(2005) Adventures

Today I had my first bicycle excursion around Copenhagen. Weeeeee. I wasn't really wanting a bike at all cuz I haven't ridden one since I was like... ummm... 12? Maybe 14? Somewhere around there (I'm excluding my freshman year of college on purpose because I wiped out in the first 10 minutes I was on it; after that is history). After lunch today, EVERYONE came back to school with a bike, for some unknown reason. Something in the air told everyone to get a bike I guess? I didn't want to be left out so I went and found one too. Copenhagen has a surplus of junk bikes laying around everywhere. Sure, you could call it stealing, momentary stealing, but I like to think of it as borrowing for 3 weeks. The one I found had a flat front tire of course... so I borrowed another dude's in my class (he found 2 good ones today). To be honest, I was pretty petrified to get on and ride. I'm even scared to ride a bike back home, MORE SO in a foreign city where people start riding bikes at age 4 and are pros at age 7 (nearly). There are definitely professional bike riders in this city. Every lane of traffic has a designated bike lane as well (which I'm sure is what it's like in most other countries but ours), so bikers have their own lane and don't have to bother the traffic or pedestrians. They do it the smart way. I think we could learn a thing or 2 (I'm sounding minimalistic on purpose; we could learn A LOT) from these people. So, after the kiln was loaded with the last shovel full of glass and sand to be melted for tomorrow, off we went. We had a leader of the pack (his name is Ben) who bikes to class a lot and knew the way, thank goodness. I hadn't seen much of the city in between where the metro stops. This was a really great way to see it. Ben was going a little fast for me and my boy bike with the back-pedal brakes and the really uncomfortable seat. I've never understood why they have to make different sexes of bikes. A bike is a bike, they do the same thing, they serve the same purpose. What more do you need? As I was saying, he was going a little fast. I didn't really have that much time to absorb the traffic signals since I was following 3 people, at a not slow rate. Don't worry, I didn't crash into any cars, just another biker. Okay, I didn't crash into him, I more like... fell into him. I didn't want to say anything in English because I didn't want to give away that I was a stupid American learning how to ride a bike again for the first time. In Copenhagen. I think I let out one long "IIIEEEEEEEEEEEY" as I could feel his look of "what in the world is this girl doing?" beating down on me. I got over it, as David was behind me, watching the entire thing and laughing the whole time. Deep down, I was laughing too. I know I looked like a fool but who cares. This city is so big that those people will never see me again. A huge puddle of sweat later, we made it back to our kollegium. Two of the three guys I was riding with live in the same dorm as I, so it's convenient that we all have bikes and we can bike together to class. On another note, it was Charlie's first day back today! We all missed the shaggy gnome so much. He's so much more of a relaxed teacher than his son is. They have very different techniques and ways of doing things (nearly EVERYTHING), so we've had exposure to a little bit of both sides. Now we're just confused. We just have to figure out which way of doing what fits us individually better. No problem. And yet on another note, yesterday was my first visit to the beach! Oddly enough, it was with the same 3 guys I rode bike with today, but we were there just long enough to put the blanket down and have a 2 minute-long picnic. It started out being a gorgeous day, but as always, we waited too long to finally head out. It got super windy on our walk there and by the time we hit sand, clouds started rolling in. It was really cool out there though. From where we were, we could see the bridge to Sweden (we could even see Sweden) and there were windmills against the horizon. Very beautiful. I was going to be done, but I decided that I should include my scholarly tasks as well, since that's the reason I'm here afterall. Blowing is going alright, I got a little discouraged today since I went all weekend without blowing and I got out of my routine, and a premature one at that. All I have to say is that practice makes perfect. We're going to start blowing into our plaster vase molds tomorrow (so we were told) and perhaps the rest of the week, depending on how long it takes. Charlie was really excited about my profile vase, as it has always been a passion of his as well, he told me today. Goodie. I hope he'll help me with it to make sure it turns out as good as possible. We have a paper due on Monday about some piece of glass by some artist or designer and I've decided to write mine on an Italian artist by the name of Gianni Toso. In 1981 he designed this entire chess set out of glass. He converted from Catholicism to Judaism at some point in his life, and the opposing chess pieces are of the Catholic and Jewish faiths; very ironic and satirical. I came across that piece one day in the library and I fell in love with it. Each piece is so perfectly intricate in detail, all with appropriate attire, props, and even facial hair and expressions on their faces. And we also have to start thinking about what we'll be doing for our final project which is a table top piece of any sort. Any ideas anyone?? I'm looking through some Japanese glass and other glass books, finding impossible beautiful things for inspiration. I haven't set in stone any certain idea yet, so I'm open for suggestions. But I warn you, think outside the box. I don't want (and can't have) just have a large bowl or plate. This is where my brain is struggling a bit. I'll leave you with that. Thanks for reading! Ha det.