First Steps

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After various tearful goodbyes & expert frenzied packing completed - I headed off to Lund, Sweden on August 21st. It was a perfect summer in the Okanagan, surrounded by family, friends & sunshine - making it that much harder to say goodbye. But it was time. Time get out into the big world again.

Kelowna -> Seattle -> Copenhagen by plane
Copengagen -> Malmo -> Lund by train
Lund Central Station -> Skanevagen #18 by automobile

It was a sunny & windy day in Lund when I arrived, jet lagged & sweating. A wave of uncertainly as to why exactly I had come to this place washed over me while I waited at the Station for Eva to pick me & my overweight luggage. Now that a few days have passed, I am feeling more stable in Scandinavia & I speculate that it can only get better.

My home is brightly lit & more than I could have asked for. I have an awesome bicycle to whip through the narrow streets on, I have a wonderfully furnished room to sleep, work & do yoga in - it's spacious & comfortable. There is a private bathroom & a kitchen to share. I know I will praise the depth of the bathtub once winter rolls in!

After a twelve hour sleep, Eva took me around town on Friday to get a bank account & mobile phone sorted out. I rode the bicycle home from the bike shop & was happy I didn't get lost. In the afternoon I took a tour of the town on The Blue Crescent (my bike's name). I still cannot believe my eyes, the parks are bustling & beautiful, everything is compact, efficient and practical. I will wait a few more weeks before offering any type of personal official observation of Lund, as I have only been here two & a half days (half of which I spent sleeping). Indeed last night I went to sleep at 10:00pm with the intention of getting up at 8:30am. To my surprise, it was 2:30pm when I finally awoke from my sixteen hour slumber!

As the rain falls relentlessly on my plans to bike to the beach, I'll just post the photos I took from the last few days, I hope you enjoy them! Well, Monday is the Masters Students Introduction Day & already on September 1st classes begin - I'll keep you posted.

Stay Tuned,
jenica

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Photos

A lighter Load
Juliette helping me pack a life into 2 suitcases, 23kg each

Saying GoodBye
Greg, Jenica, Hailey, Mom

Seattle Airport
Just happened to sit beside two Bronze Medal winners in the Seattle Airport Lounge! (Canadian Men's Rowing)

Special Meal
Meat & Dairy Free Meal for Seat 25A. Mediocre, to put it lightly.

First Supper with Eva
Delicious Vegetarian Pizza from VESPA

Botanical Garden
The gardens were laid out in 1860 & there are more than 7000 plants there today! This flower was my favorite!
Dahlia Pink Giraffe

Coffee & Read at a Cafe
In Georg Karlins Platz - next to Kulturen - the largest museum in Skane (the region here) & the second largest open-air museum in the world!

Lund Cathedral
The foremost Romanesque cathedral in Scandinavia, built during the 12th century when Lund was the residence for the archbishop of the Nordic Countries

Comments

[Michelle]

Yeniiiiiiiiiiiiii
Que lindo tener noticias tuyas!! Ya veo que hiciste tu decision de ir a Lund.. Felicidades. Creo que sera un tiempo muy especial para ti. (Ademas, estare cerca de ti en Avril...hay que visitar!) Tus videos me hicieron sonreir TANTO. (Por supuesto las fotos de Atitlan tambien me llenaron el corazon.) Gracias por darnos noticias, y siga contandonos de tu aventura! Te extrano mucho querida, y te mando un gran beso.

[dad]

old europe
welcome to sweden little darling, great rapportage and the pictures are worth a thousand words each. now i'd like a feeling for the heady university stuff you will have to endure. a book title perhaps to "follow" along. love ya, hugs and besos, dad

[Johanna]

Valkommen till Sverige! I hope you are enjoying your stay in my home country :). I wish I could have a fika with you!! Good luck with first week of school, I know you will kick ass ;)!! Talk to you soon!