We're a really productive crew

Herning, Denmark...while we were supposed to be sketching...

Food & Friends

This weekend I spent a lot of time with friends. Friday night I went to my friends' kollegium in Osterbro. A kollegium is a lot like what a dorm is in the states, except here there are a lot of international students living in the building. We all ate together and then went out for a little while. Then on Saturday night I had 4 friends over for a Mexican themed night. We made taco bowls and fresh guacamole which was really good. We hung out for a while at my place, talked and listened to music, and then went and checked out the Meatpacking District in Copenhagen.

Torvehallerne Market

Earlier this week, Ami and I walked down to Norrebro, an area near our school that has a bunch of small shops and markets. We found Torvehallerne, one of Copenhagen's new farmers markets. It's an indoor market, filled with fresh fish and meat, small places to eat prepared foods and other places to buy gourmet foods. It's was a really nice market, but is also one of Copenhagen's most expensive farmers markets, so we just walked around inside and took advantage of the places offering free cheese samples.

Western Denmark

Last week my architecture program had a short study tour to Western Denmark. We went to a few different cities, including Arhus and Kolding and had the opportunity to see a lot of different types of architecture. We went to a lot of churches, both old and new, visited the Middlefart Savings Bank (which is the 4th most enjoyable place to work in Europe) and spent a little time at the AHoS Museum. On top of the museum was a huge, circular rainbow walkway that had different panels of glass so when you walked through it you went around the color spectrum. It was an exhausting trip, but we got to see a ton of cool things and had the opportunity to bond with more of the people in the architecture program at DIS.

Louisiana Museum

Earlier this week my architecture program went and visited the Louisiana Museum. There was an exhibit on new Nordic architecture at the museum, where we had the opportunity to see models, plans, and images of structures that have become famous in recent years. The different things we saw were either buildings, museums, or landmarks in the Nordic countries, or were located somewhere else around the work and were designed by architects from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, etc. It was an interesting exhibit, but my friend Ami and I also spent some time outside of the museum on the lawn taking in the scenery.

Want to look like a Dane? Or maybe find out how to piss them off?

How to Look Like A Dane:

http://copenhannah.tumblr.com/post/14228929903/how-to-look-like-a-dane

How to Piss Off A Dane:

http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/how-to-piss-off-a-dane/

Christiania

Yesterday, my Danish Language and Culture class went on a tour of Christiania. For all of you who don't know, Christiana is a part of Copenhagen that has been self proclaimed an an independent nation for years now. There's a very long history behind the area, but basically now its a place known for its legal hash market (and only really legal by the Christiania standards, not the laws of Copenhagen). We got to meet up with our tour guide, named Joger, who has lived in Christiania for over 20 years. He showed us all around where people build their own homes and live, and also showed us some of the shops and businesses in the area. Its a very free spirited, I guess you could say 'hippie' place, but all of the locals seem to be devoted to the same values. Nobody owns any land and they live by a strange set of rules that mostly involve being calm people who are devoted to their community. It is definitely a huge separation from what the rest of the city of Copenhagen looks like and represents, but was well worth the visit.