i just can’t resist.

i know that i’m like a record that’s stuck… going on and on about spring every day. but, it’s a big deal to me to see some flowers, something green, and feel the warmth of the sun. seriously. there was snow on the ground from thanksgiving (november) until march. non-stop. and it was amazing, but it has made me appreciate spring in a way that i never have before. i’m going from one beautiful season into the next and lovin’ every minute of it! so, deal with it. hehe. there are more spring pictures to come, i promise.

this week, seems to be going slowly. i can’t believe it’s only tuesday night. i’m considering taking a “personal, mental health” day, as you can see from my post on spring fever this morning. it seems a little stupid since i have påsklov (= SPRING BREAK!!!) next week. i haven’t made up my mind yet. i think it’ll be a spontaneous decision.

yesterday i met a new person in my class. yay! a man came up to me and asked if my first language was english. he must have heard me say something in english – which is weird since i really only try to speak swedish at school. he had lived in england and loved it there, and he has family in the states, so when i said i was from there, he was so excited! he is originally from iran and he had some interesting things to say about obama (he believes that obama is a muslim), john mccain (he thinks he’s a fantastic military man who should’ve been president), sweden (he finds it difficult to meet swedes and make friends with people – as do most of the people i meet in school), the USA (he says that americans can say that they are the best because america IS the best country in the world because of all it has done in such a short amount of time), and religion (he became a christian when he lived in england). at some point in the middle of this strange, new conversation, even though we didn’t have that much in common, he said that now he doesn’t feel alone anymore because he’s met me. wow.

i’ve been thinking about that a lot… it is an amazing feeling to meet someone, disagree with so many things, and yet still find room for so much respect for each other. after school, this iranian man waited for me (i was standing out in the sun talking with my sfi girls) and he walked with me to the grocery store. we talked some more about church. he’s not going anywhere just now, but i think he was fishing for an invitation from me. so, i invited him to join us at the methodist/baptist church. how cool would it be if he came?! and how amazing is it to meet all of these interesting, wonderful people?!

and now. the last thing to share. i might might might might have a job! that’s right. a job! it’s a really long story, but i believe that in the end of may i am going to become a research assistant on a team of researchers working on a PhD at Linköping University (here in Norrköping).  i would get to work at the university (work at the university?! can you say “dream come true!”) every week day for about 2 hours a day. the research involves heart failure patients and the Wii gaming system. i would be the installer of the games at the patients’ homes (me & video games = weird combo), and then collect weekly data/info/updates for research purposes and offer support to the patients. then, i would also be available to the research team for whatever else they needed as well. the cool thing about all this is that a) i get to work with people and support/encourage/teach a little, b) i get to work at a university!, c) my swedish will improve greatly, and d) i will make contacts and get amazing experience in case i pursue my PhD/Doctorate soon! who knows what doors this might open. so, keep your fingers crossed!!!

until the next spring pictures…. peace and love.