Study Abroad in Sweden

Tomorrow is a very big day for me! I will be making my first big trip. I have been sick just over a week now and I am hoping to get better over night. Anything is possible! I will be making this trip alone and along the way meet up with a couple of friends. I will be going back to Dublin, Ireland and then making my way up to Belfast, North Ireland. I will be flying to Glasgow, Scotland from there and also visiting Edinburgh while I am in the area. Then I will make it down to North Wales. I am not sure if I will be going to Bangor or Llandudno, but I have made reservations for Llandudno. Either way they are so close together it does not matter. Last I will go to Liverpool, England. Apparently Liverpool is a hot spot at the moment for Travel. I am only leaving myself a couple of days there before I will fly back to Stockholm.
I will rest whenever I can and study whenever the opportunity arises. I have an exam coming up soon, so it’s vital that I spend flights and train rides studying if my attention span allows. I am a bit fearful of how my body will respond to all of this physical stress. The last time I traveled for two weeks straight I spend the following week in the bed recuperating. It will be worth it though. I can sleep when I am dead.
It snowed several inches the past few days. It is so beautiful!! I will be happy to leave this weather for now though. When I get back maybe I will ski and I hope to go dog sledding as well. I hope everyone will keep me in their thoughts while I am gone. I will be as safe as I can be. I think the closest “near to death” experience I have had has been in the UK. I have a tendency to only check one side of the road instead of both, not to mention the psychotic drivers. Hopefully, I will quickly adapt to driving on the other side of the road. After all, it could save my life.

Things have gotten better since the last time I wrote. My family is doing as well as they can. I spoke with my brother and the driver that crashed into my uncle was under the influence of alcohol. This comes as no surprise to me as U.S. statistics claim approximately half of all automobile accidents involve alcohol with just below 40% of fatal crashes involving the same. It’s a shame….
Tuesday, Feb. 19th we all said good-bye to Markus Stahl. Markus is from Germany and we were both Erasmus students here in Sweden the fall of 2006. I was so happy to return to Sweden and to see his familiar face. We tried to make in an international dinner so everyone could bring a typical dish from home. It was certainly some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. I can’t pronounce what some of the things were, but they were all delicious I assure you.
My weekend was nice, but I feel a cold coming on. On Friday we all went to Normalm for a pre-party and then made our way into the city for some dancing. We went to the Stathuset; it was my first time there. The place has a large dance floor and a couple of bars. The music was up to date, thank goodness! Dance floors are referred to as discos in Sweden and I understand why. The American music is usually between 5-20 years behind. It always gives me a good laugh. They Swedish way of dancing is very free so to speak. I once witnessed a girl doing some ballerina moves. People tend to just do what they want and laugh at themselves while doing it…. or maybe it’s me laughing at them….. I am not the best dancer so perhaps that why I enjoy it!
The dancing yesterday (Saturday) was very fun and new for me. I went to a party at my friend Frida’s. Her roommate is from Nigeria and he had some family in visiting him. My friend Mattias taught me the Swedish boog. I was quite old-fashioned but I got to spin and twirl so I loved it! We finished up with some African dancing. Tony, the Nigerian, danced with a rhythm of 2 beats opposed to 1 that I do. It was very interesting to watch and he was very good. We also did a bit of Salsa, so the Salsa lessons I took a couple of years ago paid off a bit.
Today Tom, Kitty (both of Amsterdam, Netherlands), and I went to IKEA and shopping at Birsta City. I spent way too much money! I got a great pair of boots that I couldn’t be happier with and some other clothes. We had a typical Swedish lunch and I was very impressed. This evening I went to their place where Tom cooked Dinner for us. Then we watch King of Queens for a few hours. It’s one of my favorite series so I could probably watch it all day long. I am definitely tired after this week.

I woke up to some really bad news today. I received an email from my brother that my uncle Tim was killed in an automobile accident. As soon as I found out I tried to call home, but I was only able to reach my cousin Haley, his daughter. Everyone is managing okay except my Grandmother. She is at the hospital with her other son, John. John has been in intensive care for a few weeks now. He’s on a ventilator and also DNR. I feel so terrible for her mostly.
More than anything I wish I could be at home right now with my family. I really would love a hug from someone who loves me. I can’t be there so I would just like to be alone for the day. I want to think and cry and spend my precious time with God today. Tomorrow, Valentine’s Day, would have been his 49th birthday.

Today was a very relaxing day. I didn’t get anything accomplished which actually felt like an accomplishment in itself. I just returned home from having dinner and a movie night with some Swedish friends. I am not fond of Swedish food, but I sure do love Swedish meatballs! I also meet two men from Nigeria which wanted to discuss politics. This is not a problem for me, but I am usually particular with who I discuss my views with.
This weekend was filled with some good parties. On Friday we had a mask party and I absolutely love dressing up! I painted my face as a puppy. I looked adorable if I do say so myself. Although, by the end of the night I looked like I had been hit with a car! Lol I realize I touch my face a lot and others do as well. People are very creative and the ones that aren’t still make be laugh because of their lack of creativity. Either way it’s fun.
Last night (Saturday) we had a pre-Valentine’s party. We were also celebrating for some birthdays coming up soon. It was the first party in Tornvillian. A few students live there and it’s very spacious. Just around 1:00 some of us left to go dancing in the city. It was very cold and dark. We actually took a detour through a Cemetery which was a bit creepy. Thanks goodness I was walking between two boys because had it not been for them I would have fallen and really busted my butt on the ice…many times!!!!! To make a rather difficult and long story short, everything closes at 2 a.m. in the city. Our walk was about 40 minutes. We ended going place to place to find something to get into and settled for eating very late at Big Boy (like from Austin Powers). This was very tasty and none of us could stop laughing. It was a good time!.
Sundsvall has a professional basketball team so I am attending games every time they are in town. I also have rekindled relationships with friends I had in Sweden from 2006. I am attending Credo meetings on Wednesdays as well. Credo is a group of Christian students at the University. If there is one major difference between the U.S. and Sweden, Europe even, it is religion. It has been my experience that many people are agonistic or atheist. To each his own, but it makes me feel a million times better knowing that there are Christians here who I can share my same feelings with.

What a wonderful week! Two of my courses were dropped and I am hoping to know the replacements soon, but I have started two courses now which are Swedish and United Nations. The UN course will only meet 3 times which I think is fabulous. As of now I have one class remaining. It’s my responsibility to read the literature and my notes.
Last night we celebrated Doris (Germany) 22nd birthday. We began our night in Normalm (student housing) and then went to the Kårhuset which is the student house located in the city center. The Kårhuset used to be very popular but not as much now. It’s possible that people want to stay in and stay warm.
Today some of us went to Sidsjön (Side lake). We started off my hiking up the mountain in the snow. I was so excited to see a foot of snow! It was like a dream coming true for me! I have never seen over 7 inches. It made for a remarkable moment in my life. Then the real excitement came when we took a shortcut over the frozen lake. The lake is very large and very frozen, thank goodness. I was a bit apprehensive at first but we all made it. We had a barbeque which I loved. One day I saw some people outside of my window at the picnic table in the snow. I thought they were goofy. Now I am happy to have had that experience and from now on I will not judge anyone eating hotdogs in the snow when the temperature is about 20 or so.
Just by the lake there is a Ski slope. I was amazed to watch people, small children in particular. I have never skied, but I would like to. I might start off with langlaufing which is cross country skiing. Speaking of, I was in the track and a man almost ran me over! I could tell he would not have shown mercy if he had!
After the sun faded out of the sky we started heading back to the city. We went by bus and I was thankful for that. All of my limbs were frozen. It sure was an excellent day, but I would love to be at a Superbowl party tonight. Also, I would like to wish my brother Jeremy a Happy Birthday for tomorrow, the 4th.

I cannot believe I almost forgot how friendly Swedish folks are. I had 6 random people (yes, I counted) go out of their way to help me with my things getting on the train and off and on again…and so forth. For some reason I think I look helpless with 200 pounds of luggage.
After arriving in Sundsvall I was very surprised to only see a couple of inches of snow on the ground. I know Global Warming is an important issue, but I was happy to know I could manage as I was expecting a meter or so. Linus, my mentor, met me at the train station as promised. That is were I also met Cylvia, an exchange student from Spain.
I ended up staying with 2 Spanish girls last night as I did not have an apartment! Jenny from Stubo did not take notice to the email that I sent requesting a room. All the rooms in Nacksta were booked by the time I arrived. Things are good now. I am paying quite a bit more rent, but I have my own flat located in Förrådet. The location is wonderful. It’s only a 5 minute walk to the University. I was looking forward to living with other exchange students, but I will manage. After all, I lived alone during the summer and I loved it!
Today was an introduction meeting at the University where I met other exchange students. There are very many this year; the number is 60 +. My first time around was there were only 40 or so. It’s quite many names and faces to remember. Everyone I met seemed very friendly and polite! I am the only American which is a surprise to me. I certainly need to make a good impression for my country’s sake. I would love to have someone I can connect on that level with, but it in not necessary for my well being. I will go now. I have unpacking to do and then a party later where I hope to make some friends!

I live a happy, crazy, beautiful life! At this very moment I am sitting in Arlanda airport in Stockholm, Sweden. I am enjoying the pure pleasure of people watching while I wait for the train to take me back to “min hem” in Sundsvall. I am back in Sweden once again and I hope my time here will be just as good as the last.
I am a bit tired, but in a great mood really. I am very excited that my cell phone works! I’ve called home already to let Momma know that I made it safely. I was a bit unsettled leaving home this time around. I have been an emotional wreck for a few weeks now dreading all of my goodbyes. I had a really great year at home. The last few weeks were a tad bit stressful. I did a lot of packing, moving, repacking, and driving. I guess I can also add that the excitement was not as escalated as the first trip. Nevertheless, exchanging excitement for experience was well worth it. I have an inkling of where to go and what to do. Although I spend about 90% of my time abroad looking list a tourist minus the Hawaiian shirt and large camera. I am sure I look a bit dumbfounded. My mouth seems to be slightly open while looking up and around with a map or some other itinerary in my hand. I love every percent of it!