I had a realization this morning while reading the book, Topophilia by Yi-fu Tuan...not an insightful nor original realization, but simply the reminder of how time and experience change one's perception of place. I'm getting away from the superficial and beginning to really appreciate Göteborg. It's home for now and this sense of place has me connected in a way I wasn't one month ago. While I can pine for places further North and less urban (more Nordic?), I think I ended up here for a few important reasons...partly the experience of a place that challenges my romantic notions of Sweden. Not that Göteborg is not romantic!!

I am no longer a tourist. I'm here and know that I will remain here for a while. I'm seeing this place in new and interesting ways and feeling place too: I feel an affintiy with my neighborhood of Haga, I have "favorite" places, I am feeling comforting repetition...

For any of you reading this with a sense of topo-curiosity, go to the following website, pick "Göteborg" and tour around..it is a great visual tour of this place! Really--it will take you on a visual trek through this fine town.

http://www.hitta.se/gatubild/

Maybe I am finding comfort in Göteborg given its similarity with Duluth...old, water-based, post industrial, working class cities...hills, water and rock. I'll take some pictures of the waterfront to share.

Here is where I work--Handelshögskola på Göteborgs Universitet!