Travel essential

I just want to say that Downey Wrinkle Releaser is fantastic. I don't want to think about the chemicals that are in it. All I need to know is how amazing it is removing wrinkles from my clothes. Travel essential!

Sweden/Finland Pics

Here are some more pics from my Sweden/Finland study tour
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93756&id=569978631&l=ea13a03b18

Life is Good

So, on Saturday, I refused to do any school work. I rented a bike and just rode all over the city. It was really nice to have some time to myself and explore the city. For late lunch/early dinner, I got a small bottle of wine, some fancy meat and cheese package, and tortilla chips and went and sat by the water and people watched. I can’t imagine a much better Saturday.

random pics

Procrastination is vital to a designer’s creative process. At least it is in my experience. The pressure one gets from waiting until the last minute gets the brain juices flowing. I don’t know any designers that start projects early or even when they should . That being said, that’s exactly what I’m doing right now. Ha! I am supposed to start designing a hostel within an old ferry terminal in Copenhagen for studio. I have a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head, but I just can’t get myself to go up to studio and start creating. Even though I know I will treat myself to a free hot chocolate when I go there. It’s not enough motivation for me!

I want to comment on the Danes, especially the Danish women. They have style, yo! I love the way they dress. Everyone looks put together and are individuals. You see hair of all different colors, funky outfits, fun jewelry, etc. I’m also impressed with the way they are able to bike along the cobblestones in heels and dresses while talking on the phone and avoiding pedestrians. Amazing. One trait that seems to be common among Danish women, besides the blond hair and tallness, model-like figures, is that they all typically seem to have deep voices. That’s all I have to say about that.

The Danish men are also interesting, although I typically prefer darker haired gentlemen. Ha I’ve noticed that the Danes generally keep to themselves. They are probably very friendly but are not overtly friendly to tourists, unlike other countries I’ve seen.

(sorry for the ugly layout again-this website is annoying)

Oh geez

I just have to say that while it’s amazing being in Scandinavia, this whole school thing is getting in the way of my exploring of the city. I did not expect it to be so busy…and tough! I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do since I’ve been out of school for 5 years, unlike most of the other students here. Plus, I feel a lot of pressure because the Dean of the RISD Interior Design program is one of the professors here and he told us (us being the RISD students here) that he expects a lot from us. Arghhhhh! Pressure! Pressure! I should get 9 credits from this program and it’ll be my first RISD grades. I must do well! Despite the pressure, I have to admit that it is fun getting back into the design world. I’m using parts of my brain that have been neglected the past couple of years.

Also, I just have to say is that I MISS MY CLOTHES! I’m already sick of what I packed. I can’t wait to be home and able to switch it up a bit. My shirts, my dresses, my skirts, my shorts…they probably all feel so abandoned. Don’t worry, wardrobe, I’ll be back soon!

And, not to sound like a crazy cat lady, but I miss Figgy (my cat) also! Luckily, I know he’s in good hands with my mom! Meow.

I should be getting to school soon, but it’s a rare day with nothing scheduled so I’m taking my sweet time even though I know the longer I put off going to school, the longer I’ll have to be at school. Fortunately, I’ve figured out the night busses so I can get home. (PS Copenhagen is an extremely safe city, so for all those who don’t like the idea of me taking a night bus, it’s perfectly safe.)

Kiasma, part 2

Kiasma

This a a modern art musuem design by Steven Holl in Helsinki, Finland.

Helsinki, Finland...part two

Helsinki, Finland

Sweden and Finland

I lost my shoe in the sea. I’m guessing that the Danish mermaids are now using it for a silly underwater flip-flop tag football with the fish. Nooo, I didn't lose it because of alcohol consumption. I lost it because I was being silly and taking jumping pictures (where someone takes a picture of you right as you are jumping) near the edge of the ferry, which took us from Sweden to Finland. It just flew right off my foot. Sad, sad. However, I never liked those flops anyways.

I haven't updated my blog in awhile because I didn't really have internet connection while away. We took a tour of Sweden and Finland for 8 days. Basically to sum it up, I can say that it was amazing, exhausting, and a great bonding experience. They are fantastic countries that I probably never would have visited if it weren’t for this trip. The countryside of Finland was gorgeous, as was the countryside of Sweden. There were lots of trees, lots of dramatic skies, lots of lakes, and lots of rolling hills. What I really enjoyed was Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. I had no idea what to expect so I didn’t have high expectations. So the city obviously exceeded all expectations. It was a beautiful, interesting old medieval city that has so much to offer. I hope to one day go back. Two days there was not enough.

I ate so well on this trip, compared to what I eat in Copenhagen (basically crap). They provided us with two meals a day, and they were good meals! We went on two overnight ferries (to and from Finland). The ferries had an hour long all-you-can-eat-and-drink (wine on tap) buffet. Woohoo!

Besides eating, drinking, and some exploring, we saw many amazing buildings. I'll attach pics later (I'm still going through them seeing how I took so many!). Lots and lots of sketching took place. I've never sketched so much in my life!

I experienced the Finnish sauna culture (click on link for more info). Apparently every family and single person has a sauna. It’s a big part of the culture. We had a sauna near our hostel in the middle of nowhere in Finland. It was amazing. You sit in the sauna while all the toxins sweat out of you, then go jump in the ice cold lake, and then repeat as necessary. I repeated twice.

I finally had a chance to hang out with locals on this trip. Some of us Americans made friends with some local Swedes, who took us dancing. I can now say I’ve danced in a Swedish club to Ace of Base (a Swedish band) with a Swede. What girl doesn’t want to be able to say that!

I’m sure I have so many more stories from the trip, but it’s really hot in this computer lab and I have tons of school work to do. Pictures will be attached later......

Fun pics

First studio project

This is also going to be a short post because I had a very long week and also pulled an all-nighter last night working on a project. We were assigned groups and and a buildng. Our groups were supposed to analyze the buildings and build a model, and then this morning after 1.5 weeks, we were to have a critique on our analysis. I don't know if you realize this but it always takes at least 3 times longer than you think to build a model, espicially if you haven't built one in more than 4 years! :) We got it done and our model is beautiful (modesty is key here). I attached some pics of the view from our studio and the model.

Tomorrow we leave at 8am sharp for Finland and Sweden for a week. I'm very excited about that. I'll keep you posted!

Church

We went on a field trip earlier this week to the "suburbs" of Copenhagen to see several sites. I'm including pictures of my two favorites. I would write more about them but I am sleepy. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I can't remember the name or architect of this brick church above (I'll have to get back to you!) (sidenote-the skies in Copenhagen are amazingly dramatic and change every 10 minutes. One minute it's raining and the next the sun it out.) Below is a church by Jorn Utzon (the guy who designed the Sydney Opera House). It was really cool actually seeing this building because I remember studying it back in undergrad and being really interested in it. Sorry for my ugly layout. This website makes it very hard to make things look nice. bleh.

Fourth of July!

Happy (belated) 4th! The UC kids (the ones I mentioned in my previous blog) did good and threw a party on Copenhagen's only beach for the 4th. We even got to see fireworks from the downtown amusement park-Tivoli. (They do fireworks every Wed and Sat.) It was like we never left America! And that's why we travel, right? To pretend we never left the US...ha! (That pic was taken about 11 at night.)

Also went to Danish Design Center for $5. Best deal I've found in Denmark!

Open Air Musuem

Seaweed roof-a bit smelly

On Friday, we took a field trip to the Open Air Museum, a 30-minute bus ride away from downtown Copenhagen. At the Open Air Musuem, they have exact replicas of vernacular (traditional) Danish housing from the past and different regions. It was really interesting to see how different regions constructed their homes. For as basic as the homes were, they were very sustainable in the ways that they were built. Also, while the lecturers have gone on and on about how light affects a space, at the Open Air Museum, I've fully realized that the Danes are obsessed with light. For good reason, since they live in the dark most of the winter. The assignment for this field trip was to sketch as much as we can to try to understand how the houses work and are put together. (I definately need to work on my sketching skills. I was very rusty!) It was a looooong, hoooooot afternoon. (I don't think I've stopped sweating since coming to this Scandanavian country-there is no relief from the heat and humidity!) During our field trip, I met several of my future RISD classmates. I think I'm going to like most of them. They seem interesting and come from a wide variety of backgrounds. This program is alot bigger than I thought it would be. I think there are about 160 students in the architecture, interior architecture, furniture design, and textile classes. About 40 of them are from Unv. of Cincinatti. You can't go anywhere without coming across a UC kid. Little annoying.

There's a link to the museum website in the title of this posting.