Sailing!

This is a replica viking boat on the high seas, it can be rented from the historical museum. Sven, one of the swedes in our program, coordinated a sailing trip a few weekends past. It was good fun, and the winds are always blowing in Karlskrona. He also volunteered his motor boat for various logistical/towing duties. Thanks Sven!

Here is the ship preparing for its tow out of port.

A view of Salto island, which is connected to Trosso by 3 bridges.

I was not actually on the viking ship, instead electing to crew a two man dinghy with three men. Myself, Simon, and Elvio set out, with me in the role of captain. Although my sailing experience is relegated solely to the time I have spent on Captain Curran's 30ft sail boat serving chiefly as head cocktail mixer and occasional first mate, I had confidence as we set course for open water. As you can see from this picture we did indeed eventually make it to the fort on Apso island. However, I can tell you for certain that a nine foot dinghy with three incompetent sailors is vastly different that a larger, more stable vessel with a credible captain at the helm. Regardless, the reports of capsizing were false. The mast may have touched the water, yes, but bottom line we made it to our destination and also managed to complete a few tacks that did not kill all momentum and/or spin the boat 270 degrees.

Elvio, from Brazil, was on his first sailing voyage, and took to it so well he was promoted to captain after some initial tacking miscues necessitated a reorganization of the crew.

Simon, from the UK, clearly enjoyed himself. After a couple more incidents in the early going he was eventually promoted to captain, and kept that rank till he abandon ship at port, having lost patience with our extended maneuvering to dock the boat.

And this inglorious shot may be the last one posted for a spell. My camera seems inexorably drawn to the sea, and again it fell into the water while docking. While I thought I had taken much better care to prepare this time around, the baggy I choose to protect my camera was not as sturdy as it appeared, and once again the camera was dunked. Now it is functioning but only just barely, and it is a bit of a Rube Goldberg process to take photos with it. I will evaluate my options and hopefully begin posting more photos soon.
Also, many of you have asked for more info as to what we are actually studying over here. I will endeavor to post soon about the program and related sustainability issues. Stay tuned!

Frightening Things

While generally a wholesome and friendly place, there are nonetheless some things in Sweden that are Terrifying. This is an ad for Bling Teeth, seen at the supermarket in those machines that sell gum and candy and baubles. For ten kroner your child can not only pretend to have a grill, but double the size of their forehead.

At the grocery store near my house, they also sell a range of household items, a few clothes, and this, a singing T-rex. There is a motion sensor that can be set to turn it on so that the dinosaur begins to roar and sing when someone approaches it. Due to the horrible speaker quality and perhaps weak batteries, it sounds instead like he is trying to communicate in a strange language while sobbing. It is an item that is disturbing not just in and of itself, but because there are so many on the shelf, suggesting actual demand for such a thing.

Here is an implement from our kitchen. I have been unable to discover its actual purpose, besides looking sinister.

This little device is not frightening at all, but just a complete mystery. While several of the items in the drawers of our kitchen are strange and/or ancient, most have a discernable use. But we haven't been able to even formulate a hypothesis for this one. If anyone has pertinent info, please advise.

So You Think Swedes Can Dance

Hard to believe, but the oddest thing in this clip is actually the music. It's not Vanilla Ice. It is a cover done by some artist who wanted to stay as faithful as possible but take some of the edge off of the original tune. In this light the choreography captured here is in fact a remarkable tribute. If you think my town ain't got no soul, you haven't been downtown at 2pm on a Saturday.

Scenes from Karlskrona

Trosso is the name of island that contains "Downtown Kralskrona". It's all cobblestone streets and quaint little shoppes, as well as a remarkable concentration of salons and barber shops. Pictured here is the main city square, with the statue of a someone who I've been meaning to learn about. I will ask and follow up some point. He is certainly nautical, as the city has a long Naval history and gained its UNESCO world heritage designation because of it's preserved forts, armories, and other maritime notables. There are still lots of military and sailors in uniform around town; I will try to photograph them.

Here is the island of Dragso, which hosts a camp ground, nature trails, and many quaint cottages that seem to be summer retreats/second homes. There is also ANOTHER floating sauna off the shore as well, though I continue to be frustrated at every turn in my attempts to access these engineering marvels.

Cobblestones: great for atmosphere, poor for biking.

The central square with a farmer's market every weekend plus Wednesdays. It closes in the winter, but this fellow looked me level in the eye and said "I will always be here." I considered the possibility that his limited command of english may have caused such a dramatic declaration, but his tone and cadence told me he knew exactly what he was saying. He is now my exclusive provider of eggs.

*Many of the older folks don't have the English capacity of the under 30 crowd. Young people all speak perfect english and thus make it nearly impossible to even try learning Swedish. Any Swedish I speak aside from "tack" (thanks) is greeted instantly with more chipper and enunciated English than I ever hear at home. I could study daily and still never get past round one in a conversation...

This is the view from one of my classrooms. It can be hard to stay focused. There are coots, loons, ducks, and geese everywhere, and they all outnumber the gulls much to my surprise.

CPH

Copenhagen is my new favorite city. The whole place is just as picturesque as this scene from Nyhaven.

Lauren came to visit, and we had lots of laughs.

The view coming over the bridge from Sweden to Denmark.

The bike culture in Copenhagen is fantastic. Not just because there are dedicated bike lanes everywhere, 39% of the workforce commutes by bike, and the city is essentially flat. It's also because the drivers are so aware of bikers, giving them right of way in almost every circumstance. Very refreshing. Also, most of the drivers are also bikers at some point in their transportation lives. Downtown at 10pm on a Friday night, there were masses of people out, and no traffic. I even saw a parking space sit open for 15 minutes.

The "free city" of Christiania is a social experiment that has been going on since the 70's when the old military barracks were occupied by squatters. Now, it's a self governing, consensus based community that features communal living, amazing alternative architecture, and a robust open hash market. Interesting place with an interesting story. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania if you're curious.

More photos to follow...

Going Public

We saw many remarkable things at the Louisiana Modern Art Gallery north of the Copenhagen, but this glass box was arguably the coolest. In the middle of an intersection of pathways between the sculpture park and the museum, it's situated on the path so that people amble by and look at their reflections.

It's a WC.

It's also made entirely of one way glass, so that you can finally pee in public without fear of judgment or reprisal.

Chessmaster

This is Tuna, one of my classmates from Turkey. He is a great fellow. We discovered a mutual interest in chess when Tuna mentioned he "used to play a bit." It soon became clear that he was a great player but just a bit rusty. Our first games were close, but I could sense that my window for victories would only be open until he got his sea legs back. Indeed our first several matches were thrilling and down to the wire, and I was proud of my 1-2 record. Now I stand at somewhere around 1-11, not that anyone is really keeping track. I am hoping that after a few more wins he'll become complacent and I'll have a shot at victory #2.