Dec 15

Sam the excellent photoblogger from Daily Dose Of Imagery posted a photograph lately that really made me smile. Why? Because it looks so similar to one I took while in London. Check out the comparison.

Sam’s shot (NOTE: the picture has been resized to fit blog) :

Sam's shot

My shot:

Paul's shot

You can tell that there are some huge differences. The tones in Sam’s photograph are absolutely magnificent and the picture is also much sharper. Sam answered me and mentionned that the tones were fixed with Photoshop’s mixer channel.

So I guess this is a good thing! Sam has gotten tonnes of comments on his blog for this shot… I guess I’m heading in the right direction. Funny that I only got one comment for mine! The title explains everything: it’s all about exposure baby!

Dec 10

Cooped up instead my little corridor room I try get some studying done while listening to the music that I will forever associate with this place. I’m great at procrastinating…

These last few days have been hectic beyond belief. Pre-parties, parties, suppers and after-parties have been the hot topics discussed by the many cliques of Erasmus students here in Linköping. However with exams just a few days away I can’t help but feel stressed. I woke up this morning with butterflies in my stomach and they were definately not the same kind that I’ve rudely woken up with on mornings greeted by a dry mouth and the feeling of having my head lodged half way up my ass.

My opinion about leaving this place changes everyday… sometimes even several times per day. I’m feeling totally bipolar when faced with the question of returning home, of leaving Sweden and especially of leaving Europe. Sometimes I like Sweden, sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I can’t wait to get home but then I realize that I’m leaving Europe and that I won’t be coming back for quite some time due to the fact of my next year and a half of studying is completely booked in order to finish school as soon as possible. The only fear that I’ve had since I’ve arrived that still remains is my reintegration at Université Laval. I just don’t want to go back there: it’s old-fashioned in a bad way, the students there are cold as ice, the campus is huge and dispersed due to endless parking space and the department that I’m studying at is slowly dying away, leaving behind but the douchebag computer science teachers which I’ve grown to loathe and hate. On top of all that, my peer students are social misfits who can’t help but get a hardon when the word “Unix” is muttered in the bowels of their wax soiled ears.

Now don’t get me wrong! The fact that I openly took a verbal dump on the achedemic institution where I will return to in January does not at all mean that I don’t enjoy Québec City. Quite contrariliy, I’m absolutely in love with Québec and I can’t wait to rediscover it upon my arrival in January after the holidays spent back home in Chandler.

I never thought I would say this but I can’t wait to feast my eyes on the tacky Gaspésien Christmas decorations that I, for some incomprehensive reason, presently long for. However, I’m not in lack of Christmas spirit here in Linköping. Swedish Christmas traditions are so abundant and overwhelming that all people really think about at this time of year is decorating their windows with electric candles that give off a soft white glow and eating traditional Swedish desserts. On top of decorations and food, Swedes love to celebrate Christmas by dressing up. Yup, Saint Lucia and her friends can be spotted all over the place here, from Christmas markets in old town all the way to twilight marches through the bike paths of Ryd. Last but not the least, Swedes love to binge consume for Christmas… just as much as we do back in North America! Now that is something that I definately did not expect when coming here.

Various tidbits of information that I may not have mentionned:

  • Friends threw me a surprise birthday party! I had written all about it but I lost my post (which happened to be very long) because I rebooted my computer without saving it…
  • It’s surprisingly warm in Sweden at this time of year: from 0-10 degrees most of the time.
  • I should have gone to PlatÃ¥ way more often during the last 4 months…
  • I passed Swedish! Mycket bra!
  • I’m going to Göteborg with Nadia from the 16th to the 18th. That should be a blast.
  • I’m leaving for Stockholm on the 22nd at noon. My plane takes of at 15h00 on the 23rd.
  • Jonathan (you’re the best mate) is going to be waiting for me at Trudeau 2 hours after my departure. I regain the 6 hours I lost coming here…
  • My room is a mess and my bathroom smells like poo (OBS only when the water runs into the sink… strange).
  • I’m going to miss meatballs.
  • I’m not going to miss Swedish beer.
  • My bank account is almost dry, first time this has ever happened to me in a very long time (preuves à l’appui)!
  • Happy Birthday to Nadia and Loïc, vous allez vraiment me manquer beaucoup…
  • Swedish people should be held on leashes when they drink and they should loosten up a bit and get laid more often (real sex, not hugging).
  • I’m proud to be Canadian et je suis surtout fier d’être Québécois!