Dear Vince & Scout

Letters to my goldfish, friends and family. I'm a biology student from Portland Oregon, but this semester I am studying sustainable architecture and Danish in Copenhagen!

[dearvinceandscout]

Some pages from my visual notebook from my study tour in Western Denmark.

[dearvinceandscout]

Rudolph Tegner Museum, 7. February

I visited the Rudolph Tegner Museum with my architecture class. Tegner was a Danish sculptor who did a lot of work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The museum looked like a sculpture warehouse inside, perhaps partly because the museum wasn’t technically open to the public. Usually the museum is only open in the summer, but they graciously opened in the middle of the winter for our architecture class. It because clear after about half an hour inside why it’s usually closed in the winter. The concrete floor was so cold, my toes were freezing just from walking on it.

My favorite sculpture. I forget the name, I think I deleted the picture of the plaque.

Outside. The museum is a giant, angular concrete building in the middle of nowhere on the north tip of Sjælland. 

I loved the door! It was probably the only thing about this museum that I was particularly partial to.

There was a cute little loft upstairs. 

[dearvinceandscout]

Professors’ Visual Journal Samples

We spent three days visiting buildings in Kolding, Aarhus and Skanderup. Our main assignment was just to draw all of the buildings. Before we left, we attended a workshop held by the professors who shared some of their work so we could learn how to keep a visual journal. I just wanted to share a couple of pictures I took of my professors’ work that they shared. There was a lot more, but I didn’t think to take more pictures. 

[dearvinceandscout]

Danish Language Stories, No. 1.

I am finally learning a few Danish phrases in class. I can now order coffee: “Jeg vil gerne bede om en cappuccino med soyamælk!” In my last class, we learned to ask the price of something (”Hvad koster den”) and I was quite excited to use it in a plant shop I visited today. Unfortunately, I realized as soon as I’d asked that we haven’t learned numbers yet, so when the shopkeeper told me the price in Danish, I just sat there confused until he quickly figured me out and repeated the price in English.

Anyways, at least now I have a plant! I hope I can find someone to take care of it when I leave. 

[dearvinceandscout]

Impromptu architecture tour 4. Feb.

A Danish friend decided to show me around some of his favorite spots in Copenhagen today. Here are some highlights!

Københavns Bibliotek (Copenhagen Main Library).

This structure on a pier... forgot where we were.

Here’s the pier.

Marmokirken. What a foggy day.

Cirkelbroen (Circle Bridge).

Den Sorte Diamant (The Black Diamond Royal Library).

[dearvinceandscout]

Friday Cake, 3. Feb.

The Friday of last week, my architecture prof showed up with this giant pastry and said, as if this was obviously normal: “Friday Cake.” Friday Cake is cake that is there because it is Friday, apparently.

This past Friday, he brought Friday cake again! I really hope this is a weekly tradition in this country, or at least for this prof.

This prof also gave me his rugbrød recipe, which I intend to try out soon. I’ve been trying to make rugbrød for a while now (I’ve made three loaves so far) using a rye sourdough starter I made, but it hasn’t been going so well. Hopefully my prof’s recipe will work out better.

[dearvinceandscout]

Israels Plads and Desire Lines 2. Feb.

Perched up on a big stair feature at Israels Plads to draw “desire lines” for my Strategies for Urban Livability course. 

A little bit about Israels Plads: This plaza was built near a synagogue so that people could play at the park, and then walk a short distance to the synagogue. My understanding is that the walk to synagogue isn’t supposed to be too arduous (though if I’m wrong about this, please correct me). The plaza is a public space, but the children from the grade school across the street (the nearest red brick building) come and use it during their recess break.

Here is the edited version of my desire lines. 

A couple of things to notice (excerpts from my accompaniment paragraph): People tended to follow the same paths with fairly little variation. These paths tended to be the shortest and least obstructed routes, so this is perhaps unsurprising, but in a park with so many features and obstacles, I had expected to see more creative routes. I think most of people I observed used the plaza as a shortcut for walking between destinations, rather than as a destination to stay and hang out. A diamond pattern emerged in the desire lines that cuts off the corners of blocks, shortening walking distance. 

Secondly, people used the more unusual features of the park more than I had expected. Twice, I observed people walk to the top of the southwest arête, pause, then walk back down and continue along their route of travel. I myself perched near the top to draw observations and eat a snack. A boy sat on a sloped surface near the caged elliptical play space, watching other children play. A few minutes after the ten minute window of my observations, a dog chased a ball along the southwest gutter, dodging between islands, and the man with him chose to jump across the islands rather than using the bridge. These creative features seem to make the traveling distance between destinations fun. 

[dearvinceandscout]

Building crushes near Christiansborg Slot.

[dearvinceandscout]

Christiansborg Slot, 31. Jan.

I had a homework assignment for my Danish class to go to Christiansborg Slot, an old palace, and puzzle out the historical events depicted in a bunch of colorful gobelins (tapesties). There are 17 gobelins that depict different eras in Danish history, from Viking to contemporary times, and even a funky tapestry of the future. Here is a World War II detail from the 20th century gobelin. I highly suggest looking up images of the full tapestries online.

While I was at the palace, I took a look around. There were a bunch of really beautiful, ornate rooms, most of them with a specific color scheme. I didn’t take any good picture of the rooms. I need to learn how to photograph larger, indoor spaces. Here is a photograph of the library, which does it absolutely no justice.

There was a little room full of plates decorated with flowers and fungi! A palace right after my own heart. The lighting and glass made it hard to get a decent picture, but here is a photo of one of my favorites, heavily edited in an attempt to offset the horrible way my phone picks up light.

Here’s a mirror selfie I took in a particularly majestic room. I have become that tourist.

[dearvinceandscout]

Ny Carlsberg Glyptoteket Bookshop. 

This is the bookshop of the sculpture collection from which I had to select some pieces to house in my first architecture studio assignment. There is a huge, domed atrium filled with plants and sculptures in the center of the museum, and a big opening cut into the wall between the bookshop and the atrium so that light spills across the bookshelves through the opening.

[dearvinceandscout]

Slagteren ved Kultorvet, 23 Jan.

I wandered into this butcher shop on my way home from class this evening. I ended up buying some kind of lamb because I was really having trouble pronouncing what I wanted, so I got the guy’s best guess at what I was asking for. I’m very excited to cook it tomorrow! I’ve never actually cooked lamb. I don’t eat beef on principle since cattle produce so much methane and require so much land to raise, thus making it a very unsustainable food source - instead, I try to eat fish, chicken or pork when I eat meat. I wonder what kind of environmental impact lamb has... I guess I should get googling.

But first, some descriptions! In the back of the top photo are a bunch of top hats on a shelf, kind of eerily reminiscent of the duplicate hats created in The Prestige, a really stellar film that I saw on the flight over here. One of the shopkeepers told me that they have some traditional meaning to the butcher’s profession.

In the bottom photo are some pig-shaped salamis. Apparently the butchers’ wives hand sew the cases! I found them so charming (even though they’re kind of morbid if you think about it).

[dearvinceandscout]

Early evening in Copenhagen, 23 Jan.

[dearvinceandscout]

First model for my architecture core course

23 Jan.

This weekend I was given three days to design and build a 20:1 model of a 5x5x5 meter temporary structure to house a sculpture of my choice from the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek.

I chose these sculptures by Constantin Meunier and Emile Antoine Bourdelle. I really liked the way the light hits them at different angles.

The Glyptotek (which means sculpture collection) has a few really interesting features. Firstly, a lot of the sculptures were donated by a guy who wanted the museum to feel like a private collection in a home as they had been when they belonged to him, and the museum actually captures that feeling like well. There is a restaurant and a bar in the museum, and a beautiful garden (with a golfish pond!) capped by a skylight that looks like a church dome. The artwork isn’t too fussily arranged. There are a lot of stairs leading up and down different levels. And perhaps most interestingly, it is a daylight museum, which means that the exhibits are lit by whatever daylight enters the building, rather than artificial lights. I visited rather late in the afternoon (about 3-4pm), so everything was pretty dark, which I thought was cool.

I tried to incorporate some of these elements into my little box. Of course now that I’ve built it, I want to change everything! I made a lot of mistakes. And I haven’t bought materials yet, so I just used whatever cardboard I could find in the recycling that didn’t have pizza on it, my leatherman, and some wall tape. But here it is... I have nowhere to go but up! 

[dearvinceandscout]

Running; thinking about CPH (tminus 10 days)

I’ve been packing and unpacking almost daily since I returned from school. I spent the last eight days living out of one suitcase, skipping between four houses of relatives. Now that I’ve returned to Portland, I’ve dumped all of my possessions onto the floor of the bedroom I share with my aunt when I visit home, trying to decide what I’ll need for a semester in Copenhagen. My aunt is gone for four days, so that’s how long I have to build a survival kit for four months overseas.

To cope with the hecticness of the past couple of weeks, I’ve adopted what seems an unlikely hobby for me, a typically dedicated coursework nerd and netflix binger: I’ve been running more than I ever have in my life. I’m chalking it up to a number of factors:

Enough flexible time to dedicate to a run AND a shower afterwards (rare when I’m in school)

A need for alone time amidst the constant din of family that now surrounds me

A playlist of goofy pop music that I love, but refuse to listen to even in front of my family

An free app called Runkeeper, which tracks all of my data (distance, time, calories burned, elevation, etc) and updates me every five minutes in a Siri-esque voice

Trying to stay motivated to quit smoking (three months almost completely smoke-free, y’all!)

Extra calories to burn from all of the bacon-wrapped dates I’ve been consuming throughout the holidays

A sense of competition with myself since my first 5k in early December

I’ve run every day this week, and I’ve been fortunate to have the most ideal running locations I could hope for. I’ve pulled some pictures from the internet. I’ll make sure to take some of my own in the future!

Sunday: Robber’s Roost, Anaheim, California. Anaheim is a suburb in Southern California, home to one of my uncles. It’s very hilly, which is good for houses with views, but brutal ona runner like me who is accustomed to the high school track back in Walla Walla! My uncle’s house at the top of one hill, and Robber’s Roost is a network of hiking trails atop another hill. After toughing out the first massive climb to the top of the first trail, I had to admit that I’d be walking some of the route. In the end, I wish I’d walked MORE so that I could have taken in more of the scenery. The trail overlooks more green than I’d seen in a long time - very refreshing after a week of airports, Los Angeles skyscrapers, and bright suburban concrete.

Monday and Tuesday: Huntington Beach, California. An aunt lives in Huntington Beach, which is one of my absolute favorite places. The house is less than a mile from the beach, and the beach has a two-lane sidewalk that runs along the edge of the sand. And it’s FLAT! I was so overjoyed by the flatness that I didn’t even mind dodging children and bicycle tourists. I started slow on Monday, which would normally bother me. Running slowly is so inefficient when you’re trying to cram in a workout between classes and homework. But I’m on vacation, so I decided I’d just try to go for longer, and ended up finishing my second 5k ever! By Tuesday I couldn’t fight the soreness from the Anaheim hills any longer and had to hold back a bit, but I still got a run in, and the beach was beautiful, as always.

Wednesday: Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge Trail, Portland, Oregon. I returned to Portland Tuesday night, and Wednesday morning I went out on my customary 1.5 mile run to the neighborhood elementary school and back. I usually run this route exclusively when I’m in Portland. I’ve done it so many times, I know exactly how far I’ve usually gone at the beginning of each song on my old running playlists. But after my recent excursions, I decided to overshoot the school and dip into Oaks Bottom, a short trail through a wildlife refuge known for the migratory birds that inhabit it during the summer. Again, I found trail running quite challenging. It’s hard to appreciate the scenery when you’re struggling to keep your breath and staring at the ground trying not to trip over rocks! I ended up finishing another 5k, but each mile took slightly over 10 minutes due to the hills and uneven terrain.

Thursday: Springwater Corridor, Portland, Oregon. I wanted another 5k, and I wanted pretty scenery, but I wanted it all faster. I have no patience for 10.5 minute miles - the biology student in me won’t allow such foolish use of time. I’m a creature of habit, especially where exercise is concerned. If I don’t have a routine, I lose the competition I keep with myself based on previous attempts and my motivation with it, so I decided to mix the new with the familiar. The Springwater Corridor is a fairly flat, paved pedestrian trail sandwiched between the Willamette River and Oaks Bottom, basically parallel to the Oaks Bottom trail. I’m used to zipping down this route on my bike to get from my house to downtown Portland, so I was a little nervous about running somewhere that maniac bicyclists like myself use to avoid street traffic. Midday was a good choice, though - there weren’t many commuters. Since the Springwater Corridor is basically parallel to the Oaks Bottom trail, it was about the same distance. I essentially did the same run as Wednesday’s, but flatter - and in reverse, to circumvent some steep hills.

I can actually feel myself becoming a better runner, and I’m getting a bit obsessed. I’ve been googling routes in Copenhagen. There’s so much water and greenspace in this city! I was looking for new running shoes and stumbled upon a Finnish shoe brand, Karhu, which infuriatingly doesn’t put all of its products online, so now I’m determined to visit Finland while I’m abroad and visit the Karhu flagship store to see if the shoes are actually comfortable. I read that the Finns are famed for distance running. I’m dying to see where they run.

Going forward, my goal is is work on my travel running practices. I’m used to running a track and trying to maximize my time and distance. I’m a slave to my app’s data. I hate traffic lights because I can’t decide whether it’s worse to leave the timer on and count the time I’m not moving, or turn it off and ignore the short break I took and the effect it had on my stamina. I finish miles so I can separate my good and bad splits. I don’t take pictures when I’m running so I don’t mess up my data with time spent on a photo op.

    But I’m going to start making running a more leisurely activity when I’m traveling. I’ll stop to take in the view. I’ll take it slow and try new trails. I’ll take pictures. Maybe I’ll even be social.

    Yes, these are thoughts composed on runner’s high. I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep running this much between studio hours and the Copenhagen nightlife I’ve heard so much about. But I’m excited to check out the running culture abroad. I’ve heard that attitudes toward school and work are quite different in Denmark than at home in the US, so it stands to reasons that attitudes about something as arduous as running may differ as well.