So what do I do all day? Well, being a grad student I don't do much more than read and study and read some more, but for those of you who are far away, here is a little picture by picture account of what a typical day looks like for me :)
For now the weather is still a pleasure--we have had a lot of sun and while there is the nip of Fall in the air, you can still get away with a light coat and scarf. I am trying to take advantage of this so instead of heading straight for the tram in the mornings on my way to school, I'll take a stroll down to Lindholmen to hop on the ferry to Rosenlund.
Lindholmen
There is the ferry I just took!
And then I'll wait for the tram at Järntorget
I get off the tram and here I am at campus
That's my building!
And look, people just park their bikes here. They don't even lock them up! Can you imagine?! This really is utopia.....
I can take a little detour through our "secret garden" and grab an apple for a snack from the small orchard
Close up of the main building where all of my lectures are held
Here is the computer room at the library, where I spend a lot of my time. There are weird mask-like sculptures on the wall...I'm not too sure about those, but I guess they are cool to look at
There are a lot of excellent open lectures held by the various departments within the university. This one was one of Jan Eliasson and was held in this gorgeous hall
Jan Eliasson himself (if you don't know who he is, look him up, it's worth it)
And then I make it home and take over the kitchen table (to the boyfriend's dismay) with all of my reading and studying and reading and studying......
In a recent article published by The Local http://www.thelocal.se/23278/, it was reported that a new study by the Swedish National Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) found nine in 10 Swedes to consider themselves conscious of climate issues. Half of the polled citizens revealed they suffered a guilty conscience when their actions negatively impacted the environment.
In the wake of the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, COP15, to take place next month, this seems the perfect time to re-evaluate American habits in regards to the environment and where the country stands on the new climate change deal.
Unfortunately, the United States has been causing a lot of stress to the other United Nation countries involved in this deal, saying it cannot participate so soon in this formal global climate agreement as it is not realistic for the country. But is it really too soon? Others would argue that it is becoming too late, and that time is running out. President Obama has mentioned fears that there is not enough time for the U.S. to commit such an agreement as there is still pending legislation with the U.S. Senate and of course, the issue of cost.
However, the need to take action in reducing greenhouse gas emissions has been stressed as one of the “defining challenges of our century”, according to incoming COP15 president, Connie Hedegaard.
America has never even officially signed, or rather, ratified the Kyoto Agreement, a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC) introduced in 1997, aimed at combating global warming. This is significant as the U.S. Energy Information Administration noted that as of 2005, the United States was the largest per capita emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.
So what is there to do? Why is America so behind?
Being from California, the San Francisco Bay Area to top it off, I’ve gotten up on my high horses, thinking my home was as green as you could be. Organic clothing outlets, vegan buffets and signs about “going green” every which-way you looked. I have since been proven wrong. In my frequent stints in the glorious nation of Sweden I have quickly learned that that country puts the U.S. to shame when it comes to caring about our Mother Earth.
In California people want to drive a Prius, shop at Whole Foods and attempt to reduce, reuse and recycle. It is the “trendy” thing to do now.
Well, recycling-schmycling. In Sweden they have full on recycling stations in their homes, where they sort everything from cardboard boxes, to newspapers, bottles and plastic containers to batteries and old electrical supplies. Yes, you Swedes reading this may be laughing at my American naïveté and baffled that I find your organized trash and recycling rooms in your apartment buildings to be works of art, but it’s true. I thought our blue containers we put out on the street in California were advanced and efficient, but that was before I saw the 30 square metered recycling room (of which there are two) at my boyfriend’s complex in Göteborg. It is a recycler’s paradise in there, with neatly labeled bins and receptacles complete with photo-ID cards distinguishing where one must put the paper products, the dark glass products, the light glass products, the plastic products, the electrical products and so on. Sweden has taken it to a whole new level-a level that has truly taken America far too long to reach.
In a parody of the United States’ opposition to Socialism, The Daily Show visits Sweden and analyzes the “horrific” effects a socialist government can have on a people. In the episode, Wyatt Cenac tours Swedish Pop Star Robyn’s home in Stockholm. Her “recycling station” in her kitchen is mocked, but really, it is just to show the absurdity of America’s slow assimilation to becoming environmentally conscious http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-april-21-2009/the-stockholm-syndrome-pt--1 . If you have the time, I would check out Part 2 of the report as well for some more satire on why free health care and free education is a bad thing http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-april-22-2009/the-stockholm-syndrome-pt--2 .
Since first coming to Sweden, I have now been trained to organize, separate and reduce my waste and recyclables—a basic skill even a 5 year old knows in this country. I cringe when I accidently throw my plastic coke bottle in the trash can on the street and not the green recycle basket. Having lights on in unused rooms is now a pet peeve and I am completely anal about unplugging all appliances when not using them.
It is definitely a contrast looking at the way I was raised in suburban California compared to my boyfriend’s upbringing in a smaller, Swedish town. And to be honest, it is kind of silly that it is. I could go on for hours about how Sweden, and many other European countries for that matter, are more environmentally aware and advanced than us. Americans need to step it up-from slightly altering their day to day lives to help out the planet, to taking the initiative as one of the biggest world leaders and taking a daring step towards the diminishment of global warming.
I am still counting down to Copenhagen—just 19 days left. Let’s hope for possibly a surprise outcome.
Nothing stays plugged in here. There is no wasting energy allowed.
And to top off my homesickness for Sweden today, the reality show Paradise Hotel, the Swedish version, starts tonight and I'm missing it. An island full of beautiful, single swedes hooking up in huts while drinking pina coladas. What could be more brain-numbingly entertaining than that? Nothing, and I'm missing it. Ughhhhh.
I'm having a Sweden withdrawal day. The people (duh), the streets, the sounds and just the overall energy. Especially that of Göteborg. Håkan Hellström can always give that to me, if only for just a few minutes.
I'm trying to be creative for some more blog posts, and am attempting at starting HubPages to write even more, but the words just aren't coming....
So here I am. I know it has taken me a while to start this thing (having been in Europe about a month now), so I apologize for my tardiness and hope you all will understand I was a bit distracted these last few weeks ;)
To sum up what you have missed: Swedish McDonald's is still the best in the world, Swedish women are so hot they can't keep there hands off each other (literally), and Swedish men really probably are the best partners due to their "enlightened attitudes toward equality and gender roles" as The Local has reported http://www.thelocal.se/21098/20090804/ (I can't cook, clean, or do laundry the Swedish way--yet! But I want to learn!).
Jonatan and I had a great time doing what we do: eating, relaxing, laughing ;) And I was truly sad to leave when it came time. Goteborg is a beautiful, welcoming city and I enjoyed exploring it a bit more on my own this time (as Jonatan was in school. which was ok, because now I am totally comfortable taking the buses and trams all by myself. and shopping all by myself too, the most important thing).
I even joined a club while I was there: The American Women's Club of Goteborg http://awcgothenburg.com/ and was able to connect with many interesting women living the expat life with their Swedish partners in this coastal city. Good contacts to have!
Jonatan and I also got to share the most exciting weekend together: meeting the twins! Alexandra (Jonatan's sister) and Felipe (her husband) welcomed their first children into the world one month ago: Victoria and Valentina. They were the most beautiful babies and spending time with them and the family was very heart warming (I still need to work on that svenska though...I'm starting up that Rosetta Stone again).
But sadly, I had to eventually say hej då to Sverige and bonjour to France (though I hope to get back to Sweden soon! And not just because I had to be an eno gab on my flight out and leave half of my luggage there because I am an idiot and don't check baggage allowances on flights within Europe until two days before I leave).
So now I am in Lille, my new home for the next 7 months. I admit, yesterday, after travelling from Goteborg to Oslo to Paris and then finally to Lille, I was a bit of a poop. I was nervous, anxious, stressed, lonely and my heart was hurting a lot. But, thanks to the most generous friends, I had a place to stay and a tour guide during my time of transition.
And Lille really is an exquisite city. The past 24 hours I have felt a bit off balance and have been trying to search for that passion and admiration I usually feel for anything French. It is slowly coming back, especially after I devoured a tarte au sucre and a gourmandise from the original Paul (boulangerie), but I am hopeful that once I am settled I will yet again be mesmerized with the certain magic this place holds for me (like the food, shopping, architecture, history, language, culture and art and not the beaurocracy or the pain in the *** it is to do pretty much do anything practical here. but whatever. this is definitely only temporary that I will be here, so I might as well just focus on the good stuff and enjoy it ;).
I have so far set up a French cell phone number for myself, tried unsuccessfully again to contact the teachers at my schools in Valenciennes (for those of you who don't know, I will be teaching English this year in 3 French public primary schools in the city of Valenciennes, about 30km outside of Lille), and met up with about 10 other American teaching assistants in the same boat as me. It really is great to be able to meet with people going through the same thing as you--especially when it can be so frustrating!
Anyways, I enjoyed a tasty steack avec sauce deux poivres et frites this evening at Aux Moules http://www.auxmoules.com/ and a big Belgian beer with my fellow assistants.
Tomorrow it is off to discover Valenciennes, desperately search for a place to live and maybe write and discover more of this new place. And it's not bad. It may be missing a few places and people in particular that I would like to have, but it's alright. I think I will enjoy it just fine. Afterall, how bad can a place be that sells chocolate covered waffles? Not bad at all...
Lindholmen
There is the ferry I just took!
And then I'll wait for the tram at Järntorget
I get off the tram and here I am at campus
That's my building!
And then I make it home and take over the kitchen table (to the boyfriend's dismay) with all of my reading and studying and reading and studying......
