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.

Incredible Hospitality

Yesterday was a fantastic day. We began the day with a visit to the office of Anders Wall, a businessman who loves Gustavus and is a very big donor to the Gustavus Semester in Sweden program. Upon arrival, we were told that Anders was one of the biggest businessmen in Sweden. This was evident as we walked into the plush board room where individual bottles of sparking water waited for us. We told him about all the incredible things we have done so far and he told us about his business. What a wonderful man. He told us about his foundation which gives lots of money in scholarships for young people to attend school. We couldn't thank him enough for the part he has played in our experience.

After our meeting with Anders we moved on down to the cathedral. What a beautiful place! This is where our "friend" Crown Princess Victoria got married this summer. Apparently it cost the parish $2million just in cleaning expenses to prepare for the royal celebration. The church dates back to about the 13th century. We met the dean of cathedral, Åke Bonnier, who gave us the grand tour. (He is on the Gustavus Board of Trustees) We saw the impressive statue of St. George slaying the dragon and the grave stone of Olas Petri, the Swedish equivalent to Martin Luther who began the reformation in Sweden. Åke even brought us up into the bell tower for the most incredible view of Stockholm. Not everyone gets this perk.

After descending the narrow spiral staircase, we had a long, candid discussion with Åke about the church. He and his wife, Christina, graciously invited us into their home for the evening. We were served an incredible dinner in the most beautiful house I have seen in a long time. We had such a lovely evening of great food and conversation. We are living out of our suitcases and generally feel slightly rumpled, but last night, it was so beautiful to have a home to go to. Even if it was only for a few hours.

On Wednesday we traveled to a suburb of Stockholm to tour the Ericcson corporation for a tour. Elin Ahldén is a Gustavus graduate who is working her way up the corporate ladder of the company. All I knew about the company was that they made cell phones. we walked in and I thought I had walked into a trendy bar or club instead of into a technology company. We had a great tour and talk with Elin. She studied English and Classics at Gustavus and is now pretty high up in the corporate world. Though she admitted she didn't ever think she would work for a huge corporation, she really likes what she's doing. I think what she had to say was valuable as she was speaking to a room of students where the majority are studying something in the humanities.

Since Today is Saturday and we don't have any official things scheduled on weekends, some of us went back into Old Town for an organ recital at the cathedral. I sat 10 feet from where the royal family sits when they attend the cathedral. We had fika and then went on to the Dance and Theatre museum and then on to the Swedish Architecture museum. Stockholm continues to treat us well.

Stockholm Is Off To a Great Start!

Well folks, Stockholm is off to a great start! We arrived yesterday afternoon after a far too short 45 minute train ride. I say far too short because naturally I fell asleep I couldn't even get a good nap in. We were greeted with sunshine and wonderfully warm weather. We loaded all of our luggage into a van to be brought to the hostel and proceeded to walk through the city. (A milestone: I got far too warm wearing only my light jacket) We are living on a ship which has been converted to a hostel. I wake up with sun shining through a porthole. I can't even begin to describe how very cool it is. At night I get to look across the water to the incredible lit up city. We were all in some of best spirits yet as we looked at "our boat" set against a huge city just calling for us to come explore.

Our ship is in short walking distance of Old Town. To get there, we walk right past the Royal Palace- no big deal. Last night, a few of us found a Palestinian Restaurant which was literally a hole in the wall. Afterwards, some of us ventured down the very old streets and found an Irish Pub which advertised free live blues music Tuesday- Saturday. Loving free things like we do, we figured why not go in? Best decision to be made in a long time. We walked down to the "Jameson Cellar" and packed in among other music lovers. I hear a lot of live music and this was the absolute best I have heard in a long time. All of these musicians could easily be professionals. In fact, one guy who was singing got in trouble with his agent for singing 3 songs for free and got pulled out of the place. I can't wait to find more places and go back to this one!

Today we got some love from home. Tom Young and Barb Larson Taylor from Gustavus came to meet up with us. (Barb even brought us Girl Scout cookies!) I am realizing more and more that Gustavus has fantastic connections. I started to see this earlier this week in Uppsala when we went to the Botanical Gardens. They are not open on Mondays, but they opened it and gave us a special tour because we are Gustavus and there is a Paul Granlund statue outside. These connections were also evident today. We went in the back door of the palace and basically saw where King Carl parks his car. We got a presentation on the monarchy and then were given a tour of the royal library. (incidently also named the Folke Bernadotte Library like Gustavus.) This is the library where Strindberg was a librarian and this is where Nobel Laureates hang out and talk about world affairs the night before they receive their awards.

We then got a tour of Parliament and got to talk to a member of the Liberal Party, Frederich Malm. He was very candid with us and we got a great presentation. After that, we moved on to the Swedish Academy. This was so incredible. We sat in the chairs where the Nobel Committee sits and chooses who is going to win the Nobel prize. There is so much incredible symbolism- everything is done just as it was done when Gustav III began the academy. We walked through the door the Permanent Secretary walks through to be blinded by cameras to announce who is going to win the Nobel Prize. It was so interesting how it is mandated that the winner give their speech in their mother tongue and not the one most will understand. It's all part of preserving culture.

Today was full. After our tours, we ventured down the streets of Old Town and found the "Sten Cafe." ("the Rock Cafe"- like our favorite River Rock Coffee Shop in St. Peter?) We walked down into yet another cellar- I saw a sign that it was 700 years old. We had a two plus hour fika where we discussed all we learned today.

I came to the realization today just how much we are ambassadors of Gustavus. This is a big responsibility but also such a fantastic one. This makes me remember how very much I love Gustavus and how incredibly lucky we are to be here.

A Love For Old Things, Really Old Things

I love old things. Today we woke up to catch the bus into the city and were greeted by beautiful sunshine and warm weather. What a perfect day this was going to be to explore the city. We went to brunch at one of the student unions (where there were even waffles!) and then we boarded the bus to Old Uppsala. We first went to a museum where we got to look at ancient burial grounds which are pre Viking era. There is no way of absolutely determining who exactly is buried in these mounds. It was first believed that it was the gods Odin, Thor and Frey but it is likely we can rule out this is not the case. Instead, the best guess of archeologists is that the three first kings of Sweden are buried here. We got to see the artifacts which were found when the tomb was excavated, including jewelry and weapons. We spent some time exploring the old church and graveyard. And, of course, we had to take a picture in the Viking boat.

Uppsala is such a great historic city. Walking through the city got to see the house of Carl Linne, who the Gustavus arboretum is named for. The Uppsala cathedral is also fascinating and breathtaking. I walked in and instantly knew that no photograph could ever do justice to what I was looking at. Inside there is even the tomb of Gustav Vasa. There is also a plaque on the wall listing all of the archbishops- it's quite a site to look and see that first name dates back to about 1100.

After our time in Old Uppsala, we continued to explore the city and find yet another place for coffee.

And then the Theatre Kid Learned about Science....

We have now been in Uppsala for about a week now. We are staying at a hostel which is a 20 minute bus ride outside of the city. We attend our Science class (taught by Daniel Lundberg, another former Gustie) at the agricultural university. We are fairly removed and have about a 20 minute walk to and back from class.

In reference to the title, I do not do science. (See pictture....) A lot of what we are doing is some basic chemistry review which I have not done in about 4 years. Our "lab" time, however, is the best I have ever had. For fifteen minutes, we get to eat different things and determine (with graphs of course) whose taste is the most Swedish. So far we have experimented with caviar, cheese, herring, jam and salty black licorice. (I have some great pictures of people eating the last one, but in order to preserve their personal dignity, I will refrain from posting them.)

We have also played innebandy together. The closest alternative I can think of in the states would be indoor floor hockey. Many of you probably know of my incredibly limited athletic ability. Well, I scored a goal. Yes, I know, pretty impressive. Some of us also joined a soccer tournament this morning. Placed against established, talented teams, we were clearly the underdog. Everyone maintained fantastic spirits throughout however. On the (rare) occasions when our team did score a goal, all of the spectators cheered loudly and music was played. We even did the Gustie rouser.

Tomorrow we will go into Old Uppsala for a tour of the city.