Öut and Äbout in Östersund

 I tell everyone that I chose this particular city halfway up the length of Sweden for the program that I'm following at the university here; not for the amazing terrain, scenery, and nature which I also experience here. Secretly, and inadvertently, I really chose it for the latter trait. Here are a few of my more recent adventures in this fine Jamtland County:

View from the top of Frösön. 

Overlooking downtown Östersund stands Frösön Island, which towers 580 feet above the lakefront. (as you can see, one great view!) It's the town ski hill, mountain bike course, and largest park. In the old Norse mythology, it's the home of Frö, god of fertility, summer, and good fortune. Among other things, the island is home to the northernmost runestone in the world, one of the oldest churches in Scandinavia, rolling countryside hills, and an ice cave. I live just 20 minutes by bike from this spectacular destination! 

In short, the runestone explains that Jamtland was Christianized in the 11th century by an someone "from the east", who also built a bridge to the island from the mainland. The stone was accidentally cracked in the 70s when the city built the highway bridge you can see in the background.

Typical Frösö countryside with the old church and mountains in the background. (neither of these two are my pictures, which are so low quality I can't bring myself to include them here)

The base of the ski slope; which has three runs and around 300 feet of vertical drop. 

The entrance to Frösö ice cave! It goes back about 300 feet and makes a big loop. The sign was in Swedish and blunt: "Do not enter the cave alone, you may become trapped." (Of course I brought friends along) Hence the name it was very cold and muddy- think of crawling on your belly through dirt and following a rope around boulders. This is my sort of adventure!

Also near Östersund is the Tysjöarna nature reserve, a giant calcareous wetland known for birdwatching and its many kilometers of boardwalks. I've been hiking here once last week and camping with 15 other international students once as well. (it was slow going but a fun trip!) 

I was shocked at the effort it must take to put in four miles of boardwalk life this around the lake. A five-star hike in my book!

A rare frog? Some passing Swedes were very interested in it. The lakes sit about three miles outside Östersund proper and six from my place, so it was a long trip my bike and then by foot with heavy packs. I had a hammock to sleep in which may be my new go-to for camping.

We had a nice sunset too! At right, Adam, Seb, and Tobi guard the fire. 

There are all sorts of shelters like these around the forest, complete with axe, firewood, kindling, tinder, and hot pads for all your cooking needs. Most of us had brough tents but wound up sleeping on the floor of an old barn back in the woods- the sort of thing that you can do in Sweden!

It wasn't cold but it was far from warm on this trip. We stayed one night and it got down to the low 40s Fahrenheit. I slept well enough, and of course now smell perpetually like woodsmoke. 

With the weather quickly turning colder there won't be many more opportunities to get out and camp like this. Already as I write this it's blustery and around 40 degrees... fall is here and it's fleeting! In two weeks we're going on excursion to the mountains along the Norwegian border, which promises to be either spectacular, freezing cold and wet, or both. Until then! 

Roads like this begin just outside the city limits and go on forever. While I was out exploring the other day, I stumbled across a military training center; where Swedish troops evidently learn to cross-country ski and survive in the forest. It's a strange sight to suddenly see dozens of army-green figures crawling and shouting around in the bushes!

The Raft

 As I've alluded to for the past couple of posts, it has been the intro week here in Östersund for the past two weeks now. I can't help but say I'm glad for it to be over; it takes quite a lot of mental and physical energy to get out and do mass activities each night. So hopefully there will be some more spare time for camping, hiking, and other such Aaron-esque activities. 

The grand finale of the week was the fabled raft-race on Saturday morning. Each student section was made to build a raft exclusively out of found materials and as much duct tape as they could buy. We in the IC waited until the very last minute to build ours- which was at best out of necessity and at worst a terrible mistake. So most of the afternoon on Friday was spent sawing up shipping pallets and wrapping them in a black plastic landscaping tarp we dragged back from the dump. 

We built the whole raft in just under four hours with no plan, one saw, two hammers, and a handful of nails. Most of our buoyancy was from old life jackets and the inner tube from a tractor tire. 

We (I) also tried surstromming, or "sour herring", which is fermented and preserved in brine. On the right you can see it on my porch- it smells too bad to be opened inside. The ideal way is to crack the can in a bucket of water far from other humans. Notorious for being one of the world's most disgusting foods, I found that it wasn't actually that bad, after a few pieces. The smell is like Munster cheese with a strong fishy lilt and it's really salty, but with a pleasant umami taste. 

The traditional way to have it is on flat bread with potatoes, sour cream, red onions, and dill, example above. Treated as a condiment, it's really quite good. I'd bought a can since it was on the list for the intro week point-hunt but people kept chickening out when I proposed we try it. In the end only four of us tasted it... so, this doesn't live up to the hype at all. 

This shirt would be well received here. 

So, back to the raft race. It was hardly a warm day and quite windy too- waves would prove to be our undoing. The jokes about our floating coffin and Davy Jones' Locker flowed all morning. In a twist of irony it was "safety day" down at the lakefront, a sort of emergency vehicle fair for the region, the kind I'd have loved circa 2011. (in our haste, there were few pictures taken...) 

This ugly beast on the shopping carts is the "raft". 

This did mean that the coast guard was on duty to rescue the several people who had fallen overboard. And our raft, incredibly, floated well for about 100 yards before capsizing in heavy surf. Despite this (and being blown another 200 yards to Frösön Island) we were still technically classified fourth of seven teams. Ours and the SEKSIN raft were blown off course and one, the craft build by the tourism managers, sank immediately. 

This was the SmartSek boat, built by the engineering students. Unsurprisingly they continued their three-year winning streak with this mainly Styrofoam and duct tape contraption. 

Perhaps the most important lesson to be gleaned from all this is that planning, no matter how minimal, is key to success. Considering the extremely low effort that was put into this raft it's a miracle it went as far as it did. Now it rests in a dumpster down by the lakeshore, having at least captivated a few hundred students for an instant. What a project this was...

Overalls

 At Mid-Sweden University student life is, shall we say, much more developed than it is back at the HZ in Middelburg. The Student Union is a huge deal and actually has a lot of power. "Ja, without students, then there is no university!" they told us. Without us, no work for the professors, and without the professors, no degrees for us students. 

Building a sculpture in five minutes as part of an intro week challenge.

The students are all grouped into sections, of which we have six here: 

 

SOA, sociology.

SmartSek, civil, environmental, and mechanical engineering.

Seksin, nursing.

Mittpsykologerna, psychology.

Spark, risk and crisis management.

and Stek, tourism, economics, and law. 

All of these have great logos, chants, traditions, and their own page on the student union website if you're curious to learn more about them. But as an international student, I'm lumped in with the IC, the imaginatively named "International Committee", which is treated just like a student section but for English-speakers. 

Atop all this student union membership we're also strongly encouraged to get ourselves student overalls, or ovves in the local dialect. These are regular work-overalls, like those a plumber might wear, but for us it's a sort of uniform. They're all color-coordinated by section, in my case cornflower blue. (we had to dye them ourselves and that's a whole other can of worms...) 

Me in my freshly dyed ovves at a section dinner. We also have to stitch patches onto these, some mandatory but the rest at our discretion. This takes extreme patience...

This week (and last week too!) have been full of intro day tomfoolery. Essentially, we all gather each night at the university, dressed in our overalls, and go do something. So far, we've had a sports day, a city tour, barbecues, scavenger hunts, and challenges versus the other sections. These two weeks of chaos (to keep us busy, and in my case from roaming around the lakes and forests) end on Friday with a raft-race on the big lake, Storsjön. 

Roaming about the city center on some quest and painting a banner to be hung in the student union. (and judged for the point hunt) 

They keep track of the gainers and losers this week by a point system, and the section with the most points at the end of these two weeks wins... something. I'm hopefully that it'll be worthwhile! So far the IC has been doing pretty well, but who knows what the Swedes have been up to. 

Activities on the studentplan and a coffee break with neighbors Seb (Ireland) and Stefano (Italy)

Of course, there are also strict rules for what you can and can't do with the overalls. 

For students that have them, they're required at all student-events unless otherwise indicated. (with great ridicule should you forget them) 

You're not allowed to wash them unless they have unwanted bodily fluids on them. For cleaning, only swimming in the lake is allowed. 

You can trade parts (arms, legs, pockets, etc) with friends from other programs. A swapped pocket indicates that you're in a relationship. If you switch programs, you can go half-and-half with the colors. 

As new students we're required to wear ours fully buttoned until the end of the intro week, after which we can wear them around our waist or as we like. (we're penalized in the point hunt if we're caught breaking these rules!) 

Friends are allowed to write whatever they like on them, at your discretion during the intro week and when and wherever they like afterwards. So long as they're not caught. 

I'm told that the tradition originated in Uppsala in the 1960s as a means of making student organizations more equal and inclusive. (rest assured, there's none of the toxic vibes and initiations like you might find in American schools) Now these overalls are common across Sweden and Finland, and possibly at a few universities in Canada too. I'd happily spread it around the world! 

We had a nice international potluck on September 9th. (not in honor of my birthday but it was definitely a catalyst for the event!) And a few of the patches which I've since sewed on. I have the SmartSek one because I'm also studying Environmental Engineering. And it looks cool.

Till Sverige

 The blog continues! Though I need to think of a new name for it, as we've relocated from the Low Countries to the high north: my year abroad at Mid-Sweden University in Östersund, Sweden kicked off this week. 

Translation: "Welcome All Students!" 

As for my summer, I won't go into too much detail as this blog is meant to be interesting. I worked as a delivery driver, saw friends, went camping a lot, and relaxed. While I'll always call Saint Peter home in my heart, it feels less and less familiar each year. Which also makes going back there more interesting, since there's so many new things to see and do! 

The garden, where I spent most of my free time. 

Camping near Decorah, IA, after floating down the Upper Iowa River.

Of course the first priority is always to eat some good food upon returning to the US!

Dad and Oliver at the SPAM Museum. Which is a superb stop; but mostly full of SPAM-propaganda. 

We also went to the BWCA for a few days and a couple of Twins games. Getting in all the typical-American activities while I can!

All this aside, you readers must be curious about Östersund. It's a city of 50,000 located 350 miles north of Stockholm. Sweden is a deceptively large country- I drove up here with both parents and it's about six hours, without stops. Or towns for that matter! 90% of Swedes live in the southern third of their country. We're out in the boondocks up here.  

Östersund is circled in red. We're pretty close to Trondheim, Norway. In the middle of Sweden, hence the name Mid-Sweden University. 

I'm staying at the city campground, which despite the name is actually full of cozy little cabins nearby a small lake. It's something of an international village, and my neighbors so far hail from Ireland, France, Italy, and Germany. We've gone swimming in exceptionally cold water almost every day- going local! 

The mess of moving in... I have 25 square meters to myself, 270 square feet. No roommates this year, I've learned my lesson. 

The cost of living is notoriously high here, but that's mostly offset by the low housing prices. 

Against all odds, I actually have distant relatives nearby! Lena, Markus, and sons Olle and Nils live on a farm six miles south of the city. (Lena is a third cousin to my Mom, I have no idea what my relation would be then) They are very kind people, having had us over for a three hour long fika. I've already been asked to come help with the potato harvest later this month. 

We did do a group picture with the relatives but I won't share it here for their privacy. Fika is the hallowed Swedish tradition of coffee breaks. Typically with a kaneelbollar, a cinnamon bun. Seen above is the best spot I know in Östersund, where I went with my neighbors from Germany this week. 

If you're feeling generous, you can donate via "Buy Me A Coffee" (the link is also on the upper right side of this page) I can confirm that any funds will almost certainly be used to buy coffee: Sweden drinks a ton. Only Finland, and unsurprisingly, Holland have them beat. 

So, that's the short version of my chaotic move to Sweden. I've certainly forgotten all sorts of details, so if you have any questions, ask away in the comments. It's been a lot for me to remember, let alone commentate on. But I find myself enjoying this blog very much as I write it. (though not when thinking about maintaining it... what a dilemma!) For now, the plan will be to do the next post on student life and the ongoing introweek here at Mittuniversitet. Until then! 

Mid-Sweden has a proper campus, much like an American university. This is the studentplan, or main square, where most mischief occurs. 

Lillsjon, the lake near my house. That water isn't getting any warmer! 

A teaser for the introweek. The new students have all sorts of "tasks" to complete upon joining the student union. And berries, which are everywhere in the forests here. My freezer is already full!

Tot ziens to Middelburg

 After two years of slacking, study, struggle, and success, my time in Middelburg is coming to an end. (for now at least! I'll be away for 14 months as I pursue a minor at Mid-Sweden University in the eponymous country) But this is all for the future, what on earth have I been up to in more recent periods? 

May as well break the rules a bit since I'm moving out! The view from the roof of my building at night. 

Moving! Everything I have to my name in Middelburg had to be transported three kilometers out to a self-storage box on the edge of town, by bike and on my back. It took me a week doing one trip per day- hard work too. Books were especially tough: both heavy and delicate. The pictures below do no justice to the difficulty of handling an overloaded bike, with bag haphazardly strapped to it: 

Everything just about fits in the storage! 

The very last trips were completed on June 20th; that evening I took the train to Amsterdam and in the morning I boarded a flight back to the US. With a heavy heart I said goodbye to Holland and prepared for my next adventure in the far north. Next stop, Sweden! 

It's my tradition to eat at this really terrible cafe in Schiphol- "Taste of Holland", which is to say quite bland. Maybe I should re-evaluate this habit... 

On the water at 6:00 AM in Amsterdam. I stayed on the north side of town this time and it did not disappoint! The ferry across the river is free and frequent. And as you can see, this post was made with a delay of three months. Summer is hardly a time to work behind a laptop!