From Sweden with love

(Henrik Nielsen)

See you later!

The atmosphere at Vuollerims Friskola was somewhat lifted meeting there at 9:30 AM before “take off.” Everybody seemed excited, even the teachers and mates left behind.

The long drive to Luleå was taken care of by helpful parents.

The flight from Luleå to Stockholm was short and pleasant, but we were all hungry getting off the plane. Max' hamburgers benefitted big time on our hunger.

Spirit was good and I think that everyone coming along is doing their best to contribute to a successful fieldtrip.

I have been wondering about updating this blog though, since many students react peculiar when you try to photograph them. 

Whether the reason for this behavior is modesty, shyness or unwillingness you can guess yourself.

In Stockholm Bit, Felipe and I were held back by authorities because of our foreign passports. Fortunately, Angela and I had organized the right forms from home, Annette had signed the paper and Elisabeth had visited the police in Boden demanding all kinds of stamps. We were allowed to leave Sweden after a phone consultation with the British authorities.

It was quite a pleasant flight. We were spread out 2 and 2 all over the plane. I think, Olivia – my next seat neighbour – was playing some game on her phone... I was listening to Prokofievs 5^th Piano Concert played by the Leningrad Philharmonics and S. Richter. Good stuff ;)

At the British custom we – Felipe, Bit and I – were held back again. We had to fill out more forms and had to stand in line with other ’foreign’ looking people. It took quite some time for us to get through, but it was the right paper we brought with us – they had no way around letting us in. Now we wonder if will be allowed back into Sweden next monday. If not, Felipe and I are agreeing with Bit that the climate in Thailand wouldn't be a bad situation for us. If we are not with the others on the plane home... please send more money and we will send you a post card from the pool at the Hilton in Bangkok.

I must say that we have been well prepared. At EuropCar we had booked two vehicles in advance. They just didn't seem as prepared as us. After 1 hour at the desk and 13 students outside testing their patience we managed to get a VW Caddy Maxy Life 7 seater and a Renault Traffic 9 seater. There was hardly space enough for our luggage. Was it Malin or Amanda who was bringing more than one suitcase?

My co-driver on the flight – sorry, the "drive" – from Manchester to Haworth was Camilla. Thank God for that. That big bus with wheel and gearshift in the ”wrong” side was murder at first. The car also seemed too tall for the parking house. Scary... but well down we saw that only the antenna on the roof had been bent a little. Camilla and Marcus on the front seat next to me were a great support especially when the GPS made us drive the wrong way numerous times. ;)

It was already very dark. Cars were driving on the wrong side of the road. Jessica M. was – when not asleep – screaming in fear. But we managed. After many winding roads we arrived in Todmorden at 9:30 PM. All restaurants had closed. We parked somewhere... and suddenly found us outside a peculiar looking place called Crispy Chicken. The people working there didn't look too crisp though, so we decided to find a less demanding place to eat. We were lucky.

Suddenly we found ourselves outside a reward winning restaurant. Student were so hungry now, so it was no problem to persuade them to eat "chicken tikka passanda" at at the ”Award winning take away 2004” - The Spice of India. That and a gallon of Coca Cola was our dinner at 10:00 PM.

We had to to hurry through the curry as we had to sign in at the youth hostel in Haworth before 11:00 PM. The Renault, as in Formula 1, was way faster than Sir Thomas Lundmark alias Richard and his co-driver Anette Nordqvist alias Hyacinth in their VW Caddy - alias Ford SMax. We signed in at 10:57 PM. Well timed and planned. What else would you expect?!

We were sent up under the roof. Not a word said... just brushing teeth and then sleeping. Good night!