Hej alla!
This post is long overdue, but that means it is full of fun
information and updates! Everyone loves binge watching tv shows, so reading one
long blog instead of many short blogs spread out over time should work the same
way, right? Welcome to my version of a Netflix Original blog. I would say I
made it my New Years resolution to blog more, but… daily flossing took the lead
in the last seconds of 2015. So what have I been up to? Despite the appearance
to have been sucked into a black hole or to have fallen in the icy waters of
some Arctic lake, I am alive (yay!). And a lot has happened since my last blog
post.
When I last left you, I was at the end of my time in
beautiful Abisko. The days were getting shorter, northern lights sightings were
intensifying, and I was dreaming of hot chai lattes in distant (and populated) towns.
My dreams came true at the end of November when I boarded the train and made
the 8-hour journey south, through the mountains into the boreal forest to Umeå, my new home.
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| The view of snowy Kiruna on my train from Abisko. |
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| Location of Umeå (thanks, Google Maps) |
Although I miss
the awe-inspiring mountains of Abisko, the towering trees of Umeå and
the charm of Umeå’s quaint city center lit up by hanging lights and swarming with pedestrians and cyclist make for
a fine substitution. The surplus of cafes with delicious baked goods and hot
beverages also helps quite a bit. But, I have to admit, one of my favorite
things about Umeå is the gym (bear with me). My wonderful outdoors adventures in Abisko
distracted me from what I am now calling my
“post-college-athlete-still-think-I-am-a-college-athlete” phase. To sum it up,
I still feel like I should be practicing on the court for 3 hours a day. So…
30 minute workouts on an elliptical or stationary bike just does not do enough to
fill the void. Insert IKSU. IKSU, Umea’s gym, is the largest in Northern
Europe. IKSU is equipped with a multitude of courts, workout machines, lifting
platforms, workout classes, a swimming pool, climbing wall, virtual golf, and
even an indoor sand volleyball court. Needless to say, I LOVE IKSU for keeping
me busy and happy and I love the Swedes for loving sport as much as they do.
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| It's love. |
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| The Umeå River near my apartment. This picture was taken at noon in late December. |
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| Busy downtown Umeå! |
Beyond my move
to Umeå, in December I had the amazing opportunity to head even farther south
to Stockholm for a slew of Nobel-themed activities. The Nobel Prize, named
after the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel (flashback to Blog 1 when I visited the
Nobel Museum in August!), is one of Sweden’s dearest pride and joys. Justly so.
The event honors some of the most innovative and influential people from around
the world. Thanks to the work of the wonderful Swedish Fulbright Commission, our
Fulbright group not only had the opportunity to attend the award ceremony, but
to also meet this year’s American Nobel Laureates at the home of the US
Ambassador. Let me tell you, if you have ever had to run through the (sometimes hassling) exercise of describing what you do with a 60 second “elevator
speech”, keep in mind that one day you might find yourself in a situation where
a very nice and humble noble laureate asks you what you do and you have one
minute of his attention to say something besides “uhhh ponds, umm Arctic”.
Don’t worry, I came up with more than that. But, really, keep that in mind.
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| Nobel Prize award ceremony. |
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| The 2015/2016 Fulbright squad at the award ceremony. |
The award ceremony itself was beautiful and even though I
was completely out of my element at such a fancy and elegant event, I enjoyed
every second of it. From high up in the seats of Stockholm’s Concert Hall
(where the event has been since 1926), watching the ceremony, and all of the
traditions that it entails, felt like a movie. While the introductions for each
Nobel laureate are giving in Swedish, the opening statement by the chairman, Professor Carl-Henrik Heldin was in
English. The end of his speech left a lasting impression on me. Here is just
a short part,
“The quality of
future research is dependent on the recruitment of young talents to science.
High-quality education at all levels is necessary, so that young people can
prepare themselves for a scientific career, and we need to find ways to
encourage them to become scientists.”
I felt like I have been extremely lucky in my young
scientific career to have had such amazing mentors and people throughout my
life who have introduced me to the wonders of the science and the natural
world. So yeah, quick shout out to all those people. Thanks for helping pave this crazy path of my
past endeavors around the world and for the ones that are hopefully still to
come.
I’m not sure if binge reading this is exhausting, but
writing it sure is… A few more highlights to go! Up next: Lucia.
The winter holiday season in Sweden is fantastic. It’s dark
and cold, sure. But the streets and homes are bright with holiday lights and
the sweet smell of saffron and cinnamon is constantly teasing your nose. I’m
lucky enough to have a wonderful Swedish informant in Stockholm who is my guide
for all things Swedish (thanks Cecilia!). Before I boarded the plane home,
Cecilia made sure I experienced some of the wonders of the Swedish holidays.
And they sure are wonderful! Major hitting points included: wandering the
picturesque red booths of Stockholm’s many Christmas markets, holiday fika with
saffron buns, ginger cooks, coffee, and glögg
(a sweet, warmed wine with spices, almonds, and raisins. Yummmm), and a Lucia
concert to top it off.
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| DELICIOUS saffron buns. |
If you are like me, you probably have no idea what Lucia is.
That’s okay. I’ll do my best to provide a quick summary (as explained to me by
travel books and really nice Swedes). St. Lucia Day is a hybrid between old pagan
celebrations and Christianity. The holiday centers around “Lucia” bringing light
to the darkness because traditionally Lucia fell on the darkest day of the
year. On this day, people were cautioned to stay inside to avoid dangers such
as evil supernatural beings and talking animals. Now, the roots of this tradition
have transformed into staple of Swedish culture. Every year, a young girl is
chosen as the “Lucia” for her town or church (it’s a big competition in some places - They even vote for it in the local newspapers!). “Lucia” takes the lead as
the bearer of the light at the local children’s choir concert. During the
concert the children dress in white and sing a mixture of present day and Lucia-themed
songs while holding candles (I hear some place switched to electronic candles, but
the concert I went to had very real candles that resulted in only a couple minor incidents…). Here is one of the standard Lucia songs and a
video of the procession from the concert I went to!
The
night treads heavily
around
yards and dwellings
In
places unreached by sun,
the
shadows brood
Into our dark house she comes,
bearing
lighted candles,
Saint
Lucia, Saint Lucia.
As
you can tell, the goal of this holiday is to make the darkest days of the year
just a little bit brighter- both literally and figuratively through the many
community and family based traditions. I am definitively a fan of Lucia (sadly,
I think I am too old to join the running for next year’s Lucia…).
I then topped of my year with a “quick” flight home for some
much needed family time, vitamin D, and, as always, more science.
If this blog was overwhelming and you only looked at the pictures,
I don’t blame you. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.
Up next: all things Swedish! In the next blog I will finally
write about all the things I love about Swedish culture. Disclaimer: at least
75% will be about food (and the other 25% about me bumbling around and doing
everything wrong).
Cheers!
Kenzie
This site is not an official Fulbright Program site. The views expressed in this site are entirely those of its author and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State or any of its partner organizations.
This site is not an official Fulbright Program site. The views expressed in this site are entirely those of its author and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State or any of its partner organizations.
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