Copenhagen in bloom

The late spring in Copenhagen has been stunning. Everything seems to have bloomed at high speed, as the trees, shrubs and bulbs burst into life with the longer days and warmer  temperatures. Since the beginning of May the change has been dramatic. The almost luminous green of the horse chestnut tree leaves completely transforms our lake view from the apartment . Last weekend I came across coot ducklings amongst the reeds on one of the quieter lakes as well as nesting swans. Mostly I've been making it a priority to take a bike break and walk through the parks to enjoy all the changes, but occasionally I remembered to take a few photos.

The season shift has coincided with friends coming to visit, from Australia, New Zealand and Colorado. A week ago one of the highlights was a leisurely picnic in the Kongens Have (King's Park) close to these gorgeous trees.

Being in northern Europe spring and summer can feel like a fleeting thing, you have to get out and make the most of it, as these glorious days are interspersed with the contrasting overcast skies and rain. 

Are you sitting comfortably?

Recently I spent a great morning exploring at the Danish Design Museum.
http://designmuseum.dk/en
I had been meaning to go for ages as I often cycle past it. The chill wintry days continue and museum visits have been a good way to keep exploring the city, and also stay warm.

I was interested in the area of the museum which show cased the mid twentieth century furniture, particularly a huge range of Danish chair designs. There were so many variations on a these wooden chairs. Normally you just see a couple of examples. Here are a few of my favorites, along with shots of the galleries.

Y-stolen, 1950 by Hans J Wegner

Double chieftan chair, 1949 by Finn Juhl

Arne Jacobsen: Egg chair (C) & Swan chair (R)

There was a small room dedicated to the designer and architect Arne Jacobsen.
http://www.arne-jacobsen.com/en/arne-jacobsen  Many of his original designs are still being made. Some will look very familiar as his bentwood chairs have been much copied.

Ant 3100 chair,  by Arne Jacobsen, Fritz Hansen

Sometimes while looking at furniture in museums I want to know what it is like to use it. An added bonus in Denmark is that because many of these chairs are still in production you actually can test them at some of the furniture design shops.

In the case of some Arne Jacobsen's chairs you can visit the Radisson Blu Hotel in the center of Copenhagen. It was designed by Jacobsen, completed in 1959 and at the time was Denmark's first skyscaper. Jacobsen designed everything for the interior as well as the building. There is still one room 606 preserved with all the original pieces. If you want to sit in an Egg or a Swan chair you can go in and enjoy a drink at the hotel bar and try one out.

I am definitely a fan of the mid-century designers, the later rooms from 1970's and 1980's were not so inspiring. If you want to learn more about Danish design I found this site very informative http://www.danish-furniture.com/

Some of the more recent designs definitely raise the question "are you sitting comfortably?"

Beginning Danish

So as the half way point in our sabbatical year approaches it feels timely to address the question "why learn Danish?" Many people I have met express great surprise that I would enroll in classes. The two main reasons being firstly most Danes speak English so you can get by here without it, and secondly given that our family moved here for a fixed short contract was it worth the hard work.

Obviously it is down to personal perspective - I am not a talented linguist but I do love to communicate and after two months in Copenhagen I found that the world around me seemed very muffled. By that I mean that all the chatter and incidental conversations on the street, train, in the supermarket etc where going on, but with no knowledge of Danish you don't understand any of it and so your brain switches off. When you combine this with the visual environment and not being able to read signs, headlines, adverts you are left with the 'internal' world of your own head. Which in itself is not a bad thing, however at times when you are living in a country not just passing though as a visitor, it can seem quite isolating.

Studying Danish intensively has been a big system shock, far greater than moving across the Atlantic to a new country and culture. But it is one with very immediate rewards. If you need to practice you can head to the fruit and vegetable markets to do your shopping. Instead of using the Dankort (Danish debit card) I buy with cash so I will have to use the numbers. As I don't live with any native speakers I feel I have to find ways to practice speaking, which often means trying to use fixed phrases in interactions, our poor postal delivery worker is often the recipient!

I also feel very lucky that as a new immigrant to Denmark the state provides the funding for learning Danish. After many years of living in the USA, this feels like a luxury to be able to study something new and not be restricted due to cost.

It has reminded me of how hard our children work at school to learn new concepts, ideas and skills. As my daughter likes to remind me "Mum it's only one class"! But I am sure my fellow students would agree, it is a time consuming process attempting to learn all these new sounds made up of unfamiliar vowels. Here is the danish alphabet in poster form:
http://www.zazzle.com/danish_alphabet_post

All Danes learn English in school starting in 3rd grade and the majority of people I have encountered really do speak excellent English. Non-danish television programs are all subtitled, so Danes hear a lot of English in their everyday lives. So arriving as a foreigner to Denmark, you do not need to learn Danish. The Danes really make it easy for us, and will effortlessly switch to English. However in spite of their bilingualism I will continue with my classes, homework and all, for it is learning in a group, even in 'baby steps' that makes it fun. 

Hav en god dag

Godt Nytår - Happy New Year

In Denmark Christmas is celebrated all month long. Infact there were so many Danish "Jul" traditions to try, experience, and learn about it was a full time job. No seriously actually my 'full time' occupation from November 12-December 20 was Danish: Module 1. And therefore as my handful of readers may have noticed December was not a month of blog writing. Being given daily homework, and then actually doing the homework had to take precedence. However in lieu of posting at the time here are some photos taken around Copenhagen during December

Jette Frolich

This was an ornate showroom, in an older house in Gentofte, just north of Copenhagen city center which for the month before Christmas was showcasing the paper and metal ornaments designed by Jette Frolich. To quote the publicity blurb on the packaging for Jette's products, they are 'a poetic blend of Danish refinement and inspiration .... and they bring a touch of Scandinavian living into your home'. I don't think my family is any more refined, but the new ornaments did look stylish on our Danish fir tree.

 

 Illum Bolighus

A superb design store on Stroget in the centre of the city. I love this festive display featuring Arne Jacobsen Alphabet Cups.

 Julemarked Christmas Markets

I wasn't so inspired by the stalls at this one which seemed to be very much catering for the tourists. However these two dogs were definitely living the high life! I did go to the Christiania JuleMarked which had beautiful hand made crafts for sale, but you are not permitted to take photos there [if you don't know about the history of Christiana here is some more information]
http://www.spirehuset.net/christiania-facts-and-history

Royal Copenhagen

Each year the world famous china flagship store invites artists to design Christmas table settings. in 2012 it was the turn of four danish musicians. The rest of the store's three floors  were also fully decorated for the season.

 Punkt 1: electrical store

Using the Smeg "Flag" Fridge as the main feature of their Christmas window display

 Nyhavn

Neptune of the Lakes with Christmas Cherubs

And then it snowed

New skill=commuter biking in the snow

Sun setting before 3PM

The big freeze - it snowed hard at the beginning of December, and on and off for the next two weeks. The city looked stunning on the sunny days, and even on the greyish of days the whiteness provided a contrast to the greyness. Then it warmed up, rained and couple of times and all the snow was gone.

Godt Nytar