Saturday, July 14, 2007

Uber cleanse






















7/13/2007
I took a shower standing up last night and I felt like I was bathing in God’s water. The typical showers here that I’ve been using thus far are a little bit different, there is a bathtub with a hand-held shower sprayer. Most people sit down in the tub and wash themselves, but if the tub isn’t clean then you squat or carefully spray yourself so you don’t get the whole bathroom wet.
Ulla and I went to an old college town called Lund (Loond). This is where Ulla attended her University and met all of her friends which I have been spending time with. In Sweden, people pay higher taxes than in the US, but the government takes care of the people very well. After a person here graduates from high school (gymnasium) they apply to whichever school they want, and based on their grades if they get into the school, their education is already paid for. Walking around this town was like walking on a movie set. The streets are cobble stoned, lined with hip shops for college aged people plus cafes and restaurants. The buildings are beautiful in all their antiquity. Just breathing the air made me feel a little more academic.
We visited an incredible museum which for me as an artist was like eating a meal – It was the museum of sketches, which does not contain finished works but contains all of the sketches and processes the artists went through before creating their final piece. I found that each sketch or pre-painting had so much visible passion and spontaneity – I was very much touched by the inner thoughts of these creators. I could see how much this particular painter Isaac Grundwald loved women and being in love – his initial sketches captured that feeling of being consumed with someone.
This Lund town is so charming, so far this is one of the towns that I would like to live in other than San Francisco – it has many good qualities, and its about 45 minutes away from Copenhagen across a bridge.
Later in the evening Ulla prepared a traditional Swedish meal which was a rich reindeer stew. Reindeer tastes like a new combination of beef and lamb – its actually really tasty. I video recorded her cooking process and I’ll edit it for you to view when I have some time. Kalle and I played chronicals of Narnia on my computer for a few hours in the evening. I painted a picture of a girl holding a traditional Swedish horse (a Dollah horse) which can be found in almost every Swedish home.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What will you drink if there is no water? ha ha