I don't know how many of the readers notice the labels of this blog, but I do have a label called "The Social Arena". Now, I started this blog back in 2006, and that label was then to indicate when I'd actually interacted socially. That was not so common back then, especially in situations outside the University, so I really felt I had to make a point of that when it happened.
Things have come a long way since then, and I now find that it's some times difficult to know when to use that label - as I now tend to interact socially quite a lot! :-)
Still I felt the title appropriate for this blog entry, as I have had two pretty intense days, socially speaking, this weekend.
On Sunday there was a family reunion on my Dad's side, to celebrate that my grandmother would have turned 100 years old. My Dad's sister had taken the initiative to that, she'd gathered almost her entire family in their summerhouse (which is not far from ours, and not far from where my grandmother lived), with children and grandchildren, and she'd also invited her siblings and their families.
It's a 6 hour trip, one way, for me, but I cared deeply for my grandmother, and my aunt and her family were very close to ours when I was a child (they have five children, my cousins, and they were almost like my older siblings when I grew up!), so I quickly decided I would go. My Dad would come as well, but not the rest of his family - and we knew nothing of the rest of my Dad's siblings (he has another sister and a brother as well, with children and grandchildren).
The trip north was okay, even though it was a bit hot to be stuck on a bus/train all day, and I met my Dad when I arrived. When we got to my aunt's, it turned out we were the only ones who would come, which actually made me quite disappointed ...
Still I had a really great time, even though we couldn't stay for very long. A lot of my cousins I hadn't seen for basically 10 years or more (!!) but I think we did create some sort of bond when we were kids, because I was more relaxed than I usually am in situations like that and I REALLY REALLY enjoyed seeing them all again!
My train back was leaving at 5 p.m. but was delayed, and I had a pretty tight connection in Gothenburg, so I was a bit worried about missing it ... Luckily the train managed to speed up a bit and we were "only" about 10 minutes late, so after a bit of running, I did make it to my bus! :) I wasn't home until 11 p.m. but despite being tired I was really happy I had gone through with the day, and that it had worked out so well.
I hope there will be more opportunities to meet up with them during the summer!
On Monday, which is a Swedish holiday, it was time for the annual "start-of-summer-at-Sofiero"-tradition! :-) I met Sara, Martin, Johanna, Per, Johanna and Mikael at Sofiero and it's really a gorgeous place to be at in the beginning of summer. We all had a lot to carry so we didn't walk around much, but went straight to our usual spot! This tradition is really fabulous, and this is actually the fourth year we're doing it - I, Sara and Johanna have been there every time but we've had different companions each year, I think! :-)
Yesterday I didn't feel well at all, I was in bed most of the day with a nasty headache (no hangover though, as I left Sofiero at 7 p.m. and didn't have much to drink at all, I blame the headache on the weather!), but now I'm going to try to make a final rush on my thesis before "summer"! :-)
Showing posts with label travels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travels. Show all posts
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Ups And Downs
A day of mixed feelings, I think.
This morning I went to Malmö, to visit a friend of mine. We haven't seen each other since last summer, and it was wonderful meeting her, and her two young boys, again. I had never met the youngest boy, who is only about a month old (cute!!!) and it's been a long time since I saw the oldest boy too - so it was great meeting them again.
I had to be in Lund for a lecture at one, so the visit was cut a bit short - hopefully we'll be able to see each other soon again. I got to the railway station, only to find they had a problem with an electrical cable ... a biiiig problem.
Apparently no trains could go through Malmö Central station, and while I guess I can understand that these things happen on occasion, the information we were given were next to non-existent!
Basically they said that there was going to be a great amount of train delays .... they also said they would replace the trains with buses - but not a word about where these buses would depart from, or when!! I went around the entire Central station (which was rebuilt about three months ago) and I finally found the place where the buses would depart from - but it took almost an hour before any buses headed toward Lund arrived.
I finally got on one, and got to Lund, but arrived at the Department too late!! I knew I had missed the first part of the lecture, but had hoped to join the group during the break. No such luck as even the second half of the lecture had begun when I got there... very annoying!!
I spent some time at Uni and I got to talk to some friends while I was there, which in part made up for the whole train-mishap. I was about to go home at 4 p.m. - but since trains were having problems in Malmö, the same thing applied in Lund. I did get on a train, which was SOOO crowded - and late - and managed to get home ....
I haven't had much energy to do anything tonight, meaning I have quite a few challenges to face up to tomorrow and on Friday!
Which means, I really should try to get some sleep now ...
This morning I went to Malmö, to visit a friend of mine. We haven't seen each other since last summer, and it was wonderful meeting her, and her two young boys, again. I had never met the youngest boy, who is only about a month old (cute!!!) and it's been a long time since I saw the oldest boy too - so it was great meeting them again.
I had to be in Lund for a lecture at one, so the visit was cut a bit short - hopefully we'll be able to see each other soon again. I got to the railway station, only to find they had a problem with an electrical cable ... a biiiig problem.
Apparently no trains could go through Malmö Central station, and while I guess I can understand that these things happen on occasion, the information we were given were next to non-existent!
Basically they said that there was going to be a great amount of train delays .... they also said they would replace the trains with buses - but not a word about where these buses would depart from, or when!! I went around the entire Central station (which was rebuilt about three months ago) and I finally found the place where the buses would depart from - but it took almost an hour before any buses headed toward Lund arrived.
I finally got on one, and got to Lund, but arrived at the Department too late!! I knew I had missed the first part of the lecture, but had hoped to join the group during the break. No such luck as even the second half of the lecture had begun when I got there... very annoying!!
I spent some time at Uni and I got to talk to some friends while I was there, which in part made up for the whole train-mishap. I was about to go home at 4 p.m. - but since trains were having problems in Malmö, the same thing applied in Lund. I did get on a train, which was SOOO crowded - and late - and managed to get home ....
I haven't had much energy to do anything tonight, meaning I have quite a few challenges to face up to tomorrow and on Friday!
Which means, I really should try to get some sleep now ...
Monday, 21 February 2011
Renovation Part I: Practical
I thought I'd start off by giving you an insight into the practical aspects of this whole renovation mess ... to give a background on what has been going on and maybe that will be at least part of an explanation to why I haven't been feeling very well lately.
Basically it was a bathroom renovation, so they were going to tear down the whole bathroom including the walls and floors. You could make a choice to also have your entire kitchen renovated as well, as they were changing all the water pipes at the same time - this would, however, be too expensive for my taste. They did recommend that we'd do the hallway as well, as in all likelihood there would be damage made to the hallway in the renovation process - also they were going to widen the bathroom door, which meant tearing down part of the concrete hallway wall.
It was also decided that since this whole mess was going to go on, they would also change all the electrical stuff in every apartment ... the fuse box as well as all the wall and roof electrical outlets - this was going to be done the week before the renovation project started, and this was scheduled to take three weeks.
Before the renovation itself begun, they changed all the locks ... I'm sure they had some secure way of doing this, even though I never understood the finer details, but basically they removed our door locks and replaced them with temporary "construction locks", allowing all the construction workers to pretty much come and go as they liked.
After that it was time for the electrical work. Which included moving A LOT of furniture!! As I mentioned here before, I managed to miss one outlet, but cleared away a couple of bookshelves and was told they would fix it during the bathroom renovations (there are at least two, maybe more, companies involved - the electricians and the carpenters, and I assume there are plumbers as well, though I don't think I've come across any of them).
On Friday 21st (January), the covered the hallway floor, and on Monday 24th, I moved out.
Luckily I had a friend in Lund, Christian, who was willing to give up his apartment for me, and temporarily move in with his girlfriend Maria - who I had as a mentor when I was taking Greek! :) I very much appreciate that, as I basically had nowhere to go! We were allowed to live at home, as we were supposed to have electricity most of the time - but with no running water, a toilet in the basement, and shower in barrack in the yard, I really did NOT want to live here.
I stayed in Christians apartment Monday through Saturday morning that week - and I did discover during that time how much I really like my Home! Christians apartment was really nice, and it was a lot closer to Uni than mine *lol*, but I still felt a bit homesick!
Saturday morning, I went up north to visit my families, and I stayed for about 10 days. There were a lot of reasons why I didn't feel great, but I'll see if I can tell you something about that in another entry.
Anyway, I stayed with my Dad and his family between Jan. 28 and Feb. 7, and I also visited my Mum. It was nice seeing them again, but it felt strange to be there for such a long time during mid-semester.
On Feb. 7 I went back south, again to Christian's apartment - where I stayed until Friday. It was said I could move back home on Friday and I spent quite some time that week to make sure that was okay.
I went home on three occasions that week, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning, and tried to find people to talk to - but I kept getting quite vague answers, to be honest.
I was quite nervous when I went home "for good" on Friday afternoon, but when I got here I quickly realized that I did have electricity and I did have running water, which at the time was good enough for me.
That weekend flew by, I was completely exhausted and basically didn't do much of anything.
Unfortunately I had discovered there were A LOT of things left to do, and maybe the most annoying one: the electrical outlet in the living room. As I had decided to rearrange the furniture while I still had to move them things were an extreme mess!!
I spent a lot of time during the beginning of the week trying to find people and get things done, but it took until Wednesday before the electrician showed up. Only to tell me that since the outlet went straight through one of my inner walls, I had to clear the outlet that was on the other side of the wall as well (in the bedroom).
I basically had a complete melt down, as I had already cleared away at least two bookshelves there before, they had changed the outlet and I had moved everything back again (along with all the stuff from the bathroom and some other things!)...
So I moved it all over again, but then it seemed impossible to find the electricians anywhere. I had a carpenter in on Friday morning to do some stuff, and by then I was really upset, there were a lot of things that I had to have electricians to fix (for instance, they removed my internet/telephone outlet when they wallpapered the hallway, which was done at the beginning of the week, and hadn't put it back!) ....
The electricians were nowhere to be found, and I really wanted to take a trip to Lund that afternoon - so I left here at noon and put a huge note on my door with biiiig red letters, stated I needed help from the electricians!
Around 5.15 p.m. when I was at Uni, the Head of the entire renovation project called me!! He is Danish and for the life of me, I cannot understand that language ... so I hardly understood what he said! Very embarrassing! I figured out that either they had fixed most of the stuff and were going to do a check on it on Monday (as in, today), or they were going to fix it ... on Monday.
I kind of dreaded going home, but when I got here I at least had telephone/internet and the outlet in the living room was fixed! Yay!
I spent the weekend trying to get everything back together - and this morning the carpenters came and did a few minor things- but there are still stuff left ...
The "bosses" came around 11 a.m. today to do a survey of the work being done, I had hoped everything would be done but naturally there were a number of things they are going to get adjust during this week.
But at least I can get my place back together now, I still don't want to put furniture in the hallway, as they are not quite done there yet, but I have gotten most of the stuff back where it's supposed to be, so I'm hoping to be able to have this apartment in tip-top shape come this weekend!
This has been quite a difficult time for me, for a number of reasons - I am truly glad that almost everything is finished, but I'm quite down and I think it will take a while for me to make a come-back from this.
I hope to make another entry fairly soon on how I've been feeling (even though I won't go into that much detail!) this past month ....
Basically it was a bathroom renovation, so they were going to tear down the whole bathroom including the walls and floors. You could make a choice to also have your entire kitchen renovated as well, as they were changing all the water pipes at the same time - this would, however, be too expensive for my taste. They did recommend that we'd do the hallway as well, as in all likelihood there would be damage made to the hallway in the renovation process - also they were going to widen the bathroom door, which meant tearing down part of the concrete hallway wall.
It was also decided that since this whole mess was going to go on, they would also change all the electrical stuff in every apartment ... the fuse box as well as all the wall and roof electrical outlets - this was going to be done the week before the renovation project started, and this was scheduled to take three weeks.
Before the renovation itself begun, they changed all the locks ... I'm sure they had some secure way of doing this, even though I never understood the finer details, but basically they removed our door locks and replaced them with temporary "construction locks", allowing all the construction workers to pretty much come and go as they liked.
After that it was time for the electrical work. Which included moving A LOT of furniture!! As I mentioned here before, I managed to miss one outlet, but cleared away a couple of bookshelves and was told they would fix it during the bathroom renovations (there are at least two, maybe more, companies involved - the electricians and the carpenters, and I assume there are plumbers as well, though I don't think I've come across any of them).
On Friday 21st (January), the covered the hallway floor, and on Monday 24th, I moved out.
Luckily I had a friend in Lund, Christian, who was willing to give up his apartment for me, and temporarily move in with his girlfriend Maria - who I had as a mentor when I was taking Greek! :) I very much appreciate that, as I basically had nowhere to go! We were allowed to live at home, as we were supposed to have electricity most of the time - but with no running water, a toilet in the basement, and shower in barrack in the yard, I really did NOT want to live here.
I stayed in Christians apartment Monday through Saturday morning that week - and I did discover during that time how much I really like my Home! Christians apartment was really nice, and it was a lot closer to Uni than mine *lol*, but I still felt a bit homesick!
Saturday morning, I went up north to visit my families, and I stayed for about 10 days. There were a lot of reasons why I didn't feel great, but I'll see if I can tell you something about that in another entry.
Anyway, I stayed with my Dad and his family between Jan. 28 and Feb. 7, and I also visited my Mum. It was nice seeing them again, but it felt strange to be there for such a long time during mid-semester.
On Feb. 7 I went back south, again to Christian's apartment - where I stayed until Friday. It was said I could move back home on Friday and I spent quite some time that week to make sure that was okay.
I went home on three occasions that week, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning, and tried to find people to talk to - but I kept getting quite vague answers, to be honest.
I was quite nervous when I went home "for good" on Friday afternoon, but when I got here I quickly realized that I did have electricity and I did have running water, which at the time was good enough for me.
That weekend flew by, I was completely exhausted and basically didn't do much of anything.
Unfortunately I had discovered there were A LOT of things left to do, and maybe the most annoying one: the electrical outlet in the living room. As I had decided to rearrange the furniture while I still had to move them things were an extreme mess!!
I spent a lot of time during the beginning of the week trying to find people and get things done, but it took until Wednesday before the electrician showed up. Only to tell me that since the outlet went straight through one of my inner walls, I had to clear the outlet that was on the other side of the wall as well (in the bedroom).
I basically had a complete melt down, as I had already cleared away at least two bookshelves there before, they had changed the outlet and I had moved everything back again (along with all the stuff from the bathroom and some other things!)...
So I moved it all over again, but then it seemed impossible to find the electricians anywhere. I had a carpenter in on Friday morning to do some stuff, and by then I was really upset, there were a lot of things that I had to have electricians to fix (for instance, they removed my internet/telephone outlet when they wallpapered the hallway, which was done at the beginning of the week, and hadn't put it back!) ....
The electricians were nowhere to be found, and I really wanted to take a trip to Lund that afternoon - so I left here at noon and put a huge note on my door with biiiig red letters, stated I needed help from the electricians!
Around 5.15 p.m. when I was at Uni, the Head of the entire renovation project called me!! He is Danish and for the life of me, I cannot understand that language ... so I hardly understood what he said! Very embarrassing! I figured out that either they had fixed most of the stuff and were going to do a check on it on Monday (as in, today), or they were going to fix it ... on Monday.
I kind of dreaded going home, but when I got here I at least had telephone/internet and the outlet in the living room was fixed! Yay!
I spent the weekend trying to get everything back together - and this morning the carpenters came and did a few minor things- but there are still stuff left ...
The "bosses" came around 11 a.m. today to do a survey of the work being done, I had hoped everything would be done but naturally there were a number of things they are going to get adjust during this week.
But at least I can get my place back together now, I still don't want to put furniture in the hallway, as they are not quite done there yet, but I have gotten most of the stuff back where it's supposed to be, so I'm hoping to be able to have this apartment in tip-top shape come this weekend!
This has been quite a difficult time for me, for a number of reasons - I am truly glad that almost everything is finished, but I'm quite down and I think it will take a while for me to make a come-back from this.
I hope to make another entry fairly soon on how I've been feeling (even though I won't go into that much detail!) this past month ....
Tuesday, 21 December 2010
An UpsideDown Day!
Today has been SO strange and massively confusing!
This morning was really slow, though I had hoped to get things done. I went to Uni around 10, although the buses weren't exactly running like schedule!
I went straight to Uni and managed to get some stuff printed, which was way overdue! *oops* I met a friend there, and I got a nice surprise! :) She took the Old Testament course last fall (spring 2010) where I was mentor, and all the students as well as me were invited to our teacher at the end of that semester. I took a few photographs, but apparently so had she, and she gave me one with me and the professor of OT and a few other students! Nice! :)
I spent about an hour outside the library going through the material for the seminar (and I ran into one of the attendants of the seminar, a guy who does research in NT, then - I haven't seen him for a while, so it was nice chatting to him!) - and then I met another friend ... we took New Testament Greek together last spring! :) I spent some time talking to her before the seminar.
We had one of few Old Testament seminars (mostly for post-graduate students and researchers - and New Testament is so much more common), on Leviticus and "leprosy" (sorry, not quite aloud to all it that after today's seminar!) .
I don't know why, but for some reason, it felt really good. I'm usually quite intimidated by these seminars, since they are above my level, but today it felt really good. I knew everyone attending, and I followed the discussions in a good way - and even though I didn't have anything to say myself, it felt really good.
I took a few photos, some are from this morning but I took a few after the seminar on the way to the railway station.
And then the problems started...
YES we've had snow in southern Sweden and yes, it's created the usual chaos! *sigh!!!* A 15 minute train trip took over 2 hours today - SIGH!! I was eagerly awaiting two packages, that I felt simply HAD to arrive ... not to mention part of the two packages was quite important - it was a Christmas gift for my mother and a birthday present for my father ... none of the packages had arrived! *very annoyed*
I had hard to focus for quite a while - so this evening hasn't worked out great!! It's 10 p.m. I still have tons to do tonight and I'm guessing I have to get up about 4-4.30 a.m. tomorrow ... *great - not!!* Ah well ...
At least it feels "good" (if you know what I mean) that I don't have to drag Zorro through the journey tomorrow, especially since no trains seem to run on time these days ...
I will make a last entry before I leave, not sure if it will be a late entry tonight or an early one tomorrow though ....
This morning was really slow, though I had hoped to get things done. I went to Uni around 10, although the buses weren't exactly running like schedule!
I went straight to Uni and managed to get some stuff printed, which was way overdue! *oops* I met a friend there, and I got a nice surprise! :) She took the Old Testament course last fall (spring 2010) where I was mentor, and all the students as well as me were invited to our teacher at the end of that semester. I took a few photographs, but apparently so had she, and she gave me one with me and the professor of OT and a few other students! Nice! :)
I spent about an hour outside the library going through the material for the seminar (and I ran into one of the attendants of the seminar, a guy who does research in NT, then - I haven't seen him for a while, so it was nice chatting to him!) - and then I met another friend ... we took New Testament Greek together last spring! :) I spent some time talking to her before the seminar.
We had one of few Old Testament seminars (mostly for post-graduate students and researchers - and New Testament is so much more common), on Leviticus and "leprosy" (sorry, not quite aloud to all it that after today's seminar!) .
I don't know why, but for some reason, it felt really good. I'm usually quite intimidated by these seminars, since they are above my level, but today it felt really good. I knew everyone attending, and I followed the discussions in a good way - and even though I didn't have anything to say myself, it felt really good.
I took a few photos, some are from this morning but I took a few after the seminar on the way to the railway station.
And then the problems started...
YES we've had snow in southern Sweden and yes, it's created the usual chaos! *sigh!!!* A 15 minute train trip took over 2 hours today - SIGH!! I was eagerly awaiting two packages, that I felt simply HAD to arrive ... not to mention part of the two packages was quite important - it was a Christmas gift for my mother and a birthday present for my father ... none of the packages had arrived! *very annoyed*
I had hard to focus for quite a while - so this evening hasn't worked out great!! It's 10 p.m. I still have tons to do tonight and I'm guessing I have to get up about 4-4.30 a.m. tomorrow ... *great - not!!* Ah well ...At least it feels "good" (if you know what I mean) that I don't have to drag Zorro through the journey tomorrow, especially since no trains seem to run on time these days ...
I will make a last entry before I leave, not sure if it will be a late entry tonight or an early one tomorrow though ....
Monday, 22 November 2010
Annual Christmas Tradition!
This Saturday Annika and I met in Gothenburg for our annual Christmas tradition. I think we decided that we probably started in 2002, and since then we've missed out on one year (2008, I think), so this is really a true tradition - soon celebrating 10 years! :)
As my Mum had come for a short visit to help me out, I went with my Mum to Gothenburg. It was nice to have company, even though we unfortunately didn't get to sit together during the bus ride.
I met Annika at 11.45, and said good bye to my Mum, who continued up north that afternoon.
Annika and I had lunch at Burger King, like we usually do, before walking down to Liseberg (the amusement park in Gothenburg), where they have this huge Christmas market. We were there right after they opened at 1 p.m., and I don't think we've usually been there so early because it was surprisingly light outside! :)
I have to say the weather was really good too, better than we've had on several other occasions! It had snowed during the night but temperatures had risen during the day so it was quite slushy, but at least it didn't rain or snow, and temperatures were decent as well! Nice!! Since we were there so early we really had the time to walk around in peace which was quite nice. We took our time, and it felt like Liseberg was a lot bigger this year! :)
It still felt a bit strange it was so light out, and all the lights on the buildings and trees weren't quite so extraordinary as they are when it's darker - but it was still a really really nice visit!!
After a couple of hours we went back to the railway station for some Christmas cookies and presents! :) I got a really nice collage of pictures from when Annika and I have met, and a few other great presents as well - big thanks!! :)
My bus left at 5.05, but the trip home felt really long, basically because I was completely exhausted and because I had a totally annoying kid in the seat in front of me. I usually really like kids, and I think I'm pretty patient with them ... but this little guy was pretty much a terror the entire trip. I had a change in Helsingborg and luckily for me, the bus from there was a little late so I just made it, and didn't have to wait for a train (which would take a lot longer!).
Coming home to an empty apartment after having been away for an entire day was PURE torture ... I mean, I know this is the way it's going to be from now on, but it's torture all the same ... So it was a painful end to an otherwise really nice day ...
Some pictures from Liseberg!
As my Mum had come for a short visit to help me out, I went with my Mum to Gothenburg. It was nice to have company, even though we unfortunately didn't get to sit together during the bus ride.
I met Annika at 11.45, and said good bye to my Mum, who continued up north that afternoon.
Annika and I had lunch at Burger King, like we usually do, before walking down to Liseberg (the amusement park in Gothenburg), where they have this huge Christmas market. We were there right after they opened at 1 p.m., and I don't think we've usually been there so early because it was surprisingly light outside! :)
I have to say the weather was really good too, better than we've had on several other occasions! It had snowed during the night but temperatures had risen during the day so it was quite slushy, but at least it didn't rain or snow, and temperatures were decent as well! Nice!! Since we were there so early we really had the time to walk around in peace which was quite nice. We took our time, and it felt like Liseberg was a lot bigger this year! :)
It still felt a bit strange it was so light out, and all the lights on the buildings and trees weren't quite so extraordinary as they are when it's darker - but it was still a really really nice visit!!
After a couple of hours we went back to the railway station for some Christmas cookies and presents! :) I got a really nice collage of pictures from when Annika and I have met, and a few other great presents as well - big thanks!! :)
My bus left at 5.05, but the trip home felt really long, basically because I was completely exhausted and because I had a totally annoying kid in the seat in front of me. I usually really like kids, and I think I'm pretty patient with them ... but this little guy was pretty much a terror the entire trip. I had a change in Helsingborg and luckily for me, the bus from there was a little late so I just made it, and didn't have to wait for a train (which would take a lot longer!).
Coming home to an empty apartment after having been away for an entire day was PURE torture ... I mean, I know this is the way it's going to be from now on, but it's torture all the same ... So it was a painful end to an otherwise really nice day ...
Some pictures from Liseberg!
Sunday, 17 October 2010
Intense Day!
Yesterday was quite long and intense - but really good! :)
I went to Gothenburg to meet with my Dad and his family - they have actually bought a new car (brand new, 2010 year model!!) by phone (*lol*) and had to pick it up there!
I left home at 5.45 a.m. - YAWN!! Went by bus first, then had to wait about half an hour for another bus, heading for Gothenburg. The trip went well, I managed to get about an hour of sleep and a bit more than that of studying! :)
We arrived a little early in Gothenburg, but I only had to wait about 10 minutes before the train arrived and I met my Dad and his family!! The girls had really grown a lot, even though it's "only" been about 2½ months since I saw them last. M had lots to show me, things she had done in school, and I talked basically non-stop, despite the fact that she had a pretty severe cold.
We had to wait for about 20 minutes, but then the car salesman actually came in a great big car (Dodge) to pick us all up, since the car store was a bit outside of town. It was cool riding in such a big car, that easily fitted three adults and two kids, in children's seats! :)
Once we got there we checked out the new car first, of course - and it really looks amazing! Naturally there were lots of questions to be answered, papers to sign etc. so I took the kids while my Dad and C got that sorted out - and then we could leave with the car.
I was quite nervous, it being SO new, but it was lovely to ride in it, and according to my Dad, it was really nice to drive as well! :) We'd gotten a road description to a place to eat, so we went straight for lunch as none of us had eaten since very early that morning.
It was quite a nice place and we had a pleasant meal together, but unfortunately I wasn't feeling great (she was on medication the entire day). The girls got to play a little in a nearby playing ground before we headed back toward the city.
They dropped me off pretty close to the central station (my Dad didn't want to drive in the middle of everything, so we picked a spot we both new), and then they headed north.
I took a walk to the central station, but realized I had nearly 3 hours until my bus left, and I was in NO mood to wait around for 3 whole hours!!
I tried checking out other buses (even though I already had a ticket for the later bus, I figured it was worth it, if I could get a decent-prized ticket earlier), but had no luck. Decided to check out the trains as well, even though I figured they'd be more expensive. I got lucky though and found a really cheap train ticket, for a train that left at 3.30!! I had one change, but was still home about 6.45, which felt great!
I didn't sleep well tonight though, so I've been really sluggish all day today, and haven't gotten much done at all. I took a walk in the afternoon, thinking that would make me feel better, and while it was a great walk, I made some mistakes with some buses and it ended up taking much longer than I thought it would - and I ended up being even more tired.
I really need to start giving 100% and more from tomorrow, as things are starting to be really stressful right now! I am however, quite worried about it, since my energy levels are SO low right now! I think I could easily sleep 18 hours a day ... not good! And while I can sit and stare at books 24/7 - if I'm so tired I don't even see the letters, what's the point?
Ah well, I guess all I can do is give it my all and hope for the best, right?! :)
I went to Gothenburg to meet with my Dad and his family - they have actually bought a new car (brand new, 2010 year model!!) by phone (*lol*) and had to pick it up there!
I left home at 5.45 a.m. - YAWN!! Went by bus first, then had to wait about half an hour for another bus, heading for Gothenburg. The trip went well, I managed to get about an hour of sleep and a bit more than that of studying! :)
We arrived a little early in Gothenburg, but I only had to wait about 10 minutes before the train arrived and I met my Dad and his family!! The girls had really grown a lot, even though it's "only" been about 2½ months since I saw them last. M had lots to show me, things she had done in school, and I talked basically non-stop, despite the fact that she had a pretty severe cold.
We had to wait for about 20 minutes, but then the car salesman actually came in a great big car (Dodge) to pick us all up, since the car store was a bit outside of town. It was cool riding in such a big car, that easily fitted three adults and two kids, in children's seats! :)
Once we got there we checked out the new car first, of course - and it really looks amazing! Naturally there were lots of questions to be answered, papers to sign etc. so I took the kids while my Dad and C got that sorted out - and then we could leave with the car.
I was quite nervous, it being SO new, but it was lovely to ride in it, and according to my Dad, it was really nice to drive as well! :) We'd gotten a road description to a place to eat, so we went straight for lunch as none of us had eaten since very early that morning.
It was quite a nice place and we had a pleasant meal together, but unfortunately I wasn't feeling great (she was on medication the entire day). The girls got to play a little in a nearby playing ground before we headed back toward the city.
They dropped me off pretty close to the central station (my Dad didn't want to drive in the middle of everything, so we picked a spot we both new), and then they headed north.
I took a walk to the central station, but realized I had nearly 3 hours until my bus left, and I was in NO mood to wait around for 3 whole hours!!
I tried checking out other buses (even though I already had a ticket for the later bus, I figured it was worth it, if I could get a decent-prized ticket earlier), but had no luck. Decided to check out the trains as well, even though I figured they'd be more expensive. I got lucky though and found a really cheap train ticket, for a train that left at 3.30!! I had one change, but was still home about 6.45, which felt great!
I didn't sleep well tonight though, so I've been really sluggish all day today, and haven't gotten much done at all. I took a walk in the afternoon, thinking that would make me feel better, and while it was a great walk, I made some mistakes with some buses and it ended up taking much longer than I thought it would - and I ended up being even more tired.
I really need to start giving 100% and more from tomorrow, as things are starting to be really stressful right now! I am however, quite worried about it, since my energy levels are SO low right now! I think I could easily sleep 18 hours a day ... not good! And while I can sit and stare at books 24/7 - if I'm so tired I don't even see the letters, what's the point?
Ah well, I guess all I can do is give it my all and hope for the best, right?! :)
Sunday, 26 September 2010
A Nice Outing!
Yesterday I met Annika in Halmstad, which was a nice outing and a great change from everyday-routine! The trip there was rather uneventful and I had to wait about 20 minutes for Annika's train to arrive.
None of us had ever been to Halmstad before, Annika was more prepared than I was - she at least had some kind of map *lol*! - but we figured we'd be spontaneous and pretty much see what happened. In retrospect, we had a really nice day together, but spontaneity might not be our "thing" ... really ...
At first we walked along the big river Nissan, saw Halmstad's Castle and walked around there, photographing a bit. We also went into the centre of town, having lunch and McDonald's and just checking things out. So far so good ...
We really did want to see the ocean though, as Halmstad is a costal town, so we decided to follow the river, as we figured we'd eventually reach the ocean. Well ... we figured wrong!!
Instead we ended up in this huge industrial area, with factories and gates everywhere ... not exactly what we had in mind. No choice but to turn around and go back, and at this point we were both quite tired of walking (it was a fair bit to walk from the centre to the industrial area!)! We ended up at the railway station, but realized we had over 3 hours until our trains were due, and we couldn't very well spend 3 hours on the railway station! :)
So we started walking again!! :) This time, after consulting Annika's map, we figured we'd reach the ocean if we followed a path on the other side of the river (no industries there, hopefully!). So we crossed the river and started walking! Until we came upon a sign showing us a temporary reroute of the path ... and we must have interpreted that sign wrong because we ended up in a real residential area with huge villas all around. We continued walking and basically ended up in a forest ... but when we got out of the forest - FINALLY the ocean was there! LOL!
It was nice walking around on the beach - even though the weather wasn't great - and we did find a quicker way back through the forest!
The whole day of walking had its consequences though! I've been having some problems with my feet lately, and let's just say they didn't agree with the treatment I gave them yesterday! When we managed to get back to the railway station I was in serious pain, and even though we had about an hour until the trains were leaving, we spent the hour talking - and sitting!! - at the station!
The train trip home was okay, but I kind of busted my knee when walking off the train - so I ended up waiting for a city bus for nearly half an hour, as I didn't feel up to walking at all.
There was a lot of pain involved yesterday, but despite that, it was a really nice day filled with laughter! :)
Some photos:
None of us had ever been to Halmstad before, Annika was more prepared than I was - she at least had some kind of map *lol*! - but we figured we'd be spontaneous and pretty much see what happened. In retrospect, we had a really nice day together, but spontaneity might not be our "thing" ... really ...
At first we walked along the big river Nissan, saw Halmstad's Castle and walked around there, photographing a bit. We also went into the centre of town, having lunch and McDonald's and just checking things out. So far so good ...
We really did want to see the ocean though, as Halmstad is a costal town, so we decided to follow the river, as we figured we'd eventually reach the ocean. Well ... we figured wrong!!
Instead we ended up in this huge industrial area, with factories and gates everywhere ... not exactly what we had in mind. No choice but to turn around and go back, and at this point we were both quite tired of walking (it was a fair bit to walk from the centre to the industrial area!)! We ended up at the railway station, but realized we had over 3 hours until our trains were due, and we couldn't very well spend 3 hours on the railway station! :)
So we started walking again!! :) This time, after consulting Annika's map, we figured we'd reach the ocean if we followed a path on the other side of the river (no industries there, hopefully!). So we crossed the river and started walking! Until we came upon a sign showing us a temporary reroute of the path ... and we must have interpreted that sign wrong because we ended up in a real residential area with huge villas all around. We continued walking and basically ended up in a forest ... but when we got out of the forest - FINALLY the ocean was there! LOL!
It was nice walking around on the beach - even though the weather wasn't great - and we did find a quicker way back through the forest!
The whole day of walking had its consequences though! I've been having some problems with my feet lately, and let's just say they didn't agree with the treatment I gave them yesterday! When we managed to get back to the railway station I was in serious pain, and even though we had about an hour until the trains were leaving, we spent the hour talking - and sitting!! - at the station!
The train trip home was okay, but I kind of busted my knee when walking off the train - so I ended up waiting for a city bus for nearly half an hour, as I didn't feel up to walking at all.
There was a lot of pain involved yesterday, but despite that, it was a really nice day filled with laughter! :)
Some photos:
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Nordens Ark
I think that the highlight of the summer for me was a trip I made, on my own, to an animal park called Nordens Ark. They have a lot of animals both domestic and foreign to Sweden, and their aim is to care for endangered species of animals, to eventually set the free in nature again. Because of this they don't breed animals to be held in captivity, but instead they try to replicate the animals natural habitats, train them to catch their own food and so on, so they are able to cope on their own.
I learned from one of the caretakers at the park that it has been forbidden by law to feed animals in captivity live prey - which of course is how it is in nature. Instead, the caretakers now really try to replicate the conditions without using "live food" for large animals, such as leopards and tigers. They hide food, making the animals dig or tear at things in order to get their food - I found that quite fascinating.
The park is situated not long from the Swedish West Coast and the nature in and surrounding the park is fantastic. I know I kept thinking that I could have spent a day walking there even if there were no animals around, because the nature is so beautiful!
I support Nordens Ark regularly, and have done so for a number of years now, and every other year or so, I get a free entry ticket to the park as a thank you. I had gotten one this year, and it wasn't really convenient for anybody else to go with me - but I didn't mind at all. While it is great to share experiences with others, I am very used to doing things on my own, and I truly enjoy the fact that I can do EXACTLY what I want, without discussing it or thinking about anybody else (I don't think I'm really that egoistic, but still, I do enjoy that kind of freedom).
And this time, I really did enjoy being on my own - I don't always to that!
I got a bit lost on the way there, but since it was just me, I didn't mind.
I took it easy and walked around the entire park, it's quite big and the height difference within the park is quite large. I'm not in that great a condition, so it was nice being able to take it slow and rest often - and it also made me experience the animals in another way.
After having gone through the park once, I was quite happy, as I had seen two tigers up close, one of them kept walking just in front of me, just two fences between us - first time I've seen a tiger that close, so it was quite an experience!!
I had, however, not seen the wolves, nor the snow leopards (they had babies in May!!) and that felt a bit disappointing! They were going to feed the wolves later in the afternoon, and I decided to stay for that, so I took another walk around the park.
This time I got to see the snow leopards - talk about SO CUTE babies!! Unfortunately they were kept in a habitat a fair bit from all the visitors, as they are so young still, but I at least got to see them. The caretakers fed the Mum and Dad while I was there (tied the food in lots and lots of thick rope up a tree, where the animals had to try and get it!), so I got a good look at the adult animals, truly beautiful!!
The wolves were shy though, and didn't come out for their feeding, but when I went around their habitat, I saw a couple of them, even though they were a fair bit away.
I had my "new" (Christmas gift, but not that frequently used) camera lens, which was FANTASTIC, as I managed to get some really cool photos, even though the animals were quite a distance away!!
Here are a few of my favourite photos:
I learned from one of the caretakers at the park that it has been forbidden by law to feed animals in captivity live prey - which of course is how it is in nature. Instead, the caretakers now really try to replicate the conditions without using "live food" for large animals, such as leopards and tigers. They hide food, making the animals dig or tear at things in order to get their food - I found that quite fascinating.
The park is situated not long from the Swedish West Coast and the nature in and surrounding the park is fantastic. I know I kept thinking that I could have spent a day walking there even if there were no animals around, because the nature is so beautiful!
I support Nordens Ark regularly, and have done so for a number of years now, and every other year or so, I get a free entry ticket to the park as a thank you. I had gotten one this year, and it wasn't really convenient for anybody else to go with me - but I didn't mind at all. While it is great to share experiences with others, I am very used to doing things on my own, and I truly enjoy the fact that I can do EXACTLY what I want, without discussing it or thinking about anybody else (I don't think I'm really that egoistic, but still, I do enjoy that kind of freedom).
And this time, I really did enjoy being on my own - I don't always to that!
I got a bit lost on the way there, but since it was just me, I didn't mind.
I took it easy and walked around the entire park, it's quite big and the height difference within the park is quite large. I'm not in that great a condition, so it was nice being able to take it slow and rest often - and it also made me experience the animals in another way.
After having gone through the park once, I was quite happy, as I had seen two tigers up close, one of them kept walking just in front of me, just two fences between us - first time I've seen a tiger that close, so it was quite an experience!!
I had, however, not seen the wolves, nor the snow leopards (they had babies in May!!) and that felt a bit disappointing! They were going to feed the wolves later in the afternoon, and I decided to stay for that, so I took another walk around the park.
This time I got to see the snow leopards - talk about SO CUTE babies!! Unfortunately they were kept in a habitat a fair bit from all the visitors, as they are so young still, but I at least got to see them. The caretakers fed the Mum and Dad while I was there (tied the food in lots and lots of thick rope up a tree, where the animals had to try and get it!), so I got a good look at the adult animals, truly beautiful!!
The wolves were shy though, and didn't come out for their feeding, but when I went around their habitat, I saw a couple of them, even though they were a fair bit away.
I had my "new" (Christmas gift, but not that frequently used) camera lens, which was FANTASTIC, as I managed to get some really cool photos, even though the animals were quite a distance away!!
Here are a few of my favourite photos:
Rottneros Park
Despite the fact that we were very busy toward the end of the summer, one day me and my Dad and his family took a trip to Rottneros Park, a bit north from where they live. I have been there a few times before, but it was a very long time ago, and it was a lovely outing.
The park was built to reminisce of Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf's Ekeby and it is truly beautiful. We spent a few pleasant hours there, and luckily they had quite a lot for the children to do as well, one adventure park (which was, however, aimed at older children), and several other parks with lots to do.
I think we all had a great time there, and here are some photos from the trip:
General photos:
The kids were having a blast:
There were some really cool trolls in one of the gardens! :)
And finally, I discovered they had something called Bible Garden! :) Nobody was really keen on it, so while the girls were playing I went there on my own. It was quite small, but very beautiful, and had apparently come about on the initiative of former Bishop Bengt Wadensjö!
The park was built to reminisce of Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf's Ekeby and it is truly beautiful. We spent a few pleasant hours there, and luckily they had quite a lot for the children to do as well, one adventure park (which was, however, aimed at older children), and several other parks with lots to do.
I think we all had a great time there, and here are some photos from the trip:
General photos:
The kids were having a blast:
There were some really cool trolls in one of the gardens! :)
And finally, I discovered they had something called Bible Garden! :) Nobody was really keen on it, so while the girls were playing I went there on my own. It was quite small, but very beautiful, and had apparently come about on the initiative of former Bishop Bengt Wadensjö!
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