Danes show. They're less open to conversation, and don't smile at you as you pass them on the street. That's different from what I'm used to experiencing in Albany county. This is one of those things I knew about before I got here, but still find it unusual and perhaps, a little anxiety-inducing.

Tomorrow I head off to Copenhagen to meet a good friend, an internet friend, of ten years. It will be amazing and exciting and terrifying. I've gotta get to sleep...I've got an early train!

View from my desk,
from the window.

My desk in the corner, CEO's office
through is the room in the door.

Reykjavik Diary: Notes on Icelandic Design

Hello!

The very first thing I noticed about the Icelandic design was how contemporary it was. Even just setting foot in the terminal in Keflavik, it's modern aesthetic was noticeable. There were glass pyramids, decorative and not-quite-windows, hanging down like tinted teal appendages from the ceiling, no doubt a reference to icicles. I will have to try to remember to get a photo on the way back to the States. The drive from the airport was lacking in architecture, and mostly had dark landscapes that I couldn't see. But my first taste of the city of Reykjavik was the Harpa performing arts center at night. The windows changed color, which was quite nice to watch. The windows were cubes in nature. As a reminder, this iconic building was built during the Icelandic economic crisis, whenever that was.

In the daylight, I began to notice more trends in design. The buildings were almost entirely contemporary. They were all incredibly geometric in style, and fairly neutral in color. It is the older houses that had much more life to them, colored in saturated hues. If the [older] houses themselves weren't colored in bright colors, their roofs were. Below find examples of the old city architecture (built in the 1800s-early 1900s) and then the modern architecture, from 1945-present:

Now, regarding graphic design, there were some examples of vintage-style design, but for the most part, it was all very clean, contemporary, and generally rather abstract. There was very little that offended me, although I did see someone use papyrus typeface once. What did surprise me, was the seemingly random areas where advertising was placed...in other words, there didn't seem to be a system. It was on fabric hanging on signs, stuck on buildings, street corners. I didn't see any large billboards. But I did see a lot of small ones with the triangle shaped posts that rotate to form a complete picture.

Below find some examples of Icelandic graphic design.

That's about it for my notes on Icelandic graphic design.

Until next time!

E

Reykjavik Diary Day 2: Ow, I've got volcano in my eye!

Hello friends,

Here begins day two of my travels in Iceland, with pictures! Same disclaimer as last time: make sure you click on the photos to see them in larger detail! And I'm really sorry for the mess this blog is visually, I'm not going to spend time trying to fix the layout. :(

HDR photo of  Blue Lagoon

Once again, after a night of very little sleep, I was up early for more adventures. This morning I decided I was going to go out to the tourist attraction Blue Lagoon, a man-made hot springs and spa located in a lava field in Grindavík on the Reykjanes Peninsula. The water is superheated by the geothermal plant, and the water is rich in minerals like sulfur and silica, and supposedly does wonderful things for your skin. These minerals are what give the water its blue, opaque appearence. And the sands on the bottom of the lagoon are black too! Additionally, you can place some silica mud on your face, and that also has the regenerative properties. I got some mud in my eye, hence the title of this blog post. 

 Blue Lagoon and the Svartsengi
geothermal electric plant

You can read more about my observations of this particular area in my general observation post. But to recap, the drive out to the Lagoon was much different than the landscape I'd seen before. The smooth semi-green hills gave way to harsh, jagged rocks jutting out of the ground, with hardly any green to be found. In place of the green, they were coated in a pale yellow substance that looked a lot like dust or volcanic ash from a distance, but was really a thick, soft moss. The lagoon itself was very beautiful, and again, even my HDR photos could not do the blue hue any justice. On the drive back, I got a closer look at the volcano called Keilir, which is the Icelandic word for "cone." Both Mt. Keilir and the Blue Lagoon are located in Reykjanes Peninsula. See the bottom of the page for a photo of Mt. Keilir. 


.....

Do not proceed to read if you are easily offended. Skip directly to the next yellow ellipses.

After a number of recommendations of other things to do in Reykjavik (from a friend of mine, and surprisingly my brother), I attempted to find the famous Iceland Phallological Museum, or...an anatomical museum of penises. I spent more time looking for said museum than I spent in the museum (because my map was wrong), but the museum was fairly interesting. I can't say I learned a whole lot about anything in particular, but the museum reminded me a lot of the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia...and if I dare say so, it was less strange than that. But they (whoever they may be) went about the museum with equal parts science and equal parts humor. Well, okay, that's a lie. It was mostly science. Lots of animal penises, and naturally the ones that took most of my attention (and most of the space) were the whale ones. They had a number of different whales, from narwhals, to minke whales, to orcas, and sperm whales. They had a lot of other animals too like cats, dogs, wolves, guinea pigs, and of course, the homosapien. Much to my amusement, the museum was located only a couple blocks from the church. I wondered if it was a coincidence, or an act of irony. After all, that church is rather phallic.

A wall of the museum. Many of
these tubes contain whale penises,
such as the minke and the narwhal.

.....

A traditional pyslur

After the museum, I went in search of a Pyslur, the Icelandic hot dog that I had heard so much about. I asked the girl to make it as traditional as possible, and so she piled on fried onions, remoulade sauce, and whatever else I couldn't identify. I wasn't too thrilled with it, but then again I supposed you have to like hot dogs, which I don't really. After my pyslur, I wandered about the city again, just taking as much of it in as I could. I walked up and down, noticing all the gay pride flags in every shop window. I even went back to Hallgrímskirkja (the church), but this time I went around the back so I could get a different angle.

For the rest of the day, I just wandered and explored, and found nothing notable. Although, I rather enjoyed the view of the water as I walked back to my hostel, a large ominous cloud had crept in over the mountains and remained there until after I left Iceland. Back at the hostel, I met my roommate, a lovely girl on her way back home in Toronto from a two-year study in London. She was lovely, and I spent the rest of the night with her, our other roommate (a Thai girl studying in Paris), and a third girl from Australia. We ate dinner together in the hostel, and I enjoyed talking with them and sharing stories, and scary creatures we find in our homelands (I hope to never find one of those Australian Hunting Spiders on the back of my car). But my traditional dish of salted cod with spinach was quite delicious.

Sunrise on my last morning, with the creeping cloud.

I really enjoyed Iceland and hope to one day return to see the rest of the island, because my two day stopover was really just the tip of the Iceland. Other observations (that are not design related) that I did not include in my observation posts were the apparent lack of police. I did not see once police car or officer until the morning I left, where their only purpose at this time was to close off streets for a parade. Also, Iceland has a love for Subway, Quiznos, and KFC. I also saw a Taco Bell. And a bunch of other fast food joints (non-American) called Aktu Taktu.  And they give us Americans crap for liking fast food!

Next stop, Denmark! (and probably another Iceland-related design blog post)

Until next time,
E

Other Pictures

You can see the minerals beginning to creep into the water.

Blue Lagoon

Mt. Keilir

Me and a killer whale penis. Jimmy, this one's for you,
if you know what this is in reference to.