Thursday, September 4, 2008

vecka tvo

PREVIOUSLY....on "Beth in Sweden"...
Here are some of things I was talking about last week...My super cute keys:

The typical Swedish light switch, ooooooh:

A typical Swedish bathroom...well not exactly, since it's an art school, but I've never seen anything like it in the states. Notice how the doors go further down to the floor, and if you can see, notice the non-stick floor! I feel this to be more typically Swedish:

Hallå! It has been quite the ride this past week or so. I am starting to feel more comfortable here, and more homesick at the same time, if that makes any sense. I have begun work on random things at Konstfack, nothing planned, just spontaneous 3-D "sketches" in materials I found in the many recycling bins here. Everyone in my class was asked to just start making something, in order to begin feeling comfortable in the workshop, and also to warm up for our upcoming, much-anticipated/much-dreaded super-experimental workshop on a farm in The Netherlands, which starts this Monday.

I went with some classmates of mine to see a gallery whose members have been very helpful to and supportive of me over this past year, LOD gallery, a jewelry collective, located in the Kungsholmen neighborhood of Stockholm. The six members share the responsibilities of the store front and the well-equipped studio in the back, and the sense of individuality balanced with unity presented in the space is very inspiring. If you are coming to Stockholm, I highly recommend checking it out, and having a chat with whoever is working there at the time. They are enthusiastic about their work, and it leaves you with a positive, motivated feeling. Maybe it's a model I can look forward to participating in one day....one day.

Today, I went with some classmates (do you see a pattern here? we move around in a blob, I think) to the original Ikea, since none of us really have much furniture. It is kind of shaped like the Guggenheim in New York, in that it spirals down, down, downnnn....if you think the Ikea in Emeryville is confusing, you haven't seen squat. This Ikea is twenty times more exhausting than the one back home. Although many scorn Ikea here, most still shop here. I managed to get some shelf-things, so now I can keep my clothes nice and organized. Super-woman Lisa was nice enough to drive all of us! The car was very roomy, as you can see here:

What else...I did laundry for the first time here and managed to wash my monthly transit pass, which was pure genius. I ruined it, and I had to go to the transit authority, called the S(tockholm)L(ocal Traffik) Central to get it replaced, and get a student-rate card at the same time. Thanks, Sweden! I wanted to make a note about the laundry system here, as well as systems in general. Someone I know recently had a rather unsettling, even scary confrontation with someone in their apartment complex over the laundry. In Sweden, every service tends to have a methodical, logical system to regulate it, and make everything fair. Again: thanks, Sweden! I really appreciate this, having experienced countless times waiting to get served at various places back home, having people cut you in line, or be really rude and selfish about their turn. In the laundry room, or "tvättstuga", you have a chart that you sign up on, for a specific time and date to do your laundry. It looks like this:

Every person gets a number, and then takes that number token and signs up for laundry, one day at a time, so, in theory, it's completely fair. that way, nobody is allowed to monopolize a certain time, and everyone gets a time that will work for them. It's actually very nice to plan ahead and set aside time to do your laundry.

That's about it...Saturday I'll be in Amsterdam with my friend and classmate Roberta, who is from Brazil. We will see Feiko, whom I met years ago when he was an exchange student at CCA(C). I can't wait! Till then...

1 comment:

akriedt said...

Wow!!! Looks like you're really getting settled in your new city and apartment, and making new discoveries and friends... Like I said in my last blog I am living vicariously through you, but only 'cause I wish I was there with you... I have always wanted to go to Sweden and am so happy to hear about all of the positive (not counting the Ikea) aspects of it, ie. the washroom schedule, transit attributes, warm people there, curious kids (always a good thing), not to mention the increadible school you are attending... love your pics and can't wait to read on. If you want to contact me e-mail me at akriedt@hotmail.com!!