I'm back in Viborg, Denmark to teach animation students at a small school here called The Animation Workshop. The school is a fantastically fresh and nurturing artistic environment. All week I've the feeling I had last time... wishing I'd had a chance to work or go to school at a place like this. All of the animation studios I've seen or heard about with these great laid back environments seem propped up... forced, and almost cult-like compared with the natural way that people seem to come together here. And my own Alma Mater The Art Institute of Dallas? That place might as well have been a cubical farm!
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The other thing that produces this feeling of community seems to be distinctly Danish... or maybe Scandinavian. Over and over I've heard people use the word cozy in a very positive tone, referring to bars they like, or maybe a party. I have in mind that it must be a result of having to escape the weather and darkness of the north and huddle together, getting along and making the most of the closeness. It feels good.
It's only 8 months after my first trip here, but it feels like a reunion for me. The first was in May, and lasted only a week. This time I'm here for over 8 weeks (6 weeks of actually teaching) and feel like it will be a much richer experience. I have time enough to get comfortable with my surroundings, which has never really happened in any of my other international trips (few as they've been).
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It's stupid, but I can't help but think of them as the Vikings the Danes once were. I wonder if it's the same curiosity that made the Vikings such big time explorers. It also seems like these kids are a lot different than their parents. They're more connected to the rest of the world and they're ready to go see it and challenge it.
I hope they do.
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