The Last Day

Tomorrow? I’ll be home tomorrow?

The more I think about it, the more it seems harder to believe. How did this semester go by so quickly? Where did the days go? The day you leave your study abroad program is the day you never think will come. You’re too busy living in the moment to ever even think about, or see, the end. And when you finally do – when you’re staring at your packed bags and nearly empty room, it hits you hard.

I won’t write much now, for lack of time and a clear head (trust me, it’s for the best. It would all come out as emotional word vomit otherwise). But I will say this. I am incredibly sad to leave Copenhagen, more so than I ever thought possible. It feels as though I am leaving a piece of my heart here, the place where I feel like I belong. The place that I have proudly called home an adored for four months. This is the hardest thing I have done all semester.

But being sad has made me recognize how lucky I am. I am cared for by people on two continents on this great big planet, which, incidentally, has become a bit smaller this semester. And how awesome? I had such amazing experiences, and that’s what makes it hard to say goodbye.

As I took one last walk around Fælledparken with my SRAs today, enjoying one last taste of Copenhagen sunshine, I knew that I would not have been happier anywhere else. It’s hard to say just what makes this city and this country so wonderful beyond compare. But it is. And I loved every second of it.

I’ll post something more final when I land in America. For now, wish me luck on this 9 hour flight ahead of me – that’s what I’ll need real strength to get through.

Min Danske Familie

On Sunday night, I did the hardest thing I’ve done all semester. I said goodbye to my visiting family.

Most of you probably didn’t know I had a visiting family, and really, that’s my own fault. I haven’t written anything about them all semester, which I’ll blame on my constant business, but that’s a poor excuse. Some of you might not even know what a visiting family is! In that case, I’ll explain. The visiting family program at DIS matches students up with Danish families, giving participants an opportunity to learn more about Danish culture, traditions, and everyday life, as well as the chance to create meaningful relationships. Since I was not living in a homestay, and really wanted a taste of family life in Denmark, I signed up for the program, and got matched with a family a few days before I arrived in Copenhagen.

There they are in the picture above – Lene, me, Oliver, Amanda, and Jens, posing for the 900th time for a decent picture of us all. (Missing from this picture is Anna, their rabbit. Unfortunately she was not available to be photographed that night).

I distinctly remember being so nervous the day I first met them. Would they like me? I wondered. Would I like them? What would we talk about? What if I didn’t have anything interesting to say? Or messed up somehow? I was worried, but I shouldn’t have been. None of my fears were realized. I feel like I got the best family in all of Denmark.

On my first visit, went went to see Fredericksborg Castle in Hillerød, which isn’t far from where they live. This was my first visit to a castle, and I can’t imagine having one just right down the road from me, especially not one so beautiful. After a tour, some ice cream, a day of playing Mario Kart and ping pong, and a delicious dinner, I knew we were going to get along just fine.

And so we did. I followed up that visit by joining them for Amanda and Oliver’s birthday party, where I learned to make traditional Danish lagkage (layer cake), and got the chance to talk to a lot of their family members about culture in Denmark, culture in America, where they overlapped, and where they didn’t. Surrounded by candles, Danish flags, and good conversation, this was the first moment I truly understood the meaning of the Danish word hygge, a feeling and experience that reemerged every time I visited that house in Hillerød.

With countless Snapchats and Facebook messages supplementing our time apart, I never felt too far from my family, even when my own busy travel schedule prevented me from seeing them as often as I’d liked.

On Sunday, I got a little taste (figuratively and literally) of Danish Christmas. Amanda and I made æbleskiver, the name of which is deceiving, as they don’t actually have any apples in them. But that’s alright, because these little guys are delicious in their own right. Essentially, they’re little round pancake balls, which you can then cover in sugar or jam, or as I did both. After this little snack, we went down the road and picked out their Christmas tree, and not long after I finally got to learn what handball was all about! Lene plays on an adult team, so I went to watch her match, and learned a few tricks from Amanda (who plays herself and is scary good).

We finished off the night with some dinner and risalamande, the traditional Danish Christmas dessert of rice pudding with almonds and cherry sauce. In the pudding, a shelled almond is hidden, and whoever gets the almond gets a small prize – chocolates, some trinket, a marzipan pig. Yeah, I know. Of course, if you do get the almond, the trick is to hide that you have it for as long as possible, so everyone else will eat the whole dish in search of the almond. But the winner of the night was Oliver, and being pretty excitable, he didn’t hide it for long (which honestly I was thankful for. Risalamande is delicious, but man was I full).

I learned a lot about Danish culture from my experience. I learned to spot the differences in their home and my own. But I also learned that Lene, Jens, Oliver, and Amanda are more similar to an American family than they are different. Oliver is just like any 11 year old who loves to play games on his iPhone, and who loves to kick my butt at Mario Kart. Amanda is just like any 13 year old who loves Justin Bieber and The Body Shop, though she’s certainly the best teenage baker I’ve ever met. While it’s our differences that make us interesting, it is those things we have in common that unite us. The most human similarities transcend national borders. And family, in my opinion, is one of those things.

To Lene, Jens, Oliver, and Amanda – since we’re friends on Facebook (and I’m always sharing these posts), I have a feeling you might be reading this. And if all that I said on Sunday night wasn’t enough, I have one last thing to say:

I will miss you more than anything. You have made my time here in Copenhagen so incredibly special, and for that I cannot thank you enough. You are so wonderful and kind, and I hate to be leaving that behind in just five short days. But because I’m sad to leave, I know I have been very lucky. I don’t know for certain when I’ll see you next, but I do know that you will always be my Danish family.

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Home

It’s that time of the semester when things become stressful. When it gets hard to focus on what’s really meaningful, our own good fortune, and our sense of self. But when I looked up from my Photoshop project in a DIS computer lab and saw this, I remembered how lucky I am to be where I’m standing. Copenhagen, you are a home for this heart. 

“And home, we know, is not just the place where you happen to be born. It’s the place where you become yourself.”

Dealing With Danish

In case you didn’t know, they speak Danish in Denmark. Not Dutch. Not Deutsch. Danish. I can say with some confidence that 99% of you who have never been to Denmark have never heard Danish spoken. For practical purposes, it sounds something like this:

Okay, so maybe that’s not exactly, what Danish sounds like, but if you don’t know any Danish, then it’s pretty indistinguishable. When I first came to Copenhagen, I was SO immensely intimidated by this funny sounding language with three weird, extra letters. I was going to take Danish, but would that help me at all? Would I leave Copenhagen knowing how to say anything more than “Hello,” and “Where is the train station?” Was this an impossible task?

Short answer: no. Danish is not impossible. It’s not easy by any means. But it isn’t impossible if you want to learn it.

I’ve really enjoyed discovering and learning Danish over the past four months. Languages are like a puzzle to me – bits and pieces you have to learn to decode, learn, and recognize so you can put them all together and make one coherent picture. It’s fun for me. It’s so fun that I practice Danish in my spare time (yeah, I know). But I also know that not everybody is interested in learning languages, and for some people, it’s more challenge and less fun. So, here are some tips based off my own experiences this semester that I hope will help!

Tali’s Tips for Learning Danish:

1. Take a Danish Language and Culture Class

This seems fairly obvious, for sure, but my Danish class is my number one resource for learning the language. Habitual exposure and practice is the only way you’ll get to know a language better. It’s not magic. Twice a week you know you’ll get the practice you need, with a teacher to help you in any way. In class, we spend a lot of time speaking, the one area in which myself and most other DIS students are the least confident. And not only do you get to learn Danish, but you’ll get insight into Danish history and culture, which will definitely enrich your experience in Copenhagen. I cannot recommend this class enough.

2. Translate everything you buy at the grocery store.

Your first trip to the grocery store is going to be terrifying. Everything will be in Danish, things will be in places you don’t expect them to be, and you will definitely end up buying yogurt instead of milk on your first go. Instead of being frustrated, though, use this as a learning experience for extra Danish practice! Translating directions, ingredients, literally anything on your food products will introduce you to a ton of new words that have practical use (because you should really know what you’re eating).

3. Use outside learning resources

After my Danish class, my secondary resource for learning practicing is Duolingo, a 100% free language learning website that just recently added a course in Danish. Duolingo makes learning any of the 8 languages they offer incredibly easy, accessible, and fun. Whether you use it as a supplement to class, or use it to learn independently, you’ll gain a lot with continuous use. Besides, the entire course is filled with sentences like these. Only in Denmark, man.

4. Don’t forget the Danes.

Who better to ask for help with Danish than the Danes themselves? Ask your host family for help with your Danish homework. Practice with them, your visiting family, your buddy network, your SRAs, literally anyone you have accessible. I know you might be nervous or intimidated – I didn’t let any Dane hear my Danish until the past week or two – but they’re the perfect people to give you feedback before you try out your newly learned skills in an Emmerys or a 7/11. And who knows – you might be a lot better than you think!

5. Don’t be afraid to sound weird.

The first time you try to say something in Danish, you’re going to hate it. You’re not gonna like how you sound. You’ll feel like you have potatoes in your mouth, or that you’re swallowing your tongue. But that’s the point. Danish and English may have similar roots, but they differ significantly in how they sound. So you shouldn’t sound like yourself! Lean into the discomfort that is speaking a foreign language, allow yourself to make noises you weren’t sure existed. You might make mistakes, but those mistakes can only help you learn in the long run.

With that said… jeg håber du kan lide at lære dansk ligeså meget som mig!

The Five Things I Learned in Ireland

Before we left for Ireland, our professor Katherine asked us to reflect on and discuss our pre-conceived notions of Ireland, its people, and its culture.  There were some jokes and stereotypes mentioned (leprechauns, four leaf clovers, rainbows and pots of gold), as well as more serious answers, such as the involvement of the Catholic church, and the country’s history of revolution and rebellion, as well as some points about music and art.  During this study tour, I found many of my expectations were both challenged and confirmed. But I also learned a lot of things I hadn’t known before. To keep this short and sweet, here’s five of my biggest lessons learned in Dublin and Ireland.

1. Ireland is a lot more conservative than I thought it was.

Being relatively familiar with Ireland, its history, and its people, I knew that on many issues, the Irish tend to be pretty conservative, thanks in part to the role the Catholic Church plays in the country. But this idea was vague and conceptual, an idea based on guessing more than clear facts. But when I learned the facts, I was shocked at how slow-going Ireland is when it comes to social matters. The Irish Constitution prohibited divorce until the mid 1990s. After a woman got married, she was not allowed to hold a job in many professions until 1977. And even today, Ireland lags behinds a multitude of other EU countries in LGBT protection and legislation.

2.  The technology industry is booming in Dublin.

Because of its low corporate tax rates, tons of tech companies have set up European headquarters in Dublin. Facebook, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, Apple, Adobe, and even Airbnb are all working and operating out of Ireland’s bustling capital city. These giants are joined by other smaller organizations, like Wayra, a co-working space for tech start-ups that we visited. Getting a glimpse inside the offices of Facebook and Wayra helped me learn a lot about the current tech/business culture taking place in Dublin right now.

3.  It’s not Gaelic, it’s Irish – and it’s a lot more common than you expect.

Ireland has two official languages – English and Irish. Obviously, English is more common, and it’s the first and native language of most of the country’s population. However, I was surprised to learn that Irish is much more of a living language than I anticipated. Almost everything in Dublin is written in both English and Irish – street signs, bus screens, information, etc. This was not at all what I was expecting, as I thought that almost no one in Ireland spoke Irish anymore. And how many people who speak Irish don’t also speak English? But our tour guide on Monday told me that there are still sizable communities in places like Galway, Donegal, and County Kerry. These are all located along the western coast, and are dense with fluent speakers of Irish.

Oh, and about the Gaelic/Irish distinction. Gaelige is the Irish word for the Irish language. If you’re speaking English, you should call it Irish. Furthermore, Gaelic is a branch of the Celtic language family, which includes not only Irish, but Scottish Gaelic as well. The more you know!

4. They don’t call it the Emerald Isle for no reason.

As you read this, picture the Irish country side. Even if you have never been there, you have some idea of what it looks like. Are you imagining rolling hills? Sprawling fields? Small farms dotting the landscape, accompanied by herds upon herds of sheep? Is your picture green? If you are, you’re dead on. In the middle of the week, we took a break from Dublin to have a tour of the Irish country. As we drove through and toured Glendalough and the Wicklow gap, my conception of what Ireland really looked like was confirmed with every turn. Let me tell you, it’s beautiful. And very, very green. Apparently this greenness comes from warm Gulf Stream waters that flow across the Atlantic to the Irish shores, giving it a rather warm climate for its latitude. It’s abundance of rain and warm temperatures is great for vegetation, which flourishes bright and green.

5. Guinness might be good for you, but it isn’t good for me.

One of Guinness’ old slogans was “Guinness is good for you.” The medical truth in that statement is questionable at the very least, but that doesn’t stop Guinness from being one of the most popular beers in the world. As such a popular beer, it comes as no surprise that the old brewery has been turned into a museum, and a really cool one at that. Talking portraits, interactive galleries, and immersive demonstrations really add to the whole “Guinness experience,” and it gives you an amazing sense of history about both the brew and its home country. Unfortunately, I think Guinness tastes like an ash tray, and I regret to say that my free pint (which I poured myself), did go to waste. My apologies, Arthur.

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Atom Smashers and Potato Chippers: Scientific Dublin

Oh boy, am I tired. Not only because I woke up at 5:30 am to get the airport, though that’s certainly part of it. It’s the 10 miles I walked today while learning about the advancements in Ireland that took place over the course of centuries, spanning from Medieval battles over books to the invention of barbecue chips. Were you expecting that for a first day activity?

Our main activity of the day was a walking tour of Dublin – but not just any normal walking tour, mind you. This tour was hosted by Ingenious Ireland, an organization that gives tours on the theme of Irish technology and innovation. Since this isn’t the usual angle taken by tourist-y walking tours, I was eager to learn a different aspect of Irish history than normal – and I wasn’t disappointed!

A short bus ride from outside our hotel led us to Trinity College (a place I hope to visit in more depth later in the week), where our tour began, and where we were greeted by our guide, Patrick. Wearing a lab coat and sporting wild, wiry hair, I could already tell that we’d be in good hands.

As we began our walk through Trinity’s campus, one thing he mentioned, which stuck out to me, is that Ireland is not as well known for science and innovation as it is for arts and culture. Only one Irish person has ever won a Nobel prize for the sciences. It’s the artists, especially the writers, who are well known, and my mind immediately confirmed what he said. Wilde, Yeats, Joyce – all these names popped into my head, but I couldn’t for the life of me name any Irish physicists or biologists.

Luckily, that quickly changed. Patrick introduced us to Ernest Walton, an Irish man who did the unthinkable – artificially split an atom, and rang in the atomic age with his colleagues at Cambridge in the 1930s. He also just so happened to be the only Irish Nobel Laureate in the area of physics! It was an Irishman, Charles Parsons, who invented the efficient reaction turbine, allowing the spread of electrical power, faster ships, and eventually aircrafts!

A model of Parson’s turbine at Trinity College!

Walton and Parsons made huge, revolutionary steps in the way of technology, but it turns out, many small things we take for granted every day were invented by Irish people. The first elephant dissection took place in Dublin. The process of perforation was invented in Ireland not long after the introduction of the postage stamp around 1840. From paper towels, to notebooks, to postage stamps still, this handy little invention created a convenience for people everywhere. And in what I believe is my favorite Irish invention, flavored potato chips debuted in Ireland under the Tayto brand in the 1950’s, created by Joe “Spud” Murphy. Yes, his nickname really was Spud. Talk about fate.

Patrick and a bag of Tayto chips – or crisps, I guess!

Our tour finished up with an explanation of the invention of the hypodermic needles, as well as the first copyright ruling on record (which led to a 6th century battle over a copied manuscript that left 3000 men dead. The two combatants later became saints).  To top it all off,  we got a peak at the Royal Irish Academy’s collection of manuscripts in the Irish language. They were displayed a text from the 15th century, a lovely and old work based off of a Latin text. Though I couldn’t take a picture of this particular manuscript, the RIA has a large collection of digitized scripts available to view online!

Though it had been an early morning, a long day, and a long walk, I couldn’t have asked for a better or quirkier introduction to Ireland and its rich history. I got to explore a facet of this country’s history hardly ever talked about, something I always appreciate when stereotypes and pre-conceived knowledge always precedes a visit.

Tomorrow we dive right into our academic visits, with stops at TENI, Facebook, and LGBT Noise!

Becoming Dubliners

As I type this, my suitcase lays open, half packed and disheveled, while Spotify’s “Irish Folk – Jigs and Reels” playlist runs through in the background. This can only mean one thing – it’s time for my long study tour!

Tomorrow, I’ll be flying to Dublin, Ireland with my core course for five days, where we’ll be exploring the relationship between identity, activism, communities, and how they are all supported by new media usage. Like Core Course week, this will include a lot of different site visits to different organizations, as well as a ton of cultural and historical visits.

So you have an idea of what I’m talking about, and so I don’t have to explain them in all my posts this week, here’s a rundown of all the places we’re going to visit/things we’ll do:

• Transgender Equality Network Ireland
• LGBT Noise
• Facebook (!!!!)
• A trip to Kilkenny, a Medieval town southwest of Dublin
• An online gaming workshop at University College Dublin
• Wayra, a digital start-up incubator
• Fizzy Thinking

This is all in addition to a musical pub crawl, a Guinness factory tour, and an Irish dancing workshop. Sounds like the right first steps to really having an Irish experience, doesn’t it? I can’t wait to experience this city and all it has to offer – and to finally be in a place where everyone speaks English!

I should really go finish packing now, but before I go –

Why is Ireland the richest country in the world?

Because it’s capital is always Dublin!

Riviera Livin’

I know what you’re thinking. It’s been a while since I’ve posted. It’s not because I abandoned this blog. It’s not because I drowned in the Danish rain, or got swept away by Copenhagen wind.

It’s actually because I ran away to the French Riviera. No, seriously.

For those of you who don’t know, DIS has built in three weeks for travel during the semester. On one of these breaks, you travel with your core course on your long study tour (not to be confused with the short study tour that takes place during core course week). However, during the other two weeks you are completely free to arrange your own independent travel, or sign up for one of the many DIScovery trips!

My travel break isn’t until week two (which is hardly far away at all), so last week, I flew down to Nice, France, to visit my friend Dina from American who is studying at Skema Business School for the semester! I’ve been dreaming of visiting France ever since my first year of high school, when I took my first French class, so there was no way I could pass up this perfect opportunity.

Nice and the surrounding area surpassed all of my expectations. As my plane descended through the thick layer of morning clouds, I could see tiny towns and villages nestled in the mountains of Provence, isolated and secluded from the larger cities down south. It looked just like you’d imagine it would, like a landscape from a story book. I knew I’d picked the right place to spend a week.

Even so, I could help but feel a little culture-shocked stepping off the plane. I’d gone from a flat, cool Nordic city, to a city of palm trees, blue waters, and tall red mountains. And it was hot!  With a short flight, I had completely changed my surroundings, and turned everything I knew about “Europe” on its head.

Compared to the United States, Europe is small. This fact is not surprising. Despite its true geographical size, however, I couldn’t help but feel that Europe, in a way, is actually kind of big. Here I was, a 2 hour flight from Copenhagen, yet everything around me was different. The food, the language, the landscape – even the way people looked was vastly different from what I’ve become accustomed to in Denmark. This close habitation of relatively small land by a vast array of cultures, languages, and traditions is not something one experiences so often in the United States. Yes, America is diverse, and its diversity is incredible. But if I fly two hours north or south or west of my home state of New Jersey, I can expect to be surrounded by the same language, food, and culture I grew up with. Regional differences in the US most definitely exist, but they don’t exist in the same form as they do in Europe. And to experience them is amazing.

Anyway, I digress.

Though I say I visited Nice, technically, I stayed in Antibes, a resort town 20 minutes west of Nice by train. Founded in the 5th century BC, Antibes is old, and certainly shows its age in all the best ways. Roman age cisterns and aqueducts blend seamlessly into the streets of Old Antibes. The town is surrounded by medieval walls built in the 9th century AD. Winding, narrow streets brought us to buildings from later periods, up to the 15th and 16th centuries. I visited the Church of The Immaculate Conception, a church boasting a blend of 11th and 18th century architecture. Even the Picasso museum is old – it was a fort for the Grimaldi family in 1600s, long before the famed painter ever laid brush to canvas.

Also, the beaches were incredible.

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After a few days exploring Antibes, Dina and I took the train to Nice, which boasted its own impressive collection of old sights and beautiful views. Honestly, it may be one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen.

On Friday, we ventured into the Italian town of Ventimiglia, which straddles the border – and good thing, since Dina, her friend Keila, and I don’t speak a word of Italian! Most everybody spoke French, though, so I managed my way through the street flea markets, wine shops, and pizza cafes with my high school level French.

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After a week of living the Mediterranean life – eating pizza, tanning on the beach, and enjoying a Provençal rosé with dinner – I have to admit, I was ready to come back to Copenhagen (though admittedly, not to the weather). I missed the city I consider to be my European home. I missed the familiarity. So back I went to Scandinavia, happy to return, but hardly happy to leave. It had been such an amazing week with even more amazing friends.

My encounter with la Côte d’Azur may have been brief, but it surely won’t be the last.

Ideas Worth Spreading

Well, today was Wednesday. And you know what that means at DIS – field study day! I’ve already mentioned a little bit about field studies in a previous post, and how enriching they can be to the classroom experience.

Today, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to volunteer at the TEDxCopenhagen event with my Digital Media and Marketing Class. Since our class is project based, and my project happens to be working on an event/conference that takes place in October, it was exciting to see how an event on a similar scale is run and managed. Even cooler was that our volunteer coordinator, Monika, is a DIS alumna!

TED, for those of you who are unfamiliar with this organization, is a group of global conferences where experts and researchers in all disciplines give passionate lectures in engaging, creative ways. TEDx runs on a similar format as normal TED talks. The difference is that TEDx events are independently organized, provided they are licensed by the official TED, and are separate from the main TED event of the year. There are dozens of TEDx talks going on in any given month, and in any given location – my own university hosted one this past semester! If you’re interested in finding a local TEDx talk near you, click here.

The theme of this conference was mobility. “Mobility?” you might be asking. “How can someone have an entire set of speakers around mobility?” Don’t worry. I was a little confused by the theme at first as well, but the more I listened and learned, the more I discovered what a fascinating issue mobility is.

Mobility is physical ability, certainly, which has an extreme impact on people’s lives. Do people in wheelchairs have equal access to transportation? But it extends beyond the physical as well. It extends to transportation issues, like bike lanes and metro systems, which in turn links to issues of efficient urban planning. And what about mobility and health? And innovation? And human rights? One of the previous TED talks shown was a talk by women’s rights activist Manal al-Sharif, who was imprisoned for daring to drive a car in Saudi Arabia, where women, in practice, are not allowed to drive cars. She helped start a campaign encouraging Saudi women to drive and take into their own hands their mobility.

Mobility, in sum, is opportunity.

After helping set up for the lunch break, I listened to a talk given by Ole Kassow, the founder of Cycling Without Age. Cycling Without Age is a volunteer organization that gives bicycle rides to patients in nursing homes all over Denmark, allowing the elderly to cycle once more and feel the wind in their hair. Kassow emphasized how much good this program had done for the men and women who had once been stuck inside their nursing homes. Those with dementia began to speak more freely and cheerfully. Those who used tranquilizers to sleep no longer needed them. Moods improved drastically. Kassow and his team of volunteers changed lives by just getting people outside and getting them moving.

Most recently, he and a team of 15 volunteers drove 20 elderly people on a tour from the Danish city of Odense to the German city of Hamburg over the course of three days. That’s a distance of over 300 kilometers. And according to a 90 year old passenger on the tour, it was the best vacation she’d ever been on.

During the break, my friend Hope and I got the chance to try out some pretty awesome tech. The first was a Me-Mover, something I would describe as a combination between a bike and a scooter. You get this quirky little machine moving by lifting your knees up and down, almost like a stair stepper. It was a little awkward at first, and definitely weird, but by the time i got the hang of it, I was speeding up and down the yard, side by side with the creator of it! I liked it so much, after my first ride I got on for another. And then another. And then another. It was incredibly fun and incredibly addicting, and I wish more than anything I could ride one around Copenhagen every day. Although I imagine the Danes in the bike lanes might give me even stranger looks than I already receive.

Hope on the Me-Mover, moving herself!

My second foray into a mobile technology was something you might have heard of – an Oculus Rift. For those of you who haven’t, it is essentially the virtual reality headset of past dreams come to life. Needless to say, when I finally noticed they were giving demos of the Rift on the other side of the room, a nerdy panicked freak out ensued, which quickly transformed into completely valid excitement. I stepped up onto a narrow crate and strapped the Rift onto my head, transforming my entire world. I was no longer standing in the old Vilhelm Lauritzen Terminal at Copenhagen Airport. I was standing on top of skyscrapers, jumping over their edges, walking up and down wobbly wooden planks, just a wrong step away from a stomach turning fall to the concrete below. My only control was my head. I only had to look a certain way to walk in that direction. I have to admit, even though I knew it was only a game, I couldn’t help but feel nervous as a teetered over those unsteady bridges, and my heart skipped a beat or two when I finally fell off the top of a building. The experience was completely surreal.

The Oculus Rift makes you look super cool.

After the break, the talks continued, and I resumed my role as a volunteer by helping set up the backstage area for the networking reception afterwards. Thankfully, there was a screen in the area streaming the event, so I never had to miss a moment on the TEDxCopenhagen stage.

Attending a live TED event has always been a goal of mine. I’ve watched more talks online than I could count, and they’ve challenged me to think of things in ways I’d never imagined. To be blunt, TED inspires me. And I hope today, with this successful event, I helped someone else become inspired as well.

TEDxCopenhagen, you were too cool.

Core Course Week Day 1: A Land of Pure Imagination

Yesterday, I had some of the most wonderful, awe-inspiring experiences I have ever had in my life.

I visited an innovative creative media agency. I hiked a Swedish cliff to a micronation with 17,000 citizens and zero inhabitants. I ate traditional Danish cakes and pastries, ripped my pants, pet a goat, lit a bonfire, picked apples, swung from a tree, and enjoyed a night in the beautiful Swedish countryside.

Okay, I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Let’s start from the beginning.

My class left Copenhagen at 9 a.m. for Malmo, Sweden. Sweden, despite what you might think, is not at all that far from Denmark. For emphasis, here’s a map:

Our first visit took us to Top Dollar, a creative media and strategic campaigns agency that has done client work for companies like Campbell’s, Puma, and Honda. I had little idea of what to expect inside, but as we stepped into the building and entered the office, I have to say that I was more than pleasantly surprised. It felt as if I had stepped into a land of IKEA and Pantone, a space where pure Scandinavian white met captivating hues plucked right from a trendy wall color guide. Sunlight streamed through floor to ceiling windows. It was one of the most beautiful office spaces I have ever seen.

One of the director’s from Top Dollar sat down to talk to us, giving us some details on the agency’s humble origins and creative process. Though they are a business, he said they run the agency in an “artistic” way, and judging just by their works pace, that was certainly true.

An hour and a half drive north through Swedish farmland (which looked quite a lot like Pennsylvania) took us to our next destination – the Land of Ladonia. I know what you’re all thinking – Ladonia? Is that an amusement park? A fair? The Swedish version of Legoland?

Good guesses. But you’re wrong.

To explain Ladonia seems somewhat like an exercise in the impossible, but I’ll do my best for you. Essentially, Ladonia is a “micronation,” a small piece of land that claims to be an independent state, but is not recognized by other states or organizations. Occupying the land where Ladonia claims to exist are a series of driftwood towers called Nimis built by artist Lars Vilks. How Ladonia came to be, and how Nimis came into existence is quite a lengthy story, so I’ll direct you to here and here to get more of the fine details on this peculiar place.

Getting to Ladonia is rough. We hiked a steep, rocky path down the coast, slipping, sliding, and scaling until we finally reached the entrance to Nimis. The passage we entered through that led us down to the water was narrow, a hectic criss-crossing of smoothed down driftwood, uneven in some places, sparse in others. Yet as I managed my way through this labyrinth, not once did I ever feel unsafe. The entire structure is as solid as a rock – not once did I feel it shake, or feel unsteady standing on top of one of the tallest towers. Sure, maybe I accidentally tore a hole in my leggings after sitting in the wrong place – but that was my fault, not the structure’s.

Standing on top of the towers, looking over the water, or even sitting on the coastline’s rocks gave me the most intense sense of euphoria I’d ever felt. I felt as if I had stumbled upon a secret. Pictures do not do this place justice, but it is certainly a place that deserves to be seen.

 

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For a constructed work of art – and we must remember, that’s what Nimis is, really – it seemed almost natural, as if it could have been there for one hundred or more years. As a place so removed from civilization, it doesn’t always comprehend right away that someone actually built this structure, that someone created it with his own hands and his imagination. But fortunately, we were actually able to meet the artist, who appeared to do some maintenance just as we were leaving. According to Katherine, my professor, he comes to Nimis every day to keep the structure in tact. Accompanying him were two body guards, who follow him everywhere after he has received threats for his depictions of the Islamic prophet Muhammed in 2007.

Though our conversation with him was short, he said something I thought was quite interesting. After explaining how vandals had tried to burn down the sculpture, he said, “If you’re going to destroy something, destroy art. It almost always adds something to it. And it can always be rebuilt.”

After a strenuous return hike up the cliff and back down to the bus, we headed off to a small country tea house in the nature reserve for tea, coffee, and cakes. This place was too cute for words, and it even had two goats across the yard from where we had tea, which we were welcome to pet, an offer I wholeheartedly accepted. I’m a big animal lover.

With tea completed, we headed off to our hostel in Jonstorp for the night. This place was cozy and homey, and felt more like a bed and breakfast than a traditional hostel. A dinner of freshly caught and smoked salmon and potatoes, followed by a bonfire under a cloudy sky, made for a perfect night to complement a perfect day.

The most wonderful things in the world are often the most difficult to reach. But they are always worth the journey.