First days in Prague

Ahoj from Prague!  Two hours by plane, and here I am, in Central Europe, in the capital city of the Czech Republic.  

I arrived in the late evening last Thursday. Unfortunately, this was the day where there was a large protest happening throughout the city, shutting down all public transportation.  Luckily for me, Sarka and her mom picked me straight up from the airport and brought me to their home, where I'm staying for this leg of the trip.  

On my first day in Prague, with the sun shining brightly, Sarka, brought me to the Prague Castle and cathedral, located close to the city centre.  The cathedral is beautiful, with some pretty mosaics inside.  We stumbled upon the changing of the guards (dressed in baby blue suits) and then worked our way up Petrin Hill to the Lookout Tower (the Eiffel Tower of Prague).  Upon climbing 299 stairs to the top of the tower, we had great views of the whole city, and wow, Prague is beautiful!  You can see everything - all the houses with orange roofs, the castle and cathedral, Sarka's place, even the Swedish embassy!  After this, we made our way to the city centre, amidst the  hoards of crowds of tourists (though she assured me that these crowds are nothing compared to what it's like in July and August) to meet up with Ivan.  

With two experts on hand, I saw more of the Old Town (including the famous astronomical clock), walked across Charles Bridge (so many tourists!!), and then Ivan brought us to some of his "secret" places nearby, away from the crowds of foreigners.  We went to Střelecký ostrov, a little island with a teeny tiny beach, as well as Vyšehrad,  a castle and park on a hill, overlooking the Vltava River.  It is also home to a cemetery, for the most famous Czech people in history.  In the park, we read through a series of signs and billboards honouring a British man named Nicholas Winton, a non-famous hero for the country.  He was like Schindler, and was responsible for saving hundreds of Jewish children in Czech during the Holocaust, sending them on trains to the U.K.  

On my second day, we went on a day trip to Karlštejn Castle, one of the most famous castles in the country.  The best part was reuniting with Nadia and another friend from Uppsala, Anushka.  It's a nice way to ease myself into the transition from exchange abroad to normal life, by meeting with so many SLU friends in one city!  A large group of us ended up going through the castle tour.  The castle is pretty cool and was built in the 14th century by King Charles the 4th.  It houses the crown jewels as well, so it's a pretty important castle.  

After the tour, we were starving (and it started to rain) so we had lunch at a nearby pub. Though Sarka and Nadia have already fed me some delicious goulash and dumplings in Sweden, it was my first taste of Czech food in the actual country.  Of course I had to have a Pilsner, the most famous beer in the country, and for lunch everyone told me to have the most traditional dish, Svíčková na smetaně: tender beef sirloin, covered in a healthy amount of gravy, with fluffy bread dumplings and cranberry sauce with cream and lemon.  The best part of all was the price.  Coming from Norway and Sweden, to Czech, you really notice a difference in prices.  Beer is even cheaper than water over here!  

Embarrassing event of the day: I thought that I was saying "thank you" when in fact I was actually saying "how are you?" in Czech.  It wasn't until lunch when the group started laughing and Sarka said, "You don't need to say that so often" that we all realized my misunderstanding..oops.

After this, they wanted to bring me to "America." I was initially very confused because I didn't understand how I could visit the States while in Central Europe, but ok...it turns out that there's a walk in this region that leads to three mini Grand Canyons, hence the name.  There's "Little America," "Mexico," and "America."  Mexico was interesting because it's a huge mine quarry where political prisoners were originally sent between 1949 and 1953.  Also, there were tons of poppy fields throughout our walk!

But the best part was our walk back to Karlštejn.  It was raining all day, and we were covered from head to toe in mud.  We didn't want to go back the same way so we ended up walking 6 km back to the village.  It was fun though, because along the way the roads were lined with cherry trees.  Nadia told me that the king ordered that the trees be planted along the roads so that soldiers returning home would have something to eat along the way (and so did we!).  Because of our mini trek, I had a chance to pass through some villages in the countryside.  

Today I think we were all a little pooped so we hung around the house for most of the day. I took a short walk and wandered into the supermarket to see what I could find.  I've found that one of my favourite things to do in different countries is to visit the supermarkets, because that's where you can see the cool differences between cultures.  One things that I found was an interesting meatloaf that has pork, beef, chicken, egg, and spices.  

So far, so good. I've got another few days here before I head to Bavaria!  It's definitely a nice change to traveling, when I can visit with friends and take my time seeing the city. 

Kram (for you)

<3

Tonight is my final evening in Sweden.

(As cliche as it sounds) It feels like yesterday; I arrived in Arlanda on a warm August day, slightly lost and unsure as to what was in store for me.  I spent the first couple of days unpacking my things, figuring things out, trying to establish myself in this new country, with strangers I had just met.  Today, so many thoughts crossed my mind.

What I mainly thought about was how much I'm going to miss the people here.  You don't realize how close you become with your friends until it's time to go.  That's life, but that doesn't mean it's easy saying goodbye.  This week has been a never-ending chain of goodbyes, hugs, and kisses.  I'm going to miss you, my wonderful international friends who have allowed me to join in on this 10-month adventure in the mysterious land they call Sweden.  Together we traveled and explored, shared meals, celebrated holidays, calculated and studied, complained, laughed, compared accents, misunderstood one another's spoken English, and became a family of mismatched, non-blonde haired nor blue-eyed starving students.

Though I never had a large group of Swedish friends, the ones that I did become close to are very special.  It is through these friends that I managed to understand the culture and appreciate the Swedish lifestyle.  Kanelbullar, lussekatter, semla, kladdkaka, lucia, falu röd stuga, easter, korridorfest, glögg, and indiska, With these friends, we learned from one another, we laughed at our similarities and differences, and vi var pigga och glada.  

Though I'm finally leaving the place where I first envisioned myself, over two years ago, it's time for my new adventure, and ultimately, home.  My dear friends, thanks for this fabulous year, and this Canadian girl cannot wait to see you soon :) 

Puss och kram

One week in paradise

<3

With school finished and friends going back to their respective countries, the first week of June called for one last trip with some SLU buddies.

To be perfectly honest, I was a bit nervous going into this trip.  Nadia, Jose, Maisam and I had never traveled together before; there was bit of uncertainty as to where this adventure would take us, and if we would all make it back alive (I'm not talking about a random accident).  

Naked statue park re-enaction

On June 6th, in bright and sunny Uppsala, we boarded the plane, and first visited Oslo, Norway during a five hour stopover.  I had the chance to visit with Cecilia.  We had lovely time skipping over puddles and escaping the rain while touring the city.  Five hours was more than enough, in my opinion, to tour the city, and I personally prefer Stockholm and Copenhagen over Oslo.  Perhaps the most exciting feature was the "naked statue park" (as named by Cecilia), or the giant tiger statue in front of the central station.

From Oslo, we headed to Bodø in Northern Norway. Through the rain and the wind and the high tide that left us stranded on our mini island, we managed to survive our first night of camping, and the next day, picked up our rental car and drove about 4 hours to Skutvik.  Here, we were disappointed to find that it was still grey and wet outside, but with a bit of hope in sight, boarded the ferry to our ultimate destination: Lofoten Islands!

Very north!!

I've been told by many others that Lofoten is a place of its own, and is highly recommended to visit. Tiff told me in an email that this was her favourite place in Norway.  The islands are located at the 68 and 69 degrees parallel north of the Arctic Circle.  In the wintertime, there are periods of complete darkness 24/7, the northern lights, and I'm sure a lot of coldness all the way up there.  But in the summertime, it means that there are periods of complete sunlight 24/7, and the midnight sun!  

From Svolvergeita

The thing about Lofoten is that no matter where you look, it's beautiful.  We came to the point where we were searching for imperfections (just five in total during the entire time, and we had to look hard!). The mountains are gorgeous, the water crystal clear, and the villages traditional and welcoming.

In an attempt to dry off our camping gear, we stayed in a lovely cabin in Henningsvaer for two nights, and explored this part of the Lofoten.  Our prayers were answered - the sun suddenly shined upon us and never left us!  And not only was it sunny, but it was hot!  We hiked up Svolvaergeita ("goat mountain"), discovering majestic views of Svolvaer and its surroundings.  That night, we also witness our first view of the midnight sun.  It's difficult to explain just how ridiculous it is to see the sun setting at midnight, and the sky remaining bright throughout the night.  

Haukland

Sheep + beach

Nap time atop the comfy Utakliev mountain

Our fourth day was a beach day, 29 degrees.  Haukland was a completed unexpected surprise. Who knew Norway could have pristine, white and sandy beaches?  The locals told us the water was 10 degrees, but it felt like ice.  Still, at Nadia's urging, we managed (barely) to swim to a rock 15 m away, a huge success to such a cold challenge!  We found a place to camp at Utakliev, which has been named among the most beautiful and romantic beaches in the world!  Lots of people (mostly seniors with caravans) were also here to get a perfect view of the midnight sun.  The weirdest part of this beach (and this region of the island) were the very random sheep living and roaming everywhere!  On the road, on the mountains, at the beach, and the grass beside our tent.  Nadia had another crazy idea to hike at 1 am (why not, the sun is coming out already) so I followed, got tired, and found myself taking a short nap on the soft and grassy mountain.  One thing that I've discovered is that it's extremely difficult to get adequate sleep when it's light out all day and all night.  Though I felt tired, it was so hard to sleep normally because of the never-ending sunlight!

Heads!

The next day, we bought some fish burgers from a local fishmonger in Leknes, the main town in the region.  We could will ourselves to eat the famous codstock, which can be seen through Lofoten.  Cod is hung and dried for three months (February to April) and then can be soaked for 2 weeks and cooked/consumed.  The smell is extremely strong when you pass by the hoards of hanging cod, especially when there heads only.  Makes for a fun photoshoot, but not tempting enough to eat!

Reine

We visited Nusfjord, which has some pretty views.  Ramberg is a beach close by that is less busy than Haukland and just as beautiful.  Sunbathing continued.  This being our second to last day at Lofoten, we wanted to quickly head to the "juicy" parts of the islands, Reine and Å.  Reine is a gorgeous village with a nice harbour and a nice place to relax and have bite to eat.  And Å (pronounced "oh-ah" and translates to "island") is the western most village in Lofoten (we were driving from the east to the west), and I think has the coolest name. Though it's smaller than Reine and perhaps a bit less scenic, along with its scary seagulls inhabiting broken and abandoned buildings, it was cool to visit "the end of the world," as Jose called it and see the endless waves of water of the Norwegian Sea.  We also had a nice evening drinking and chatting with some other visitors from France and Italy. With the sun so warm and no decent place found to set up a tent, we opted to sleep with just our sleeping bags and mats, and in the morning I woke finding my sleeping bag thrown off and the sun burning my forehead.  

Här du bra, Lofoten

On our last day, we hung around Å, and explored a lake area with a nice waterfall.  At night, we took the ferry back to Bodø with yet another spectacular view of the midnight sun setting over the sea.  

I said it a thousand times already to my friends, but it was such a perfect week in Norway. Somehow, everything, including the weather, just worked out.  I think this was a definite highlight trip for this year, something I'll remember forever.  And for the record, all four of us survived to tell the tale :)

Don't Dream It's Over

Facebook updates this week have been exploding with statuses such as, "Graduated!" "I'm graduating today!" "What a great day to graduate!"  Photo albums are popping up everywhere with everyone from the past five years in long black robes with the yellow-gold Land and Food Systems stripe, throwing their caps in the air, and showing off their beautiful diplomas.

Last year, at this very same time, I attended the graduation ceremony and reception for the LFS grads of 2010.  It was a funny feeling seeing half of my friends, whom I become close with over the last four years, finally cross the stage.  Your university years really do fly by, and before you know it, everyone's off and into "the real world."  I remember thinking to myself that this would be me in just one year.

Well here I am, and no, I didn't get to join my other classmates who also took an extra year to graduate.  I didn't get to have my turn with my family, friends, and teachers in front of the Rose Garden that should nearly be in fully bloom during this time of the year.  Instead, I've just wrapped up my final semester on exchange in a country that before arriving, I knew absolutely nothing about (unless you count ABBA, Ikea, and H&M).  I wouldn't trade this for anything.

It's been a weird mix of emotions this week.  On one hand, hearing about everyone back at home graduating together and being all happy makes me feel a bit sad that I am not experiencing my final year of undergrad back at home, with my classmates, with my friends and family.  No discussions about our plans for the next couple of years, where we're headed, what we want to do.  No final run around campus, MacMillan, no final Wednesday night bbq, trip the farm.  But on the other hand, I am so happy in Sweden; it all feels so comfortable here, and I've gotten a good grasp of the lifestyle here.  This week has not been easy, and until I leave Europe, the next few weeks won't be easy.  I have become so close with many people and it's sad to think that we're all finally leaving.  Ten months came and went by - and I thought this would be a long year away from home!  I guess I am looking forward to being back on solid ground where I can see my old friends, my parents, sister, and rest of the family. Right, and eating out again :) However, this year really did change me; I learned more about myself, my interests and values, and met people from all corners of the world that I would never otherwise have met who have influenced me in such positive ways and have changed my ways of thinking.

I'm getting blue just thinking about this. I suppose the best thing to do is to enjoy what I've got now, before it all goes away.  Congrats to my fellow Grads of 2011; this is a special time for you, and I look forward to sharing this same feeling in the autumn.

The Earth is Hiring

Karlskrona, Sweden

"You are Brilliant, and the Earth is Hiring.  The earth couldn't afford to send recruiters or limos to your school.  It sent you rain, sunsets, ripe cherries, night blooming jasmine, and that unbelievably cute person you are dating.  Take the hint.  And here's the deal: Forget that this task of planet-saving is no possible in the time requires.  Don't be put off by the people who know what is not possible.  Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done." - Paul Hawken, American ennvironmentalist, 2009 Commencement Address

Last week I attended the World Student Environmental Summit in Karlskrona, Sweden.  It's about 6 hours by train south of Uppsala, and I had the amazing opportunity to represent UBC at this conference. 

Hosted at the Blekinge Institute of Technology, it was five days jam-packed with activities, speakers, workshops, discussions, and awesome people.  The theme of this year's summit was "Conserve, Create, and Collaborate."  Each day we focused on one specific theme.  We even went to an organic farm and did some composting and planting.  There were just about 100 delegates from just about every continent, which made the experience even more valuable.  Hearing from students who are being directly affected by climate change in India, while speaking with students in European countries on their current sustainability projects happening at their schools, was pretty cool.  

Though the topics were kept fairly general and broad, we had the chance to have good discussions on subjects such as climate change adaptation, sustainable product design, and social media.  One topic that caught my eye (and ears) was media and the news. First of all, I had no idea that the word "news" is derived from North, East, West, and South! Secondly, I had never considered so much the role of the government in controlling what is leaked by the media.  In this workshop we discussed the importance of recurrent headlines and how they stack up to real world problems. For example, the death of Michael Jackson versus the death of victims of Afghanistan bombings.  They were touchy topics, but what was really interesting was when our speaker said that she believes that the main decisive factor influencing what is announced in the newspaper and what is not basically comes down to the colour of the skin and the race (and perhaps affluence).

In some ways, I can agree, since we were pointed to the fact that we rarely hear about the deaths of malnourished children in African countries, but if there were children dying in Canada, we would probably hear about it straight away.  However, I think it's unfair to point race out as the single decisive factor.

We also delved into how quickly people are willing to believe the news, depending on the source and person. For example, we were told by Obama that bin Laden is dead.  So the whole world (well a lot of the world) believes him.  But as one student from Pakistan pointed out, the leader in Pakistan announced the death of bin Laden four years ago, though no one even blinked an eye at that time.  

Additionally, we talked about how in news, the media may not necessarily be lying to the public, but may be hiding the truth (two different things).  According to our speaker, this is because of government-controlled media.  If the government sponsors and funds the newspaper, then it has every right to dictate what the newspaper writes and what it leaves out.  

There was a panel of speakers on the last day, featuring various environmental experts from various backgrounds and countries (Canada, Bangladesh, India, Sweden, Holland, etc).  The topic was "Creating sustainable futures: fighting a losing battle?"  Starting off rather pessimistically, we looked at how the world is failing to feed an increasing world population, how people in all corners of the world are losing their homes, starving to death, and not getting the aid they need from the international community.  We talked about how we have become such a consumer society, relying on Iphones and the latest gadgets in order to make us happy. Honestly, it was probably the most depressing discussion I'd heard in a while.

But then, we turned the discussion around. One student asked if there are any projects that are successful in the world.  The speakers then discussed the promising future that holds for us.  It turns out that it's not completely hopeless, and that we've got some great things happening at the moment, and even better things to come.  

And finally, a student asked for word of advice from each panel speaker.  Here's what they said:

Try to do good where you are.  Instead of worrying about going somewhere else, focus on where you are and the help that your area needs first.

Have a goal.

Be aware of the future that you want to have

Think forward! How should the future look?  Then, create the present.

If the environment is hostile to us, we should be flexible and versatile, ready to work with it.

Don't worry about predictions, just start and do - and in fast, small steps.

Build the world!

Karl-Henrik Robert, a leading cancer scientist in Sweden and amazing motivational speaker on sustainability, told us this:

Boundaries and limits simply feed innovation.  Don't be afraid if you feel stuck or limited. This only encourages creativity and you will find a way to get around it all.  Believe in yourself, and good things will happen.

So there is hope!  I left this talk and the conference with such positive thinking.  Sometimes it's daunting when you consider all the problems happening in this world, and how helpless it feels to be just one person and seemingly incapable of making chance.  But this summit re-energized me, and reminded me why I chose the field that I'm in.  

In all, a great five days in sunny Southern Sweden, and somehow those short days made me feel more ready than ever for what's to come in the future.  After all, the Earth is hiring, and we'd better be ready for new tasks at hand.