Summer 2022

… And it was good!

Top: Purple rice, glutinous rice balls, candied fruit, shaved ice, and coconut milk. Bottom left: Seafood and veg from the hotpot buffet. Bottom right: food in action on the hotpot/barbecue.

Top: front façade of the cottage we rented on Öland. Bottom left: lighthouse at the southern tip of Öland. Bottom right: Borgholm Castle ruin.

I took a summer holiday. Holidays are worth it. This shouldn’t require saying, but in the current working culture, I feel that it is often forgotten. The last time, before this year, that I had done a Swedish summer was in 2012. And I will never leave it that long again. Travelling during the summer is, of course, less cumbersome than during winter – I was traipsing through the airport in a dungaree dress as opposed to a thick puffer coat, lots of layers, and warm-lined boots. And scandi summers are just the best. (Scandi winters are wonderful too though.)

The YouTube channel choki mentioned “resting without resistance”. This is what I wish for myself and people I love during future breaks too.

I am anxious and nervous for the new term, but I will trust the process. Everything is the scariest just before you start, whether it’s a roller-coaster or a new job. So here we go.

For posterity: arranging to meet up – from FLIGHTS – at an airport is tricky, but also kinda fun?

Nothing like making a trilingual welcome sign for your hosts.

Hope you have had a good summer. Take care not to catch a cold as we head into colder, cosier weather.