Arrived in Umea

Hej Hej,

We have just arrived in Umea (pronounced Emu) and checked in at the YMCA hostel after a 12 hour night train which was delayed by 3 hours. A quick shower and breakfast and then it is off to the conference which started about an hour ago.

The night train journey was a unique experience, sharing a tiny cabin with 6 other people, very cosy. I've never been on a night train before but i loved spending an evening with the guys from holland, ireland and England. We spent more time getting to know each other, sharing ideas, joking and laughing.

The last 24 hours has probably been my favourite time here. Unfortunately, the conference at Jonkoping was cancelled, so we spent another day in Stockholm. Awesome. It was still a busy day but much more relaxed and we all re-energised. We spent the day doing workshops and sharing techniques and ideas through a concept called market place. I learned more about team building and motivation techniques from Philip (Swedish) and then looked at building tree houses with Joost from Holland. I learned so much in one day, sharing with the other guys from Europe. There were also other workshops on faith and spirituality and volunteer managment, all run and delivered by the participants.

Have to go to the conference now, but we have wireless in Umea, so keep watching for further posts and pictures (if i can get someone to translate the swedish on this page for me).

Hej

Shabs