Counting Down and Getting On

7 Weeks quickly became 2 and that is all that remains of my time here in Åre. It's been pretty crazy. Living in a massive house full of youngin's who love nothing better than to party 24/7 and trash the place and trying to crack into an established group of instructors in a foreign country in another language (which I tackled with mixed success) while trying my best to fake the ability to ski: it's been fun.

Weather lately has been a prominent topic of interest. Rain, warmth, sun and very little snow. I spent the better part of the day yesterday in shorts and a t-shirt while running errands around town. I got my fair share of funny looks but it was totally justified. I went skiing a little later in a long sleeve shirt. No jacket, no gloves, no beanie- and that was totally OK too. I was very close to getting sunburnt yesterday as well. It's just that time of the season. But what season is it exactly? Massive brown patches all over the place, rivers of melting snow flowing through the park, dry roads and a lake that is very close to breaking through the ice. - This picture is in the middle of the day; that's just how thick the fog is while we're waiting for the bus. - It's sad in a way but you can see the signs of live reappearing all over- you might even say that things are springing to life; you might but I am not that cheesy.

One more week of work and then a week of an instructor's course before heading south again. Stockholm, London, Thailand and Perth on the way to Perisher for next season. I try to avoid having high expectations of the season there particularly when compared with the snow here in Sweden but hey, I'm an optimistic kind of guy.

In light of leaving Sweden, and as much as I love it here; I must say I am looking forward to shutting off my brain for a while: on the rare occaisions I have spoken English here it has been a little weird to say the least. I start using the English language with Swedish grammar and often finding myself stuck for finding the right word. Once I am out of here it should only take a few days to get back to normal... at least I hope so.

I am particularly looking forward to seeing (in order of appearance) Sandra and Jason in Stockholm, Ben, Adam and George in London, Mamma, Pappa, David and Stroose in Perth and especially my sister in Sydney. Perhaps even my niece/nephew who is due alarmingly close to the date I will be visiting them. We'll see about that. The wanderer an uncle? Wow I'm getting old.