We're just back from watching the sun go down at Sotherndown. While travelling back and forth they played Madonna's Vogue twice on the radio. This is my last night in Cardiff. Tomorrow I head back to Malmö with Zoe and Mark in tow (or toe?) ready to celebrate the dawn of 2006.

The Switchbacks
This morning I rode a trail that I've ridden many times in the past, but haven't been near for maybe 3 or 4 months. It's known as 'The Switchbacks' because of the hairpin turns, which make it a really fun ride. It starts out steepish and fairly simple, and ends with a fast, near flat, fairly technical (weaving between trees etc.) piece of singletrack.

This morning I noticed that the trail has changed somewhat since my last ride. The loose rocks have gone and been replaced by small red stones, as have other more precarious parts of the trail. This makes it a much faster ride, but also a much safer ride and I'm not sure I like it.

The thing I enjoyed the most was just being outside and out of the city. I know it sounds like a cliché, but too little time in the outdoors makes me feel like a caged animal.

Thanks to John, James, Elinor and Elin I now have a CV in Swedish! Tack så mycket. Also thanks to those who have cared for me in different ways during my first month in Sweden. I've spent some time figuring out the mac keyboard shortcuts so will no longer be spelling Malmö without the dots.

God Jul en och allt (I'm sure you can't directly translate "one and all" like that but what do I know?)

Peace.

This is my third day in the UK. It's nice to be home, seeing friends and family and noticing all the differences between here and Sweden. One of the things I noticed first was that I was looking the wrong way when crossing the road. I've had to remind myself, when walking into a shop, "it's not 'hey' and 'tack,' but 'hi' and thankyou..."

I haven't needed my gloves or hat either...

Yesterday at 7.35am I awoke to the sound of words I didn't recognise and voices I did as Emma and Sofia sang me the Swedish equivalent of 'Happy Birthday' and entered the room with an icecream cake and candles. I blew out the candles and proceeded with my icecream breakfast...

At 7.40am Elinor and Sara showed up, sang, and presented me with manna (well, Ben and Jerry's).

During the day I hung out with Emma, went shopping and got ready for our guests in the evening. We had a great meal - a feta cheese pie, and people started arriving from 8ish. The apartment filled up and we had a lot of fun mingling with some new friends.

Pictures (hopefully) to follow (please: Emma, Pete, anyone else who brought their camera).

All in all a great birthday.

Well the winter here is much milder than I expected. That's not to say it isn't cold, but it's December 17th and I've been able to continue cycling wherever I need to go. I've only had one moment where I would say I was chilled to the bone and that actually had more to do with following someone who was cycling really slow. To top this off I think I've only been caught in rain twice this month and neither occasion was heavy enough to dampen my shoe-covered toes.

Today is the Malmo Vineyard Christmas party and I'll hopefully get to sample some more traditional Swedish Christmas food (if any of it is vegetarian!) I'm constantly blown away by the fact that you can move cities and find a community of like-minded individuals with whom you can share life and faith (not that the two are really that easy to separate!)

On Monday I celebrate my 23rd Birthday, which should be fun. This year I get to celebrate it twice - on Monday with friends in Malmo and then Tuesday when I fly home to my family for Christmas.

Now to make some Greek(ish) couscous salad with one of the bargains of Malmo - 20kr for 1/2Kg of feta cheese (from the Greek delicatessen in Mollevangen).

Tonight we celebrated Lucia at Malmo Stadsbibliotek (city library) with a midnight concert from a small band of choristers. It's so nice to be somewhere where advent festivities aren't completely overshadowed by the impulse to max out the collective credit card.

The last few days I've been full of cold and very aware that the clock is ticking in the run up for Christmas. I went to university with Elinor and printed out some notices offering proof reading for students whose first language is Swedish and are submitting coursework in English. It'll be interesting to see what comes.

These times of being slightly below par are kind of good for reflecting and evaluating progress I guess.

On Wednesday night I attended an interdenominational mass that seems to be run by students of a local theological college. It was the first service I've been to that was held entirely in Swedish (including all songs), and, because of the cold, my head was really not in gear, but it was very relaxed and I enjoyed its simplicity.

Well I'm still alive. Mark C went home on Saturday, so I'm now hanging with mostly Swedes. The Swedish isn't coming along as quickly as I would like, but I am learning, and I'm sure that when I fix myself a routine of practise and study I will improve much faster.

On Friday night Mark, Emma and I were at Crash, an indie night at The Deep. We met up with some of Emma's friends from back home (Varnamo), including Nicholas who goes out with their housemate (Bea). I think Emma found it amusing when Nicholas grabbed me and pulled me into a group of lads who were jumping up and down on the dancefloor singing along with some swedish band that I'd never heard. Not one to let the fact that I can't make out the lyrics hold me back I decided to sing along ("watermelon, watermelon, watermelon...").

I'm feeling very taken care of. God seems to have provided me with a network of supportive and encouraging friends far more quickly than I would ever have expected.