Changes

Hey,

A lot has happened since my last post. Today, many people on staff left and new people arrived. It is kind of frustrating to keep meeting people and become friends, only for them to leave a week or two later. However, it seems like a lot of staff live in Stockholm, so maybe I'll see them during my stay there.

Thursday and Friday were spent cleaning up Vassaro. At Fladan, we had to cut down trees and bushes that were beginning to grow onto the paths. One tree was too thick for the bow saws we had, so I used an ax. It was pretty awesome, although I now have a few blisters on my hand. On Friday, after a long day of Fladan maintenance, everyone on staff had to help clear trees and bushes on one side of the road that leads to a bunch of cottages, including mine. So after two days of hard work, it was nice to relax with a few friends in the sauna.

On Saturday, I walked the Trapper Trail. It is a 3 hour long walk that shows the variety of traps once used by Swedish trappers. Besides having traps, the trail had many rope and wood bridges, as well as a zip line. It was pretty interesting, and some of the traps are pretty brutal. On Saturday night, we at Fladan had to do some Konfirmand stuff. I'm really not allowed to talk about it on a public website, but it was very special and as a result, we all ended up staying until 2 a.m. I think Vassaro tries to make Konfirmation very special in part because it's a very important part in Swedish culture and a lot of the Konfirmands will become future staff. Many of the funk here wear their shirts and sweaters from their Konfirmations.

As for sailing, the only groups we've had recently were the Konfirmands again, and a group of girl scouts from Belgium. I took some of them out in one of the Lotsens, and I'm pretty sure they thought I couldn't speak or understand any French, but I could almost make out their entire conversation. They had never sailed before and only one of them could understand English, but I think they had a good time.

I think next week is going to be busy, especially with more than half the Fladan staff having just arrived. I'm really tired and I hope I don't get sick, but I'm still having a great time...

-Lukas