countdown to lingonberries

This past semester, I would oftentimes come home on Sunday afternoons to find little science experiments whirring away in the back porch.  Sometimes there were temperature studies.  Other times the duration of batteries was being explored.  And one time I even walked into an investigation involving trigonometry.  So what were all these experiments for?  Weather ballooning.  My dad recently became interested in launching weather balloons to capture images of the edge of the Earth.  This new hobby culminated over Memorial Day weekend when my family and I flew out to Seattle to launch the weather balloon.  After a simple countdown from 10, the weather balloon was released and off it went on its adventure into the wispy worlds aloft.  (To see the full adventure, visit http://vimeo.com/43288441.)

Much like the countdown we used to send off my dad’s space capsule, I have had a bit of my own countdown these past few months.  While my adventure will likely not take me to the edge of the Earth, this countdown will culminate in two days when I depart from Minnesota to pursue my first teaching job in Sweden.  In order to give you a little background on how this adventure came to be, what follows is a countdown of sorts of the events leading up to my departure. 

10, 9, 8, … It was Thanksgiving weekend when I received an e-mail informing me that a Swedish school was coming to the U of M to interview for various teaching positions.  Excited by the idea of returning to the land of lingonberries, reindeers and other Nordic novelties, I applied and interviewed in late January.  However, walking away from the 10 minute interview, I was pretty sure that Sweden would be a no go. 

 

7, 6, 5, … In early March, I got an e-mail from one of the principals in Sweden.  After a lovely phone interview with her and several e-mails back and forth, I was offered and accepted the job at her school in mid-April.  To be honest, I never would have expected that the first teaching contract I signed would be written in both Swedish and English. 

4, 3, 2, … Since signing the contract, accommodations have been arranged, plane tickets purchased, and a residence permit waits for me in Göteborg, Sweden.  My bags are packed containing necessities such as mittens and a toothbrush.  More obscure items like fractions circles and patty paper also seem to have made their way into my bags. 

It is two days until my departure, so I will not finish this countdown now.  For those who are interested, please feel free to follow my blog.  As I will be a first-year teacher this upcoming year, I can’t promise how regularly the blog will be updated or the quality of the posts.  But, with some luck, there should be some pictures and perhaps sporadic updates on the number of Swedish words I have learned.  Please keep me posted on your lives as well!  Skype is always a good option.