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Travel Journal Photos
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Rock
party As the legend goes in Stockholm, the most effective pickup line here is "put you're hands in the air, this is a stickup" The last time someone tried it, they actually married one of the hostages. When I was asked what I planned on doing within Stockholm, I wanted to blurt out 'rob a bank and take people hostage'. However, you can't say that in today's post-Columbine take-threats-seriously age. But in another twist to the original Stockholm syndrome, chances are if someone heard me saying that and had me arrested, they'd still raise money for my legal defense and testify in court on my behalf. I hope I'm not butchering the story too badly for discoverer Dr. Frank Ochberg. I'll be seeing him in almost one week when I go to Memphis for his journalist trauma workshop. Rather than do any of the above, I instead saw the Swedish crown jewels today and explored Old Town. Old Town is an island among islands surrounded by water and joined by bridges within Stockholm. The city center is incredibly colorful, beautiful, and unchanged for the past 300 years. Before Stockholm, I joined 27k Swedish music lovers for their annual music festival in Hultsfred. This far south in Sweden, we actually had night time. We danced until dawn when Faithless gave an amazing performance. For many of the entertainers, people danced so hard the ground actually shook. I saw lots of Swedish music like The Ark and Kent. The surprising thing about the festival is how uncomerical it was. You had to squint hard to find any trace of corporate sponsorship. Almost the entire event lacked banners or any other visible advertising. The weather was decent--hot in the daytime and freezing at night--when you are outdoors the whole time and sleeping in a tent. It started to rain just as my train took me away. I don't there were any casualties this year... last year, between Sweden and Denmark, at least seven people died in their annual outdoor music festivals. Tomorrow night, I'll be taking a train into Gothenburg to see it healing from last week's violent rioting, before heading into Copenhagen, on a slow trek to my flight home on June 27th. I am presently waiting to hear more about my first picks for employment abroad. |
