TravelStream™ news feed for member sheryl.akagi on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/sheryl.akagi en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:34:34 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256971160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256971160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256971160/tpod.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:34:34 -0400 Iceland and Scandinavia

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Oslo, Oslo, Norway

The next morning, Lisa, Jan (2 other gals in the room) asked me if I'd seen her since last night. When the three of us checked out this morning we notified reception, since all her stuff is still here and it's quite weird. It's none of our business what people do, but she definitely did not strike me as the type to stay out all night or crash somewhere random, especially after this conference and knowing that Oslo is as foreign to her as it is to me.

Anyway, all creepiness aside.

All in all I felt ready to head out when I did. I had a short flight back to Iceland, and then a direct from Reykjavik to Seattle. (The weather in Iceland was just as I left it... misty, windy, cloudy, and quite miserable.) Oslo was nice but I wasn't really feeling it. I'm sure I would have different impressions had I been able to see more of Norway and make it out to the fjords and North. But really though, I couldn't even afford it. I have great memories of this city from my time at the conference, but otherwise, I would not have lasted here too long! I didn't really get a great vibe from Oslo itself (ie. the creepiness, the homelessness, the prices) and it's too damn expensive for me. But I'd definitely like to come back when I can allot proper time and finances!

It's always a weird feeling coming home. To be honest I'm usually I'm quite bitter about it, but fortunately (to my surprise) I actually felt ready this time. Maybe it's because I have a nice "home" life to come back to. I miss Missoula. I arrived in Seattle around 6pm and have been doing paperwork and unpacking/repacking ever since. I fly out again in 16 hours. It's now 1:20am which is 8:20am Norway time.. so another sleepless night. When I was in Oslo, I was starting to miss my cat. I was also starting to miss my routine.. because I've gotten weak and fat. heheh (but that's not funny..) I haven't worked out in over 1 month and I've been eating loads of delicious cheeses, pastries (the biggest culprit..), and tapas (for some reason.. who knew Oslo had such good Spanish food?? soo good.). So I bring home with me a few extra pounds on my ass, but some amazing memories, some work inspiration, and the feeling that I've satiated the travel bug, for now at least! Maybe I'll never get rid of it but at least I'll have a hellova fun time trying.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256967719/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256967719/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256967719/tpod.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:38:56 -0400 Iceland and Scandinavia

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Oslo, Oslo, Norway

I took an extra day to explore Oslo before flying home. I switched hotels to a hostel 4km out of the city since I couldn't really afford to stay where I was. (I haven't mentioned this yet but I've become addicted to taking the tram. I guess everyone has their preference; the public transport (by metro, tram, or bus) is incredibly effecient and the city is entirely linked. I definitely prefer the tram and sometimes ride it just to ride and find new places.)

The hostel kinda creeped me out. I don't know what it was, I felt like all the people were staring at everyone else, things seemed a little off. It sort of set the tone for the rest of the day. Anyway I spent the whole day walking around the city. It was the first blue sky day in Norway, yay! I took it super easy and just meandored along the waterfront by Aker Brygge. The harbour reminds me of a small version of Sydney harbour. The city has a grunge feel to it.. they definitely have the alternative/punkers along the main strip at Johans gate. It's also the most diverse city I've seen so far in Scandinavia- there's a ton of African American, Asian, and Middle Eastern folk spread about which is nice to see.

I wandered into a Norwegian wool shop to do some shopping. Turns out I ended up being the only bystander to a robbery of 30,000 NOK, which is around $7,500! I walked in to try on some killer cute hats. Inside was an older man- a tourist- and 2 men that looked of Middle Eastern decent. The man was trying on a sweater, I accidentally walked right in front of him to use the mirror, not knowing that he had kinda set up camp infront of it already. One of the Middle Eastern men asked the price of some sheepskin rug, I waited for the man to move away from the mirror, the 2 men left, the man bought the sweater, I bought the hat, and in these 2 minutes those 2 guys had left with 30,000 NOK. The man had just withdrew money from the bank, had the envelope of CASH in his pocket. The shopkeeper said its quite common for thieves to follow tourists. These two men (who the owner described as "gypsy") followed this guy into the store and stole the envelope of money from his pocket and bolted. The owner called the police. Then ~15 minutes later in sitcom-like fashion, this young dude in uniform comes panting into the store, leaning against the front counter for support. I had to laugh.. I wanted to say, "couldn't you have used a car?" Apparently everyone walks (or runs) in Europe. He couldn't really do anything, he just kinda showed up. I gave my account of the incident and that was that. I really shouldn't joke though because it's really not funny. I know how it feels and god knows how I would have reacted had I ever withdrew and lost that much money. He didn't have insurance either.

I continued around Slottsparken and the Royal Palace and then trammed it back to the hostel. I checked in at the same time as a Chinese girl studying in the states. I took a closer look at her and realized that she was also at the GEIA conference- a student of a well known woman who's papers I've cited. One of the guys from NOAA had told me to meet her so as coincidence would have it, we were rooming together. I took a quick nap, then felt super motivated to get back out into the city for my last night, despite the bitter colllldddd. I said see you later when I left and that was the last I saw her. ??? Strange things.. she never came back.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256760933/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256760933/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256760933/tpod.html Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:45:13 -0400 Iceland and Scandinavia

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Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Today was a pretty awesome day. I've had a lot of adrenaline highs but never from work! Today was a new kind of experience, but just as great a feeling as traveling.

Had breakfast with the normal breakfast group. At lunch I sat down with some people I hadn't met yet- a German scientist, a professor and his student from Korea, an Indian scientist, and a Japanese man from NIES (National Institute for Environmental Studies). They were all very interested to learn about biomass burning and we had some great discussions. The talks were much more interesting today since today was the biomass burning session. I was able to meet with everyone that presented and was really impressed. A lot of them referenced the work that my advisor and I hope to update, so hopefully our work will be of use.

The poster session went well, phew. I had started getting nervous. The cool thing was that this poster session was coupled with the reception, so there was free flowing wine and hors devours until 7. I drank half a glass of white wine to relax starting at 4:30. :) I can't believe I actually did that but I was getting seriously nervous.

I was first stopped by a guy from Scotland who thinks my advisor is god. He was cool and nice, but also kinda tricky.. he asked me a question and was like, "So I wanted to ask you. I know the answer NOW, but I just want to get your take on it. *wink*" I was kinda saved by the scientist from NCAR who overheard this and made up some ridiculous answer, thank god. Geeeese. I spent an hour or so talking with maybe 3 of the most knowledgable people at the conference, including the two that semi-ostracized me yesterday. They were incredibly encouraging, helpful, and supportive of what I am doing. They gave me some great ideas and made some useful comments that I know will help me later on. It was so nice to get a new perspective from others (besides my advisor) who are extremely established and have my best intentions in mind. Just being able to talk to them about what Ive been doing and to get positive/constructive feedback in itself made the whole conference worthwhile.

I went out for dinner with them and the group from NCAR, NOAA, ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), the steering committee and program organizer. It was incredibly amusing, the program director was already wasted from the reception. We were walking around Oslo to find a restaurant and she kept talking about toilets or some shit. It sounds lame but it was actually really quite entertaining. We had tapas and plenty of sangria, a great meal and I got to see everyone more as people and less as big intimidating "question-askers"... They were all very nice people and it was a great end to a long day. What a relief!



]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256763262/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256763262/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256763262/tpod.html Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:29:39 -0400 Iceland and Scandinavia

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Oslo, Oslo, Norway

Today was the last day of the conference. I had lunch with the vegetarians today. ;) Norway is seriously not a vegetarian country. And when it comes to prefix meals, gaurenteed it's gonna be loaded with meat. So me and a PhD student from Stuttgart tracked down the Indians and we went upstairs and hit the salad bar! Soooo much better than the food that was being served downstairs. I sat and talked with him and a gal from Istanbul, also a PhD student. This was my first time so far talking with other students like me so there was a lot of comfort/fun in that.

The talks were great today. One of the members of the steering committee mentioned I should think about attending a similar conference next year in Halifax, Canada. If it's anything like this one, I'd be pretty crazy not to. I went to dinner with the scientist from India who wants to collaborate with us, possibly providing Indian fuels and a base for research in Delhi. He also worked with Paul Crutzen in Germany.. it's crazy how it seems that everyone knows everyone else in this community.

All in all I had an amazing time. There is something about the face-to-face contact and the exchange of ideas that seems pretty invaluable. I learned so much from just meeting new people and hearing new ideas. I was pretty nervous about the whole thing; I think traveling before really calmed my "work nerves," and the people that I was most intimidated to meet turned out to be lax and incredibly supportive. There were definitely times when I felt a little uncomfortable but I don't think I would have had as great of an experience if it was planned any other way. (I guess it's similar to traveling.) I am glad that I'm here alone and that I was seen for what I have to offer (no more no less), and not as "my advisor's student". I think that's a big difference between this experience and the conference in Boston, and this time I was also glad to have something of my own to contribute. I met some incredibly cool people and feel inspired to do good work. I learned a lot about the role that personal sentiment can play in science (unfortunately), along with the path that I hope to take as I continue. Everyone has different motivations and drives, but it seems that the most successful people really feel this stuff is bigger, and more important, than themselves.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256591167/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256591167/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256591167/tpod.html Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:23:30 -0400 Iceland and Scandinavia

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Oslo, Oslo, Norway

I took the overnight bus from Lund, Sweden to Oslo, Norway. I arrived in Oslo at 4:30am at the Galleri bus stop, which is over a mile from my hotel/city center. I knew that this last little transport leg wasn't going to be pretty. I refused to pay 140 NOK for a taxi; it was more of a principle thing. I knew I wouldn't be able to check in anyway and had nothing better to do, so I just walked. After 40 min my back was feeling it. My pack has somehow grown from 16kg (when I left) to 24kg. How'd that happen? I ate the 7kg of food I imported... I didn't buy much except for some Icelandic rocks... (oohhhh). I prayed my navigational skills were correct because I didn't actually have a map of where the hotel was.. but awesomely I got to the right street and found it. The dude actually let me check in (sweeeeet). I am staying at Thon Hotel Slottsparken for a ridiculous 995NOK. How nice is it to have privacy though and zone out to television!

I ran in to my boss's boss in the reception. While he works at the Forest Service, we have minimal contact and he even asked me, "where do you work now?" I was super confused.. and was like, "in Missoula... with you...?" He was like, "oh yeah. I have a short term memory." hm. We had breakfast and then I headed to the Nobel Center Museum. What a wonderful museum! They had an exhibit right now called "from King to Obama", paralleling the lives of the two and their road to Nobel Prizedom. I went on the guided tour and spent around 3 hrs just looking around. I've really gotten into this Alfred Nobel thing since I've been here, I think it's fascinating that what started as a lofty hope in his testament has turned into the most prestigious prize in the world.

Oslo was rainy and dead today. I was pretty shocked that everything was closed (Sunday). I kept busy all day though, went back and my boss's boss asked me to join him for dinner. It was the first time I'd really talked with him before. I learned a great deal about his professional life and his post-doc advisor who was Paul Crutzen, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995. I learned what sort of abstract thinking is needed to carry certain people to a level of prestige above others. I also learned that this field is dog-eat-dog. And maybe most importantly, I reaffirmed professional morals and began to think about how I hope to conduct myself professionally.

I've been spending the last 5 days reading over my notes every night. I spent the night doing the same, but came to a point where it was no longer helping. I've been looking over this for the past like, month. On rare occasion, I actually feel prepared and quite confident in what I know. While I was worried about getting into work mode, I'm in it, and it didn't take much. It's not a bad thing though... I'm incredibly excited for the conference tomorrow and it's a little surreal that it's finally here.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256593089/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256593089/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256593089/tpod.html Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:15:25 -0400 Iceland and Scandinavia

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Oslo, Oslo, Norway

I went to breakfast with my boss's boss, a scientist from NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research), and one of the conference organizers. These were some of the biggest names at the conference and they were all super lax and friendly so I felt much more at ease! We navigated to the Oslo Innovation Center and registered. There's around 90 people here working on global emissions inventories from all over the world. The talks were interesting, I actually felt like I understood most of what they discussed (which is kinda a first..).

At lunch we all headed to the dining hall and our plates were already set and fixed. Yay it was all meat! I had lunch with 3 of the other biggest names of the conference, which was pretty nerve-wrecking actually. It's always strange when you've read these people's papers and you know they're 10 million times smarter than you and you're supposed to all talk as colleages at the lunch table. After 2 had left, the remaining 2 got really involved in a conversation and I felt pretty excluded... felt super uncomfortable. Except for this moment, everyone I met was incredibly open and friendly and conversational. I made a huge effort to mingle and meet other scientists. I was super proud when I tracked down this man who just gave a talk on biofuel emissions from India. I knew all of his references and he seemed impressed that I knew about what he was doing! Yay. After all the talks I stayed for the whole poster session. Everyone is working primarily on these global emissions inventories and not much on emission factors (EF), which is what my advisor and I are working on. In a nutshell they are gridding the world into small managable cells (maybe 1x1 degree) and factoring in all the relavent sources of emissions- like vehicles, ships, biogenic and/or anthropogenic sources- in order to simulate the measured chemical composition of the atmosphere. It seems that many of these people are not primarily concerned with where their EF are coming from; I think that our present effort to compile this data is fundamentally important to how well their inventories perform, and hopefully will be of use to this community. I feel incredibly motivated from meeting all these people who are so excited about their research, all seem very willing to learn from others and to work together to answer the greater questions. I'm really excited to present tomorrow.. I don't think I've ever really been part of a professional community and it feels great to have something positive to contribute.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256589762/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256589762/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256589762/tpod.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:04:39 -0400 Iceland and Scandinavia

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Lund, Skåne, Sweden

I wrote out everything I wanted to say about Lund upstairs in my hotel room but I'm afraid to run and get it and find the computer taken!!! (there's only 2 here and they're constantly occupied)

Nikolas showed me around Lund my last day in Sweden. I learned more about Swedish history than I could have ever asked for. We walked everywhere and explored the massive Cultural Center, and the central church, where I saw my first baptism. I asked him if there's anything traditional Swedish (culinary-wise) that I could try and we ended up at a falafel joint. Partly for old times sake and partly because falafel is actually "traditional" Swedish. Did you know the most common name in Sweden is Muhammed? Second most popular is Ahmed. The Swedish have always had very lax immigration policy which is apparently starting to cause some concern. Ask Nik for more details on the consequences of Sweden being Socialist!

We came home to another amazing homecooked meal by his dad. They saw me off at the bus station. I am so grateful for their hospitality that it was hard to even say anything, knowing that it wouldn't come out with the full meaning that I intended. I hope they know.

Final thoughts on Sweden.. it's funny because I had no expectations and really wasn't planning on feeling anything special. But I was wrong (again); the people reflected the sentiment and stance of the country itself (or maybe it's the other way around?). The Swedes are incredibly proud of their country and acknowledge that they have it pretty damn good right now. While every political system has its problems and pitfalls, Swedes are fully aware that these blemishes are just flaws in an otherwise well oiled "political machine." I found the average Swede to be well educated and open which is probably exactly how they ended up as a model country for others to eminate.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256233080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256233080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256233080/tpod.html Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:37:48 -0400 Iceland and Scandinavia

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Copenhagen, Zealand, Denmark

I took an overnight 9.5 hour bus ride from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden. The bussing experience wasn't too positive... everyone queues at the door because there are no assigned seats. I fortunately grabbed a window seat, but not without abandoning my bag (complete with 2 bottles of wine...) for the driver to load on however he pleased. (Im usually anal about my bag placement, especially if I have breakable goods). Anyway I didnt sleep a wink until the gal next to me left and I could lay down horizontal. Got a good 2 hours rest then.

I arrived in Lund at 7:55am and was greeted by my good friend Nikolas. I'm staying with him and his dad at their beautiful home, and have never felt so welcome. Ive never been asked if I needed anything 10 times in one day (and its still early). They fed me until I had to just say I couldn't eat anymore. I didn't want to be rude, his dad made me his homemade muesli and yogurt and two open faced sandwiches on Swedish bread. I ate it ALL but honestly could not eat the last sandwich, I would have exploded! I am so grateful for their hospitality and am really just blown away, what a wonderful Swedish experience.

I recently changed my plans to come here one day early in order to see Denmark. Nik had a test today so it worked out. I settled in at their home, then we headed out and I took the train straight from Lund to Copenhagen, just a 1 hour ride. I toured the whole city, went to Christianhavn, Tivoli, along the canals, through the Latin quarter and throughout downtown. I was amazed by how different Copenhagen is from Lund and Stockholm. I was looking for the right word and Nik described it as "a little more sloppy," which is exactly what I was thinking. It's not as clean, the people definitely don't dress as nice, and there's a different type of population (more immigrants). I wasn't becoming a fan too quick, I kind of missed the perfection of Sweden.

So... the most minor thing that could be called an "incident" (involving police report) occurred during my time in Denmark. My Ipod was stolen. So the story went like this.. I was listening to it as I walked toward the tourist information center (it was in my pocket). I walked in, took off the headphones to talk with the woman about train schedules. It was super chill in there, very spacious and maybe just 4-5 other people in the building. I perused for around 5 minutes and then headed out. As I went back onto the street I put the earphones back in and looked down, and saw the earphone chord dangling. I was effing pissed.. it's obviously taken out of my pocket, an Ipod doesnt lift itself out of a pocket and magically disconnect itself from the earphones. I walked back into the tourist info, asked the women at the desk and lo and behold, crime is rampant in Copenhagen and it's not like Sweden/Norway. Within these three blocks by the train station, these things happen everyday. That kinda made me even more pissed off.
I sat down for a minute to just think and two Danish girls walked over to me and asked if I had dropped this, and they handed me a small map that was in the same pocket. I asked if they saw anything else.. no. So apparently it must have happened just near the entrance.

So she told me to go to the police station (for insurance purposes) which I did and filed a report. The thing is, I wasn't pissed about the Ipod. All of what was lost is easily replaceable, I have all the music on my hard drive and I could use a smaller one anyway for jogging so I don't mind forking over a little cash for a new one. Big deal, I don't give a fuck. It could have been so much worse (it has been so much worse.) What really pissed me off is once again being reminded that there are people out there that do these types of things, and I was pissed for being seen as just another tourist opportunity and being taken. I had serious flashbacks of my experiences in Hungary and also the time when those fucking gypsies stuck their hands in John's pocket to grab his wallet in Barcelona. I know that there are bad people out there capable of so much worse but sometimes it's these little things that one can do to someone they don't even know. Thieves are some of the most cowardly, sneaky, selfish people in the world. So some people may be thinking I had it coming, like in Hungary when I stepped away for those 10 seconds. During those 10 seconds and even before, I knew I was taking a risk and I knew it was something I shouldn't do. But I did it anyway and dealt with the consequences. That was my fault for not watching my own back. Some may be thinking that this was also asking for it, but really?? What kind of life is constantly being paranoid about what may happen to you. Honestly I don't know what I would have done differently. I had it hidden in my pocket, I had the chord hidden under my jacket, and I was walking into a tourist information center. From my past experience, this does not sound like a high risk situation. The area where I could have been better prepared is knowing that Copenhagen is the drug/crime center of Scandinavia. I wasn't aware of that and had I been, maybe I would have been a little more careful. But I dont think I was walking around dangling "forbidden fruit". I'm not about to change my behavior of trusting the general people because of this instance and a handful of others, I can't count how many of the best experiences of my life I would have missed out on had I not put faith in people. I get so disheartened when these things happen and when I hear stories, but then I think about all the wonderful times that people have shown amazing strength and hospitality for strangers, including me. Actions like that manage to touch me on a personal level which robbers could never reach. Thinking about that makes these little bumps in the road just seem like bumps in the road... it's still drivable and I'm not about to stay home. So fuck you you little bastard that can now jam out to Ani Difranco.. suck it.

Anyway.. I put that passed me after around 20 minutes. Im back in Lund with Nikolas, his dad cooked us this amazing Greek dinner and wine and I feel so spoiled!! Going out tonight to see how these Swedes party.. should be good. :)

The night goes down in the books. We were going to the universities' "dorms" for a party held by an old friend of Nikolas's from the military. We get to the student housing which were like $1000/month 1 bedroom lofts!! It completely reminded me of my sisters apartment, quite beautiful and modern. And I think what blew me away the most was that they were all incredibly classy and well designed. We went into every room on the hall (these are 20ish something college guys were talking about..) and each was perfectly clean, framed art on the wall, glasses of wine and all these hot Swedish guys in dress shirts. ;) It was a night of drinking, jokes, and plenty of Swedish/American politics. I was so impressed with their english and how much they know about their own history and mine. I spent a while talking with Gustof, who came into town from Malmö. As the night progressed I got pressured (aka everyone in the room chanting, no pressure yea right!) into trying "snooz", which is this little tobacco pouch the size of a chiclet that comes in these little cans that look like cat food cans.. Its a very uniquely Swedish thing apparently.. It gives you this quick high, and you suck on it for like 20 min until it loses flavor. Once everyone got off my back I tried it. Was already drunk but definitely felt an immediate strangeness, it tasted salty and then just potent, but I was super cautious not to go at it too hard. It was one of those "when in Rome" experiences for sure. ;) All the Swedes I met were so conversational, funny and open, I had such a blast with them.


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256217723/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256217723/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256217723/tpod.html Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:56:08 -0400 Iceland and Scandinavia

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Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm is looking a little glum today (in terms of weather.. not my attitude towards). I was a little bummed because my great plans were canceled. I had wanted to do this "rooftop tour" of Stockholm, where you actually jump from roof to roof around the city! Only runs on weekends. :( If that fell through I planned to rent a kayak around the city, but they also only operate in the summer. :( Lame!!

I am not really a museum person, but was interested to learn more about the Nobel Prize so I went to Nobelmuseet. It was incredibly rad! Definitely satisfied my nerd side. I saw some cool videos of Linus Pauling and a rotating exhibit of Galileo. I also went on the english tour and learned about the history of the Nobel Prize and past laureates. What a huge process this has become.. the choosing committee sends out massive notes around the world for Nobel nominations. Around 200 will make it past the first round, and then each of the 5 committees (Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Peace, and Literature) will winnow through all of them to choose a winner, awarded in Stockholm (Peace prize awarded in Oslo). It was interesting, Im glad I went.

Id like to take this opportunity to rave about my bag for a quick second. My bag is an infinite abyss.I spent a good couple hours after work one day shopping online for a new travel purse, I finally decided to splurge on what seemed like the perfect bag. I got it off ebags.com, its a Tumbuktu and I couldnt be happier with my purchase!!! It has around 7 or 8 pockets, big and small, for personal things, passport, water bottle holder, and 2 straps, one for the shoulder, but it can also double as a "classy" bag with 2 straps as a handbag. And its waterproof!! In conclusion Im super happy w the way its held up and would highly recommend their products to others wanting the same badass bag experience!!!!!! :) What a killer bag. Really. Killer.

Today I went over to Sergelstorg, across the bridge by Klara Mälarstrand and over to Gamla Stan (old city) again. I went to one of the islands on the way, which consisted of just one building. Its kinda crazy that they have central bridges connecting islands with just one building.

One thing about Scandinavian and American fashion, drastically different. They're very into the neutrals here; white, grey, pastels, tons of accessories, scarves, and cute little mittens and hats. The way they put themselves together is incredibly sheek. Americans on the other hand, way into the bold colors, sharp/professional look that kinda says "yeah what of it biotch" or something. All the stuff I brought for the conference says "biotch" I guess... I think I need to buy more clothes at H&M.

Yay free internet.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256144589/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256144589/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sheryl.akagi/7/1256144589/tpod.html Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:54:16 -0400 Iceland and Scandinavia

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Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

I woke up super early because I really had no idea when we wóuld be arriving in Stockholm. Turns out it was 2 hours later, oh well! Elena and I headed off the ferry to catch the bus. She was going to meet her friend in Luftson, I was trying to get to the Central Station. I thought it would really be a piece of cake, coming from Latvia where not a soul speaks english. But traveling by public bus is always a source of nerves. Tickets were automated.. I threw in some kronas and pushed some buttons. Nothing. Threw in some more money, and out came two tickets, but they werent the same. I gave one to Elena, she gave me some Lithuanian (sweet). I have no idea what the hell kinda ticket I had. I waited for the bus, got on and the busdriver told me "busfragatan", or so I thought. While traveling I had a perfect record of never missing my stop on public bus, until now! I thought itd be so easy.. just wait for something that sounds like "busfragatan," see some trains, and put 2 and 2 together. Well I never heard a stop like that. I also saw train tracks BEHIND me and that was when I knew I effed up. Eventually I made my way back but not without calling myself brilliant. (or something opposite of that)

I then caught the 65 bus to Af Chapman, which is a docked big ass boat in Skeppsholmen. I honestly am convinced that I have the most amazing bedside view in all of Stockholm. Itd be incredibly hard to beat anyway. I thought itd be sweet to stay at a hostel on a friggin boat and sing the SNL boat song.. *Im on a BOAT*

Honestly, Stockholm has blown me away like I never thought it would. I was a little bitter about leaving the Baltic region so early and I wasnt really looking forward to Sweden and Norway because of the prices and the poshness. I was really wrong. This place is so grand and endless and the architecture is really uncomparable with anything Ive seen. Stockholm is definitely high class and fancy smancy but in a really cool/stylish way. People actually dress with character, unlike the overdone peacoats, black tights and boots like in Reykjavik. I walked all around the city to the Old City, and was really just looking at everything in awe. I went to the Royal Palace and saw the changing of the guards. It was the most moving, theatrical changing Ive ever seen!!! The band and horses really made this one over the top. The band rocked!! (my only other comparisons are London at Buckingham palace, Riga, and in Prague, Czech Republic). I then headed to Östermalm to go to the market. This market smelled of all sorts of wonderful cheeeeeeses.... yum! Kept walking around.. and then realized that I was completely underdressed for this city. My Asics, hoodie with Bob Wards shell and Northface hat just werent cutting it. In all other countries I really didnt have a problem standing out in this way; as I was not willing to comprise warmth for style. And I wouldnt have blended in anyways, who am I trying to kid. But here, Stockholm is incredibly multicultural and I actually have a shot, so I decided: makeover. I went to the salon and got my hair chopped. I was super nervous about the language barrier but I told her what I kinda like, and gave her the freedom to do whatever she wanted. Im still getting used to it. ,) But man I feel 10 times better. I then hit up H&M and got some very "European" getup... I know I cant pull it off. I really cant, but oh wells.

As has been the trend for the past 3 days or so, I spent the entire day wandering around. I really love this city, much much more than Venice, Vienna, Frankfurt, Prague, and all other European cities I have visited. This one is so beautiful everywhere, with all the water, rivers, and fall colors reflecting in it. On the Tallink, taxi-ing through the archipelago was pretty impressive. Stockholm is made of 14 islands. The archipelago is comprised of 14,000!! People say its like the Venice of the North, but I think its quite different in a great way. It definitely makes a statement in a super chillaxed, nonthreatening way. ?? :)

I have seen many runners jogging around the pier at night, when I went walking along Strandvägen. It makes me think of home and it makes me wish I brought my running gear!!!!! I havent ran in over 3 weeks now and I feel it. My body takes a beating everyday from walking so much and I still sleep hard at night which is great... but man I feel fat. No other way to say it.

So I was completely off on my pricing scale. I thought Iceland was the most expensive of all. Turns out that after the whole economic crash, its "nothing" like it used to be. For me, I still thought it was pretty damn pricey. But that was before I got to Scandinavia. So the real scoop is:

Iceland < or = Latvia < Sweden <<<<< Norway

Im not excited about that. What I AM excited about is sleeping on that boat!!

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