Archive for January, 2013
Tuesday’s Thoughts
Settling into our second week in Jokkmokk, we find it easy to navigate. We hold classes in the same classroom (follow the ‘Gustavus’ arrow) and eat in the cafeteria for lunch. The grocery store, which I’m sure I visit almost daily, is within walking distance. The public library and other shops are even closer. I […]
Coming Home
As we leave Atlanta on the final leg of our journey, reflection comes naturally. There are many ways to “count” this trip and experience. Days: 17 Busses: 5, one with a broken window Countries: 4, well 5 if you count Vatican City Miles: Countless. You’d have to ask Demitri or Franz or one of our […]
The Land of the Nile
My name is Matt (or Mat-ta here in Egypt because the word mat in Arabic means dead) Erdahl and I am spending a semester in Alexandria, Egypt in order to learn Arabic. I am originally from Chaska, Minnesota, about 6,000 miles from where I am now. Even though I’m majoring in political science and […]
Pisa
Our time in Italy is coming to an end. The images above are taken from the interior of the baptistery in Florence, a surprise hail storm by the Arno River, views from Orsanmichele and our beautiful day in Pisa. This weekend was gorgeous weather. Matt and I had all of the students to our apartment […]
Closing Ceremonies
Well… Today was our final full day in Europe, and as Gustavus suggests, we made our lives count. The day started out with us meeting our tour guide for the day Heidi. While Heidi was not the most fleet of foot she was sweet and knowledgable. She reminded many of us of our own dear […]
Just above the Arctic Circle: Reindeer husbandry with the Sami
(Wednesday, January 23, 2013) Many of us were sore this morning from playing Innebandy (similar to floor hockey) yesterday afternoon. After our group introduction to the Sámi school (who we were, why we were there, and our different ethnic roots), we had a lecture on Sami language from Anna-Margith Påve. She spoke both North and Luleå Sámi. […]
Chinese New Year Preparations
Chinese New Year celebration is just around the corner in Malaysia and anywhere in the world where Chinese people live. Anywhere one turns there are signs declaring Gong Xi Fa Chai (“wishes for a happy, prosperous new year”). Inside homes New Year preparations are taking precedence over most everything else. Lots of shopping takes place– […]
Dachau: A Day We Will Never Forget
This morning we had the luxury of sleeping in for a few more hours or to go out and explore the city of Munich, the third largest city in Germany. While out shopping and walking, we stumbled upon the Marinplatz, which gets its name from Mary’s Column in the middle of the square. We saw […]
Blood Pudding and Laundry Adventures in Sverige
24.1.2013 Jokkmokk Cami Andersen We started out the day with a little breakfast—I had müsli (granola with raisins) and yogurt, a new concoction of mine that I am certainly taking back to the States. Yogurt, along with many other products here in Sweden, comes in a cardboard carton rather than a plastic container. The largest […]
Living Life…Bavarian Style!
We woke up to a snowy morning in Mittenwald. The bus arrived around 8AM to bring us to Garmisch. Our bus driver, Franz, a German-Italian, brought us to the site of the 1936 Winter Olympics ski jumps. Everyone was pretty excited to be able to get so close to the actual jumps and be able […]