Hej, Angela @hej-angela - Tumblr Blog

A million years later...

.. but better late than never. I’ve realized that you don’t simply leave Denmark the day your flight home takes off from Lufthavn. You physically leave, but your mind will linger. You’ll make random references to your life in Copenhagen while cooking with family back home, spotting Danish furniture design in groovy stores, or biking to wherever you need to go in your new life routine. And it’s okay, because as wistful as it is, you still have the growth and friendships and knowledge of Copenhagen streets in the back of your mind. And maybe even sporadic Facebook messages with your visiting host family.

All in all, choosing to study abroad in Copenhagen was one of the best three decisions of my life. It’s going to be incredibly difficult at times, and sometimes you’ll wonder if your everyday routine in cold Danish weather is really the glorified image of study abroad you had in your mind. BUT BE STEADY because this experience is still yours, and someday you will treasure all the highs and lows.

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If you’re curious to know what I’m up to, check out my instagram (@ang.he) or see my design work on Behance (@angela-he).

Before I came to DIS, I made sure to stock up on 35mm film to shoot photos with. I didn’t develop any of that film until the day I landed back home in Philadelphia, and nostalgia hit me like a brick wall. Here are film memories of my home, explorations, friends, and family in Denmark -- all out of order, but wonderful memories nonetheless.

Tak for alt, København. Can’t wait to be back soon someday :)

-- Angela

a week of dutch design (study tour to Netherlands)

For the second travel week, our graphic design course took a trip through the Netherlands, stopping at Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Rotterdam. Dutch design definitely has a different, louder, and more unexpected vibe than Danish design does, and it was exciting getting to compare the two!

Our class met at the airport (shoutout to DIS for coordinating travel, lodging, and events SO seamlessly), and before long, we were in Amsterdam. We first headed to FOAM, a beautiful photo museum. My favorite exhibit was one that had all these posters about protecting the European Union, along with some for viewers to take.

Afterwards, we had dinner at De Culinaire Werkplaats, which was a food design & eat-spiration restaurant that served courses based around a theme. The meal we had was titled “Spoonful of Honesty,” and it was a four course meal with each dish revolving around honesty or dishonesty. Definitely one of the most interesting and thought provoking meals I ever had, and it was great getting to chat with other students over interesting plates and wine.

The next day in Amsterdam, we visited a publishing company and a few art and design museums such as the Stedelijk Museum and MOCA. In the afternoon, we took a canal tour through the city and finished the night at an Indonesian restaurant.

Our last day in Amsterdam began with visiting LAVA, a design agency that did some amazing work with dynamic visual identities. Afterwards, we went to the Eye Film Museum and the NDSM Art Warf area. There was free time given to us as well, so I was able to meet up with a friend in the Netherlands who showed me some of the more classically Dutch things to do and eat in Amsterdam.

The next day, we headed to Utrecht! We stopped by Studio MOAN and chatted with the founders to learn what starting an agency was like, and then we visited the Centraal Museum and Rietveld Schroder House. I was really excited to visit the Schroder House because I had studied it a lot in my architecture course back at Emory, and it was amazing to see the building come to life through the different ways that the walls could be rearranged.

Thursday and Friday were spent in Rotterdam, which was a city that surprised me because it actually had a very modern feel to it, compared to the more traditional European architecture of Amsterdam and Utrecht. Rotterdam had plenty of skyscrapers and newer architecture, and one of the first places we stopped by was the Market Hall, which had this beautiful ceiling mural of food and flowers.

Rotterdam was more studio visits and museums (surprise!) Overall, the trip to the Netherlands was beautiful, rejuvenating, exhausting, packed, and a fun time.

#core course #graphic design #netherlands

how to love the cold

I’m not a lover of most things winter. I’d probably be fine if I could skip the whole snow, fog, and wind chill thing.

But never have I loved the cold winter months as much as I have during my time in Copenhagen. And no, it doesn’t feel better here than winters in the Northeast; you still get 30 degrees (Fahrenheit) cold with wind that makes your face numb, requiring so many layers that you’re half clothing, half frozen human.

The winter months here are lived so presently, so warmly, so hygge that the lack of warmth externally is made up by the abundance of warmth internally, found in warm dinners over dim candles, conversations with cozy blankets, and getting too excited about the smell of baked goods in the kitchen.

#cold #things #brrr #thoughts

core course week: pt. 2

For the second part of my core course week, the graphic design classes took a three-day tour around Western Denmark, hitting up cities such as Odense, Kolding, and Aarhus! Each day was packed from around 8am-8pm, so I’ll be sharing some highlights from each day for you.

Day 4: Dragged my suitcase through the snow to our bus bright and early (sun wasn’t even up yet!) Our first stop was Sanderum Kirke, a church from the 1200s that has some *controversial* murals inside. We sat and sketched while enjoying the stillness around us.

After lunch and wandering the city of Odense for a little, we headed to Brandts Media Museum, where we learned about the history of printmaking in Denmark and explored a multitude of exhibits. The one that stuck out to me the most was a simplistic white room on the top floor of the museum with a glass tank housing an axolotl, and it was a commentary on the impacts sustainability will have on future generations.

Day 5: After a yummy breakfast at our hostel, we got on the bus and headed to the city of Kolding to go to the Trapholt Kunstmuseum, a modern art museum. From there, we went to a delicious smørrebrød place for lunch before we walked to the Designskolen Kolding, a school focusing on textile and advertising design. A student there gave us a tour of the facilities and it was amazing to see the (busy) lives and thought processes of design students in Denmark.

Afterwards, we got back on the bus to head to Aarhus, Denmark’s second largest city and one of the European Capitals of Culture for 2017! Our first stop was LYNFabrikken, a co-working space in the city. There are a bunch of similar workspaces like these back in Atlanta so it wasn’t a new concept to me, but listening to the co-founder talk about the benefits of having a small network of officemates who can vouch for your abilities when new opportunities arise made me appreciate the co-working concept a lot more. They also have a cafe within the office that is open to the public, and they talked about how they designed this to be an extremely inviting, work-friendly, and chat-inducing environment. They also have a rad rooftop lounge that we braved the cold to take a peek at.

After a really long day, we had a group dinner at this restaurant downtown and wow were we in for a treat; the food was delicious, the wine was nice, and everyone had really warmed up to each other and gotten to know one another a lot better by then. The professor for my studio, Jeanette, came along with us on the study tour, and it was wonderful chatting with her outside of class time. She even joined us for drinks at a bar during both nights on our tour, which is something that you wouldn’t find a ton of American professors casually doing.

Day 6: Our last day! We spent the whole day in Aarhus, and we first stopped by the Dansk Plakatmuseum, a museum full of vintage and contemporary Danish posters. After so many different art exhibits, it was nice to see something so consistent, and after a brief tour we sat down to sketch in our visual journals.

Afterwards, we stopped by Aarhus Rådhus, a modernist town hall that was designed down to the most minute detail by Arne Jacobsen. Then we walked to the ARoS Museum, which is the largest modern art museum in the Nordic countries and possibly my favorite visit of the whole study tour. There are incredible exhibits here; I recommend starting from the bottom floor and working your way to the top. It’s also where you’ll find the rainbow panorama that everyone instagrams photos of. I recommend taking some photos but then doing some laps and enjoying the panorama gadget-free to experience the incredible views and tricks it plays on your eyes.

Overall, this trip was incredible, super busy and fun, wonderful bonding, lots of journaling, and meticulously planned out by the Architecture & Design department. I’ll leave with some post-trip thoughts: - The bus rides become something that everyone really looks forward to; after mentally processing so much art and walking so much at each site, it’s nice to just unwind and have time to yourself. Have some good playlists on hand. - Good pens to sketch with make all the difference. I picked up some Pigma Micron pens at Designskolen, and my sketching game really stepped up once I had different thicknesses to play around with. - Visual inspiration is everywhere, but not everything will be inspiring to you. That’s okay; remember and grow from the design and ideas that stick out to you. Don’t just accept everything at face value. Really think about whether this is something memorable and then figure out why. You’re going to come across so much on this trip that you can’t hold onto everything anyways. - Chat with people who are at the sites you’re visiting. They really love to share and hey, everyone likes a chance to talk about themselves so ask them what about the site is important to them. - Jeanette (our professor) is a gem; your dreams and aspirations are always welcome to her ears.

#study tour #graphic design #design #core course #core course week #western denmark

core course week: pt.1

Our core course week has finished! After returning Saturday evening from our 3-day trip around Western Denmark, I’ve spent the past few days getting back into the groove of a normal schedule.

So what is core course week? I’ll admit I had no idea what it was until a week before it started, but essentially it’s an entire week DIS dedicates to just your core course, mine being Graphic Design Foundations. The first two days were spent in Copenhagen learning about journaling techniques with my studio, and the last three days were spent traveling around western Denmark on a highly organized, planned to the dot schedule that DIS planned for us.

Day 1: All of the Architecture & Design (AD) students were brought together to attend workshops on urban journaling, watercolor journaling, and visual journaling. We then were unleashed on the (freezing) streets to practice the techniques we had just learned. The AD department really stresses keeping a journal throughout our travels with our core course, and it was really helpful seeing so many examples of journaling.

Day 2: This day was spent visiting Helle Jensen’s studio and learning how to create and bind journals ourselves, and it was one of my favorite workshops I've been to yet! Helle Jensen creates journals for visual inspiration wherever she travels, and she collects receipts, stamps, snack wrappers, tickets, you name it and arranges it beautifully in these notebooks to serve as design inspiration and a visual diary for her future design work.

After eating some chocolate croissants (thanks Jeanette!) and warming up from the cold, Helle taught us different ways of book-binding. She unleashed us in her studio, and we got to work creating journals by sewing pages together, using stamps she’s collected from around the globe, and gluing and collaging covers for the books we had made. I love creating things by hand like this, and I could have stayed there for hours making books. At the end, we all showcased our journals and everyone’s turned out so differently. I’m excited to use mine to collect interesting things I find during my travels in Europe.

Day 3: Day off for packing! Took myself to Paludan Bogcafe, a book-cafe near my LLC, to get some work done.

Up next: A lot happened during our core course week, so in the next post I’ll be covering the second part of the trip: Western Denmark!

#core course #design #graphic design

glass markets + design

For my New Nordic Design course, we went to Torvehallerne (aka the Glass Market) to see how the high-end food mecca used Danish design to emphasize qualities of the New Nordic Cuisine Movement, which has been our study topic for the past week.

The New Nordic Cuisine Manifesto heavily emphasizes fresh, simple products, and before we even stepped into the two glass halls, we came across rows and rows of fruits, vegetables, and flowers outdoors in what our professor called ‘a natural refrigerator.’

The budding culinary nerd within me couldn’t help but admire the rainbows of produce in front of us - DIS allots students in RCs, LLCs, and kollegiums a grocery stipend, but once I run out of that, I’ll definitely swing by Torvehallerne to get some fresh produce.

The interior of the food market was just as beautiful; the building is minimalistic and clean as one would expect of Danish design, but this allows the colors of each stand’s food to really pop out. We came to experience the layout of the market and to feel the energy of the place, but a few of us definitely couldn’t resist buying a chocolate truffle or a block of cheese. There are plenty of samples, and I recommend going on a weekday when the crowds aren’t as busy!

There are over 80 food vendors between the two glass halls, and they sell everything from fancy wines to smoked salmon to meals such as smørrebrød (quintessential Danish open-faced sandwiches pictured above.) If I ever want to treat/tempt myself, I’ll be sure to stop by here. Strangely enough, this market reminds me of the various food markets we have back in Atlanta (Krog Street Market or Ponce City anyone??) Definitely has a pretty bougie feel, but it makes me wonder how these new upscale attractions have an impact on the communities within Copenhagen vs how similar Atlanta attractions impact communities there.

#copenhagen #field study

not ramen : week 1

Since I’m living in the Culinary LLC, I’m surrounded by people who are definitely not your average, ramen-making college students. I’ve seen people whip up coconut curry from scratch and get fancy creating apple gouda cheese sandwiches. Since there’s always someone cooking in the kitchen around dinnertime, I’ve learned a ton of tips, asked many questions, and been inspired to attempt ambitious recipes myself.

In my quest to step up my cooking game, I’m going to try one big recipe every week, and I’ll share them through the ‘Not Ramen’ series with you all. This week, I attempted a Sweet Potato Chili recipe that my roommate made for me last semester. I substituted a lot of the spices and ingredients in the original recipe and added barbecue sauce for flavor. I (naively) expected this to take 30 minutes to make, but I was in the kitchen for a good 2.5 hours of my life simultaneously stirring and chatting with floormates while the chili was simmering. It turned out really yummy though! I added rice because it wouldn’t thicken (probably because I didn’t add quinoa as the original recipe called for...), and it made for a pretty filling meal. I also made enough for a family of five... so it looks like I have lunch for the rest of the week.

#llc #not-ramen #cooking

After I got done backpacking Europe, I had a bunch of people ask me “Which countries did you go to?” after I named three countries I could see their interest wane. That’s when I realized that no one cares about where you’ve been, they care about who its made you. Being a tourist doesn’t change who you are but being an adventurer does, so go out and meet locals and get horribly lost. The adventure begins when you have no idea where you are going.

William Beteet

#advice

settling

♪ Caress Your Soul : Sticky Fingers

The whole task of settling is something I thought I’d have down pat by now; after moving to Atlanta and then Seattle without knowing anyone and building a completely new life during both instances, I (foolishly, un-humbly) expected to be able to do so like a pro in Copenhagen when I arrived over a week and a half ago.

But here’s a note to future Ang: the first week of any new living situation is going to suck. Routines won’t be in place yet, you’ll meet so many new people that you’ll get tired of remembering names, so much small talk will be made that you’ll temporarily forget what deep meaningful winding conversations are like, and you won’t know where to put your toiletries in your new shared bathroom.

But REST EASY because you will come across new joys every single day, and as you go through the process of settling, it will be so so worth it. Here are some of those joys from today: - got my bike & rode it for the first time today! (terrifying!! exhilerating!!) - took a morning to myself and went to the Black Diamond Library, where I got some work done while gazing over some Copenhagen canals - Facetime-ing friends & family back home is 10x better once initial homesickness is over - we have a good level of familiarity and banter going on now with the people on my floor - sharing 10pm cinnamon roll cravings with housemates (*bonding*) - a good conversation on model minorities, refugees, and Aziz Ansari over raspberry tarts - complaining to someone about looking at furniture design all day and being reminded of what an absolute joy it actually is that I even get to study design at all aka isn’t this all that I’ve wanted for who knows how long?? - Copenhagen is beautiful :*)

#arrival #thoughts

women’s march copenhagen

The day after the US Presidential Inauguration, Copenhagen joined cities worldwide by holding a Women’s March. I was sad to miss the march in Atlanta (where some of my friends met John Lewis 😭 ), but it meant a lot to me to be able to make it to the one in Copenhagen.

And what an event - I met up with a large group of DIS students and we journeyed over to the Embassy of the United States, where chants and speeches rallied us in the cold. I’ve always made excuses and justified not attending marches/protests in the past, but I couldn’t do that again this time because the election and inauguration have steadily filled me with so much confusion and frustration and a fire to get involved that I couldn’t stand by any longer. Reading a flurry of articles the morning of the inauguration on Trump’s speech, privilege, protests, and the events in DC only further encouraged me to attend this event.

It warmed my soul to see over 5,000 people, including many many Danes, stand in solidarity and march to the Parliament holding signs and repeating chants. It was done peacefully - there were many young children and toddlers in the crowd. We marched for equality for women, minorities, voices that cannot be heard; we marched for human rights, freedoms, and justice that we still have to fight for in 2017.

I recognize how extraordinary it is to have a voice while abroad. Not all countries or cultures I could have chosen to study in would have granted me the same privilege, and I tried my best to be aware of that while marching through the streets of Copenhagen. I was also really grateful to witness so many Danes marching in solidarity with the events happening across the globe. As the president of DIS told us at our orientation, many Danes believe the election of the President of the United States has a larger impact on Denmark than the election of their own Prime Minister.

And so I have privilege to constantly be aware of, privilege that allowed me to be a silent, disinterested bystander for most of my life, and now I have responsibility to uphold, to be an ally and to listen and to learn from those who are struggling and to support them in whichever ways I can.

Denmark feels more like home now than it has felt over the past week, and I’m sure a part of it must be because I was given a voice, and I’ve finally started to use it.

#copenhagen #womensmarch

copenhagen resolutions

Normally, when I move to a new place I have no expectations because I like a clean slate, but I definitely came to Denmark with a ton of preconceived notions about what my experience would be like because I may have read one too many DIS blogs too closely (but it was out of excitement!!)

And obviously, someone’s nicely curated blog with filtered photos and travel tips will be nothing like what an actual day-to-day experience is like while studying at DIS Copenhagen, and that’s something that was a bit of a shock to me during the first week while here.

Settling in takes time, so here are a list of things I *personally* hope to focus on and achieve during my four months here:

- Become a much better cook: I’m the first to admit that I can’t really cook anything besides basic marinara pasta with veggies mixed in. Choosing to be in a culinary themed dorm was an intentional move to dedicate a semester to really being able to cook. I don’t have time during typical semesters to cook and I normally rely on my meal plan at Emory a lot, but here, I’m expected to cook my own meals 5 or 6 times a week. And, everyone on my floor is an excellent cook (in my opinion.) Within one of the first nights, someone on my floor taught me how to cook chicken (yes, I didn’t know how to cook chicken) and tonight, I successfully made a chicken dish for the first time and my floor mates were wonderfully encouraging and celebrated with me.

- Make Copenhagen my home: The first blur of a week has been so many events, meetings, and errands that I still have yet to truly get to know the city on my own terms through wandering in the mornings and doing some exploring on my own. And I’m a fiercely independent person, and while I like the company of those I live and have classes with, I really need to just take myself on some solo dates and get to know the city deeply, widely, and thoroughly.

- Immerse myself in design: Ever since I discovered the design community online, I’ve spent hours articles on Medium, scrolling through Dribbble feeds, and working on some of my own design attempts. But this semester, I want to fully commit to being a design student with no bs-ing or excuses or hesitancy. I really want to soak in all the everyday and exhibited design knowledge there is in this city and greater Europe. And to create some pretty kick-ass things myself.

- Live boldly and presently: At the end of the semester, I hope to have met local Danes that I can call my friends, be more open with people I’ve grown familiar with, and to not let technology and social media distract me from truly experiencing the details of a life in Copenhagen.

#arrival #list

arrival/still arriving

Time is a weird thing when arriving for study abroad; I physically landed in Copenhagen 5 days ago, but the days have been so jam-packed that I feel as if I’ve been here for weeks. The thought that I was sitting at home in my pajamas this time a week ago feels like a different universe.

Arrived on Saturday exhausted and running on 3 hours of sleep, but our SRAs had prepared lunch for us, so that gave me enough energy to finish unpacking and avoid taking naps!! I can thankfully say I overcame jet lag with one night of really good sleep. The weekend was mostly spent meeting people in my housing (~30 of us), attending meetings, and lightly exploring.

DIS does a wonderful job with organizing orientations so that you explore the city yet also get a good dose of cultural/academic life here, and I learned fun tidbits over orientation that I thought I’d note here:

- Amalienborg, the royal palace in Denmark, raises a flag over whatever palace that the resident of is home (the queen, prince, etc.)

- Danish people learn that Americans are really nice and courteous (which I thought was a funny surprise.) Americans typically apologize or negotiate situations by saying things like “Yes that’s true, but I believe it’d be better to do ___” vs the more blunt, straightforward Danish way of resolving disagreements was interesting to learn. Maybe I’ll become better at confrontation here (??)

- There aren’t a ton of skyscrapers in Copenhagen! The city skyline is relatively consistent with most buildings capped around 6 stories high. The tallest structures are often church towers, which can be seen rising up above the other buildings.

- I also got a chance to go to La Glace, which is the oldest pastry shop in Copenhagen and just a short walk from where I live! A few of us won a gift card to La Glace from a scavenger hunt in our LLC, and we treated ourselves to a slice of cake & hot chocolate & general sugary decadence.

After 5 days of 'arrival,’ I think the only way I can really build my life here is to start classes and create a routine for myself - and classes start tomorrow!

#arrival #llc

t-1

This last week at home has been an odd mix of ignoring the fact that I leave on Friday versus anxiously making preparations to go abroad via too many trips to Target. Even now, I’m procrastinating my packing by writing this blog post; 2 empty suitcases, ??? hours left.

This spring, I’ll be at DIS Copenhagen studying Scandinavian design through their graphic design program. As a visual arts & computer science double major at Emory University, I’m really looking forward to this semester abroad because there are no graphic design courses at Emory, so I’m grateful that I even get a chance to study graphic design at all and have it count towards my major. I will also be taking New Nordic Design, Artificial Intelligence, and Danish Language & Culture.

~update: a few hours later~

Just watched the full 40 minute video of Biden receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom today, and as if I wasn’t already getting pre-departure nostalgia at the prospect of leaving home (and Emory) for spring semester, now I’m nostalgic about the presidential legacy and present state of America that I took for granted. Watching things unfold from abroad will be a welcome relief to me because I’ve become tired (yet still transfixed) by the unfolding drama that has been the election season and transition period. But if anything, a semester abroad will give me new perspectives and energy, and it’ll be such an interesting time to note the viewpoints of Europeans as well.

But don’t worry! This blog will still be mainly about my travels abroad, and I am excited to share my adventures, meaningful moments, curious thoughts, and cultural shocks through photos, writing, doodles, who knows what else. Back to (over/under?) packing :)

#predeparture

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Hej, Angela