Jan. 5 - 1 klas

Can't resist posting in real time while hurtling through southern Sweden in a magnificent 1st klas coach (they call them vagen - wagons), even though I've yet to catch up blogging about the holiday extravaganza I've been fortunate enough to experience since arriving in Sweden.  While these moments are becoming a bit less common as I get used to calling home somewhere other than Minnesota, I'm most certainly feeling quite global tonight: wearing borrowed hiking boots from friends who I met through Kaitlin's exchange program in Sweden, some of my most aged blue jeans from US, a long, tailored kameez (Indian tunic), Bangladeshi & West Bengali bracelets women wear when they are partnered, my favorite scarf from a friend in Chandandagar, Houghly district, WB, all topped off with a simply stunning, cream-colored hand knit sweater on loan from a friend in Karlskrona to stave off the encroaching, long overdue cold temperatures!  OH & riding in a Swedish train with internet service, seats wide enough to easily sleep in, fresh brewed coffee, fruits & snacks, a huge bistro car with pizza, sandwiches, both soft & hard beverages & glass doors which whoosh like the sci-fi movies from my childhood.  Quite the ride - both the train & my reality.  Very humbling.  Incredibly rich in learning & connections.  I am so fortunate.

(Just wish they'd read announcements in Swedish & English...or, better yet, that I knew Swedish!)

Information on the Swedish train system...
http://www.sj.se/sj/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=120&l=en