Hej san!
I begin this post with three apologies, because everyone knows things come better in threes. First is for, of course, the slight delay in the posting of this particular blog. Second, also somewhat expected, is that I still haven't finished writing about Russia and the return trip in Helsinki. And third, in advance, is for the somewhat short nature of this blog post. My only excuse? Summer has officially come to Sweden, and I'm having a very hard time staying inside at all! However, I am committing to finishing my "Foreign Land" series about my Baltic adventures before the next blog goes up next week, despite the incredible amounts of sunshine.
When I say incredible amounts of sunshine, I really do mean quite incredible amounts! The sun comes up just before 4am and sets around 10pm, and the twilight before and after those times are long and lingering. The sky never truly gets dark at all, just a beautiful deep blue color. It's quite an experience, although I think I'm going to start missing the stars soon. All of this sunshine means I feel like I have really incredible amounts of time, because the days just never seem to end. I'm also, for the first time in my life, in the habit of going to bed around midnight or one and getting up at eight or nine every morning. It's just hard to remember to go to sleep when the sun is still up!
And all of this sunlight has wrought an incredible change on the city I thought I knew. I can hardly see the Uppsala I arrived in four months ago; people are everywhere, shops are open long hours, and everything is green and blooming. Summer has absolutely exploded! When I arrived back from my Baltic adventures three weeks ago, the trees were just budding, and now they are gloriously leafy. I ride my bike home a different way every time I go to town, and everywhere I look there are hidden parks and open spaces full of trees and bushes. The lilacs and crab apple trees are blooming, as well as several other trees and bushes I don't recognize. My mom and I joke about being able to smell the chlorophyll during the summer, and I can tell you that Uppsala is drowning in it right now.
This is the Swedish flag; the colors come from the Swedish coat of arms, and the shape is the Scandinavian cross. (Iceland, Norway, Denmark, and Finland all have the same general shape to their flags, although Norway and Iceland have three colors instead of two.) I propose changing the blue to green, for the explosion of greenery that seems to be happening everywhere, and the yellow to white, for the long winters. I don't think anyone will ever take me up on it, and I've actually always been partial to the Swedish color scheme, but maybe a green border or something. Really, there is green everywhere!
The best part is that I am finally free to enjoy it! My stint as a student is ALMOST finished; I have one class period and the "final exam" in the form of a take-home essay for my philosophy class. I officially finished my Swedish lessons on Monday and Tuesday with the written and listening exams, respectively. The written exam was a lot easier than I expected it to be, and even the listening exam wasn't as difficult as I'd anticipated. I still don't know quite where and when I picked up my Swedish grammar skills, but they served me well through both exams. Also last Tuesday I gave my final presentation about creativity for my philosophy class. I received an email yesterday detailing how to send my transcripts home; things are really wrapping up here in Uppsala.
But rest assured my time here is not quite at an end yet. I have sixteen days until Mom arrives (Counting? Who, me?) and I plan to spend them to the absolute fullest. This weekend Henri and I are going to Öregrund, a little town somewhat north of Uppsala, for some more exploration and more importantly, a chance to jump in the Baltic Sea. Henri's been swimming in every ocean or sea bordering every country he's been to so far, and he doesn't intend to let a little thing like frigid water temps get in his way for Sweden. I, of course, being a mountain girl through and through, have no qualms about jumping in cold water, so I think it sounds like a fine adventure!
My other big project, which was the perfect distraction from studying for Swedish, was planning the time I'll share with my mom. We're spending the first week in Uppsala and the surrounding areas, so she can see where I've been living for the last five months, and then the second week we're going adventuring! My dad and brother fell in love with Oslo, the capital of Norway, when they traveled through it for Telemark World Championships, so mom and I have to go check it out as well. We're also going to fulfill one of Mom's dreams and go to Tromsø, a town that is farther north than Sweden goes! You can check out where it is here: https://maps.google.se/maps?hl=sv&ie=UTF-8&q=Troms%C3%B8,+Norge+karta+visa&fb=1&gl=se&hq=Troms%C3%B8,+Norge+karta+visa&ei=zGW_T-n1NuTN4QT2m9W5CQ&ved=0CC0QyBM You'll have to zoom out a bit to really get an idea of where it is, but the close-up is good to see all the fjords. One of Mom's college friends did ecology research in this area, and Mom's always wanted to go. It's 350km north of the Arctic Circle, so Mom and I will be able to experience the phenomenon known as the Midnight Sun; the sun quite literally will never set while we're there. It's going to be one of the strangest and coolest experiences ever, I think.
Well, I did warn you that this post would be a touch short. The sunshine is just too irresistible! I'm off to join my corridor-mate Mia lying in the grass. She, unfortunately, is still studying, but I'll take a book and my notebook and keep her company.
Until next time,
Hej då!
I begin this post with three apologies, because everyone knows things come better in threes. First is for, of course, the slight delay in the posting of this particular blog. Second, also somewhat expected, is that I still haven't finished writing about Russia and the return trip in Helsinki. And third, in advance, is for the somewhat short nature of this blog post. My only excuse? Summer has officially come to Sweden, and I'm having a very hard time staying inside at all! However, I am committing to finishing my "Foreign Land" series about my Baltic adventures before the next blog goes up next week, despite the incredible amounts of sunshine.
When I say incredible amounts of sunshine, I really do mean quite incredible amounts! The sun comes up just before 4am and sets around 10pm, and the twilight before and after those times are long and lingering. The sky never truly gets dark at all, just a beautiful deep blue color. It's quite an experience, although I think I'm going to start missing the stars soon. All of this sunshine means I feel like I have really incredible amounts of time, because the days just never seem to end. I'm also, for the first time in my life, in the habit of going to bed around midnight or one and getting up at eight or nine every morning. It's just hard to remember to go to sleep when the sun is still up!
And all of this sunlight has wrought an incredible change on the city I thought I knew. I can hardly see the Uppsala I arrived in four months ago; people are everywhere, shops are open long hours, and everything is green and blooming. Summer has absolutely exploded! When I arrived back from my Baltic adventures three weeks ago, the trees were just budding, and now they are gloriously leafy. I ride my bike home a different way every time I go to town, and everywhere I look there are hidden parks and open spaces full of trees and bushes. The lilacs and crab apple trees are blooming, as well as several other trees and bushes I don't recognize. My mom and I joke about being able to smell the chlorophyll during the summer, and I can tell you that Uppsala is drowning in it right now.
The best part is that I am finally free to enjoy it! My stint as a student is ALMOST finished; I have one class period and the "final exam" in the form of a take-home essay for my philosophy class. I officially finished my Swedish lessons on Monday and Tuesday with the written and listening exams, respectively. The written exam was a lot easier than I expected it to be, and even the listening exam wasn't as difficult as I'd anticipated. I still don't know quite where and when I picked up my Swedish grammar skills, but they served me well through both exams. Also last Tuesday I gave my final presentation about creativity for my philosophy class. I received an email yesterday detailing how to send my transcripts home; things are really wrapping up here in Uppsala.
But rest assured my time here is not quite at an end yet. I have sixteen days until Mom arrives (Counting? Who, me?) and I plan to spend them to the absolute fullest. This weekend Henri and I are going to Öregrund, a little town somewhat north of Uppsala, for some more exploration and more importantly, a chance to jump in the Baltic Sea. Henri's been swimming in every ocean or sea bordering every country he's been to so far, and he doesn't intend to let a little thing like frigid water temps get in his way for Sweden. I, of course, being a mountain girl through and through, have no qualms about jumping in cold water, so I think it sounds like a fine adventure!
My other big project, which was the perfect distraction from studying for Swedish, was planning the time I'll share with my mom. We're spending the first week in Uppsala and the surrounding areas, so she can see where I've been living for the last five months, and then the second week we're going adventuring! My dad and brother fell in love with Oslo, the capital of Norway, when they traveled through it for Telemark World Championships, so mom and I have to go check it out as well. We're also going to fulfill one of Mom's dreams and go to Tromsø, a town that is farther north than Sweden goes! You can check out where it is here: https://maps.google.se/maps?hl=sv&ie=UTF-8&q=Troms%C3%B8,+Norge+karta+visa&fb=1&gl=se&hq=Troms%C3%B8,+Norge+karta+visa&ei=zGW_T-n1NuTN4QT2m9W5CQ&ved=0CC0QyBM You'll have to zoom out a bit to really get an idea of where it is, but the close-up is good to see all the fjords. One of Mom's college friends did ecology research in this area, and Mom's always wanted to go. It's 350km north of the Arctic Circle, so Mom and I will be able to experience the phenomenon known as the Midnight Sun; the sun quite literally will never set while we're there. It's going to be one of the strangest and coolest experiences ever, I think.
Well, I did warn you that this post would be a touch short. The sunshine is just too irresistible! I'm off to join my corridor-mate Mia lying in the grass. She, unfortunately, is still studying, but I'll take a book and my notebook and keep her company.
Until next time,
Hej då!
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