My weekend

Friday-  Finally did laundry with Jesse.  Their laundry machines are no easy thing to say the least.  It took 2 brains and some help from Dawn to figure out how they work.  A lot of things in Sweden are either more complicated or just different than the U.S.  It is very common to have trouble opening a door in Sweden and looking like a complete idiot trying to do so.  Jesse and I joke they make them difficult to open just to watch newbies try and fail at doing so.  Push, Pull signs do not exist.  Also everything is very structured.  Anytime you are in line for anything you take a ticket number and then you are called up.  Just to play pick up soccer or "football" you have to register online.  I am currently 11th on the waiting list to play on monday.  So there are advantages and disadvantages to this structured society.  I played soccer on Friday with this kid Luke from Wales.  He is in my swedish history class.  The talent here is definitely higher than what I am used to but the American is holding his own.  We went to the Ostgota nation (OG) on friday, much smaller than Varmlands but still a good time.  

my Saturday in a nutshell

Saturday-  Paid my rent at Forex.  Not really sure how it worked but it was pretty easy.  Jesse and I went to the store to buy toilet paper but managed to buy paper towels instead.  There was even english on the packaging so no excuse haha.  Went to Franzi's before a corridor party for new students in the southern part of town.  The party was pretty fun for about an hour until the police came and decided it was too fun and shut it down.  I am used to the police going crazy but they were all very calm and completely respectful.  Maybe the police in Boulder should do that?

Snerikes Nation (the one I joined)

Sunday-  I really didn't do much on Sunday.  I wanted to go to the gym and play basketball or something but you need to "register" to shoot a basketball and I didn't do that in time.  Instead I just posted alien pictures on jesses facebook wall which was my entertainment for the day.  I found the Celtics- Lakers game online in Spanish so I was able to watch the celts crush the lakers!  I started looking online for an internship in Europe or Sweden for the summer.  There are thousands of opportunities I just need to find one!

The sun is finally starting to stay up longer and much longer.  When I first got here it went down at like 2:30 and the sun was never really up.  Now it comes up at 8am and sets at 4pm which is acceptable.  The length of day increases by 5 minutes every day so we will have A LOT of sunlight in the future. 

I have from February 8th to the 17th off between classes so I need to decide where to go! 

Uppsala Castle

Planning trips!

-Booked a trip for 5 to Tallinn, Estonia for $20 dollars each!  We are taking a cruise ship from Stockholm to Tallinn for the day and then returning.  About 40 hours total so only about 50 cents an hour.  Not too bad.  There are 2 more cruises to Riga, Latvia and Helsinki, Finland which we will probably do also for about the same price.  

-We are also in the process of planning a trip to lapland in Sweden which is the very top of Sweden.  Being a human geography major this is just about one of the coolest things you could do.  We will take a 15 hour train ride straight north and stay at a hostel in either Kiruna or Abisko.  Hopefully we can see the northern lights when we go but if not we will still go dogsledding which will be a blast.  Those towns are at about 70 degrees north.  Just for reference Portland, Maine is at 43 degrees north and Anchorage, Alaska is at 61 degrees so this place is "up thea" as mainers say.  Maybe we will see Santa Claus I don't know.

-We are planning on going to Dublin for St. Patrick's day which will be a blast!   I have never been to Ireland and no better time to go then St. Patrick's day (at least for a college student).

2 craziest weeks of my life! (so far)

With family in Logan

I had been typing what I have been doing offline so here it is!

1/14
Leaving Boston

1/15
Just got to Sweden.  Too tired for any kind of summary but that was a whole lot of travel.

1/16
Did a tour in the rain, it sucked.  Had brunch at the HG nation.  It was really good, real food finally.  Met an american masters students studying peace and conflict studies which is what I am getting a certificate in so that is kind of cool.  Woke up at 3am to watch the end of the pats-jets game which wasn't worth it.

I found home in Sweden!

1/17
Went to my first pub today.  Not sure why you have to be 21 in the US, it was nothing like a house party in Boulder.  No idea about how to register for classes but I'll figure it out.  We went to the V-dala nation with Franzie, Laurie, Annaloess and a bunch of people I don't remember.  Too many names in so little days.

I also found out that Netflix, Hulu or ANY tv show website doesn't work here so that is heartbreaking.

1/24

  

At the Blue party with Jesse and Laurie

Went to a blue party in the other housing complex last night.  We had a dinner party before with the dutch girls and guigi an italian girl.  It is kind of neat meeting people from all over europe.  They made me bring my blue baseball hat.  They were all amazed by it for whatever reason.




1/26
         Just did the pub crawl.  It was absolutely freezing.  I think Maine is colder but in Maine we never would walk around town in the winter so it is different here.  Much more people walk around it is amazing considering how cold it is.

Since I missed a lot of stuff in-between here is some other stuff that has happened so far:
Me and Jesse joined the Snerikes nation.  We joined it because they have their club night on tuesday and  it was also the most fun.  A nation is like a frat/sorority that you join and you have to join one.  It is nothing like a frat or sorority though.  They have a pub and a restaurant inside of each one.  It is really a neat idea.  Jesse and I went to Ikea the other day to get essentials.
                              

Me, Jesse and Leander

Uppsala Cathedral built in 1287! just about 400 feet tall

Eating at Varmlands nation (play spot the americans haha. Hint there are 2)

Ok now I think I'm all caught up.  I should be updating it every few days!

Intro

Why I chose Sweden?
I have no idea.  I get this question a lot and there really isn't a good answer.  There also isn't a "good" answer to why I did the hardest 100 miles of the Appalachian trail or went to a university where I didn't know anyone.  So I guess you could say I like adventures and Sweden was that for me.  They speak english and the university is pretty affordable (not the food though!) so that was what just about what sold it for me.

Where I am living?
I am in Uppsala which is just about 40 miles north of Stockholm.  Uppsala is older than anything imaginable being from the United States.  Some buildings are almost 1000 years old and the university was established in 1477!  That is nuts, I thought Harvard was old.  I am in a student apartment complex named Rackarsbergsgatan which I still can't and probably will never be able to pronounce.  In my corridor there are 3 swedes and 2 Americans.  Jesse is the other american and actually goes to CU-Boulder but we didn't know each-other before!  Kind of funny we meet almost 6,000 miles away.  The 3 other swedes are Lovisa, John and Nils.  They are all very nice and have been helpful.