A mid-homestay update...

Some mornings, like today, when I check my email and read the international news I find myself really missing Uppsala and all my friends there. Perhaps because at this time last year I was finally getting comfortable riding my bike around town, grabbing fika with Hannah or Kayla and Karina, and I knew my corridormates a bit. I miss walking down the fashionable streets and shopping in the middle of my school day. I miss all the countless hours I had for reading whatever I wanted, for watching old movies I rented from the library, and going out with new friends. I miss the International Bible Study (from whom I still get weekly emails). But alas, I am returning to Europe so perhaps these memories can be made new.

Last year on this day, Valentine's Day, Stephen had a beautiful bouquet delivered to me in Sweden. This year I am so glad we can spend it together. Just got the word I should dress up for tonight's dinner at a surprise location. Que divertido!

I called this entry a mid-homestay update because like it says, I am currently in the middle of a stay in my home country. I returned from Sweden in June and will be flying off to England in September, so this is somewhere around the middle of my time at home. It has been great to be home and I am not in a hurry to leave this time, though the adventure that awaits me is as exciting as they come (for an obsessive academic like myself).

My school here has certainly been supportive of my scholarship. The provost and president of the university threw a little reception for me and I've had the opportunity to interact with both on several occasions since. (It's crazy to me how things just snowball - I know there are plenty of equally (if not more) accomplished students at this university and I wish I could share all the positive fall out with them). One cool thing that even the non-nerdy sports fan can appreciate is that they recognized my award during a time-out at one of the Men's basketball games (while we are #1) and gave me a game ball signed by both the coaches.

Of course now the pressure is on, or at least that is how I feel. It used to be that my own standards for myself were leagues above everyone else's expectations of me- now they're catching up. Even though I'm taking one math class as an audit, just to learn the material because I'll need it next year, I'm ashamed to hand in work that isn't perfect to my standards, despite the grade I earn being completely irrelevant.

This entry has little form but that's representative of how things work, life never takes the essay form where you introduce what will happen in the first paragraph and then it proceeds to take place just as you spelled out. God knows what He's doing though. I'm reading in Exodus right now, about the construction of the Tabernacle, and He knows exactly what he wants (right down to the blue, purple, and gold linens made by expert weavers). It reminds me that God really does care about the details even while he cares about the over-arching story. Resting in his plan is something that doesn't come completely naturally, but I can see His hand in orchestrating my past and so that helps me rest about the future. I am so thankful to God for my opportunity to study in England for the next two years. I will miss my Stephen terribly, but I trust that all things work together for good for them who love the Lord.

Okay I've got to wrap this up because a day packed with research projects is calling. I feel incredibly blessed to be living a life filled with adventure and love, especially as I consider the tragedy and injustice that is happening in such abundance simultaneously around the world. I challenge myself to do more about it.

A little puzzle for you

Which word is not like the others and why?

A) console
B) bow
C) lead
D) sow
E) run

tricky tricky leave your guesses in the comments

au revoir... almost

It's been a busy week of sorts. Last Saturday Kayla, Karina, Katie, and I started our adventure at 6:00 am and flew to Paris. We saw the Notre Dame and went to the Lourve (we happened to arrive on the one night of the year that Paris' most famous museums are open and free). We spent most of Sunday at the Muse' D'Orsay (which I liked better than the Lourve- some really lovely Monet's) and had a late lunch in a quintessentially Parisian cafe. Monday we climbed the Eiffel Tower (lots of stairs! but we had to take an elevator to get to the very top), saw the Arc de Triumph, walked with style down Champs Elysées (Sarah Jessica Parker was making an appearance at the huge Sephora about an hour and a half later but we didn't stick around), enjoyed the lovely Montmartre area over looking the city while eating gelato and crepes, and shuffled through the lovely Sacre-Coeur basilica. Tuesday we visited the epic and exquisite Château de Versailles (aka the very large French palace and estate), complete with Marie Antionette's own little "country cottage" where she could go feel like a country girl without ever having to see any. The palace and grounds were truly beautiful and we considered taking a row boat out on the cross-shaped man made pond. At night we went back to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up. Wednesday I did a little vintage shopping and we ate lunch at a great Turkish restaurant. We saw the Latin Quarter and wandered around a bit until Kayla found a cute salon and decided to get her hair cut. After watching her get hers done, I decided my locks could use some love as well. We both loved our new do's until we found out that we had misunderstood (or perhaps they had misled us, more likely) the price and had to pay twice what we were expecting. An unfortunate twist to an otherwise frugal french holiday. We stayed in a cute studio apartment in the 3rd district, right in the middle of the city, and cooked most of our own meals to keep costs down.

All in all it was a grand time. I must say though, that I think I'm done traveling for a while. Considering I've spent more time this past year away from home than there (Peru from May to August, and Sweden from January to June) I am definitely due for some staying home, or at least in my own country. And I'm missing some people quite a lot. It makes me happy to think that in only two weeks from this moment I'll be home, hopefully with my head on Stephen's shoulder- exhausted from my 10+ hours of traveling but content.

There will definitely be things I'll miss about Sweden. Uppsala is a great town (4th largest city in the country?) Fika is a wonderful institution. Nation-centered student life is fun and easy. The majority of people walking down the street are fashionable and making some sort of intentional statement with their look (other than "abercrombie" of course). It's really easy to slip in and out of places without having to interact with people: this is great when you don't feel like talking to people, but bad if you're right off the plane from America and think everyone is being rude or hates you. Biking is the prefered mode of transport and there are bike lanes to keep you safe (and fit!). Hugo's is a fun cafe that sometimes has great latte's, it's a bit hit or miss but that's half the fun of a place like Hugo's. I'll miss my chats with Hannah and Kayla, but hopefully those don't end completely. I'll also miss the lack of busy work and papers for my classes. Can't beat a 3 minute walk from your room to the grocery store and some very loveable corridormates.

Surely this has been a time of personal growth and reformulation of a lot of perceptions and views. I don't feel like going into specifics now, but perhaps another time.

Here are a couple of pics from Paris:

happy anniversary to my blog

I just spent the last hour reading old blog entries and realized that I started this thing a whole year ago (May 1st 2007 to be exact). I'm glad I started it; it has served the exact purpose I had in mind, which was to mainly help me see how I'm changing over time and to be a record of my major experiences.

For those who've been around for a while, thanks for reading. Life is about the journey, not just the destination.

a quick book recommendation

I'm currently reading through Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright with a Christian study circle here in Sweden. I've been reading it all day actually. The author is a bishop or something in the Church of England. The first 2 chapters aren't impressive but if you push through them he does a very rigorous evaluation of the plausibility of the ressurection and then discusses what the early church thought about heaven and what that means for us today. When forced to think about my own views of the afterlife, I found that I really had no clear picture nor a solid scriptural basis for the patchy views I did hold. Thus the great value of this book. If you have no time for reading (which is certainly a shame), perhaps we can discuss the implications of this scriptural view of heaven over fika (a Swedish word that has no real English translation but roughly means "coffee break") sometime :) Otherwise pick it up.

As a side note, I've really enjoyed this study circle which is made up of me, Hannah and her Swedish boyfriend, and a few other very cool Swedes. It's been great discussing with such smart and critically-minded Christians who aren't afraid to seek truth, even if it takes a slightly different shape than what we have been brought up to believe. I leave each night feeling stretched and challenged, both intellectually and spiritually, and with a stronger desire to live in obedience to Christ's teaching in humility and love.

Our amazing UK adventure!

Okay so I have a bunch to do and don't have time to be too detailed but do ask me about our wonderful trip when I get home. I'll put the skeleton of events here so I won't forget.

April 12th: Stephen arrives in Sweden!! Little tour of Uppsala.

April 13th: Wake up sooo early. Taxi to Arlanda Airport. Fly to Heathrow. Our plane is a bit late and we miss our bus to Bath. Eat lunch at Cafe Nero (as Stephen said, kill enough Christians and they'll name a coffee chain after you). Take the next bus to Bath and enjoy the LOVELY scenery of the English countryside. It's so green! Check in at the Bay Tree House B&B, see the Roman Baths, eat some satisfying BK, and enjoy a relaxing evening.

April 14th: Eat the first of our delicious full English breakfasts! Take an overly-expensive trainride to London and head to our second B&B, another Bay Tree House B&B with no relation to the first. Chat with our gracious hosts for a while. Go on one of those touristy-but-practical bus tours of the city. See the Tower of London (which isn't just a tower, was I the only one who expected just a tower?). Have a nice dinner at Max's. Walk around a little and find a beautifully lit up King's College complex with fountains- how romantic :)

April 15th: Chat it up with folks at breakfast, some Danes and a nice Australian guy. See London by foot. Saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Loved Westminster Abbey and saw Big Ben and Parliament. Walked 2 hours across London (mostly through Green and Hyde Parks) to get some real English afternoon tea- the distance looked much smaller on the map! Stephen had some excellent tea sandwiches and Queen's cake and I tried clotted cream and jam on scones. We walked by lots of Londoners sipping coffee in Starbucks (out of real mugs). This was such a busy day, I think I'm forgetting some of the stuff we did, but we saw a lot. Then a major highlight: we saw Les Miserables. It was sooo good!

April 16th: Quick breakfast and then to King's Cross Station to catch our train to Edinburgh (with a comfortable for me but not for Stephen margin of about 10 minutes). Long train ride in which we talk a little with the English couple across the table from us. Eat some very tasty and authentic Italian food in Edinburgh... delicious roast duck and the best fresh mozzarella I've ever had! We walk around and almost climb a fence to take a shortcut, but I've been too well socialized not to climb fences! We climb a lot of hills to see Edinburgh Castle and some great views. Eventually we went to Hertz downtown to pick up our rental card, the fiesty little Ford Fiesta. Getting into the passenger side on the left of the car was certainly an experience, driving it off the lot into a steady stream of downtown traffic was terrifying. Of course I left all the driving to Stephen who is far more capable and managed to stay calm despite the craziness. We made a wrong turn somewhere but managed to end up at Micky D's where Stephen enjoyed his dinner emmensly. We hit the open road as the sun was starting to set. Needless to say, Scotland is beautiful. Despite one wrong turn that cost us about 45 min (my fault) we made it up to Inverness and our last B&B, the Blue Bell House.

April 17th: Our first full Scottish breakfast, complete with potatoe scones and black pudding (got to love that coagulated pig's blood- but we didn't find that out til Friday post-breakfast). Drive around the Inverness area, see Loch Ness (home of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster), and see Urquart Castle. Stephen buys some sweet euro-clothes. We manage to find a late dinner (which was harder than you'd think) and try some Scottish ale.

April 18th: Chat with an Australian couple at breakfast and then head west. See some STUNNING scenery and eventually arrive at Elien Donan Castle on the western side of the Highlands (Inverness is on the east coast). Drink some cappucinos and visit the castle. Make our way to the cute and isolated coastal village of Plockton. Eat at Grumpy's (fish and chips and scottish meat pie). Enjoy the scenery all the way home. Eat Thai food and groove to some cool Scottish music at Hootenanny's. Stephen decides scotch whiskey is really only tasty on the first sip. The band encorporates bag pipes and a fiddle into rock music, good stuff.

April 19th: After another delicious breakfast (I especially love the tomatos and beans), we head towards Glasgow. Pass through Perth and stop for lunch in Stirling. So many SHEEP! Drive through Glasgow but don't stop because traffic is backed up for miles. Hang for a bit in Prestwick before our flight back to Sweden. Fly to the Ryan Air airport, Skavsta, then bus to Stockholm center and taxi to Stallmastaregarden Hotel (a really romantic place actually), arriving past 1 am.

April 20th: [Not technically part of our UK adventure] Great Scandinavian breakfast and leisurely walk to Stockholm's train station. Upon arrival in Uppsala we got some ice cream (short lived though) and sat with a whole lot of other students along the river reading in the sun. Even played ultimate frisbee with my corridormates. Stayed up talking and reminising about our lovely time together.

April 21st: Really sad day! Took Stephen to the airport and said goodbye around 1:00 pm. That afternoon was probably the most sad I've been here. I ended up sitting on a bench on my way home reading for a few hours and then spent the rest of the night reading in bed. Seriously, I don't know what I would do if I couldn't read.

So that was our action-packed 9 days together. Spent a lot more $$ than I expected, but it was definitely worth it. Now I'm looking forward to the summer and more time with my favorite accountant. The days are flying by but, babe, I'm missing you so much! Can't wait to hang out with lise too :)

See facebook for a bunch of pics. If you're really curious, I have a whole lot more that didn't make the cut and would be happy to show you. Here are a few:

English breakfast!
Steve likes this one. I'm enjoying a strange version of an iced latte at the first Cafe Nero we saw.
Touring London!
How's that black pudding, babe?

At Elien Donan Castle near Kyle of Lochalsh. We had beautiful weather the whole trip!

Some "beautiful" scenery as we drive in our car.

a few reflections on culture

First I would like the say happy birthday to elise :)

Currently it is snowing here in Sweden. I can't say that snow is quite as beautiful at this time of year when we're all so ready for spring, and have been fooled into thinking that it was already here last week. And it was snowing in the UK a few days ago too! Hopefully it will be sunny and warm for our trip; one can always hope.

I was sitting in on a class called "Money and Time" offered by the theology department here at the university. Several of my friends are taking it and I thought it might be interesting to just listen to the lectures sometimes. They had a guest speaker and he said a few things I thought worth writing down (in my summarized version). Here they are:

A love of reality shows is perhaps a symptom of loneliness because we feel like we know these people even though we don't actually. [a sort of quasi-relationship]

We have a need to feel a part of a metanarrative. We used to get this from the Bible, politics, etc. but now these are decreasing in importance. We live vicariously as a substitute for real living.

The media becomes the main provider of social construction as the family and other traditional institutions diminish. The media tells us who we are.

I wouldn't have expected these topics so much in a class about money and time, but I guess that's the beauty of a discussion oriented class. Tonight after debate club a bunch of us went downstairs to the pub and had a good chat. I suppose it can't be helped, but I think so many conversations I have here involve comparing Sweden to the US (or which ever country you're an exchange student from). Tonight we compared political parties, financial crises, and views about sexuality. We decided that all American parties are to the right of right-wing Swedish parties, Sweden's crash in the early 1990's is quite similar to today's housing crisis and subsequent issues in the American economy, and that Swedes have incredibly different views and norms when it comes to sexuality. All of this could probably be guessed. On the last point, it's not just that people have a lot of random partners, but the whole society seems to be much more relaxed. Most girls in high school are on birth control, and according to one swede, still being a virgin at 18 means you're either extremely religious or something is wrong. I don't think this is true in the US. At the same time, I don't think most Americans have a good view of sexuality either. But perhaps this blog is not the proper forum for this discussion.

I do appreciate the way the world seems to turn a little slower here, but maybe that's just how it looks through the eyes of an exchange student with a lot of free time. People always have time for fika or one drink at the pub. Maybe that's how it is at UConn too, and I'm just too busy having a scheduled lifestyle that I can't see it. In any event I hope that some of this relaxation follows me home.

We're off to the UK on Sunday. I can't believe it's already April. Certainly time speeds along, even when you have nothing important to do. At least I'm doing a lot of reading and researching. I'm also trying to relearn some subjects I've forgotten. Okay, time to read. Seriously I feel like my life consists only in processing written and verbal information. Anyhow, goodnight.