The last month or so has been somewhat of a whirlwind. A
backlog of assignment and deadlines that had to be met, before travelling to
Finland and Estonia, followed closely by several exams, cumulated in my plate
has being pretty full (and showers not necessarily taken daily). Nevertheless,
I had a life before hand – these are the tails from then!
Tyresta
Having explored much of the city for several weeks, a couple
of us had begun to develop the very first inklings of ‘inner city monotony’. The
repetitive days and endless homework’s had begun to take their toll on these
unhardened ‘country’ lads. A decision
was made to go somewhere, anywhere that wasn't Stockholm.
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| Smaller lake in Tyresta |
Tyresta national park is situated about an hour south of the
city and three of us made the one hour bus journey to escape the bright lights,
if only for a couple of hours. On arrival, we planned a route and target, a
large lake with small islands about 7km into the forest, and departed – true 21st
century pioneers – smartphones in hand.
Although no moose’s were spotted, the scenery was stunning;
miniature inland lakes, moss covered rocky faces and tall pines were abundant.
Even the large area affected by the 1999 fire (center below) we had to cross had an intrigue
of its own; as we had to clamber over and under the scorched remains.
Atop a shear rock face looking out to a lake, we stopped for lunch. Taylor was recounting tails of the Red River gorge in Kentucky when he was unwittingly belaboured with a discarded apple. I had attempted to launch it into the lake, but failed dramatically as my grip slipped and the forsaken fruit careered into his face; even though he was sat behind me.
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| View from the pick-nick/assault |
I Moustache you a question
At the time of writing, Movember is in full swing and my
furry friend is delighted at the fact he gets a mention. The several weeks’
growth is proving fruitful and I am just about acclimatised to the looks of
dubious confusion or rye smiles that great me daily.
The official Movember Sweden launch party, however, took
place in October and a few friends and I secured places on the guest list. A
chance to meet fellow Mobro’s and Mosista’s, discuss issues of men’s health and
fund raising ideas, was fuelled by an unlimited supply of alcohol and
accompanied by several Swedish young ladies we had befriended. The night was a
good laugh to break up the study week and we hope to throw our own Farsta
Movember party later in the month.
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| Photo Courtesy of Movember Sweden |
Plug alert - To learn more about my Movember efforts and
motivation for participating, please visit my mospace - http://mobro.co/samwellnorton
Djurgården!!!
Ice hockey is big in Sweden and seen as the Pittsburgh
Penguins aren’t too local, I have become an avid fan of Stockholm’s most
successful team Djurgården (DIF). I caught my first live game with friends
before the exam period, in which DIF triumphed in a nail biter over rivals MODO
hockey.
The atmosphere is similar to a football match in the UK.
With chants and songs being sung all game long and fans proudly sporting team
scarfs and flags. I was particularly roused by the Swedish rendition of “Hej
Jude” – though I’m sure the lyrics may have been somewhat more expletive and
derogatory to the opposition. Every time Djurgården scored, the crowd joined
voice in some variant of “Jingle Bells”, to the delight of us non Swedish
speakers as we could participate in shouting the final “HEY!”
Excitement builds as we already have tickets to another game
this coming Saturday and we are slowly building our Farsta fan base as more and
more people join us with each game.
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