First Week in Stockholm

*Videos Added!

We knew coming into Stockholm that it would be our busiest time in the whole tour, but I didn't expect to not only be seeing lots of things, but seeing really interesting things and meeting really important people as well. In my last blog we had just arrived at af Chapman, and I had taken a little walk around the city center. Since then, not only have I done a little more than walk around, I've been able to see some great historic museums and landmarks, meet some very important people, and experience some unique activities.

Wednesday was probably our most planned out day yet. After breakfast, we strolled over to Riksdagen, the Swedish national parliament. Unlike the United States, Sweden is a unicameral parliamentary system, meaning that they have proportionally elected representatives from all over Sweden that is headed by a prime minister in the governing collation (or party, if the party is big enough), and all the legislation is passed by one body of legislators (unlike the House of Representatives and Senate in the United States). We got to see the taxation committee in session on the floor when we got there. Lennart Sacredeus, our professor and MP for the Christian Democratic party here in Sweden, spoke at the meeting that was held in the main chamber, and I took a video of a section below. Also, with only 17 members present out of 347, you can see how many vacant chairs there were around Lennart as he was preparing his speech. the subject of the day was tax levels and civic registration numbers. Needless to say, the most interesting part was that Lennart was talking.

After that, we had a short lesson with Lennart in a building down the street in Gamla Stan, and ten we were off to a meeting with the major donor for this trip, Anders Wall. His organization gives to cultural and scientific organizations and scholars throughout Sweden, and his generous donation to our program made it financially possible for many of us to come to Sweden, and has let us see some of the more interesting things we would otherwise not be able to. He has a wikipedia article, if you wish to learn more about his self-made business and philanthropic life. Unfortunately, he was not feeling very well, and since he is up in his years, he didn't want to risk not being able to travel this weekend and we didn't get to meet him. However, we did get to talk with Tom Young from Gustavus and Anders Wall's partner for his philanthropic exploits, which was a rewarding time. As a group we talked about what this program has become to mean to us over the past two months, and it was fascinating how much even our notions of this trip have changed since we first started talking about it a few months back. I would not have expected the kind of newness and excitement every day brings here, nor how exotic traveling in a country like Sweden can be.

After that we made a trip to the Nobel Museum (I told you Wednesday was packed). Talk about interesting information! There were two rooms for features on laureates and their accomplishments, everything from trinkets to papers and other artifacts from virtually every winner, lovely little factoids about how the prize has developed over the years and the controversies surrounding it, and there was also a really informative exhibit about freedom of speech. Having written a few editorials in the Gustavian Weekly this past fall about freedom of speech and its place in a college environment (which developed as so called 'bias incidents' occurred with greater number and force--but this is a whole different discussion), I had fresh in my mind much the the theory and practice behind both the freedoms and restrictions on speech. The exhibit itself featured historical dissenters, people who have stood against their country or society to publish the truth, to modern events concerning the 'leaking' of government information in the US, and even the publishing of video games like Grand Theift Auto that have made us question to what extent does a game become a reality, especially for the young and/or impressionable. With a brief introduction from the president of the organization (a great honor to hear his, as he called it, lecture), it was a great intellectually-stimulating experience for all of us.

Thursday, we had the morning to ourselves, and an afternoon with the Parliament. Not to be outdone by Wednesday, Thursday proved to be an equally awesome day. Dr. Lisa Heldke, my philosophy advisor at Gustavus, thought it would be a good idea to see the National Museum that morning, and I joined her. After a walk around Kungsplats and the national library, and a brief stop at Berzeleus park, (apparently the museum opened an hour later than we thought) we got to see the national collection on display just 100 meters from af Chapman. The exhibit showing was a collection of Pre-Raphelites, both paintings and early photographs from 1840-1870. In itself the exhibit was interesting- Preraphelite art usually has vibrant color and meticulous detail, if not a little fictionalized/ idealized in subject- the information with the exhibit made it feel like we were both discovering more about the artists and the artwork. One artist painted a lot of another artist, they got married, he started cheating on her with one of his models, the wife got TB, she died, then (almost) all he painted was different versions of her... and this was just one of the storylines. One of the most interesting works was a photograph that had a 2.5 hour exposure, which made the image itself both so clear it seemed to move, yet also quite stark and forboding. Of course, the museum had other work- from a collections of Rembrant, Monet, Manet, Ceanne, and Renoir, to Swedish and other nordic artists were interesting in their own right. The Greek-Orthodox child in me went nuts over the Icon exhibit, and my Russian skills came in use when reading them. There was also a design exhibit and a textile exhibit... if I write about this any more I wont write about Friday so I will just continue now, but know I had a great time.

The other really interesting part of Thursday was our time spent at the Parliament. There was a voting session, and we were to see Lennart and 300 other delegates vote. We all got special security badges and sat in the Riksdag chamber, and something really weird happened: they voted. Not just once, not just twice, but at least 6 times. Every time, it was by the same majority (185-180), and each bill only took about a minute. We sat there while the speaker would tell the specifics about the bill, PM Friedrich Reinfelt would say a few words, the speaker would say something again, and she'd open the voting, two committees would stand up and sit down quickly, and then the board would light up in about 2 seconds. All in all, there was no debate, no stalling, no yelling, no asking for the floor- it was like watching a well-informed machine make ikea products. I have a video of one entire bill being passed, it's not quite entertaining, but the novelty was worth recording. Do you think we'd actually see change from Washington if our congress worked like this?

After that, Lennart took us on a tour of the Riksdag and the building he works in. We saw the chambers for the tax committee, the actual Riksdag floor, paintings of the king as the 4 old classes of Swedish Parliament (Religious, Farmer, Noblility, Merchant) that all reside in the old treasury building, and we also got to see an old legislative chamber, central hall, social hall, portraits of former PMs, which are in the Riksdag building itself. After touring the grand meeting room and library, it made me feel like I should consider move here and become a MP (because under Swedish law, I could).

Friday, probably upset with how cool Thursday turned out to be, switched to high gear and really pulled out all the stops. We began our day with a private tour of the castle here in Stockholm. That alone should be cool enough, but we got a one-hour orientation by the Master of the Realm, who's official duty is to manage the crown's bureaucracy. Basically anything that goes through the castle has to pass through or under him; in Ron Burgundy's words, he's a pretty big deal. As a side note, even technical difficulties still occur in the castle: his PowerPoint wasn't loaded on the computer login he was using, so we had a brief delay before he began. After learning all about what the king actually does, and the function he actually serves in the constitutional monarchy, we got a guided tour of the grand King and Queen's apartment. The rooms were astounding. The castle, originally built in the early 1100s, but has since been burned down and re-built, has a Versailles style to it, that is to say that it's basically symmetrical down to the detail, and guilded down to the last detail. Big reception rooms, guard rooms, dining halls, even rooms where the King used to change in front of an audience; the opulence and quality of it all was overwhelming. All of the decoration told a story too; for instance, the king's bedroom featured a spring theme, following the story of Alexander the Great's exploits and life, with things adorning the walls and ceiling frame that 'fell out' of the painting. Although mostly unused for official royal affairs, it was interesting to hear that the dancing room had been used during the millennium celebration and was transformed into a modern dance club. Again, there is so much more to tell, but the time is not with me to do so. Following the changing of the guard (see movie below), we had a break for lunch.

Following lunch, we got quite an amazing tour of the Swedish academy. Only a maximum of 18 people can be members of the Swedish academy, and their responsibilities are many: preserving and developing the Swedish language, translating literature into Swedish, but probably most notably, awarding the Nobel prize in Literature. We were explained the long and complicated process for selecting a winner, but I was blown away by the continual nature of it. Apparently, as soon as the winner is announced, they begin to send out letters seeking recommendations for the next year's winner. Don't think you can send your own in though- only a select few can get the Academy's authorization to present a nomination. Not even Venezuela's parliament has been successful in nominating an author. We got to see the famous door through which the permanent secretary announces the winner each year, sit in the chairs the academy sits in when they make decisions, and also walk through the library, which featured many pictures of past winners (which is where those pictures of random people have been coming from).

The day was not nearly done: we still had the tour of the old church to go. Probably the most recognizable person we met all day (at Gustavus especially), Åke Bonnier, Dean of the Cathedral, gave us the grand tour. Now, if that name is familiar, it might be because Åke Bonnier has recently joined the board at Gustavus. He is currently being considered for the Bishop of the Church of Sweden. The church itself is a historical one, with records showing its existence for over 700 years. The art on the inside comes from the 15th-18th century, and includes some two-story tall depictions of heaven and hell saved from the burning castle in 1697. Their are various tombstones, some as historic as Gustav II Adolf, and a massive organ to boot. After the tour of the inside, we bravely climbed the steeple with stairs of brick and wood from a very long time ago. We passed under the huge church bells (they rang while we were at the top of the tower) and through a rather odd scene from a smithy that used to reside at the top of the church spire. Once we climbed out at the top, the icy wind hit us hard. While I was taking the video below, my hard hat flies off, almost off the roof. Still, the view was amazing, one I expect almost no Swedes have seen. We could see out over the river to our boat, the Riksdag proper, basically any and all historical buildings and monuments around the center of Stockholm. It truly was a sight to behold.

That evening, we made our way to Åke Bonnier's house, where he and his wife had prepared quite the fancy meal for us. We had salmon, couscous salad, chicken, pasta salad, home made bread, brie... too many things to remember! And for dessert, we had the most spectacular chocolate cake ever- it tasted like fudge, tort, moose, chocolaty goodness... yummy! It's been so long since I had food like that, especially chocolate! Coffee featured some family cookies, which were also delicious. Beyond the marvelous dinner, the conversation and stories were really entertaining. The Bonnier family has a very rich history here in Sweden, with historical notables going far back in the family line. The house was also something wonderful in itself, with whimsical paintings from the post-impressionist period, a bronze of Åke's father, and other paintings and pictures from Stockholm and Sweden in general. I'm glad I asked so many questions about the art, because I got to learn a lot about the family's history as well. Today, when I was at the museum of modern art, I looked for the Bonnier name, and found some cubist paintings that had been donated by the family, which were a treat to look at and know a little more behind how they ended up in their current home. After a great night, we all headed back together on the subway, throwing snowballs down at each other made from the newly fallen wet snow.

Well, I'd write about today, but I'm getting quite tired of having to listen to these French men behind me, saying 'look at these stupid americans... Nip-Tuck!' while they are draining a bottle of Jack Daniels. Maybe if they didn't have Marlboro Cigarettes sticking out of their jackets, I'd think of them as making a silly generalization, instead of embodying the stereotypical frenchman (not to mention the irony). You should see their clothes. I went to the Modern Museum of art today, as well as the Nordiska Museum (for only a little while- too much museum-ing, even for me) and I'm looking forward to dinner. Hello to everyone back home! I can tell you, you're lucky to have even a day over 40, even if you're just as cold as we are now. Spring will come soon! Yay!

Woah! That was a fast week...

Back in the land of the internet! Woo-hoo!


After a week of spotty, shotty, expensive internet, I'm back to a free and reliable (if a little slow) connection. That means I can keep updating my blog and responding to e-mails! Isn't that cool?


Today we arrived in Stockholm via train from Uppsala. Our past week at Uppsala has just blown by. Since day one we have been on our feet (and the occasional bus) and in classes, learning about Swedish culinary cuisine, the environment, railroad microbiology, famous Swedish scientists, and other chemistry-related activities. We also spent time at the Gamla Uppsala museum, where this fragment of gold was found inside one of the old queen's burial mounds. It's so tiny, and the level of detail is truly amazing. They say that the goldsmiths who have seen it do not have the capability or expertise to recreate it using methods known to them today, and these mounds were constructed between 400 and 600AD.


Uppsala is a great town with a vibrant city center. This past week was the Bandy tournament finals, so 20,000 extra people were flooding the streets on top of the usual college-aged crowd. However, on the outskirts of the town can take on a distinctly more Iowan flavor. Flat lands with greening fields- it seems exactly like we're back in southern Minnesota. In fact, there have been a few days where I forget entirely that I'm in a foreign country, and it is only after I hear people speaking Swedish that I realize I'm here. Now that I'm in Stockholm, however, I don't think I'll encounter that difficulty.


Yesterday we went to the Linneaus Botanical Gardens in downtown Uppsala, as well as toured the greenhouse and castle nearby. A lot of these flower pictures have been from that visit, as well as some of the more peculiar pictures. Daniel and Julia, our teachers here in Uppsala, did the Titanic pose near the castle, we saw a borg cube that had landed in town, and I directed the cannons to commence fire, only to realize later that they pointed directly at the old church.


One of the coolest parts of the trip to the botanical gardens was seeing a tree that has a very interesting history. Buddha was said to have achieved enlightenment from underneath a tree after sitting there for seven weeks. This tree was well documented and preserved for many generations, until a famous queen took a branch to Sri Lanka in roughly 150BC, the first transplantation of the original tree from India. This branch eventually became it's own tree, which was well documented for thousands of years. A splicing of this tree was taken, and given to the Linneaus Botanical Garden as a gift some years ago, and has now been growing there. It was cool to see the tree, and part of me just wanted to sit under it for the remainder of this trip. If enlightenment is capable for me to achieve, then I doubt me spending the next weeks traveling would interfere too much.


Now that we're in Stockholm, life is going to pick up pace again. We left Uppsala at the same temperature we arrived at, and we also were welcomed into Stockholm by a dramatic shift in weather from sunny to snowy in less than two hours. However, I was able to snap some pictures of things I found interesting before it changed. I found a driftwood bench just sitting there, and I also saw some Swans on the same lake as Af Chapman (the boat we're all sleeping on right in the middle of town). Af Chapman should be a really great place for us to stay; it's in the center of town, and it's really easy to get to the Riksdag and the other interesting places here. So much to do and see, I just want to get out there and search for a place to have dinner!


I took this video just a few minutes ago after it started snowing. Apparently, it's going to be right below freezing for the rest of the week. Good thing I didn't ship my winter things home! I saw an advertisement for Aruba yesterday, and I had second thoughts about spending my spring break in the only more cloudy, hectic, and generally chilly place than here. Only kidding- wishfully I hope I'll be blogging about my surprise dinner with Sir Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart in two weeks.

Uppsala!

Yesterday we arrived at Uppsala, and I can't tell you how nice it is to get a change in scenery. Mora has its stunning points, but Uppsala is an historic town with beautiful architecture and more than a few thousand people. I'll intersperse pictures from our tour of the city center today while I blog.
We came to this place, Sunnersta Herrgård, yesterday around noon after yet another hectic train ride. 14 travelers, each has at least three bags, and somehow we all have to get on, store our luggage, and deboard trains within a reasonable amount of time. We managed to cram us, two extra people, and our baggage into three vans, which in itself in an accomplishment. This place we're staying at is a converted mansion right on the river, which looks remarkably like a plantation. Although it can be kind of creepy at night, we here it's rather beautiful in the summer. The area around here, which I got to explore a little yesterday, is south of the city itself, but is very quaintly Swedish. With walking and biking paths everywhere around here, I think that in the little free time I will have over the next few days, I will be able to see a lot of the surronding area.

Today we got to go to an Innebandie game, and cheered on our professor here, Daniel. He and his wife Julia ment us in Mora, and now are leading our science course while we're here in Uppsala and when we visit Jonköping. He usually doesn't play goalie, but he drew the short stick today when their goalie didn't show. I took about 10 minutes of video, but here's a clip of Daniel saving a goal, and a little bit of the action afterward. Sorry if the camera angle is a little choppy!



Afterwards, we took the bus down to the city center and Daniel and Julia took us on a little tour of the city. Uppsala itself is fairly easily navagateable; there is the Cathedral that you can see from basically anywhere, and then the river that runs straight through the city. The buildings are very European, in stark contrast to the little Swedish cottages that speckled the countryside all across Darlana.

Probably the most stunning building in Uppsala is the Domkyrka, the cathedral. Construction ofthe cathedral began in the mid-13th century, but wasn't completed until 1435. The most stunning feature of the inside is probably the massive ceiling, which I've tried to capture on camera. It's very ornate and detailed, with various depections of Saints and biblical scenes throught the entire Cathedral. there are two large organs (and one 'smaller' organ as well) and plenty of pews. Around the edge of the cathedral there are many smaller rooms, some of which house little chapels, others house remains, and some contain huge monuments to various famous people. The largest, in the back of the Cathedral, houses Gustav Vasa's remains, as well as some of his closest cohorts, in a stone tomb. Portraits from critical moments in his life were painted around it; one of them was his speech to the people at Mora, which I thought was pretty sweet to see having just come from that very sight myself. There were many people interred at the church as well, including many saints, but most notably, Carl Linneaus, the famous botanist who is also the same Carl Linneaus that the arboretum at Gustavus is named after. The same bust that resides in the Arb of Linneaus has a second copy at the botanical gardens here in Uppsala, which we will go see next Monday. The whole area is quite historical, with science building right across the street from the Uppsala university, as well as rune stones they keep digging up from under the Cathedral. We also saw Uppala University's Old Main, which looks quite Venician in style and overlooks the center of the city.

I also have a couple other pictures I should explain here. Firstly, as in Umeå, bikes seem to be the preferred method of commuting here. Around the train station there were literally acres of bikes in parking lots and streets. People do bike, even if the streets are a mix of ice and slush this time of year. Also, I was hiking around the river at dusk yesterday and found my new gym set.

We have rather spotty internet here, and on top of that, we have to pay for it, so I won't be online as much as I would otherwise be. It's a slow connection too, so although I want to upload more videos and pictures, the time is not quite available to do so. I think we're going to have a really fun week, and I'm so excited to be here.

More More Mora

I've been told to update my blog, so here I go...

This past week, we've done a lot of interesting things, but perhaps they were not all interesting from a photographic perspective. I can't take a picture of a politics lecture, or of an interesting Swedish conversation, or friendships and expect the picture to convey what the moment felt to me. However, I have done some fairly interesting things you can take pictures of as well this week. Also, I apologize in advance; my 'v' key is quite unresponsive and I can tell now I might get annoyed of jamming it down every time.

We've gotten to know a lot more of the school this week, as well as the people that take classes here. The folk school system is not really that present in the US, and very expensive where it is. Here, the education is free to Swedish citizens, and is far less structured than in universities or high schools. They study things like writing, crafting, woodworking, and even skiing, but do so without grades. I got to widdle myself a knife this week (not worth taking a picture of), but the cooler part was watching the instructor and students make table legs, boxes, and long pine horns (an instrument). There were also sewing crafts where some people make pillows, and someone even made a belt. We also got to sit in on an advanced English class and have some good discussions about 'hot-button' issues here in Sweden. We talked about Sweden legalizing gay marriage on May 1st, the role of the Church of Sweden in both historical and contemporary contexts, religion in general, the environment, money and success--you can probably tell that this was a really advanced English class. Usually students begin when they are 6 or 7 years old, so they have been exposed to the language for over 10 years, but still I was impressed by not only their command of the English language but also their grasp of global and local issues.

We also had some excursions off campus this week. On Thursday we went tracking with a few faculty members about 20km outside Mora. We first stopped at a village that is mostly deserted in the winter, which is historically used to graze animals for people living in Mora during the summer. Some of the houses are 500 to 600 years old, and there are still elements of Pagan religion incorporated in some of the architecture. We got to ski as well using some of the forest skis, built to 'blaze your own trail.' An older man asked me in Swedish if I was already training for the next Vasaloppet, to which I tried to respond with "I'm just coming back a week late" but may have accidentally said "I came (to Mora) a week late," meaning that I had missed it, because he stopped chuckling after my attempt at humor. All the houses and sheds were still very well kept and decorated, even though basically no one lives there in the winter. We even made hot dogs over an open flame, and a little snowball fight broke out.

Wednesday we went to Nusnas, where all the Darlana horses are constructed. You may recognize them as the Swedish horse- a red-orange horse with blue or green pattern saddle and bridle with lots of colors and a distinctively Swedish painting style using two colors on one brush. We got to take a tour of the whole factory: the band saws, the carvers, the sanders, and the painters all in one complex. We also got to see and learn a lot about older Darlana horses. This picture is of different horses from different eras, one from the late 1700s (the one with no front legs). They say they chose the horse because that was the animal used on the farms and for getting around, and originally (and still sometimes are) they were built as toys for children. Apparently, they're referenced in texts back to the mid-17th century. This particular factory had this wonderful picture of Bill Clinton with a Darlana horse on his desk, which I thought was great. You can even see the folders of 'requires Presidential action' on Clinton's desk. There were plently of horses in the gift shop, some black, blue, white, large, small, larger, smaller... but there were also moose, cows, and many other animals painted in the traditional Darlana style. Outside of these animals, they had shirts, handicraft items, Mora knives, baskets, and even some more 'inappropriate' gifts that you can only probably find in Sweden. The translation for this particular one means 'his/her best feature':


Friday, outside of having our English class, we also got invited to a street dancing class, taught by one of the students at the folk school. It was really fun and brought me back to my time learning dances back in high school for theater, and I was really thanking my years at Danish folk school camp for teaching me how to remember dance steps, because we were doing some very challenging stuff.

Today a group of us went out and did some cross-country skiing. I took some video of me going down a hill, and I apologize but I don't know how to right the camera angle so this one might get a little confusing to watch. I invented some of my own skiing styles, like sitting down on your skis while going down steep hills that turn to quickly, how not to enter tracks while going quicly downhill, and how to walk up steep slopes when your skis have iced up. I had a lot of fun. I'll probably go back tonight because the tracks are lit at night, and maybe tomorrow again. That's all for this week; I'll try to take some good pictures again this last week in Mora!

A big post for a big race

Today was the Vasaloppet race here in Mora! There have been other races and events all week long, but today is the big one: 90km of classical cross country skiing. I have seen a few of the races this week (at least, the finish) but none remotely compare to the size of today's crowds and media coverage. With three helicopters buzzing above, TV cameras at every turn, and even little GPS chips for each racer, it was quite the experience to be a part of. The first place finisher (Daniel Thynell, 4:10:55, Swedish) came in right after noon, and there was a lot of cheering and clapping as they flew through town and under the arch at the end of the race. People didn't immediately thin out, however. The first woman finisher came only about 30 minutes later, and everyone cheered her on loudly as well. Gustav Vasa was there too (left)! I'm thinking about going back before dinner tonight to cheer on the people who have been racing since 8:00, because I know I couldn't finish this race before the sun went down myself. Still, after seeing so many skiers today, it really makes me want to try it, even though I have basically no experience.

But, as I said, the big Vasaloppet isn't the only race that goes on here during Vasaloppsveckan. Our professor Roland has completed two races in Mora, one last friday, and the halv-vasa (45km) two days ago. When he was coming into town, we all cheered him on, and as he approached us had a little 'spill.' He was fine; it was quite the memorable moment for all of us watching. My video below starts just as he's getting up, and then we give him a wreath, and he finishes the race. Two other things were funny at this point too: firstly, we had gotten everyone around us to cheer for Roland (even the Danes across the way) but also we realized that our 63-year old professor raced two long distance ski races this week, while we young college kids probably couldn't without hurting ourselves.

Yesterday, one of the students on this trip who has been to Darlana before scored us some innebandy tickets for a group of us to watch the Mora woman's team. They have some of the best professional clubs in Sweden around here, and it was great to see the game we've been playing with students in both Jokkmokk and Mora played by people who actually know what they're doing. The game is like a cross between hockey and soccer, and has 3 20-minute periods. It's hard to follow on video because the ball is small and is passed around quickly,but I tried my best to show a little clip of the action. Final score: 9-5; Mora lost.

On Wednesday, we had a huge trip around Darlana to learn more about the art culture and history of the region. Jordi Arko, a local artist, gave us a tour of Falun's copper mine, Darlanas museum (also in Falun), and his "The Red Orm" tapestry, which is the longest tapestry in the world that depicts the titled folk story. The mine, which funded the town for many hundreds of years, was what Falun was originally founded upon, but has since moved to be the cultural and industrial hub of Darlana. It was interesting to see the big pit where most of the copper was originally taken from (movie below).

Next we went to the museum, where there were many examples of Darlana's unique clothing and artwork. Many people think of Darlana as the "heart of Sweden," meaning that this region is the most traditional. The dress is very 'Swedish,' and who hasn't ever heard of or at least seen the Darlana Horses. We even saw an example of Southern Sami dress from the region, which was pretty sweet to know more about than our guide. Outside of clothing and jewelry, there was a large historical exhibition with artifacts from the late 1400s all the way up to today of things produced in Darlana, including big printing presses, photographs, an old car, wardrobes, and yes, Darlana horses. There was also some more 'modern' things there, like an artist's creative interpretation of the Darlana-horse style extrapolated to the whole animal kingdom, which was cute. There was also some older artifacts of the Norse language, like that stone with carved markings. I don't know what they say, but they're old. There was also an art gallery attached to the museum, and it featured works of both printers and a new show by 11 local female artists. Personally, I don't quite like the contemporary style, so I wasn't taken away by frosted-glass portraits and paintings, nor large tapestries with colorful designs but without pattern, but the printing exhibit was really interesting because not only were the prints nice on their own, you could also see how someone changes their template to achieve a more detailed/ accurate/ styled final product.

After Darlanas museum, we went to a warehouse where "The Red Orm" tapestry is held these days (it's resided all over the world since it's completion in 1991). Jordi Arko worked on it with a team of seamstresses to design a representation of a folk tale basically every Swede knows in a more abstract fashion, so as to not ruin the 'mental images' for them. He also made an accompanying illustration for the book itself: a hefty two-part boxed item that is filled with double- and tri- (and the occasional quad-) fold pictures in varying styles. Usually I don't think that artists can represent well other styles of art, but I was really surprised by the quality of his work. One in particular, the Viking longboat at sea, done in a Japanese style, really caught my eye. He said he put some of his old professors and friends in there as Vikings, which I thought was funny. I really enjoyed his talk and he certainly knew his stuff; he seemed to know plenty not only about the arts and culture of Darlana, but how to relate it to other places and times.

We also had an opportunity to meet a Nobel Laureate from Minnesota, Peter Agre, who won the prise for chemistry in 2003. Although we could understand only the basics of his discovery, he was a very interesting person outside of the strictly scientific sense. He runs a malaria lab in Zambia, works with a few universities, but focuses his time mostly on human rights activities throughout the world. His brother, Jim, was the house father for one of the students on this trip when he came to Sweden a few years ago, and both Jim and Peter skied the Vasaloppet today, even though both are over 60.

This clock was at the museum, and until they can but all this on a watch (year, month, temperature, hours, minutes, seconds, and some things I can't understand) I will never be satisfied.

One last thing to mention- I dyed my hair black the other day, just to do it. Now it's time to do some Sunday cleaning and washing! Happy March!