Hiking, music, anything but schoolwork...

Another few weeks have come and gone. It's been cold and grey here from the most part, but last weekend we had a few days of fairly nice weather, so I took advantage of the opportunity to get outside in the sunshine and do some hiking. I went on a long walk with a bunch of classmates on Friday from Trossö to the fish market at Saltö, and then all the way up to Dragsö, around the end of the peninsula and back. It was great to get out and get some air and we really enjoyed the beautiful day and the fall colors.

On Sunday, Leigh and Tillman and I took a bus to the Tromtö nature reserve and did some hiking for about three hours. It was a little colder this day and overcast, but we luckily escaped the rain. It was really a nice place... there are huge old oak trees there, the largest I have seen in Sweden so far. The leaves had fallen all over the ground and there were lots of interesting mushrooms to look at (I even found some edible oyster mushroom, but didn't pick them). We had a picnic lunch, saw an elk, and discovered a very creepy old house hidden away in the woods. If there are any Swedish vampires in real life, that's probably where they hang out.

Last week saw the beginning of our next two courses... the big decision of the week was whether to take Engineering for a Sustainable Society or Advanced Societal Leadership, as we had to choose one or the other. I ended up choosing the ESS class, more because I liked the format better than for any other reason. I kind of wish I could take them both, but I know I'm going to have a hard time just getting all the course work done for the classes I'm taking. The ESS class involves a couple of cool field trips and a project that we present as a poster at a trade show in Malmö, so it should be fun. I think that it sounds a bit more impressive too, and its possible that I could make some connections at the trade show.

The other course I'm taking right now is Strategic Management for Sustainability, and it is mostly built around a project that we do in a small group with a business or other organization. I'm going to be working with Victor, Leigh and Lea at an enterprise center in Enniscorthy, Ireland. Victor has connections there and has even managed to get them to fund our airfares for a four day weekend there and in Dublin. Needless to say, I'm very excited about the project as well as the chance to go to Ireland.

Yesterday Hickory and I went to an Irish jam session that happened right down the street from where I live that I found out about through the internet. There were a couple of really good fiddle players there, as well as a flautist and guitar and bouzouki. It was a good session although I was a bit lost much of the time because I don't really know all that many Irish tunes. I was able to record some of the music and write down some of the tune names, so hopefully I will be able to learn some more for next time. I'm not sure how regularly the session will be held but I did get the names and numbers of a couple of musicians that live in town, so hopefully we can start getting together to play.

Had a late night yesterday despite my attempt to be good and go to bed early, because of an impromptu party that occurred when my roommates brought some people home from a dance with them. There was a big crowd here until about 2:30 am so I didn't sleep much and I was a bit out of it today. I had brunch at Hickory's place in the morning and then came back here and did some reading. I feel like I should be more on top of my schoolwork but things aren't too urgent right now at the beginning of the term and I have been feeling very lazy and unmotivated about it. Hopefully this week I will regain some energy and start thinking about my thesis project and other things that are on the near horizon.

Picture this week are from the nature reserve in Tromtö.