kareina: (stitched)
[personal profile] kareina
When last I checked in here I had just enjoyed a lovely weekend at home, and was getting ready to travel for work in a couple of days.

That trip went well, if a bit full-on and tiring. That week looked like this:

Monday night (4 Feb):


22:20 to bed

Tuesday:

4:50: wake at , do situps and pack last minute stuff (food from fridge, pillows from bed, etc.) and load car.
6:10: start driving
8:45: arrive at Boliden and meet with one of the mine geologists
9:10 start collecting rock samples from rock core for the day
17:00 finish for the day, walk to my room & curl up with a book and some popcorn to recover
18:40 go out for a walk
19:15 return from walk, help a friend get her PhD application packet together
22:10 start yoga
22:32 finish yoga, get ready for bed
22:50: go to sleep

Wednesday:

5:15 wake up, do situps and pack lunch
6:20 walk to work
6:50 start collecting rock samples from rock core for the day
19:20 finish for the day, walk to my room, reply to a couple of emails
21:00 start yoga
21:25 finish yoga, get ready for bed
21:40 go to sleep

Thursday:

04:40 wake up, do situps and pack lunch
5:45 walk to mine office, pick up car (where it has been plugged in so that the engine will be warm when I need it--no plugs available where I am staying) and return to room with it--load everything into it, and drive it back to the office and plug it back in.
6:50 start collecting rock samples from rock core for the day
10:00 walk back to the mine office for a meeting with the mine geologists
12:10 return to collecting rock samples from rock core
15:40 finish up and start driving back to LuleƄ
18:35 arrive home, having looked at more than 1600 meters of rock core in three days and taken 49 samples from two different drill holes.

Unsurprisingly, I didn't accomplish all that much that Friday as I recovered my energy levels from the week.

The next day we drove two hours inland to attend the Jokkmokksvintermarknad, an annual winter market that has been happening since the early 1600's. During the drive I finally managed to finish the nice, warm, fur lined hood that I started last winter--the perfect thing to wear when attending an outdoor market north of the Arctic Circle.

We spent a couple of hours wandering in the market, and then drove 30 minutes back this way to a village where a friend of [livejournal.com profile] lord_kjar works at the hotel. We stopped in to visit her at work, and a large group of people he knows were having dinner in the restaurant, so he got hugs all around and I got to meet a bunch of new people.

When she got off of work the three of us drove back out to Jokkmokk, where we attended the Folk Music and Dance session, arriving just as things began at 21:00 The hall where the dance was held is a very old timber building, with only a fireplace in the corner to provide heat. The temperature outside was -30 C (-22 F), and they were just starting the fire in the fireplace as we got there. There was no thermometer in the room, but I am fairly certain the room was below zero when we arrived. Certainly it was cold enough that I left on my fur lined hood for the first three dances. After that there were enough people in the room, and I had moved enough I could take off the hood, but I never did need to take off the wool tights or wool trousers I had on under the dancing skirt, nor did I need to take off the wool sweater. I don't think I have ever danced in such a cold room, but it was so much fun!

We danced till midnight, drove the friend back to her village, and then did the long drive home--managed to get to bed that night at 03:45 that morning!

It isn't really a surprise that we didn't go anywhere that Sunday--not even to our normal folk music and dance sessions. Oops.

This week was a normal level of busy at work--with too much to do, and not enough time to do everything I want to accomplish each day, but I didn't have to go anywhere to do it (worked from home some days--skied to the office on others). Monday was Dance practice at our place, Tuesday was Choir, Wednesday and Thursday evenings were spent on errands and projects, and Friday was an extra choir practice to prep for an upcoming performance, so the week slipped by so quickly that I somehow never did sit down to update LJ.

Today was a mini-gaming convention, and we had signed up for the morning and afternoon games. This morning we played Kagematsu, and this afternoon we played Sagas of the Icelanders.

In the morning session we were villagers on a small island which used to depend on pearl exports for cash money, but trading hasn't gone so well since the pirates started coming around demanding bribes to go a way and not plunder us after all of our men folk went off to the wars. We thought things would go better when a samurai got shipwrecked on our shores, and we managed to convince him to stay and be our protector, but then the pirates attacked in greater numbers than we could handle, and the village was destroyed. A tragedy, but a fun game to play nonetheless.

In the afternoon we had to deal with a potential blood feud sparked by the death of one man at the hands of the shield maiden on the next farm. Lots of dealing with honour, valour, tabbos, revenge, gods, witchcraft, etc. An all around fun day.

Tomorrow [livejournal.com profile] lord_kjar flies to Stockholm for two weeks of work. I am hoping that I can use the opportunity to make great progress on my research for work, without too many distractions. Wish me luck.

(no subject)

Date: 2013-02-17 07:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] corva.livejournal.com
A splendid update! I will be dreaming of ways to come and visit you some winter and attend the celebration with you!

(no subject)

Date: 2013-02-17 08:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kareina.livejournal.com
That would be wonderful! There are so many places and things to do here I would love to share with you because I know you would appreciate them.

Profile

kareina: (Default)
kareina

May 2025

S M T W T F S
     123
45678 910
11121314151617
1819 2021222324
25262728293031

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags