Whoopsies!

I forgot to tell you about Midsommar..... ahhhh - it can be next weeks post!
have to get a copy of the photos as i forgot my camera!

Month three ran away so quickly :(

well it's another week down, and apparantly the start of a new month....

I forgot to post my last LP story - seems strange not to have any pressure on me today to think of something to write about.

I have 2 1/2 weeks left of school, and only 3 weeks til holidays!! Wiiii.... cant wait (except for the fact that we are camping :( i dont mind for the festival, but seeing as were taking camping gear and all - hopefully i wont whinge and bitch too much?????

Not really much else to say, the Swede has gone off on a shopping trip with his Momma and I'm hanging out at home wishing i was at the beach - well maybe wishing i had the energy to go to the beach on my own... it's finally nice weather again (and if i can remember how to get to the beach, i just might go in an hour or so......)

anyhoo... hope all is well with everyone else.....

THE FINAL ONE!!!!

While sitting in a quiet spot of my favourite café, enjoying the bright sunlight streaming through the window, my tranquil moment was broken with the sound of whistling, singing and teenage laughter as a large group of beautifully tanned girls entered. I was intrigued by their white dresses and sailor like hats, to which my friend informed me were due to the girls had graduated from school today and were celebrating in true Swedish tradition. Tonight together with their peers, the girls would be driven through the town centre on float like vehicles and on to several parties which are equivalent in size to most weddings.

Hundreds of guests, endless amounts of food and presents would be shared while the students celebrate their new found freedom. To help me understand this tradition I was invited along to a “studenten” or student party. I arrived that evening to discover my friend had not exaggerated the size of this celebration.

Guests were joyously sipping on champagne and beer while toasting the sweet and slender blonde haired girl, who seemed to be appropriately called Anna. It seemed every person she had ever known was celebrating this occasion with her with gifts and flowers overflowing on the table behind her. As I watched the celebration unfold, I couldn’t help but to compare this with the simplicity of my experience of graduation, a simple class assembly and dinner with my fellow classmates.

With such emphasis placed on graduating, I wondered how this would affect the expectations placed on Anna and her friends in the coming years. I sought out our blonde hair guest of honour what she expected from the near future. Looking at me through her rather glassy yet still piercing blues eyes Anna was honest and direct in her manner as she told me of her plans to spend the summer travelling with a friend and would return in September to commence university, hopefully to study psychology.

There appeared no doubt in Anna’s mind that her choices would lead her to bigger and better things. I was surprised by the self assurance and self belief of someone so young and I couldn’t help but feeling a tinge of jealousy. When I finished school I distinctly remember the feeling of relief combined with the anxiety of not knowing how I should turn out. A feeling I have long held on to and something I feel has been the driving force of my rebellious streak long past the acceptable age of rebellion. I doubted that any form of rebellion existed in Anna, and from the strength of her personality I believe she will do most of the things in life she sets out to do.

I watched Anna rejoin her friends and family to much of the same laughing and shrieking that had disturbed me this morning. She appeared blissfully unaware that these next few years would be so difficult, although possibly some of her best she will ever experience. Finding our way in the world is never as simple as what we would hope it will be, and knowing which ones are the right choices is something I still haven’t mastered. Although maybe with such a display of support and encouragement Anna has a good head start on the rest of us who are still trying to find that comfort in our own skin.

My location may have changed but my moves they have not!!!!

Well I feel like i have suffered a weeklong hangover! Laura was here for a week and we had a great time - lots of cider, lots of chocolate and quite a few episodes of friends :D (it's on 3 times/day in Sweden.....)

We went out on Saturday night - and well you can all rest assure I have NOT changed and no, you CANT take me anywhere - I purchased a total of three pints of cider on Sat night - the first i drank, the second arrived as kilkenny (i know my swedish is bad, but cider/kilkenny??) and the third i dropped on the floor because it is possible that someone blew on my elbow - the jury is still out as to whether I can use that one as an excuse :P

Anywhoo... I will let my photos do the talking :D

What a wonderful suprise...

The weather is still glorious.. I'm a little tanned after another trip to the beach! Went to a housewarming on Saturday night for a girl who I met in Brisbane - Marie, a friend of Håkan's who was also a ric's girl! so that was kinda nice... would have been nicer still if i knew how to hold my licqour. Nothings changed there I guess... except my hangovers are ridiculous!

Had another holiday last week for Sweden's national day - see below :D
I am starting to love the amount of holidays the swede's have... Next up is midsommar - so you can guarantee a post on that one!! We are fortunate enough to be attending a traditional midsommar's ceremony - although we'll see how well I cope with the smell of pickled herring!

I was to have finished school tomorrow... but by the looks we will do the next part, or at least start - either another 2 or 4 weeks, which will be good - cause lord knows i could do with it!

Laura is comming tomorrow for a week - so the weather will sure to turn to crap! But fun we shall have anyway.... off to jazz in the park on wednesday night and a few other things!

Dont you love when you find photos that you cant remember taking!


Now for my third installment of my encounter column....

A SPLENDID COMMING OF AGE....

National day ceremonies generally allow us as travellers the opportunity to experience a small snapshot of a foreign country’s traditions, culture and history. June 6th saw the celebration of Sweden’s 3rd annual national day holiday, formally the national Flag Day. My expectations of the celebrations were lots of blonde haired children running around holding flags, women dressed in traditional white bonnets with long flowing yellow and blue embroidered dresses, picnics baskets overflowing with pickled herring and potatoes and glasses of schnapps to toast the meal.

You can imagine my surprise when I arrived at the botanical gardens in Lund to see hundreds of Swedes looking slightly bemused, very few children and only one lady in traditional dress. The food of the day was being purchased from the burger stand and washed down with a Carlsberg.

The average Swede seems very connected with their traditions and appears especially proud of their folk laws, and as anyone who has celebrated a Swedish midsommar can attest, they certainly know how to celebrate. Yet despite these facts, I couldn’t help wondering why in a crowd of hundreds there appeared to be only one woman who felt connected enough with the national day to proudly show it. I was drawn to the grey haired woman who looked to have aged gracefully for someone who most likely was at the end of her sixties.

She looked so perfect and tiny in her blue and yellow dress which signifies the strong history of her nation, and the fact that everyone else seemed a little confused by this holiday didn’t appear to perturb her at all. She walked around the gardens chatting with her husband, whom while also handsome, simply paled in her comparison. Together they continued, as she held his hand subtly leading the way, only pausing to glance at the brilliant coloured poppies and bougainvillea. They both appeared oblivious to the glances she drew from everyone they passed.

Her proud and almost regal walk seemed to manifest the very tradition we were here to celebrate. There are many possible reasons as to why this lady seemed to be the only one to revel in the festivities. Perhaps it could be that without the past rituals, legends and folk beliefs of yesteryear, that a modern and urbanised society is not capable of forging strong attachments to new traditions.

Yet there was a tell tale sign in her sparkling blue eyes that suggested that she was smirking on the inside at the hordes who were willing for a connection to this holiday. For her eyes seemed to indicate that perhaps it was not the national day she is emotionally akin to, but that she was the only one who viewed this holiday as a birthday party for a friend she respects and admires. A splendid coming of age for a trusted confidant who has throughout the years continued to provide her family with a home, a prosperous lifestyle and a culture rich in history and tradition. What I think drew us all to this woman was that she did not require new traditions to joyously celebrate the most important birthday in the Swedish calendar.

The Seaside the seaside!!!!

Well it's monday - so obviously I have just finished a new piece for lonely planet, which I will post at the end here.... but first I went to the beach!! Did I get in - no, but gotta say, Fo this is the perfect beach for Sambo. First of all, no waves.... second of all, you have to go out about 500m before the water gets past your knees!! I am not kidding. It was 27degrees yesterday, so YAY!!! I even have some colour...


and one for Sambo!!


and finally (my boyfriend the best photographer EVER - managed to take a photo at the perfect angle to make my legs look soooo thin) took a photo of me stripping off into my bikini's just to prove it can be hot in sweden!!


and for the lonely planet piece - remember www.myspace.com/lonelyplaneteurope

Who I am.....
If I subscribe to the theory that we create our own destiny, then I assume I must subscribe to the theory that it is who I am, as a person which influences my experiences, and not my experiences which determine who I become. But surely that can’t be right. If you look at me now, I am nothing like that girl who first left Australia many years ago.

Then, I was a 23yr old countrified tyke who packed 20kgs of belongings in with a plane ticket, some fresh faced freckles, a passport and the belief that $500 would last long enough for me to land on my feet. Of course, I did, but not before a stint of boarding with a deranged English woman who drank tenants super for breakfast and shared her bed with a man whose nail polish and sleeping bag were permanently parked at Earls Court Station.

Along with my equally naïve and countrified companion, we spent weeks padlocking our bedroom door from the inside, and hastily climbing out a window and over a rusting fence to prevent the theft of our belongings. After enduring many a drunken rampage and then finally the disappearance of my last £20, we packed up our belongings along with some mortification and new found awareness. We fled to a friend of a friend's spare room. It was here for a little less than the price of hostel bed, we could finally take solace in the fact that we weren't in any imminent danger. That is, provided we ignored the questionable bags of white powder hidden beneath the sink, the doorbell ringing at all hours of the night, and the absolute lack of hot water. That period lead to what I believe was a metamorphosis of character and soul.
Fast-forward 8 years and you will find me repacking, this time 50kgs of belongings together with an assumed sense of maturity and responsibility. Off I headed with my leather bags and the wafting scent of duty free Chanel… unfortunately it was mixed with the sent of looming failure. I moved to Sweden believing that as a well educated and intelligent English speaker I would again land on my feet despite having no knowledge of the language, or the job culture. I now spend my days exploring and taking photographs of beautiful architecture and wildflowers, whilst rivalling the domestic skills of a 1950s housewife. I also precariously read job advertisements in what could be either Russian or Swedish - because I am still not qualified to differentiate.
Hmmmmm. Sound familiar? Seems it was not such a metamorphosis of character after all. It would appear that I am just making new versions of my old mistakes. That it is essentially me, who influences my experiences. Regardless, I am thankful for the part of me that is still a clueless country girl, because without her, I wouldn’t be here and I wouldn’t be hoping for the possibility of even more mistakes.

For those without myspace.....

This was my first blog/column for the encounter column on Lonely Planet Europe's myspace page. It's had a bit of a reaction - to which my sisters kindly jumped to my defence at the negative stuff... anyway your welcome to let me know what you think - I would love as much feedback as possible. This is the webaddress if you wish to see what people have had to say... http://profile.myspace.com/lonelyplaneteurope

I would have missed the best part.....

Anyone who has had the fortune of travelling is aware of both the benefits and the personal costs of travelling (i.e. missed births/weddings/funerals), yet even the best of us can be caught up in the process of getting to a destination without remembering to enjoy the experience of how we got there.

It has long been my belief that the people I have met along the way have shaped my life far more that the actual events or destinations I have chosen. I was reminded of this following a run of bad luck including a stolen passport, a brush with the law, a cancelled stop over in Hawaii, and a snow blizzard grounding all flights. All this in the space of a week left me feeling pretty deflated. Stuck in Vancouver airport, I was rushing frantically to notify people of my delay when I was approached by a man. He seemed very modest by appearance, almost out of place within an airport and yet he displayed the utmost exuberance and confidence. I was astounded at what I presumed to be arrogance – could he not see how busy I was.

In between searching for my diary, rushing in circles and unpacking and repacking my handbag 15 times, this man formed a conversation with me, and was not pausing to allow for interruption. The conversation began as he spoke of his inability to understand how a powerful nation which was a part of North America could have an international airport with only three working internet portals.

This man spoke with intelligence, charm and the hindsight of someone who had spent a considerable amount of time delayed in airport terminals. As he continued to speak an unexplained feeling of respect and gratitude came over me, I almost felt relaxed, the words which he spoke were no longer consequential, and I was transfixed by his calming demeanour, which sent me searching for my thoughts. I had spent six months working for this trip and I would have missed the best part had it not been for this man. I would have missed the excitement and anticipation, imagining what will happen on this adventure. His smile seemed to reach in and touch my soul, and as he turned away my thoughts turned to what I hoped would happen to me over the next months or years that would make all the missed birthdays, the lack of hugs from my nephews, the shared meals with my family and all the nights out with my friends, worth missing.

I took my thoughts outside and stood in minus 10c and I felt snow on my skin for the first time in 5 years. I stood in the snow and thought of countless trips I had experienced with my sisters, and my friends and how this time I would be without them. However, it became crystal clear to me on that day that as long as I brought them with me in my head and my heart, and remember to share my adventures with them, then I will never travel alone.

The Universe trying to tell me a thing or two!

Sooo.... monday morning went something like this.
Håkan accidently went to work with my house and bike key... he had to bring them home to me only for me to discover after he left - I had a flat tyre! I took this as the Universe's way of telling me to stay at home and write the bloody article/blog for lonely planet!!! Well after some procastination.

Lib went back to London yesterday - it felt like her visit was just a little blip on the radar, no sooner were we picking her up but we were dropping her back at the trainstation :(
We did manage to find a 'Narnia' like park in Malmö - which i can not wait to see in the Winter when it snows. The colours and the beauty of that park was astounding!!
http://www.anrell.nu/reseguide/orter/malmo/pildammsparken/index.html

We also had a trip to the Choklad Fabrik and had hot chocolate and hazelnut pralines and champagne truffles etc etc We ate plenty of great food of course, Lib made some of her fabulous sausage rolls and we indulged in a little too much alcohol on saturday night! ummmmmm...... i think enough of the procrastination! Wish me luck!

AAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Ok so I just won a challenge to be a travel columnist for lonely planet online for the next month!! As exciting as that sounds - my first column is due for tuesday!! I dont know what I am going to write about!!!!

Two months down and the third is flying away!

So as the title suggests - I have been here for two months already, I'm into my third month and this is my first post! Things were a bit slow and boring at the begining of my stay, and I really feel that it was simply an adjustment period that I had to have. I came from working what at least 50hr weeks with on call all the time etc and then trying to fit in an active social life to arriving with no job prospects no ability to converse with strangers and none of my normal safety blankets i.e. friends, family, life in brisbane. I have really struggled at times, but since I have started studying at Folk Universitetet (no i didnt mispell that word!) and having someone to speak to other than Håkan (bless his cotton socks has been the most patient person in the world!) I have really started to think, Damn! I have a it pretty good guys.

This last week pretty well rocked, mon tue wed I was at "school" then thursday Håkan and I met a dutch girl from my class and we went to an art gallery, then for lunch, then to Lund Cathedral, then that evening we went to our 2hr Yoga and meditation class - well lets forget what i did friday cause i spent it on the couch (3 beers and what can i say.... hopeless!). Saturday was a lot of different things including a hike in the woods, sunday I spoke to Natty, went to Holviken and had a picnic at the beach, ice cream down by the marina and then another trip to the woods (no hiking this time) where Håkan built a fire and cooked sausages .... somewhere in there I helped Håkan write the lyrics for three songs he hadnt finished!!

And now it's been a brand new week which started with 26degrees, the smell of freshly cut lawn which evoked memories of my childhood so strongly that I dont want to come home to Australia unless it rains for the next 3months! Today has been lovely also 20degrees, I spoke to my Momma and Fona, (Sambo decided to speak to me to keep himself out of bed for that minute longer).

Ok so the purpose of this blog was ment to be to fill you in on my past two months - but it looks like I only managed to fill you in on the last week - and I kinda cut a short story long sooooo hmmmm I'll get better at this! And I'll work on the past two months and get back to you!!

So I guess I'd better include some of my favourite photos over the past few weeks!