Monday, June 20, 2011

Homecoming

Well my ordinary Swedish life has come to an end. I've been in Vancouver for over a week now and am settling back into life here. And unemployment. Sweet, sweet unemployment.

Before heading back to Vancouver, I went to London for a few days. This marked my official departure from my time in Sweden. I can't say it wasn't a teary good bye when Katreace and I left on the train from Malmo. In fact, it was pretty much from a movie. Tre and I said our goodbyes, boarded the train with our multiple kilos of luggage and stood there crying. Our friends stood on the platform, also crying, and the train didn't leave. It took about 45 seconds for the doors to close and the train to depart, but ask anyone, it felt like forever. After all our tears were shed, we boarded our plane for the last time at the Copenhagen Airport gate F for London. We arrived in London and made our way to the city centre to meet Katie. The only obstacle between us and that goal was our luggage. We literally had everything we brought with us in bags. It was so heavy. And you really don't realize how inaccessible London transport is until you're lugging 4 twenty kilo suitcases up and down flights of stairs. Anyways, we made it to Covent Garden and I was happily reunited with Katie. But sadly this meant leaving Katreace. She was heading out on a Contiki tour the next day. As we were out of tears, we said good bye in a happy way, but knowing that we were sad to part.

I then spent a lovely two full days in London with Katie and Rob. List of what we did:
- took the Thames Clipper into Central London
- walked the South Bank and experienced the Summer of Smiles
- had a lot of cider
- ate curry surrounded by school children
- browsed shops
- drank cider in Sommerset House gardens
- pub hopped...drinking cider of course
- met Rob for dinner
- ate mini sandwiches
- had a pint at 11am
- met an old friend for lunch
- went to Primark
- failed at going to Camden Markets
- had an after-work (for Rob) pint
- ate delicious sushi
- went to play in the arcades...two pent machines are the best!
- threw Slime Tyre on the ground
- consumed another pint
- watched the Canucks game at 1am..fell asleep at 1:15am

The next day was a big challenge, I didn't have Katreace to help me and I had to get to the airport on the tube. Alone. With all my luggage. Thanks to the help of some Londoners, I made it, albeit a bit sweaty. I got to my gate and eventually boarded my plane. Just when it was about time to take off, we were informed that a passenger had "decided not to fly" thus we had to deplane and remove all our luggage so the plane could be searched. This was a little disconcerting as I was about to be on this plane for 8 hours. All turned out to be fine and I was in Edmonton shortly after. My first stop in Canada...such a bustling metropolis. At this point, I just wanted to be home. I was getting anxious! I arrived home and ran into the arms of my mom and step-dad. Then little did I know, but I was surprised by my roommates as well! It was so good to see everyone. I headed home, back to real life. The jet lag was a little overwhelming at first especially as I had a wedding to attend two days after. Anyways, I coped and was so happy to see so much family in just a few short days after I arrived.

Since then, I have worked for convocation at my university, had countless meals out, seen friends, watched my mom graduate from her PhD and much more. Now I'm just looking for a job and starting a class next week. Oh, and moving in two weeks. Busy busy. Even without work. Because of this business, it's hard to believe I have only been gone from Sweden for about two weeks. It feels like I never left, which is nice, but also weird. There are still days when I remember cooking a meal with people from 5 different countries. Or dancing in Celsius to Backstreet Boys. I don't think these memories will ever fade. But they are hard to explain to people that weren't there. So if there is anything you want to know, just ask me. It will (hopefully) be fun for you, and will take me on a trip down memory lane.

OH!! Iceland, I haven't written about that. Katreace, Katharina and I went to Iceland from the 26th-31st of May. It was amazing. Cold. But the craziest, most beautiful landscapes. We rented a little Toyota Yaris and tore up the country side. 1200 km in 3 days. Weeee. Saw geysers, waterfalls, horsies, black sand beaches, volcanoes, so much MAGMA, bathed in natural hot springs, soaked our feet in mud, breathed in the stench of sulphur, walked, talked, laughed. Etc. It was truly an amazing trip. Different than any of my other travels too. Pictures to come.

As for now, I think I'm going to have to re-vamp my blog as unfortunately I won't be gallivanting around Europe to create exhilarating posts. More to come...

xx