Sweden

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Hi everyone, apologies for the delay since my last entry but my free time tends to come in bursts and, as I'm sure you've noticed, so have my blogs. I have since finished my travels and have arrived home in Australia, so will now be publishing the final few entries of what has been an absolutely fantastic 14 months abroad.
I must warn you that this one is quite boring. My time in Sweden was relatively uneventful. However, I feel that it would be remiss of me to omitt documentation of my time there. I arrived after an extremely long flight from LA to London and then a connection to Stockholm, Sweden. I have to laugh at the fact that my transportation from Heathrow airport to Stansted in London cost more than my connecting flight to Sweden; I guess this nicely illustrates the insanely high cost of living in England. Upon arriving I was met by Gabriel who we had hosted for one year in Australia while he was on exchange here and attending Churchlands High School. We adjourned back to his apartment which was small to say the least. He lives with his parents Sigurd (of indigenous Swedish origin, called a Sami) and Christine who are delightful people, despite the fact that Sigurd only has a moderate grasp of English.
Activities were few and far between during my time there but it was a good opportunity to relax, read, organise myself, and generally take in the streetscapes of Stockholm. The first day was used almost entirely for sleeping and visiting the Vietnamese embassy to obtain a visa for my impending travels there. Gabe and I went out for a beer but after one pint, Gabe looked distressed and informed me that he rarely drinks and that it would be best if we were to walk-off that last beer before doing anything else. This is where my first night ended.
I was reasonably jetlagged so most days I was up at dawn with nothing to do but read. I polished off Orwell's 'Animal Farm' in a morning, read 'The Great Gatsby' over the next couple days, and made a fair crack at Nietzsche's 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra' before giving up because I didn't understand it at all.
One of the more interesting outings was with Gabe to the Icebar. For those familiar with the 'Icehotel', this is the same concept- a bar kept at below-freezing temperatures with all furniture being made out of ice including the bar itself, chairs, walls, and even the glasses. It was very impressive and I'm sure the 'Icehotel' in northern Sweden (which is built once a year from ice pulled from the river) would be a great place to see.
One of the days, the family and I drove out into the countryside to see a castle and get a taste for the Swedish landscape. I was very surprised to find that country side was very much like that of Wisconsin, where I have family and have spent many northern summers.
Other highlights included getting a rabies shot, buying malaria pills, making and subsequently attending an 'appointment' to do my laundry at their complex's facilities, and watching downloaded movies.
I must point out that everyone I have ever talked to has loved Stockholm and Sweden in general. My experience there was merely a function of my hosts personalities, and indeed, I look forward to returning to Sweden (staying by myself of with friends) to experience what the country truely has to offer.
I warned you this would be boring... but don't worry, stayed tuned for Vietnam next which is exponentially more exciting.

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Photos

Christine & Sigurd
Gabe's parents, the people I was staying with

Old church
A good picture but not much to say about it

Row of trees
Exciting stuff

Random plane
Don't know why it was there, but took a picture. Not much else to do.

Toxic green drinks
Its worth mentioning that you're lips get cold when you drink from a recepticle made of ice