The university is moving this weekend and everyone is packing up. After a loud, nostalgic goodbye-house-cooling party last Friday (guess who was one of the last ones to leave...) everyone is now trying to pack books in boxes, tag their furniture and pray that it will end up the right place. The indication that we are leaving is apparent all around us as things stop working and nobody wants to do anything about it. For two days the lock on the door into second floor (where my office is) was broken and just buzzed 24 hours a day. Now finally someone took off the whole handle and the lock, it is not buzzing anymore, just unlocked (you have to pull through the absent handle-hole if you need to go in, just push if you want to exit).
As I was going to the cafeteria on the fourth floor today, I saw that one of the elevators just had a big handwritten sign on it: 'Broken' (see, I love the way we have to write in English because half the people at the university are non-Danish speakers, but we still don't know how to be proper or polite. 'Out of order' would have been the correct term). The cafeteria had no chocolate left (there goes my afternoon snack) but two licorice things for 10 kr, and the food was even worse than usual because they just don't want to bother anymore. Yesterday the main printer on my floor (the one that at least 30 researchers and administrative staff uses) was broken for most of the day and today when I went to pick up my print, it was gone! Well, I guess they can't move all of the stuff over the weekend. I am seriously considering working home for the rest of the week, but out of nostalgia, I can't help showing up (even though it is raining, raining, raining). The fact that I spend the best of my past five years here counts as something and tomorrow I will bring my camera to get a few last shots.
I can't believe that this place ended up meaning so much to me, the university building is in the roughest and somewhat boring part of Copenhagen; there are no cafés close by (no I don't count Ultimatum, they have horrendous service) and the building gets too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. But I have had my best experiences right here. I have been writing the most interesting projects, making friends, friends and more friends without blogs, getting and losing boyfriends, getting the best grades and getting the worst grades that I did not deserve. I have had the best Friday bars where we had so much fun that the other students left without us noticing and we just kept dancing to the loud music and laughing all night long. I was voted student of the year right here two years ago which is still my proudest moment and I have ended up dancing 'til dawn at more than a few parties. I have met so many nice people that I count as some of my best friends today and I have had some of the best moments with those friends right here. I have gone from being a fresh, bright-eyed student to being a bold, skilled and almost-finished PhD student right here in this building. I have realized that one really do change through a few five years as well as do people around you.
All this nostalgia due to an ugly structure of concrete and glass, which was never big enough (well, the first semester it was), never warm enough (one winter we measured 5 degrees C (40F) by the floor in one of the project rooms) and never had any charm except for the people occupying the building. But as the vice chancellor said yesterday, as many of us gathered one of the last times at the IT square, we just leaving a building, we are bringing the people. And I hope that he is right, that we will bring the good spirit of wanting to make an impact in the world with us to our new building.
Posted by Louise at June 29, 2004 02:54 PMyou almost get the tears out in my eyes dear - and i really hope you are right about the new building however sterile it looks at the moment ;)
Posted by: anna at June 29, 2004 04:50 PMSweet Louise, I have to admit that reading this entry really touched my heart!
I recognise your feelings, even if I’m not really a part of the everyday life at ITU anymore, but I WAS THERE, a part of the experiences that you describe and I know exactly what day you measured the degrees at the floor (I was freezing as well, and keep comming to visit your group, because I had the misfortune to be in a group with two aggressive male-students who didn’t like each other and didn’t really do any work on our project because they had to measure *something* all the time…), I’ve been there for most of the Friday bars and we’ve helped each other to “not make too much of a fool of ourselves” (you know what I mean), we’ve dressed up, singing at the girls room before the parties because we didn’t have time to go home and change (being deeply involved in the decorating, bar-duties or even welcoming people at the door) and we danced all night and still didn’t get to dance with all the cute guys ;o)
I glad that I crashed the cooling-down party last Friday, and I’m glad that I spend the night with you. That’s when this sentimental trip down memory lane began. I actually think you were the first person I spoke to at the first day at ITU. I remember we sat besides each other at the Friday lectures (until I decided they were to damn dull and drove to the supermarket to get beer for the bar…) I am really happy that our relationship has developed into a friendship. We’ve had so much fun, seriousness and great experiences the last 5 years (has I really been that long!) and I hope our friendship continues and that there is still a lot of fun we get to experience together.
I’ll leave you with some clues to be sentimental about:
Shopping at IKEA or METRO, “Lessig”, Boston, “4 in a row on a couch”, tape and a refrigerator, GulBil, G&T, party-committee meetings, teaching at CBS, “the entire party-committee in one bed…”, TP (we make a great team), 24 hour brunch, champagne-tasting, “møj-unge liga”, bar-skål (doesn’t translate), meetings at the “fag-udvalg” and making sure that the new students didn’t miss out on 4-week projects (some of the still hates us ;o)… oh my God, there’s no end to this list of clues to make you giggle, laugh out loud or maybe even cry a little… I guess I just have to STOP now, and promise to take you out for a G&T and a sentimental journey every 5. years from now. (and we’ll probably do it more often anyway…)
Hugs’n kisses,
Rikke
Well, yes, this brought out the tears in me too. To my defense I just want to say that 4 in a row on a couch refers to 4 nights sleeping on the couch in the café because we were doing projects 24/7 and as for the entire party committee in one bed, we were all fully clothed. No further comments for the rest, I admit to have taken part (sometimes rather unwillingly) in most of the fun.
Posted by: Louise at June 30, 2004 01:58 PMWell, sweet Lulu! It was nice to see you again last sunday and the brunch we had also brought a few things to my attention: that was my first stay in Denmark as non-recident. Scary at some points, but also very forwarding and challenging at others. I think that also must have been what you felt that day at the old ITU.
By the way - do you remember the time we taped you to the fridge in the bar?? (hehehe...I bet you hoped I wouldn't mention that)
Posted by: Tommy at July 1, 2004 10:57 PMTommy, I have no idea what you are talking about...
Posted by: Louise at July 2, 2004 10:24 AMI have the picture somewhere...I could put it on my blog, if you don't behave! >:P
Posted by: Tommy at July 3, 2004 12:22 PM