Well...it's now been a full week since I have been back in the United States. Many things are still really strange, but I'm getting adjusted. Was actually a larger culture shock than I thought it would be. Went back to Madison last Sunday for some doctor appointments and to see family. Was nice to be around people as well. Started driving right away and I notice how much money it takes to drive! I'm not looking forward to that again at all! Was nice to have the 4 months off. Came back to Minneapolis Wednesday and continued to work on my room and get it in order and just to rest and get adjusted to life again.
I miss Sweden a lot, in particular, I miss the people. I think if I would have stayed it wouldn't have been the same, but I still want to go back. Once school starts, I'm sure I won't have that feeling as much, but I really miss it. Sweden is so different from the United States and that was what I liked about living there. I don't know how to explain it any more than this, but I just miss it. Like my dad says, I should remember all of the amazing people and the amazing time and experience I had instead of dreading the time away. I just need to make sure I keep in contact with all of these great people I have met! Was honestly the best time of my life so far and I will never forget it! Life goes on, so here goes....
Thanks all for reading and I'll get the pictures updated as well! Will let you know if and when I go back! Hope to soon!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
My last days...:-(
The day my parents left, I did a lot of cleaning. I packed up all of my stuff in my room and moved down to Brennan's room. Cleaned the whole upstairs and the stairs so I wouldn't have to worry about it later. That took up most of the day. Come night, Juan called me and asked me to go over to his place for dinner - - he was cooking! Said yes, and it was really nice to have someone around in Frolunda! Wednesday, I did a lot more cleaning and working on picking up the place and then later that night as well, Konstantine came back from Germany and I went over to Juan's again for dinner and hanging out. Juan was working at Chalmers for the last few days because he has his thesis he has to write this coming semester. Will be tough work for him! Thursday, I went out with Janne to a cafe and then went to see Guldkompassen (The Golden Compass). It was my birthday present from Belma and Janne - a movie and night out...just girls! After the movie, Janne and I said our goodbyes and I went to Belma's work to wait until she was done. We went to Burger King and caught up on each other's lives. Was so good to see both of them after so long! After Belma, went to Juan's new place (closer to campus) and said good-bye to him as well! Such a sad evening and then I went back to my clean place to bed to get up early the next morning.
Got up around 5am to finish packing and return all the keys to the housing office and to get to Central Station to catch the bus to the airport. Got plenty early and spent the rest of my Swedish Kronas. After almost missing my connecting flight in Amsterdam (had to literally run through the airport), I made it to Minneapolis about 10 hours later. Good to be home, but was definitely weird. My mom was waiting for me and she was up in Minneapolis since Thursday, so my room was pretty much in shape! Just had to put more in order and go through many things to get rid of. Can say I'm glad to be back, but not really at this point.
Got up around 5am to finish packing and return all the keys to the housing office and to get to Central Station to catch the bus to the airport. Got plenty early and spent the rest of my Swedish Kronas. After almost missing my connecting flight in Amsterdam (had to literally run through the airport), I made it to Minneapolis about 10 hours later. Good to be home, but was definitely weird. My mom was waiting for me and she was up in Minneapolis since Thursday, so my room was pretty much in shape! Just had to put more in order and go through many things to get rid of. Can say I'm glad to be back, but not really at this point.
Last few days with parents
The last few days with my parents were nice and relaxing. We did a lot of walking around and I showed them more of the city. Especially walked down Avenyn and walked to the Opera house and along the water. The last days they were here, were really rainy and not good, but then the 7th, it wasn't sunny, but at least it wasn't raining! I made them dinner both nights so I wouldn't have too much food leftover and it was really nice to just hang out for those couple days. They left around 4am from my place to the airport and I got up just to say good-bye and then they were gone. Made it safely home as well!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Family trip!
Well, being lazy and having a lot to do before I leave (tomorrow already :-\), I am going to continue from my last post with just bulletting what we did throughout our trip....giving you the most interesting stuff of course!
Wednesday, December 26th: Picked up my parents and my brother from the airport! Was really exciting to see them all and as I was waiting, it seemed like it took them a while to come out, so the first thought through my head was that their bags were lost. Sure enough, turns out 1 out of the 4 bags were lost somewhere! To make it worse, the airlines didn't even know where they were! Went back to my place where Lilit was waiting and hung out and ate lunch for a bit. Around 2:30pm, we took Lilit to the train station where she caught the bus back to the airport and my parents, brother, and I walked around downtown and Nordstan. Made our way towards Chalmers and I showed them around campus, couldn't get in any buildings except for the union, but I think they got the idea of where I had spent my time for the last 4 months. Found the pizza place Belma took me to and ate dinner. Went back to my apartment and my mom called about the bags. Turns out they really didn't know where they were and mentioned that they could get them on Thursday mornings flight, if they were found. Was so frustrating! Figured out that we'd have to get up and run to Frolunda Torg to find some clothes and toiletries at least until the bags would catch up to us. That was also the hard part, since we were leaving to start the Scandinavia tour the next afternoon, so who knows what part of that trip they'd return. Went to bed in hopes that the bags would be on the morning flight!
Thursday, December 27th: Woke up a little later and were planning to head to a couple stores to get some necessities to hold my parents and bro over til their bags would catch up to us, but called the airport and the bags were in Brussels and were planning to get to Gothenburg on the morning flight, so they should be to us before noon. Good because we had an early afternoon train to catch! Packed up the bags and headed to central station. Got on the train to Copenhagen and arrived later in the evening. Arrived at the CabInn where we were literally in a ship cabin (see pics). Asked the front desk where a good place to eat would be and he pointed us in the direction of a Greek restaurant. After some lamb, pork, and beef, we headed to Hard Rock Cafe to pick up some souvenirs (key chain and pin) and each had a beer. They have a Julöl for pretty much every manufacturer of beer (Carlsberg, Falcon, Tudor) and I had that....most of them all seemed to be darker beers, but different. Stopped at a convenience store on the way back and got some ice cream and headed back to try to survive in our tiny room....with 4 people.
Friday, December 28th: Woke up, ate breakfast at the Inn and went out to find the Little Mermaid! Not quite the Disney story, a little more depressing, but was fun to see. Found the Carlsberg plant and quickly walked through the museum and had our 2 free beers and got a couple souvenirs and then raced to get a taxi and back to our Inn to get our bags then to the train to go to the airport. Got to the gate with more time than we thought we had and a couple hours later, arrived in Oslo. Was the same hostel as I had been at earlier with Eugenia, so I knew just where we needed to go. Led the family there and after getting to the room, went out to do some quick shopping before all the stores closed. Had hot dogs for dinner in a large shopping mall and made our way to Vigelundsparken. Not what it was like before, being dark and dreary and foggy (see pics), but was still pretty neat. After about an hour at the park, went back to the hostel, had some drinks, then to bed.
Saturday, December 29th: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD! The previous night we bought some breakfast at ICA (grocery store) across the street from the hostel. Easy breakfast being way before 7am. The start of the fjord tours! Compared to the first time in October, the scenery was crazily different. Beautiful both times, but so different! To get more details from the whole trip, you can look at the descriptions from my previous trip. Caught the train to Myrdal, where we caught the Flåmsbana. Rode the Flåmsbana to Flåm where we checked out the souvenir shops. After an hour wait, boarded the boat to Gudvangen. After drastic differences and gorgeous scenery, we beat most of the darkness, but it still was dark by the time we got to Gudvangen. Immediately got on a bus to Voss and had dinner in Voss. Billy and my dad went to walk around Voss for a little bit, since we had a bit of time. Got on the train to Bergen and all passed out for the hour ride. Same hostel as the first time as well, so led the fam straight there. Was funny because we were in the exact same room Eugenia and I had been in before! Rode the funicular up the smaller hill and saw better scenery...at least it was clear, but cold as can be! Took some pics then back down to walk along the wharf and see Bryggen. Played cards and eventually headed to bed. An exhausting day once again!
Sunday, December 30th: Bought muffins from 7-Eleven the night before and got up early to eat them. Had a bus to catch to get the airport, where we hoped there would be some last minute souvenirs. Turns out we were out of luck, but boarded the plane to Stockholm, where we would go to Gällivare, a tiny town about 100 kilometers north of the arctic circle "line". Taxi to our hostel, which was not what we were thinking, but it was cute enough. Little cabins, where the common areas are shared with 3 other bedrooms. Went out to hunt out some food, but nothing was open! Think everything closing early in busy cities is crazy, go to a smaller town where nothing is open! Found an O'Leary's Irish pub, got beer, nachos and watched some NFL. After seeing that the Packers won, we walked home and went to bed.
Monday, December 31st: Woke up around 8, but it was still pitch black out! Got ready and out around 10, still pretty dark out, but getting lighter. Walked the whole town to find some breakfast, but couldn't find anything open. Guess New Year's causes everything to shut down! Around 11am, went to ICA and bought some pancake mix and other stuff. Came out of the store around 12pm and the street lights were already on! Went back and Billy and my mom made pancakes, then we played cards. Check out my pics and my times on it because it is crazy how early it got dark! Around 5pm, went out looking for some food to eat. Found the one and only pizza place open. Walked back and watched fireworks across the river as we walked. Big thing in Scandinavia as well - - lots of fireworks during Christmas and New Year's. Played more cards and then everyone, except Billy went to bed...before midnight too! Billy stayed up to watch the fireworks, and my dad got up to watch them as well. No northern lights, which was sad, but the locals say that it's not cold enough, so I bet they know what they're talking about!
Tuesday, January 1st: HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Had the leftover pancakes/bacon from the afternoon before. Waited til 10 when our dog sledge lady would pick us up! She had the dogs and the sled in the back of her truck. Was an amazing experience and very different from the one I went on in Finland. Lots more snow and she was training her Siberian huskies to race, so they were so fast! Even for 4 people riding! 11 dogs pulled us and we each got a chance to ride standing us near the trainer. Was so crazy standing up, and my mom even gave us a laugh when she fell off as we started to go! I was pushed in the snow by the dogs, we stopped to have some cookies and tea or hot chocolate, and even though we were freezing cold, we had a fabulous time! After the ride, we had to hurry to get to the airport, the smallest airport ever, where our plane was still waiting for us...freezing cold inside included! On the way to the airport, we told our taxi driver what we missed, including reindeer and the northern lights. She quickly called someone and she took us to see some dead reindeer. Apparently the Sami people put them there to scare off the other reindeer from getting hit by cars. Sort of strange, but was neat to see. Hopped on our cold plane to Stockholm and caught the second half of the Badger game at O'Leary's Pub in the train station. Trained to the hostel, unpacked and made our way to Gamla Stan (Old Stockholm). Found O'Connell's pub for dinner then went to bed. You'd think we were Irish because we go to all these pubs, but really, they seem to be the only thing open everywhere! Good to be Irish I guess! ;-)
Wednesday, January 2nd: Breakfast at the hostel and did some laundry. Out to Gamla Stan and my parents and bro went to the Nobel Museum while I sat around a cafe. Saw the changing of the guard and even though wasn't as big of a production as what I saw in September, was still pretty cool. Headed to Skansen, a huge outdoor museum and got to do a little shopping there as well! Went to a glass-blowing place where they do all their own glass-blowing and bought a few beautiful things! Headed back to Gamla Stan and went to some stores for lots of last minute souvenirs! Went to the same cafe for dessert, Billy - amazing carrot cake, the rest a raspberry pie...so good! Will miss that! Drinks, cards and bed.
Thursday, January 3rd: Breakfast and walked out to find snow! All went to the airport where Billy was off to the United States for 12 hours, then back on a plane to go to Hong Kong. My parents and I were off to Helsinki. Got to Helsinki and found the hotel (close to where my hostel was that I stayed at in December) and checked in. Took the 3T tram around the city, which is a "self tour" to see outside the city center. Went to Stockmann's to buy some souvenirs and walked by Senate Square. Was so cold out, but absolutely beautiful. Got back to the hotel, found a movie on TV and then headed to bed. Billy wasn't in Hong Kong yet because of many complications with flights and scheduling, but he eventually made it there safely.
Friday, January 4th: Breakfast in the hotel and off to Tallinn, Estonia for the day. After a hour and a half ferry ride, got to Tallinn and it was so beautiful! The sun was out and the city has so much Russian influence, that it felt like we weren't in Europe anymore. Bought lots of souvenirs including some juniper wood items that are very popular and famous for Estonia. We hit up the Occupations museum before leaving and it was very interesting. We never knew how much Estonia played a part in World War II, but they were hugely effected by the German and the Russian invasions. Back to the hotel late in the evening and watched a movie. Nice and relaxing and then bed.
Saturday, January 5th: Flight early in the morning from Helsinki to Stockholm, then Stockholm to Mälmo. Bödil Jonsson picked us up at the airport! Bödil is a lady that studied at UW-Madison 40 years before and my mom's family was her American family in Madison. Although my mom didn't remember her that much, she sure remembered my mom! She drove us around Lund, just north of Mälmo and then we went back to her place to eat lunch. A delicious lunch indeed! She made this reindeer/wild mushroom casserole, boiled potatoes, lingonberry jam and salad and for dessert, a saffron almond cake. Was all so delicious! We didn't know which time our train for Gothenburg would leave, so we made our way to her office in the University. She studied entomology in Madison and we think she is an entomologist, but we aren't positive. The weather was starting to act weird and we went back to her place to wait a bit for our train. Around 4:45, we went out and everything was ice. Got to the train station and half of the power was out. A lot of trains were delayed, but ours came just a bit late and we said good-bye. Was so fun to meet her and I hope to make it back to Sweden and get to see her again! Got back to Gothenburg and were all so pooped, we headed to bed fairly early. A great trip, but was glad to quit running around!
Wednesday, December 26th: Picked up my parents and my brother from the airport! Was really exciting to see them all and as I was waiting, it seemed like it took them a while to come out, so the first thought through my head was that their bags were lost. Sure enough, turns out 1 out of the 4 bags were lost somewhere! To make it worse, the airlines didn't even know where they were! Went back to my place where Lilit was waiting and hung out and ate lunch for a bit. Around 2:30pm, we took Lilit to the train station where she caught the bus back to the airport and my parents, brother, and I walked around downtown and Nordstan. Made our way towards Chalmers and I showed them around campus, couldn't get in any buildings except for the union, but I think they got the idea of where I had spent my time for the last 4 months. Found the pizza place Belma took me to and ate dinner. Went back to my apartment and my mom called about the bags. Turns out they really didn't know where they were and mentioned that they could get them on Thursday mornings flight, if they were found. Was so frustrating! Figured out that we'd have to get up and run to Frolunda Torg to find some clothes and toiletries at least until the bags would catch up to us. That was also the hard part, since we were leaving to start the Scandinavia tour the next afternoon, so who knows what part of that trip they'd return. Went to bed in hopes that the bags would be on the morning flight!
Thursday, December 27th: Woke up a little later and were planning to head to a couple stores to get some necessities to hold my parents and bro over til their bags would catch up to us, but called the airport and the bags were in Brussels and were planning to get to Gothenburg on the morning flight, so they should be to us before noon. Good because we had an early afternoon train to catch! Packed up the bags and headed to central station. Got on the train to Copenhagen and arrived later in the evening. Arrived at the CabInn where we were literally in a ship cabin (see pics). Asked the front desk where a good place to eat would be and he pointed us in the direction of a Greek restaurant. After some lamb, pork, and beef, we headed to Hard Rock Cafe to pick up some souvenirs (key chain and pin) and each had a beer. They have a Julöl for pretty much every manufacturer of beer (Carlsberg, Falcon, Tudor) and I had that....most of them all seemed to be darker beers, but different. Stopped at a convenience store on the way back and got some ice cream and headed back to try to survive in our tiny room....with 4 people.
Friday, December 28th: Woke up, ate breakfast at the Inn and went out to find the Little Mermaid! Not quite the Disney story, a little more depressing, but was fun to see. Found the Carlsberg plant and quickly walked through the museum and had our 2 free beers and got a couple souvenirs and then raced to get a taxi and back to our Inn to get our bags then to the train to go to the airport. Got to the gate with more time than we thought we had and a couple hours later, arrived in Oslo. Was the same hostel as I had been at earlier with Eugenia, so I knew just where we needed to go. Led the family there and after getting to the room, went out to do some quick shopping before all the stores closed. Had hot dogs for dinner in a large shopping mall and made our way to Vigelundsparken. Not what it was like before, being dark and dreary and foggy (see pics), but was still pretty neat. After about an hour at the park, went back to the hostel, had some drinks, then to bed.
Saturday, December 29th: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD! The previous night we bought some breakfast at ICA (grocery store) across the street from the hostel. Easy breakfast being way before 7am. The start of the fjord tours! Compared to the first time in October, the scenery was crazily different. Beautiful both times, but so different! To get more details from the whole trip, you can look at the descriptions from my previous trip. Caught the train to Myrdal, where we caught the Flåmsbana. Rode the Flåmsbana to Flåm where we checked out the souvenir shops. After an hour wait, boarded the boat to Gudvangen. After drastic differences and gorgeous scenery, we beat most of the darkness, but it still was dark by the time we got to Gudvangen. Immediately got on a bus to Voss and had dinner in Voss. Billy and my dad went to walk around Voss for a little bit, since we had a bit of time. Got on the train to Bergen and all passed out for the hour ride. Same hostel as the first time as well, so led the fam straight there. Was funny because we were in the exact same room Eugenia and I had been in before! Rode the funicular up the smaller hill and saw better scenery...at least it was clear, but cold as can be! Took some pics then back down to walk along the wharf and see Bryggen. Played cards and eventually headed to bed. An exhausting day once again!
Sunday, December 30th: Bought muffins from 7-Eleven the night before and got up early to eat them. Had a bus to catch to get the airport, where we hoped there would be some last minute souvenirs. Turns out we were out of luck, but boarded the plane to Stockholm, where we would go to Gällivare, a tiny town about 100 kilometers north of the arctic circle "line". Taxi to our hostel, which was not what we were thinking, but it was cute enough. Little cabins, where the common areas are shared with 3 other bedrooms. Went out to hunt out some food, but nothing was open! Think everything closing early in busy cities is crazy, go to a smaller town where nothing is open! Found an O'Leary's Irish pub, got beer, nachos and watched some NFL. After seeing that the Packers won, we walked home and went to bed.
Monday, December 31st: Woke up around 8, but it was still pitch black out! Got ready and out around 10, still pretty dark out, but getting lighter. Walked the whole town to find some breakfast, but couldn't find anything open. Guess New Year's causes everything to shut down! Around 11am, went to ICA and bought some pancake mix and other stuff. Came out of the store around 12pm and the street lights were already on! Went back and Billy and my mom made pancakes, then we played cards. Check out my pics and my times on it because it is crazy how early it got dark! Around 5pm, went out looking for some food to eat. Found the one and only pizza place open. Walked back and watched fireworks across the river as we walked. Big thing in Scandinavia as well - - lots of fireworks during Christmas and New Year's. Played more cards and then everyone, except Billy went to bed...before midnight too! Billy stayed up to watch the fireworks, and my dad got up to watch them as well. No northern lights, which was sad, but the locals say that it's not cold enough, so I bet they know what they're talking about!
Tuesday, January 1st: HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Had the leftover pancakes/bacon from the afternoon before. Waited til 10 when our dog sledge lady would pick us up! She had the dogs and the sled in the back of her truck. Was an amazing experience and very different from the one I went on in Finland. Lots more snow and she was training her Siberian huskies to race, so they were so fast! Even for 4 people riding! 11 dogs pulled us and we each got a chance to ride standing us near the trainer. Was so crazy standing up, and my mom even gave us a laugh when she fell off as we started to go! I was pushed in the snow by the dogs, we stopped to have some cookies and tea or hot chocolate, and even though we were freezing cold, we had a fabulous time! After the ride, we had to hurry to get to the airport, the smallest airport ever, where our plane was still waiting for us...freezing cold inside included! On the way to the airport, we told our taxi driver what we missed, including reindeer and the northern lights. She quickly called someone and she took us to see some dead reindeer. Apparently the Sami people put them there to scare off the other reindeer from getting hit by cars. Sort of strange, but was neat to see. Hopped on our cold plane to Stockholm and caught the second half of the Badger game at O'Leary's Pub in the train station. Trained to the hostel, unpacked and made our way to Gamla Stan (Old Stockholm). Found O'Connell's pub for dinner then went to bed. You'd think we were Irish because we go to all these pubs, but really, they seem to be the only thing open everywhere! Good to be Irish I guess! ;-)
Wednesday, January 2nd: Breakfast at the hostel and did some laundry. Out to Gamla Stan and my parents and bro went to the Nobel Museum while I sat around a cafe. Saw the changing of the guard and even though wasn't as big of a production as what I saw in September, was still pretty cool. Headed to Skansen, a huge outdoor museum and got to do a little shopping there as well! Went to a glass-blowing place where they do all their own glass-blowing and bought a few beautiful things! Headed back to Gamla Stan and went to some stores for lots of last minute souvenirs! Went to the same cafe for dessert, Billy - amazing carrot cake, the rest a raspberry pie...so good! Will miss that! Drinks, cards and bed.
Thursday, January 3rd: Breakfast and walked out to find snow! All went to the airport where Billy was off to the United States for 12 hours, then back on a plane to go to Hong Kong. My parents and I were off to Helsinki. Got to Helsinki and found the hotel (close to where my hostel was that I stayed at in December) and checked in. Took the 3T tram around the city, which is a "self tour" to see outside the city center. Went to Stockmann's to buy some souvenirs and walked by Senate Square. Was so cold out, but absolutely beautiful. Got back to the hotel, found a movie on TV and then headed to bed. Billy wasn't in Hong Kong yet because of many complications with flights and scheduling, but he eventually made it there safely.
Friday, January 4th: Breakfast in the hotel and off to Tallinn, Estonia for the day. After a hour and a half ferry ride, got to Tallinn and it was so beautiful! The sun was out and the city has so much Russian influence, that it felt like we weren't in Europe anymore. Bought lots of souvenirs including some juniper wood items that are very popular and famous for Estonia. We hit up the Occupations museum before leaving and it was very interesting. We never knew how much Estonia played a part in World War II, but they were hugely effected by the German and the Russian invasions. Back to the hotel late in the evening and watched a movie. Nice and relaxing and then bed.
Saturday, January 5th: Flight early in the morning from Helsinki to Stockholm, then Stockholm to Mälmo. Bödil Jonsson picked us up at the airport! Bödil is a lady that studied at UW-Madison 40 years before and my mom's family was her American family in Madison. Although my mom didn't remember her that much, she sure remembered my mom! She drove us around Lund, just north of Mälmo and then we went back to her place to eat lunch. A delicious lunch indeed! She made this reindeer/wild mushroom casserole, boiled potatoes, lingonberry jam and salad and for dessert, a saffron almond cake. Was all so delicious! We didn't know which time our train for Gothenburg would leave, so we made our way to her office in the University. She studied entomology in Madison and we think she is an entomologist, but we aren't positive. The weather was starting to act weird and we went back to her place to wait a bit for our train. Around 4:45, we went out and everything was ice. Got to the train station and half of the power was out. A lot of trains were delayed, but ours came just a bit late and we said good-bye. Was so fun to meet her and I hope to make it back to Sweden and get to see her again! Got back to Gothenburg and were all so pooped, we headed to bed fairly early. A great trip, but was glad to quit running around!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Lists of lots of stuff...
Sorry all, but I have been so busy since I last wrote (a long time ago), so I'm going to make some lists of what's been going on before I left for my trip with my family! Here goes....
Monday, December 17th: So I had my construction contract relationships exam, which went pretty well I think. Aimed for passing, and as of today, don't know the final grade. After the exam, Belma and I ate lunch and a pizza place near campus. Definitely recommend kebab pizza if you ever get the chance to try! So good!
Tuesday, December 18th: This was Sarah's last full day and I caught up with her on Haga, one of the old streets in Gothenburg with cute little shops. We ended up going to the fish market in downtown Gothenburg for lunch. This was also Laurent/Ketchup/Frenchy's last day so there was a party for lots of exchange students at an apartment not too far from Frolunda, just about 5 tram stops to Marklandsgatan.
Wednesday, December 19th: Woke up and helped Sarah finish up packing. Took her as far as Chalmers then I had to get off to work on a group project due Friday of that week and she continued to Central Station. Hung out at Casey and Juan's for the evening.
Thursday, December 20th: Worked on the project all day on campus. Eventually ended around 7:00pm and went to Casey's for dinner...that he made for all of us! Was delicious! Then all went to Valand nightclub for the evening. Sort of was a goodbye party to all international students, so had to go. Wasn't that much fun because it was so busy, but was nice to hang out with more people for the night.
Friday, December 21st: This was a great day! Lilit (from Munich) came to visit me! We had been talking about it for a while and it finally came through and it was so nice! She stayed with me til the 26th, so was great to have someone over Christmas! After she arrived, we went straight to Juan and Casey's for lunch. Juan made us Spanish omelets and it was his last day, so we said good-bye to him as well. Hung out at my place for the evening - - was the last night for Brennan, Dane, and Casey.
Saturday, December 22nd: Went out shopping with Lilit after saying goodbye to Brennan and Dane. Eventually decided to see a movie, never had been to a Swedish theater yet, and we settled on American Gangster. Was really good actually and all English with Swedish subtitles.
Sunday, December 23rd: Laundry and said goodbye to Eugenia in the morning. More shopping and more purchases....Later called the Anderson family in Milwaukee who were celebrating an early Christmas! Was great to talk to everyone and found out my cousin Forrest and his wife Tracy are expecting their second child! Was very exciting and I am extremely happy for them!
Monday, December 24th: Lilit and I eventually ventured out to an island in Gothenburg's archipelago. Was really beautiful even though it was really windy and really cold. At least no rain I suppose! Called my parents and my dad said he would treat us to dinner, so we decided to go back to the mainland and hunt down food. However, nothing was open. After making many stops, at an Irish pub as well, but they just served alcohol, we found Gothia Towers hotel where we could get a bit of food from their bar menu. Was really neat because we were at the 23rd floor of the hotel, so we could see all of Gothenburg! Later, I called home/Madison to wish my family a Merry Christmas and talk with everyone....was really nice to hear everyone's voice!
Tuesday, December 25th: This was quite a laid back day - probably not one Lilit wanted, but I wasn't feeling too well, so we hung out at my place for the day. I cleaned a bit before my parents were to arrive. (They left the states on the 25th in the morning, got to Gothenburg on the 26th.)
This is where I will stop for this bit of activity. The next time I will post (hopefully tomorrow) I will include the whole trip and the rest of my time here! I have 3 full days to go and my parents leave tomorrow (January 8th) morning very early!
Monday, December 17th: So I had my construction contract relationships exam, which went pretty well I think. Aimed for passing, and as of today, don't know the final grade. After the exam, Belma and I ate lunch and a pizza place near campus. Definitely recommend kebab pizza if you ever get the chance to try! So good!
Tuesday, December 18th: This was Sarah's last full day and I caught up with her on Haga, one of the old streets in Gothenburg with cute little shops. We ended up going to the fish market in downtown Gothenburg for lunch. This was also Laurent/Ketchup/Frenchy's last day so there was a party for lots of exchange students at an apartment not too far from Frolunda, just about 5 tram stops to Marklandsgatan.
Wednesday, December 19th: Woke up and helped Sarah finish up packing. Took her as far as Chalmers then I had to get off to work on a group project due Friday of that week and she continued to Central Station. Hung out at Casey and Juan's for the evening.
Thursday, December 20th: Worked on the project all day on campus. Eventually ended around 7:00pm and went to Casey's for dinner...that he made for all of us! Was delicious! Then all went to Valand nightclub for the evening. Sort of was a goodbye party to all international students, so had to go. Wasn't that much fun because it was so busy, but was nice to hang out with more people for the night.
Friday, December 21st: This was a great day! Lilit (from Munich) came to visit me! We had been talking about it for a while and it finally came through and it was so nice! She stayed with me til the 26th, so was great to have someone over Christmas! After she arrived, we went straight to Juan and Casey's for lunch. Juan made us Spanish omelets and it was his last day, so we said good-bye to him as well. Hung out at my place for the evening - - was the last night for Brennan, Dane, and Casey.
Saturday, December 22nd: Went out shopping with Lilit after saying goodbye to Brennan and Dane. Eventually decided to see a movie, never had been to a Swedish theater yet, and we settled on American Gangster. Was really good actually and all English with Swedish subtitles.
Sunday, December 23rd: Laundry and said goodbye to Eugenia in the morning. More shopping and more purchases....Later called the Anderson family in Milwaukee who were celebrating an early Christmas! Was great to talk to everyone and found out my cousin Forrest and his wife Tracy are expecting their second child! Was very exciting and I am extremely happy for them!
Monday, December 24th: Lilit and I eventually ventured out to an island in Gothenburg's archipelago. Was really beautiful even though it was really windy and really cold. At least no rain I suppose! Called my parents and my dad said he would treat us to dinner, so we decided to go back to the mainland and hunt down food. However, nothing was open. After making many stops, at an Irish pub as well, but they just served alcohol, we found Gothia Towers hotel where we could get a bit of food from their bar menu. Was really neat because we were at the 23rd floor of the hotel, so we could see all of Gothenburg! Later, I called home/Madison to wish my family a Merry Christmas and talk with everyone....was really nice to hear everyone's voice!
Tuesday, December 25th: This was quite a laid back day - probably not one Lilit wanted, but I wasn't feeling too well, so we hung out at my place for the day. I cleaned a bit before my parents were to arrive. (They left the states on the 25th in the morning, got to Gothenburg on the 26th.)
This is where I will stop for this bit of activity. The next time I will post (hopefully tomorrow) I will include the whole trip and the rest of my time here! I have 3 full days to go and my parents leave tomorrow (January 8th) morning very early!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Coming to an end...
As my title says, this experience is quickly coming to an end. I just finished my last week of classes with 2 huge presentations yesterday (Thursday) and today (Friday), but still have one exam on Monday and a paper due by next Friday. This weekend will be lots of studying and then early next week will have to work on my paper.
Christmas is coming up fast and that means everyone I have met here, also goes home. Sarah is the first to leave on Wednesday, so it's going to be really weird. All of my roommates leave on Saturday the 22nd, so then everything will really sink in. However, Lilit may come around the 21st and then stay with me over Christmas, so I won't be totally alone! And then my parents and my brother will come on the 26th and then we're off on our own little trip around Scandinavia.
Christmas in Gothenburg is a huge celebration. It's so beautiful with all of the lights around the city and just this last Thursday, December 13th, there was the celebration of Santa Lucia (a saint known for her kindness and love). It is a pretty big deal in Sweden and as this site says: After lunch most schools close on Santa Lucia day around noon. It is a national holiday which comes on the 13th of December. There are also special foods for Lucia's Day like Lussekatter and spicy gingerbread biscuits. In big cities in Sweden there are beauty contests where some women dress up as Santa Lucia and the judges and the people vote for the Santa Lucia of the year. In schools people sing Santa Lucia's song. The words in Swedish and English are in the right-hand column.
Apparently there was some celebration in the Chalmers student union until 10am, but I was in class, so I didn't get to see it. There was a group of people walking through the halls of the building I was in with candles and white gowns and singing, which was neat to see. I also saw in Nordstan (the big shopping mall) posters up of girls competing for the most beautiful Santa Lucia. Don't know who won, but seems like it might be every little girls dream to become Santa Lucia (here in Sweden at least)!
Other than a lot of work these past couple weeks for all my projects, I haven't really done too much. Last weekend was a hard weekend of partying, but I had lots of fun. Won't get to see these people in a while, if ever again, so I've been trying to get out as much as possible.
This weekend I won't be going out, which I'm not happy about, but I really have to study for this exam. But after the exam I'm ready to hang out as much as possible with the people still here.
On Thursday's, a club called Valand has a student night and next Thursday (20th) there will be many people going. Myself and my roommates included. It will sort of be a good-bye party to everyone and it's easier than having someone throw a party.
Sorry if these seems so gloomy, but I have had such an amazing time here, and to know it's almost over is really depressing. It ended up going so fast and I am excited to be going home, but only really to see people, not to get on with school or that part of my life.
Christmas is coming up fast and that means everyone I have met here, also goes home. Sarah is the first to leave on Wednesday, so it's going to be really weird. All of my roommates leave on Saturday the 22nd, so then everything will really sink in. However, Lilit may come around the 21st and then stay with me over Christmas, so I won't be totally alone! And then my parents and my brother will come on the 26th and then we're off on our own little trip around Scandinavia.
Christmas in Gothenburg is a huge celebration. It's so beautiful with all of the lights around the city and just this last Thursday, December 13th, there was the celebration of Santa Lucia (a saint known for her kindness and love). It is a pretty big deal in Sweden and as this site says: After lunch most schools close on Santa Lucia day around noon. It is a national holiday which comes on the 13th of December. There are also special foods for Lucia's Day like Lussekatter and spicy gingerbread biscuits. In big cities in Sweden there are beauty contests where some women dress up as Santa Lucia and the judges and the people vote for the Santa Lucia of the year. In schools people sing Santa Lucia's song. The words in Swedish and English are in the right-hand column.
Apparently there was some celebration in the Chalmers student union until 10am, but I was in class, so I didn't get to see it. There was a group of people walking through the halls of the building I was in with candles and white gowns and singing, which was neat to see. I also saw in Nordstan (the big shopping mall) posters up of girls competing for the most beautiful Santa Lucia. Don't know who won, but seems like it might be every little girls dream to become Santa Lucia (here in Sweden at least)!
Other than a lot of work these past couple weeks for all my projects, I haven't really done too much. Last weekend was a hard weekend of partying, but I had lots of fun. Won't get to see these people in a while, if ever again, so I've been trying to get out as much as possible.
This weekend I won't be going out, which I'm not happy about, but I really have to study for this exam. But after the exam I'm ready to hang out as much as possible with the people still here.
On Thursday's, a club called Valand has a student night and next Thursday (20th) there will be many people going. Myself and my roommates included. It will sort of be a good-bye party to everyone and it's easier than having someone throw a party.
Sorry if these seems so gloomy, but I have had such an amazing time here, and to know it's almost over is really depressing. It ended up going so fast and I am excited to be going home, but only really to see people, not to get on with school or that part of my life.
On a positive note, Joe Klockmann from Hamburg, Germany came to visit me! Even though I was really busy, I hope he enjoyed himself. Was hard to entertain when I was constantly working on projects, but we did get to do some stuff and he was able to go out exploring on his own. On Monday we went bowling at Frölunda SuperBowl, which was really fun.
Anywho....about time for me to start studying or go to bed to get up to study tomorrow morning. I hope everyone is doing well and I will be seeing you soon! Less than one month! (And for the family....I will be calling on Christmas, so most likely will talk to all of you within 2 weeks!)
I've updated my pics as well...added some to "more fun", "Göteborg" and some more to "Finland". (Hopefully you can find them if you really want to look...)
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Sunday, December 2nd, 2007: Kuopio-Gothenburg
Woke up and had a taxi waiting for us at 9:30am. Took it to the Savonia Hotelli for breakfast. Grabbed some lunch from breakfast and was out the door in hopes of walking to the central station still about 2km away. After about 20 minutes of walking in the sort of right direction, we asked for help and eventually found the station. I ran ahead of Eugenia because we had 5 minutes to catch the train before it left and thankfully I did because they were ready to leave. Seemed like forever for Eugenia to get there, but she did and we safely made it on, thanks to the conductors for keeping the train a little longer!
About 4 hours later, we arrived at a stop near the Helsinki airport and got a bus to the airport and soon were on a plane to Gothenburg. Got in around 6pm and back home by 7:30pm! Was once again, a splendid trip and Eugenia and I are excellent travel buddies for the second time!
About 4 hours later, we arrived at a stop near the Helsinki airport and got a bus to the airport and soon were on a plane to Gothenburg. Got in around 6pm and back home by 7:30pm! Was once again, a splendid trip and Eugenia and I are excellent travel buddies for the second time!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
