I've been speaking Danish all my life.

Tonight at dinner Richard was teaching me Danish. Raoul kept joking about how we should have a chalkboard installed on the wall because dinner was becoming like a classroom. I was asking Richard how to say everything and then having him repeat it three or four times so I could remember. Plus I have to analyze the Danish grammar, so I can understand it, since I don't have a class.
Anyway I asked Richard how to say "to remember" and he said something that sounded like "whooska" and then I realized he was saying HUSKER. I already knew that DU means YOU and put the two together, husker du. When we were little we loved playing HUSKER DU. It was a memory game, meaning "Do you remember?" in Danish. I had no idea it meant that and I have pronounced HUSKER like corn "husk" my whole life.
oh the joys of childhood.
I learned French from Disney movies and Danish from board games.

København

Saturday morning I woke up singing, "This is not a rat race with winners and losers this is the fast pace way of life" in my friend's apartment in Copenhagen (København in Danish). Friday I went to town to go to the temple and a singles institute activity. They were having an international night where we learned about Nicaragua. There were two girls from Nicaragua there (who live in Denmark) and they made the food and did a presentation. It was so fun, mostly because I got to speak Spanish all night and we planned to hang out some other time. They are so nice and cute.
There were these two guys from Norway and an American girl there. Afterward we just went walking in the street, in search of Dr. Pepper, but without success. Maybe I will go visit Norway?!? I'm not sure, but those guys were talking me into it. I have to see if I can find a cheap airplane ticket.
Then on Saturday I went to the train station in the morning to meet Merja. When she got to town we went walking around looking for second hand shops. We both wanted to buy more warm clothes. Many of the shops were closed, but we turned the corner in this one neighbor and found a little market. There was a whole street filled with garage salers!! I guess it was the neighborhood's party so all the people who lived there brought out their stuff to sell. I found a leather jacket for $8.50 and a sweater and long sleeve shirt for $7 each. Mostly, clothes are expensive here. I haven't wanted to buy anything, so I am sooooo happy about these purchases.
After our success, we went to lunch then to the Danish Design Center and then headed home.
I really love that city. They have bicycle lanes on every street and at some streets the bikers even have their own lights! København is like a fairytale.

five minutes without talking

I am having the time of my life. srsly. Every day is different and the same, relaxing and exciting. But sometimes you really do miss those people with whom it is so natural to go five minutes without talking. You know who you are. love you. thinking of you.

sooooo much wood.

I moved so many logs from one spot to another today. boyohboy. my back is tired.

The best version of what i could imagine just happened.

Silver Screen.

I have just been starting every post with a song that has been in my head/on repeat on my ipod. Some of the words stick out to me and I am glad to have a place to reflect on the lyrics.

I really feel like the best thing I could imagine is happening to me right now. Last week a new artist from Finland came. Her name is Merja. She is so fun. We have such a good time together. I have always loved Finland for some reason so we talk a lot about it and she shows me pictures of her fashionable daughter who lives in Helsinki. She told me that she told her husband all about me, how happy and fun I am. ha. She is great company and for dinner the other night she made us meatballs just like Ikea. They were soooo good.

This week Richard and I are preparing the kiln site because next week we are firing the huge wood kiln. The kiln's name is Embla. It takes three days to fire. There are people coming from Sweden, Denmark and Norway to load and fire the kiln. We will just sign up on a schedule and take shifts through the night for 3 days. So Richard and I are cleaning up, preparing shelves and organizing wood.

I have also been casting more porcelain cups, glazing those I already bisqued and putting decals on the glazed ones. So far we have about 70 finished. I think they want a group of 150 before we take them to Slagelse Community to sell. I really enjoy the process of slip casting and decorating with decals, so I'm glad that job fell into my hands. I have a good time doing it.

Today I started making a landscape out of clay. Before, when I had my landscapes out of styrofoam everyone complained that they didn't mesh well with the sculptures. So I am making one out of a smooth, red, earthenware clay that they have here. It is sooooo smooth. I think I love it. Hopefully it looks good.

I am making dinner for everyone tonight. I made a lemon meringue pie for dessert and I am going to prepare a red curry for the main dish. So far I have made pizza, chicken-vegetable soup and tacos. That might be the end of my menu repertoire...(that's French for repertoire. See I told you I was practicing French!)

Fin.

Woweek number Two.

I listened to the new Vampire Weekend album a while ago, but never "heard" this song until today. And I love it. Give it a listen?
Giving Up The Gun.

Yesterday I finally figured out my flight home. My original ticket was for two months out, when I was going to travel around Europe for a month and end up visiting my parents in Romania. But then they offered me the assistant position for three months, so I needed to change my ticket. However, my departure date was too close to change, so I just took the flight, hoping to fix my return flight later from Copenhagen and skip visiting my parents all together.

When I called the travel office that helped me book it, they said that I had to go out of Romania and that it couldn't be changed (only to find out a day later it could be changed). So I made plans to leave here a week early and go to Romania anyway. It would be a shame to come all this way and not see my parents on their mission...plus I found a non-stop flight from Copenhagen to Bucharest--totally worth it.

I spoke with the director of the center here to make sure it was ok that I leave a week early and she said it was. She is very nice. We talked for a while and she asked me how things are going. I am really loving this place. During our conversation she told me three things that I am taking a huge compliments. First she mentioned that I could come back and that the more times I am here the easier it is to start making work and getting in the flow. Second she said that Richard, the studio manager who I work for, loves me! yes! I was hoping to be a good, hard worker and impress. And third she said I look European and that I fit right in. That made me feel great. Many people have told me that. Everyone starts speaking to me in Danish, and act really surprised when I answer back in English.
It feels good to be in a country where you fit it. I really love it here. Danish people are so friendly and funny. Their sense of humor is really great.

Art wise I have made 6 new sculptures. They are very cute. I will post pictures when I am finished with them. I hope to make at least 3 per week. This week I am ahead of the schedule and will start another one today.

Play is a child's work. So I'm not sure if I am a child or an adult, but I feel stuck/most satisfied in the world of play. Would you rather have more children acting like adults or more adults acting like children? Besides the tantrums, I choose the latter. I think the former makes me sad. Childhood is not a time to be forfeited. It is a time of discovery and imagination, where the world is open to possibility, where there are many questions with no need for answers, where creativity rules every action. Growing up is not my favorite. It's not that I hate responsibility and bills (although those aren't that great). It's just that I miss innocence and simplicity. If I were Miss America, I would definitely choose world peace and happiness for all.
Today, two women came into my studio and laughed with my sculptures. I put a smile on their faces. Good job me.

This is all reminding me of that documentary Promises
I love that movie.
Watch it.

Farvel.

best life ever.

This is the soundtrack for the best life ever.

I don't even know where to begin. My life is amazing. On Saturday I arrived in Copenhagen. I sat for a bit in the airport because I wasn't sure what to do and I was so tired. I decided to just take the train to Skaelskor, the town where I am staying, and explore Copenhagen another day. So I hopped the train, not knowing exactly where to sit or if I was on the right train. I eventually found my seat, but also found someone in my seat. I asked the woman if that was her seat and she moved immediately. Then I heard her talking to her friends in Spanish about she hadn't reserved a seat. They were from Spain so I began to speak Spanish with her. It was such a relief to be speaking a language that I knew.

On the flight over the whole plane was filled with Danish chatting. I sat next to a grad student who was going to study International Business for 3 weeks. He is from San Francisco and his mother is Swedish so he had been to Denmark a few times. We definitely felt like the minority.

No one from the office was in when I arrived at the center because it was a Saturday. But I met a few of the artists that were in the kitchen. Barbara and Pauline are from Germany (Pauline left today, Barbara leaves this next week), Sten is from Denmark, Anne is from France and Hikaru is from Japan. Today I met Richard and Katrine who work in the office. Katrine works two days a week and lives in Copenhagen. She writes music on her off time and has promised to take me to the smaller venues where I can see local bands play. oh so fun.

Today a new artist, Marc, arrived from France. He is 25 and seems very nice. I am glad he is staying for a month. So I am practicing my French as well as studying Danish. Anne and I are determined to learn.

I took a long walk today to the Thrift store. It smells the same here as it does in the states. I bought a hair dryer for my hair and also for the clay. Dual-purpose. Also I passed a bakery and stopped in to buy a true Danish. It was delicious.