A few more updates for the time being. I AM FINALLY TRAVELING SOMEWHERE!!! A girl from Italy, Sarah, and I will be heading over to Stockholm on Friday morning and staying until Sunday. I am so excited and so is she!! Sarah was planning to go, but only if someone would go with her, so I said what the hell, and said yes. I've now been reading a lot about Stockholm to figure out some interesting attractions. I've noticed a lot of stuff stops in September, which isn't really convenient considering we are all studying for most of the time when things will be closed and my family is coming over in the dead of winter when pretty much EVERYTHING will be closed! (Except for the indoor museums.) Either way, it will be a lot of fun!

Today, there was a workshop for my project management class that lasted from 9am - 7pm. Tomorrow (Thursday) is supposed to be about the same, which is really exhausting! Today, alone, was horrible. With the class split in half (half went last week, half this week) and we got in a big conference room and the professor came in. They just told us what our task was: to create a proposal for Göteborg Cultural Festival that they have every summer in the main city of Göteborg. They then left the room and we were supposed to figure out what to do next.

We all formed groups ranging from 4 people to 11 people and started discussing. After a few group meetings with lectures and more information in between, we realized we were focusing on the task in a very wrong direction. We were thinking of how to create the project instead of focusing on how to create the proposal for the project. There is a big difference between the two because the proposal is pretty much just a way to show-off our group versus actually planning the whole project, which is done after getting accepted. Anyways....tomorrow we'll be figuring out a lot more information. (I hope this made sense!)

Well....for the weekend, quite a bit more partying, once again! Brennan, however, had some very interesting stories! First, I want to say everyone turned out fine and no one got hurt. On Friday night, after some beirut and drinking, we headed out to find some party. Ended up at some random apartment with other exchange students that took us there. After about a couple of hours, we noticed Brennan was missing. By the way, he had a little bit to drink, so it was important that we found him. Looked around the whole apartment building and couldn't find him anywhere. Finally, I called his cell phone and he said he didn't know where he was, was on some tram and finally got off and told me his stop. He said he'd be able to figure out his way back to us. I called a bit later and he said he'd be fine and would find his way home.

We ( Nik, Dane, Casey (another Californian), and I) hopped on a tram sort of heading in the direction of the stop Brennan told me he was at. Got to the stop and I thought I'd just check under the station to see if he was still there. Sure enough, there he was passed out on a bench. It was truly one of the funniest things of the night! Like I said, everything turned out fine, and I'm sure he would have made his way home even if we didn't find him.

Saturday, the last CIRC event was the Sauna Party. All bought tickets for Scandinavia's largest sauna, which is also owned by Chalmers. As much as I don't like saunas, this wasn't any better. We were forced to jump in the FREEZING cold lake because that made the sauna experience even better. However, about 40 guys, 6 girls (it is IT, isn't it??) sitting on benches in a room about 40' x 40' facing each other, got to be a little bit awkward at times.

After the sauna, there was another sittning hosted by CIRC as well. Ate some pea soup (a sauna meal) and some Swedish pancakes, we started blasting music and dancing the night away! After the sauna party ended at about 11pm, we gathered for the 30 minute bus ride back to Chalmers and then headed out with some of these ERASMUS students for another party. Lugging wet towels and bathing suits, I found Janne at the party! It was close to where she lived, but to bump into her like that was really funny! Left the party about 3am and headed back to Frölunda.

Last Wednesday, there was a Student '07 event hosted by the city of Göteborg. It was at a park in the centre and consisted of free food and drinks and many student associations were there as well. After a couple of hours, a famous Swedish singer put on a concert. Laleh was very interesting. I definitely recommend finding some of her songs if you have a chance. It was very different music and also very unique. http://www.laleh.se/.

I've posted some more pics on the Picassa site, so check them out!!

Realizations

Even though I posted recently, I have some new perspectives on certain ideas I had previously. I don't want to make it all deep, but I truly have found new perceptions. First, I will start a little lighter....

The girl I was speaking of earlier, Janne, took me out on Tuesday for some sight-seeing and some coffee. For coffee, we went a little off the southern part of Chalmers to this water tower that has a little café on top of the actual water tower. It was absolutely stunning! No one, even the locals, seems to know about this place, so it was great to be by ourselves in the peace and quiet with the sounds of traffic way down below us. We could sit outside and chairs and tables went around the whole café, so you really get an aerial view! I've never seen the city from so high up and it was gorgeous!

Janne and I each got a cappuccino and a piece of this raspberry "pie" with vanilla syrup and vanilla ice cream on the side. The pie here is more like a strudel type dessert. Very delicious! We talked about girl stuff and other random stuff for probably an hour and then Janne took me over to the other side of the river, on the Lindholmen campus of Chalmers.

We first went to her apartment, which was adorable! All to herself, has a little kitchen, a bedroom, a little living room with a TV, and a bathroom! Right next to campus, so not too far away and what was even funnier is that on my first day of wandering around in Gothenburg, I actually walked by her whole apartment complex! Would have been funny if we actually walked by each other and never knew it!

Went by bus to the island to look back at the city from over there, too. Also breathtaking! It's so fun to say that I've lived in a city with actual history and actual proof of that history as far as buildings and statues and castles go. Janne & I talked about many things throughout the few hours we were together. She says she absolutely loves the English language; not the British English or Aussie English, but straight up American English. I thought that was neat, I've never heard anyone say that about English.

I'm fascinated with Janne as well. She studied in Seattle at 19; just graduated from high school and now moved to another country for a year. I couldn't imagine doing that right from high school. Yeah, I am 20 now, but I've been away from home for 3 years and I've been more than on my own for 3 years. That's also brought up another thought. I know I have been very fortunate to have travelled so much in my 20 years (thanks to my parents). Maybe that has what has made my decision to study abroad easier. However, I do not understand why so many friends back home in the US aren't even considering studying abroad. I don't know if it's just because they don't want to leave their "comfort zones" or if they want to graduate "on time", but it still frustrates me as to why they aren't taking this once in a lifetime opportunity. I just know I will never forget this time I've had here meeting new people and enjoying first time experiences on my own.

More deepness coming...

Today in my Economics of Innovations class, we had to present our research into whatever country we chose to discuss the science & technology and innovations. We didn't have to present, but Colombia, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and India all presented. At the end of the presentations, our professor (the one from Texas) had some very interesting observations. There is a huge appreciation for all of the countries involved in just that class. With the new master's programme where international students can attend Chalmers for 2 years and receive their master's for free, opens up a gigantic opportunity to meet people from several countries. That is one thing the professor pointed out. As far as English speaking goes, she said with there being only 2 native English speakers in the class (one being me, the other her), all of the presentations were excellent. It can be frustrating for foreign students to have to get in front of a class and speak in a language they aren't fluent in, yet everyone did an amazing job!

I also learned a lot from these presentations. Yeah, I know a little bit about some of these countries, but if I was never in this class, put in this situation with all of these international students and "forced" to study or listen to these people speak about their countries, I would never have learned about this in the US or even on my own. It makes such a difference when you are actually in an environment where the majority of the students are international and are there to learn about their country. For this professor to give us this opportunity, as annoying as this sort of project can be, is still pretty amazing.

Off to bed to ponder some more...maybe. Til next time

Another week has flown by! To be honest, I didn't really do too many activities this last week. I'm still going to post, however, because I need to stay up to date! Tuesday's I do not have class, so I usually just hang out and catch up on homework or run errands. This last Tuesday I went searching for a comfy chair for my room. Went to a small IKEA-like store and found one. So now my room is a little more comfy for my next 4 months. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I had class. In my Economics of Innovations class, we were assigned groups for a "group task" which is to be completed in one week and there is a possible presentation involved also. For some details to bore you with, our task is to pick a country and determine 10 variables that contribute to the country being strong through technology, science, and innovations. There is also a 10 minute presentation on the following Wednesday, but the professor chooses the groups, so we might not have to present.

That group project has taken most of my time the last 3 days. My group is with 3 other students, all male, 2 from Sweden, the other from Turkey. Has been very fun working with them so far. Have another meeting on Sunday to (hopefully) put everything together!

On Wednesday night, Dane's dad and grandpa came over to our place. Dane's dad is from Denmark and so he came over to see Denmark again, along with visiting Sweden. Dane's dad has a friend that is rather wealthy and apparently owns a private jet and to make it even better, has a runway at his house! So the friend was coming over to Gothenburg to pick up Dane and Brennan and they were going to Copenhagen from Thursday afternoon to Monday....on the private jet. Sounds pretty neat to me!

Friday night, Nik and I went to a Swedish Sittning that CIRC was hosting. A sittning is a dinner and there is a lot of singing involved - - both the hosts and everyone eating. So...it wasn't a traditional Swedish sittning because we didn't exactly sing many songs in Swedish. However, ABBA is Swedish, and we did sing a few of their songs, along with Queen and Creedence Clearwater. The food was really different and very delicious. Three courses, first was a slice of traditional Swedish bread with some sort of cheese spread on top. Second was a very traditional meal of some sort of hot dog-like meat and pasta with ketchup. Sounds basic, but it's very good and the meat is different. The third was ice cream with a little wafer cookie in it. Ice cream seems to be a big thing here, too. There are so many little ice cream shops all over and always are busy.

Today (Saturday), I kind of hung low. Went out exploring to find my textbooks for the "Swedish for Beginners" course that starts Tuesday! I'm very excited for it! I really want to learn some Swedish because I always feel like everyone "has" to speak English. Most do now, but it will be nice to be able to maybe respond a little.

Now to be a little random, I don't know if I made this clear before, but trams are above ground trains. They run pretty much just in the center of Gothenburg, but they do reach out to the larger suburbs, like where I'm at. Very fast and convenient transportation.

Now a few more pieces of information. Chalmers just started this Bachelor's and Master's Programme where you can get both within 5 years. It's all very well planned out for whatever major you are interested in and it is very basic. There aren't a lot of extra classes like we have at the U, just all your tech classes that have to get done. I actually really like their setup here.

They also started the Master's Programme where every class is in English. That is why there are so many international students now attending Chalmers for 2 -3 years. Most that I've met here are in the master's programme. Also, most students start college when they are 20. They have 5 years in high school and then are encouraged to take a year off before college. So in my two classes, which are both in the master's programme, I have classmates that are mostly 23 years old or older. Kind of funny being that I am 20. I feel very young!

There is a girl I met in my project management class who is 24 and she has been very helpful. Her name is Janne and she's originally from Hamburg, Germany and has been living in Sweden for the last 10 years. She studied in Seattle for a year, which has made it fun when talking with her. She understands our way of life as well as the change she had to make when being abroad. Also has perfect English! She's a lot of fun and hopefully I'll be able to hang out with her more outside of class!

Well...I think I'm done for the evening. Sort of falling asleep as I'm writing! Probably should hit the sack, so til next time!

Pics

Ok...finally figured out the pics thing (with the help of a man named Chris Thorn), so now the links are on the left, mostly will be loading pics to Picassa pics, but might still add a few to the original flickr site. So...check both!

College life in Sweden....no different

Wow...many days have gone by and we have done so much within the last week! On the first Thursday of every study period (quarter), all of the pubs on campus have huge parties. CIRC was taking people on a Pub Crawl, however, we left a little late and new they were going to end at the Architecture building, so we went straight there. Not what I was expecting at all! We arrived to campus and there were so many people there! I thought it was just some small and quiet thing. Headed to the architecture building and there was music blasting and a long line to get in. Nik and I were fairly confused. Got in, and the whole place was turned into a club. At least 5 bars in the whole place, 1 upstairs, 4 downstairs. Truly insane and this is where I have class! Beers weren't too bad at 20kr per bottle. After a few beers and a few hours of dancing, had to head home because the last tram leaves at 12:10am on the weekdays.

Friday I had to get up early for my Project Management class for a 3 hour lecture. Very interesting class. A Swedish professor and already made a few Swedish friends in the class! Some very friendly girls and not as many international students as in my economic class. Went home and as Nik, Dane, and Brennan got home, they told me they were going to go to "After Work". Every Friday between 4 and 7, many pubs have this thing where you come in after work and eat for free. They have this huge buffet set up and I'm guessing that encourages you to buy drinks the time you're there.

Very good food at the pub we went to. Had all sorts of potato and pasta dishes, even some potato pancakes! We actually had to pay a "coat check" fee because apparently people were coming in, eating the food, and leaving without paying. Guess that's what we did, too, but we also paid a fee for coming in. A guy from Cal Poly who Dane, Brennan, and Nik sort of know was there also, and he said they were going to be watching a rugby match and then having a party at some flat in the area we live in. Got his number and would wait for the call to when they were starting.

Went home and started playing beirut/beer pong for a couple hours. After getting a little tipsy, walked 10 minutes over to the apartment. Aside for having to jump a fence to get in, we got in the elevator and before we knew it, we were stuck. A huge elevator that can only hold 5 people apparently where we had 9 people in it. After a couple of minutes, it started to get really hot and some french people who were in there with us called the help line and they told us it would be about a half hour. Half hour came and went, while everyone who couldn't take the elevator stood in the little window and took pics of us. Still no one came to save us! After 45 minutes of sweating and chatting, a man came and unlocked the door for us! So good to be free! However, now we had to walk up the 11 flights of stairs to get to the party!

Lots of international students, one from one of my classes. Met a lot of people from Spain, Italy, Portugal, and France. Got a couple numbers and talked about getting together the next night. After about an hour, went home and all passed out.

Saturday, we called the Italians and Spaniards and made a date to go hang out at Slottsskogsparken just a couple tram stops away. There is a zoo at the park where Nik, Brennan and I walked around and looked at the seals, penguins, deer, moose, birds, goats, and rams. It was definitely fun! Caught back up with the group of Spaniards, Italians, and French who were playing beach volleyball and joined the game. Talked about what the plans for the evening and most of the guys were going to watch the European World Cup where Italy and France were playing. Definitely some fighting I'm sure after the game!

Went back home and played some more beirut and called Eugenia and Sarah who are both Italian girls we met on Friday. Met up with them and headed out for the evening. Got to Avenyn and met up with a few other international people and decided to head to Göteborg Universitet where there is a club called Nefertiti. Got there right when they opened at 12am and drank some Hoegaarden on tap, and danced for at least 3 hours. So much fun! Great music and it changes every weekend, so would definitely be fun to go back! Came home with a few extra glasses (once again) and passed out.

Five hours later, got up to go to Liseberg with CIRC. Scandinavia's largest amusement park and best wooden roller coaster. Got the all day pass and hung out with CIRC members Pan Pan, Nancy, Jasmin, and Abdeel, Brennan, Nik, and a few other international students. Great fun! Lasted from 12 to about 7 and headed home (me soaking wet because we decided to go on a water ride as the last ride). Had to do some homework for the night and then off to bed.

Monday, woke up, went to Economics of Innovations, came home and slept for a little while. Headed to the grocery store and bought some food for dinner and here I am sitting. Well...that was pretty much the last week. Lots of drinking (too much maybe?), but hej, it is college, right?

Back to School...

Been a while since I last wrote....at least it feels like it. Hard to remember stuff that happened within the last week, let alone when I fail to write within a month! Hopefully that never happens! Anyways....I'll keep doing the day by day explanations until I really start going and seeing more places!

So...left off on Saturday. Right after writing the last post, my roommates and I ventured by tram to the pier southwest of Göteborg, Saltholmen. Very windy right on the shore of the Göta Älv and the Kattegatt Sea! Can also definitely tell that Göteborg is a summer city because of all the sailboats docked on the piers. It would be great to come here during the tourist season! Walked to the end of one dock and took some pics and hopped back on a tram to take us further up the coast.

We got off at one of the stops in the center of Göteborg. I was fascinated with how many people there were in the area! Huge shopping area with indoor/outdoor malls all over the many blocks, and of course there is Kungsportsavenyen (Avenyn for short) where there is all sorts of stuff to do. Our aim for the day was to just wander, but to also look for areas to party the night away!

Walked more along the shore where we found huge ships that are docked on the shore and are turned into hotels. Some looked a little bit fancier and pricier than others, but would be a fun time I'm sure! Walked along some beautiful trails that go through little park areas along the canal and also walked around Göteborg Universitet. Gorgeous campus and gorgeous city in general!

Later that night, Nik, Dane and I went out and found a couple interesting places that are now on our "We tried it, now NEXT" list. For some reason, you have to be 25 to get into certain bars here. For example, Hard Rock Cafe wouldn't let us in, which we for sure thought would be definite. After that, we kind of just asked to see what ages were and came up to the Dubliner. Dane said "22", they said you needed to be 23 to get in. I sort of sucked up to him and we got in. Not the best place to start I don't think. Lots of old people, definitely not the crowd we were looking for. However, after paying a cover charge, you almost have to stay for at least one drink and then if you can't find another place to go, can always come back!

After one drink each, which are extremely expensive (0.6 L Carlsberg tap was $8), we headed over to the club/bar that we were going to go Friday night. Paid the cover charge of 60kr and headed in. Much to our surprise, was the total opposite of Dubliner. Was a gay bar and pretty much a high school dance with a lot of alcohol involved. Each got another drink and hung out a little bit. This time got a Captain Coke which was about $15. Not good deals here at all! Stick to beer if anything! There were 2 stories in this place, where downstairs is the dance floor, upstairs there are tables and chairs. Bars on both floors. Hung out a bit downstairs, then decided to get out of there.

Headed home and to bed. Not what we were expecting for our second night out, but definitely was an experience we will never forget! Next couple of days came and went. Nothing really happened, just explored Chalmers and the area a little bit more.

Classes started on Tuesday and Monday there were a lot of seminars explaining the Masters program that they just started. They have a guarantee and a schedule set up where you can get your Bachelors and Masters in 5 years. It's actually very planned out and really convenient!

I started my first class on Wednesday. Taking Economics of Innovation, which is part of the Masters program. American professor from Texas, but has been living in Sweden for the last 15 years. Really nice to hear an American accent, especially since you hardly have an American professor at the U and that's in the US! Sounds like an interesting class that will focus on global economics more than just local. Almost half the kids in the class are from Sweden, the other half from many different countries. I remember there were people from Italy, France, Colombia, Pakistan and India. I'm sure there were more countries in there!

Bought 2 books for the class and there are no differences in prices, one book being $70 another being $40. Oh well! Used to it anyways! Already have some homework to do, so I better get started... ;-)

All Set to Go!

Already Saturday, so let me backtrack a little bit here. Wednesday: Pub Quiz! Absolutely neat! I don't know if they have this kind of thing in the US, but they do this every Wednesday night at the campus pub, John L's. Always in Swedish except for this Wednesday for the international students. Put on teams of 4, answer random questions in categories of science, addresses, movie quotes, and a few more and whoever got the most right won a prize.

Aside from that little game, we got to the pub around 5pm (quiz started at 7pm) and ordered .5L beers in huge glasses! Each started with Hoegaarden, then eventually got pitchers of Carlsberg and Falcon later on! If you know me, I don't drink beer, however, I really liked this beer a lot! Might be a change with tastes!

While at the pub, met a few more CIRC members, Jasmin, Pan Pan, and Guillermo who were so helpful in answering questions and just giving us information on things to do around Gothenburg.

By the end of the night, we came home with a few extra glasses. Couldn't steal the huge labeled ones, but we did grab a few 0.4L and 0.6L glasses with Falcon on them! Need to start adding to our collection!

Thursday came and went and all we had to do was go to a meeting with Panne to figure out our classes. Didn't resolve anything with my schedule, however, went home after the meeting and found some classes that could possibly be approved for tech electives at Minnesota. We'll see, but I now have a schedule which is so simple compared to what I'm used to!

The set up here is in a quarter system, so 2 quarters or periods in a semester. Each quarter, you take about 15 hec's, which is also about 2 classes and is considered full time. Schedule aren't nearly as packed and crazy as it is at Minnesota, so this will definitely be a nice change!

Friday got up and went to Chalmers to get our student id's, e-mail, password/username for the computers, and information about the student union. Every student at Chalmers is required to pay a fee to be a part of the student union. If you don't pay that fee, it effects your classes and won't be able to take the exams at the end of the quarter.

After an orientation later in the afternoon with information about organizations on campus to help us and other random stuff, we set out for the evening! Went home and changed, ate dinner and a few pre-party drinks, we set out for what we thought was going to be a fantastic evening with bar hopping!

Got to the main part of the city and wandered around, with finding only a few really popular pubs. Almost went into one, but we had to pay a cover charge of 100kr and no one seemed to want to do that. We think that if you get in before 11pm, you don't have to pay any charges to actually get in, so that will be the intention for Saturday night. Ended up getting home around 12 and headed off to bed.

Last weekend before school starts! Should be interesting on what Saturday night holds for us! I will definitely be putting up more pics once activities start to happen!