blitz.

This weekend DIS took us on a blitz tour of Western Denmark. We visited on average four places per day, so it was a little exhausting. Unfortunately, they didn't take us to Legoland, since it's not open in the winter. boo. I'll have to go again later in the semester.

PS I'm watching Powerpuff Girls in Danish while I'm typing this.

This is a traditional Danish kirke (church) that's from the Viking era. It's like we're in Scotland. so foggy! The landscape and weather in western Denmark reminded me of the final scenes from Pride and Prejudice :)
Next we visited an art museum. They had an awesome chair exhibit and a whole exhibit about shoes. :)

This table is sweet cause multiples of it all fit together.

All over western Denmark were houses like this with straw or thatch roofs.

Here's a panoramic from outside the museum. It looked out over water, but it's hard to tell cause of the fog. I think if you click on it you can see it bigger.
We went to a castle in Kolding that had been renovated on the interior. It was huge! I think I would get lost if I lived there. ...and I wouldn't ever want to be that far from the kitchen. There was a model of the castle all in Legos, but I didn't take a picture of it, cause at that point I thought we were going to be going to LegoLand. bummer.

I climbed up the tower there, and a fantastic view awaited. haha. thanks Denmark.
inside the castle...
We went to this awesome kid's play center. All of us wished we went to school there. In one of the rooms they had a ball pit with a plexi glass floor, so from the room below you could see people above you in the ball pit.

from below...

This was the jungle room, which had floor-to-ceiling vines for climbing. Of course, all the boys felt the need to show off their skills.


I don't have pictures of it, but that night I had the opportunity to go to a Danish swimhall/bathhouse in Kolding. It was definitely an experience. I was preparing myself to be in a room with a bunch of naked Danes. But fortunately, everyone wore their swimsuits in the main area. The girls shower room was definitely another story, however. I opened the door to be in full view of several fully naked and incredibly huge Danish women. I did not think that there were fat people in Denmark, but apparently there are...and they are all at the swimhouse in Kolding. I have not seen people this big since America. wow.

Anway, after that, the bathhouse was enjoyable. It was interesting cause the lights were dim and there were candles everywhere. Think hygge. It was like the couples' hang-out joint. We actually named one of the pools the 'make out pool' cause it was full of danish couples....just doin their thing. I always thought swimming pools were for swimming, but apparently I was wrong. So, once we steered clear of the pda sessions and the giant naked women, we were good.

the next day
This was at performing arts school. It had a punched metal facade that opened up to form the shutters for the windows.
They had some fun furniture there too. Some of the chairs had designs or words relating to the arts on them.

We went to this house that's still under construction that is designed to produce more energy than it needs; so by 40 years time it will pay for the cost of making it. It was pretty cool, but I was distracted by the architects daughter who was SO CUTE. I couldn't get a very good pic of her, but the whole time her mom was talking, she was climbing around on the scaffolding. All the kids here are dressed in these ski gear worthy onesies.


Then we went to Arhus! We had some free time, so we walked around the city and went out to dinner. We found a bar with live music, and I ended up playing foosball with some Danes there. But they are serious about their foosball. It's ridiculous how good they are--it's like a sport. You have to shake hands before and after the game with all participants, and losers pay for the game. Most of them own their own table at home. Needless to say, me and my teammate got owned. But later, I beat some other Danes, so I felt accomplished and worthy of my stay in Denmark.

The next day we went to a funeral church. It's cool to see hymns in Danish. I'm glad God knows what we are saying no matter how weird we sound.
This is the entrance to the women's bathroom.

We toured the town hall in Arhus-- the 'prime example of Scandinavian functionalism' (which basically means design without excess). We were on top of the tower on the hour, so we got to hear the bells ring up there. so loud! but pretty.


Finally was the Aros Art Museum. It was nice, but a lot like Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim.

At first I thought this said Nudist Art. haha. I wouldn't be surprised here.
They had a giant man! He looks different depending on what angle you view him (sad, thoughtful, pleasant, etc.).
Here he is from 2 stories above. You could see everything: veins, wrinkles, arteries...
So that concludes the highlights of the trip.

This weekend I went to the copenhagen vineyard church. It was really great to be with people that love God, since that hasn't happened for awhile. I talked with a really old lady who sat next to me. She was very sweet and we had a lovely conversation, but I'm not sure if she'll remember me though cause she had altheimers. I also met a German guy who frequents christiania (the hippy squatter community). i think ill go back.


Now that we are back from our trip, studio seems to be starting up more. The kids are overachievers for busy work--wayy to excited about working. Meanwhile, i'm happy to just be taking 3 classes and have time to look around the city. Our first project is to design a furniture gallery. Here's our site:


My host family is gone this week on a ski trip to Austria, so Ally is staying here! It's been fun, but I think I've been eating way to much sugar. We're trying to do some exploring, but have been a little more successful at sleeping in. But we did make it to a Zaha Hadid addition to a museum that's just around the corner from my house. We also went to the Danish Design Center today. We desperately want to make some good ol chewy American cookies, but haven't been able to find the right ingredients yet. It doesn't help that the stores here close by 9.

Well, powerpuff girls is now long over, as is Johnny Bravo.
Miss you all!