The Return to Uppsala

I went to the cathedral today. I did not really have a reason to go there because I had taken all the necessary tourist-photos of the beautiful windows and paintings a while ago. I sat down and followed the group of tourists slowly wandering through the church aisles. I am in no rush. I am not sure ...

A Month at a Time

Mid-February has arrived like a thief in the night. To think back about New Year’s resolutions, not to mention executing them, now feels almost ridiculous. How many gyms that were full during the initial weeks of January are now almost empty, how many sweet strikes have failed and how many times the...

The last week is like an endless chain of goodbyes. Farewell cards, hugs, plans about next times we meet - daily. The last day goes by in a rush. Suitcases move from one place to another, the door to my room closes for one last time. The bus follows the same familiar route through the city and I sti...

The Moment Strikes

It is time for the first farewell-party and all of the surprise guests push towards the blind corner of the room in order to surprise the unsuspecting person soon to be leaving. The echoes of the joyful screams bear melancholy and we have all now reach the point we thought would still take a long wh...

Of the Unbearable Lightness of Giving up

There is a bookshelf in the common dining area of the shared apartment. It’s slanting and unsophisticated, full of items. Half-burnt candles, dirty flowerpots, a bottle of deodorant someone has used. It is like a black hole of used things and it keeps drawing things towards itself without anyone not...

Dare yourself!

The safest and most familiar dish on the menu is a hamburger. They are universal. They work everywhere. That’s a good starting point. I place my order and start waiting. Slowly a thought creeps into my head: if burgers are universal and work everywhere, aren’t they also pretty much all the same ever...

Language Barriers

The taxi driver curves to the drive yard and asks me something. ‘I do not know’ is my response. In reality I have no idea what he is asking. Eventually he stops the car right in front of the main door of the building and I pay him without saying pretty much anything. He gets back to his car after le...