Monday, November 1, 2010

The Leaves Are Turning

Lund has to be one of the most beautiful places imaginable during autumn..the trees have been turning beautiful and deep reds and oranges, leaves on the ground everywhere and with the backdrop of the brick buildings, it's simply bliss to be here (pictures to come).

Yesterday (Sunday), Sara, Jen, Cyrus and I made crepes. Okay, so I mainly sat around and acted as moral support because me in the kitchen is just an accident and fire waiting to happen..but, it was lovely nonetheless. Cyrus being the French man of the group was in charge of making the vegan crepes, and after about six failed attempts and doctoring of the batter was able to make about 10 absolutely lovely crepes (beer included in the batter). We added all sorts of yummies such as mushrooms, onions (my favorite), spinach, zuccini and a garlic sauce that Cyrus made, delicious beyond belief! Unfortunately I had been munching on a baguette and some cookies the whole time of cooking so when the crepes were done, I was stuffed after just one. Along with some delicious food came some equally interesting conversation..mainly about the way that we were raised, and what kind of parents we think\hope to be, as well as our views on marriage. There's nothing more I enjoy than theorizing with other people (especially this group who are all so open and amazing), seeing where people come from, how we gather from experiences throughout our life and are constantly evolving and changing.

Random factoid that I recently learned from a Swedish friend about why classes start fifteen minutes past the hour, he was telling me that people used to not have watches and lived outside the city in the countryside..so on the hour a bell would ring and then the students would know that they had fifteen minutes to get to class (yay for a little bit of history!). Another point of amusement for us has been how the Swedes text, and when mixed with some form of alcohol certainly makes for some giggles on our end. We have rejoiced and tried to decipher the code of Swedish friends' text many a times (disclaimer:not all Swedes text with interesting sentence structure and incomprehensibility, just some). I have one friend who says "quite much" quite often, which I find to be adorable, another one of our friends says "okeeeej" which apparently is a Stockholm thing and one has to hear to understand it's hilarity and strong desired to be imitated constantly, we also has a friend who starts off most sentences with "well" or "well jaaaa." And secretly behind their backs, but with the greatest amount of love, I immitate them from time to time.

On another side side side note, it's officially November, which means that there is very little time left until two of the most amazing girls I've met here (Jen and Sara) go back home to California. I have extremely mixed feelings seeing as they've been such a large part of my time here in Sweden, we pretty much live at each other's corridors, spend every day of the week together filled with good food, good laughs, and good tv shows. It's so bizarre to imagine how the structure of my day will change so dramatically from fall term to spring term, so much so that I would rather live in denial and pretend like they're never leaving. Seeing as it is November, this also means that I'm officially a month and a half away from going home to California for two weeks, an event that I am both looking forward to and slightly nervous about, although I couldn't tell you why it makes me nervous. It's bizarre to imagine leaving Sweden, going back home to in a way mentally debrief from my first 4.5 months here in its eventfulness and intensity, and then return for another 6 months. And in conjunction with that, it's hard to grapple with the idea of leaving Sweden in June..of course I can't foresee how I might feel about my departure since it's so far in the future but for the moment, I'm recognizing how many connections I've made. Sure, some will follow me back to California and that will follow me back when I return home..but others that will simply, end. Not to say that I won't keep in touch with the Swedes I've become good friends with, but more that I don't know when I will see them again. The idea of being here for 10 months, creating these bonds and these memories and then leaving is an overwhelming one..I know, I know, I'm fretting far too prematurely. However, I must say that I've spent some extensive time thinking about all of the people that I've missed from California, all of the food that I will eat (and alcohol I will not be able to drink), as well as the beautiful California coast I hope to repeatedly visit, Mount Tamalpais that I will see outside of my bathroom window, as well as the Golden Gate Bridge that I miss so terribly. It's hard to conceive that there is a world that is still existing and turning in California without me there, and that I will go home and things will have somehow shifted, maybe not majorly or too noticeably, but time has an amazing effect and I'm eager to experience it for two weeks.

I apologize for the inconsistency and rambly quality of this posting, I suppose it reflects how I'm feeling: overwhelmed, excited, full, stimulated, nervous\anxious, and loving every minute of it. Cheers

No comments:

Post a Comment