Good news, people. I have returned from the land of fine chocolates, delectable cheeses and Roger Federer and my tales are rather plentiful. 

As I mentioned in my last post, Liza and I spent our weekend in Geneva, Switzerland staying with some family friends of mine who moved their about seven years ago. Liza and I (quite miraculously) departed in a timely manner for the train station on Friday morning and seamlessly arrived at Kastrup International Airport, eager to begin our first of many study abroad travel adventures. Everything was going quite well upon our arrival (i.e., we found our gate and refrained from purchasing any luxury items in the duty free shop) – that is until there was a stampede in the terminal. By “stampede” I mean that Easy Jet fliers, much like Southwest Airlines fliers, do not have assigned seats and become rather aggressive during the boarding process. Said aggression was quite frightening for woman of small stature such as myself, but Liza and I managed to boldly pave our way and find seats together (NOTE: Actually, a lovely gal from Long Island who we met at the gate decided she wished to sit between us and kindly saved us us seats on either side of her, a meaningful gesture indeed). Before we knew it, we were airborne. And also before we knew it, the man sitting in the row in front of us began to utilize his barf bag, so to speak, a shocking and rather upsetting turn of events. Nonetheless, we landed safely and were welcomed into Switzerland by blue skies,  heat (NOTE: “Heat” has become a relative term since I have become a Dane – The temperature was in the 70s upon our arrival, which I suppose does not necessarily constitute such a description), and our host, 18-year Hannah and her friend Sofia. In Swiss style, the girls immediately took us to have a glass of wine at a café on the harbor.

Later that evening, Hannah’s mom Adrienne and 

younger brother Max met us at the harbor so as to escort us onto the boat where Hannah’s dad Frederic owns a restaurant. It was remarkable to say the least. We were served a variety of food items of whose names I am still unaware and dined as the boat sailed through the harbor and into the sunset. Now, despite the fact that this dining experience was most certainly flirting with perfection, I would be a dishonest blogger were I to skimp on some of more rocky details of the evening. About a quarter of the way through the meal, all the lights on the boat went out and we very briefly stopped moving. Then, about halfway through the meal, all the lights on the boat went out and we very briefly stopped moving. About three-quarters of the way through the meal, … I think you get the idea. I hate to be a pessimist but I would be lying were I to say that I could absolutely not suppress the urge to start bellowing “My Heart Will Go On” at the top of my lungs. Fortunately, technical issues were resolved and we arrived safely back at the dock, bellies full of fine French cuisine.

The next day, Hannah took us on a walk through the vineyards in their town of Satigny (they live slightly outside Geneva), which was very exciting for the walk-lover in me. Typically, my walking routes consist of a few laps around my neighborhood or the trek from Branscomb to the Commons so you can imagine my delight over the fact that the three of us went on a walk to France. In Texas, walking to the nearest Walgreens is a feat in and of itself, so describing my simultaneous shock and elation over crossing a bridge into another country by foot is not easy. It was absolutely beautiful and I was able to experience yet another Hollywood moment as I straddled aforementioned bridge and for a fleeting moment, resided in two places at once (See image below for clarification on my film allusion).

Later that afternoon, we stopped at a flea market en route to the Old Town where Liza and Hannah miraculously prevented me from purchasing a heinous fuchsia blazer that inexplicably stole my heart (NOTE: I did purchase a fine pair of 10 kroner earrings that will be featured again at the end of this “post” – get it? Post? Unbearably clever, I know). In the Old Town, we braved the cobblestone streets, sat on the longest bench in the world (NOTE: This claim may be inaccurate, as everyone referred to it merely as ‘the longest bench,’ but were unable to tell us the scope of this comparison. Therefore, it is very possible that it is actually just the longest bench east of the Mississippi), kicked a little girl off of a swing, and later in the evening, went to a swanky little bar called Lounge 22 where we had the privilege of listening to acoustic versions of Kanye West, Lady Gaga, etc.

Unfortunately, we had an early flight the next morning and were not able to take in another day of Swiss beauty. Or ‘real food’ (NOTE: This is not to say a negative word against the fine grocery establishment that is Netto … I mean honestly, I am sure that unrefrigerated lettuce and black/brown bananas are appealing in many cultures). However, in all seriousness, Geneva was one of the most gorgeous places I have ever been and I would love the opportunity to go back.

When we arrived back in Copenhagen, Liza and I were greeted by Norrebro’s own version of a flea market with great finds including a large stuffed Harry Potter doll, dirty flatware, and used bibs as well as an unidentifiable man dressed in a cow suit sitting in our courtyard. Welcome back, y’all.

On Monday, I had my first test of the semester in my Current Trends in Mass Media class. And that is the end of that story.

Today, Josie and I went to a rather intense class at the gym taught by a woman who I assume had a lovely physique although her plentiful body art made it difficult to say for certain. We then came home and made a lovely breakfast together before we both headed towards DIS to start our day. After a long and intellectually taxing afternoon of class (NOTE: by “class,” I literally mean one class), I attended a JDRF Denmark meeting at the University of Copenhagen (UK). I have very much been looking forward to attending this meeting so you can imagine my disappointment when it occurred to me that the meeting was going to be held in Danish. Shocking. Perhaps I would not have been as frazzled by this fact had I not arrived late after having to cut through a more-than-questionable apartment complex on my bike, as, surprise, surprise, I got a bit lost. However, I braved the meeting for the first hour or so (i.e., I caught up on some reading on my iPad) then introduced myself to Finn, the executive director of the chapter. Finn was quite apologetic over the minor language barrier and also asked if I would be interested in speaking at their gala in November, an offer I could not refuse. I will definitely keep you in the loop as this exciting opportunity unfolds. 

This evening was somewhat uneventful but as promised, we will now re-visit the tale of my flea market earrings. I went to remove them from my lobes a little while ago, only to find that said removal was not an option. The posts were a bit thicker than I had realized and over the course of the day, had become stuck inside my reddening and swelling ears. It is at times like these that I realize how truly fortunate I am to live in a supportive environment, full of loving comrades, as when I ran into Devon and Liza’s room, they immediately went for the demonic little creatures (the earrings) while Dan offered to hold my hand. Now, if that doesn’t scream “community” then I don’t know what does. 

That is all for now. I must go remedy the apocalyptic space that is my room. Thanks for putting up with this (and my many other) rather verbose post.

Farvel!

Ord af dagen: “smerte” = “pain” (As in, "My friend held my hand during a painful jewelry removal procedure, as I was in horrible smerte.”) 

Blog People: 

I just wanted to take a moment to notify you that I blogged for my Virtual Worlds and Social Media class on our field study to Parliament under (surprise, surprise) the Virtual Worlds and Social Media tab at the top of this page. If you find yourself with a few moments to spare in the ensuing days, I encourage you to check it out, as tantalizing it most certainly is. For your convenience, I have provided the direct link to the post in the event that you are struggling to find the large, well-marked tab above this post. 

http://alexseeman.blogspot.com/p/virtual-worlds-and-social-media.html

Additionally, I will be spending my weekend with Liza in Geneva, Switzerland, so fret not if you do not hear from me until the early part of next week. 

Farvel! (Or as I hear they say in Geneva, Au revoir!) 

In the spirit of my upcoming journey, my "ord af dagen" will also be in French: 

ord af dagen: "betteraves" = "beets" (As in, I am ecstatic over the fact that I made boiled betteraves last night, as they are by far my favorite vegetable.) 

 Hej there. 


I hope that you had a great start to your week and that your Monday was not quite as manic in nature as the Mondays described by the Bangles (I have included the music video to which I am alluding with this statement for your viewing pleasure).

I had quite the blog-worthy weekend and am very much regretting the fact that I did not post sooner. But as they say, hindsight is 20/20. In this post, I will cover the highs (and a few unfortunate lows) of the past few days of my life in an effort to provide you, my readers, with the high quality entertainment you most certainly deserve. 


To begin, Saturday morning, I woke up at the crack of dawn, energized and ready for a day of Larping. For those of you who are not familiar with this term, it is actually an acronym for Live Action Role Play. I have included yet another fine film clip (YouTube vid) as an accompaniment to my definition of this unusual practice. 

Seeing as I am in Scandinavia, the focus of my Larp (NOTE: I am not 100% certain that Larp is the correct noun form of Lapring, so please use this term with caution) was not a Middle Ages battle, but rather the life of the Vikings, who according to a peer-reviewed scholarly journal article on Wikipedia.com, were "Scandinavian explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored, and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century." Much to mine and my fellow Larpers dismay, there was no warrior-ing, pirating, or raiding to be had on this little adventure but rather our role play was more closely aligned with the life of the domestic Viking. Meaning that while there was no sword fighting, there was more than enough archery, blacksmithing, and cooking of Viking stew to make up for this lack of warfare. Our trip took place at the Land of Legends outside of the Danish town Lejre. Our bus arrived at the Land of Legends about an hour earlier than expected, but because our driver was en route to Sweden (undoubtedly on the quest for the same Fjall Raven backpack that lead me to visit Malmo last Friday), we had to evacuate the bus and fend for ourselves in the wilderness. Said fending included but was not limited to walking up a large hill, unexpectedly coming in contact with a herd of horses, and, coincidentally, "seeing a man about a horse in the woods" ... woods of which our group leader later informed us are tick-infested. Good to know. 

Once we met our Viking guide, we were split into teams, "jousting" for our dignity, honor, and pride in the form of Ravens, or coins given at the end of each task in accordance with success at said task. For example, my group failed to churn our cream into butter and were therefore only provided two Ravens out of five possible for that activity. Needless to say, the competition became quite heated and unfortunately, group 3 lost the battle and left the Land of Legends with only our heavy hearts and a bowl of unchurned butter (NOTE: We did not actually get to keep or 'butter'). 

At this time, I would like to take the opportunity to dispel a large myth about these Scandinavian warriors. Our Viking guru informed us that the notion that his people perpetually donned large, horn-bearing hats is, like many a things, an American myth that has been perpetually reinforced in the commercial world (i.e., Party City continues to sell horrid looking hats made of plastic bones and metal, and Halloween after Halloween, parents inevitably purchase them for their adorable children). So to the many Minnesota Vikings fans who are undoubtedly reading this post, you may consider encouraging your team to change their logo should they wish to preserve historical accuracy. 

vs. 

After my day in the Land of Legends, I had the incredible privilege of meeting my Danish visiting family at their home for dinner. Because we live with all American students at my place of residence, DIS encourages us to participate in at least two cultural emersion activities throughout the semester so as to better acclimate to our new surroundings - Being matched with a local family is a great way to do this. My family lives about 30 minutes north of the city along the coast which, unfortunately, was a bit of struggle reaching. Yes, I got on the wrong train. Yes, my Danish cell phone has been broken for about two weeks to date. And yes, I was mildly terrified. But needless to say, I arrived at the correct train station in (mostly) one piece (In an unfortunate twist of fate, I was followed home by a Centaur from the Land of Legends who, disgruntled by the fact that I refused his marriage proposal, became mildly to moderately violent. But that is another story entirely). 

My family has three daughters, ages 6, 9, and 12 who are all absolutely beautiful. The eldest speaks English incredibly well. Almost as well as I speak Danish, actually (My "ord af dagens" have done much for my language acquisition). They were such wonderfully  nice people and made me feel right at home. So at home, in fact, that I let loose a bit and accepted the girls' challenge to Wii Just Dance. But in all seriousness, it felt great to be welcomed into a familial situation and I cannot wait to see them again. 

Post-dinner, I came home to virtually attend my cousin Harrison's Bar Mitzvah in Los Angeles. Naturally, there were a few technical difficulties, but all in all I would say the event was a definite success as well as a milestone for the Jewish people as we continue to forge forward into the 21st century. A couple of screen shots of the B.M. are included below. 

Sunday was relatively uneventful. I was put to shame at the gym by some unrealistically fit Danes, many of whom were not wearing shoes (NOTE TO SELF: Conduct cost/benefit analysis of doing the ellptical machine barefooted. Costs to include but not to be limited to athlete's foot, toenail fungus, and any and all other fungal infections that are out there). I also went to Israel Plads were the the new market is and purchased some beautiful beets, halibut, and bell peppers. So that was that. 


Today in my Virtual Worlds and Social Media class, we had a guest lecturer by the name of Alex Tholstrup, the new personal adviser to the Danish Minister of Economics. Alex is an active member of the Danish Conservative Party, which he explained to us merely means that he does not think that any Danes should have to pay greater than 50% of their income in taxes. Other than that, most of the differences between being "red" and "blue" (which are actually opposite than the American ideas of these color associations) are merely nuances, as socially, they all possess similar values. He also explained to us that Danish candidates are not allowed to create media advertisements and that negative campaigning is quite different  in Denmark than in America. In fact, Alex showed us a YouTube video that his party created about the leaders of the Socialist and Social Democrat parties (which I have included below) and explained that the Socialist leader actually linked the video to his Facebook page, laughing it off as being all in good fun, a situation  quite unique from the negative campaigning that goes on during our Presidential elections. 

NOTE: I am not nearly  informed enough to either agree or disagree with the ideas represented in this video but am simply including it as an example of Danish campaign practices. 

Alex also discussed with us his participation into the Obama campaign in 2008 and shared some predictions about the role social media will play in our future, a few of which I have included in this post as well for those of you who are as enthralled by the practice of social media as I. 



1. There will be a move from broad, inclusive SM services to more exclusive spaces. 
2. People will grow tired of the speed of SM sites like Twitter and will soon desire more depth in their social interactions than they are getting from such services. 
3. Politicians will learn more and more how to make SM users their ambassadors. 
4. People will realize that SM can be overly hyped and a waste of time [Insert gasp of shock here]. 


So, that is all for now. Certainly more to come as the week progresses. After all, "It's just another manic Monday." 


Farvel!


ord af dagen: "gryderet" = "stew" (As in, "My Viking friends and I prepared some delectable Viking gryderet this weekend.")

Greetings to all. 


Before I begin this post, I would like to give a bit of a "shout out" as you young people call it to my cousin Harrison, who is having his Bar Mitzvah this weekend in Santa Monica, California. Because of the fact that I am "taking Denmark" as the title of my blog suggests, I will not be attending in physical form, but thanks to technology (and an incredibly hip rabbi), I will be skyped into the event at approximately 5 PM PST (which for those of you who find yourself baffled by time differences, is around 2 AM in Copenhagen) on Saturday (Sunday). Check in next week for the details of this groundbreaking event. 


Not many noteworthy events occurred in my life early in the week (unless I suppose you consider my second attempt at Danish kickboxing, making a delicious poached halibut, or purchasing $50 worth of hangars as monumental happenings). However, Thursday was quite a day. In my fourth and final class of the day, Creative Industries, we discussed just what makes a 'hit' with respect to music and film as well as the role of the government and politics in bolstering the success of such industries. In Denmark, the government does much more in the way of supporting cultural activities and artistic endeavors than in the United States. One would probably assume this fact can be solely attributed to the more left-leaning nature of the Danish political system, but in actuality, our teacher explained to us it really boils down to an issue of market size. The price of producing a film, for example, is fairly standard, whether it is being shot in Hollywood or Copenhagen. However, the U.S. makes up for production cost in sales (in most cases) quite easily, seeing as the size of the potential market for the film is quite large (NOTE: According to the U.S. Population Clock, we have a population of 312,224,705 as of 3:24 PM EST on September 16, 2011). The Danish population is only about 5.5 million (NOTE: there is no such animal as a Danish population clock, so this is an estimate based on 2009 data), so inevitably, film producers will experience more difficulty making up the cost of production through sales revenue. 


Because of a similar market issue in many European nations, EU's MEDIA Programme was established in 1991 as a way of bolstering European film and fostering cultural. According to the programme's website, this is done "through its funding for distribution, training, promotion and markets and via the development of new films and support to producers." The programme created a series of short, themed video montages on euTube in support of European films and I have inserted a couple of them below in an effort to increase my appeal to movie trailer enthusiasts.

"What a Joy!"

 "Romanticism still alive in European film"

Seeing as yesterday was a day full of Creative Industries fun, after class (and a large scoop of hummus from my new favorite eatery, Chilimili) our class went on a field study to Lille VEGA  in Vesterbro, one of the best known concert venues in Europe. We went on a private tour where we learned all about just what makes VEGA so unique. As it turns out, the club's uniqueness goes beyond the acoustics and the swanky bar (which is, in fact, quite swanky. See image below). VEGA makes an effort, even in times of economic downturn, to make sure that they book artists of all genres whether it be country, hip hop, indie rock, polka, epic-doom metal, spacesynth, etc. etc. (NOTE: I do not think that VEGA actually actually books any of the latter three sort of artists. However, if you are interested in learning more about these obscure musical stylings, feel free to explore the following website: 5 Most Hilarious Obscure Music Genres). Also, despite the fact that this building was erected in 1955, the atmospheric lighting, mahogany floors and trendy Danish patrons keep the building feeling quite new ... definitely an architectural gem by which Mike Brady would be very intruiged (NOTE: for those of you who have not watched TV Land in the recent past, Mike Brady, the father on the "Brady Bunch," was an architect and the Brady home is assumed to have been built in the late 1950s). 

Anywho, after the tour, we had the privilege of seeing FM Belfast, an Icelandic electronica band, who coincidentally, performed at SXSW this year. The show was awesome. There was much a lot of screaming, jumping, and synth involved and great fun to be had by all (So much fun in fact, that my J.Crew trousers hardly knew what to do).  Below is a link to a video from the show as well as a link to the band's website, as they are definitely worth investigating further (NOTE: Reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test whilst listening to FM Belfast is likely to enhance the experience as is a very strong strobe light). 

www.fmbelfast.com

FM Belfast Concert Vid

In other news, in case you were not aware, Denmark has been in the midst of an election in recent weeks and last night the results were announced ... [insert drum role here] ... Helle Thorning-Schmidt the leader of the Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterne is the proper Danish name for the party), won, making her the first female Prime Minister in Danish history (I am woman, hear me roar! You go girl! Girl power!, etc., etc.). For more information on Thorning-Schmidt and the Social Democrat's victory, please check out this BBC article.

Today Amanda and I went to Malmö, the third largest city in Sweden where we tackled yet another Scandinavian language barrier and partook in some more currency conversions. Getting to Malmö took only 45 minutes by train, but despite this short distance, the city still seemed quite different from Copenhagen. For one, they had several shopping malls with very large grocery stores in them (NOTE: by "large," I merely mean that they carried bagged lettuce, a wide variety of granola, and baby carrots). Also in Malmö, I was able to successfully complete my month-long mission to find an olive green Fjällräven backpack (NOTE: Fjällräven is a Swedish brand of outdoors apparel for a girl on the go such as myself). An image of myself and said backpack is included below. Fortunately, we were able to take a break from all of our shopping to visit a very cultural Swedish site, a historic locale called "H&M" (NOTE: I am aware that technically speaking, going to H&M probably does constitute  "shopping" by very strict definition. However, seeing as the company began in Sweden, I feel as though visiting this site most certainly increased our cultural capital). 

I hate to end so abruptly, but that just about sums up my day. Still, please stay tuned for further details of my exciting Danish life. 

Ord af dagen: "rygsæk" = "backpack" (As in, "I just became exponentially more trendy because I purchased a Swedish rygsæk.")

hej venner (hi friends). 


I hope all of you had a weekend as jam-packed and adventure-filled as mine. However, in the event that you're weekend was not jam-packed nor adventure-filled, might I suggest to you some of my favorite go-to activities: a rousing game of Scrabble, a "Golden Girls" marathon, or perhaps tackling a new hook rug. 


Anywho, this weekend, all DIS students went on a short study tour somewhere in the area, primarily somewhere in Western Denmark. Students in the Communications & Mass Media program such as myself had the good fortune of touring Odense (which is unexpectedly pronounced "OON-suh"), Ebeltoft (the home of the European Film College), and Århus (the second largest city in the country ... In case you did not know, Copenhagen is the largest). 


Our program members congregated bright and early on Thursday morning, excitedly anticipating the voyage ahead. In my typical style, I was carrying three rather hefty bags and a hot cup of coffee (Note: In a miraculous form of adaptation, I have grown an extra arm so as to accommodate the immense loads that I tend to lug around), but I managed to arrive at the bus in a somewhat timely manner and before I knew it, we were off. Also before I knew it (despite aforementioned coffee, I went into a mild coma on the bus), we had arrived in Odense. 


Our group was split into two mini-groups, creatively named "Group A" & "Group B." Group B (myself included) made our first stop of the weekend at Skovdal & Skovdal Commercial Photography Agency. The owner Jakob Scovdal, an energetic man with immensely spiky hair, gave us a tour of the studio, which was incredible. I cannot even begin to describe the space and will therefore include a few photos of it in this post. Jakob explained to us a little about the art of food photography and the interesting Danish rules that go along with this art. For example, if a photograph of a plate of pickled fish is to be pictured on the package of said fish, then a disclaimer has to be made notifying consumers that the plate is not included in the package. I found this incredibly strange and have been wondering ever since why the U.S. does not enforce similar rules. However, I suppose it would be difficult to ensure that all Burger Kings alert consumers that "Real Meat is Not Included" in their Whopper. But I digress. The tour was great and learning of the many ways in which the technology behind commercial photography is perpetually growing and changing was fascinating. 

After this, we had a little free time (i.e., time to browse H&M, eat at a delectable little cafe called "Chinese Take-Out," and purchase a brand new mauve metallic umbrella) before going on a Hans Christian Andersen walking tour, as Odense is the place of his birth. The torrential downpour that occurred right before our tour began made for an interesting dynamic, but the afternoon prooved rather interesting nonetheless. We learned of the tragic life of Hans's mother and visited his childhood home and church, which was absolutely beautiful. We had more free time after this (i.e., nap time) before going to dinner at a precious little restaurant called Restaurant Grønttorve and a jazz concert by the Thomas Clausen Quintet. 

Here begins my recounting of Day 2. Group B went to Brandts Klædefabrik for a media workshop. A lovely gentleman who I believe was named Lars conducted a newsroom simulation for us and as a group, we were able to design, write, and produce our own newscast. I had never really had an interest in broadcast journalism previously, but working in a newsroom setting was quite fun and also quite informative. In fact, our entertainment news girls uncovered a gripping story about a Swedish moose who got stuck in a tree after becoming intoxicated off of fermented apples. For the juicy details of this fascinating story, please visit the following site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14842999. 

Also, feel free to check out our production here (there will be a small red box on right hand side that should pull up our video. My computer has some sort of virus and nothing on the website is in English ... hopefully you all will have an easier time navigating).


After channeling our inner Katie Courics, the group forged on towards Ebeltoft to visit the European Film College, a Danish Folkehøjskole ("folk high school"). The concept behind such schools is that the students truly live and breath their education, in whatever field it may be, for 8 months in a cooperative setting in which students and teachers live and work together. The school was beautiful and the area surrounding it looked not unlike Forks, Washington. In fact, I found myself anxiously anticipating the moment in which a surprisingly handsome wear-wolf and a creepy but strangely seductive vampire began fighting for my affections. Unfortunately, no such battles occurred but I did really enjoy our time spent at the European Film College. We were able to watch some films created by students for their 8 and 1/2 minute film projects, all of which were extremely well done. I felt quite at home when we were shown a western created by Danish students and also increidbly flattered that even overseas there is a strong appreciation for prairie-land, guns, and Walker Texas Ranger. To see some of these films, visit the school's website ... they are definitely worth checking out. http://www.europeanfilmcollege.com/Default.asp?Id=232

Friday evening, we had another lovely dinner and then went back to the hostel for some good, old-fashioned group bonding (Note: this means that my roommates and I were in bed by 11:30).


The next morning, the group partook in one of my personal favorite past times. I know what you are thinking but no, we did not play croquet nor did we go bull riding. Rather, we went ... PAINTBALLING. Totally groovy. I like to think I left everything I had on the field while running through the trenches bellowing Pat Benetar's "Love is a Battlefield" at the top of my lungs. And heartache to heartache we did stand. That is until our teacher, Niels, captured our flag after an intense game, forcing us into a much unwanted loss. All was remedied, however, when we were taken to one of two organic vineyards in the whole country of Denmark for a lovely wine tasting and then a beautiful inn on the water for a delicious lunch before heading to Århus for a visit to their incredible contemporary art museum. [Below are images from all of the activities mentioned in this paragraph, but I would like to briefly touch on a few of the exhibits we saw at the museum before wrapping up this tantalizing post.] 


One exhibit was called "The 9 Spaces" and was modeled after Dante's 9 circles of Hell. It was a multimedia exhibition that sprawled out over several dark rooms on the bottom floor of the museum, meant to leave the viewer to experience a sort of drowning feeling. Another interesting work was called "Beauty," which was merely mist in a dark room. The artist claimed that his works are not about intrinsic beauty but rather about the interaction viewers have with them, as this is where the true beauty lies. The entire top of the building holds another fascinating work called "Your Rainbow Panorama." It is an all-glass enclosed walkway that looks out over the entire city. The color of the glass changes as you move through it, incorporating all the colors of the rainbow and also making for an incredibly beautiful view. 

After this, we hopped back on the bus for a nice long ride back to Copenhagen, singing show tunes in chorus all the way home. All in all, it was a successful weekend (meaning I was only scolded for being late by an authority figure on one occasion) and I am looking very much forward to my next Danish adventures.


Farvel!


ord af dagen: "gruppe limning" = "group bonding" (i.e., we are young and heartache to heartache we most certainly stand)