Italy

Twenty-two years ago, I was on the coast in Italy with my girlfriend at the time. Looking through old pictures, I found this one of her standing at the window. Though so long ago, I can still remember the feeling of being away from Sweden, of breathing lighter air somehow. As much as I love the relative isolation of Umeå, there is no denying that living here is also, as I once wrote, about foregoing, about enduring mad winters and being away from much of what ultimately matters. All these thoughts came to me as I was doing the interviews with the prospective PhD candidates last week, as if I could sense their nervous curiosity fresh off the night train.