I’ve been busy since I arrived in Sweden, and therefore silent. Sorry! I'm now
studying marine biology in Helsingborg, and trying to be outdoors as much as possible. We have just one course at a time here, so its really intense, which is one of the reasons I came for graduate studies (unlike the psychophrenic canadian timetable). A consequence of being expected in only one place all day long is that the school can haul you away for week long field studies. We were just at a luxurious field station on the swedish west coast, 400 km north of helsingborg and its baltic influx. It was a relief to be by the sea everyday, its harsh granite outcroppings, wind scoured shorepines, and the explosion of alien colours, strange creatures and abyssmal depths beneath the water. Nearly everyday we were out boating, snorkeling, sweeting in saunas, and late night bleary-eyed socializing. Such a course would run up to perhaps $500 in Canada.
Besides school, I’ve got a nice situation. Nice apartment with good people. Slowly meeting people, new and from my 2005 time. Lund is Lund, full of students, old looking, and loud. I don’t really have any hobbies yet, I’m basically outside as much as possible, enjoying unlimited transportation around the entire southern county called Skåne, and trying to catch the autumn bird migration. Some notable and beautiful places I’ve been recently are Kullen, Falsterbo, and the Bjarre pennisula (the infamous wildnerness where I was nearly harpooned by a wild boar -- I have pictures of the cave that I had to hide and sleep in, back in 2005 -- this time, I actually finished the hike!)
At the moment I'm frantically trying to find something to do jan/feb, like a tropical internship. And I'm filling in forms to try and get some social assistance from the swedish government (i.e., money!), made possible by my generous visa. If I get it, I swear I'll stop importing cheap goods from north america, and buy more organic food.
