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

Arne og Carlos

Carlos (L) & Arne (R)

 
At long last the promised post about Arne & Carlos. If you live outside Scandinavia you are forgiven for not knowing about this dynamic knitting duo - often referred to as "strikning guruer" by the press, yes knitting gurus! 

First a little introductory video:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=FoDghBI3F34&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%

I was invited to join a group of knitters who went to an October afternoon lecture by Arne & Carlos at the Louisiana Museum http://www.louisiana.dk/uk in conjunction with the New Nordic exhibit. They were introducing their new book "Strikke-Dukker" (Knitted Dolls) and also discussing what led to their gradual transition and shift away from fashion and knitwear design, to becoming authors. Their now famous "Julekugler" (55 Knitted Christmas Balls) book, which is currently the best selling title in Norway, has inspired many knitters to take up teeny (3mm) double pointed needles and start knitting these christmas balls with intricate traditional Norwegian designs.

As the talk was in Danish, I obviously only inferred what details I could from the photos Arne & Carlos shared. Judging from the animated response from the audience and the amount of laughter they were clearly entertaining presenters! I enjoyed the atmosphere and embarked on my very own first julekugler while they spoke. After the book signing we actually got to meet them. It ws fun to hear how they are now promoting their books overseas. They have a book tour planned in Februrary for the US west coast.

Here is ball #1 in construction (only #2 - #55 to go!!) It could be a while before our Christmas tree is decorated with many different fair isle' red and white julekugler.

Here are some julekugler at different stages of the process knitted by Arne & Carlos.

Once smitten, twice ... not shy but energized. When Arne & Carlos mentioned they would be at the annual Danish Bog Forum (Book Fair) mid November and we were welcome to join them and knit at the booth - we were adding the date to our iCalendars faster than you can say knitting needle. So on a grey foggy Copenhagen wintry day I made the journey out to the vast conference complex south of the city center where I spent the afternoon knitting and chatting = perfect combination.

The art of knitting is a very big part of Scandinavian culture. When you are riding on the bus or train you often see knitters at work, and many of the knitting shops have "knit-in" sessions in the afternoon, or the evening. Now my Danish course has started my knitting time has been greatly reduced!

Don't you love these striped tights

 

 

Of course there are patterns for gorgeous knitted dolls clothes too

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun Fridays: "A Pølser on the Lake"

A few years ago a fellow working mother in Nederland, Colorado, came up with the 'Fun Fridays' concept for her sons. It was during the long summer school break (typically 11 weeks) and she was looking for a way to ensure that each week she did something with the boys at the end of her work week: hence Fun Fridays. My son R loved to be invited to join them occasionally on these outings. Typically one week would be a 'free' activity often in the local mountains, and the alternate week would be a $$ outing.

What has this got to do with 'living in Denmark'? Nothing directly, however, I was reminded of FF these past two Fridays, as I have been at home doing the joyous round of "household chores". I have found light relief and actually downright hilarity at the recurring views I get of a one-off phenomenon - a floating "pølser (hot dog) sculpture" on the Pebling Sø.

The Pølser appeared a few weeks ago, and to my continued amazement it is still cruising out on the lake. Honestly slightly more flacid than when I first spied it mid-October, but the red fabric remains vibrant, and the wavy yellow mustard line glows. Really I'm now just waiting for an enterprising Dane to decorate it with fairy lights!

Finally needing a break from cleaning, laundry I took an afternoon walk around the Pebling So lake, camera in hand, chortling my merry way as I admired the sky, the swans, and the temporary resident giant hot dog. Enjoy!

Happy Fun Friday.

LOUISIANA Museum of Modern Art

At the top of my 'must-see' list for any visitor to Copenhagen is the fabulous LOUISIANA Museum of Modern Art. While discussing our impending move to Denmark with my doctor, Karen, she proclaimed "oh you must go to Louisiana, it's my favorite museum in the world!" So it was a great tip, we visited our first weekend and it was the highlight sandwiched between endless trips to IKEA, and secondly it was an unexpected perk of my annual physical to discuss modern art with my lovely Colorado doctor.



Anyway I digress already, back to the museum. It's a 35 minute train ride north from central Copenhagen to the town of Humblebaek, located on the coast overlooking the Oresund. The setting is stunning. From the entrance it looks like an unassuming white country house, covered in ivy. What first hits you is the view out over the lawns behind the house looking across the sea to Sweden.

I have lived in Denmark for a mere three months, but have already visited Louisiana five times. If I could ignore the daily demands of 'home-keeping' I'd be there every week. A great gift was a museum membership +1, which now means unlimited museum visits and I can take a guest. 

http://www.louisiana.dk/uk/Menu/Visit+Louisiana
The museum is designed in an arc with series of interconnecting buildings branching off from the original house. The indoor display space is framed by the sculpture park outside which you can access from many points. Regardless of the day or the weather, a massive Henry Moore reclining woman on the main lawn, and an Alexander Calder mobile outside the cafe always draw ones eye.

My parents came to stay last weekend on their first trip to Denmark. So they had barely had a chance to explore Copenhagen before they were on the train Louisiana bound with me! Friday we were blessed with perfect early winter weather: bright blue skies, crisp cold air, crunchy leaves underfoot, and traces of ice crystals from the freeze the night before. 

As many of you know I have an obsession with the sea - and seek out opportunities to be by the water, in the water, traveling to water .... At the far end of the south wing I discovered this sculpture, which I absolutely love due to the humour and the sense of possibility. It makes me think of  Buzz Lightyear and want to shout out "to infinity and beyond" (BL is the astronaut toy from Toy Story movie if he is unfamiliar to you). Thankfully for my parents I just thought this and didn't create a commotion in this tranquil gallery space.

The highlight of my most recent visit was to take another look at the "NEW NORDIC architecture & identity" exhibit which closes at the beginning of November. To quote the book that accompanies the exhibition:

"Is there a Nordic identity? Can one still speak of what has been called the Nordic way? Can we, despite the tendency of globalization to wipe out national and cultural differences, still speak at all of identity as something associated with particular places, areas or regions? How has Nordic identity developed alongside the development of the rest of the world?" 

It truly is one of the most thought provoking exhibits I have seen - here are a few images to give you an idea.

 As you can see it also catered for my love of all things "wool-related". Next up will be about Arne & Carlos famous for their "Julekugler" & "Strikke-Dukker" (Christmas Balls & Knitted Dolls - doesn't sound nearly as fun in English as in Danish does it!)