So last night there was a small party upstairs... Swedes like their shots let me tell you! And, apparently, Finnish people like whiskey... who knew?!?! Needless to say, we were all a little hungover this morning. The party was a lot of fun and we are all getting to know each other better and better. It is funny to watch the dramas playing out between the girls and boys and who likes who and so on. It is nice to have a boyfriend and not have to deal with that... I can just sit back and laugh at the situation. Also, it is always interesting to see just how drunk people were the night before when they can't remember what you are talking about the next day! I am interested in what it will be like when the rest of the students arrive this weekend!
So, this morning we went to the cold shop and got told that we were going to be in the factory in the morning instead of the cold shop. I am sure you don't know this but it is really hard to work with hot glass when you are hungover. There was a lot of water drinking before we even got going! I would not have had so much to drink if I had known that we would be doing hot glass in the morning... We worked on tumblers and bowls that you blow into a mold. Like these:
It was really hard and it didn't help that I was completely brain dead and couldn't get anything centered at all. I would look at the clock and think "yeah this is great fun, but thank god there is only 2 hours left in here." Then at the end, right before lunch, the teacher told me that Nick and I would be returning to the factory for the rest of the day!! Holy shit! One guy we hung-out with last night didn't even show up until almost lunch time! Pretty bad for your first week at school!!!
I went home and ate my sandwiches in my bed and laid there for a while trying to recover and get some stamina... it didn't really work. At 1:00 we returned to the factory and worked with some other students doing the same things. The teachers took me aside and showed me the Swedish way to do things, not that I was doing it wrong, just a slightly different way to get it done. It was interesting and made it even harder to do really simple things! I didn't make a single thing that was keep-able, it was kind of sad. Maybe my expectations are too high or the fact that we are in the factory with people who have been in glass school for 3 years already somewhere else! Here is the bin of discarded glass:
When 3:30 finally arrived I was about to fall over and die... It is amazingly exhausting, mentally and physically standing next to these big furnaces all day
The school is really nice in that they have several gathering pots and benches
and tons of tools:
(i folded that news paper below)
so you hardly have to wait for someone to finish what they are working on. But this is bad when you are hungover and just want to stand near a window and watch someone really good work. It is also neat in that we are RIGHT next to people actually working in the factory doing production. They turn out 100s of bowls or whatever in a day... which makes me feel kind of lazy. I did work continually... I hardly stood around ever, even when the teachers were talking to me I was working which some people didn't do. The high-school age kids did a lot of standing around talking and not working at all. They are lame. haha.
After school and a cup of coffee I went to the grocery with two of my roommates. The two that speak the least amount of english even! Together they know a lot of vocabulary and were really helpful and friendly. I think the one that hardly speaks to me at all maybe isn't really talking about me in swedish after all... maybe. They taught me how to ask for stamps so I can send some postcards!
Now the boys are about to play some soccer (futbol) and invited me and some girls... I don't think any of the other girls are going to play so maybe I won't either... that might be weird if I am the only one playing... and I am not very good. I did make one goal in middle school while I played! And, I am still sore from running the other days... I count the walk to the store as my exercise for the day! I guess I will go stand around and watch the boys... I feel like we are an ad in some preppy clothing catalog! I should wear a plaid scarf maybe... probably not... One of the guys playing almost went professional in Denmark before he got injured or something, should be funny to watch him, literally, run circles around the other guys!
OK... so I didn't post this right away and have now finished playing soccer and I am about to fall asleep and sleep for forever now! haha. I made a goal, maybe two, I can't really remember b/c it was pretty spastic and unorganized. I think some of the boys are going to join the local league, so the girls will have to go and cheer on team Orrefors! The Danish guy was reallllly good and so were the American boys. I got to be on the Danish guy's team so that was nice b/c whenever they would all be coming towards me to steal the ball I could just kick it away in almost any direction and they Danish guy would RUSH over from no where and get it. I got some pictures, I am the one in the blue stripes, the Danish guy is in the red shirt and the Americans are in the brown and orange. That is one of my roommates blowing bubbles in the goals while people are playing (only at art school right?!?).
But now I must go shower and go to bed! Tomorrow we are going on a field trip with the whole school so that should be fun!
PS: one of the swedish techniques that I couldn't remember yesterday is called graal. Here are some pics and here is a site that explains it some, kind of redic beginning part about the Holy Grail.
("we are the knights who say NI!")
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