Well the weather outside is frightful ...

It's snowing outside right now in Lund, and once more I have done an awful job updating this journal. I only have 17 days left in Sweden and it's brought me around to some reflection of the time I have spent here, the people I've met, and the things that I have experienced. But let me recap for a moment.

Since I wrote about my trip to Stockholm, I have gone to Dublin, Budapest, and then Stockholm again (för andra gången). I didn't realize that I would ever be so busy with school and traveling, and the simple task of living while abroad. I definitely could not have predicted the things that have happened to me and there is no way that I could have guessed that this is how I was going to spend my time in Sweden. My life is so different on this side of the world that I can't imagine returning home, to my old life and my old self. Well, I imagine that I will never quite be my old self again.

One of my best friends at UCLA last year, Maura, always told me that studying abroad would change me -- change who I was. She said that I would have such a different perspective of the world, of life, and of myself. Well, I can say that at least one thing is changed: I now speak Swedish! I have noticed how small the world is, how within a few hours I can be across the continent in Italy, or Ireland, or how near I have been living to Russia and the Arctic Circle. But I have always realized how large the world is at the same time -- I have experienced how far away I have been from my family in Chicago and California and also from Maura, who is teaching English in Japan. I have experienced how hard it is to get together with friends who are only a few hours away, like my German friends who are just too busy to travel non-stop and who I haven't made enough of an effort to it into my hectic life. So I ask, why must the world be so big? Why can't Sweden and Japan be neighbors? Why can't I travel from Los Angeles to Göttingen (Germany) within the blink of an eye? Even though the world is so connected, I have still seen how far apart us humans can be.

So, even as I sit here watching the snow fall and watching my time in Sweden wind away, I still am not sure what the lesson is that I have learned during my six months in Europe. I will keep thinking about it. But my best answer is that I haven't learned one, but many. I think what is most important is that I have really learned how to live.

Well, I have a research paper to write. I promise to write more again soon. Take care.

Here is some Swedish for you to learn:
för andra gången -- for the second time
sex månader -- six months
snö -- snow
is -- ice
världen -- the world