Adjustment

Before I go on analyzing my return and adjustment to the good old U S of A, let me go into a little detail of our last days in Sweden. Our last night in Sweden was marked with our first sampling of Surströmming, or rotten fish. (to learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surstr%C3%B6mming) Upon opening the can, outdoors of course, we quickly realized how this has been said to be the most putrid smell in the world. Needing to sample everything once, it was quickly realized that it tastes like it smells and some of us couldn't handle it. It certainly made for a memorable last night. We of course also frequented the sauna and probably sat in it too long in order to soak up the atmosphere of what was a popular hangout in every juncture of the adventure.

We had a great last day in Stockholm. Cassandra, Anthony and I bought subway passes and set out in search of the places that had become our favorite haunts just 6 weeks before. We purchased a large container of fresh strawberries from a street vendor and set out on a lovely stroll, ending up at our favorite crepe restaurant.

Our last night was spent in the Jumbo Stay hostel near the airport. It's a converted airplane and was so great. Though the rooms were small, the bathrooms and showers were some of the best experienced on the trip and the bed was the comfiest I slept on in five months. It's not hard to see how Sonja and I could oversleep until 25 minutes before we needed to be at the terminal...

The flight went smoothly, but then again I stand firmly by the notion that coming back is much easier than going. In order to lose some weight in my suitcase, I was forced to wear several layers including my winter boots from way up in Jokkmokk and Umeå. My mother walked in the airport, took one look at me and couldn't walk any longer from laughing so hard. Thanks Mom, so nice to see you too.

After stepping foot on American soil, I decided that I needed fika. (of course.) We stopped at the nearest Caribou for cold press coffee and oatmeal. After stopping at home for a shower, I decided that I needed real, American pizza. No offense Sweden, but you're missing something here. We went to Old Chicago, my favorite, and I was in heaven.

The next day my best friend Jayna and I went for pedicures as I apologized to the poor woman assigned to my feet. Walking several miles a day for 5 months really takes a toll. The day was made complete with trips to my favorite American institutions, Target and Starbucks. I didn't think life could get much better. It was just starting. I thought that Jayna and I were going to meet my mom at the Wishin' Well cafe in Paynesville. I walked in and as I approached the back, I saw a huge banner with "Welcome Home, Karla" with about fifteen of my friends from high school sitting around the tables. Also present were my parents and my mom's best friends who are practically family. Not thinking life could possibly be any better, I heard some clapping and from the back room emerged four of my best friends from GAC: Ethan, Dan, Rachel and Julia. How wonderful that my worlds could collide. Never mind the fact that the Gusties had finals the next morning. Apparently it was supposed to be a dress up party where people should look through my pictures and dress like one of them. Jayna was the only one who followed her directions and dressed up as, what else, a wall of godies.

Yesterday marked the one week anniversary of my return to Sweden. So far, coming home has not been as difficult as I thought it would be. I do miss the group, but it's great to not be living out of a suitcase and moving every few weeks. When I got home and saw my closet, I was so excited, and I tend to overdress for everything as I'm so excited to have so many clothes to choose from. In fact, in those first few days, I may have even done several wardrobe changes each day...

I got the chance to make a trip up another big hill last weekend. This time in St. Peter and not in Jönköping. However, I promise that that dreaded Jönköping hill was at the forefront of my mind as I made that drive up and felt a pang of homesickness. The weekend was great and I saw some wonderful people that I missed so much.

Life moves along as fast as ever. Being home feels comfortable and easy- much like how I feel when I come home after a year at GAG, happy to have a big bed and my own bathroom. But to be honest, I'm tentatively anticipating the day where I miss my semester in Sweden so much that I can't stand it. For now though, I'm content. I'm directing a production of "The Fantasticks" this summer and had auditions this week. Throwing myself into another project has a distracting effect, I think. If you happen to be in the area the first week of August, come check out the show- I have a fantastic cast that I can't wait to work with after not being involved in a production in 5 months.

Perhaps not so shockingly my suitcase is sitting, unpacked, at the foot of my bed. I have been taking things out as I need them but no real putting away has happened. The last of the photos have been uploaded from camera to computer and put on facebook. It was a strange realization to understand that I was tagging Sonja, Jen, Maddie, Janella, Cassandra, Nate, Anthony, Tyler, Ben, Steve and Rob for the last time in these pictures. I have no idea what to say to people when I get asked the million dollar question, "so, how was Sweden?!" How do I sum up the best five months of my life in a simple answer? I'll let you know if I find out how....

For now, though, here are a few last pictures of my last days in Sweden, and my return home. Thank you to everyone who has followed my blog as I traveled through the country that became my home and will surely be returning to in the near future. It's such an incredible feeling to know I have people back home who care so much. So, until my next adventure and next blog, vi ses! (see you later!)

Here we go...

My father is an incredible human being. For those of you who are lucky enough to know him, this hardly comes as new information. Today, in an effort to put off studying for my Nobel Literature final and writing my 15 page capstone paper, I checked my email. Dad emailed me talking about the passing of time as he observed Bennies and Johnnies moving out and graduating from his office window after commencement. Yes. I'm sentimental. Very much so. This is what closed his email: "Where did those four months go? Where did those four years go? Where did those 40 years go? Was I not just standing in front of Uhler Hall only moments ago, arm in arm with Dad and Grandpa, diploma in hand, the graduate at last? Savor the moments that come to you, often unexpectedly, when you realize how quickly changes that once seemed to be so long in coming will actually occur."

I have absolutely no concept of where these months went. I have been looking back on my journal entries from the beginning of the trip, way back in Umeå, where I could not walk outside without wearing anything less than 4 or 5 layers of clothing and it got dark at 2pm. I made the observation in those first days that I could not think about being gone for several months- I had to take this new experience one day at a time or I would get far too overwhelmed with the amount of time I was to be gone. In very little time, the passing of days picked up and I no longer had to think of it that way. And now, here I am.

Last night we had our end of semester banquet. We all got dressed up and went in to town for dinner at a completely wonderful Greek/ Italian restaurant. (We had enough left on our bus card that we didn't have to walk into town- there was so much excitement.) After we came back, we gathered to give out end of the trip awards. Some of the awards included: the ever popular "best smile", "most likely to move back to Sweden", "favorite Swedish city" "best talent" "best hangout" "best storyteller" and so many more. We then watched a slideshow compiled of everyone's pictures- 4 months in 36 minutes. How surreal.

Today and tomorrow will be comprised of laundry, paper writing, studying and packing- for the last time.

Happy Mother's Day

Yes I know, two posts in one day! I'm a little overwhelmed myself. However, I just had to take the opportunity to say Happy Mother's Day to all mothers and mine especially! Love you so very much Mom and am so grateful for everything you have given me and taught me. It is because of you that I know what it means to be a good human being. Love you so much and can't wait to see you in only a few short days.

(Yes, I know the pictures are random but they are my favorites.)

Jag älskar dig! (I love you!)

How Did This Happen?

I am sunburned. People told me to put on sunscreen, and I listened a little bit but not enough. While my neck, shoulders, and chest hurt quite a bit and I feel like whoever once told me that three quarters of my body is made up of liquid is lying to me, I am blissful because this sunburn means two things: 1. it is warm and springtime and 2. I had an incredible day with the same wonderful people I go on and on about.

On Saturday morning we boarded a bus headed to Gränna, a little town about an hour north. (Yes, I'm Minnesotan and measure distances in time.) When we got off the bus we boarded the first morning ferry to Visingsbö, an island where the bodies of 2,000 Russian soldiers were held during "the war." (Yeah sorry, I don't know which war...)The ferry was so great and reminded me so much of all the trips my parents and I took to Washington Island in Door County. We spent some time exploring the ruins of the fort and climbed around the secret passageways. After the ruins we continued down the road and explored a beautiful church and surrounding countryside. Other components of the day included ice cream outside in a gazebo and fresh fish sandwiches in the harbor.

Upon returning back to Gränna we quickly set out in search of the famed Gränna Polkagrisar, huge candy sticks in every flavor imaginable. We even got to watch them being made in several candy shops. Of course I only bought about 15 "samples" to bring home...

As referenced by my title, I have no idea how it came to be that I will be home in about 9 days. It seems like it was about 6 weeks ago that I was calling my mom to tell her that I was going to Sweden for a semester and there was nothing she could do to stop me. (Right, like she would ever want to do that, I'm just sassy in my memory of that afternoon.) I look back to my pictures of the far north which seems so long ago. I don't know what it is, but in those pictures where the coldness hinders the pictures with an icy fog, I feel a pang of homesickness for the beginning of the adventure.

Just like January 13th was an abstract departure date that seemed so far off in the distance, May 18th was an even stranger concept that I couldn't comprehend for the longest time. And here it is, a week from Wednesday. This is arguably the greatest thing I have yet done with my life. So, how do I let it end?

I am currently thinking about how in the world I am supposed to write my final paper for the semester. 5 months in 15 pages. When I think about the journey I have been on for the last few months, I catch myself thinking, "what just happened?" "What do I do with this?"

These last few days I have felt strange in the context of wanting or not wanting to go home. On the one hand, I am so desperate not to, but on the other, it's somewhat overwhelming having the knowledge that we have so little time left together and we need to make the absolute most of it. It almost feels like we're waiting to go home.

There has been lots of talk among us of what the first things we're going to do when we get home, what we're going to eat, etc. For a long time I was sure that I was going to have my parents take me out for American pizza, but the more I think about it now, I'm sure that the first words out of my mouth upon climbing in the old Elantra might be, "Let's go to IKEA."

Rocks and Dirt!

On Friday we returned from our long awaited and anticipated Geology Field trip. Our leader, along with Eric of course, was former Gustavus professor Mark Johnson. He was so much fun and it was so fun to watch him interact with his long time buddy Eric.

We left Jönköping early Monday morning and boarded the bus headed to Göteborg where we picked up Mark. After a morning introductory lecture, we got the afternoon to explore the city in the almost too warm sunny weather. We spent several hours at a huge park which even had a zoo in it! Göteborg had a very different feel from Uppsala or Stockholm and I can't wait to spend more time there on my next visit.

The next morning we got in our two eight passenger vans which would practically become our home for the next week and began checking stops off our list of about 26 in 4 four days. After a day of looking at different things and formations, we ended up on the island of Hållö. What an incredible place and experience! When I say "island" what I really mean is a huge rock face which has 2 buildings- a lighthouse and a hostel. We were the only 14 people on the entire island- the Gusties took over. I can't really even describe how incredible it was and I have never watched a more beautiful sunset.

It was interesting to watch myself evolve over the week. At first, it was difficult for me to think of the things I was seeing as anything besides just rocks and dirt. As the week went on, however, I started to be able to look out my van window at land masses and structures and know what they were and what the land might have looked like millions of years ago. I thought that 500 year old churches in Stockholm were impressive, but they might pale in comparison to standing on billion plus year land masses. We have learned so much about Swedish history over our last few months and this gave us a whole new prospective. The area we were in is so central to Swedish and European geology.

We really had a great week. A few people in the group did not bring computers and in the second hostel we went to after the island, there was no internet so we were forced to -gasp- socialize with each other. (Really though, we really are quite good at that anyway.) It was a really nice break from more formal classes and homework. As someone who is quite visual and hands on, I really appreciated the opportunity to learn about science in a way other than sitting in a classroom.

Glad Påsk från Sverige! (Happy Easter from Sweden!)

I think this Easter will be one I will always remember. Last night we started the process of dyeing eggs. (thanks again to the parents for bringing the kits all the way from America!) This morning while some of us were at church the eggs were then hidden around the dorm. I have yet to find mine. Church was nice- pretty traditional Lutheran. Even most of the music were pieces that I'm sure were played back home, and it was a little odd to be singing them in Swedish.

When we came back from church, we began the process of making brunch. I am continually excited by all the things I am learning to cook when before this trip pretty much all I could handle in the kitchen was making a mess. We baked a ham (ok chunks of ham) with apples and cinnamon and made some of the best french toast I have ever had. Sonja also made fantastic banana bread, which was quickly devoured. Needing some epic triumphant music to cook to in accordance with the day, the Lord of the Rings soundtrack seemed an obvious choice.

We could not have asked for a more beautiful day. Though some of the afternoon was spent inside doing homework, we broke free long enough to go outside for more than an hour. It was so glorious- we all sat around on blankets, reading various things- for fun! "Reading for fun" is a concept I seem to have forgotten after going to college but we are again becoming fast friends in Jönköping.

Tomorrow morning we leave to go on our Geology Field Trip. We are not sure what to expect but it will surely be a great week. I was at least hoping for camping, but we are evidently staying in hostels. Have a great week and Happy Easter, everyone!

More Time In Jönköping

Spring has finally arrived in Sweden! Everyday I see more and more wildflowers and I am increasingly able to go outside without a sweater. I am also no longer wearing socks which is always my marker of fast approaching summer. I have had some more time to explore the city and I am quite content. It feels so much more manageable and easy to navigate than Stockholm or London. Something else that's fun is that my parents are here!! They got in on Tuesday afternoon and left this evening to go back to Stockholm to be tourists for a few days. Though it was a little strange to go into restaurants and speak English right from the beginning, I absolutely loved having them here. My biological family got to mix with the one we have created over these last months.

We are here by ourselves for the week since the other students have time off for Easter. We are of course still having class, which continues to be quite engaging and so interesting. Yesterday we took a break in the afternoon and went to a sheep farm. Two of the teachers at the school own this farm and they were worried we might be bored during our time here. We had so much fun! After a lovely tour and lots of adorable baby lambs, we went inside where the most incredible meal was prepared for us. We were told by our host that she spent much time abroad and many people invited her into their homes. Doing the same for us is her way of repaying them. We were told we must now do the same thing when we encounter travelers in our futures.

Calm and Comfortable

(photo credit: Jen Fox)









For those of you who also are following the Gustavus Term In Sweden blog (http://gustavusterminsweden.blogspot.com/) you will find some overlap between my post on that blog earlier today and this one on my personal one. I will try to add in some variation.

Our first week in Jönköping has passed quite successfully. I am so happy to be back with the group and I feel more relaxed than I have in a while. After our incredibly long and stressful day of traveling from London back to Sweden, we arrived here on Sunday evening and walked into our dorm rooms which were complete with personal bathrooms and closets! I almost fell over with joy. Though we were exhausted, Sonja and I immediately turned up the Frank Sinatra and went about unpacking our overweight suitcases and then shoving the empty counterparts into a corner where they will remain until May 17th. Coming from sharing a room with 20 people in London, this little bit of privacy seems like such a luxury. I have no idea what I will do when I return home and have an entire basement to myself.

Being together with the group feels so very wonderful. After we unpacked on Sunday night, we could all be found in one room, laughing loudly and sharing all of our Spring Break adventures. We are calmer and comfortable.

Jönköping is wonderful. The students are quite excited to meet us and hear our story of why we are in Sweden. Everyday more of them approach us at lunch or dinner. Even on our first night, there were knocks on our doors, curious to who these new loud English speakers might be. The city is gorgeous. The school is located on top of a huge hill which looks down into the valley. Every night that I walk outside to go to the sauna, my breath gets taken away a little bit with the view.

I am also loving our classes! We are engaged in our Sweden Today class and our Nobel Laureates class. We have already read quite a bit and have pretty top notch class discussions. This rhythm of classes and homework feels natural and pleasant. If was fun to be a tourist, but this feels better.

I am beginning to worry what it will feel like to leave this place and these people that I have fallen pretty deeply in love with. There is a growing realization in my mind of how when I return home, no one else will understand my experiences than these eleven others. I can show pictures and tell stories, yes, but no one else will really grasp what these 5 months were.

Time to Head Back!

London has been great, but it is time to go "home." It is interesting that whenever people asked me where I was from during Spring Break, I would say the US but I would have to qualify that by explaining that I was actually studying in Sweden. So- the U.S...by way of Sweden. Coming from Sweden, London feels very much like the US, and it was so odd to have everything in English again. Well, almost everything. Today I saw an incredible production of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" performed by a Russian theatre company so it was in Russian. It might be my favorite of the shows I saw here.

I am so excited to join the rest of the group tomorrow and hear about the adventures they all undoubtedly had over break. I am also so excited to be in one place for 5 weeks and I will actually be able to unpack my suitcase.

London was pretty great. The weather was incredible. I even got my first sunburn of the season which I was so proud of. Yesterday the three of us sat in the sunshine in Hyde Park for about an hour and a half and it felt so fantastic. It's a shame that the air will likely be slightly cooler in a matter of hours. Our flight leaves Heathrow at 7 am but the tube stops running at midnight so yes, you guessed it, we're waiting at the airport. At least I have a book and an ipod right?

Some other things we have done: Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, St. Paul's Cathedral, Camden Town and the Camden Market. (Sadly Bob Cratchit of A Christmas Carol was not there to greet us...) We also saw Chicago on West End and loved it. Much fish n' chips have also of course been had.

Spring Break!

Well I am in London! The weather is absolutely gorgeous and not at all the dreary typical London weather I expected. Yesterday I got much too warm walking around in a t - shirt! On Tuesday night after we arrived Janella and I rushed a production of "The Blood Brothers" which is fitting as it takes place in London. The show was absolutely incredible and we had pretty great seats for rush tickets.

Yesterday we set off for the tower of London and the major sites. We saw Tower Bridge, Big Ben, The Tower and spent several hours at Westminster Abbey. I saw another familiar face! As I was walking around the cathedral that is so beautiful I have no words, I saw my parents' dear friend from Gustavus, Ruth Johnson! It was so exciting to see her and I eagerly filled her in on my adventures to date. I am constantly surprised with how very small the world seems to be.

Last night Janella and I were lucky enough to snag tickets to "The Children's Hour" starring Keria Knightley. I have seen a lot of theater, but this is certainly one of the most powerful productions I have ever seen. It was so beautifully executed. If nothing else goes well on this trip (which I highly doubt) at least I got to see that show.

Today Sonja joined us at the hostel after spending the last two days with her friend who is studying here. I am sitting in the hostel lobby waiting for her to shower after her trek across town, moving her luggage through the vast subway system. Today's schedule?: It's looking like the Globe Theatre, Buckingham palace, St. James park and I imagine much more!

Love to everyone!

A Little More of Stockholm

Well Spring Break has officially begun. Friday morning we packed up and left our ship to go our various ways. Nearly all of us decided to stay in Stockholm through the weekend are situated at various hostels throughout the city. Anthony, Janella, Tyler and I are at Zinkingsdamm which is quite nice. Though it is not the beloved ship and I don't get to wake up with sunlight shining through a porthole, it's fun to explore another part of the city.

But for now, a little of what we did in the past week. On Monday, we went out to Vattenfall, one of Sweden's largest power companies, where we met more Gusties, Lena and Annika. As is becoming the usual, we got a private presentation on what the company does. Eric mentioned to Annika that we have seen Vattenfall at every juncture on our adventure. She mentioned that she was quite glad to hear that. I couldn't help but think if she would still be so glad if she knew the context we had heard about the company. When we were in the north, we discovered that the Sami have very clear ideas about the company as so many hydro plants have severely disrupted reindeer herding patterns. Though it is so admirable that Vattenfall is doing so much to improve the environmental impact of electricity, I can't help but wonder what we might have asked Lena and Annika were we here two months ago, fresh from our experiences in Jokkmokk.

We took a trip to the Karolinksa Institute. This is the facility which chooses who will be receive the Nobel Prize in medicine. We met Amy, yet another Gustie. While we got to learn a lot about the company, I think my favorite part of the visit was where Amy asked all of us what our dreams for the future were. My first thought was, "Does she think we're all Science kids and want a career here?" No, she just wanted to hear about us. I get pretty defensive when I'm asked what I want to do with my life. I mean, there is a lot I want to have happen. I thought that I would be judged when I told Amy, and the rest of the group for that matter, that I want to keep living and studying abroad and eventually be a theatre professor and an actor. There was no judgment, however, which leads me to believe I was maybe the one doing the judging all along.

We also went to the Riderholmen Church, which is the royal burial place. We saw so many gravestones and it's incredible how much history is present there. I caught myself thinking like my mother for a minute and imagined all the ghost lore and spirit activity which must take place once the doors have been closed for the night.

Cassandra also turned the big 20 right before we left for break. We had a lot of fun finding more places with live music in Old Town. Since being on break, I have visited several more museums and had a lot of fika time. Now that it is break I miss the rest of the group, and absolutely can not imagine what it will be like when we part for real on May 18th. I'm trying not to think about it. I am entering the fourth month that I've been gone and I'm realizing how much time that is. That's more than a summer vacation! Time has passed in such strange ways.

I am excited to go to London on Tuesday and do lots of theatre-y things, but I find that what I'm really excited for is to meet everyone in Jönköping on Sunday evening where we will all be together again and where we won't have to move our suitcases from place to place for 5 whole weeks. I have really missed the connections we get to have with places and people, like when we were in Jokkmokk and Mora- smaller towns with students to spend time with. This time in Uppsala and Stockholm has been great, but also strange. This is more time than we would have if we were merely tourists, but not enough time to really feel like it's ours. Here we go.

Moving Some More

It's snowing a little bit outside of my porthole. I went out for some fresh air and to take in the incredible view and was greeted with wet spitting snow. (Thanks for sending it, Minnesota...) I have been doing some writing tonight. I'm sitting on my bunk with the News from Lake Wobegon playing out of my computer speakers. Life feels good. Today was another good day. A few of us went back to the cathedral for a church service in the cathedral. It was beautiful. I was so impressed with how welcoming the church and the pastor was. When it came time, she instructed the congregation to say the Lord's Prayer in their own language. It was so fascinating to listen to so many languages echo through the impressive space. As one little boy in the choir passed up and down the aisle, he waved each time he saw his family. I was reminded of another little kid who often got in trouble for being more content to wave and smile at her parents than look at the Cherub Choir director....

After church we met the rest of the group for fika at yet another cafe. We did some window shopping at the posh Stockholm, NK, where the cheapest thing we found was a $15 pair of socks. Still, it was fun to dream. Shockingly I feel pretty deeply in love with a $600 dress...

After, Anthony and I went up to the hill to the Modern Art Museum. Even for someone who sometimes struggles with Modern Art, I really enjoyed it and got to feel all artsy for an afternoon. The exhibit of photography was well worth the entrance fee in itself.

Cassandra's family was here for the weekend and tonight some of us went out to dinner with them. How nice it was to be with a more traditional type of family than the one we have become. Tomorrow we go to Vattenfall, one of Sweden's largest power companies for a tour.