This week's activities kicked off on Monday in the Eastern European time zone with...
a rowing escapade on lake Tuomiojärvi. Katie and I hosted some friends from the university (who are visiting for the fall term). One sure way to keep warm is to row, row, row a boat or wear Patagonia thermal. (Thank you Hanna!! It kept me super warm. :) )
Winter has officially arrived.
Winter has officially arrived.
Tuesday I started for the south of Finland...
to visit the LDS temple in Helsinki. It was the first time I realized that the temple is built upon a rock. "The wise man built his house upon a rock," were the familiar words that came to mind. That, and, "Just a generation ago you'd have to travel to Salt Lake City to attend the temple." I love that there are several temples in the Eastern European time zone!
(I met one of the Finnish-English translators for the LDS church in the temple, incidentally. How awesome is that?! She earned her MA in speech communications from ... the University of Jyvaskyla!!
There was just one other person staying in the guest house that night: Anna.
Meeting her was yet another reminder that my life is guided and directed in very simple and seemingly inconsequential ways.)
Meeting her was yet another reminder that my life is guided and directed in very simple and seemingly inconsequential ways.)
Wed. morning I hopped a time zone by plane...
and then a train. Here, as one can clearly read, two colleagues and I found ourselves in a 'quiet car' as we crossed the Öresund bridge from Copenhagen (Denmark) to Lund (Sweden): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%98resund_Bridge.
It wasn't this sign that tipped us off to this being a quiet car, though. It was the abrupt, loud announcement from a fellow passenger who brought this minor detail to our attention.
It wasn't this sign that tipped us off to this being a quiet car, though. It was the abrupt, loud announcement from a fellow passenger who brought this minor detail to our attention.
From the train station we took a cab to...
Lund University for a three day seminar (Tracing our Intellectual Roots Across the Language Disciplines) that brought scholars, PhD students, and postdocs together from across Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. Dr. Hult gave the first keynote talk. I was asked to introduce him. (How's that for equal parts awesome and intimidating?!) As we walked up the 3 flights of stairs to room H435, I realized that this seminar was being held in the same room where I gave a talk last October to a group of researchers, community activists, and educators on language planning in deaf education. At that talk, I was introduced by none other than...Dr. Hult. It was really special to be back in the exact same physical location, only this time introducing Dr. Hult instead of being introduced by him.
After the afternoon/evening events, I walked through...
one of the arches on campus and continued on to...
Hotel Lundia. From the outside, it looks nothing like a ship.
Inside, though, it feels as if you're on a cruise liner given the....
Inside, though, it feels as if you're on a cruise liner given the....
porthole in the elevator,
the size of the (captain's) quarters,
and the shower. Oh, YES! Check out how high the shower head is placed!!! Hotels everywhere, take note. Please. This was by far the BEST feature of the place. When I finally settle into my own place, my first splurge will be this kind of shower.
Check out this wall fixture. So sweet.
And the piece of furniture below houses the ironing board.
How's that for making use of space?!
The staircase at the hotel is especially impressive,
as is this building on campus which currently houses part of the medical school.
And here we are as a group on our way to lunch before wrapping up the seminar.
Friday late afternoon I took a stroll through campus (again) and marveled...
at the sun setting behind one of the oldest buildings on campus
(that dates to the 1600s, I believe),
(that dates to the 1600s, I believe),
and at the ivy that covered many of the buildings.
Wednesday evening one of the seminar participants took me on a tour of the campus and shared a bit about the history of Lund University. It is rich in tradition (it dates back to the 1600s) and currently ranks in the top 100 universities in the world.
As I walked across campus on Friday afternoon/evening, I was admiring the ivy yet again and it hit me: "This is one of two ivy league universities in Sweden."
It made me wonder how 'Ivy League' came to be. It has quite an interesting history:
I wonder if the "Planting ivy day" as an American tradition in the 1800s is also a practice adopted in Europe. Or, perhaps, it was us who borrowed it from the Europeans. :)
The week wrapped up with dinner...
with Dr. Hult and Dr. Sauro at their place. They could open their own restaurant once they retire from academia. No joke. (I wonder if living above a restaurant is an omen...)
I said goodbye once again to Sweden as I hopped another train and then a plane to return to the Eastern European time zone.
(Just for the record, it was over dinner with Francis and Shannon that we learned the names of our respective time zones.)
Life is oh so good.
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