Fourth

Hej, Hej!

Rain is the current sum of my life right now. Yesterday, it was raining. Today, it rained a little bit. When my plane landed, it was raining. Any day that it has not been raining, it has been cloudy with the sun shining through. I was sent to the perfect country. The weather does something. And it's constant. As much as I enjoy Calgary's unpredictable weather with all its twists and turns, there is something comforting in the idea that when I wake up in the morning, the weather will be the same the whole day.

Green is an unofficial national colour. There are trees and flowers (blooma) everywhere. Moss (mosse) grows on the rocks and cliffs, there are small plants in between the cobblestones, ivy grows everywhere. Poison ivy is also a common sight, depending on where one is. On Saturday, my hand brushed up against a poison ivy bush. Did it hurt? Nej. It was mildly irritating, though. But the colour green is everywhere. If one steps outside, one is probably standing on something green.

Karin (my host mom) and I wandered through the botanical garden on our way home from the bank today. It was so beautiful. The gardener's, it seemed to me, have their own patch where they stylize it based on a particular country. I walked through a classical European garden, a Japanese garden, a Mexican garden, and so on. I also meet the cat who wanders the grounds. Mostly, however, the cat was by the cafe. She was a brown tabby with 16 toes. :)

All told, it took us about 3 hours, by foot, to get home. Between Gothenburg and Mölndal, there is this massive hill. Karin and I walked around this hill through a forest. The forest was old. With unexpected wonders. We passed by a lake with lily pads on it. I took a picture.

The days go by slowly. Most of the times, it feels as though this is normal now. Other times, it feels as though I'm in the wrong country. Forget country, try wrong continent. But the city is beautiful with it's buildings from the Industrial Revolution, to buildings from early 1900's, to more contemporary architecture.