This past Tuesday, I got to go to a 30 Seconds to Mars concert with Keemi, a new friend from DIS who also plays rugby and is in Nordic Mythology and European Storytelling with me. It was a lot of fun! I especially enjoyed the opening act - Street Drum Corps. They're a group from LA, and the lead singer was so energetic and fun, and they had a fun variety of music. Then Carpark North played, a local group. The rest of the (rather young) crowd went crazy, but Keemi and I were less excited about them. Their style was a little bit sleepier, I think. They did have a keytar, though, so that was pretty cool!
Then, 30 Seconds to Mars was up. I didn't know much about them, really just one song, but I always like going to concerts. They were definitely a great presence on stage. Their lead singer, Jared Leto, really created a cohesive performance and was really entertaining. It was also somebody's birthday in the crowd. I don't know if they were all his friends, but a bunch of people had signs saying, "Happy Birthday Shannon" on them. About midway through the performance, Jared Leto invited Shannon up on stage, and the entire crowd sang the Danish birthday song to him. Luckily, I had learned it in my Danish class just the day before. It's got a very different melody than our birthday song, but it's really fun! It goes like this:
I dag er det "Name of person celebrated"'s fødselssdag (Today is ____'s birthday)
Hurra, hurra, hurra!
Han sikkert sig en gave får (He'll probably get a gift)
som han har ønsket sig i år (That he's been wishing for this year)
med dejlig chokolade og kager til. (With yummy chocolate and cakes)
It was great to be in the crowd and be able to hum along a little bit (I could only remember the first two lines and the last line). It was just really fun - and also fun to watch the reactions of the band, who were baffled but seemed to enjoy it.
One weird thing I noticed - and maybe I just haven't been to the right performances - was that there were two beautiful blonde women sitting on the stage off to the side, facing the band. They were seated in a little box, it seemed. They were onstage for both Carpark North and 30 Seconds to Mars. Maybe they were groupies? I can't think of any other explanation, though what was striking was how disinterested they seemed - or at least, not very excited. I don't know what was going on with that at all.
Then, on Wednesday, I got to see "The Magic Flute" at the Royal Theater through DIS. It was an interesting experience, since it was performed in Danish, with Danish supertitles. Even though I'm familiar with the story and the opera (The Queen of the Night aria was performed exceedingly well!) I got a little lost rather often. It was exciting when I actually understood most of a song, though - the one that Papageno and Papagena sing together near the end! The set was also strange - it seemed very minimalistic at first, but there were an excessive (in my opinion) amount of trap doors and mechanical workings. It was fun all the same, since it's one of my favorite operas/the only opera I really have much familiarity with.
The Royal Theater itself is absolutely gorgeous! It's very vertically oriented, which is interesting - there are three balconies one on top of the other, and they each have maybe four rows or so, set at a very steep angle, so that you can actually see over the person in front of you if you (like I) are seated in the last row of the theater. Interestingly enough, we had just learned about Heiberg in my Philosophy and Religion of the Danish Golden Age class. Heiberg, as well as being a philosopher, was the director of the theater for many years, as well as primary playwright. Over the stage, in huge gold letters, is written "Ei blot til lyst" - which roughly translates to "It's not just for fun," meaning that you should seek the deeper meaning in every performance and every work of art. Something worth thinking about.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
A Trip to the Czech Republic
I've just returned from a week-long trip to the Czech Republic. It was a wonderful week, full of gorgeous architecture, great conversations, thought-provoking art and speakers, and lots of good, hearty food and yummy beer. There were also moments of frustration (our first night we waited four hours for meals in a bar and had a conversation with young Czech women who expressed frustratingly intolerant views towards the Roma people) and sadness (the Holocaust memorial in the Jewish quarter and the memorial to the town of Lidice which was utterly destroyed by Nazis). Czech history (especially over the last 90 years or so) is a history of optimism, revolution, and disappointment, and that history was at the forefront of our trip, largely because that was the focus of our class.
First, though, I'll focus on the amazing architectural variety. There are just dozens
of gorgeous buildings, all built next to each other. It is really interesting to see a Gothic city gate next to an art nouveau theater, for example. One of the first things we did was take a walking tour of the city, which was peppered with student presentations about various historical moments and figures, or art styles and famous artists who espoused them. It was really a fun way to start the trip, even though we all felt a bit gross after the incredibly long bus and ferry trip. Understandably, we took a lot of pictures, too! I just uploaded my pictures from the week and I had taken nearly 200 over the course of the week. You can see the best of them here
We sort of organized the trip around the famous 8s of Czech history: the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the occupation by Hitler in 1938, the vote and switch to Communism in 1948, the "
Prague Spring" of 1968 - a time of greater openness culturally and politically, which was followed that same year by a harsh Soviet invasion and clampdown, and finally 1989 (the 8 is at the beginning of that one) when Communism collapsed. It is interesting to travel to Prague now, 20 years after the collapse of Communism, and see what one classmate called "self-conscious capitalism." For example, when we went to the symphony on Tuesday night (a rather disappointing but culturally interesting experience) we noted the billboards placed shamelessly on the stage behind the musicians. I don't know whether or not you can really see them in the picture, but there they are, amongst this beautiful art nouveau decoration, advertising for who knows what. The symphony was also interesting because there were maybe 50 people there. Definitely no more than a hundred. They didn't know proper concert etiquette, and clapped in between movements, which is something that always annoys me. The musicians themselves hardly seemed engaged. One young woman in particular - the cello player - always looked terribly sad or perhaps disappointed whenever the group bowed. It was frustrating, but perhaps revealing. Our teacher suggested later that evening that the lack of enthusiasm for classical music stems from its encouragement during the Communist years because there was no way for it to be subversive. I'm not sure I buy that, but it's an interesting suggestion to be sure.
Another theme of the trip was art and artists. We got to meet both David Cer
ny and Milan Knizek, two incredibly famous Czech artists who don't necessarily like each other very much. They are/were both subversive, but Milan Knizek's work really took place mostly in the 60s and 70s. He was part of the fluxus/anti-art movement/anti-movement, like John Cage. The concept is really to play with the idea of what art is and what it isn't. David Cerny is younger and rather humorous. The Czech Republic recently commissioned him to create a piece of artwork for the EU building during their presidency, and he created Entropa, which rather vividly pokes fun at the member states. We went and saw Entropa, and I found it quite amusing. A lot of my classmates didn't really like David Cerny, partly because he has a rather bizarre attitude - he seems to think of himself as something of a rockstar, aloof to the world of 
mere mortals and even to his own art. We met him on Monday. On Wednesday, Milan Knizek sprinted us through the contemporary art museum, which was frustrating, and then stood and talked with us about how art shouldn't be in museums, while standing in front of his works which are in the museum, of which he is some sort of director. It was a bizarre experience. That night, though, a number of friends and I had a great discussion about what makes art Art. I think Milan Knizek sparked many interesting conversations, because I participated in at least three that day. Maybe it was just that we were growing more comfortable together as a group, though. It's hard to say.
Another facet of the trip was delicious and cheap food and (for me) beer. We ate so many good meals and stopped at a lot of fun pubs or bars. One of the best meals for me was Tuesday, when I got to have lunch with Nika, a friend from Mac who is from Prague and taking the
semester off and staying at home. We had such a good conversation and a delicious meal of gnocchi - and I also didn't feel like an idiot because I was with a native Czech speaker! We also ate a lot of dumplings and goulash type meals. I think I tried a different beer every night, which was fun. Some were better than others. Some were just disappointing or downright bad. One unfortunate meal experience was the first night, when our teacher had arranged for us to meet some young Czechs and hear from them, and they had agreed to take some of us to eat somewhere "off the beaten path." The Czech women (aside from their upsetting views of the Roma) were really sweet people, and I felt bad for what happened next. I think one problem was that we ALL wanted to eat somewhere authentic, so we all went with them to this tiny pub. The bartender/waitress was the only server there, and she spoke very little English, though she eventually got all of our orders. Then it took four hours for food to come. Some people never got food. The Czech woman who orchestrated it felt terrible, but it wasn't her fault. I felt really bad for the waitress too, because we were all beginning to get irritated towards the end and she couldn't do much about it. I guess the fault really lies with the cook - apparently one of them never came that night. It was a kind of unfortunate start to the trip, though. But other than that - and a strange fish dish on the last night that wasn't quite to my liking - the food was amazing and the meal experiences were really fun. DIS really spoiled us on some of the group meals - we had a number of very fancy meals at upscale restaurants or hotels.
We also visited Cesky Krumlow, which is a beautiful town in the Sudetenland. If your World War II history is a little hazy, I'll refresh your memory: the Sudetenland was a part of Czechoslovakia inhabited in large part by German-speakers and ethnic Germans. Hitler thought it should be part of Germany
, and most of the Germans agreed, because they felt they were German. So he occupied the Sudetenland and was welcomed by many of the German-speakers, who probably had no idea about the evil that was coming. Many of the Czechs from that area were exiled. After the war, the president of Czechoslovakia exiled all the Germans in a similar manner. So it has a rather difficult past. Cesky Krumlow is gorgeous and contains a gigantic castle. It was also where the fascinating artist Egon Schiele did a lot of his work and is the town most featured in his landscapes. The town was simply beautiful and a lovely place to end the trip, even though it is important to remember its contentious past.
Overall the trip was amazing. I loved Prague and am anxious to return - probably at the end of the semester when John and I have a few weeks together in Europe! It was hard to shake the urge to compare it to Copenhagen, so I'll just make note of a few of the striking differences. Prague is much more tourist-y. There was a street that stretched from Old Town Square nearly to our hotel that was basically nothing but souvenir shops. It's also a lot cheaper, which makes sense given its comparative economic standing. There were more dogs and fewer babies, and a much greater variety of architecture, since it's an older city and also wasn't bombed to the ground in the early 19th century. Partly my experience of Copenhagen is colored by the fact that I live here and am staying with a Danish family and not in a hotel, but I think it is still a quite different atmosphere. I loved it, but I'm glad that I live in Copenhagen and got to visit Prague rather than the other way around.
First, though, I'll focus on the amazing architectural variety. There are just dozens
of gorgeous buildings, all built next to each other. It is really interesting to see a Gothic city gate next to an art nouveau theater, for example. One of the first things we did was take a walking tour of the city, which was peppered with student presentations about various historical moments and figures, or art styles and famous artists who espoused them. It was really a fun way to start the trip, even though we all felt a bit gross after the incredibly long bus and ferry trip. Understandably, we took a lot of pictures, too! I just uploaded my pictures from the week and I had taken nearly 200 over the course of the week. You can see the best of them hereWe sort of organized the trip around the famous 8s of Czech history: the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the occupation by Hitler in 1938, the vote and switch to Communism in 1948, the "
Prague Spring" of 1968 - a time of greater openness culturally and politically, which was followed that same year by a harsh Soviet invasion and clampdown, and finally 1989 (the 8 is at the beginning of that one) when Communism collapsed. It is interesting to travel to Prague now, 20 years after the collapse of Communism, and see what one classmate called "self-conscious capitalism." For example, when we went to the symphony on Tuesday night (a rather disappointing but culturally interesting experience) we noted the billboards placed shamelessly on the stage behind the musicians. I don't know whether or not you can really see them in the picture, but there they are, amongst this beautiful art nouveau decoration, advertising for who knows what. The symphony was also interesting because there were maybe 50 people there. Definitely no more than a hundred. They didn't know proper concert etiquette, and clapped in between movements, which is something that always annoys me. The musicians themselves hardly seemed engaged. One young woman in particular - the cello player - always looked terribly sad or perhaps disappointed whenever the group bowed. It was frustrating, but perhaps revealing. Our teacher suggested later that evening that the lack of enthusiasm for classical music stems from its encouragement during the Communist years because there was no way for it to be subversive. I'm not sure I buy that, but it's an interesting suggestion to be sure.Another theme of the trip was art and artists. We got to meet both David Cer
ny and Milan Knizek, two incredibly famous Czech artists who don't necessarily like each other very much. They are/were both subversive, but Milan Knizek's work really took place mostly in the 60s and 70s. He was part of the fluxus/anti-art movement/anti-movement, like John Cage. The concept is really to play with the idea of what art is and what it isn't. David Cerny is younger and rather humorous. The Czech Republic recently commissioned him to create a piece of artwork for the EU building during their presidency, and he created Entropa, which rather vividly pokes fun at the member states. We went and saw Entropa, and I found it quite amusing. A lot of my classmates didn't really like David Cerny, partly because he has a rather bizarre attitude - he seems to think of himself as something of a rockstar, aloof to the world of 
mere mortals and even to his own art. We met him on Monday. On Wednesday, Milan Knizek sprinted us through the contemporary art museum, which was frustrating, and then stood and talked with us about how art shouldn't be in museums, while standing in front of his works which are in the museum, of which he is some sort of director. It was a bizarre experience. That night, though, a number of friends and I had a great discussion about what makes art Art. I think Milan Knizek sparked many interesting conversations, because I participated in at least three that day. Maybe it was just that we were growing more comfortable together as a group, though. It's hard to say.Another facet of the trip was delicious and cheap food and (for me) beer. We ate so many good meals and stopped at a lot of fun pubs or bars. One of the best meals for me was Tuesday, when I got to have lunch with Nika, a friend from Mac who is from Prague and taking the
semester off and staying at home. We had such a good conversation and a delicious meal of gnocchi - and I also didn't feel like an idiot because I was with a native Czech speaker! We also ate a lot of dumplings and goulash type meals. I think I tried a different beer every night, which was fun. Some were better than others. Some were just disappointing or downright bad. One unfortunate meal experience was the first night, when our teacher had arranged for us to meet some young Czechs and hear from them, and they had agreed to take some of us to eat somewhere "off the beaten path." The Czech women (aside from their upsetting views of the Roma) were really sweet people, and I felt bad for what happened next. I think one problem was that we ALL wanted to eat somewhere authentic, so we all went with them to this tiny pub. The bartender/waitress was the only server there, and she spoke very little English, though she eventually got all of our orders. Then it took four hours for food to come. Some people never got food. The Czech woman who orchestrated it felt terrible, but it wasn't her fault. I felt really bad for the waitress too, because we were all beginning to get irritated towards the end and she couldn't do much about it. I guess the fault really lies with the cook - apparently one of them never came that night. It was a kind of unfortunate start to the trip, though. But other than that - and a strange fish dish on the last night that wasn't quite to my liking - the food was amazing and the meal experiences were really fun. DIS really spoiled us on some of the group meals - we had a number of very fancy meals at upscale restaurants or hotels.We also visited Cesky Krumlow, which is a beautiful town in the Sudetenland. If your World War II history is a little hazy, I'll refresh your memory: the Sudetenland was a part of Czechoslovakia inhabited in large part by German-speakers and ethnic Germans. Hitler thought it should be part of Germany
, and most of the Germans agreed, because they felt they were German. So he occupied the Sudetenland and was welcomed by many of the German-speakers, who probably had no idea about the evil that was coming. Many of the Czechs from that area were exiled. After the war, the president of Czechoslovakia exiled all the Germans in a similar manner. So it has a rather difficult past. Cesky Krumlow is gorgeous and contains a gigantic castle. It was also where the fascinating artist Egon Schiele did a lot of his work and is the town most featured in his landscapes. The town was simply beautiful and a lovely place to end the trip, even though it is important to remember its contentious past.Overall the trip was amazing. I loved Prague and am anxious to return - probably at the end of the semester when John and I have a few weeks together in Europe! It was hard to shake the urge to compare it to Copenhagen, so I'll just make note of a few of the striking differences. Prague is much more tourist-y. There was a street that stretched from Old Town Square nearly to our hotel that was basically nothing but souvenir shops. It's also a lot cheaper, which makes sense given its comparative economic standing. There were more dogs and fewer babies, and a much greater variety of architecture, since it's an older city and also wasn't bombed to the ground in the early 19th century. Partly my experience of Copenhagen is colored by the fact that I live here and am staying with a Danish family and not in a hotel, but I think it is still a quite different atmosphere. I loved it, but I'm glad that I live in Copenhagen and got to visit Prague rather than the other way around.
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