Well, to start the story of your life you need two parents, at least in the classical way of reproduction, and I am a result of love and marriage of my father, Bo Lundquist, and my mother, Bojan Lundquist, born Olofsson. Before they were planning to blend their genes and buy another set of baby clothes, they got my sister, Sofi, which was the sweetest and calmest baby on earth. Early in my life I decided to be her opposite, so with a temper like a thunderstorm and a stubborness like epoxy glue, I entered life with a smile...
Born on the slopes of the River Klarälven, my accent was determined, and I started primary school in Karlstad, the city of the sun. My early years in school were filled with sports and other miserable intentions of becoming a superstar, but when summer came, I enjoyed it staying at our summer house just by the shore of Lake Vänern. A small cottage with everything a child can wish, like a forest, a beach, a field, a swimming pool and a lot of people to annoy. In grade five I had the opportunity to be a part of the selected team in my class which participated in the contest of knowledge named "Vi i Femman". It was braodcast live on the local radio and the recordings are, for everyone's best, eliminated.
In high school I chose sciences as my major and I went to Sundstagymnasiet. But after only one semester I went to Sucre, Bolivia, as an exchange student of AFS, where I lived with a family and graduated after one year. I was 16 years old when I left for this beautiful, but for me totally different country, and I have never regretted having the courage to do this trip of my dreams. Suddenly I had four brothers instead of one sister and I didn't understand anything anyone said. I have never been so annoyed for so much anytime before or after, but I have probably never learnt so many things in such a short time ever before. Coming home was tougher, but I will always remember high school as a remarkable time of my life, where so much happened and life was changing. The most intruiging part was when I played the bass on the famous and well reputated band Rastapopoulos which homepage can be found on the net, or at least so i have heard.
On June 6th 1993, I graduated and one week later I saw myself standing in a uniform doing the military service. I spent 12 months learning telegraphy and using weapons, to defend our neutral country, but I was lucky...only two guys in our room snored.
We all remember the summer of 1994...
Uppsala was where the train took me, and I registered at the University with a bigger smile than Julia Robert's, and chose the biology program since the studies of life is the most fascinating topic on earth. I love Uppsala which is a city with beautiful old buildings and with an atmosphere of scholars and old traditions. Living here studying was the best I ever could have chosen to do. But there was also problems, one is that there are always to many things to get involved with; events, parties, sheilas and other engagements. But as my old grndfather used to say: "Women, you can't live with them, and you can't live with them."
But one thing I did that I probably did just to prove to myself that my frightness of heights isn't so bad as I alwys have thought. On April 6, 1996, I made my first skydive. A feeling totally indescribable that I leave it for you to try...
I studied the green side of biology, mostly plant systematics and ecology and why did I do that when I know: The best topic you can study without altering your chances to get job afterwards is just .....exactly, green biology. Well, it was fun and very interesting and why just think about money ??? A lot of people have forgotten the meaning of "Life Quality", to do what you want to do and feel fine about it. I tried to do that and of course I have stopped several times on the way thinking: "what I m doing ?", but so far so good, I haven't regretted myself.
So, when taking a course in Marine Ecology in the summer of -97, I had Marianne Pedersén as a teacher and then asked her if she could be my supervisor for my master thesis. She helped me to get in contact with Edison José de Paula at the University of São Paulo. And after receiving a grant from SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) I was on my way to Brazil.
Since my sister lives in Montreal with her husband Stephane and their beautiful child Alex and the fact that Canada is more or less on the same continent as Brazil I had to pop by for Christmas and New Year. And on the way down to Brazil I made a stop at Sucre, to the family with whom I lived during my exchange year in 1990. They didn't know I was coming so when I called them to ask them to pick me up at the center of the town they got quite surprised. I just love surprises...
Bolivia is a marvellous country. It is so beautiful and peaceful that you have to see for yourself. But be sure not to miss Sucre, La Ciudad Blanca de America, and of course the calm and magnificent Lake of Titicaca...
São Paulo was, in the beginning, very hot. Too hot for me and I was lying down most of the first week, but the rains gave energy to everyone. Some people claim it cn rain cats and dogs, well, in Brazil it can rain bulls and bears. When the raods turn into rivers and the viaducts trapped the buses so the fire squads had to save the bus passengers with boats, you feel rather small compared to the Power of Mother Nature.
But what I never will forget is
the people, the warmth and caring they always showed me. And of course
I will never forget the beaches, and I can tell you that the sand wasn't
the only beautiful thing there...
I worked, however, with the alga
Kappahycus alvarezii and studied photosynthesis and its circadian
rhythm.
As my studies went on and the results were showing themselves in some sort of pattern which some people choose to name progress, my supervisor suggested I should follow Malena Granbom, a PhD student, to Zanzibar to do more or less the same study on her alga, Eucheuma denticulatum. So in August -98 we took of for Tanzania and landed on the marvellous island of Zanzibar. We worked for a month and had as much s three days of to look around, mostly beneath the surface where the grandeur of the nature really do amaze you.
Nowadays, I try to get some working experience and earn some real money for the time in my life, being a high school teacher at Sunnerboskolan, Ljungby. Why I got here you might ask...if I answer you: "Don't ask me", don't get annoyed, it's enough if one of us are...
So here I am, at the moment, in Ljungby and just waiting for getting off on another trip to wherelse
the destiny might take me.
I might go to Stockholm...
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