Well, I don't know if it is fair to say I am back since I never actually went anywhere (much). Class ended last week and now I find myself practically alone in Uppsala - well, except for the 140,000 other people that live here of course. Although I expect that there are no longer 140,000 people here since the whole town has had a feeling of exodus for the past few weeks as classes in all the faculties draw to a close and students return home (whether that's elsewhere in Sweden or outside it), move away to work or go on vacation. Some of my classmates remain in Uppsala but most have gone home for the summer or to internships and a few are even working on research projects in Nepal, Bangladesh and Nicaragua.
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| My classmate Duaa (holding the flower) decided to do her Master's thesis this year and here we are at her graduation ceremony - from left to right Bashir, Duaa, me, Diana, Maija and Vilte |
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| Our end of term indoor picnic (we were supposed to go to the park and dine al fresco but whether was horrid) |
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| From the other end of the table(s) |
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| I think with the inclusion of this picture we've got everyone including a very special little person in the lower right hand corner! |
I have spent the last few days with some Greek students who will be starting here in the fall and decided to come now and try and work out accommodation (a very wise move given the housing situation in Uppsala). I am pleased to say that they have secured a very nice apartment that I think will work very nicely for them. It was fun showing them around and getting to know them. Now however I am truly alone and quite frankly loving every minute of it. Better still the Greek guys, though they flatly refused to, seem to have taken the rainy weather with them and it is glorious outside. I'm going to walk up to Stenhagen to the big box stores and treat myself to a new MP3 player if I can find a reasonably priced one.
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| New friends from Greece - George on the steps of the University Main Building |
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| Panagiotis at the "welcome here, welcome home" sign at Uppsala Central Station |
I was very fortunate to find a perfect little flat for the summer and I am so enjoying being on my own. I'm on the top floor (3rd), my dormer windows look out onto a green, tree-studded courtyard with picnic tables and the birds are singing lustily. The sky is a brilliant blue with just a few fluffy wisps of white cloud. It couldn't be much more perfect! Next Saturday I am off to Lithuania (boat from Stockholm to Riga and then bus from Riga to Klaipeda) to visit a classmate's mother. I hope to also make it to Copenhagen - perhaps for my birthday - and some other places in Sweden (Gothenburg/
Göteborg, Gotland, Karlskrona) but plans to go further afield have been foiled by Revenue Canada who decided that since I am no longer a resident I was not entitled to as much of a refund as I anticipated.
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| First breakfast in the new place |
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| View from the window - prettier views to come later |
I am hoping to do a literature review this summer that can serve as a preliminary basis for my master's thesis (if I do the 5-credit version I don't think it will be adequate as a basis for a thesis since it only references about 20-25 articles). I also should have no excuse for not posting more frequently to this blog so stay tuned for that. And of course the search for accommodation for September will continue throughout the next 2.5 months - keep your fingers crossed for me.
