Intro Days

Monday and to day (Tues.) were the intro days for the international students. This is my first time meeting SO many different international architecture students!! There are about 50 or so of us, from Spain, Brazil, France, UK, States, Japan, China, Australia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Cypress, Germany, Portugal, Holland....these are just the countries I remember. It was just simply amazing. People were exchanging so many different topics, jokes, and different assumptions about each other's country. I think it will get even more exciting once we get to meet the Danish students and all work on architecture projects together!

We all went out for drinks after school and exchanged information about where to buy the cheapest bike, where to find apts, or where the cheapest bars are at. I have tried Carlsberg and Tubor, both traditional Danish beer, and enjoyed them a lot! @ Europe, people drink less hard liquor and just really enjoy having a nice drink. So no beer pong or vodka shots, which I think is a great way to know each other, without all the ugly stuff. :) Carlsberg and Tubor are pretty light beer, but a great aroma, similar to Asahi or Kiri but a more heavy and full taste.

I have also discovered the Danish dollar store called Tiger. It is MUCH better than dollar stores from the states. Things are better quality and designed to look nice and durable. Everything useful can be found there, from toiletries to notebooks, instead out dated decorations and cheap soda drinks. I have found a toilet paper role with puzzles on it, and bought a waterproof messenger bag for 50kr (~$8.50, one of the most expensive ones in the store) with a map of Copenhagen printed on it. Tiger is now my new favorite store. XD Tiger site in uk, for all who don't understand Danish~

The Little Mermaid

Today, I woke like usual, had Crusilii for breakfast (cereal from Quaker, chocolate flavored with chocolate bits.) and start reading a book given to me by a friend a yr ago. I have been enjoying this book a lot, it's a compilation of short stories by Muraue Haruki. Since the book in in Chinese, his name is known to me as 村上春樹, though I did attempt to sound it out in Japanese. (むらうえはるき）Then I saw a huge picture of a Japanese man on the Danish Sat. paper and was reading "Muraue Haruki" in Danish.(the photo of him in my book was much younger..) Then followed a slow but crazy realization that the paper were translating his work directly in the article (in Danish of course) while I am reading his works! My landlord, Grethe, then kindly informed me that he is in Denmark now and will be holding a lecture! However, it also said on the paper that all tickets are already sold out… :( I suppose I can only wait for other possible events to meet him while he is here. Conclusion: Must meet him in Denmark and must see SANAA's exhibition. :) Everyone I want to see is here!!

Later on that day, Grethe gave me a tour of CPH and areas outside of town by car. We visited the rich section of CPH with beautiful streets and more French looking apts. Then it was off to see the Little Mermaid. As you may know she is in Shanghai @ the Expo. However, her place by the harbor is replaces by a bug screen showing her live from the Danish pavilion. Hilarious, no? I had a sudden urge that if only I knew someone there RIGHT NOW, I can see him or her on the screen too!

Little Mermaid LIVE

Afterwards, we joined the hundred of ppl to watch the annual event of ppl swimming in the harbor for about 2km though the canals that cut sections of the city. Brave souls, though it was quite sunny…We also visited the Black Diamond, or the National Library. Beautiful architecture indeed, and I have to say much more pleasant than BIG's Mountain and Tallet (8) Apts. We visited them by the end of the day….the aluminum/steel metal sheets as apt building material gives off a cold and share feeling…really not desirable, but very nice to photograph. Now looking at the architecture in real life, I am much less impressed by it, and definitely would not want to live there. Compared to the old Danish (or even some newer ones) in the city, these are too cold and has no street life at all. Though, I have to agree if they were build in bricks (as most other buildings in DK) it would ruin the form. I guess material wise metal does look nice, but for housing….wood is much warmer. I did get a kick out of the amazing view and green roof though. :} Until tomorrow, it's 3 am (again) and I should head to bed.

Swim meet around the Black Diamond.
Danish hot dog. Sweeter.

Summer 2 + Denmark

Soooo, after my one month of summer break, it was back to summer school!! Yay! I took a landscape architecture course focusing on sustainable environments and an honors case studies studio. As my first time staying for summer courses, I really enjoyed both my classes. Though they are all 8-week courses, really pressed for time esp for studio, they are both much less stressful then regular semesters courses. I think that largely is due to less courses to worry about, less distractions, and just being during summer. The studio this time is also taught by a visiting lecturer from NYC(Patt), who is an alumni and a former student of my last semester's professor. (Turned out we both lived on 8th floor of Griffith Hall our freshmen year....with 15 yrs of difference...weird huh?) My instructor's enthusiasm, dedication, and (good looks?) has definitely made architecture feel much less painful and more enjoyable again. I suppose for young students throwing ourselves into the dark pits of architecture edu, instructors really do matter quite a lot. (Not to say my former instructor wasn't inspiring, he was great in fact, but somehow just didn't work out too well.) All in all, summer school was really great and quite a relaxing way to experience berkeley from a different angle. (fireworks at the marina!!)

Aaaand after summer school, I had one week to move out of my berkeley apt, move back to home, and pack for Denmark. YES, it is FINALLY happening (after a yr of fighting and planing) AND Yes, it took me a whole week to unpack all my boxes, stuff them in my room, and take some out again to a far away land. My flight was on the 23rd of August, and was 11 hrs to Zurich, Switzerland, followed by 1 hr to Copenhagen. Since I was with SWISS Air, I got plenty of good chocolates and perhaps too much cheese. (Though the cheese were all American since they were stocked in the States)

Now I am on my third day in Copenhagen in my cozy little room. :} Thanks to many help and warm greetings from my land lord, so far everything has just been fantastic. I have really never experience anything like this city (well, since I have never been to EU) very different from Taipei and SF. The Danes walk and bike everywhere, which also means they have awesome bike lanes that are separated from the car traffic. The sidewalks are mainly cobble stones with larger flat tiles it one should like prefer flater surface. (I kept walking in the bike lane since that seems to resemble us sidewalks a lot, more of an instinct) The country is VERY flat, definitely a big change from the hilly berkeley. I was running by the harbor today (I live REALLY close to it) and running on flat ground is definitely much easier. The night view of the harbor was amazing (sorry no pix, didn't have camera) as the other side is mainly taller office buildings lit up in different colors. There were also lots of people hanging out by the harbor. It is essentially a huge park with areas for skaters, restaurants, grassy recreational areas, and plenty of seating. Oh and of course the famous harbor pool (designed by BIG) is also there.

Alright, now that I have finally churned out my summer, I should head to bed son. My landlord is taking me out on a tour of the city, thus should be up early, though I have been taking 2-3 hr naps during the afternoon...jet lag perhaps? I will try to post more often with short updates of different things Iearned each day in Denmark.


p.s. I explored the Danish Teli (TV) today. I was surprised to find so many British and American channels. I saw friends, the steward show, (yes, they exist here) mtv, vh1, Danish nickelodeon, and bunch of movies. (including american pie) They are all subtitles with Danish. I think I was only able to find a couple Danish speaking channels...though Discovery was in Danish.