Bon Fire and S'mores

Antje collecting wood from the Skogen

SUCCESS!

10:30 at night

Learning the techniques of mallow-roasting

Having fun with the cameras :o)

On multiple occasions, I have been told that in Sweden, the Spring is an explosion of green :o) As many of you know, I simply LOVE green. So, trying to be patient, I waited, and waited, and when it seemed like it might never come, Karlstad EXPLODED with green! Within a week, all of the buds on the trees turned to leaves, the flowers bloomed, and the grass turned bright green. In a WEEK! Thank the Lord!

On a separate note, some of the Americans and I have had a hard time coming up with some sort of food that is truly "American" and that no one has heard of before. Naturally, the nice weather has turned many of our conversations to summertime, camping, etc...which inevitably led us to bon fires...annnnnd finally S'MORES! No one has heard of them!!!

So, we decided to take advantage of both the great weather, and the opportunity to teach a couple of our friends how to make s'mores by having a bon fire! Last night, Keilin, Anja, Antje, and I made our very own little bonfire ontop of a nearby hill, enjoyed the greenness, the long hours of sunlight, and a couple s'mores. It was a success! We all had a great time. I think the good weather is here to stay :o)

videos

I lied! One more! :o) My friend, Keilin, has been taking videos on some of our trips throughout the semester, and she recently gave me the links. In other words, you all can SEE them! I put on one from dog sledding in Lapland, one from Easter, and one from the traditional Irish music that we heard in Galway.

Just a little warning: If you get motion sickness easily, you might want to just listen...they are not the most stable of videos!

All you have to do is click on the titles...ENJOY!

Dogsledding: I can't watch this without cracking up :o)

Easter: Egg-rolling games with Keilin, Ante, and Martin...

Irish Music: This is from the Tig Coili Pub in Galway

Stockholm II

Celebrating Valborg at Skansen!

Not the best picture, but it works :o)

Anja, Me, Antje, Keilin

Goodbye city!

I couldn't get enough of this scene...

On the skärgård

Old Town

Anja got a Nikon when she was home in Germany! We have too much fun with them :o)

The group!

The birthday girl! Happy 21st Anja!

Look any different from last time?

Ah, Stockholm

Haha, I am really catching up! Aren't you guys lucky! 3 posts in one day! So...my final post for today is about my trip last weekend to Stockholm! On Thursday, it was my friend Anja's birthday, and she invited a few friends to go with her to Stockholm for the weekend. We had a wonderful time!

Not only was April 30 Anja's birthday, but it was also a holiday in Sweden. It is called Valborg, and is basically a celebration of the coming of Spring. I know you are all probably thinking there have been quite a few holidays within the past couple of months which have been dedicated to celebrating the coming of Spring, but I must say, I completely understand why! It is definitely something to be celebrated!

On Valborg, everyone gets together in big groups, lights huge bonfires, and stands and sings around the fire. Since we arrived in Stockholm on Thursday afternoon, we were able to make our way to Skansen (a big outdoor museum in Stockholm), where a celebration was taking place. There were hundreds of people standing around a huge bonfire, and a man was playing some traditional Swedish music in the background. It was a perfect day to celebrate Spring because the weather was clear, the temperature was warm, and the was a definite "springy-ness" in the air! We stuck around until about 11 when they put the fire out, and then headed back to our hostel.

On Friday, we decided to check out an archipelago in Stockholm! So, we found a ferry that took us to one about an hour away. Again, the weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed just sitting out on the boat and letting the sun beat down on our faces. The archipelago we went to this time was slightly larger than the one in Göteborg, with a few shops and many houses. We wandered around, and found a little harbor that provided just about the most Swedish looking scene I have seen yet. Actually, I think I can safely say is WAS the most Swedish looking scene I have seen yet. We spent about 45 minutes or so just gawking (ok, maybe not gawking), but enjoying the surroundings before heading back. It was a full day adventure.

Saturday was spent meandering through Old Town. It was really fun to walk through the streets, admire the buildings, and take pictures without worrying that our fingers would freeze to our cameras! We all were commenting on how much livelier the city is now that the weather is warmer. When we went in February, there was not a soul out past 4:30 in the afternoon. Now, people are out until well past 10, especially since the sun stays up that long! Later in the afternoon, we headed back to our hostel, grabbed our things, and headed back to Karlstad again. I think we all really enjoyed our trip, and it was such a fun way to help Anja celebrate her birthday!

Now, in less than 3 days, my family is coming!!! I am so excited to see them, and spend some time visiting different areas in Sweden and Norway! I will be posting more soon!!

As always, thanks for reading! Five weeks from today I will be headed home, and I can tell you more in person :o) I still appreciate all of your support more than you know. Tack så mycket!

Until next time,

Lauren

Göteborg

Some birds bathing in a fountain in Göteborg's city center.

Göteborg

Buds

Swedes love their converse shoes!

Passing by the skärsgårdar (archipelegos)

Our picnic spot :o)

Fika in Old Town (Anja from Germany-left, Anna from Finland-right)

Relaxing in a park
(Anna, Anja, Me, Susanna)

Göteborg at sunset

We randomly saw some fireworks!

Nemo at the Universeum!

Liseberg

Two weekends ago, I went with a group of international students to Göteborg (Gothenburg, in English). The train and hostel was arranged by the international student association, but other than that, we were free to do what we pleased! I spent the weekend with my friend Anja (who I have talked about before), and two friends from Finland, Anna and Susanna. I had gone with both of them to Lapland, so it was fun to reconnect with them over the weekend.

We were only there two nights, but we made the most of our time! Since Göteborg is pretty far south in comparison to Karlstad, everything was in full bloom. It was beautiful! The sun was shining, the grass was green, and flowers were popping everywhere. It was clear that the season of good weather had begun because EVERYONE was outside. I hadn't seen that many people at one time since I first arrived.

The city definitely has its own unique "vibe". It seemed to be a younger city, both in architecture, and its inhabitants. It definitely has its own culture, which was fun because we got to experience something new.

On the first day, we had beautiful weather, so we decided to take a 30 minute ferry ride to a skärgård (archipelego) for a picnic. It was so fun! In order to get to the harbor, we had to take the tram all the way down to the end of one of the line, which was great because we were able to see different areas of Göteborg. The island itself was quite idyllic. It was so cute and had "typical" Swedish architecture with lots of little red and yellow cottages. We found our way to a big rock with a great view and spent a couple of hours eating lunch and enjoying the weather and scenery. That night we walked around Old Town, as well as downtown Göteborg, had fika, and just explored.

The following day we went to the Universeum, which is a big aquarium/museum in Göteborg. It was fun to look at all of the animals and take some pictures. We also made our way over to Liseberg, Göteborg's major theme park, and walked around a bit. Unfortunately, we didn't go on any rides because we are too cheap. haha! But we figured we could go on a roller coaster at home :o) Later that afternoon, we headed back to Karlstad. It was a very relaxed weekend, and we all had a great time seeing a new city!

studies...

I know this picture doesn't have to do with school work, but I took it last night at 10PM! SO I thought everyone would enjoy seeing it :o) It's crazy how long it is light now. I think the sun rises at about 4:30 or so, and it isn't fully dark until around 10:30! Slightly different from when I first arrived!

Proof :o)

This is just a little proof that while it might appear as if I never study...I do! :o) Today I had to give a 10 minute presentation on a Swedish Children's book that I read...all in Swedish! I was the first to go, so I am happy to get it out of the way, but I was a little nervous. I think it went well though! The name of the book is "Egon and the Baby Fox", and is about the friendship of a little old fellow who lives in the woods and a baby fox he meets one day. It is actually quite cute. I enjoyed reading it!

Here is a little sample of what I said:

"Jag läste "Egon och Rävungen" för min svensk barn bok. Boken är av en liten gubbe och en rävunge. Gubben, heter Egon, bor ensam i sin stuga i skogen. En morgon, såg Egon en lite rävunge. Han tittade rävungen och gick hem. Men rävungen foljde efter. Så, Egon foderade rävungen mjolk, och rävungen drank alle. Sedan, rävungen var mycket trött. Egon lyfte upp rävungen och låg honom i en låda. Egon heter rävungen Kalle. Så, efter det kväll, Egon och Kalle var bäste Vänner......"

Just a little sample to show I am learning! I'll be testing everyone on the story when I return! haha.

Well, now I that you've seen a little of my school work, I can tell you more about my travels!
Here we go!