The Park.
Trip Start
Jul 28, 2008
1
2
8
Trip End
Ongoing
Lund,
Sweden
Friday, August 29, 2008
Anyway, as has become my tradition, I attempted to walk back home from the economics department once again today. One would think it a simple task, but let me tell you right now, that no - it is not. So far my record for not getting lost on the way back home from the economics department is 0 for 3. Before you ask...I take the bus to class. I think it's very important to not get lost on the way to class. But why not take it back? Because it costs 12.50 krona everytime I ride, and I am a cheapskate...that's why. Plus walking around is a good way to get to know a place, right?
So the last two times I got lost on the way home from the economics department, I ended up walking around in a park for what seemed like hours
The beguiling park
. I didn't particularly mind being lost in park...parks are very pretty, with lots of things to look at while your lost, parks are also usually pretty quiet, so it's easy to think about how you got lost, and best of all, they camoflage your lostness to others, as it looks like you are only out for a stroll when really you haven't the slightest clue how you got there or where you are going.Anyway, today I thought I had finally realized my past mistakes, and once again set off in what I thought to be the direction of my home, 2 kilometers away. "I keep getting shunted too far left of where I need to be" I thought to myself, so I intentionally set off for home from a counterintuitive direction. After kind of a long time (I'm still not real sure how long 2 kilometers takes to walk) I came to a fairly large intersection. I knew from experience that one (very not good for me) way leads out of town, and the other (good) way leads towards the center of town, where I live. So I asked this couple walking towards me which way led to the city center. The man said "take a bus". The woman pointed her finger towards the nearest bus stop. Then they walked on by. I took it as a sign, and decided to just go ahead and pay for the damn bus ride. I rationalized it to myself by saying that I would be better able to figure out exactly where I was in relation to home and school and therefore be able to do better on the way home next time
The lovely fountain
.So - I got off the bus in front of a building that I actually have made it successfully home from. I knew that it was only a five minute walk home from there and felt supremely confident that I could accomplish the feat this time as well. However, that was not to be the case. For some reason, I very quickly found myself to be in an unknown location. And once again, I realized this just as I came upon the border of a park. A park that I may have never set foot in before, but intuitively knew to be between me and my goal of home.
I turned and walked away from the park, remembering my last two rather long episodes involving parks and going home. I was thinking that I should retrace my steps back to that familiar building, but very soon I knew I was only getting further away from home. (I'm trying to get unlost in a part of town that was built in the 1000's...there's definetly no kind of grid system here whatsoever.) So anyway, I took the dive - and walked straight into the heart of the park.
It was a lovely park, but I wanted to go home and I could tell it didn't want me to leave. "This park is just like the other two" I thought to myself, "it's not straightforward at all"
The cute little ducks
. As this was the third time for trying to get home and ending up lost in a park, I was getting a little fed up with all the meandering. Soon, however, I came upon a pretty little fountain with ducks and swans swimming in the water around it. I stopped to watch the leader of the pack sun itself on a rock in the middle of the pond. And that's when I saw it...the way out. By this time, I was no one's fool - I knew what a way out looked like when I saw one, and this was definetly it. I walked quickly over to the small footpath on the other side of the duckpond, little pepples pouring over and into the sides of my shoes as I went. But - as I crossed the border out of park and into beloved, recognizable city I realized something. 2 days ago, when I got lost in a park for the second time, I finally found the city again by leaving a path that I now saw about fifty feet further down. Damn it! It was the same park! I got home and looked at someone's map of Lund, and realized that the first time I got lost for hours on the way home was also in the same stupid park. Even though everytime I try to go home from the economics department I try leaving in a different direction, and even though that damn park is nowhere near my house really, I end up lost in it every single time. I swear to god, I think that park's in love with me.
Comments
I found it!
I can just see you wandering around in the Twilight Zone park there. :o) So cute. Maybe you should carry a bottle of water & a granola bar with you at all times, just in case...
Love,
Destiny