17 September, 2009

København & Kompan!

First of all I should make it clear that any words that I have written or will write about this trip simply cannot do it justice. If I say it was good then know that it was great. If I say it’s been fabulous, know its been the fabulousest. I will try and give you some highlights and convey the natural high that I have been on since about day three, but what ever I say, it simply won’t be enough. In order to really understand this experience you are going to have to hire me to take you on this trip yourself. I would of course gladly oblige, as it is a fabulous one.

I arrived in Kopenhagen on Monday evening and caught a train to Odensi Denmark. There I met Rasmus, my couch surfing host and two fellow couch surfers, German girls on a trip back from Sweden. They couldn't have been more than 20 and were hitch hiking their way home. One girl was clearly the leader, the other was quite shy, but ready for adventure none the less. We spoke a little Duetschlish. They asked me if I was a student, I said no I have been working for a few years. Some how this question left me feeling like an old aunt.

Rasmus took all of us to an international café where many university students eat on Monday evenings when a special dinner is offered. It was great (read stupendous). I spoke with a young woman who lived in Lapaz Bolivia for 6 months after she graduated from high school two years earlier. She had just returned from a 6 month trip to the US where she had also hitchhiked her way around the country. Everyone in Europe is so well traveled, and they speak so many languages. One of the things I have observed here is that people are fascinated by language; they are curious and confident in their exploration of how to speak. Julia and Ozon for example were constantly playing with language and sounds; they both speak multiple languages fluently, or at least fluently compared to how well I speak multiple languages. I realize I need to be more playful with my German, and I have tried to be, but then again German's aren’t exactly playful with their language, especially in the work place, ah well.

Rasmus was a great host; he is the first local that I stayed with in a city I was visiting. Superb. His studio flat was covered in art that he has collected and offered easy conversation topics for discussion. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture. My favorite painting was the canvas that was blank except for the words painted in black that said, "This is not a Frisbee". It was hung crooked on the wall. I shared with him that I have my Portland Frisbee hanging as decoration on my wall when its not in use. Rasmus said this was one of his paintings and that he painted it after thinking about tossing the canvas across the room and then decided not to because as he looked at the blank canvas he considered that fact that "this is not a Frisbee". I agreed that indeed that was an astute observation and one worth noting. We had an rather compatible sense of humor.

In the morning I left the flat early to catch the bus into town. I missed the early bus but luckily a woman was driving by and spotted my bags. She assumed I was headed to the train station and offered me a ride. Everyone in Denmark speaks English. Unlike the Germans they watch American television shows in the original language, it makes all the difference.

I was headed into town to meet with Michael from Kompan. Kompan is a play structure company that I have adored ever since working on park designs at Vancouver Parks and Rec. This stuff is cool, edgy, and way more fun then other play structures. The reason; Kompan was founded by an artist who worked closely with child specialists early in the design process. So, the pieces are sculptural, engaging, and indestructible.

When I first thought about where I would travel in Europe if I could live here for a year, Kompan was one of the first places that came to mind. If I am a nerd for anything, its for play structures and forts. Meeting with Michael was great! He set aside his whole morning for me. We discussed playground design, Kompan's design approach and business model, new trends in play between children and their parents and how play structure design and landscape design overlap. Both of us were particularly interested in how the professions work together to address the challenges of designing play structures (that meet code) for slopes. It was basically 4 hours of nerdy designer heaven. Especially when I got to "test" some of their products.


It was interesting to see how reaching out to other professionals can be easy and inspiring. I wasn't there looking for a job, and I wasn't there representing another company or a specific project. This was really a networking and informational exchange between two professionals. I loved it!
Kompan Visit


After my morning at Kompan, Rasmus gave me a tour of Odensi. He showed me a few parks and quaint old parts of town. It took an hour and a half.. He said that if the tour had taken any longer it would have meant that we saw something twice.

I hopped the next train to Copenhagen and found myself a hostel for a day and half to travel solo. I don't like traveling by myself, but I am getting better at it. The trick I have learned is to go shopping. In the end it's cheaper to travel in groups. I did spend less money on food however. Many people had told me that Copenhagen didn't offer much for tourists; I completely disagree. It may be less exciting compared to Amsterdam but I haven't been there so I wasn't disappointed on that account. Copenhagen is made up entirely of red brick; a stark contrast to the pastels of Wein.

I loved the half daylight basement shops that were all over the side streets in town. Michael at Kompan informed me that if the Germans are engineers then the Danish are product designers, and these little shops are full of their lovely wares.

The travel bug has completely taken hold and I still have one more destination.

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