ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!!

Monday was the longest day ever. I biked to Central Station in the morning, took the train up to the design school, got a Danish flag on the way (to bring to the airport) and worked like crazy all day. I came out with some great prints and really pushed my limit of how long I can go without a break. I realized that I hadn't jogged in almost a week so when the clock struck 6pm, I headed on the train and took the bus back to Hvidovre, shoved my clothes in the laundry and went for a 30 min jog. I came back EXHAUSTED but waited to put my laundry in the dryer when THE WASHER BROKE and wouldn't let me take my clothes out! Great timing washer! I was rushing to shower and run to the airport to pick up my mother who was flying in from Amsterdam at 11pm. Finally with the help of a random Dane who was folding his laundry, we figured out the problem, I shoved my clothing in the dryer, raced upstairs and showered as quickly as possible, then bolted to get my clothes, and ran to the bus. I got a train ticket to the airport and the train car (or "vagn" as they say in Danish) was full of Sweds going to Malmo from Tivoli (the amazing amusement park I am going to tomorrow!). They were scream/singing drunkenly and I suddenly freaked out and thought I was on the wrong train. I was assured I was only 2 stops away from the airport and got off on the mission to find my mother. Let me take this time to explain something hilarious about Danish culture. They greet people at the airport with Danish flags. Its the weirdest thing! Nowhere else have I seen people greet people at the airport with the flag of their country unless its an American soldier coming back from war. Anyways, I thought that was so funny so I got one to welcome my mom. I stood at the arrivals terminal for 10 minutes watching a group of teenage girls coming back from a language program to England, cry like babies while their parents waved flags in front of them as if it were  a game. Finally my mom came out and was really thrilled to see me. We got in a cab, I dropped her off at her hotel and I went on to Natalie's apartment to sleep over. It was there that I turned 21, right when I was about to fall asleep. 

Tuesday, my birthday, Natalie and I walked to the vegan bakery near her apartment to buy cake that I could eat and share with my class. The guy there was super weird and really wanted me to know everything about these vegan, gluten free, sugar free...everything but taste free cakes they were selling. Finally I just got 2 of each piece of cake they sold and we headed up to the design school. The day couldn't have felt less like my birthday. I got up there, presented my cake, got a bunch of "Happy Birthdays" and I worked all day, through lunch and had no breaks, just so I could leave at 6pm on the dot to go get dinner with my mom. My prints turned out cool and finally it was time to go.

 I got down to Vesterport station and headed to her hotel. She gave me my presents (a Yiddish CD and A CLOG BOTTLE OPENER WITH A COW PRINT ON IT!!!...HOW AMAZING!?!?!?) We talked for a bit then headed to Ankara, a Turkish place near DIS. We had a fabulous meal, and wine, served by flirty waiters and then we walked around DIS so I can a) feel like I actually live here and b) to show my mom. We ran into a few tents where part of the Out Games programs were happening and watched a large, drunken woman, wearing a neon pink, green and yellow corset dress sing opera in Spanish about Tequila. It was soooo amusing! Apparently, Natalie and her parents were there too but had no patience for it. Finally, the day came to an end and I headed back to Hvidovre and went to sleep. 

Today felt more like my birthday. The group met at Norreport Station and headed to Malena's studio where we were served tea and coffee and were shown how to work with digital textile print (the next assignment). We left and headed to lunch which included a raspberry cake from the vegan bakery and a lox sandwich from the amazing sandwich shop I have been missing. Came back to class and worked till 4pm. The Out Games have a Tel Aviv tent 15 minutes walk away from DIS and guess who was playing at 5:30pm? IVRI LIDER!!! He is an Israeli singer whi is gay and he is fantastic!

 I went my myself and listened to him sing and at one point I actually forgot I was in Denmark. I felt as if I was in the park in Tel Aviv listening to my ipod and then I opened my eyes and realized I was in Copenhagen. It was a weird feeling, but I loved it. The concert was great, even when he sang "I Kissed a Girl and I Liked It" (which was hilarious!). I walked back to my mother's hotel and met up with her, Natalie and Sarah. We went to Chilimili's for dinner because we needed something quick and with vegetables. My mom impressed my friends and we all had a great laugh while eating a great dinner. Ever since I have known I was coming to Copenhagen this summer, I knew that I wanted to go to the IceBar for my birthday. The IceBar is a bar made entirely out of ice (furniture, shot glasses...everything!) and I only turn 21 once, so it was going to be a special bar...like one made out of ice! Sarah, Natalie, Katie and I got there and I told them it was my birthday (ok so I bent the truth but it still worked). 

They gave the 4 of us free champagne and the drink that comes with the entrance fee. In addition to that we had to wear these cape/ponchos with gloves because it is so cold. It was the funniest night ever! 

The techno music was so funny and we all looked absolutely insane in our IceBar gear, and for the first 20 minutes, we were the only ones in the bar, so we acted insane, jumping around in the ice cold room drinking champagne. Other people came and we calmed down a bit but had another drink to drink. We got it, drank, laughed a bit more and then left because our 45 minutes were up. I am so happy I decided that was going to be my birthday bar. I biked back to Hvidovre and showered. It has been an amazing birthday and I thank all the people who made is so special!

Christmas, Bikes and MALMO!!!

Three days ago we stopped playing with synthetic fabric and began working with cellulous fibers (fabric made from plants like cotton or linen). We learned to measure out our colors, which is something Michigan knows nothing about, and we have been working with shapes, stencils and overlaying. It’s been an interesting experience comparing the new things I am learning here and what I learned back in Ann Arbor. 

It is more or less the same process but here they steam everything, instead of heat setting what we create in Michigan. Still, it is the same process. I have been more or less stuck in the studio working long after we are let out of class because there is so much to do. When I get back to the kollegium, I end up heading to the bar/café and hang out with my two Danish friends Johanna, Emil and Neals. Emil works for a software company that makes a cheap 3D modeling program, Johanna is in the business school in Copenhagen but her true love is textile (love it!) and Neals is a dairy engineer worker. They are so interesting and are really nice and love to talk to us (Katie and I). It’s nice to finally meet Danes and get to know them over around 2-3 Carlsberg beers a night. Thursday night when I got to the bar, Emil told me that the following night is Christmas. Now I know I am Jewish but I know enough about Christmas to know it is in December. Here the word for Christmas phonetically is Yul and the word for July is Yuli, so they call July 24^th (6 months till Christmas eve) Yul Yuli and throw a huge Christmas party!  I got so excited and made plans to make sure I was back the next night for the festivities.

Friday, I got to class and Katie and I decided that we are finally going to get bicycles. We have three weeks left here so we might as well get them now instead of “talk about it”. The problem was that all week long it has been raining after class so it didn’t really make us want to get bikes. During lunch I sat at the picnic tables in the back of the Danish Design School with a bunch of girls and Katie announced that she just got a bike from the cycle shop across the street and is picking it up after class.

 So I thought to myself, “All I want for Christmas is a bicycle!” So I walked over and asked the man in the shop if I could rent a bicycle for 3 weeks and I would love it if it could have a basket. He said it would be ready by that afternoon. I was so excited and continued my work in the studio waiting to go with Katie to pick up our bikes at 4pm. Finally 4 rolled around and Katie and I ran to the bike shop. The man showed me my bike and I fell in love…IT IS YELLOW!!!  I always pictured myself riding around Copenhagen on a yellow bicycle and now it came true. The sized me up to my bike, attached the back basket and then sent me on my way in the pouring rain. We locked our bikes in the back of school and realized we were locked out.  After 20 minutes of banging on the door the librarian heard our cries and let us in. We printed the rest of the day and Sarah and I grew STARVING! We headed to a Vietnamese restaurant, which was super fancy (we were so not dressed correctly) and literally had a candle lit diner. 

The food was amazing! After dinner I got on the train with my bike and decided to take it to Central Station. I don’t know how to bike from the Design School so I decided it would be smart to bike from a location I was familiar with, especially since I didn’t have a helmet. Once I started biking , it was smooth sailing. I took Ingerslevsgade to Vigerslev Alle and then cut to the Hvidovre hospital. It was around a 20-25 minute train ride and I felt so accomplished (with an sore butt). I sat in my room singing some Kabbalat Shabbat prayers before napping and heading down to the Christmas party! (I know, I have been soooo Jewish since I have been here) I get downstairs and everyone is wearing Santa hats and drinking the special addition Turborg Christmas beer. So naturally I drank some too. Lets just say it was a long night and I ended up getting to bed at 3:30am.

I woke up the next morning at 11am and knew that I needed to write my paper. It isn’t due until August 3^rd but I know that since my mom is visiting this week, I wasn’t going to have time to write it. So I wrote it and sent it to my dad to edit (the hardest part is over). Of course I went right back to sleep after I finished and woke up at 4 pm, showered and biked over to Central Station and took the train up to the Design School. I was working in the studio from 6pm till 11pm. It was insane. I can’t believe I didn’t even realize what time it was. 

Katie, Sarah and I left the studio and headed to the center of town to grab some food but instead we found the World Out Games party in City Hall Square. What are the World Out Games? A simple explanation is that it is the gay Olympics and each country sends a team of all types of sports. The sports are everything ranging from running, rugby to swimming and also include bridge, line dancing, and chess to name a few. The party was a huge light show with techno music that ended 5 minutes after we got there. While heading to find food we saw the Canadian, Mexican and Australian teams and then found a Middle Eastern place to eat. We ordered and say at a table next to 3 women from the Nova Scotia softball team, talked to them for a few minutes and then scarfed down our food. Katie and I headed to the bus and got home at around 1am.

Today I met Natalie, her parents and Sarah at the Central Station and we headed off to Malmo! I was so happy to be going back to Sweden. I can’t even describe what it is about that country that makes me so happy but it is amazing! We walked around the old town for a bit, went into a few design shops, felt really smart that we could identify textile patterns by their designers and then found an Italian restaurant to eat lunch. Natalie’s parents are really nice and sweet. I finally got a few Swedish souvenirs and a really spiffy sweatshirt from H&M (IN SWEDEN!) After walking around the rest of Malmo, we headed back to Copenhagen and I grabbed my bike from Central Station and biked back to Hvidovre. Tomorrow my mom flies into Copenhagen and then it is MY BIRTHDAY! I am so excited for this week!

Who knew I would love spandex so much?

Sunday I woke up and had to get to Natalie's apartment by 1pm (her foot was fine, just badly bruised). Sarah and I met there and the three of us decided it would be a great idea to go to the Danish Design School, the school where we will be working in for the next few weeks. We had never been there so we took the train up to the Norhavn train station and found a) the bakery (very important to most participants of the DIS program) and b) the school. Now that we felt comfortable getting there, we decided to walk back. Since we have been meeting at the DIS building, that area is all we know, so why not explore the rest of the city and really take in the other neighborhoods, not just the tourist and central bubbles. So off we went on our merry way to try to find our way back to DIS. Of course, it started to rain, but within 25 minutes, we ended up in a familiar part of town, the King's Gardens, and knew our way back to DIS as if it were home. We actually ended up in the Secret Square and stopped for lunch at the place Nathalie Mahler suggested (it has no name that we remember). I ate a chicken, pineapple and chutney sandwich and it was delicious. Sorry about not taking a picture of it... next time I will. After lunch, we headed to DIS to work on our concepts. The three of us spent four hours there, working on our design concepts. Mine is about the Myyrnaki church right outside Helsinki and how every part of the church is inspired by the birch tree forest that surrounds it. So my concept is birch trees in textiles. I ended up making a repeat pattern of my whimsical, Dr.Seuss-like trees, to see if the horizontal and vertical lines would work together and not work the eye, but then looking at it from far away it looked a bit more like earth worms than trees. At that point, I rolled it up and called it a day, then headed to Chillimili's for dinner. After stuffing myself with delicious vegetarian food I headed back to Hvidovre and went to bed.

Yesterday, Katie and I met at 7:30am and headed to Natalie's apartment, then  to the train station that took us to the Danish Design School. We were supposed to meet at 9am, but we ended up getting there at 8:15am. Since we had 45 minutes to kill, we headed to the bakery, they bought buttery pastries while I bought a walnut roll with jam (delicious!) and decided to walk around and investigate the neighborhood. Everything was closed but there seemed to be stores everywhere.

 Finally 9am rolled around and we each got an ID card with a cartoon drawing of a man as our photo (funny because the ten of us are all girls). Got up to the textile studios (of course its the top floor) and got an introduction of our facility. The machinery is so much more high tech and impressive than anything we have at the University of Michigan. It make my jaw drop. Some of the things were old but at least they existed in the space! The first thing we learned was about "man-made fabrics" otherwise known as "synthetic materials"... polyester, spandex, nylon, rayon..etc. 

Since it is not natural and more or less plastic, we have the ability to form it into a shape. 

So lets say we have a piece of synthetic fabric and we take a pebble, place it in the middle of the fabric and then tie a piece of thread around it so that the fabric is covering the pebble, steam the fabric for an hour and cut the thread off, the fabric will hold the shape of it having a pebble. Why? Because the steam is heating the fabric so that the plastic fibers are flexible enough to form a new shape. ITS MIND BLOWING!!!The next thing we learned was to paint copy paper with polyester inks and then put it in a heat press with a piece of synthetic fabric and it creates a heat transfer...easy as that! That night, Katie and I came home, bought food and made a delicious chicken tikka masala, with rice, broccoli and peppers! It was delightful!

This morning was the hardest part of the synthetic materials assignments.  The third task was to combine the two things we already learned; creating an image from the heat transfer as well as using the 3-D form usage we learned that works with our concept. I felt a bit out of my league so I just decided to play around and hoped that something would come to me...AND IT DID! After trying a million samples, I figured out that I could pleat the fabric, heat transfer an image of a birch tree forest and then when it is closed, there is a forest, but when it opens up, you see the individual trees! IT WAS AMAZING! I FIGURED IT OUT!

 So now I am working on the color and will hopefully have an amazing piece to show later on this week! After Lunch we headed north to Jaegersborg Dyrehave, a forest/woodsy place where deer roam (and poop everywhere!) and horse carriages give tours while other bike, jog, hike and walk on the beautiful trails. There are so many deer there! We even saw an albino one! I am 100% going to take my mom there for a walk and picnic when she comes to visit me. Anyways, at the other side of the park, there is an old area where specialized crafts people live and work in their studios and we were there to meet up with Lisbet Friis , a textile designer with really cool, high quality and simple designs. 

We got to her studio and Gilhund was there to welcome us in. As we piled up in her studio she Lisbet began to explain her work to us. Her first ever exhibition, she decided to work with military medals and ribbons. The color, the meaning behind the stripes and what not. She showed us how certain colors for certain countries means the soldier fought in a specific region, was in prison and other interesting facts. So she made an amazing textile work revolving that. Then she was commissioned by the Queen of Denmark, to create a pattern to re-upholster her furniture in two rooms on her yacht (not bad ey?). After that she began making striped patterns and printing it on really nice quality Belgium linen and is making pillow covers out of them. In addition, she created patterns for an exhibition that was a  few hundred meters of patterned fabrics folded up as if it was a linen closet. She was so nice and answered all our questions over tea, coffee and CAKE that she made herself! After our field trip, we walked through the woods/forest back to the train station, I went to the grocery store on the way back to Hvidovre and then went jogging for 45 minutes. 

Herring and Hospitals

Thursday, we got a day off to wash our clothing and come up with concepts for our piece. Most of us did not work on our textile work because we were being super lazy. Katie and I agreed to meet noon to get our bikes, so when I woke up at 8am I was ready to be productive. I put my clothes in the wash, went for a 30 min run and came back to put the clothes in the dryer, went online for 20 minutes, took my laundry up to my room, showered and then folded and put my clothes away...and I was done by 11am. So I read the rest of my book and waited for Katie. She came at 1pm to tell me she felt awful and that she doesn't even know where the bike place is so we didn't get bikes... sad sad. But we did make dinner plans. I skyped and caught up with Sid and my parents the rest of the day. Katie, Ari and I left at 6:20pm to meet up with Sarah and waited till 8pm to meet up with Cody to eat dinner (You could probably imagine how hungry I felt). Anyways, we ate dinner and took a post dinner walk which really meant that we ended up at Cody, Natalie and Allegra's apartment. After a bit of hanging out Katie, Ari and I left and headed back to Hvidovre to sleep.

We had class Friday, 9am sharp, and Gilhund was there to see what concepts we came up with. Lets just say she was not impressed with our ideas because we barely had any. It was more like a thought vs. sketched out ideas. So we were assigned our first homework assignment, to do it all over the weekend. That cramped my style a bit because Sarah, Natalie and I were planing to go to Malmo, Sweden for the weekend, but we were going to do it anyways. We actually had a field trip to the studio of Helle Vibeke Jensen, in Refshaleøen (if you know Copenhagen geography, its the rural part past Christiania). Helle is an illustrator with collage and has a really interesting style. She showed us her work and her process which was very interesting. She then gave us each a gift, a free picture book she just finished called "Snakedog" and its really cool looking. After her presentation, we went to a cable park where people can wake board and water ski using a cable system.

Apparently, she and her husband own the park and it has a very fake California feel to it and Danes love to come and try out the water sports scene. The textile girls watched as some people did amazing jobs and others failed miserably, while our lunch was being prepared. What was lunch? Smoked Herring! I have had a negative view on herring because Jews eat it pickled WHICH IS NASTY AND GROSS! But this was smoked so I was willing to try it. A huge tray of whole fish came out and Helle taught us how to get the meat of the fish off. First we cut the head and tail off. Then we tap the skin on the side facing up, to loosen it so it would be easier to peel off, then a few cuts and pulls to get the meat off the bones and we place the meat on smorrebroed (otherwise known as super dense grainy bread... delicious!) throw a few sliced radishes, cut chives, we were supposed to put egg yolk on top too but thanks to cholesterol I did not, and course sea salt and VOILA our meal was ready. I felt like a surgeon while working on the herring. It took me at least 10 minutes to get the whole thing in order but I finally did it and guess what? It tasted great! I was so surprised at how everything mixed together so well. After the meal we headed back to the old part of Copenhagen through a famous part called Christiania. Christiania was originally an abandoned military base and in the 70's a bunch of hippies came in and started growing a neighborhood. Somehow they worked it out that nobody had to pay rent or pay to buy the homes there because they just made their houses from random things they found. Its like a little recycled and reused haven. The other thing about Christiania is that for a while drugs were legal so there was a huge market for them until the police came in and would cause riots and raids. So now it is more or less calmer because of a new generation and now they pay for water, gas and electricity but they still don't pay rent and drugs are kinda legal but not as openly as they were in the past. They also don't like when people take pictures there because of originality and the drug scene, so no tourists take photos. Its a beautiful neighborhood surrounded by creativity, nature and everyone seems happy. We finally got close to DIS and Natalie and I were planning to check train times for Malmo when suddenly Natalie's food got stuck under plywood used to hide constructions on the sidewalk. Her foot bruised and blew up within seconds and all she could say was "Oh my god, I have a hematoma on my foot, thats so gross, Oh my god!" Gilhund got ice from a cafe and Amanda got a rickshaw while Natalie was on the phone with DIS getting the name of a hospital. The rickshaw took us to a taxi and the taxi took Natalie, Sarah and me to the hospital. We spent 3 hours there trying to pass time and then they took Natalie in. 45 minutes later I get a text saying that she hasn't been seen yet and then when she finally saw a doctor, they poked at her foot and pronounced it "not broken" gave her some generic painkillers and an ace bandage "sock" and said if it doesn't go away within a few days to come back. 4 hours for nothing. Natalie had a movie ticket for Harry Potter that night and couldn't make the show so the three of us got pizza (mine was cheese-less of course), hard cider and watched as much as we could of "A Very Potter Musical" on YouTube (its a satire of Harry Potter that the musical theater kids at Michigan did in the spring and it is fantastic!) Sarah and Natalie seemed to enjoy themselves and we left Natalie when the buses were about to stop running.

Yesterday I woke up with a headache and the sound of rain on my window and went right back to sleep. Woke up again, took an advil, popped my daily pills and took a shower, talked on skype with my parents, Sid and Yonit (which was an amazing treat!) and did absolutely nothing all day because I felt so crappy. I finally felt better and found an invitation to Natalie's apartment for a mini party. So I decided to go and it was really fun! I left early though because I started to feel gross again and needed more sleep. Being sick sucks.

Photos from Finland

The flags on the ship.

Marimekko...my obsession store.

The fabulous dessert Natalie, Sarah and I ate in Helsinki.

The Temppeliaukio Rock Church.

Hot air balloons over Helsinki!

Myyrmaki Kyrka...beautiful right?

Marimekko current spring designs.

Next spring's marimekko design!

Natalie, Sarah and I sitting on an amazing marimekko designed couch and cushions!

FINLAND

I consider the beginning of my Finland experience to start on the overnight ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki. We boarded the "Viking Line" cruise boat and I was placed in a room with Natalie, Brittany and Amanda. We got to our room and it was so tiny, with 4 fold out beds and a tiny bathroom. We all headed up to the top deck to wave goodbye to Sweden and were on our way to the east. Natalie, Sarah and I headed straight for the sauna before dinner. We were told that Finland is famous for their saunas and we weren't going to waste any time. It was a bit confusing figuring out the sauna vs. steam room situation, not to mention the large amount of speedos we saw, but it was a great sauna...those Fins know how to sweat! Dinner was a "Viking buffet" consisting of 4 courses. The first was fish, followed by meat, then cheese and last dessert, but salad is allowed at all times. Lets just say nobody left hungry. It was fantastic, and I sat at a table that had conversations about embarrassing childhood stories. I laughed so hard! The night continued at a dance bar of sorts that had a live band playing really obscure and random English music. A bunch of us just went to the middle of the dance floor and hopped around. It was loads of fun. Then we made our way to the bar/pub next door where a woman was singing and had audience participation for harmonies. That was amazing. One more thing about the atmosphere of the boat, they don't call it a booze cruise for nothing. People drink like fish on this boat, its crazy! Finally, Natalie and I decided it was time to turn in since we both felt kinda sick. I fell asleep that night by the boat rocking me back and forth and not in a good way. 

The next morning I felt miserable. My head felt like it was 3 times it's size, and my nose was winning the marathon. We finally arrived in Helsinki and checked into the Scandic Grand Marina Hotel where I was living with Natalie in our quarantine room for the sick and miserable. We instantly were on our way to the Helsinki Design Museum where they had an exhibition on modern textiles and rugs. I kept thinking about how much Nancy would have loved this exhibit. Maybe it will come to NYC? We then headed to Finlandia Hall which is more or less like the Lincoln Center of Helsinki and was designed by Alvar Aalto. Finland loves Alvar Aalto but I think he is overrated. All his buildings were pretty cold and dreary (not including the rainy Helsinki weather) and the only thing I liked about him was his random practical furniture he made that all of Finland uses. Once we left, we headed to the Sokos Hotel Torni where they have a rooftop bar and all I ordered was a hot tea because I was so sick. I bought Strepsils, otherwise known as the cough drop that saved me in Israel on Year Course and the FDA didn't pass it, and carried one of the boxes of tissues that Natalie and I bought out at the Duty Free on the ferry. Finally, we were allowed to head back to the hotel and Natalie and I sickly decided we were going to be lazy and go to the sauna and then eat at the hotel for dinner. And so we did and called it an early night. 

The next day we headed to the Ateneum Art Museum that had an exhibition called Kalevala. Basically, since Finland was under Swedish rule for 700 years then 100 years under Russia, it felt the need to create it's own identity once it became independent. This exhibition was geared towards Finish folklore and traditions to create a Finish identity. We saw many amazing statues and paintings. I was quite impressed. 

The rest of the day was mainly an "Americas Next Top Model" day in Helsinki. Natalie, Sarah and I headed to the open market, bought strawberries, blueberries and crepes and had our amazing lunch. The berries in Finland are amazing because their spring lasts for so long that the berries keep on growing and ripen in no time. Then we headed to Ivana Helsinki, marimekko, iittala, Artek and other amazing design stores. My favorite was of course marimekko. I am in love with her designs! After that we went to the Kiasma Museum of Art, otherwise known as the MOMA of Finland. I have never hated a museum so much in my entire life. The exhibit was called "Horror"  and it felt like I was in a haunted fun house! It was so terrifying that I had to leave in the middle and focus on my sketches from previous museums. Finally we left and headed for the Temppeliaukio Rock Church. This church is made out of rocks glass and wire and we were able to sit there for 30 minutes while an orchestra was practicing. That night was our last night in Helsinki so we went as a group to this fancy restaurant and ate fancy shmansy food. The entertainment of the night was a little girl with her sister and parents but this girl was a platinum blond that had hair like a troll doll from the early 90's. None of us could control ourselves and were laughing the entire night! 

The next morning we checked out of the hotel at 8am and headed on the bus to Vantaa, Finland where the most amazing church exists. 

The church is called Myyrmaki Kyrka and it is in a birch tree forest. The architects built a very modern building that compliments the vertical birch trees and inside it has lots of glass so the light shines in and lamps that look like orbs hang down and create and amazing spiritual environment. It was beautiful. Then we headed to Luoma, a 20 minute bus ride from Vantaa to a house and lake called Hvittrask. There lived Eliel Saarinen the famous architect and we got a tour of his home which was really amazing. 

Then came the most amazing part of the trip, the marimekko factory. Because of copyright issues I am not allowed to post any of the images from the factory but I can show prints that are for this season. We got a whole tour and I was in heaven. I would learn Finnish and move to Helsinki if I could work there.  Helsinki was nice except that I got sick, but I probably wouldn't come back as fast as I would to Stockholm. We headed to the airport and landed in Copenhagen at 7pm. I fell straight asleep.  

Pictures from Sweden

Tio-Gruppen bags. I am really considering purchasing one. They are so funky!

This is a Josef Frank (SvensktTenn) print on a couch and pillows...isn't it amazing!?!?!?

Another Josef Frank print(SvensktTenn). I am so obsessed. They are so beautiful

I was clearly made to model for the Swedish phone booths.

Gamel Stan, the old city of Stockholm on a cloudy day.

The best thing I have ever seen in a print. This one is part of a design from Jobs Handtryck.

 

One of my favorite designs from Jobs Handtryck.

The entrance to the hand printing studio. Isn't it cute? I feel like that is the only word that can describe this door.

A really fun mural we saw while running around Stockholm trying to find fun designs to sketch.

My future rug. I might be in love ... it even has a great texture when you walk on it.

The Zinkensdamm station had an obsession with radish patterns.

SWEDEN

Remember the Swedish chef from Sesame Street? If you have no idea what I am talking about, look it up on youtube, if you do know what I am talking about, SWEDISH ACTUALLY SOUNDS LIKE THAT!

Thursday July 9^th, I woke up at 5:30am to catch a 7am train. We all made it on time and were oh so groggy. We got on the first train that goes from Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden and even if it was only a 45 minute train ride, we all managed to fall asleep.In Malmo we switched to the train to Stockholm. It took us 5 hours to get there and of course we slept for the majority of the ride. Once we got off the train, we walked through the most beautiful metro station and took the subway to the Zinkensdamm Hostel. 

I was in a room with Katie R. and Natalie so we got up to our room and dropped our stuff, came back to the lobby of the hostel and we all went to our first activity. One would think a study trip would be somewhat academic based…this study trip started off amazingly. Our first stop was at a store that sold products by the designers Tio-Gruppen. They were a group of 10 designers who got together to make a more modern/graphic look to textiles. It was fascinating to hear about them and see their bold patterns all over the shop. We were given a break for lunch and then headed to the center of Stockholm to go to SvensktTenn, where the designs of Josef Frank are sold. Josef Frank was a half-Jewish textile designer furniture designer and architect from Vienna in the 1920s and was found by a Swedish woman who owned an artistic pewter shop and interior design company. 

Josef moved to Sweden and worked for her until he had to move to the US because of WWII. But the most important thing about Josef Frank are that his designs are magnificent! They are so colorful and bold, beautiful and delicate and I am obsessed with them. After taking pictures of everything in the store, we walked to Gamla Stan, the old city of Stockholm. Natalie wanted to see the palace and get a peak at the royals but all we saw were the guards and their funny shaped helmets. That night our group ate dinner at a delicious vegetarian restaurant and walked back to our hostel.

The next day we got up very early because we had to take a 3 hour bus ride to Leksand (northern Sweden). We all managed to catch up on the sleep we all needed and woke up to find ourselves in rainy weather and at Jobs Handtryck, a place where they produce the textile designs of the Jobs family by hand printing at their own facility. 

It was amazing to see how large designs are silk screened in bulk for merchandise and not at the University of Michigan, School of Art & Design. After that we headed back onto the bus and got lost for another hour and a half until we reached Sundborn. Most people ate a hearty traditional Swedish meal filled with cheese and red meat while I ate lots of salad. After that we walked around the restaurant and ended up at Carl Larsson’s house. Carl Larsson was a famous Danish painter who had an amazingly quirky and modern look to interior design. His house had hand painted murals on the walls and ceilings, portrait of his family in different walls over the house and his wife had an amazing eye for modern needle point, weaving and embroidery. Our guide was hilarious and made so many funny English jokes while giving the tour. Finally we spent 3 more hours driving back to Stockholm and of course we slept. Because we had basically slept for most of the day, we were all pretty wired up and ready to do something that night. Katie C, Katie R, Natalie, Sarah and I headed to find what we had been craving all day, Indian food, and we had found it! It was a small restaurant with beautiful mosaics and delicious food. I wish Kavita were there to witness how spicy the chicken vindaloo was and that I survived eating it…and it was amazing! After dinner we went searching for a bar and ended up in an American bar where the red socks were playing on the TVs. If only another bar was open that night…oh well. We drank and had a great time then came back to the hostel and went to bed.

The next day is something Sarah, Natalie and I called “America’s Next Top Model” day. If you know the show this will be easy to understand, if not I will explain. First of all I would just like to mention I only watch the show when there is a marathon on and I am home for a long period of time…aka when I come back from school and that is the only thing on. Secondly, there is one episode in every season when the last few models remaining go on something called a go-see (meaning they have a list of designers who they need to see and in a way audition to get a booking for a fashion show). 

On the show, they are told to come back at a certain time, and if they are late they lose the challenge. Our assignment on Saturday was to go to as many of the design stores on the sheet of paper we were given and sketch as much as we can that we find interesting and beautiful in the stores then come back by 1pm for lunch. Sarah, Natalie and I rushed out the door and started on our merry way. On the show, they are in a different country so they need to deal with mode of transportation and language as a crutch. For us, we didn’t know how to pronounce the names of streets so it was very difficult to get around. Two guys came up to us and asked if we were Swedish and when we answered no, they were thrilled because they were Swedish and needed Americans to help them with a bachelor party scavenger hunt so we helped them out (called their friend and told them a clue) and they helped us in return by giving directions. We made it to David Designs, Asplund,  Design Torget, Nordic Gallery and then headed back to the Kulturhuset for lunch. We didn’t make it to all the galleries and showrooms but we made it to most. Lunch was eaten and then we headed to Lilijevalchs Museum where there was an exhibit on Ikea through out the decades (IT WAS SO INTERESTING) and the Nordiska Museum where we sketched old Swedish textiles. That night Sarah, Natalie and I went out for really nice Swedish Pizza (and they made mine without cheese!!!) and we bonded so much, it was very nice.

Sunday was our last day in Sweden and it made me realize how much I loved the city. I can see myself coming back over and over again, maybe even study here for a masters. The design is  beautiful, the city is welcoming and it really just made me happy that we had come to Stockholm. That morning we woke up and checked out of the hostel and headed for the Modern Museum of Stockholm. It was nice but I think we spent too much time there. After that we went to the National Museum of Stockholm where they had THE COOLEST FURNITURE EVER!!! 

I spent all my time there sketching one lamp and two sets of drawers. We finished at the museum and rushed over to get our luggage and headed to the port to get onto our overnight ferry, the “Viking Line”, that was taking us to Helsinki. Brittany, Amanda, Natalie and I were in a room together and it was the smallest room ever! We all met on the top deck to wave goodbye to Sweden. I was a bit sad because I really did love Sweden (and I think they have the best color combination of the Scandinavian flags) and I can’t wait to possibly go back. Natalie, Sarah and I are planning to go to Malmo this weekend.

Off to Sweden and Finland!

Hello fellow readers, I am off to Sweden and Finland. This may mean that I do not post for a week. I am not bringing my laptop but was told I have internet access in the hostel and hotel so we will see if that is true. If I do, great and I will write mini posts about the days and add a picture post in  the end but if not I will write one blog entry for Sweden and one for Finland and include pictures! Now I must leave for the central bus station or else I will miss my train!!!

P is for Pattern

This morning was cinnamon roll special at the bakery, the place where I buy nothing for myself but watch everyone indulge in flakey, buttery goodness. I did buy one, but it wasn't for me. This one is Josh's birthday present. I promised him a Danish danish for his birthday but Denmark doesn't do danish like America does. Katie, who went to pastry school told me that cinnamon rolls are part of the danish family and that is good enough for me. I placed it in a plastic food bag and headed up to class. You may be wondering why I am mentioning Josh's present in my blog. I know very well that he doesn't have any time with him being a head counselor at camp and training for the Chicago marathon. So if he even reads this I will be surprised. And if he does, this is a heads up for a piece of mail! We have been working on our prints that started with flowers. My shapes have become way more abstract so I see it more like a bird or something. We tried different styles using only black and white and I like it enough not to tear it apart and start over. The next pattern was an exercise on using color overlay to your advantage in making a pattern with many dimensions. Lunch came around and my mission was to find the post office. After looking for 10 minutes on the street I finally found it behind a large construction site, walked in, set up my package with the letter and headed to the woman at the desk. She even gave me a free envelope. 

The second portion of class was to keep working on our patterns and then we discussed our study trip that starts tomorrow morning. We are leaving for Stockholm on a 7:20am train, spending 3 nights in Stockholm, taking an overnight ferry to Helsinki, spending 3 nights there and then flying back home to Copenhagen. Our itinerary is amazing! We are going to so many show rooms, factories and studios that I don't think I can control myself! Katie and I came back to Hvidovre and packed then I came back down to the inner city to meet up with Nathalie Mahler. We went to a delicious Thai place and had a wonderful conversation. There is something about talking to a person who kind of knows who you are but really doesn't know you that well. I love finding out new things about people I have heard or just met and want to strengthen the bond. Anyways, after dinner we walked to the harbor and the Royal Theater. It was the first time I had been in the area on land and it looked beautiful with all the lights on in the dark.