Rando

I can't believe how well everything just works itself out! I lost my phone the other night and yesterday day I was walking back to my apartment and I thought to myself "Jeez, it would be really freakin lucky if I came home and my roommate had found my phone..but htat wouldn't happen". I get home and she says that a bus driver found my phone! It's perfect here, or "lagom"!

Day 5

Day 5
Tonight was hands down best night of my life! IT was funny b/ cin the morning I woke up and was talking with my roommate about the night’s events and we were all supposed to meet at the beach for some activities but I lost my phone so I couldn’t get a hold of anyone in my group so I thought ah, I’ll just go and I’m sure I’ll find htem. So I went and on the bus I saw one of the fadders so I thought I’ll just follow him..but it turns out he wasn’t going to the beach so I asked him and he sent me =in the way to the beach and I was tihking to myself crap, I’m never gonna find my group there will be so many people but on my way I found 2 ppl in my group1 so they called the rest and we met up! And then it started raining so we all just went hom but then we met again for the pool party and my roommate she came with me. It was BY FAR the MOST AMAZING night of my entire life!!! We wne tfor a pre party at Maz’s house (one of the fadders) and hten went to this place where it was a HUGE indoor pool and everyone was in the spectator stands and ther was about a thousand people all chanting and singing waiting to go iN! and FINNALLY they let us in and everyone just jumped in1
The re was an indoor pool and an outdoor pool so we all went outside at first to get drinks and then next to the beer tent there was an outdoor foam party. It was unreal there was so much foam and at one point I oopened my eyes and all I could see was white everywhere It was kind of scary. And they had jumping castles and huge water slides and sumo suits and huuuuuge sockem bopper things outside and then inside was a HUUUGE dance floor but It was in the water! So it went up about to your waist and everyone danced in the water and we all got a free hamburger! And everyone was just splashing and jukping and dancing and singing like 500 inside and 500 oustide! It was just soo incredible and amazing and “lagom” (just perfect).

The Swedes are telling me that they are very impressed with my Swedish and how fast I’m picking it up  I cant even describe how much fun I had tonight! It is just such a different kind of fun than in NA b/c it’s just like no one cares about anything and everyone just wants to have fun1!! Back home I have so many duties and responsibilities but here my own responsibility is to have the time of my life and I am doing just that!! We have a solid group of firneds that include Swedes, Canadians, swiss, belgiams, it’s just such a perfect group!! I will never forget this night!

Day 4

Well, day 4 was nothing short of amazing!!! I woke up yesterday feeling "inta so bra" (not so well--my swedish is getting very good!). We then had a city tour planned and i thought that it would be like a bus tour--but nope, we were walking. It was soo much fun! This city is just absolutely GORGEOUS! The thing I love the most about it is that it's still very much a student town and it's busy and city-like, but it's also so authentic and has history and culture behind each building and road. So we were in our groups and the teams were having different competitions to get points so our first one was a fashion show and 5 of us dressed up in all these goofy looking clothes and strutted our stuff for the judges. Then we continued to walk and there is like a canal kind of thing that runs through the city and you got 100 points for each person that jumped in and 100 extra if you waved your underwear around when you got to the other side. Obviuosly, I jumped in but there were only about ten of us that did and it was SO cold! Luckily, it was a gorgeous day out yesterday and it was sunny and quite warm, but the water literally took my breath away--and i'm not a very good swimmer to begin with. 

After that there was this water fountain with 3 levels so you had to turn around and try to throw a boot in backwards into the highest one which a couple people did--but then we had to climb up and get it! It was actually really dangerous but everyone was ok. By this time it was already 4:30 and we had to meet back at the school at 6:30 with our groups. So I took the bus home (finally bought a bus pass), got changed really quickly, then met my group at the school because we wree going to a pre party at our fadder's house. 

There's a really popular game they play here called caps. So there is one king cup with a mixture of a bunch of different drinks and then you sit in a circle around it and everyone puts their cups all around it in a little circle and you try to throw caps into other people's cups and they have to drink it. We played that foreever and then we went to the toga party which was sooooo much fun!! But, I lost my phone :( So I'm kind of screwed now because I don't know where to meet my group today and I have no phone to ge tin touch with them. But I figure I'll just show up and find them somewhere==if not I'm sure I'll make some new friends. So now we have "happy students at the lake" at lake vattern and I think we play all kinds of games and stuff and then we have the infamous pool party tonight. Apparently there were 1600 tickets sold!! I love this place!!!

Day 3

Oh boyyyy it has been so busy here! Tuesday night we had a party at the school pub. People go out a bit earlier here--we went to the club at about 9 and couldn't even get in! It was funny I was meeting some of my friends at the school but I accidentally took the wrong bus from my apartment so I was on the bus and after a while I was like wait a minute, this doesn't look familiar any more. So I asked the bus driver if we already passed the school and he said that we had a long time ago. So I hopped off and got on the right bus. Then something weird happened. Thy keep telling us here that the Swedes are super shy and the won't talk to you or come up to you , but I was talking on the phone and a Swede (who I later discovered was named Arvid) came on the bus and he heard me speaking English so asked where I was from. Then we ended up talking the whole bus right and he was going to the same place I was so we got off together and he was really cool and outgoing! So maybe their lying about the shyness of the Swedes.

Yesterday we had to go to these boring sessions in the morning and up until I haven't had a "fadder" group. Apparently everyone got put in to them on Monday but I wasn't here yet. So I was with my friend Joel (he's sooo funny! He's from Switzerland) and he said I should just join his group. So I did! And I brought along my two Cdn friends Shannon and Emilee. Jonkoping U has 4 schools in it: Business, Communications, Engineering, and something else that I forget. So during his week each school has a different colour--my school is green--and everyone gets these coveralls that are the colour of your school. So everywhere you look is just studnets in these ridiculous get-ups. And the more parties you attend and fun stuff you do the more badges you get to put on your pants. I just got mine yesterday (finally) so I don't have any badges yet. Then we all took a bus to the stadium for some presntations. They gave us a crash course in Swedish and taught us all kinds of really neat things about the city! Apparently Jonkoping is a very entrepreneurial focus city--business is its background. I knew I belonged here! We are surrounded by three lakes--the one closest to me is Lake Vattern. My Swedish is actually get quite good! It's a very hard language to learn because it's a very liquid language. Everything they say sounds like one word and they skip letters so it's hard to understand but I can now ask where people are from, where things are, my name, and a bunch of other stuff. Actually, yesterday I spoke my first Swedish to a stranger! I asked the man at the store "Furstoar du Engelska" Which means do you understand English. he said yes, so I proceeded in Enlish ahaha! So at the end they had a big thank you to all the fadders. The fadders are like frosh leaders here. It was sooo cool! They just filled hte entire stadium and pretty much everyone inthe stadium danced and chanted and cheered to loud music and lights and smoke to thank them. There were a bunch of fadder girls that took off their shirts lol--but for the Swedes that's noting big.
After that we had to meet our fadder groups back at 6 because we were going to a beach party. So we met, then went to McDonalds which tastes much different here! The fries actually taste like potatoes! So then we all went to a preprty at one of the fadder's apts and then all went to a bar called centrum. It was so cold though and we wre all in shorts! It was SOOOO much fun! Especially b/c it's kickoff week everywhere is just so packed!
I also went for a run yesterday to discover the area and I got lost--of course,but fond my way home. It's PERFECT running weather here! It's full out fall!
Miss you guys at home but I'm have an incredible time

Day 2

Well, day two began a little later than I had hoped. I just bought a cell phone yesterday and had set the alarm to wake me up at 6:30 this morning so I'd be on time for our courses meeting at 8 at the school. But of course, I switched up the am and pm so woke up at 8:30. I didn't really worry about it, though--in fact, I haven't been worrying about anything that hasn't gone perfectly here. I've been very relaxed here because I know that everything will work itself out--besides, all I've got is time! So, today when I got to school and told the woman that I missed my session she assured me it wouldn't be a problem. After 2 and a half hours of waiiting I wanted to smack myself in the face because if I had been on time I would have been out of there by 9:30! Oh well. So then my friends and I went to go get tickets for the pool party this Friday. Apparently it's a huge deal--1600 tickets are being sold and 900 have already been sold! When I was waiting in line I met a bunch of Canadians (2 from Windsor!!) and then they introduced me to some Australians that I am very much looking forward to partying with tonight! We then all took a trip to the liquor store (where liquor is about $5 more expensive for each item than it is in Cda). And people just walk around with open alcohol here--the guy didn't even give me a bag for anything so I felt like a barbarian walking around with it in my hand. Everything here is in Swedish (Duh, right?) but I didn't expect that! I thought they'd at least have English subtitles on everything. Yesterday in the grocery store Sam (from Chicago) and I couldn't decide which carton was milk and which was yogurt because they looked the exact same! Buying groceries is a joke and I guess on half of the stuff I pick up--the only thing I'm always sure about is the fruit! There have been a lot of activities going on at the school (I've missed half of them because I forget even though we have a clear schedule). I don't know how two such organized parents gave birth to SUCH a scatterbrain! I now finally have my internet set up, although having my computer plugged in is sure to start a fire any second (I can smell the burn coming from my adapter). I'm about to go for a run around my little neighbourhood. It's really cute with little trails and stuff around the apartments buildings. People say this is the ghetto, but I think they mean that in the sense that peopl who aren't students in these buildings may not have a lot of money--but I understand because it's expensive to live here! Rent is cheap (only about 380/month and includes everything--even a pool and a gym), but food and transportation is a bit more expensive than in Cda. Tonight there is some event going on at some club--I never really focus on logistics, but I plan on attending with my new Australian friends (and the Canadian ones too!). Missing my friends and family at home big time, but loving this city!

Day 1

Day one was amazing! I love this town sooo much! I arrived at about 12:35 and Veronika Elg was waiting in the airport to pick me up. We then went to the school which has the most incredible scenery I’ve ever seen on any campus! The view from my prospective classrooms is that of a sparkling like and little foliage-covered mountains. The town is a perfect mix of a busy city with deep historical value. Each building has some story behind it, and although I normally reject buildings that are so ornamented, I am fascinated by the infrastructure in this city. So, I had to huge suitcases and no where to stay when I arrived! I went to some meeting that a man told me about for the exchange students where I was then redirected to the accommodations office to find out where I had been placed. I lucked out big time! I live in what’s called Raslatt and it is like its own little community. There are about 10 apartment buildings in the area but not all are filled with students. It’s easy to find groups of children playing on bikes and scooters all around the area. While in the accommodation office I met 3 Canadians! We could all identify each other by our (apparently) distinct accents. It actually turns out that the one girl I met, Shannon, is a member of Golden Key in the Montreal chapter and attended the international conference this summer where some of our executive GK members went to advertise the South Africa Golden Future Project to other Golden Key chapters. She even knew my good friends Jacqueline, Nick, and Gary! Talk about small world. After I got my keys I was dropped off at my apartment. Despite the fact that I was only running on 4 hours of sleep and had lost 6 hours during the flight, I was still determined to scope out the area. So I unpacked my things and then just started roaming around my area. I think found myself on a bus and decided to go get a cell phone and some things for my apartment. Oh ya, I’m rooming with two other girls who are from Sweden—and we each have our own rooms!! On my way home from IKEA and the mall I thought I was so coy because (and I actually thought this to myself) “I could now go anywhere I wanted in Jonkoping because I know what bus to take to get back to my apartment”. Shortly after saying this to myself I realized I was on the wrong bus. I asked the busdriver if this bus was going to Raslatt, and he said “no, the one across the street that’s about to leave is going to Raslatt”. So obviously, I made a run for it. I now know which bus gets me to my apartment. When I got back I started unpacking all of the things I got for my room (bed sheets, comforters, organization bins, groceries). Then I thought that I would try out the converter that Jennie lent me to bring. So I plugged it in, and decided to plug into it the only thing I didn’t really care about---a powerbar. Super smart, because it blew up right away and so did my half of the apartment immediately after my roommate mumbled “what’s the worst that could happen—it blows up?” After a lengthy phone call with the horribly unhelpful electrician, I figured out how to turn on the breaker. I felt so accomplished after that! Until I went to barge into my room, and realized I had locked myself out. Strike 3 Atkins! The Security wouldn’t unlock it because my ID was inside the apt, so they told me to call the police. The police didn’t answer for literally 5 minutes, and when they did answer they told me it would be a half hour wait. When they arrived they informed me that we had to wait for the security guard (the same one who wouldn’t help me in the first place) because he had the key. When he FINALLY came I thanked him (IN Swedish might I add!) and waited for him to be on his way. It was then that he slapped down a bill for 500 SEK (about 70$ CDN) with an almost evil grin on his face. Of course, I tried to protest asking how he could do this to a student—but “Rules are rules”. Rules are bullshit! After this I had a little chat with my roomies and they attempted to teach me how to CORRECTLY speak Swedish (they were mostly unsuccessful since I already forget almost all of what they taught me).



I really do love it here though. I feel happier than I’ve ever been in m y entire life! Even after all of the things that went “wrong” today, I just laughed, because right now all I’ve got is time. Taking the wrong bus allowed me to see the whole city and scope out places I wanted to go! I feel happy here not because I’m away from my life at home, because I love my life at home, but because I truly get a chance to experience who I really am and how to be truly independent in a way one couldn’t even have anticipated. This has been a true test of putting my problem solving skills to work, and so far, I think I’m doing pretty well!