Nana

Meet my wife. Although no photo will ever do Nana justice, I had to post this beautiful Dane right away. Last night a bunch of us went out to a house party of one of the professors in the Architecture school. There I was, chatting with some new Danish people, when I was taken aback as Nana came into the room. She walked right up to me; her hair at the time restricted to a bun and introduced herself. I was smitten from the first hello. We proceeded to talk about Denmark, her experience as a ballet dancer, her recent injury keeping her from dancing, and her recent travels to Thailand. The conversation could have been 45 minutes or 3 hours...I had lost all track of time. I was ready to propose...but then the plot thickens.

Turns out Nana has a boyfriend. There at the party. He is a model. Looks like a thinned out Danish equivalent of Brad Pitt. He is just in my way at this point. I can't believe my luck. I am finally talking with a beautiful Danish woman (with perfect English), and she is dating freaking Brad Pitt. "Brad" has some very curious quirks.

So, in some countries you bow, others shake hands, and even some say hello and goodbye with a kiss of varying amounts on the cheeks...but "Brad" as developed his own "friendly" vocabulary...he bites you. Not like a vampire or anything, just a little nibble. Needless to say, if I could have vaporized him, I would have.

We head from the house party, off to a really cool club a few meters away. Nana tells me once we are outside, that she has recently purchased a scooter, and asks if I would like to see. Of course. We go and look. It is beautiful. Brand new, and she is very taken with it. She offers me a ride. Are you kidding me?? Of course. We take it for a cruise around a couple blocks. I should have coaxed her into riding away to Paris or London or something, to forget about "Brad" forever. Eventually we end up at the club, and hit the dance floor. I don't know what it is about ballet dancers and club style dancing, but they are always phenomenal.

The obstacle is still there...but I have just over 3 weeks...we WILL see each other again...wish me luck ;)

Clarice

Meet Clarice. A Paris native. From first glance we knew we had to meet the lovely specimen of French woman. With her lovely and tentalizing hair, beautiful young face, and scumptious over bite, we all swooned. She turned us all down cold, but hey, at least we tried.

Meet the Cast - Brax

I decided I should highlight some of the folks that are making this trip happen. This will be the first of a series of Bios...

Andrew Brackenbury is seen here by the notorious fountain in Copenhagen. "Brax" as we like to call him has several nicknames. Recently he has earned the nickname of "Swims MaGee" after his last night in town. The fountain behind us is a source of constant amusement in Denmark, and "Swims" added to the excitement last night after jumping recklessly into the fountain's murky waters and singing Luck Be A Lady. Three Danish women got into the fountain with him, and the whole scene got the coppers to come by. By his persuasion, he managed to get out of the predicament, and in bed by 3:00.

The whole story above is of course not true, but wouldn't it be funny if it were.

Brax has been on a whirlwind "tour" of France, England, and Denmark. After joining Bryan and I in Paris for 6 days, he cycled around the French Alps and watched portions of the Tour De France live. He is currently packing his 5 bags of way too much stuff to head home. It was great to have a piece of home come out here, and I think Brax and I have decided that Copenhagen has got to be on a permanent list of places to vacation, because of the huge population of fine Danish females.

Finland

Helsinki is a city I never thought I would visit…in fact I did not even know it existed until a year ago when I started to study at U Oregon. It seemed more like a swear word than a place, and so obscure that I never even considered a trip. Although this is not my favorite of the Scandinavian cities we have visited, it is actually a pretty impressive place with plenty that merits a visit.

With a vague resemblance to San Francisco, this hilly town has been fun to explore. There was a completely outrageous Modern Art Museum with horrible art. The building by Stephen Holl was really spectacular, but the art just hurt the building’s positive flow and lighting.

Visiting Alvar Aalto’s home and studio (a really famous architect for those of you that do not know) was very cool. After reading so much, and seeing photos of the places he designed, it was very rewarding to be inside the buildings, and be able to appreciate the building in person. Surprisingly, his work was just as impressive in person.

Heading back to Copenhagen soon on a cruise liner...

Stockholm

So Sweden is all you have ever heard it to be. The landscape is beautiful, the canals and rivers are breathtaking and the whole city has a really energetic vibe.

While in Stockholm, we were rushed around from site, to museum, to building...but we did have a bit of time in the evening to experience the culture. All in all it would have been nice to spend a couple more days in this city.

The highlight was the Modern Art Museum, which featured an architecture exhibit, as well as a very interesting collection of modern art. The modern art housed here was actually quite beautiful and understandable. It is really remarkable how out in left field some art can get, but this was a really nice middle ground. The building was also very well done, and a pleasure to be in.

While on our way to the bus to leave Sweden, I was able to score a Swedish massage on the street side from a street vendor type. You should have seen her stretching her limbs in preparation for the massage…quite the site. She then proceeded to do her job, and man did it feel good. Probably the best 20 minutes in Sweden were spent on that crazy chair.

I was quite inspired by my time there, and am looking forward to getting back to Copenhagen to start work on my chair in steel.

On the Road Again...

So, I leave tomorrow for Northern Denmark, and then continue off to Sweden and Finland. It is going to be a very busy next 9 days on the road. We will be traveling via bus mostly, with 2 cruise ship boat rides across the Baltic Sea. Shouldn't be too bad.

Before leaving, we had to show the professors our design sketches for the chair we are proposing to make. I was assigned steel, and have successfully gotten the go ahead on my design, and will continue to refine throughout the next few days. When we get back, there will be some final drawings, and then off to the metal shop to build it.

Today Brent and I tried to find a good, solid beach. It seemed everywhere we went, we became enveloped by a sulfur stank that was intolerable. We went to 3 different places suggested to us by locals and colleagues alike, to no avail. These people obviously have never been to Hawaii...or maybe our standards are too high.

A few days ago Sasha and I were able to enjoy the Jazz Festival here in Copenhagen at a really nice restaurant not too far from our school. The music was quite lively, and done extremely well. I think Jazz festivals should follow me everywhere I go throughout my travels.

I successfully moved my flight back to the states, So I will be returning a week ahead of the original schedule...This puts me in San Francisco at 1:55 pm on September 5.

Chairs, Chairs, and more Chairs

I have now completed my first week in the furniture program here in Copenhagen. It has been a really fun first week with a ton of field trips where we were able to go to show rooms and museums that display the various Danish designed chairs. They are all quite beautiful in their own way, and I have come to realize that no matter how unique my idea for a chair may seem, it has been done before.

Yesterday, at one of the showrooms, after receiving a delicious glass of wine from the hosts, we watched an old video on Alvar Aalto and his work. The film was extremely old, and had spooky Hitchcock music throughout a documentary, which seemed like quite the odd pairing.

In the evening, we all went out on the town. It was the first time this week we have been able to go out and have some unencumbered fun. We found our way to a nice little club/bar and danced the night away.

What I wouldn't give for peanut butter! It is $15 bucks here for freaking peanut butter! Can you believe it?? The grocery situation here is pretty bleak. There are very little familiar items at their stores, and figuring out a way to make a meal in our little haphazard kitchen has been quite the challenge. I am going to go and brave the grocery store this morning, and see if I can triumph over the obstacles of the day.

Copenhagen.

After 2 days of school I am absolutely inspired. This whole city is completely beautiful, with its water canals, five story buildings of brilliant colors, fascinating street life, and friendly people. The bustle here is quite vibrant, and it is a total joy to be studying in such a brilliant place.

After a short delay in Paris, due to some sort of security breach, I got into Denmark about 1.5 hours late. After finding my bag, and DIS rep, I was on my way to orientation. Soon after, we were taken on a short walking tour of the area directly around our little apartment (dorm type thing) we are staying in. It is quite nice...I share a bathroom, and shower with Sasha, with my own bedroom of course.

After a brief history of Copenhagen, and a tour of the furniture workshops, I settled into my new little home. The grocery store adventure was quite the event, but I think I am roughly set for a few days.

Today we took a tour of Fritz Hansen, a furniture manufacturer here in Denmark. Besides having really great chairs, they fed us a fantastic meal of Danish cuisine.

Studio really picks up tomorrow with drawings and lectures, so it seems my vacation-like days are gone...at least for now.

Photos thus Far...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=724029615205&page=1&sort_order=0

This link above should bring you to the digital Photo Album...more will come of course, once I am back home, but this is what I have so far...

Final Days in Paris

Over the past 3 days, we have seen the Louvre (the Midieval and Egyptian segments were fantastic, as well as seeing the Mona Lisa), spent a day in Versailles touring the palace, the Pompido Center (with its very strange collection of modern art), and so much more I can't even recall.

The most memorable evening in Paris was being able to have dinner with Ophelie and Guillaume, who live just outside of Paris, and invited us to their place for a fantastic BBQ. It was great to see how real Parisians live. Their assistance throughout the Paris night life was also quite an asset.

On our last night here in Paris, I decided to order something that sounded extremely French, and not ask any questions. Beef Tartare, came out, and I was extremely surpirsied at what I found. Needless to say, I asked them to cook up the raw meat, and I ended up with a delightful hamberger patty...not so French, but at least it was cooked.

The only negative event since our time here was a ridiculous ticket I got on the metro. I did not have a photo on my rail pass which ended up costing me $30! I really wanted to rip the officials head off...but lucky for him I held back my super powers, and just paid the fine.

Tomorrow morning I am off to Copenhagen to start classes. It will be nice to have an apartment home base for a little while. More to come as I begin my studies of Scandinavian culture.

Paris...

So after a few days in Paris, we have hit quite a number of the important sites.

We have toured around Notre Dame, the Jewish and Latin Quarters, Sacre Coeur, Saint Chappelle, Marias District, Trimphant Arc...and I am sure I am missing some things. Tonight we are going to climb the Eiffel Tower, and browse around the Moulin Rouge area...don't get worried, we will all be good.

Andrew has joined us after a major fiasco with his luggage...but all is fine now...

And the car problem back in Nice...well, let's just say Bryan and I gave them a serious whopping, and we came out the victors...no extra fees for us...which is good because we just found out the few phone calls we had to make to get things in order over these last few days were 40 bucks a pop...highway robbery!

Our little quaint hotel in Paris has a Madame who runs the joint to says "Give me money" in a playful manner every morning...we are getting a good kick out of her.

Only a few more days left in Paris, and then school will begin...