This was supposed to be just a short update. I obviously failed...

I will not go into any detail here, but this was easily the worst bird ringing experience I had in my life. I also have to take back what I said about bird ringers earlier - until now all of the ones I met were great people but now I know that there are exceptions. And it is no fun living together with them in a small house in a very rural area in the Swedish mountains. I was very close to leaving several times but I am just too nice a person and didn't want to just leave knowing that they relied on me. All the other volunteers are leaving in the next few days (I can't say it makes me sad) and I will be the only ringer left for the last week. This and the fact that I had made plans I could not easily change - at least not being in Sweden and Norway where everything is just really expensive - were the main reasons why I am still here. Also, I must admit that the landscape is just amazing (the picture that comes with the post is basically the view from my window). And what also helped me a lot were visits from some friends! And the fact that I still had a lot of work to finish for university (yes, I know, it's no use since I won't finish my degree but it is group work and I didn't want to let my groups down).
By now I got used to treating my fellow volunteers like thin air as they do to me - it took me some time to get used to it but I am getting there - can't say I am proud of this but it's certainly a good skill to have in emergency situations.
This also gave me the time to come up with a plan B, should I decide in the end that I do not want to go to Turkey after all. I am really good in coming up with alternative plans, as you know, so it was not too difficult. Of course, I was also very annoyed that a certain president put my plans at risk, but I have decided to not worry about it for now. I will still go through with all my plans until I arrive at the Danube Delta, which is where I want to go anyways and then I will see from there.

But first a few words on here: I am definitely in Sweden, even though I keep thinking and saying that I am in Norway but Norway is almost 30 km away. When I finally left Kiel, I must admit it was harder than I had expected it to be. Strangely, even though from the first day in Kiel I felt quite at home there (which was very much thanks to the very enjoyable living situation) but I never felt like I really belonged there. I know, this sounds weird and I can't explain it either. I guess, the closest I come to an explanation arose in a chat I had with a stranger on the way who said that, when he lived in Germany, to him it felt like people there are just machines. Everything in Germany is so easy, so straight forward. I constantly felt like I was in a bubble created by a state that has money and power and tries to make people think that all they need to be happy is a house and a garden and a job and a family, while the real life was somewhere out there. Somewhere there where the people who do not have money and power suffer for the luxuries that those who do have. Where life comes with all its hardships but at least it is a life and not just a small part in a big system that works like a well oiled machine. I don't know, I don't want to make it sound so bad, I know that life in Germany is very comfortable if you have a job and everything. But it is not what I want anyways, so I am glad that I left. I also never thought that I had any close friends, until, finally, I left and I met them one last time, and I realized that some of the people there, after all, have become really good friends to me and it is sad to leave them, when I find that I had not known them for long enough to really appreciate that. I also received my best ever good-bye present: instead of giving me a present they donated money to a good cause.

Well, but now I am here. Getting here was the first part of my adventure. Basically the part where I got used to the idea of biking long distances with a lot of luggage (well, everything I will take with me for the next year or more). I guess it is about 20 kilos, if I include some water and food. It is less than what most people call their possessions, obviously, but it is still a lot if it sits on the back of your bike and you have to cycle uphill a lot (which you do, when you go into the mountains). I left Kiel by train to go to Denmark. From there I biked to Fredrikshavn where the ferry to Oslo leaves. There I got the first proof of rural areas: you should better be equipped with food and drink for a long while because you never know where the next store may be... I stayed overnight on the beach, which was really beautiful and then the next morning the ferry left to Oslo. I slept most of the way on the ferry but I also saw some cool birds and the fjord coming into Oslo is amazing! In Oslo I had just a few hours before the night train to Trondheim departed. I sat by the sea to just chill. Both in Denmark and in Norway people just randomly talked to me, which was nice because it is something that you are not used to. But it was really nice and I had a really interesting chat with a fisherman in Oslo for about an hour. It's funny how suddenly you just meet people really easily just because you have a bike with a rather large backpack on it.
The night train to Trondheim gave me the first proof of summer in the north: the sun set at what felt like midnight and it came up again about two hours later. I did not sleep very much also because the train was very full. But I arrived and the sun was shining so who am I to complain. I set off for a bike ride of - according to google maps - around 130 km covering 1400 m uphill and 800 downhill. Normally I know I could easily do this but 20 kilos more on your bike do make it harder. Also, my bike is not really made for mountains. It will be easier once I am back to Denmark but Norway is not the best place for my bike - nor the part of Sweden where I am now. But despite it being exhausting it was a very nice bike ride. At the beginning I had a cycle path and I was basically cycling along the fjord where Trondheim lies, which is very beautiful. Then I got lost, but luckily I noticed it soon and I asked another biker who came along for directions which he readily gave. So I had to go back a little bit and then take the correct road. The downside was that there was no bike path there. I had to bike on the main road. Close to Trondheim there was still a lot of traffic that soon became very little as I arrived in the rural parts of Norway. I was following the only road there which followed a river, which was also nice. Sometimes there were bike paths that started and ended very suddenly - but I am well prepared for this after a year in northern Germany. I enjoyed them when I had them and didn't worry about biking on the road too much because there was very little traffic indeed for a long while. It was raining a little bit for most of my way which meant that I didn't really take many breaks. Also there were no shops where I could have bought anything and far less a café or something where I could have sat for a break. Plus there were no road signs so I had no idea how far I had gone and how much I was still missing but I did not want to arrive too late so I just biked on. Getting closer to the border there were more cars on the road again and I quickly realized it was Norwegians going to Sweden for "cheap" shopping. They quite destroyed my peaceful trip. I was certainly the only cyclist and I knew there weren't many people on bikes going this way when even the cows next to the road stopped eating to stare at me. There was a sign saying "share the road" so probably I was not the only one, however.
I finally arrived at a little village with a small store (small, because most shopping was done 30 km down the road in Sweden) and finally some signs telling me how far I still had to go. It was all uphill by now but not too steep so it was ok, and with some delicious pastries from the shop I felt ready to go for the last part. Soon I had climbed the last mountain (or hill - it was 600 m high, I guess it depends who you ask. I would normally call it a hill but after biking all the way up there from sea level I am inclined to call it a mountain - or is it just the comparison with the landscape I have lived in for the last year?) and I knew even without signs that I was getting closer and closer to my destination. The border was more or less on the highest point of the mountain pass. Just before I arrived it it started raining pretty hard. And I, exhausted and wet and happy to only bike downhill from there, was really looking forward to a border control station, ideally with a small shop, café gas station or something, where I could sit for a bit under a roof and be happy that I had finished the hardest part. Only there was nothing. Well, there was a sign saying that you enter the European Union. That was it. There was also a building and a sign that asked you to declare whatever you had to declare but I don't think there was anyone in there. There was also not really any space under the roof to sit. I was very disappointed. Imagine what they would have for border control if there were refugees up here! But this is also part of the reason why I keep thinking that I am still in Norway: nobody was there to check my passport or anything. It was quite disappointing! Well that, and the fact that I don't actually have any Swedish cash, because there is no cash machine in 50 km surroundings. So I just always pay by card...
Well, I just biked on, the rain had stopped by the time I arrived at the village where the Norwegians (and we now) do their shopping, and so I decided to just continue. I did not want to shop anything because I did not want to increase the weight on my bike. I finally arrived at the house where we live now, had a hot shower and a good night's sleep and all was good. I also learned to reduce the distances I plan to bike every day after I leave here. And I learned that the nights in the summer up here don't really exist. Basically, the sun goes down at 11 or so and it comes up at 3 and in between you just have dusk and dawn. It does not really get dark. Well, by now it does, but when I arrived it did not. Remember: within 6 months the day length decreases from 20.5 to 4.5 hours, so the days get shorter very quickly. But it took me about two weeks to get used to the light and be able to sleep at all as I refused to close the blinds on the windows because I also think it is just really cool that the days are so long and that the sun is shining when you wake up at half past three in the morning!
The bird ringing started off slow but we are now getting more birds. The nice thing about this place, next to the amazing landscape (more pictures are coming when I have better internet) is that you can see all the birds, that we only know as migrants or wintering birds, on their breeding grounds. Most of you find this boring, I suppose, but it is really the best thing about this place here. It is also really strange to see birds that we only know from lake shores or sea shores suddenly in a mire on a Swedish "mountain". They look out of place somehow but then they also look like a perfect fit at the same time. One of the best experiences was getting woken up by the calls of cranes at 4 am one morning. The sun was already shining and I got up to look at them. They were maybe 50 m away from my window. It was really amazing. I have seen cranes in Germany, of course, but here in the perfect landscape they were special. And the other thing, as I said, is the landscape. It's just very special. I mean, after all it's also all the same and you do run out of possible motives for photos to take but it is really very pretty. I did some hikes in the mountains - the real mountains, where it is around 1000 m. And I realized that the cool thing is that you have here basically the same things as we have in the Alps (apart from the breeding shorebirds) but starting at a much lower elevation and therefore they cover much more of the landscape. Like bogs in Austria are often maybe 1 or some km² but here they are as far as you can see with lakes in between and some birches but all bog. The tree line is at about 1000 m, whereas in the Alps it is at around 2000 m, depending on where you are. And above the tree line there are just more bogs and plateaus not steep slopes and peaks. It is a very interesting place for a biologist for sure.
There are very few people too, which makes the area different from what you have in Central Europe. I am also very aware of the fact that the only reason why the little village, that is about 20 km away from here, has two big supermarkets, are the Norwegians that come to shop here. Therefore also, they mainly have beer and soft drinks and a very reduced supply of actual food but at least we don't have to drive for an hour to go to a supermarket - which, I am sure, is not uncommon around here. It's a rather touristy place, so probably the actual population of the village here is maybe around 10 people but there are lots of holiday homes so the population increases to maybe 200 during the holidays. Which is still small enough so you normally don't often meet people. There is one famous hiking trail around here and this is where all the people are. If you go anywhere else you normally don't meet anyone.
This also means, however, that I can tell you very little about the Swedish culture. The people I work with are from all over Europe but not from here. All I know is that literally everyone in Sweden speaks perfect English - no matter the age or education - which is quite impressive. They just instantly switch to talking in English when you reply with a blank stare when they ask you something. Also, I am appalled to see that the houses here have basically no insulation at all - quite like in Edmonton, when I was there. They are heated with cheap electricity which is mainly produced by hydro-electric plants, which can be found on almost every river (also on the waterfall across from our house) and nuclear energy. It seems quite ridiculous that in a place where winter lasts probably about 8 months per year, they do not even have double glass windowpanes. Otherwise I could talk about the food they have in the store but I don't know how representative our stores are for the rest of Sweden. The sugar in the bread and the salt in the butter definitely are. The big sizes of everything and accordingly high use of preservatives is probably more a local thing - or is it everywhere in rural Sweden, since people probably only go shopping once a week when they have to drive for half an hour to go to the store? I don't know... Well, of course, there's the cinnamon buns. I will try and make some myself, because it takes me about 3 hours to bike to the store (there and back), so going there each time I want one is not really an option...
Oh, and the weather: I think so far there were about two days where it didn't rain here. Which is fine in itself but it is also between 10 and 15 degrees most of the time, which, according to my personal views and likes, is quite cold for "summer". I know, I am going to Turkey, and again, I will complain about the heat there enough but still. I mean: this is fine for a few weeks but I would never ever want to live here. Beautiful as it is, I think being here in July and August is ok but I wouldn't come in any other month of the year really! Oh, and it is not raining all the time, of course, just a few hours every day, so it's not a big deal but still...
Either way, for now I am enjoying my time here and looking forward to when the others are gone and I can enjoy it even more, and making plans for the next part of my trip.

So, since I haven't said this before: the plan was to bike from here to Turkey. Why do I want to do this? Just because, I guess. Because I have been wanting to do a long bike tour for years and never had the time (or took it anyways), and now I do. Originally I planned to just bike here and then go back to Kiel, but since I am not going back to Kiel any more, I decided to bike all the way to Turkey - because, why not?! Also, I still refuse to fly within Europe (and for me Turkey is just part of Europe, no matter what) and I know how hard it was to go by train from Austria to Greece so I didn't really want to give it a try from the middle of nowhere in Sweden to Turkey. And, of course, I can only do this because I saved enough money when I was still working for the university in Miami and I do not have any other plans for now and no need to take on any summer job. So I just decided to take the time and explore Europe a bit more. I had to adjust my plans now, as I said because I reduced the daily distances but also because of ferry schedules. I will now just bike from Trondheim to the coast and back to Trondheim, then take the train to Oslo and bike from there to Gothenburg and take the ferry to Denmark from there. It is quite amazing just how hard it is to find bike routes between countries. Basically, of course you can do the island-route through Denmark to go to Sweden but always have to take ferries or the train because so many highway bridges are just not open for cyclists. Which is really annoying. But I hope I now finally figured out my route and it will be okay. I also really hope that the weather will be nice for the few days that I am out in Norway because I really want to sleep on the beach (or coast) and get the most out of it, seeing that instead of the planned two weeks I am now only in Norway for about one week. But either way, I know it will be a really beautiful bike ride along the fjord coast. I am really looking forward to it. And the good thing is that, from Oslo onwards, there are no mountains any more anywhere on my route so it will be easier and I will be faster and will have more time to enjoy nature.
So, just to say: I will try to check my email about once a week while I am on the road but will not have regular internet access. My plan is to arrive in Izmir on the 15th of October. I will keep you updated on the way as much as I can but expect there to be longer gaps between posts.