MONDAY + TUESDAY // classes
The beginning of this week is when the stress finally started to hit. Most of it was anxiety over class changes, but I think I made the right decision because I love my design thinking class. My professor is very cool and down to earth, and assigns us a combination of engaging, fast-paced, classtime activities, as well as longer projects that require more complex problem solving. The class feels very concentrated right now, but it only runs until mid-october, so I don’t mind.
I also spoke to the Architecture/Design assistant program director about my core class. She confirmed my belief that the advanced architecture class would be out of my league, assured me that I am far from the only student to raise this concern about Foundations, and encouraged me to talk to my professor about the issue. So I am remaining in Foundations and working with my professor to challenge myself. The course has started off slow, and it’s been a bit frustrating, but BB (my professor) claims this is very temporary and we will move more quickly next week.
WEDNESDAY // field studies
No classes are scheduled on Wednesdays so that we have the day free for Field Studies in our elective courses. (For me, that’s Danish, design thinking, and my art history course). Wednesday morning I went with my Danish Language and Culture class to a Danish high school, where we spoke with students about the differences between Danish and American curriculum. I volunteered with a few others to give a short introduction about American schools– I talked about why I chose a liberal arts college over a design institution to highlight the variation between colleges in the U.S. I actually don’t really like speaking in front of a class, but it was easier with strangers, and I’m continually trying to push myself out of my comfort zone here in Denmark.
The students asked a lot of really great questions, and answered many of our own. My impression was that the Danish school system is far less competitive and stressful that the system in the U.S– unsurprising, considering the extensive Danish welfare system that grants free healthcare and education to all citizens. Not only do college students not have to pay tuition, they get paid around $900 a month as long as they begin college within two years of graduating high school.
I have suddenly become inspired to start exploring graduate school options here.
My second study tour was for my Design Thinking class– we visited a Design Thinking firm called Hatch & Bloom, where they led us through some fun, quick, design practices. They were very cool/friendly/high energy, as well as extremely innovative and talented.
THURSDAY //
On Thursday I went with my art history class to the Danish National Gallery (SMK) to see the video installation called Safe Conduct (2016) by artist Ed Atkins. It was about airports and TSA and pretty edgy and if I write about it here it will probably gross my mother out and then she’ll stop reading my blog. So here’s a link if you aren’t squeamish.
I went to a second art gallery that evening with my LLC. The most remarkable exhibit at Copenhagen Contemporary was titled “A Lot of Sorrow” by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson in collaboration with the band “The National.” The piece was a video of the band playing their song “Sorrow” for six hours straight at a live show at MoMA PS1. The video was at about hour 4 when we viewed the work, and the band members’ exhaustion was completely apparent. We could only speculate regarding the emotional and psychological toll the performance took on the musicians. Despite the repetition, I felt I could have watched the piece for hours. It was both soothing, for the beauty of the song, and difficult to watch, for the apparent stress the musicians were under.
FRIDAY //
Friday was normal class during the day, and going out at night, which was unremarkable except that Mara and I got to practice our Danish with some Danes! Our pronunciation is very poor, but the Danes could understand us, and were very encouraging. They seem to like the fact that we are attempting to learn and use the language, despite only being here for four months. Learning Danish is fun, though, especially with all of my friends doing it with me.