Hope you are all doing great. Since leaving Australia then Mauritius for Sweden, I must say that it was [although enjoyable!!] quite time consuming to write to everybody(??) in different languages etc...! Hence I apologize for the lateness. I've been suggested today to use the same emails and 'google-translate' them, so I'll see how that goes.
Anyhow I'll explain quickly how I got here and why! But first I must acknowledge how good life was in Oz since I graduated in 2007.
Some photos to represent a few good times since then:
http://picasaweb.google.com/105026054672533308619/XGHK?authkey=Gv1sRgCMuhl6ihydmneA&feat=directlink
Started with a 3week road trip with the uni dudes after the last exam period: plenty of boozing was had, fairly continuously... (some photos representing that here: link)
Then we more or less spread around with different jobs etc... For my part the initial mining job lasted about 10 months, plenty of playing in iron ore dirt/dust was had, flying around, kind of fun until the it all got too repetitive. I got the chance to start with Austal Ships in oct 08, which was pretty cool but I won't go into details. Along the way I kept in relatively good contact with Mauritian and Aussie buddies, and made new friends as well which was fantastic. With a bit more cash I got to buy some toys and enjoy more time away from Perth, generally for windsurfing, which was particularly good in the 09/10 season.
CHANGE COMING!!: From around mid-09 though, I started thinking about getting more involved in mitigating all the bullshit happening around us: biodiversity crisis, financial crisis, food/water crisis, depression rates, climate change, just to mention a few. The more I read (mostly in the paper) about it all the more I felt useless.... I went to speak to the head of sustainability at Murdoch University, and he pointed me towards (themselves 1st!) Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden. Ok, some possibilities, And I really wanted to experience a life other than 'Perth Life' before I got tied up with a mortgage and other serious stuff.
It was still a tough choice to make, mid 09 I didn't have enough money to just move, AND I had a great situation, good friends network, world class windsurfing conditions..... I considered a post-grad with Murdoch externally, even possibly doing it in Mauritius for half of 2010. But it was too quick a move, I was still paying back my car, there was the possibility of getting Aus citizenship, money factor etc... So I stayed and applied for 2 Masters courses in Jan2010, 1 in Denmark and the Swedish one. At this point my work had got agonisingly boring (due to the market - not much to do!). But I hung in there and saved as much money as I could for whatever move was coming. Forgot to mention! Dec 09 I went back to Mauritius for 2 weeks to clear my mind and really make a decision... I was pretty restless so that break was immensely helpful.
So yeah, in May 2010 I received an acceptance letter and I was nearly already gone!! I resigned with a 7 week notice, sold my car, all my house stuff (bed, lamp, desk etc...) closed all insurances, accounts, booked tickets for Mauritius for early July then 1 way to Sweden (via Paris) in August!! Objective: Get a Master of Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability (it's quite a mouth-full indeed).
What I think I'll do is post the Mauritius holiday summary in another post, then the trip to Europe ending in Karlskrona, then updates Karlskrona.
Well, if I hadn't brain-washed you with the story before, there you have it!
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