Chapter 3

"Well it's been the first month you've been here, some of you may be thinking if you made the right decision, but it will go by quick and then you go to Jönköping it'll be done and you'll all be remembering all the good memories and not wanting to leave..." Lennart gave us this short introduction on the first day of this class and offered a surprising insight into this type of study abroad experience. He has a history of working with a group similar to ours (the 2009 Gustavus group) and knows quite well the study abroad experience as he himself studied in the U.S for a year while in high school.

Mora is the third chapter in my mental book of memories of Sweden. This trip certainly feels like four j-terms in four months with the Sami course officially concluding in Jokkmokk. The learning doesn't stop in Jokkmokk, but our interaction with the Sami likely does. We are beginning to experience more of typical Sweden as we descend into the south and can now look through the Sami lens. Remembering the Swedish Sami of Jokkmokk, we realize how little average Swedes know of their northern neighbors. Vasaloppet is drawing near and Uppsala, Stockholm, and where I will go for spring break is constantly on my mind. I know that before I know it, I will be in Jönköping not wanting to leave. Mora is only one chapter of many that I will take with me when I leave. Lennart Sacrédeus knew how fast these experiences go and the ups and downs of study abroad. The long, dark, cold, and desolate walks I take to get home every night might seem monotonous, (maybe even torturous) and I cringe when I think about the thousand times I'll have to do it. Yet in only five short months I will be walking down the streets of my neighborhood under the summer sun.

The speed at which this trip already amazes me. I remember the morning walks through Umeå to the university vividly. Orientation and our first impromptu group meal doesn't seem that far back either. How will it feel when I blog again in Jönköping? In almost exactly three months from now, the trip will be complete and we will have seen, heard, and felt so much. Lennart's remark reminds me to live slowly. Don't rush through things because when you're walking down the streets of your neighborhood and reminiscing on this trip, you'll regret not doing the things you could have. On my nightly walks home, I will remember the cold, as painful as it is. I know that when it's gone, I'll miss it.