Narnia.

So it's Monday evening and I've had a really cozy day. Anna picked me up at 9:45am to bike to school, and at 9:48am I decided there's no way in HELL I'm going to bike to class in that snow storm!! No siree. These snowflakes were thick pieces of confetti that turned me blind every twenty feet. And the sidewalks obviously hadn't been paved yet and so as our eyes were dripping with tears and snow trying to see through the snowfall, we were pedaling our bikes through literally four inches of fresh snow. So class was a no for me...it was the last lecture anyway, no biggie. I guess I'm feeling a little arrogant, too, since I finished my last assignment for school yesterday and am officially done with my semester of Swedish education. :) So I treated myself to a cozy day of watching some movies and cleaning the cabin. 

This snow is really out of control though! I started a little pile outside of my cabin about ten days ago, and originally it stood at about three feet high. Now on its own, the snow has fallen so much that it almost reaches my window at four feet! A foot of snow in ten days! Wow! It made for some really stunning sights while we were dog sledding on Saturday. While a first group went out on the dogs, Kevin, Jeffrey and I trekked through--not exaggerating--waist-high snow to explore the woods. We passed through the outer layer of trees and people, and I swear we had stepped into Narnia. Everything seemed to go silent...it was like a vacuum. The woods were breathtaking: a thick layer of pure white snow on every branch of every tree, wide areas of completely untouched snowfall...mystifying. At one point in our hike/climb through the snow we found an open space where all three of us just collapsed. We laid there for a while, listening to the snowflakes fall onto our jackets, and the snow actually started feeling warm after a while! Agh so cool.

But then it was our turn for the dog sledding! And boy was it a good time...the majority of the dogs the crew brought were less than a year old, and they were SO EXCITED to run! They literally kept pacing and howling and jumping all over each other as we switched drivers. So cute. Riding a dog sled isn't all that tough: lean left, lean right, soft brake, hard brake. That's all there is to it. Notice I didn't include "Mush!" in there...unfortunately these dogs didn't respond one bit to that word. Drat. I had really been looking forward to it. 

So yep, dog sledding was a hoot. We spent the entire morning outside with the dogs, and then got back to the hotel at around 2:00 for soup and relaxation. We warmed up and then at 4:00pm (when the sky is literally pitch black these days) decided to give sledding a go. Now I know that my wrist has been hurting, so with all honesty I tell you that I did not push the limits with the sledding, but I just could not pass up this hill! It was monstrous! I woke up yesterday completely confused as to why my calves hurt so much until I realized that walking up that mountain was a workout! My goodness. 

After sledding we headed back, had some delicious buffet-style Swedish cuisine, and then got our party on. Sauna-snow-repeat. Never gets old.

So all in all it's fair to say the farewell ceremony was a total and complete success...people, The End is getting really close for me and it's becoming more difficult to think about leaving my friends here. *Sigh.*

Okay but today just got better!! As if it wasn't already a perfect lazy day, I just opened my mailbox to find yet another Patty Mraz package!! Woo! Now, I know she sent it with a 12 Days of Christmas theme, so I want to make sure I have the description right before I post it...but trust me, this is a good package. :)

Alright well I hope everyone's doing well! Take care!

kt