First and foremost I apologize for not posting in forever! Turns out I really hate this whole blogging thing. But here's the story!
Well well well Duncan arrived Monday October 25. I met him at the train station with Adrian who I randomly bumped into. Monday there was a pirate party at Oleary’s so we obviously had to get costumes. So we went to the mall and found some decent pirate stuff, went home and ate spaghetti with Annakarin, and then went to Brett’s for the preparty. It was suuper fun and there were lots of people and so we headed out to Olearys and had a blast! Small dance floor, but enough pirates there to make it fun. It went downhill, however, when Isabelle fell on a table and broke it so then everyone decided we had to take her home and that was unfortunately the end of the night :(
So Tuesday I thought I’d go out and show him the town. Now originally we were supposed to go to Barcelona Wednesday-Saturday but he heard from someone in another contry that he just HAD to go to our student pub Akadamien which is on Wednesdays so I suggested we switch out flight to leaving Friday morning instead so we could party at Aka. So anyway, Tuesday we slept in quite late, went to lunch at lingon with annakarin (my favourite favourite restaurant), I showed him the town a bit and then Tuesday we went to the gym with Johan and AK. Johan and Duncan worked out and me and AK did kick box! Then we just went back to mine and watched a movie and hit the hay. So Wednesday I switched my flight over the phone and signed him into the Akadamien. But when we went home to switch his flight the flights were full! So we had to do some serious problem solving so we decided we’d go to Aka and then he’d leave right from the bar to the train station to catch the flight..and we did just that! Chaotic and exhausting, but worth it (I hope)
So Thursday I was to do exactly what Duncan did--leave for the train to Stockholm after having been out! So I forced Johan to to take me to the bus and he was SO mad that I wouldn’t let him just abandon me at the bus. We were literally sprnting and running around looking for the bus and he was screaming out how much he hates me, but I know it’s pure love. So I got on the bus at 1:45 am! Tried to sleep as much as I could but it was quite crammed! Then off the bus and onto another bus to get to the Stockholm airport that I took to Barcelona.
So I get into Barcelona after a loooong trip and 2 days with a very minimal amount of sleep. So I met up with Duncan and Barcelona was SO cool! It was so warm and all along the streets were people doing really weird stuff for money. They would sit in these weird costumes and just sit still ALL day and people would drop money in their hats so we walked around looking at that stuff for a while. Then we went to some humungo church that has taken 150 years to build and it’s STILL not finished. The inefficient and waste of mmoney and human resources made me SO fricken mad that I didn’t even want to look at the church any more because I was so pissed at how stupid the gov’t was being to continue building this church! So then we went to the beach where we found a cool Irish dude who took us around on a little bike thing and showed us the places you can purchase cannabis which are apparently located on the official Barcelona map (we didn’t buy any, obviously). And we got REALLY amazing ice cream at this place on the beach and all along the beach they had these people who would spend like a whole day making this CRAZY INCREDIBLE sand sculptures (for money, of course). Then we went back to the hostel to regroup where we met this crazy Australian who came in talking about all the cocaine he did yesterday and so generously offered to do some cocaine with us, which we politely declined. Then we went into the downtown Barcelona area looking for stuff to do. We ended up going to a flamenco show! So we got a buffet of really traditional Spanish food (I ate mostly kiwi) and unlimited wine and Sangria. Then we went into this quaint, cozy little room, probably only like 50 people and we were right up next to the stage! The dancers wer AMAZING!!! The woman were quite luscious, which I liked! It really added to the culture and feel of the dancing!! The show was just incredible with only a guitar, tambourine, and the female and male singers. So after that it was 1 am and I was POOPED! And had to wake up early the next day to head home (Yes, I was only in Barcelona 24 hours). So the next morning I went to take the bus to the airport but they so politely informed me the bus wouldn’t get me there in time for my flight so I had to pay a cab 200$!!! To take me to the airport! I was pretty bitter after that.
Long story short I got home to Jonkoping and then went straight to Forss for the Halloween preparty! (I was captain underpants). It was fun but i was a bitter girl because of all the stupid money I had spent and how little sleep I had, but then we went to Club Hollywood for a huge Halloween party which was kind of lame, but kind of cool.
So Sunday was a laaazy day. I had tacos with Elin, Brett, and Derek for dinner though which was fun then watched night at the Roxbury with elin and isabelle.
Monday I had school (Micro, which is gonna be hard). But I lost my phone (but then found it without a battery) So joakim (isabelle’s lover) said I could use his phone. So we met up at the Student Hause to make the swap and ending up sitting there and talking for 2 and a half hours!
Me and Johan pretty much hang out every day. He's the best!I feel like we’ve known each other our entire lives. I honestly don’t know what I’m gona do without him, but I really try not to think about it. He and I will be good friends for life, I can tell :)
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
I LOVE SWEDEN
Halloween is coming up here and I've finally decided on my costume: Captain Underpants! Today I got my costume (boys boxer briefs and a red cape and tank top)and I put it on when I got home and I've been wearing it for 3 hours now because I feel like this is who I AM. I accidentally answered the door with it on forgetting I was wearing it and thank god it was only Elin.
Johan's girlfriend Anna came here for a few days and I was lucky enough to get to hang out with them on Sunday! We went for lunch at Kaffe Paus (one of my favourite places to eat) and then we came out and realized we missed the bus so we walked to the next bus stop. Then we went back to my place and Anna made this really good swedish cake called KaddaKakka (i think) it's like a moist cake while Johan and I studied. the next week was unfortunately dedicated to studying!
However, Duncan arrives tomorrow and then we leave on Wedensday for Barcelona!! I get back on satuday afternoon and that's when we have the Halloween party and then Mark arrives on Wednesday and we leave for Paris and Rome! And when I get back it's time for SENSATION WHITE!!!!!
These next few weeks are going to be crazy! Today me and Annakarin had a really nice day walking around the mall and going for IKEA Swedish meatballs :) I can never leave this place <3
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Friendly Visits
I recently started suuuper duper stressing out about school and realized that I should NOT have spent an entire week only partying, going to the gym, and watching dragons den, because I have royaly screwed myself for exams! However, now that the pressure is on I should be fine.
Last night I experienced something I've never experienced in my life..and it was amazing! I was just laying in my bed thinking about how stressed out I was and missing home quite a bit and all of a sudden (turn away those of you who don't believe in this ghost/spiritual stuff) I felt Geggs hug me. I literally felt my heart fill with this energy or something and to describe the feeling of a "full" heart is next to impossible. I could feel her around me literally hugging me. I just felt her everywhere, and I just knew it was her. I said to her outloud, "Hi Geggs, I know you're here and I can feel you. I miss you everyday and I know that you would be proud of me". I felt her for about another 30 seconds, and then I felt her leave. I felt my body become cold again and actually felt my heart empty of whatever it was that had filled it moments ago. It was as real as the fact that I'm in Sweden right now (..or am i?). That was just what I needed, though. A big, warm hug from Geggs..someone who is truly with me wherever I go, even across the world.
Last night I experienced something I've never experienced in my life..and it was amazing! I was just laying in my bed thinking about how stressed out I was and missing home quite a bit and all of a sudden (turn away those of you who don't believe in this ghost/spiritual stuff) I felt Geggs hug me. I literally felt my heart fill with this energy or something and to describe the feeling of a "full" heart is next to impossible. I could feel her around me literally hugging me. I just felt her everywhere, and I just knew it was her. I said to her outloud, "Hi Geggs, I know you're here and I can feel you. I miss you everyday and I know that you would be proud of me". I felt her for about another 30 seconds, and then I felt her leave. I felt my body become cold again and actually felt my heart empty of whatever it was that had filled it moments ago. It was as real as the fact that I'm in Sweden right now (..or am i?). That was just what I needed, though. A big, warm hug from Geggs..someone who is truly with me wherever I go, even across the world.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Isabelle's birthday
Well yesterday was Isabelle's birthday. She turned 19 (although I thought she was 19 all along) so me, Elin, Derek, Brett, and Joel went to dinner at this place called "an Italian and a Greek". It was a really quaint, warm place! It was dimly lit and nice music and I don't know what it was about the night but it just seemed like we didn't stop laughing the whole time! Most of us got pizza (which again, is never cut for you here and is super super thin) and I ate the cheese! Which I think I will never do again because I felt really sick the rest of the night. The six of us had a blasst and then Elin drives (a mini cooper) so the 6 of us all squeezed in like it was a clown car (since we all live in Raslatt) and went back to Isabelle's for cake. her mom made this craaazy good cake for us so we just talked around the table for about an hour. It was really really fun. My friends I've made here so far seem like family! It feels like I've known them my whole life--it's amazing how close you can get to people in such a short amount of time.
Monday, October 4, 2010
I shall never cook again
So most recently I've been learning how to cook and moving on from just pasta and sauce in a can. Last Wednesday I decided to make Jennie's recipe of goulash for Johan and I (I thought he could be my guinea pig). So Dad sent me the recipe and I followed it step by step (I had to improvise with some of the foods that they don't quite have here, like no mushroom soup in a can and no tomato paste). I was SO proud of myself because it tasted soooooooo good and thought wow, I really did inherit the cooking gene from dad. Well, it turns out I think I mildly food poisoned both Johan and I. We both woke up in the middle of the night that night with baaaaaad bowel movements and really sore tummys that lasted the entire next day. Needless to say, I won't be trying to cook that again, and idiot me ate the leftovers the next day, but halfway through decided it maybe wasn't such a good idea.
Then Thursday it was Club Caj (which is only every other Thursday) and we had suuuch a fun time!
Oh, also, Dragon's Den has been ruining my life. Well, both ruining it and making it better. I watched this show pretty much 24-7 for a solid week until I ran out of youtube video clips of it. And as much as it distracted me from doing anything else relatively productive, it also enhanced my presenting skills and ability to deal with investor's objections! I discovered this on Monday when we had a "trade show" at school where we had to present the businesses we've created for our project (ours was the student discount for taxis), and I found myself being able to deal with objections and situations I saw on dragon's den! Sooo why do I subject myself to the student life when I could just watch dragon's den and get an education?
So this Friday I went to the movie theatre for the first time! We went with Elin, Isabelle, Brett, Derek, and my new Canadian friend, Adrian (CanadRian ..haha) he's suuper funny! We saw "the other guys" with will ferrell.it was soo funny! The movies are most expensive here (about 15$) but you can get popocorn AND a drink for 7$. The movie theatres are a lot smaller too, but SUPER comfy seats and lots of leg room!
I'm having a blast here and still love it so much! I'm catching up in my classes and our lectures are done this week!! Exams in 2 weeks..it's going so fast!
Then Thursday it was Club Caj (which is only every other Thursday) and we had suuuch a fun time!
Oh, also, Dragon's Den has been ruining my life. Well, both ruining it and making it better. I watched this show pretty much 24-7 for a solid week until I ran out of youtube video clips of it. And as much as it distracted me from doing anything else relatively productive, it also enhanced my presenting skills and ability to deal with investor's objections! I discovered this on Monday when we had a "trade show" at school where we had to present the businesses we've created for our project (ours was the student discount for taxis), and I found myself being able to deal with objections and situations I saw on dragon's den! Sooo why do I subject myself to the student life when I could just watch dragon's den and get an education?
So this Friday I went to the movie theatre for the first time! We went with Elin, Isabelle, Brett, Derek, and my new Canadian friend, Adrian (CanadRian ..haha) he's suuper funny! We saw "the other guys" with will ferrell.it was soo funny! The movies are most expensive here (about 15$) but you can get popocorn AND a drink for 7$. The movie theatres are a lot smaller too, but SUPER comfy seats and lots of leg room!
I'm having a blast here and still love it so much! I'm catching up in my classes and our lectures are done this week!! Exams in 2 weeks..it's going so fast!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The Slippers
The last 2 days have been REALLY nice weather! You don't even need a coat! Thursday I met with my friend Veronika (she came to Windsor on exchange..we go for lunch once a week) and after that I was planning on going to the library to study, but it was just SO nice out I couldn't justify couping myself up indoors when I knew this weather was going to be limited! So instead I bumped into a few friends and we just sat on these stairs in the middle of campus and talked for a couple hours. I met this new Canadian kid named Adrian and he's by far the funniest person I've met so far! He and this British guy were wearing huge russian hats on the warmest day yet! Anyway, while I was laying on the stairs I was looking up at the sky, and I thought about how you guys are looking at the same sky and how even across the world the sky looks the same..it made me feel really close to home :)
I also joined a political protest! They advised us against this, but it was peaceful! There was just been an election in Sweden last week and there was a racist party that 6% of hte pop voted for, thus gaining them a seat in the house and the cities have just gone crazy and are super upset at this. This political party wants to keep anyone who isn't a Swede out of Sweden (sounds a lot like Hitler, right). Anyway, we all met in the center of the city and just walked around the city and chanted to show the support for anti-racism. There were about 500 people in Jonkoping, but Goteburg had one with 5000, and Stockholm (the captial) had one with 10,000 people just the day after the election!
After the walk Johan and I decided to make dinner and oh my gosh I am SO proud of myself! I'm finally learning to cook (by force). Me Johan and Lina made potatoes and pork and I didn't even talk with my mouth open because I wanted to soak up the flavour!
Friday (yesterday) I had class early in the morning, but it was a really fun class! We had a mock business transaction and myself adn two others were acting as entrepreners (selling the stupidest business idea ever--a business that improves relationships w/ employees & custoemrs to retain current customers instead of getting new ones) selling our idea to 3 other "venture capitalists". I ended up single handedly convincing the venture capitalists to give us 15 million for 10% of the company. Well, when we started taking up the deals with the rest of the class other people got zero investments, 100,000 for 30%, 1 million for 50%...this led me to confirm that business is my true calling :)
The Slippers:
While I've been here I've really really really been missing my slippers! The ground is cold in my apartment and I hate walking with barefoot or only socks so I usually wear my boots, but my roommates are getting pissed at me because we'll clean the floors and then I'll just muck them up..so I've really really wanted my slippers from home. And yesterday I was walking down the street and in the window I saw the COZIEST pair of slippers! But they were 200 SEK ($30) and I stood there for a while comtemplating whether I was willing to spend that much on slippers. Finally, I justified the price and went in to buy them. When I got to the counter the cashier told me there was a sale and I got 100 SEK off! (15$) so they were only 15$! I swear that has been one of the happiest moments of my trip here!!
I finally found some foods from home! The most I can find is Nutella and Campbell's tomato soup, so last night I cozied up in my new slippers with some campbell's tomato soup and a movie :) Twas a good night!
I also joined a political protest! They advised us against this, but it was peaceful! There was just been an election in Sweden last week and there was a racist party that 6% of hte pop voted for, thus gaining them a seat in the house and the cities have just gone crazy and are super upset at this. This political party wants to keep anyone who isn't a Swede out of Sweden (sounds a lot like Hitler, right). Anyway, we all met in the center of the city and just walked around the city and chanted to show the support for anti-racism. There were about 500 people in Jonkoping, but Goteburg had one with 5000, and Stockholm (the captial) had one with 10,000 people just the day after the election!
After the walk Johan and I decided to make dinner and oh my gosh I am SO proud of myself! I'm finally learning to cook (by force). Me Johan and Lina made potatoes and pork and I didn't even talk with my mouth open because I wanted to soak up the flavour!
Friday (yesterday) I had class early in the morning, but it was a really fun class! We had a mock business transaction and myself adn two others were acting as entrepreners (selling the stupidest business idea ever--a business that improves relationships w/ employees & custoemrs to retain current customers instead of getting new ones) selling our idea to 3 other "venture capitalists". I ended up single handedly convincing the venture capitalists to give us 15 million for 10% of the company. Well, when we started taking up the deals with the rest of the class other people got zero investments, 100,000 for 30%, 1 million for 50%...this led me to confirm that business is my true calling :)
The Slippers:
While I've been here I've really really really been missing my slippers! The ground is cold in my apartment and I hate walking with barefoot or only socks so I usually wear my boots, but my roommates are getting pissed at me because we'll clean the floors and then I'll just muck them up..so I've really really wanted my slippers from home. And yesterday I was walking down the street and in the window I saw the COZIEST pair of slippers! But they were 200 SEK ($30) and I stood there for a while comtemplating whether I was willing to spend that much on slippers. Finally, I justified the price and went in to buy them. When I got to the counter the cashier told me there was a sale and I got 100 SEK off! (15$) so they were only 15$! I swear that has been one of the happiest moments of my trip here!!
I finally found some foods from home! The most I can find is Nutella and Campbell's tomato soup, so last night I cozied up in my new slippers with some campbell's tomato soup and a movie :) Twas a good night!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
A month already!?
Well, I haven't written much lately because there hasn't been much to write! I realized early last week that holy crap, I actually still need to get good grades while I'm here! So I've spent A LOT of time studying! We've also chopped in half the amount of nights we go out from 4-5 nights to only 2 nights, which is really great for my wallet, my GPA, and my body!
I forgot to tell you guys about johan's birthday! So it was Johan's birthday a couple weeks ago and at first I just thought me and Joel would take him out for dinner, but on his actualy birthday more and more people kept telling me they wanted to come. So like 2 hours before we were supposed to have dinner I decided to make it a surprise party! So we gathered everyone at O'Learys (this really great, cheap sports bar--and there was a football [soccer] game on!) and Johan came over and I asked him if it'd be ok if just he and I went to dinner and he said yes, but then Joel popped out of the bushes so that was surprise #1! And then I told him about the change of venue, because originally we were going to a nice place to eat, but he was fine with it. So then we walked into O'Learys and saw everyone and he was SO surprise! He had a great night! His meal was free (lucky for me b/c I was going to pay for it) and people were buying him beers all night and he just got to drink beer, hang with all friends, and watch a heck of a football game!
I've been going to the gym a lot here! At least 5 times a week doing different classes-- a lot of yoga! I can't wait to be able to do yoga with an English instructor when I get home because it is SO annoying having to open my eyes every 30 seconds to see what the teacher is doing because I can't understand her!
I really can't get enough of the scenary in this town! It's SO beautiful (when it's not raining). And of course, I lost my umbrella week one! But I love just walking through the city and to the dock overlooking Lake Vattern and to all of the little shops. And I'll be getting visitors soon!! Lesley is coming for a couple days the first weekend in October, my friend Duncan is doing a Eurotour so he's stopping in the last week of October and we've booked a flight to barcelona in that time!, and hopefully Mark can come about the first week of November, where we'll go to Paris and Rome, and I'm hoping my grandma, dad, and jennie will be able to visit as well! It'll be so much fun being the tour guide instead of always having people show me around--now I get to show people my city! :)
I can't believe I've already been here a month! It's gone by SO fast--it's really scary. For a while I thought that maybe I'd want to try and stay for another semester, but I think 4 months away is the perfect amount of time away, or as the Swedes would say "lagom". I'm picking up Swedish pretty quickly and quite well! I'm finally getting down the seemingly IMPOSSIBLE intonation! I miss my family a lot though, but soon enough I'll be home :) I had a dream last night that Sweden got rid of all of its traditional chocolate and instead smartened up and started importing Reese's cups! That's a sign of a girl who misses the deliciousness of home. But they have some AMAZING choclate here--it's dangerous!
Last night was Wednesday, which is night out at the school pub. It was really fun! The thing I love about the clubs here is that people and guys aren't as gross as they are in Windsor. Like whenever you dance with a boy here it's like tango or salsa or some kind of ballroom, even to songs like lady gaga! They all know how to dance and it's very refreshing!
I'm meeting Veronika today for lunch (we have lunch once a week). She's the girl who came to Windsor on exchange and she's from Sweden. It's fun being able to talk about home with someone who knows what I'm talking about. I've also recently discovered that our friend Forss is an AMAZING cook, so I think me and Johan are going to pick up some groceries and bring them to Forss' for Forss to cook them!
I'll try to start writing more often, even if it's boring stuff because I'd like to have this to look back on when I'm home as well :)
Miss you all to smitherines!!!
xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxo
I forgot to tell you guys about johan's birthday! So it was Johan's birthday a couple weeks ago and at first I just thought me and Joel would take him out for dinner, but on his actualy birthday more and more people kept telling me they wanted to come. So like 2 hours before we were supposed to have dinner I decided to make it a surprise party! So we gathered everyone at O'Learys (this really great, cheap sports bar--and there was a football [soccer] game on!) and Johan came over and I asked him if it'd be ok if just he and I went to dinner and he said yes, but then Joel popped out of the bushes so that was surprise #1! And then I told him about the change of venue, because originally we were going to a nice place to eat, but he was fine with it. So then we walked into O'Learys and saw everyone and he was SO surprise! He had a great night! His meal was free (lucky for me b/c I was going to pay for it) and people were buying him beers all night and he just got to drink beer, hang with all friends, and watch a heck of a football game!
I've been going to the gym a lot here! At least 5 times a week doing different classes-- a lot of yoga! I can't wait to be able to do yoga with an English instructor when I get home because it is SO annoying having to open my eyes every 30 seconds to see what the teacher is doing because I can't understand her!
I really can't get enough of the scenary in this town! It's SO beautiful (when it's not raining). And of course, I lost my umbrella week one! But I love just walking through the city and to the dock overlooking Lake Vattern and to all of the little shops. And I'll be getting visitors soon!! Lesley is coming for a couple days the first weekend in October, my friend Duncan is doing a Eurotour so he's stopping in the last week of October and we've booked a flight to barcelona in that time!, and hopefully Mark can come about the first week of November, where we'll go to Paris and Rome, and I'm hoping my grandma, dad, and jennie will be able to visit as well! It'll be so much fun being the tour guide instead of always having people show me around--now I get to show people my city! :)
I can't believe I've already been here a month! It's gone by SO fast--it's really scary. For a while I thought that maybe I'd want to try and stay for another semester, but I think 4 months away is the perfect amount of time away, or as the Swedes would say "lagom". I'm picking up Swedish pretty quickly and quite well! I'm finally getting down the seemingly IMPOSSIBLE intonation! I miss my family a lot though, but soon enough I'll be home :) I had a dream last night that Sweden got rid of all of its traditional chocolate and instead smartened up and started importing Reese's cups! That's a sign of a girl who misses the deliciousness of home. But they have some AMAZING choclate here--it's dangerous!
Last night was Wednesday, which is night out at the school pub. It was really fun! The thing I love about the clubs here is that people and guys aren't as gross as they are in Windsor. Like whenever you dance with a boy here it's like tango or salsa or some kind of ballroom, even to songs like lady gaga! They all know how to dance and it's very refreshing!
I'm meeting Veronika today for lunch (we have lunch once a week). She's the girl who came to Windsor on exchange and she's from Sweden. It's fun being able to talk about home with someone who knows what I'm talking about. I've also recently discovered that our friend Forss is an AMAZING cook, so I think me and Johan are going to pick up some groceries and bring them to Forss' for Forss to cook them!
I'll try to start writing more often, even if it's boring stuff because I'd like to have this to look back on when I'm home as well :)
Miss you all to smitherines!!!
xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxo
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