Hannah's Life in Sweden

Au revoir!

2006-01-13T11:40:00.000-06:00

Hello all! Ok, yes, I have been the BIGGEST slacker with this blog, and I am sorry. Paris and Spain were fantastic adventures, and I wish I could post pictures of them but unfortunately blogger.com is being a dork and won't let me upload.

First, Paris. My family and I celebrated Christmas with grand-cremes (yummy espresso drinks that everyone except Em liked), crepes with nutella and bananas, and lots of culture. We went to the Louvre, Saint-Chappel, Musee d'Orsay, etc etc. It was just fantastic, plus, all of those years of french actually paid off when I was able to say "je voudrais un grand creme avec le petit dejuner, s'il vous plait." I've been around a lot of french, german, swedish, spanish and portuguese lately, and I have so that french is the sexiest language.

I really think that the best part of the whole trip to Paris was just being with family again. I felt whole and I didn't need to explain anything about myself because they knew about me already. I love it. It also made me begin to acknowledge that I'm going home soon, where everyone knows me (well, not everyone, but you know what I mean).

Then Em and I left for Barcelona, where we had a whirlwind tour of the city for 1 1/2 days before we left to go skiing in the Pyrenes for two days (I'll elaborate on this in just a sec) and then back to the suburb of Terrassa to spend New Years and the next few days before we left. It was insane! First of all, I really liked Barcelona, it was very lively and there were lots of cool alleys and side streets that made the city feel like a maze. We went to Gaudi's church and park, I forget their spanish or catalan names, but they were just beautiful. And weird. But definitely beautiful.

Skiing was an adventure, considering I had only been downhill skiing once in 7th grade and it was in Wisconsin. The Pyrenes were sooo beautiful until I tried to ski down a red trail, and then they turned into somewhat of a nightmare. Luckily, Em was in the same boat, so when we accidently came across a black double diamond, we decided it would be better to hike down the side of it. The next day we went strictly on green and blue routes, which were much better and not scary at all.

New Years was awesome, we stuffed grapes into our mouths with each stroke of midnight, and then drank champagne and went to a disco until 7am. It was a blast! The next few days we walked around Terrassa and ate a lot of David's mom's cooking.

I've been back in Vaxjo for a week or two, but during those week I've been busy working on papers, reading, packing, moving (i'm living in 2 rooms right now), and going to class. Oh yeah, and saying goodbye, which SUCKS. Yesterday Ines and Marjon left, and so now it's just Anett and myself left. I leave on Sunday morning EARLY, so I have a day left. I'm planning on walking around all of tomorrow and taking pictures and drinking coffee at my favorite places again and feeling melancholy. It's hard saying goodbye, especially to people who have become your home for the past five months or so. But I'm looking forward to seeing everyone back in Madison, Eau Claire, and the Twin Cities again. Plus, I've been getting more and more excited to get back to the culture of Napoleon Dynamite, big pancake, Fahrenheit, football, american chinese food, brats, and Hardtimes.

I probably won't be writing again before I leave, but I'll be starting another blog soon (as I won't have a life in Sweden anymore) and I'll post the address when I do.

Take care everyone.

Bon Voyage! (and some more pics)

2005-12-21T14:13:00.000-06:00

the Saint Lucia service
Outside the church after Saint Lucia. Anett, Mitzi (Magda's bf), Magda, Emilia, Martina, me and Marjon.
Em looking a bit like a pilot.

Hello all! Well, this will be my last entry for a while--Emily and I are ready and (almost) packed for various travels around Europe. Tomorrow we leave for Paris, where we are meeting our lovely parents for Christmas. It's been four months since we've seen them, so it'll be great! Plus, what a fantastic opportunity to see Paris--with your family! Then Em and I head to Barcelona for New Years and to hang with David. He's been promising us his mother's paella for quite some time, and we are excited to see all the things we've heard so much about.

I hope all of you have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Take care.

Nick departs/Emily arrives!

2005-12-15T07:35:00.000-06:00

Emily and moi at the Christmas dinner!
Nicholas and me with a LOT of christmas lights and ice skaters behind us.

Yes yes, all good things do come to an end, but then other good things get to happen! Nick and I left for Copenhagen last Thursday and hung out there for a long weekend until he left on Sunday. It was a good time, everything is now in full Christmas attire, and we got to see a lot of Copenhagen which I had never seen before, like the Rosenburg palace and the Holmen area. Christiana had a christmas market, which was pretty disappointing since it wasn't original or even slightly hippie-ish. But Nyhaven was awesome again, and we went to the university area and hung out in several bookstores. Pretty darn cool. Though we tried really hard not to let it be, the weekend was definitely tainted by the idea of us saying goodbye at the airport on Sunday, and of course that moment came and went. It was really hard saying good-bye, especially since we had spent such quality time together.

But then, the next day, Emily arrived! It has been really relaxing, we do a lot of eating (she brought me a huge jar of Nutella) and talking and walking around and watching TV shows (apparently the TV in Italy was all in italian, and so Em is getting her fill of english programs. That, and there was a Sex in the City marathon last night which everyone in the corridor was watching). Also, we have had a Christmas dinner complete with the revealing of our secret santas! Anett was my secret santa, and she gave me a ton of pictures of me/her/everyone from this semester in a great photo album thingy. So much fun. We ate a lot of meat that night, from meatballs, to fish (sardines dad!), to ham. We had a lot of bread and rice pudding also, which meant that we were VERY full at the end. Oh, and Em had her first Glogg, I'm so proud of her.

Emily keeps exclaiming about how weird it is that we only see the sun from about 9 or 10am until 3pm. So we've been lighting candles, and enjoying Saint Lucia! This very swedish holiday was on Tuesday night, we all went to the Vaxjo cathedral to enjoy the beautiful service celebrating light. High schoolers from the local school came and sang. The women dressed in white gowns with sparkly ribbons in their hair, and the men also wore white gowns and large cone-shaped hats with stars on them. A bit bizarre seeing their outfits, but then there was Saint Lucia--she wore a white gown and a wreath with candles on her head. Emily and I were both talking later about Kristen from American Girls dolls and how we remember her Christmas book explaining this tradition. Pretty crazy how things like that stick with you...

Emily and I are now in the middle of making overnight buns, and tonight will be the last Pudas of the semester, so we're getting ready for that. Strange how everything is beginning to wrap up. I had to say goodbye to a friend the other night, and it's just surreal thinking that I may never see these people again. But luckily I have another month of being in Europe.

Alrighty, we're off! Take care everyone.

We made thanksgiving dinner for 17 people.

2005-12-07T11:03:00.000-06:00

Yep. We did. Well, really, it was a collective effort, as everyone in the corridor helped with chopping, mixing, watching things in the oven, etc. But yeah, it was really exciting! And, I couldn't believe it, but it went really well! The two turkeys were done an hour before we ate, so they could solidify and could be carved. The meat was really done and juicy, and I even had enough time to take a shower before dinner. It was especially fun doing this and going through it all with Nick.

The menu--in the morning, we baked cinnamon rolls for everyone (overnight buns which are part of my family's tradition) and baked more rolls. For dinner we had 2 turkeys, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, chopped veggies and olives, corn, green beans, and rolls. Then, after everyone was stuffed and had finished all the food (good thing there were two turkeys!), we had pumpkin and apple pie with whipped cream and coffee for dessert. No leftovers, but I think that's ok considering my space in the fridge is not too big. We got good reviews, and lots of people offered to do the dishes, which was really nice. Above are pictures of Nick, Rudi and Mirja with all the thanksgiving fixings at the supermarket, and the other is of several peeps enjoying the food.

These past weeks have been fantastic. We have walked all over Vaxjo, went to the University, hung out at cafes, talked to people...Nick and I were able to go to Gothenberg on Monday to see the sights and everything. Both of us are addicted to each other's Rough Guide books (he has China and Copenhagen, and I have Sweden), and so it makes for a great time travelling. Tomorrow we go to Copenhagen for a few days before Nick heads back to China on Sunday. Copenhagen will be fantastic, we both are looking forward to it. Many more photos and stories to come!

2005-12-07T10:45:00.000-06:00

Nick and myself under the Vaxjo Christmas tree downtown
Family portrait! (Nick should be in this, but he was taking the picture)
Kasia serving glogg
Our BEAUTIFUL christmas tree!

2005-11-30T15:56:00.000-06:00

Copenhagen at Christmas time truly has to be one of the most magical experiences I have ever had. And to have it with Nick...well, I was (and am) one happy Hannah.

I arrived at the airport in plenty of time on Saturday night, because I didn't want to miss Nick in the veeeery off-chance he would come in a few hours early...instead, there was trouble in Paris and his connecting plane almost didn't make it! I was freaking out, as you could imagine, especially when the lady at the info desk told me that he might not be there until the following day. Finally, at around 11pm his plane took off, and two hours or so later he came through the gates. I can't even begin to describe how I felt when we saw each other, it was a great moment. And he grew a bit of a beard! haha, we think he looks a bit Amish, but it's keeping him warm!

Sunday was the first day of Advent, and all the shops and markets were open so we were able to take part in the celebrations going on. There was a Christmas market in Nyhaven with free large beer samples--to quote Nick, "This is heaven". All the danish breweries were sporting their juleoles (christmas beers) which are either pretty sweet and light or else really dark and hearty. All of a sudden, Santa Clause walked by us, and we followed him to where he was picking up all the kids along the main street to take them to where he would light the city christmas tree. We followed him there, drank some glogg, and watched as more and more little kids and their parents showed up to look for santa. A band was playing Christmas songs, and Santa went around the crowd and welcomed every kid there with candy and a pat on the head. Finally, he climbed a massive ladder and lit the tree.

After a few cafe-stops, we headed back to Vaxjo. I am very relieved that Nick is here and Emily will comes in just a few weeks, both of them will help make Sweden a reality for me when I get back to the US. I've been worried lately that I would wake up in the US and try to tell a story about Sweden and no one would be able to relate or understand who/what I was talking about. I have a feeling that will happen no matter what, but still.

Ok, it's been a day full of walking all over Vaxjo (Nick was able to find shoes and shirts, everything in China was too small for him) and I'm tired. I'll post more later! Happy Advent!

2005-11-26T03:33:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope that you all had a fantastic dinner with friends and/or family. I celebrated in my own little way, as you can see above (along with a phone call to my parents...mwah! a little homesick after that). When my neighbors looked at this sign I posted in our living room, they asked if the colored hand was a symbol of Thanksgiving. haha, yeah, I know that I'm not an artiste, but still! I told them that it was what kids drew to make a turkey. I also had to explain what Thanksgiving was, and how it compared celebration-wise to Christmas.

It's snowing here, and I haven't seen the sun for about a week now. But it's okay, you just have to find the sun in other things--a cup of tea, the Christmas decorations in every window, and (for me) the heartwarming fact that Nick is coming today! I'm meeting him in Copenhagen tonight, where we're enjoying Christmas markets and maybe a concert before coming back to Vaxjo tomorrow to decorate the tree (which people are getting tonight...I think "borrowing from the woods" was the term they used...). I can't wait to get Nick's perspective on things here, and just to see him again! It's been three months--an entire season without him in the same timezone. Thank goodness for Skype and email.

Hope you're enjoying the post-Thanksgiving buying frenzy! I'm off to catch my train, take care everyone.

Christmas time is HERE!

2005-11-20T16:04:00.000-06:00

While I'm still planning on eating a (somewhat modified version of) Thanksgiving dinner, it means that right now it's Christmas! Vaxjo municipality just put all the Christmas lights up in the centrum, and I even saw carol-singers the other day. Because of this I feel very justified in playing Christmas music which my beautiful sister burned on a CD for me. Yay Rat Pack, Diana Krall and Amy Grant! Of course I'm expanding my christmas music tastes too, and I'm being introduced to my favorite songs in different languages! Oooh, Christmas and the feelings surrounding it are truly international. Apparently, so are the knick-knacks.

Apparently 9 months and many years ago a lot of parents got busy, because I swear everyone's birthdays were this weekend! On Friday night Augustine (Mexico) had his party downstairs, which rocked because that meant that Magda, Anett and myself could dress up in our skirts and not get cold! I bought a skirt the week before I went to Italy with the intention of wearing it everyday in Florence (haha, riiiiight), and it's really cute and goes with everything I have. So I'm buying tights so that I can actually wear it--sorry, no pictures of it yet, you'll just have to hold on. Anyways, Augustine's party was a hit! Everyone from Seminarievagen was there, and we sang for him (that's what the picture is from) and ate and drank and danced and generally had a fantastic time. Our floor gave him some beer, a card and a cupcake with candles in it, all of which he enjoyed immensely.

Then, this Saturday, Kasia had her birthday! She's my across-the-hall neighbor, so we had a huge party in our corridor. A lot of her friends came from out of town and partied very very hard. The results were a broken table and several things stolen from the fridges (including expensive alcohol). Not cool. It was fun making her present though, the entire corridor got together and made a massive Christmas calendar with presents for her to open each day of December. It was kind of funny, because she was opening all the presents from everyone else and with ours she has to wait! It makes it that much more special I guess. :)

Other than that, I have been treasuring my Vaxjo life and friends a lot. I have so many things to do here, yet at the same time I wouldn't trade anything for a ficka with friends. I'm also really excited for Nick to meet everyone and see my life here--he's coming on Saturday! More details about that later, as for now it's late and I need to go to bed. Peace.

Firenze!

2005-11-16T10:06:00.000-06:00

Em, David and myself at Boboli Gardens (Florence in the background)

View of the Ponte Vecchio at sunset
Em and I in front of the Duomo (yes, I AM wearing flipflops!)

My friend David and I took a little trip to Italy this past week to visit Emily (my sister)! Em is staying in Florence for a semester, and is living with 6 other American girls. It was very strange to suddenly be back in semi-American culture again--speaking in english very fast, American pop culture and mentality, etc. I didn't get this much from Em, but definitely from her roomies. Being with Emily was fantastic, she is so intelligent and was able to explain the history and such of every landmark in Florence.

Florence is beautiful. I don't really know what else to say on that note, it was hard not to feel overwhelmed with what I was seeing. The first night we were there, we all watched Room with a View (which, in case you haven't seen it, is about a woman who is transformed by Florence), and then over the next days saw EVERY piece of art in the movie. Emily and I have been watching this movie since we were about 7 years old, so to then actually see these places was unbelievable. That, and we (or at least I) kept calling the Arno River the "Ah-rno" with British accents. Fun!

We saw the Uffizi museum, and I definitely think I could have spent days in there. It's not overly massive or anything, but each piece of art builds on the previous one. The galleries are set up by time period and also theme. There were a few rooms completely full of paintings honoring Mary (mother) and Jesus, but as we moved through, more and more were of other things. Also, I got to see Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Spring, both of which were just fantastic.

We got tons of exercise, I don't even know how many hours we walked each day. We went to the Boboli gardens and explored all the areas inside it. Also, we went to Fiezole, which is a town up in the Chiante hills outside Florence. It was beautiful, and we hiked around a bit enjoying the great weather and air. I had to laugh though--I really thought that scenes from Tuscany in movies (you know, a vineyard for each house and houses with open windows and tall thin trees) was just Hollywood trying to make Italy into scomething it wasn't. Well, all those houses and vineyards and trees and such actually exist! Go figure.

Ok, favorite topic--food! Every meal we ate was great. We went out and got authentic pizza (I tried the eggplant pizza Em has been raving about, and I'm impressed!). We also ate gellato, and I was more impressed with the strength of the flavors than anything else. I had some lemon gellato that was really tart and refreshing, and some chocolate which you got full of with one bite. We had cannolis, and I had some tiramisu! and of course lots of pasta. David didn't really like the al dente version of pasta, so he kept ordering the meat on the menus (which Em and I then got to taste!). Em made us a great italian pasta dish the first night in Florence, and I realized that my sister can cook. I loved the pastas at the restaurants, but I didn't think it was anything really spectacular. The wine was incredible though. First of all, it was cheap, especially compared to Sweden. But also, it tasted amazing. And the espresso...ahhh, fantastic, and only 80 eurocents!

It was really interesting getting both Em and David's thoughts on life. David is from Barcelona, and our worldviews are pretty different. His english is getting really good (when he first arrived in Sweden he could say "Hello, my name is David" and that's about it), so it's fun to chat about different topics. Also, Em and I have different opinions on things (obviously), so all together it made for lively discussion.

So now I'm back here in Sweden, and it snowed today--yay for getting some homework done and doing laundry. Take care all!

Halloween!

2005-11-06T12:03:00.000-06:00

Apparently Halloween is an American phenomenon. No one really celebrates Halloween here, beyond the decorations and parties. There is no Halloween candy (which means no discounted candy on November 1st). There's no trick-or-treating. No jack-o-lanterns. And when I tell people about what happens in Madison each year, their eyes get really wide. So some Americans in Seminarievagen decided to throw a Halloween party, and everyone in the area came and dressed up. I was a superhero, as it was one of the easiest and cheapest costumes I could think of, and despite what the Incredibles taught us, having a cape is pretty darn cool.

Since there's no wait-until-Thanksgiving-has-passed period here, Christmas has arrived. There are Christmas markets in various towns all over Scandinavia. Also, there's no light. I know I've mentioned this one before, but just a refresher--it's dark here. So yay Christmas and christmas lights!

Oslo pics

2005-11-06T11:53:00.000-06:00

The harbor.
A very pissed-off baby from the Vigeland Park (the most-viewed statue, apparently.)
This is snow in Norway from a very warm and cozy train. Milda and me!

Oslo--Monday to Wednesday

2005-11-05T19:07:00.000-06:00

Oslo was not just a random part of my trip--my friend Milda whom I worked with this summer lives there so that she can finish writing her dissertation (she's interested in Scandinavian studies, especially theater and other arts). Milda met me at the train station on Monday and immediately whisked me through the city in a 10 minute tour of the centrum. It was fantastic weather, and we stayed outside as much as possible. That night, after a Lithuanian dinner, we went downtown to a cafe to meet some of her friends and enjoy some superb jazz and wine.

By the way, about 20 minutes outside of Stockholm, I saw snow! I thought, "oh, how cool! snow in October!" and I took a ton of pictures and felt really cozy inside a train with my tea.

This was before Tuesday. Tuesday we woke up early so that we could get a start on the day, and realized that it was snowing! Not a little either. We were both sooooo excited because of that little kid inside of each of us that yearns to just run outside and do a couple snow angels and throw snowballs before coming back in for some hot chocolate. We contained this urge, and instead drank some strong coffee and had bagels with brown cheese (which is goat and cow milk, the taste was a mix of caramel and very strong cheese). We bundled up and headed outside to the bus and slid our way into town.

We first went to the Vigeland park, which is outside and is full of these statues created by Gustav Vigeland (including a famous one of a toddler throwing a fit, it cracked me up). It was beautiful, and the way the snow hit the statues reminded me that Vigeland wasn't the only artist at work here. The snow emphasized different parts of the statues, and was truly a unique experience.

Later on, after some GOOD coffee (no kidding--it was the best I'd had since coming to Scandinavia. the ironic thing is that it was an italian cafe) and enjoying downtown, we went to the National Museum, where a lot of Munch's art was on display FOR FREE! Pretty incredible. Also, I could not have been luckier--being with a person like Milda who is getting their Ph.D. in this subject was amazing. She kept pointing out the use of colors in certain paintings and told me some of the history of each piece of art. I was floored.

I also went to the harbor. It was slushy, and the sky was veeeery grey and getting darker. Needless to say, we left pretty quickly and decided to go to a movie (the Constant Gardener). It was in an old theater, very much like the Orpheum in Madison, and we actually had to sit in specific seats. I guess there should be an order to everything--what would we do if people began sitting in the far back of the theater? Maybe THAT'S why the US has such a high teen pregnancy rate. We need to get ordered.

And then we went home, had some tea and chatted the night away. Good thing we did, because the next morning we barely had enough time to talk at all--we accidently woke up late at 6:30 and I had to catch a train at 7am. Crazy! So we ran, and it was ok. I had an 8-hour train ride back to Vaxjo to sleep and watch the beautiful countryside whisk by.

Ok, my impressions of Norway based on Oslo. I felt REALLY comfortable in Oslo--everyone was dressed the most casually that I have seen people dress in Scandinavia. It was really nice, because it didn't feel like you had to put on that facade of trendiness. But the cold...of both the people and the weather! Milda said that people are this way because it's what got them through the Viking days. But the dark too! Even as I sit here typing this, it's about 5pm and pitch dark outside. There's a candle culture here which gives definitely gives you hope when you see that light flickering in the window.

I can't get any pictures to upload right now, but there will be some eventually. I hope everyone's doing well!

Stockholm--Thursday to Monday

2005-11-03T10:48:00.000-06:00

So I arrived in the Stockholm train station late Thursday, and met my grandparents there! After many hugs and kisses, and a little fiasco concerning my luggage (who knew there were so many lockers?), we headed out to get some food and then went to the Bed and Breakfast. The B&B we stayed at was in the center of the city, within walking distance of practically everything.

John and Hanna had told me that there is always something new in Stockholm, and that you cannot possibly explore all of it. With that in mind, Grandma, Grandpa and myself meandered all over Gamla Stan (the Old City which is pictured above, it has a lot of bright buildings and coffeeshops...mmm) and the central area of Stockholm where our B&B was. We went into the Storkyrkan, which is an oooold church where all the royals have been married and crowned since the 1300s. Inside there is this massive statue of St George defeating a dragon, which symbolizes good defeating evil. There are also these huge royal pews at the front of the church--gorgeous.

Beyond that, we attempted to make coffee with a European coffeemaker. You know the kind, the percolator-type that you put onto the stove? Luckily Nick's dad had shown me how to do this, but Grandpa insisted on doing it his way. As a result, we ended up checking out many cafes in our neighborhood. :) For me, it was nice to be in a place where I could enjoy a little bit of the language--I could, for example, say thank you and hi. It was exciting.

Another great moment--I saw a Lush store!

On Sunday I met up with Sofie, who was a Swedish exchange student at UWEC a year ago but who graduated since and was living in Stockholm with her fiancee. We had kept in touch, and it was great to see her again after such a long time! She took me to this cafe that overlooked the sea and all of Stockholm. What a view, and on top of that I ate the best carrot cake I've had in a loooong time! We had a great time catching up, and she showed me all around Stockholm and pointed out little things (like where the Prime Minister lives, etc.). Very fun!

Unfortunately, time passes, and Monday morning came. After many hugs and kisses (again--I got lots of lovin' that weekend!), I said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, and headed eastward for Oslo!

Uppsala--Thursday

2005-11-01T10:14:00.000-06:00

Heads up--I had planned to go to Uppsala so that I could seriously nerd out and feed my inner historian. I hope what follows feeds and inspires your inner historian too.

My trip began when I caught the 6am train out of Vaxjo and headed northeast to Uppsala (about 40 minutes outside of Stockholm). The train ride was absolutely gorgeous, the perfect time to see a lot of Swedish landscape and the changing leaves. Uppsala is one of the oldest towns in Sweden. I first went to the OLD town of Uppsalla, which is about 5 kilos outside of the city, so I was able to experience the bus system (very clean if you were wondering).

The OLD town, called Gamla Uppsala, has been around since Viking times, so roughly 5th century. There are these hills where supposedly kings are buried, and the church stands on top of old pagan ruins which were meant to worship the Norse Gods Thor and Odin. Also, which was REALLY exciting to me, there's a tinghog. That's what the above picture is of, it's a hill where the Viking Parliament would meet every year. It's the only hill that's not fenced in, so I climbed to the top and looked around. What an amazing view. Behind the tinghog are all of the man-made hills/graves, so all the Vikings, as they were making important decisions concerning Uppsala, would feel connected to the past.

Then I hopped back on the bus and sped off to the newer town. I checked out the Domkyrkan, which is Scandinavia's largest cathedral. It's made of brick, and under the ground there are over 2,000 people buried, including King Gustav Vasa (who liberated Sweden and thus compared himself to Moses...). It's beautiful, very high ceilings, and there was organ music playing as I checked out each of the nooks inside the building.

After this I went to the University. The Uppsala University is the oldest one in Sweden, and holds some pretty amazing things in its library. I saw the Silver Bible, a gothic bible which was written in silver. Its history is pretty varied--it disappeared for a thousand years, and then was taken as war booty from Prague to the Netherlands, and then finally was recovered. It's gorgeous, especially when you think of all the stuff it went through.

After meandering through the rest of the town, I caught a train and headed back to Stockholm.

2005-11-01T10:12:00.000-06:00

Haha...ok...it's been a while. I'm very sorry, I did not mean to neglect this blog but a few things happened, namely I was on a trip and then when I got back I had a paper and exam to do...so this got pushed to the side.

But now I'm back and will update you on my fantabulous time during my travels! Here goes...

COPENHAGEN!

2005-10-11T08:40:00.000-05:00

This weekend was incredible! Anett, Magdalena, David and I left Vaxjo early Friday morning to begin our adventure in Copenhagen. The train ride was beautiful, everything was foggy and then suddenly very sunny. Three hours later we were standing in Central Station, and after we had dropped off our luggage at our hostel we headed into the city. However, we had no idea which stop to get off on, so after getting slighly lost we found ourselves in Nyhaven, which is THE most beautiful part of Copenhagen. Above is a picture of it, there are tons of colors everywhere, and music was playing, and people were drinking coffee and beer....it was fantastic. There was a boat tour departing just as we arrived, so we hopped on it and saw so much more than we would've just walking around. After seeing the sights and many ducks, we walked over to the centrum, had a danish and coffee (it is Denmark after all), and people-watched. Everyone was out and about, and I realized how much I had missed smiles from strangers and english.

That night we met our friend Rudi at the train station and we all went out to eat and enjoy the nightlife. However, because it had been a long day, we all took the subway back after just a few hours of being out, and promptly went to bed. Saturday morning we woke up at 7am with the intention of getting an early breakfast and then going to see the city. But when we got downtown, we realized that all of our effort was in vain--nothing was open! Finally we found a bakery with some food and coffee, and with that we went to Nyhaven and beyond to explore the castles. We first went to Amalienborg castle and the Marble church to watch the changing of the guards. It was pretty interesting, there was so much ritual and respect for the tradition with their march and shouts. The Marble church was gorgeous, its design was inspired by the Vatican, and is one of those places where you just want to sit and look for hours. We stayed for a while, and I feel like I could've stayed there for a day and not have caught all of the symbolism in each mosaic and fresco. There was even a lamb carrying a Danish flag at the altar--yay for God's chosen people! :) Then we walked over to the Citadel, which is this massive military area which was used to defend Denmark against Sweden. The grounds are in the shape of a pentagon, and we walked around the rim of it. It was such a beautiful day, so being outside was perfect.

Then, as you can see from the picture above, we went to the Little Mermaid. Hans Christian Anderson (a Copenhagen-ian) created the story, except he defies Disney and thus in his story she kills herself because her lover chooses another woman over her. In this statue she's looking out to sea with the saddest expression on her face. There we met up with Ines and her sister and friend, and hung out with them for a bit. After a bit, we decided to head over to the centrum again to look at the shops and people. We stopped at a coffeeshop to get reenergized with a $4 coffee (outrageous, but much needed!), and then continued along our way. That night there was a football game, and Denmark was playing Greece. All along the main street, everyone was decked out in either blue/white (Greece) or red/white (Denmark), and making a ton of noise. We watched as these crazy fans played music and joked with each other. It reminded me a lot of tailgating in the USA, everyone had their can of Carlsberg beer and as the game got closer, people got more and more rowdy.

After enjoying downtown, we went to Christiana. Yes, this was one interesting place. A little background--in the 1970s, a bunch of hippies took over this area (which used to be military grounds, but was just empty buildings at the time) and declared it the "Free City of Christiana". More and more people moved in, and today about 2,000 people work and live in the area. There has always been tension between Copenhagen and Christiana, mainly because of the amount of drug trafficking. You can tell that this is a different place just from the signs--many were saying "Say no to hard drugs!" and many others were telling tourists not to take pictures of the area. Several of the international students from Vaxjo met us there, and we all shared a great vegetarian dinner at this little cafe in the center of Christiana. We met this American, Josh, who had been finishing his Ph.D. when Rudi first started his, and so he and I had a great conversation about being American in Scandinavia.

After Christiana we went back to the hostel for a quick nap and shower so that we could be ready for a long night out. About 10 of us international students met up and went to Vega, a club which had a ton of floors and on each one a different type of music. It was so much fun! The next morning we headed downtown again, and enjoyed a huge breakfast complete with brie, bread, pancakes, bacon, unlimited cups of coffee, etc. It was fantastic. Then we went and climbed to the top of the spiral staircase outside of the Church of the Savior. It's really high, and David was freaking out, hugging the side of the church and kissing the ground when we finally got down. Afterwards we went and got ice cream, and then went to the train station to catch our train.

Funny story--we got on the train, and I realized that I didn't have my scanrail pass. You know that feeling when your heart suddenly stops and you can't think? Yeah, I freaked out. I got off the train, and Rudi did also because he had an open ticket so I wouldn't have to be alone in Copenhagen. Well, just as the doors closed, i found the pass (in my pocket, of course). Rudi and I tried to get back on the train, and David and Annet were trying to open the doors for us, but no such luck. So Rudi and I had a good laugh, and then decided that we should go to Lund. We hopped on the next train, and then explored Lund and its university, and then had a coffee. Then we caught the next train to Vaxjo, so it worked out perfectly.

All in all, it was a fantastic time, and I loved every moment of it, even when I was sooooooo exhausted from walking many many kilometers. But back to reality now, I'm off to prepare for class tomorrow.

2005-10-06T07:10:00.000-05:00

Hello all! It has been a while. I'm sorry. So here are some pictures and a quick update before I head to Copenhagen for the weekend (expect another entry early next week).

First of all, I passed my exam for International Law! Yay! Now Human Rights has begun, and with it is a lot of reading. It's hard not to zone out after a final, so I've been kicking myself to do the homework and all that jazz. Everyone was done with finals at the same time, so last weekend we all enjoyed ourselves thoroughly at the student pubs, along with having a fantastic portuguese dinner on Friday night. Ines' sister and best friend are here for a week visiting from Portugual, and they made the entire 3 or 4 course dinner--sausages and cheese from northern Portugual with bread, then a shrimp and rice entree, followed by a potato and ham dish, and then chocolate mousse. This mousse was unlike any other mousse I have ever had, it was very thick and so rich that you could only have four or five bites (and this is coming from me). I have decided that I should move to Portugual (not really, but if I had to chose a place to live based on its food, I'd be in Lisbon in a second).

This past week the international students were invited to join the mayor of Vaxjo and several representatives at a reception in the castle on campus. The mayor spoke to us about the history of Vaxjo, and the tourist office also gave a presentation on what you can do in Vaxjo. I was really glad that the Swedes wanted us to see Vaxjo not just as the place where we go to school during the week before heading out to other places in Europe. I've been talking to friends from Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, and other large cities, and they tend to yawn at Vaxjo and want a bigger scene, so I think that it was good to have different ideas of what to do in Vaxjo pitched at us. Above are pictures of the castle and of us taking a tour of it. Left to right: Katrin (Austria), Marjon (Holland), Ines (Portugual), Gerome in the back (France), Magdalena (Austria), Fabien in the back (France, and themanwithhistonguestickingout aka David (Spain).

Tonight we're going salsa dancing, and then tomorrow morning early Magdalena, Anett, David, Rudi and myself catch a train to Copenhagen for the weekend. Oy! In other news, I'll be heading back to Copenhagen in late November....to pick up Nick from the airport! He just bought the ticket this week, and so he will be able to get in a good Scandinavian christmas (complete with good food--he told me that pastries in Tianjin were often filled with fish, not jelly--gross!) avec moi. In other other news, I read that Katie Holmes is now pregnant with Tom Cruise's child--wouldn't it be interesting if she developed post-partum depression which needs to be treated with something beyond vitamins?! hahahahah, ahhhh, irony.

Alrighty, catch you all on the flipside.

finals and food!

2005-09-27T07:56:00.000-05:00

Hello all you wonderful people out there! Sorry that I haven't written in a while, I have meant to but unfortunately blogger.com wasn't allowing my pictures to be uploaded--lame! Now they are however, so I'm taking a little study break to update you all.

First things first--By study break I mean that right now I'm in the midst of my final for Intro to International Law. Yesterday I was in class for about 7 hours presenting my paper and hearing others talk about theirs. Even though I knew that this was a large part of our grade in the class, I have never felt so relaxed during a presentation! Everyone was interested in what everyone was talking about, and asked a lot of questions. These questions turned into debates, and so my class covered topics ranging from the US's dealings with Nicaragua in the 1980s to the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict to whether or not a right to a healthy environment IS a right guaranteed by the Geneva Conventions. Definitely an interesting day, and by the end my mind was soooo full and I was exhausted. That was when Mirza gave us our REAL test--a take home exam which needs to be 9 pages (single spaced) and completed by Thursday. Intense. So today I've been going through a lot of text and preparing my arguments regarding such things as principles of international law and state responsibility/treaties.

Sham on.

This weekend was veeeeery low-key, but fun! Above you see a picture of me and my friends Magdalena and Mirja in front of THE best place to get Kebabs. This seems to be a European phenomenon, because I haven't really seen many places to get kebabs in the US. Here, there's a kebab cafe on each corner. And they are fantastic. We have decided to go each Friday afternoon. I also watched Crash with some friends, which is an amazing movie. As I was watching, I realized how many horrible things the rest of the world pins on the US, especially when it comes to racism. But here, I've seen more racism than I ever have in the US. I think that Americans tend to be very politically correct, and at least recognize when they're saying a not-cool word like the "n" word, etc. Here, while no one will call anyone the "n" word because the US has made a huge deal out of it, people still use other words. Pretty unbelievable.

On a brighter note, on Sunday I made blueberry scones! Saturday I had gone shopping and had picked some fresh blueberries up at the farmers market. Everyone was so amazed that I could bake, which was absolutely halarious. My friend Ines promised to show me how to make some typical Portuguese dishes this upcoming weekend. I'm veeeery excited, I hope to come back to the US with a lot of recipes. As to what American food I'll be influencing everyone else with, blueberry scones are only the beginning--next apple cake! The fall apples are making their way to the farmers markets, so I'll put them to good use. The leaves are officially changing and the sun keeps sinking lower and lower in the sky. At noon, it looks like it could be 4pm. Very strange...

Quick update--Nutella has gone to the wayside in my love of sweets. What is she in love with now?! you might be asking. Honey. It's sooo delish, put it and a itty bit of butter on rye crisps and voila! you have yourself a (somewhat) nutritious desert! I'm glad that with all of this fantastic food around I have to bike to school :)

Alrighty, much love and good vibes headed your way(s) until next time!

2005-09-20T06:39:00.000-05:00

Crazy things have been happening here in Vaxjo. Sweden, as a welfare state, is attracting many immigrants who want to live in a better place. As a result, in the past few years there have been more and more immigrants living in Sweden, especially in southern Sweden. This is a very complex situation, with the end result being that many Swedes feel frustrated that immigrants are using their welfare system. There's been a lot of racism and discrimination against these immigrants, including some violence (a mosque was burned down a few years ago in Malmo, etc.), which really surprises me in such a peace-loving country. Because of this discrimination and language barriers, immigrants tend to stick together.

The other weekend when I was in Kalmar and Oland, three teenagers mugged a middle-aged man outside of a grocery store close to Seminarievagen (where I live), and ended up stabbing him. Yes, it was very scary, and I'm glad that I wasn't here for it and that the police have dealt with the situation. But what was just as shocking was hearing some of my Swedish friends pin it the whole situation on immigrants. The only facts I have heard is that it was three teens who mugged the man. I understand that this is a very complex situation, and I don't mean to make it sound like these people (immigrants or not) aren't to blame. But it's very surprising hearing this kind of racism and discrimination from actual people I care about. Of course now everyone is using common sense and being very careful about walking alone at night and everything (don't worry, I was being smart about all that before this happened!). Thank goodness that I have other friends who recognize that you need to live life and be able to trust people, otherwise you'll just end up living in a hole, terrified of everything.

Beyond this, I've been really getting into my class! I'm taking International Law right now, and constantly amazed at how much I have yet to learn in life (yay grad school! haha). The format of the class is fantastic, but requires a lot of independent reading and research as Mirza's books are only the starting point of my reading, and those alone are 900 pages! As a result, wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, is my best friend for this class. During the actual 3-hour class we spend only a small part of it in lecture-mode, maybe just 45 minutes taking notes and looking up statutes in our books. But then the rest of it is used for discussion and debates, all of which need to be researched before class. The mixture of perspectives in the class makes my mind stretch. Mirza also makes sure that we all have at least one ficka, which is a coffee break, so that we're not overloaded.

Speaking of coffee, I have found a place in centrum which sells very dark and oily coffee. I'm set! Also, I am realizing that coffee in the cafes here is much better when you mix sugar and cream in it. Before I came here I always thought that this was sacriligious, but now I stand in full support of it. This weekend I drank this mixture while a few friends and I sat outside of cafes in the sun for 2 days straight discussing our individual country's politics. It was heavenly. Everyone here sits outside of cafes when there's even a little bit of sun out and it's cold. So we bundled up in our fleeces and smartwool socks (there was frost here the other night--it's getting cold!) and joined the ranks.

Beyond exploring the cafes this weekend, my corridor had a german dinner, where all the german students prepared their favorite foods from home. It was fantastic, they rearranged our living room and lit candles and had all of our mismatched dishes set out beautifully. There was sausage, potatoes, salad, meat sauce, home-made pretzels, beer, and cake--talk about a heavy dinner! But it was so delicious, and the 15 of us had a great time relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Apparently each country is going to prepare a typical dinner from home, and so if anyone has any suggestions (besides hamburgers please), please let me know!

Alrighty, I'm off to my first day of my non-credit swedish course. Take care everyone!

More pictures

2005-09-16T01:55:00.000-05:00

Yes, yes, enough pictures of castles! sheesh, there's (obviously) much more to life than looking at old ruins, so here are some more pictures of this past weekend.

and some more...

2005-09-16T01:53:00.000-05:00

This is the front lawn of the Royal Summerhouse in Oland.

on the coast...

2005-09-16T01:50:00.000-05:00

These pictures were from the bonfire we had on the coast of Oland on Saturday night. It was a little chilly, but definitely worth bundling up for.

more pictures continued...

2005-09-15T13:54:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah, look at those international muscles! haha, from right to left it's Gerome (France), myself, Magdalena (Austria), Laetitia (her name has a bunch of accents in it but my computer won't allow me to publish them, France), and Fabien (France). We're facing the castle in Kalmar, with the Baltic Sea behind us.

Malmo

2005-09-15T02:25:00.000-05:00

This is the Oresund bridge, which links Sweden to the rest of Europe. I rode across it when I took the train from Copenhagen to Vaxjo, what a view!
Getting reenergized at the Espresso House.
Group picture at the end of a looong weekend

at the animal park....

2005-09-15T02:20:00.000-05:00

Look at how huge this park is! This is one tiny area of it, where a lot of birds tend to congregate (you can see the swan), but there is so much more, plenty of fields and everything for animals to live happily.
A REINDEER!

Kalmar and Oland

2005-09-12T20:04:00.000-05:00

This Saturday myself and 19 other international students decided to head east to Kalmar and Oland. Yep, 20 students all-together. Which meant 4 cars following each other on the highway. Yep, it was an adventure! :)
Kalmar is located on the eastern coast of Sweden, and is known as being the gateway to Oland (a skinny island just 3km away from the rest of Sweden). Kalmar has a beautiful old castle, which is what the picture above is of. They don't allow pictures taken of the inside, but that's ok because it wouldn't capture anything anyways. I was actually kinda creeped out by the castle, there's a huge section of it that was used as a women's prison and you can see the different torture intruments they used. But the views of the Baltic Sea from the castle was amazing. Also, there was this display full of the sun clocks they used back in the day--even back then those Swedes were on-time! haha
After hanging out in Kalmar, we all hopped in our Volkswagon Golfs and sped across the bridge to Oland. We stopped very briefly at the Royal Summerhouse, where you can spend about $7 just to walk around the gardens. Needless to say, us college students did not stay too long, just enough to peek through a gate at what we thought was the beginning of the Royal Driveway (in actuality it was only part of a fence, bummer!). Then we went to the shore, where we ate lunch, waded in the water (I saw some non-poisonous jellyfish--weird that they'd be in Scandinavia!), and napped. Then we went in to Borgholm, the largest town on the island, and had coffee at a random cafe where the servers looked mildly distressed at the sight of all of us. After coffee, half of the group headed back to Vaxjo, and the rest of us bought some hot dogs and marshmallows. We went to the beach and built a huge fire and ate and watched the sunset. It was beautiful, though a wee bit chilly. After sunset we all piled into the cars again and drove back to Vaxjo to get ready for the next day.

Malmo!

2005-09-12T16:49:00.000-05:00

Yep, this weekend was crazy--east coast one day and then southwest coast the next! 17 of us departed early Sunday morning for Malmo, and made a side trip to Skanes Djurpark, which is an animal park. We arrived at the animal park first and went through it. This park is the largest in all of Scandinavia, and is much different from a zoo. It is out in the country, and all the animals are in large natural areas (except for the bears--but even that area is much larger than most zoos!) where visitors can go and hope to see them. Very cool!
After this, we headed to Malmo. We parked right next to the Malmohus, which is a castle but is not attractive at all (as you can see from the picture)! It's made of red bricks, and looks more like an old factory than an important landmark. Here is where we split up, and several of us headed towards the downtown through the many parks Malmo is known for. It's gorgeous, I really love how green Malmo is. We walked around downtown, stopped and had a coffee (I introduced people to chai), and then we continued on to randomly walk around. Towards the end of the day, all 17 of us met up and relaxed in a park in the center of the city before making our final trip to the beach to look at the Oresund bridge connecting Sweden to the rest of Europe. Definitely an exciting day and weekend!

Crayfish Partay!

2005-09-12T15:36:00.000-05:00

Yes, I have now witnessed and been part of a Swedish tradition. John (my fodder) and his girlfriend Hanna invited me to attend a crayfish dinner at their friends Marina and Hampus's apartment. Marina and Hampus are both fodders for two Americans--Kyle who is from UM-Duluth and Erica from Tennessee State. The above picture is John, Kyle, myself, and Erica.
The dinner was FANTASTIC! The crayfish were served cold, and we ate it with bread. The Swedes showed us Americans how to eat crayfish properly (only the tail and claws, and you need to slurp up all of the juices) and also what all goes into a crayfish dinner. The Swedish tradition surrounding this dinner goes as follows--throughout the dinner, someone will request a song, and everyone will pause their conversations and sing a Swedish (drinking) song. Then, when the song had finished, everyone clinks schnapps glasses and takes a drink! Hampus explained that Swedes have crayfish dinners only about once or twice a year because of how expensive both crayfish and schnapps are. I am so grateful that these amazing Swedes are willing to share an experience like that with their American fodder-children.

Kronoberg

2005-09-08T14:06:00.000-05:00

Today, because neither of us had classes, my friend David and I took a bike ride and went to Kronoberg castle. This amazing place is only 20 minutes away from my apartment, and you get to ride through this amazing country-side. I couldn't help thinking back to the days when Emily(my sis) and I would pretend to be Roman/Greek Gods and Goddesses (or some other royalty), and how this castle would have been the perfect playground for our adventures. But what I was taken aback by with the age of everything--you can just feel how ancient the stones are.
A little background--Kronoberg was built in the 1400s by the Bishop of Vaxjo. It was added on to in the 1500s and 1600s, and as it grew it became more and more of a military base to guard against the Danes (at that time the Swedes and Danes were not on friendly terms). In the mid-1600s there was a huge battle at the castle, and afterwards the castle served as a community center. It's unbelievable to think that so many people lived and worked in and outside those stone walls.

2005-09-08T13:55:00.000-05:00

This is the visitor center--yes, those ARE plants on the roof!

2005-09-08T13:52:00.000-05:00

The inside of the castle.
Can you see the well to the right of the tree?

2005-09-08T13:48:00.001-05:00

The Thor, a steamboat which provides tours of the lake system during high season only...bummer, but great name.

2005-09-08T13:48:00.000-05:00

Me doing the tourist-thing.

2005-09-08T13:43:00.001-05:00

This is one of the many rooms inside the castle. It doesn't look impressive in a picture, which is why I didn't take many pictures of the inside of the castle. But look at those rocks!

2005-09-08T13:43:00.000-05:00

This is part of the lake system. There are lakes all around Vaxjo, with at least 5 lakes within just a few miles of eachother.

Gromit! Where's my cheese?

2005-09-04T06:58:00.000-05:00

I've suddenly realized what a true Wisconsinite I am--I am in love with dairy products! Everyone here uses margerine (appalling!), which I have refused to do and so I finally found some real butter. Everyone eats cheese, but I have a profound new adoration for cheddar and other normal cheeses, which I cannot find here. I know what you're thinking--why is Hannah suddenly so typically American? Well, I will tell you. When you go to a grocery store and have to spend an hour finding the foods you want because you have to look every other thing up in your handy-dandy little swedish/english dictionary, you want something that you can take for granted. In Wisconsin, cheddar and mozzarella cheese are givens. Not so here. So I'm trying to embrace this change by buying other cheeses and having my french friends critique them and teach me what to look for (or "taste" for, I guess it would be). Still, I did not think that cheese would be this much of an adjustment.

Beyond this, I am happy to be in bike-and-coffee paradise! I swear, every other shop is either a cafe or else a bike store, and for a town the size of Vaxjo, that is pretty intense! I'm loving it, above is a picture of one of the many areas where people park their bikes in centrum. These areas are EVERYWHERE, it's insane. Also, you'd think that I'd be on cloud 9 because so many people drink coffee and all that. Well, I do love the coffee culture, but I've actually been drinking MUCH less coffee than I have in many many years. There are a few reasons for this--one, when I was adjusting to the change in time, I wasn't in the mood for coffee ever, and didn't drink it that much. Secondly, the coffee in cafes and elsewhere SUCKS! I'm SO disapointed, because I really thought that Swedes knew how to make coffee! Everyone buys ground packaged coffee (which to me tastes exactly like Folgiers), and then all they do is make it strong. So when you go to most cafes coffee tastes stale and bitter. There's a reason why everyone takes their coffee with milk and sugar. Sheesh.

Last night the international office held a huge dinner for all the international students and their fodders. So John and I got all dolled up and went with several other friends. We had a blast. The culture here surrounding things which Americans view as taboos (drinking and living with your significant other come to mind) is totally relaxed, but being stupid (driving drunk) is NOT socially acceptable at all. No one does it, ever. It makes sense. The dinner was fantastic, we ate moose and crayfish cake and blueberry pie. Delish. Then the party was moved to Stalana, which is one of the student pubs on campus. I was able to meet my friends' fodders and we all had a great time dancing.

Today my mission is to clean my room and do laundry. Some things never change I guess. Hope all is well with everyone!

summer's over!

2005-08-31T02:01:00.000-05:00

The past few days have been fairly low-key compared to last week. On Sunday my friend Anett and I walked all around Vaxjo and were able to get into the famous Vaxjo cathedral. All of the postcards I have seen of Vaxjo have this cathedral on it. It is somewhat ironic that the least religious country in the world prides itself on their cathedral, but it is beautiful! In the picture it looks like it's made of bricks, but actually it's made of rocks cemented together and then covered with reddish clay. It's right next to Vaxjo Lake, which is absolutely beautiful. Everyone walks or bikes around this cathedral and the lake, and there's a cafe close by also where I always see people of all ages eating ice cream or drinking their coffees. I am fortunate enough to bike by all of this each day I go to the University.

Speaking of the University, my first day of International Human Rights Law was on Monday! The professor's name is Mirza, and wants us all to call him by that name. It is a completely international class, with people in it from Kosovo to Mexico to Italy. I was kind of shocked to see how many Americans were in it (there are probably 7 in a class of 30), but I think that it will still be fascinating nonetheless. The method Mirza is using for examination sounds intense--we need to write papers and then defend them. I thought that I would not encounter this type of evaluation until I began a masters program, but this is how we are to learn in Mirza's class. But because this is my only class, I should be able to focus entirely on it. I'm supposed to read the entire UN Charter, a UN report, a UN casestudy, plus 35 pages from a book by Thursday. Whew, I guess summer's over.

Yesterday was also my friend Chesco's (short for Franchesco) 28th birthday. I didn't realize until yesterday how old people are here. A few of my neighbors are Ph.D. candidates, and many are working on their Masters (including John, my fodder). They make me take what I say seriously, because it reflects who I am. Being one of two native-English speakers, I am constantly asked to translate something or to come up with a word. I keep having to think about WHY I say things and WHY there is a specific emotion attached to words and language. I am also learning to speak slowly and enunciate.

For Chesco's birthday, the entire corridor ate a HUGE dinner last night. Rudy, a German Ph.D student, made us all tuna/tomato pasta. It sounds weird, but was delish! It was so much fuun, we lit candles and talked about our first day of classes. Then, today, a few of us biked to the System Bolaget (Swedish for alcohol store) downtown and picked out our favorite drinks. I was shocked by how expensive liquor is--it's over $30 for a small bottle! Luckily I like beer, which you buy by the can--very TALL can. The beer here comes in cans which are much larger than what you would get in the US. In the System Bolaget, the beer is sorted by the amount of alcohol in it (which ranges from 3% to 10%) instead of by what type it is. Strange!

I can't believe I've been here for one week!

I went to a disco...

2005-08-28T06:50:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe that I am saying this, but last night I went to a disco. It was halarious, because I had no idea that it was a disco until we got past the LONG line (the picture above is of us waiting in line) and my friend Magdalana said to me, "Is this your first time in a disco?" I did not stay that long in the disco area of Sivans, which is one of the student pubs on campus. Outside there was this Swedish band playing songs which I would consider American, yet EVERYONE knew the words and were going crazy. While the band was taking a break, I was able to chat with a few people. Once again, I'm loving that politics is completely normal to talk about on a Saturday night. A french woman and I got into a discussion about French/American relations, and then a Greek man joined in and we all chatted about Greece's recent adaptation of the Euro. I know I am nerding out right now, but it was just so refreshing to talk to people about this stuff.

I found out a few days ago that many other Americans here are going through culture shock. I talked to a few people from UM-Duluth, and they are having a hard time adapting to another language and especially the coldness they receive at times from Swedes. I'm so thankful that I knew about the culture I was moving to. As a result, I am actually surprised with how many Swedes are excited to meet Americans and other international students.

The other picture above is of me and my beautiful bike. I love it to death, and I actually agree with the man who sold me it--it IS of good quality. I was riding the other day with a Canadian friend to the market, and his bike fell apart a few blocks away from the store. I felt bad for him, because that is our only way of transportation unless you want to pay a TON of money for the bus. Last night to get home from campus I paid 35 kroners, which is about $5. Insane.

Orientation for us is over for the most part. Tonight I am going to go see The Spanish Apartment with some friends, and then tomorrow almost everyone has their introduction class. Then I'll know when I will have class for the rest of the semester, and what materials and books I will need. I'm really excited for classes, I've already met a few people who are going to be in my class, and they seem very insightful and excited to be here also.

Well, until later, enjoy the rest of August!

2005-08-26T16:56:00.000-05:00

and this is a lovely little bike path on my way to Centrum in Vaxjo. I get to bike up this hill every day on my 3-speeder! whoohoo

2005-08-26T16:48:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is my mom boohooing at my departure...kinda. :)

ahhh, settling in

2005-08-26T16:45:00.000-05:00

Yes, here I am in the land of Volvos and Ikeas, and I am absolutely loving it. I live downtown, or in the "centrum" part of Vaxjo (pronounced "veh-qua"), which is a good distance away from Vaxjo University itself. Because it is so far away, I purchased a bright purple three-speed bike, which the salesman kept assuring me as of "best quality" because it is made in Sweden. He claimed to be working for the students, and because of this he lowered his price ("for you! I do this for YOU!" he told me) a whole 100 kroners, which is about $15. I was proud to have made my first true interaction with the community, while at the same time scoring a great bargain.

I live on the third floor of a building, which is one of the four apartment buildings in SeminaricVagen. Many of the international students live here, along with many Swedes, so I get to know everyone at the same time. On my floor, which is called a corridor, there are students from Spain, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and San Francisco. Everyone here wants to meet everyone else, which has made these past few days feel like I'm in the company of good friends, even though I barely know their names, much less pronounce them. In the basement of my building is a student pub. It is open only a few days a week (as almost all students pubs are--it forces the students to explore the city and not just claim one pub as their own as they do in the states). My corridor went and drank hard cider and beer, and danced to songs such as "American Idiot" by Greenday. I never thought I'd see all of these non-english speaking people suddenly be able to mouth and sing along with American songs.

Speaking of America, I met a few Americans today. I heard them talking in English with American accents before I even saw them. I was really shocked at my reaction to them. All of a sudden there were these Americans who understood my jokes and references, and it felt so great to be able to relate to people without having to work so hard at understanding their english or their ideas. I think that this is the ultimate decision in studying abroad, though--do you stick with what you know, or do you expand? So while it feels absolutely fantastic to hang out with these Americans in such a foreign place, I am going to try to limit my time with them and instead work to understand the pronounciations and references of the rest of the world.

Well, that's it for now, more to come!

I'm Here!

2005-08-25T12:03:00.000-05:00

Hello All! Yes, I have made it to the lovely Vaxjo! I will post more later, just wanted you to know that I'm ok. :)

and Voila!

2005-08-18T14:57:00.000-05:00

Hello all! This is my new blog where I will share my experiences in Scandinavia while I am either across the Atlantic or a very large landmass from everyone.