And we are back from Europe. It was a crazy end to the month, filled with baking, lab report writing, Nature Bus trips, barbecues, bike rides to the beach, and sunshine. I took the final exam for my second course the day before Tyler arrived and we started running around Europe, and somehow packing had to be done as well. It was crazy, but I passed my exam so all is good.
I didn't really get a chance to say goodbye to Sweden as I was leaving at 6:00, too early for much thinking, but I got a chance to come back at the end of our travels so that was nice. To see everything one more time. And it was sunny, too, which is even better.
Tyler and I hit a bunch of cities in our three and a half weeks:
London
Paris
Zermatt, Switzerland
Lucerne
Vernazza (Cinque Terre)
Pisa
Siena
Florence
Venice
Vienna
Budapest
Munich
Prague
Berlin
Copenhagen
It's a mouthful to say, and I'm glad we no longer have to repeat our stops to travellers and bunk-mates we meet in hostels.
Our top for favorite places were Zermatt (because of the gorgeous hiking and the Matterhorn), Venice, Vienna, and Munich. We got to watch a bunch of the EuroCup games and we were in Germany for the Turkey vs. Croatia match (Munich) and Germany vs. Turkey match (Berlin). It was so much fun both times. Too bad Germany lost today, and we didn't get to watch the game. It would have been insane to be in Germany if Germany had won the EuroCup.
Highlight of the travels: Tyler getting hit in the head by a pigeon. I'm not kidding. I laughed for the next week and a half.
There are 1800 pictures, more or less, that need to be sorted through, and once that's done, there'll be some put up and I'll post the link.
I'm sad that we finished our trip, but I'm also really glad to be home. It was super exhausting toward the end, but I'm glad we went to all the cities we did. Except Budapest, we could have skipped that, or maybe spent time on the Buda side instead of the Pest side. Oh well. It's nice to be back in North Carolina.
I got to play frisbee today for the first time in like SIX AND A HALF MONTHS! I didn't die or do anything really dumb; it took me a few points to get back into the frisbee groove, but boy does it feel good. My goal for the next few weeks (or rest of the summer) is to get back into shape and to find that sprint speed. I seem to have misplaced it during my time abroad, something I am not pleased with.
But so now I'm back in the Eastern time zone and I have a cell phone! so call me! all the time! yes yes.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
AHHH!!!
Hedgehog update! I saw one! It was so cute. And much bigger than I thought it would be. Of course, I followed it into the bushes which it was not a huge fan of. Oh well. I can leave Sweden happily, I have seen my hedgehog.
In other news: I went to Stockholm. But really, that's not as exciting as a hedgehog ;-)
Pictures from dumplings, Stockholm, and hand-painting soon to come.
T-2weeks. Yikes.
In other news: I went to Stockholm. But really, that's not as exciting as a hedgehog ;-)
Pictures from dumplings, Stockholm, and hand-painting soon to come.
T-2weeks. Yikes.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
mmm dumplings
Tonight was dumpling night. Actually, it was dumpling day. They were super tasty, except they really took all day to prepare, between kneading the dough until it was absolutely smooth in the morning and then letting it sit (Giselle and I got compliments on how nice the dough was, though :-) ) and then taking about 3 hours to chop the vegetables, mix everything together, and make all 150 or so dumplings. But they were really good. I'm just not sure I'll want to exert the effort to do it again. I'll stick with the frozen potstickers, thanks! It definitely was an experience.
There was also a festival going on in our housing area today complete with live music (and weird DJs) and I think there were some Rock Band competitions, though I didn't see them. Giselle and I sat outside and listened to the strange DJ (who looked rather like an elephant as he grooved to the music with his ID tag swinging back and forth wildly like a trunk) and then to some other people who had an accordion in their band. It was pretty neat, though really hot outside so we didn't last too long. I could still hear them from my balcony, though, so I lay out there and read while listening. Quite nice.
I'm going to go down and get tickets tomorrow morning, since I don't really want to bike down at midnight, to go to Stockholm next week. I've been putting it off for no good reason and I definitely want to go. So I will! Easy as that.
I think the band outside is doing a cover of "Umbrella". Yikes. And they're playing until 2am? I'm glad I live on the outskirts of the dorm area. It's a lot quieter out here. Though I have lived through Relay for Life every year in Teague, so it's not too bad. But I'm still glad I don't live in building Y or E.
Happy weekend!
There was also a festival going on in our housing area today complete with live music (and weird DJs) and I think there were some Rock Band competitions, though I didn't see them. Giselle and I sat outside and listened to the strange DJ (who looked rather like an elephant as he grooved to the music with his ID tag swinging back and forth wildly like a trunk) and then to some other people who had an accordion in their band. It was pretty neat, though really hot outside so we didn't last too long. I could still hear them from my balcony, though, so I lay out there and read while listening. Quite nice.
I'm going to go down and get tickets tomorrow morning, since I don't really want to bike down at midnight, to go to Stockholm next week. I've been putting it off for no good reason and I definitely want to go. So I will! Easy as that.
I think the band outside is doing a cover of "Umbrella". Yikes. And they're playing until 2am? I'm glad I live on the outskirts of the dorm area. It's a lot quieter out here. Though I have lived through Relay for Life every year in Teague, so it's not too bad. But I'm still glad I don't live in building Y or E.
Happy weekend!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
May days
Things have been pretty relaxed and lovely around here. Summertime has struck with no warning - there wasn't a spring at all. It went straight from 50 degrees to 70+ degrees (I'm still trying to get faster at accurately converting to Centigrade in my head). I've been getting lots of chances to lie outside in the sunshine and I got my first mild Swedish sunburn. Which prompted me to go out today and find sunscreen, which was ridiculously expensive! But what can you do. If you need sunscreen, you need sunscreen. I like how SPF 30 is the highest I could find in the stores and it's marked as "very high" SPF. They also sell SPF 6. Like that'll do anything, you crazy Swedes!
Last night our corridor had a barbecue which was lots of fun. There's a wall in our hall (pending pictures) with people's hands on it and the date they moved in. I think there are handprints going back to 2002. But last night all the rest of the newer members of the corridor and I got to put our handprints up there. Of course I chose a lovely green! Even though the wall will be torn down when the renovate the corridor over the summer, it's still really nice. I like this corridor a lot.
We also played Swedish Trivial Pursuit! And I answered some questions and got two pie-wedges for our team! I also was completely useless on many questions having to do with Swedish geography and history and all of that. It got to a point where they'd translate half of the question and then just say "uh...you won't know this" and then take it in Swedish. Also, did you know that Adam was apparently created on March 25? I had no idea. But we were pretty darn close with March 21. I was impressed by that guess.
Saturday I'm learning how to make chinese dumplings with Giselle, which should be a lot of fun. It's apparently an all-day event because the dough needs to rest and blah blah blah I'm impatient. I just want to eat them ;-) There, also, are only 3 more baking sessions left. Oh goodness. Ashley Forest girls, get ready for lots of baking next year! I need to get my fix somehow.
Apparently Saturday is also some sort of carnival in Delphi (where I live) but I'm not quite sure what it entails. Rumor has it that some Rock Band will be played. But I'm not sure.
Tomorrow I think I'll go for a walk and take some pictures of Sweden in bloom to balance out the cold and rainy galleries that represent the first 3.5 months of my time here. Sweden is quite beautiful in the summer.
Last night our corridor had a barbecue which was lots of fun. There's a wall in our hall (pending pictures) with people's hands on it and the date they moved in. I think there are handprints going back to 2002. But last night all the rest of the newer members of the corridor and I got to put our handprints up there. Of course I chose a lovely green! Even though the wall will be torn down when the renovate the corridor over the summer, it's still really nice. I like this corridor a lot.
We also played Swedish Trivial Pursuit! And I answered some questions and got two pie-wedges for our team! I also was completely useless on many questions having to do with Swedish geography and history and all of that. It got to a point where they'd translate half of the question and then just say "uh...you won't know this" and then take it in Swedish. Also, did you know that Adam was apparently created on March 25? I had no idea. But we were pretty darn close with March 21. I was impressed by that guess.
Saturday I'm learning how to make chinese dumplings with Giselle, which should be a lot of fun. It's apparently an all-day event because the dough needs to rest and blah blah blah I'm impatient. I just want to eat them ;-) There, also, are only 3 more baking sessions left. Oh goodness. Ashley Forest girls, get ready for lots of baking next year! I need to get my fix somehow.
Apparently Saturday is also some sort of carnival in Delphi (where I live) but I'm not quite sure what it entails. Rumor has it that some Rock Band will be played. But I'm not sure.
Tomorrow I think I'll go for a walk and take some pictures of Sweden in bloom to balance out the cold and rainy galleries that represent the first 3.5 months of my time here. Sweden is quite beautiful in the summer.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Things since Norway
It took me long enough to get that up, so now I'm way behind schedule. Not that much has happened, which is nice. I've still been baking every Tuesday which keeps me sane and also keeps me from baking every sort of cake-cookie-bread-muffin-pancake all at once in my own kitchen. A very healthy habit.
I have a little over 4 weeks until I'll be taking the final for my current course and getting ready to head out all over Europe with Tyler. I can't wait for that. Well, I can wait for the final exam. We have labs two days a week now, which isn't too bad. It's a nice change of pace to have labs instead of four-hour lectures. My new lab partner is a PhD student from Romania, so it's lots of fun to talk to her. I've had great luck with lab partners over here.
I tried playing soccer (or football, if you will) the other weekend and in the span of a 30 minute game, I ended up with a skinned knee, scraped leg, and bloody nose. Not my finest points. The weather, though, has been gorgeous recently - getting up to 70 and sunny. Absolutely perfect for lying outside and reading/studying/sleeping, whichever seems like it'll be the most fun at the time. This does mean, however, that I need to find some place to buy sunscreen soon. I didn't bother with it earlier because who needs it if the sun is never out! But I'm starting to appreciate the Swedish weather. Spring is a good season here. The grassy areas are filled with daisies and dandelions which make them much prettier than most of the green areas you see back home, where they've been sprayed with herbicides and such things to get rid of all the small "weedy" flowers.
Another thing that I think is funny about Sweden is how much they like to barbecue here! I swear, once the temperature hit 50 they were barbecuing at least 3 times a week. Rain, sun, wind, cold, it doesn't matter. They will grill their food and nothing will stop them. It's pretty nice, and I think I'll have a big desire to keep grilling when I get home!
I also got my hair cut today! First time I had it done in Sweden, and I was quite nervous about it - not only did I have to worry about getting it cut by someone who I didn't know and who possibly didn't know how to work with curly hair, but there's a language difference, too. Not too big of an issue, since everyone here speaks at least a little English, but I'm good at worrying. It turned out pretty well and was definitely needed.
This weekend there's a barbecue with baking people that I'm excited for, as well as some hopefully gorgeous weather. Life is good in Sweden. Hopefully, if the weather permits, I might see if some people want to bike to the beach next week or the week after! I'm not sure how far it is, but I know that it's definitely bikable. But we'll see :-)
I miss you all!
I have a little over 4 weeks until I'll be taking the final for my current course and getting ready to head out all over Europe with Tyler. I can't wait for that. Well, I can wait for the final exam. We have labs two days a week now, which isn't too bad. It's a nice change of pace to have labs instead of four-hour lectures. My new lab partner is a PhD student from Romania, so it's lots of fun to talk to her. I've had great luck with lab partners over here.
I tried playing soccer (or football, if you will) the other weekend and in the span of a 30 minute game, I ended up with a skinned knee, scraped leg, and bloody nose. Not my finest points. The weather, though, has been gorgeous recently - getting up to 70 and sunny. Absolutely perfect for lying outside and reading/studying/sleeping, whichever seems like it'll be the most fun at the time. This does mean, however, that I need to find some place to buy sunscreen soon. I didn't bother with it earlier because who needs it if the sun is never out! But I'm starting to appreciate the Swedish weather. Spring is a good season here. The grassy areas are filled with daisies and dandelions which make them much prettier than most of the green areas you see back home, where they've been sprayed with herbicides and such things to get rid of all the small "weedy" flowers.
Another thing that I think is funny about Sweden is how much they like to barbecue here! I swear, once the temperature hit 50 they were barbecuing at least 3 times a week. Rain, sun, wind, cold, it doesn't matter. They will grill their food and nothing will stop them. It's pretty nice, and I think I'll have a big desire to keep grilling when I get home!
I also got my hair cut today! First time I had it done in Sweden, and I was quite nervous about it - not only did I have to worry about getting it cut by someone who I didn't know and who possibly didn't know how to work with curly hair, but there's a language difference, too. Not too big of an issue, since everyone here speaks at least a little English, but I'm good at worrying. It turned out pretty well and was definitely needed.
This weekend there's a barbecue with baking people that I'm excited for, as well as some hopefully gorgeous weather. Life is good in Sweden. Hopefully, if the weather permits, I might see if some people want to bike to the beach next week or the week after! I'm not sure how far it is, but I know that it's definitely bikable. But we'll see :-)
I miss you all!
My trip to Norway
Long delayed, here it is! (mostly copied from emails):
The flight from Copenhagen to Bergen was pretty short, and as we neared Bergen the landscape was incredible. I was really nervous flying in because all I could see was snow and I had decided not to bring my hat or scarf, just my black gloves. But when we got onto the ground, the temperature was really nice even though it was 9pm, so it turned out to not be an issue at all. I hopped on board the airport bus (flybussen) and got dropped off near the train station in the center of town, only a few minutes walk away from my hostel. I checked into the hostel and got a bed in a room with 14 other mixed-gender people. And some of them snored. That was fun. I set my alarm super early so I could get to the train station and get myself oriented before getting on the train at 8:40 to start the tour.
After picking up my ticket I wandered around some nearby parts of the town, just biding my time and getting a look at things since I knew I wouldn't have much time to spend in Bergen. Nothing special, but I took lots of pictures anyway. It's a cute town, what can I say! Then I got on the train in the same compartment as a Mexican-looking guy and an American couple (of which the woman was super annoying sounding) and some other Norwegian people. I started out sitting by a window, but on the wrong side of the train for the fjord views, so I stood outside the compartment by the door so I could get pictures through the windows on the doors. But then the train crossed over and the pretty views were on my side so I got to sit down again.
Many pretty pictures later, the train stopped and I had to worry about finding the bus we were supposed to get on, so I asked the Mexican-looking guy if he was going on the same tour (since his ticket had looked like mine when he handed it to the conductor) and he said yes, and the American couple also said they were going, too, so we were all in this together. Along with many other people who had been in different compartments. I didn't catch his name when he told me, but the guy turned out to be Indonesian and he was on a business trip or something, but we paired up to take pictures for each other, which was nice. I'm pretty bad at taking the one-handed pictures of myself. He was pretty nice at the beginning, but I got tired of him toward the end of the trip because he got really picky about how I took his pictures. But maybe I just don't obsess enough over my pictures. I also met some Spanish brothers on the tour as well who were nice (and I got to over hear Spanish!) but I just talked to them once. The woman of the American couple was really nice, she was proud to see me out travelling by myself because she knew it was hard, but that it was also a lot of fun as long as you kept an open mind. She offered many many times to take pictures for me since she knew how bad it was to take the one-armed pictures. She also offered me cookies and other snacks a few times - she was pregnant, so I think the Mothering was turning on in her :-)
The tour was absolutely gorgeous as can be attested to by my many pictures (and a few videos). Sorry for overloading you, and I'm very impressed with anyone who actually looked at them all. I never thought I would be in the middle of a fjord, but that just shows you what travelling can do! Just book a ticket and you can fulfill your wildest fantasies!
On the final train back to Bergen, I was in a coach with a group of teachers and 15 kindergarteners who had just gone on a 3-day skiing field trip. Holy crap, I can't even ski and these 6 year old kids just went skiing for 3 days?!?! I was in shock, but then again they're Norwegian so I guess it makes sense. They were cute but I was sad because I couldn't communicate at all with them, since I know no Norwegian and they're not old enough to have started English lessons.
Even though most of Friday was spent on various forms of transportation, I was still exhausted when I got back to Bergen at 6pm. I guess I walked around a lot while I was on the boat - who knows! But since I knew I wouldn't have much time on Saturday to explore the town, I dropped off my day bag and headed down to the harbor. The weather was gorgeous, so I walked along the water and then around some old building - I wasn't quite sure based on the map which building it was or what the significance was, but it was pretty, so it worked for me. Then I walked back and got some ice cream to eat on the pier in good Norwegian fashion. These people have a thing for ice cream, even in cold weather. It's weird, but the ice cream was very good. Around 8:30 I decided to head back and cook some dinner (pasta) and take a shower and get in bed so I could wake up earlyish again and go down to the fish market, since it was all put away by the time I got back. Though, the place where it stands during the day still smelled immensely like fish.
Back at the hostel I met a girl from Canada named Amanda. She was really nice - she had taken the year to work her way around the world. She worked for 7 months in Australia doing landscape work and then spent some time in London and now was in Norway for a few days before heading back to London and then who knows where else. She was really nice, so we made plans to go down to the fish market the next morning (Saturday). Then I went to sleep because I was too tired to wait for a shower. Whew.
Saturday morning I woke up a little before 8 and Amanda and I got dressed and walked down to the market which was supposed to be open. Not so. Well, they were setting up, but it was all very quiet. I was hoping for the whole yelling and fish-throwing deal. But alas, such was not the case. Disappointed, we walked down along the water again and talked for a while, and by the time we made it back up to the market around 9 things were livening up. a bit. There were more vendors out selling souvenirs and a some more fish stalls were set up, but nothing too crazy. One thing I don't get about Norwegians is their infatuation with trolls. In every tourist shop there were these UGLY troll souvenir dolls that would give me nightmares if I were smaller. But I guess they're part of traditional folk lore or something. I just thought they were plain ugly. But so we wandered back and forth in the square for another 45 minutes or so (the square was only about 150m long, so it was a lot of back and forth) before we headed back so I could get my stuff and get on the 10:28 train. Which I did successfully! WOOHOO! no missed transportation.
On the train, I whipped out my camera (again) and my headphones and settled in for a while. At Voss, one of the stops during the tour, a girl who was on the same tour yesterday hopped on the train and sat in the row in front of me. I talked with her later a little bit and found out that she was from Australia but working in Stockholm for the time being before hopefully travelling some more (money permitting). She was pretty nice. I also got to talk to a Norwegian girl (I asked her if I could take pictures out her window since she had a better view) and she was really nice. She also said that her mom was an elementary school teacher, and in Norway they have one day a week where they spend the whole day outside, walking through the woods or learning to make fires and things like that. I thought that sounded amazing - something that would be awesome if we had it here in the US. It was a long train ride to Oslo, 7 hours. I slept through part of it, which was nice. Then I read through more of it. Quite pleasant.
Arriving in Oslo was nerve-wracking. I walked out of the train station that probably had 15 tracks and when you get outside, the whole city center is crowded with people and under construction. Yes, the construction even followed me to Norway. But I bucked up my courage and took out my printed googlemap and tried to find the hostel. Which was a little more challenging with the roads torn up and pathways diverted. But I made it, and once I knew where I was staying, I felt a whole lot better. I dropped off my stuff and got a better map from the hostel people and then set off again since I, again, knew I was leaving mid-morning on Sunday. I am totally disoriented in cities, so I ended up in a completely different place from where I was intending to go, but it was really good. I ended up in an old military fortress place that was absolutely gorgeous. It was sunset and there was beautiful stone work and I really wished that Tyler were here with me. I took a bunch of pictures, of course. I walked around there a while before starting back in the direction that I thought was the hostel and a grocery store so I could get some dinner, but, again, I ended up somewhere else. This time, I found myself in the place I had intended to go the first time - over to the parliament building and the royal palace. Even though I was hungry, I decided that since I was here, I should walk down to the palace, which I did. It wasn't terribly interesting, and by then it was probably 8:30 so I headed back (with a few confused turns) to the hostel to eat.
When I got back, I met 2 of the other people staying in the room - 2 girls from Finland who were studying at a small 150-person technical school in Norway for the semester. They were very nice and talkative, which was good fun. After eating, I took a shower, wrote in my journal, and passed out. So tired!
I woke up early again so that I could wander around Oslo a little bit before catching the bus to the airport. It is kind of creepy to walk a strange city early on Sunday morning. That, and I'm paranoid. I kept feeling like people were following me or watching me and all sorts of strange things. I tried to walk to the botanical gardens, but the gate was locked (something I didn't think of) so I just walked down along the river that runs through town and sat on a bench and ate my breakfast of a banana for a while. It was really nice weather and the sun was out. A little more walking around by the river and then it was time to head back to pick up my stuff. By then, all the girls in the room were up (there were 5 of us total - the 2 Finns and a girl from Hungary and one from Germany both who were studying at another university in Sweden for the semester) so I talked with them all for a bit before getting my stuff and heading for the bus terminal to go to the airport. I got to the bus terminal early and could have walked around a little more, but I didn't have any other place I wanted to see and I really just wanted to sit down, so I waited for the bus and got to the airport early. Which was nice because I got a long time to read my book, which I had really gotten into.
So I read for a while before hopping on the plane and coming back to Lund! All in all, a very nice trip full of gorgeous scenery and nice people. It's given me a lot of hope that this summer getting to travel around with Tyler will be absolutely amazing and that we'll meet a lot of fun people!
The flight from Copenhagen to Bergen was pretty short, and as we neared Bergen the landscape was incredible. I was really nervous flying in because all I could see was snow and I had decided not to bring my hat or scarf, just my black gloves. But when we got onto the ground, the temperature was really nice even though it was 9pm, so it turned out to not be an issue at all. I hopped on board the airport bus (flybussen) and got dropped off near the train station in the center of town, only a few minutes walk away from my hostel. I checked into the hostel and got a bed in a room with 14 other mixed-gender people. And some of them snored. That was fun. I set my alarm super early so I could get to the train station and get myself oriented before getting on the train at 8:40 to start the tour.
After picking up my ticket I wandered around some nearby parts of the town, just biding my time and getting a look at things since I knew I wouldn't have much time to spend in Bergen. Nothing special, but I took lots of pictures anyway. It's a cute town, what can I say! Then I got on the train in the same compartment as a Mexican-looking guy and an American couple (of which the woman was super annoying sounding) and some other Norwegian people. I started out sitting by a window, but on the wrong side of the train for the fjord views, so I stood outside the compartment by the door so I could get pictures through the windows on the doors. But then the train crossed over and the pretty views were on my side so I got to sit down again.
Many pretty pictures later, the train stopped and I had to worry about finding the bus we were supposed to get on, so I asked the Mexican-looking guy if he was going on the same tour (since his ticket had looked like mine when he handed it to the conductor) and he said yes, and the American couple also said they were going, too, so we were all in this together. Along with many other people who had been in different compartments. I didn't catch his name when he told me, but the guy turned out to be Indonesian and he was on a business trip or something, but we paired up to take pictures for each other, which was nice. I'm pretty bad at taking the one-handed pictures of myself. He was pretty nice at the beginning, but I got tired of him toward the end of the trip because he got really picky about how I took his pictures. But maybe I just don't obsess enough over my pictures. I also met some Spanish brothers on the tour as well who were nice (and I got to over hear Spanish!) but I just talked to them once. The woman of the American couple was really nice, she was proud to see me out travelling by myself because she knew it was hard, but that it was also a lot of fun as long as you kept an open mind. She offered many many times to take pictures for me since she knew how bad it was to take the one-armed pictures. She also offered me cookies and other snacks a few times - she was pregnant, so I think the Mothering was turning on in her :-)
The tour was absolutely gorgeous as can be attested to by my many pictures (and a few videos). Sorry for overloading you, and I'm very impressed with anyone who actually looked at them all. I never thought I would be in the middle of a fjord, but that just shows you what travelling can do! Just book a ticket and you can fulfill your wildest fantasies!
On the final train back to Bergen, I was in a coach with a group of teachers and 15 kindergarteners who had just gone on a 3-day skiing field trip. Holy crap, I can't even ski and these 6 year old kids just went skiing for 3 days?!?! I was in shock, but then again they're Norwegian so I guess it makes sense. They were cute but I was sad because I couldn't communicate at all with them, since I know no Norwegian and they're not old enough to have started English lessons.
Even though most of Friday was spent on various forms of transportation, I was still exhausted when I got back to Bergen at 6pm. I guess I walked around a lot while I was on the boat - who knows! But since I knew I wouldn't have much time on Saturday to explore the town, I dropped off my day bag and headed down to the harbor. The weather was gorgeous, so I walked along the water and then around some old building - I wasn't quite sure based on the map which building it was or what the significance was, but it was pretty, so it worked for me. Then I walked back and got some ice cream to eat on the pier in good Norwegian fashion. These people have a thing for ice cream, even in cold weather. It's weird, but the ice cream was very good. Around 8:30 I decided to head back and cook some dinner (pasta) and take a shower and get in bed so I could wake up earlyish again and go down to the fish market, since it was all put away by the time I got back. Though, the place where it stands during the day still smelled immensely like fish.
Back at the hostel I met a girl from Canada named Amanda. She was really nice - she had taken the year to work her way around the world. She worked for 7 months in Australia doing landscape work and then spent some time in London and now was in Norway for a few days before heading back to London and then who knows where else. She was really nice, so we made plans to go down to the fish market the next morning (Saturday). Then I went to sleep because I was too tired to wait for a shower. Whew.
Saturday morning I woke up a little before 8 and Amanda and I got dressed and walked down to the market which was supposed to be open. Not so. Well, they were setting up, but it was all very quiet. I was hoping for the whole yelling and fish-throwing deal. But alas, such was not the case. Disappointed, we walked down along the water again and talked for a while, and by the time we made it back up to the market around 9 things were livening up. a bit. There were more vendors out selling souvenirs and a some more fish stalls were set up, but nothing too crazy. One thing I don't get about Norwegians is their infatuation with trolls. In every tourist shop there were these UGLY troll souvenir dolls that would give me nightmares if I were smaller. But I guess they're part of traditional folk lore or something. I just thought they were plain ugly. But so we wandered back and forth in the square for another 45 minutes or so (the square was only about 150m long, so it was a lot of back and forth) before we headed back so I could get my stuff and get on the 10:28 train. Which I did successfully! WOOHOO! no missed transportation.
On the train, I whipped out my camera (again) and my headphones and settled in for a while. At Voss, one of the stops during the tour, a girl who was on the same tour yesterday hopped on the train and sat in the row in front of me. I talked with her later a little bit and found out that she was from Australia but working in Stockholm for the time being before hopefully travelling some more (money permitting). She was pretty nice. I also got to talk to a Norwegian girl (I asked her if I could take pictures out her window since she had a better view) and she was really nice. She also said that her mom was an elementary school teacher, and in Norway they have one day a week where they spend the whole day outside, walking through the woods or learning to make fires and things like that. I thought that sounded amazing - something that would be awesome if we had it here in the US. It was a long train ride to Oslo, 7 hours. I slept through part of it, which was nice. Then I read through more of it. Quite pleasant.
Arriving in Oslo was nerve-wracking. I walked out of the train station that probably had 15 tracks and when you get outside, the whole city center is crowded with people and under construction. Yes, the construction even followed me to Norway. But I bucked up my courage and took out my printed googlemap and tried to find the hostel. Which was a little more challenging with the roads torn up and pathways diverted. But I made it, and once I knew where I was staying, I felt a whole lot better. I dropped off my stuff and got a better map from the hostel people and then set off again since I, again, knew I was leaving mid-morning on Sunday. I am totally disoriented in cities, so I ended up in a completely different place from where I was intending to go, but it was really good. I ended up in an old military fortress place that was absolutely gorgeous. It was sunset and there was beautiful stone work and I really wished that Tyler were here with me. I took a bunch of pictures, of course. I walked around there a while before starting back in the direction that I thought was the hostel and a grocery store so I could get some dinner, but, again, I ended up somewhere else. This time, I found myself in the place I had intended to go the first time - over to the parliament building and the royal palace. Even though I was hungry, I decided that since I was here, I should walk down to the palace, which I did. It wasn't terribly interesting, and by then it was probably 8:30 so I headed back (with a few confused turns) to the hostel to eat.
When I got back, I met 2 of the other people staying in the room - 2 girls from Finland who were studying at a small 150-person technical school in Norway for the semester. They were very nice and talkative, which was good fun. After eating, I took a shower, wrote in my journal, and passed out. So tired!
I woke up early again so that I could wander around Oslo a little bit before catching the bus to the airport. It is kind of creepy to walk a strange city early on Sunday morning. That, and I'm paranoid. I kept feeling like people were following me or watching me and all sorts of strange things. I tried to walk to the botanical gardens, but the gate was locked (something I didn't think of) so I just walked down along the river that runs through town and sat on a bench and ate my breakfast of a banana for a while. It was really nice weather and the sun was out. A little more walking around by the river and then it was time to head back to pick up my stuff. By then, all the girls in the room were up (there were 5 of us total - the 2 Finns and a girl from Hungary and one from Germany both who were studying at another university in Sweden for the semester) so I talked with them all for a bit before getting my stuff and heading for the bus terminal to go to the airport. I got to the bus terminal early and could have walked around a little more, but I didn't have any other place I wanted to see and I really just wanted to sit down, so I waited for the bus and got to the airport early. Which was nice because I got a long time to read my book, which I had really gotten into.
So I read for a while before hopping on the plane and coming back to Lund! All in all, a very nice trip full of gorgeous scenery and nice people. It's given me a lot of hope that this summer getting to travel around with Tyler will be absolutely amazing and that we'll meet a lot of fun people!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
whewwwwwwwwww
So, I just got back from a whirlwind 3 days in Norway that included 1) Bergen, 2) fjords, 3) lots of trains, and 4) Oslo. Here's a link to the million and a half photos I took with some descriptions on some of them. A more complete entry will follow, but right now I am too dang tired.
Luckily no class tomorrow, but labs start full force on Tuesday. Bummer. I'm still trying to get to Stockholm, but I have hope that it will happen soon. Norway was tons of fun, but definitely exhausting. I'm so excited to travel this summer with Tyler!
For now, have fun with the pictures, I'll post more about my travels in the next few days :-)
Luckily no class tomorrow, but labs start full force on Tuesday. Bummer. I'm still trying to get to Stockholm, but I have hope that it will happen soon. Norway was tons of fun, but definitely exhausting. I'm so excited to travel this summer with Tyler!
For now, have fun with the pictures, I'll post more about my travels in the next few days :-)
Thursday, April 17, 2008
more Scandinavia
Today I head off to expand my view of Scandinavia with some Norway travels! I'm flying into Bergen, taking a fjord tour, taking a train to Oslo, and flying out of Oslo. It will be pretty jam-packed with lots of trains/other forms of transportation, but I think it should be gorgeous and fun. I'll be back with lots of pictures :-)
I uploaded the few pictures of Swedish snow that I have - check them at out here at the bottom of all the pictures, and I'll put up my ones from Norway on Sunday or Monday!
I uploaded the few pictures of Swedish snow that I have - check them at out here at the bottom of all the pictures, and I'll put up my ones from Norway on Sunday or Monday!
Monday, April 7, 2008
It's been a while
to say the least. I'm not very good at updating you guys!
My first course has come and gone, and I just found out today that I passed the exam! One down, one to go. I felt pretty good about this exam, even though I was the first person to leave after 4 hours of exam-writing, but someone pointed out afterward that I was at an advantage being that the exam was written in English...a language that was native to no one else in the room. Oh well, I still am happy that I passed and I don't need to worry about retaking it.
I started my second course last Wednesday, Advanced Analytical Chemistry. This is definitely a step up from my previous course, and I've forgotten many of the properties of the compounds we're talking about, so I need to do some heavy reviewing. I have 4 hours of lecture (with a 15 minute break every hour, so more like 3 full hours...still...that's a long time) each day, but we're done with the lectures on the 18th! So it's coming up soon. After that, we're in the lab 4 days a week, but I think, based on the way the professor talks about it, we'll be done early on some of those days. I'm not worried, I think it will be fun.
I haven't taken many more pictures, yet. I have a few of the snow that I'll post when I get around to it (yes, I'm lazy) but I'll have more for you soon! Thanks to my mom and dad (really, thank you so much!) I'm getting to go to Norway as a birthday present! They sponsored me to go on a day trip fjord tour leaving from Bergen, Norway. So, Thursday the 17th I'm flying out of Copenhagen to Bergen; Friday I'm touring the fjord, Saturday I'm taking a train to Oslo, and Sunday I'm flying out of Oslo back home to start lab on Monday. It's a packed schedule, but I think it should be gorgeous. I did just hear, though, that Bergen is the rainiest city...ever. Like 60 days of sunshine a year. Hopefully one of those will be when I'm there! Either way, I'll have fun and take lots of pictures.
Tomorrow is also the two month mark until Tyler arrives and we get to go travelling through Europe. We've put together a rough plan for seeing a bajillion cities, but we have yet to book hostels or finalize anything. Two months is still a good bit of time, but it's nice to know it's coming up!
In other news, my plant isn't doing so well...a combination of not watering it very much (and these plants aren't supposed to need much watering, so you KNOW I'm falling down on the job) and dropping a curtain rod on it and severing some of its leaves...oops. It's still green, though, so all hope is not lost. I'll try to be better about it.
The weather is finally looking to be more consistently warm, though only time will tell if that's actually true. Warm is still under 50 degrees, but barely. Definitely want some NC sunshine. I discovered the farmers market/produce stand in the city center, and they have some very cheap and very delicious items. I think I'll take the time to bike down there more often. Plus, it's nice to just get into the city and see the pretty green areas that are there. Last time I was down there, there were two ducks waddling around with a 3-year-old girl in rubber boots waddling after them. Cute.
It looks like I survived the Swedish winter (at least the Skåne winter)...we'll see how the spring goes :-)
My first course has come and gone, and I just found out today that I passed the exam! One down, one to go. I felt pretty good about this exam, even though I was the first person to leave after 4 hours of exam-writing, but someone pointed out afterward that I was at an advantage being that the exam was written in English...a language that was native to no one else in the room. Oh well, I still am happy that I passed and I don't need to worry about retaking it.
I started my second course last Wednesday, Advanced Analytical Chemistry. This is definitely a step up from my previous course, and I've forgotten many of the properties of the compounds we're talking about, so I need to do some heavy reviewing. I have 4 hours of lecture (with a 15 minute break every hour, so more like 3 full hours...still...that's a long time) each day, but we're done with the lectures on the 18th! So it's coming up soon. After that, we're in the lab 4 days a week, but I think, based on the way the professor talks about it, we'll be done early on some of those days. I'm not worried, I think it will be fun.
I haven't taken many more pictures, yet. I have a few of the snow that I'll post when I get around to it (yes, I'm lazy) but I'll have more for you soon! Thanks to my mom and dad (really, thank you so much!) I'm getting to go to Norway as a birthday present! They sponsored me to go on a day trip fjord tour leaving from Bergen, Norway. So, Thursday the 17th I'm flying out of Copenhagen to Bergen; Friday I'm touring the fjord, Saturday I'm taking a train to Oslo, and Sunday I'm flying out of Oslo back home to start lab on Monday. It's a packed schedule, but I think it should be gorgeous. I did just hear, though, that Bergen is the rainiest city...ever. Like 60 days of sunshine a year. Hopefully one of those will be when I'm there! Either way, I'll have fun and take lots of pictures.
Tomorrow is also the two month mark until Tyler arrives and we get to go travelling through Europe. We've put together a rough plan for seeing a bajillion cities, but we have yet to book hostels or finalize anything. Two months is still a good bit of time, but it's nice to know it's coming up!
In other news, my plant isn't doing so well...a combination of not watering it very much (and these plants aren't supposed to need much watering, so you KNOW I'm falling down on the job) and dropping a curtain rod on it and severing some of its leaves...oops. It's still green, though, so all hope is not lost. I'll try to be better about it.
The weather is finally looking to be more consistently warm, though only time will tell if that's actually true. Warm is still under 50 degrees, but barely. Definitely want some NC sunshine. I discovered the farmers market/produce stand in the city center, and they have some very cheap and very delicious items. I think I'll take the time to bike down there more often. Plus, it's nice to just get into the city and see the pretty green areas that are there. Last time I was down there, there were two ducks waddling around with a 3-year-old girl in rubber boots waddling after them. Cute.
It looks like I survived the Swedish winter (at least the Skåne winter)...we'll see how the spring goes :-)
Friday, March 21, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Snowflakes
It's been snowing constantly here since midmorning. I honestly cannot remember the last time I saw it snow for more than 4 hours. Right now there are giant fluffy flakes floating by my window - probably half an inch or three quarters of an inch wide. This is remarkable. Nothing is sticking, though, which I don't mind. I think snow looks beautiful and I love to eat it and make snowmen, but other than that...I don't really care for it. I'm fine with it snowing for a while, playing in it, and then it being melted by the next day.
Boston? that'll be fun.
:-)
No classes this week, and an exam a week from Thursday. Not too shabby. I was hoping to go down into Copenhagen for a day, but there's no way I'm doing that if it's snowing or cold and rainy out, which it looks like it will be for most of the week. I guess I'm just going to have to keep myself locked away and toasty, with some tea and cherry pits. Now, I don't usually say this, so keep this for blackmail purposes if you will, but I am a southern girl. I like my sunshine and my warmth and my not-always-either-cloudy-rainy-or-snowy weather. But you can leave the sweet tea out of this. Unless it's Sweet T and it's really ultimate frisbee, in which case, I'd like a giant serving, because I'm severely lacking.
Boston? that'll be fun.
:-)
No classes this week, and an exam a week from Thursday. Not too shabby. I was hoping to go down into Copenhagen for a day, but there's no way I'm doing that if it's snowing or cold and rainy out, which it looks like it will be for most of the week. I guess I'm just going to have to keep myself locked away and toasty, with some tea and cherry pits. Now, I don't usually say this, so keep this for blackmail purposes if you will, but I am a southern girl. I like my sunshine and my warmth and my not-always-either-cloudy-rainy-or-snowy weather. But you can leave the sweet tea out of this. Unless it's Sweet T and it's really ultimate frisbee, in which case, I'd like a giant serving, because I'm severely lacking.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
how's that for consistency
mmm fun. My mom pointed out today that my freckles have disappeared. Now you know why. I plan on sitting outside as soon as it gets above 50...and the sun actually appears.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
more pictures
I added some more pictures to the end of the last post, since Blogger decided to be nice to me. Tyler also put a bunch of photos (you may notice some of the same pictures, since most of them were taken by him, and all of them were taken by his camera) up on flickr
check them out!
check them out!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Tyler's visit, part II
Wednesday brought a trip to Göteborg, or Gothenburg. We missed our train, learned some important lessons about travelling in Sweden, and got another ticket for the next train. It's a 3-or-so hour train ride from Lund, filled with some very pretty scenery, some geese that weren't Canadian or the white ones (!) and some moose/reindeer/elk/Swedish antlered animals. Even though we left in the sunshine, we arrived to...more clouds!
Jessica, who let us stay with her (thank you so much!!), picked us up from the train station and took us back to her incredibly cute apartment. It was amazingly large and beautiful. After dropping our things off and talking a bit, we went off exploring.
We started with Kronhuset, the oldest building in Göteborg. It used to be an old grain/artillery/other things storage facility for the king.
From there we went down to the canal and looked around and poked our heads into the City Museum, which held the remnants of a Viking ship that dated back to 900 AD. I was pretty impressed.
We went through some parks along the canal, but I think Tyler was a little tired of the clouds (welcome to Sweden!) so we headed back for a delicious dinner with Jessica and her husband and sister. Both of us went to sleep pretty early because it had been another long day. Notice a theme?
Luckily on Thursday the weather was in our favor - the clouds stormed themselves away during the night, and it was SUNNY! so sunny, I couldn't keep my eyes open.
But it was nice to be able to explore in the sunshine. We walked through some more parks before meeting Jessica for lunch.
After lunch she very kindly guided us along the river, telling us lots of interesting histories and showing us the giant dinosaur cranes.
We made it on our train this time, and settled in for the long ride back to Lund.
Friday was a recovery day, and I had to meet with a project group in the morning. We baked some semi-successful garlic-olive bread and some delicious cookies. I also convinced Tyler to bring a frisbee to Sweden, so I got to throw around for a bit - the first time in nearly three months. Good fun :-)
Today I unfortunately had to travel back to Copenhagen with him to send him on his way back to Boston. It's always hard to say good bye, but I'm glad that we were able to have an excellent week and I didn't have class at all! Incredibly coincidental, and absolutely wonderful.
But now my room is quiet and empty again, and I've got to do something for this project. I'd rather go to sleep :-) Tomorrow I'm spending all day at Krichansta again, this time helping Ira, another international student here, at the Sunday cafe. I'm not sure what we're making, but it's bound to be fun!
Jessica, who let us stay with her (thank you so much!!), picked us up from the train station and took us back to her incredibly cute apartment. It was amazingly large and beautiful. After dropping our things off and talking a bit, we went off exploring.
We started with Kronhuset, the oldest building in Göteborg. It used to be an old grain/artillery/other things storage facility for the king.
From there we went down to the canal and looked around and poked our heads into the City Museum, which held the remnants of a Viking ship that dated back to 900 AD. I was pretty impressed.
We went through some parks along the canal, but I think Tyler was a little tired of the clouds (welcome to Sweden!) so we headed back for a delicious dinner with Jessica and her husband and sister. Both of us went to sleep pretty early because it had been another long day. Notice a theme?Luckily on Thursday the weather was in our favor - the clouds stormed themselves away during the night, and it was SUNNY! so sunny, I couldn't keep my eyes open.
But it was nice to be able to explore in the sunshine. We walked through some more parks before meeting Jessica for lunch.
After lunch she very kindly guided us along the river, telling us lots of interesting histories and showing us the giant dinosaur cranes.
We made it on our train this time, and settled in for the long ride back to Lund.
Friday was a recovery day, and I had to meet with a project group in the morning. We baked some semi-successful garlic-olive bread and some delicious cookies. I also convinced Tyler to bring a frisbee to Sweden, so I got to throw around for a bit - the first time in nearly three months. Good fun :-)
Today I unfortunately had to travel back to Copenhagen with him to send him on his way back to Boston. It's always hard to say good bye, but I'm glad that we were able to have an excellent week and I didn't have class at all! Incredibly coincidental, and absolutely wonderful.But now my room is quiet and empty again, and I've got to do something for this project. I'd rather go to sleep :-) Tomorrow I'm spending all day at Krichansta again, this time helping Ira, another international student here, at the Sunday cafe. I'm not sure what we're making, but it's bound to be fun!
Tyler comes to Sweden
Again, I'm terrible at blogging in regular intervals. Since last update...who knows. My first class is mostly done - I have a presentation on Tuesday (which I am not at all ready for) and a question session on Thursday or Friday and then my exam on the 27th. April 2 I start my second course, so things are flying by.
Tyler came to visit this past week! I wish he were still here, but we had a lot of fun roaming around the countryside.
Saturday he arrived, completely sleep deprived because he couldn't sleep on the plane, but he struggled up through the day and did quite well at it.
Sunday was mostly a restoration day as well, trying to get his sleep schedule and eating schedule in sync with a completely different time zone. We took a walk up to the highest point in Lund. It was cloudy and grey and drizzling, of course, but it was a lot of fun.
ahh, McDonalds. You can get the Chicago Star right now! Next comes the Vegas Classic and then the Texas Grande. mmm Tastes of America. (we didn't actually get anything from this restaurant, but we did watch Supersize Me!)
Monday was a journey to Helsingborg. We were hoping for good weather and interesting sights and got...terrible weather and many closed things. But we did get to see the Kärnen which is a remnant of a Danish fortress.
The southern part of Sweden used to be ruled by Denmark, and in fact, from Helsingborg, Denmark is only a 20 minute ferry ride away. But we decided the weather was too obnoxiously gross to merit paying for a ferry and walking around outside in more grossness.
(he looks surprisingly happy for being about to be eaten by a ferocious dragon)
Just when we decided that nothing could improve the cold and rainy day (yes, the boy from Boston admitted that it could be cold in Sweden, too!) and we got back on the train for home, it started snowing these giant fluffly flakes. Unfortunately, the train was in motion so we couldn't get off and run around in it. yeesh. But it snowed over the night in Lund, so I got to see (and eat, and throw) some snow! second time in five years. Excellent. I'll put some pictures up later, right now all the pictures I have are the ones from Tyler's camera, and he was sleeping through the snow ;-)
Tuesday was Lund Day! We walked into town and ate at a cafe that served me very nice food, but the day's dish was veal somethingorother and was kind of odd. It almost tasted like mashed potatoes and gravy (to me) but who knows. They had very good soup and bread. Then we walked around the town a little bit, so I could show Tyler where I was. The snow was pretty much all melted at this point.
I probably didn't even need the hat.
After a bit of walking around, we went inside the Domkyrka (cathedral) built in the 1100s sometime. It's a pretty old place.
It has an astronomical clock and a crypt, both of which were incredibly cool.
Tuesday was finished with some baking at Krichansta and then a lot of sleeping. There was lots of walking today (and no squirrel sightings :-( ) so we were beat.
Tyler came to visit this past week! I wish he were still here, but we had a lot of fun roaming around the countryside.
Saturday he arrived, completely sleep deprived because he couldn't sleep on the plane, but he struggled up through the day and did quite well at it.
Sunday was mostly a restoration day as well, trying to get his sleep schedule and eating schedule in sync with a completely different time zone. We took a walk up to the highest point in Lund. It was cloudy and grey and drizzling, of course, but it was a lot of fun.
ahh, McDonalds. You can get the Chicago Star right now! Next comes the Vegas Classic and then the Texas Grande. mmm Tastes of America. (we didn't actually get anything from this restaurant, but we did watch Supersize Me!)Monday was a journey to Helsingborg. We were hoping for good weather and interesting sights and got...terrible weather and many closed things. But we did get to see the Kärnen which is a remnant of a Danish fortress.
The southern part of Sweden used to be ruled by Denmark, and in fact, from Helsingborg, Denmark is only a 20 minute ferry ride away. But we decided the weather was too obnoxiously gross to merit paying for a ferry and walking around outside in more grossness.
(he looks surprisingly happy for being about to be eaten by a ferocious dragon)Just when we decided that nothing could improve the cold and rainy day (yes, the boy from Boston admitted that it could be cold in Sweden, too!) and we got back on the train for home, it started snowing these giant fluffly flakes. Unfortunately, the train was in motion so we couldn't get off and run around in it. yeesh. But it snowed over the night in Lund, so I got to see (and eat, and throw) some snow! second time in five years. Excellent. I'll put some pictures up later, right now all the pictures I have are the ones from Tyler's camera, and he was sleeping through the snow ;-)
Tuesday was Lund Day! We walked into town and ate at a cafe that served me very nice food, but the day's dish was veal somethingorother and was kind of odd. It almost tasted like mashed potatoes and gravy (to me) but who knows. They had very good soup and bread. Then we walked around the town a little bit, so I could show Tyler where I was. The snow was pretty much all melted at this point.
I probably didn't even need the hat.After a bit of walking around, we went inside the Domkyrka (cathedral) built in the 1100s sometime. It's a pretty old place.
It has an astronomical clock and a crypt, both of which were incredibly cool.
Tuesday was finished with some baking at Krichansta and then a lot of sleeping. There was lots of walking today (and no squirrel sightings :-( ) so we were beat.
Friday, February 8, 2008
the weeks roll by
Again, it's hard to believe that I've been here almost 5 weeks now. Well, four and a half, to be more precise, but that's so long and so short all in one. Here's a picture of the plant I got a few weeks ago...still withstanding my less than green thumb.
I've been in class 8-5 almost every day so it severely limits the amount of exploring I can do during daylight hours. I've been trying to get things in over the weekends with visits to different parts of Lund, as well as even a walk last weekend out...to who knows where. Kind of north-east of town, in search of windmills. I glimpsed them just barely over the crest of the hill, and kept on walking until I got a better look...and realized that they were a long way away across a highway. So I turned back because it was 4:00 and starting to get dark. I passed a pretty pond on my way, though.
Hey, look! I found the windmills!
I've definitely noticed an increase in daylight here - when I get up and bike to school at 8 now there is some light! The sky is not completely black. Also, when I ride home after a long day halfway below the ground, the sun is still (kind of) up! It's amazing.
mmm in school we spent last week finishing up isolating our protein from almonds, and gave a short presentation on it. It went quite well, and this week we're onto using different chromatographic techniques to separate three proteins in an unknown sample. We already have figured out what one of them is! Success! We're now halfway through this class, which never ceases to amaze me. Things go by so quickly! But at the same time it feels like forever until I will be home.
There are many things I miss about UNC and Chapel Hill, but the never ending construction is not one of them. They're doing construction on both my dorm and the chemistry building here, so I never get a chance to miss it.
Last Tuesday I went back and baked some more with the Krischansta Nation, and I actually joined it. I have a lot of fun with the baking, and the people who I bake with. I arrived late (since class ends after baking time starts) and walked in the kitchen to see huge bowls and pots of bread dough overflowing and bubbling onto the counters and floor. It was hilarious. And lots of fun. After baking, they were holding an exchange student event on making Semla, a pastry of sorts that you eat before Lent when you start fasting. It's a sweet bread bowl, filled with a creamy mixture of marzipan and milk, topped off the (unsweetened) whipped cream, and then you put the bread-top back on and dust the whole thing with vanilla sugar! Very tasty, though I only ate two small ones. In the cafes they sell ones that are probably 6 inches across...I can't even imagine being able to eat all of that. But I may well try before I leave Sweden ;-)
You can see more pictures I posted here if you scroll down to the bottom, and I might have some more for you if I get into Malmö this weekend. I just need some willing people to travel with (even though it's only a 20 minute train/bus ride), and Sunday I will probably bike back to Nova Lund to walk around the shops.
TGIF!
I've been in class 8-5 almost every day so it severely limits the amount of exploring I can do during daylight hours. I've been trying to get things in over the weekends with visits to different parts of Lund, as well as even a walk last weekend out...to who knows where. Kind of north-east of town, in search of windmills. I glimpsed them just barely over the crest of the hill, and kept on walking until I got a better look...and realized that they were a long way away across a highway. So I turned back because it was 4:00 and starting to get dark. I passed a pretty pond on my way, though.
Hey, look! I found the windmills!
I've definitely noticed an increase in daylight here - when I get up and bike to school at 8 now there is some light! The sky is not completely black. Also, when I ride home after a long day halfway below the ground, the sun is still (kind of) up! It's amazing.mmm in school we spent last week finishing up isolating our protein from almonds, and gave a short presentation on it. It went quite well, and this week we're onto using different chromatographic techniques to separate three proteins in an unknown sample. We already have figured out what one of them is! Success! We're now halfway through this class, which never ceases to amaze me. Things go by so quickly! But at the same time it feels like forever until I will be home.
There are many things I miss about UNC and Chapel Hill, but the never ending construction is not one of them. They're doing construction on both my dorm and the chemistry building here, so I never get a chance to miss it.
Last Tuesday I went back and baked some more with the Krischansta Nation, and I actually joined it. I have a lot of fun with the baking, and the people who I bake with. I arrived late (since class ends after baking time starts) and walked in the kitchen to see huge bowls and pots of bread dough overflowing and bubbling onto the counters and floor. It was hilarious. And lots of fun. After baking, they were holding an exchange student event on making Semla, a pastry of sorts that you eat before Lent when you start fasting. It's a sweet bread bowl, filled with a creamy mixture of marzipan and milk, topped off the (unsweetened) whipped cream, and then you put the bread-top back on and dust the whole thing with vanilla sugar! Very tasty, though I only ate two small ones. In the cafes they sell ones that are probably 6 inches across...I can't even imagine being able to eat all of that. But I may well try before I leave Sweden ;-)
You can see more pictures I posted here if you scroll down to the bottom, and I might have some more for you if I get into Malmö this weekend. I just need some willing people to travel with (even though it's only a 20 minute train/bus ride), and Sunday I will probably bike back to Nova Lund to walk around the shops.
TGIF!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
no exclamation point
I realized that almost all my other blog posts have been titled with an exclamation point, so I'm putting a stop to that. I will not become excited about anything else. ever.
This weekend was relaxing, I've been running some more which is really nice. And no more pain! Perhaps lots of biking has helped to strengthen muscles that need strengthening. Who knows. but I'm happy about it.
Today it was actually sunny! I went up with Giselle, a girl from Hong Kong who lives on the floor below mine, to the highest point in Lund. It's about maybe a 15-20 minute walk west, and it's absolutely gorgeous.
See that small bump right behind me? That's the tallest point. So up we walked until we were able to see...
this loveliness. It's been raining a lot (have I mentioned that?) so there is a mini lake in the middle of the field, but when it's warmer and drier, I bet this is an amazing place to go and have a picnic or go running or whatever you want to do. There were some people out there playing catch, but it's way too cold and windy for me to imagine having fun with that.
Apparently you can also see Copenhagen from here, but I think Copenhagen is just about due west, and we were here when the sun was starting to go down and was blindingly shining from the west. I'll head back up there some other time and take a look :-)
It was quite windy up there, as is to be expected, but a nice walk.
But now I've got to get back to thinking about lab things. I wish weekends went on forever. Hopefully I'll get into Malmö next weekend if it's not raining on Saturday... All the shops are closed on Sundays, so there isn't too much of a point going into towns.
I'll let you guys know if I see another squirrel!
This weekend was relaxing, I've been running some more which is really nice. And no more pain! Perhaps lots of biking has helped to strengthen muscles that need strengthening. Who knows. but I'm happy about it.
Today it was actually sunny! I went up with Giselle, a girl from Hong Kong who lives on the floor below mine, to the highest point in Lund. It's about maybe a 15-20 minute walk west, and it's absolutely gorgeous.
See that small bump right behind me? That's the tallest point. So up we walked until we were able to see...
this loveliness. It's been raining a lot (have I mentioned that?) so there is a mini lake in the middle of the field, but when it's warmer and drier, I bet this is an amazing place to go and have a picnic or go running or whatever you want to do. There were some people out there playing catch, but it's way too cold and windy for me to imagine having fun with that.Apparently you can also see Copenhagen from here, but I think Copenhagen is just about due west, and we were here when the sun was starting to go down and was blindingly shining from the west. I'll head back up there some other time and take a look :-)
It was quite windy up there, as is to be expected, but a nice walk.But now I've got to get back to thinking about lab things. I wish weekends went on forever. Hopefully I'll get into Malmö next weekend if it's not raining on Saturday... All the shops are closed on Sundays, so there isn't too much of a point going into towns.
I'll let you guys know if I see another squirrel!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
squirrels!
I keep forgetting to post this, but it is too funny. I saw my first two (and only, so far) squirrels while I was walking around, but I was too slow to get my camera out. All I could do was stand there and laugh.
Image by Ray Eye, Germany, some rights reserved.
Image by Ray Eye, Germany, some rights reserved.
What would you do if you saw a squirrel that looked like that! I couldn't believe it was actually a squirrel until a guy from Germany firmly informed me that all their squirrels look like that. crazy! They're kind of cute looking, once I got past the initial surprise. I haven't seen any others, though. They must be smart creatures, holing up in this gross weather.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
class begins
So, after many fun days of only having Swedish classes at 13:15 (aka the ability to sleep all morning) reality has set in and I now have class 8:15-17:00 every day. but it's okay, I think I'll manage. The class hasn't been too bad so far, though I do have my moments of thinking "whoa, everyone knows more than me, and I'm being thrown into a lab tomorrow".
The first lab assignment is daunting - choose an enzyme, figure out what material to isolate it from, isolate it, and purify it. All using whatever methods you like (and find to work). I'm not sure that UNC's labs have prepared me for this. I'm used to getting a 12 step procedure and following it word by word. So this is slightly stressful, but not too bad. It does mean that I'm going to go write out glycolysis and the citric acid cycle after this so I have copies with me here. I didn't bring any of my biochem stuff with me.
I've met some very nice people in my class. One girl, Stina, is my lab partner (she's from Sweden) and there's another girl from Iran who seems quite nice, although quiet. Slowly people are starting to figure out that I'm one of the students in the course who makes the teacher speak in English, as they come up to me and say something in Swedish and I am unable to reply.
But I think that course, while challenging, will be very good for me and hopefully not too too frustrating!
Also, today, I went to the Kristianstad Nation for baking! Every Tuesday a few people (volunteers, with one foreman overseeing things and baking, too) get together and bake all the bread and cakes for the week's meals. Today I helped make a pineapple cake and I also got to help shape and boil bagels. Good times. In return for 4 hours of my afternoon and evening, they feed you while you are there, as well as offer you thank you dinner on the Friday after you work, where you get yet another free meal. Sounds pretty good to me! And it was fun. I am starting to learn a little bit of how to read Swedish recipes, but not nearly well enough to manage one on my own. I may even sign up to help cook a meal or two with the nation to improve my cooking skills (and get more free food). The people I worked with tonight were really nice.
But now I'm off to re-write biochem cycles so that I can remember exactly where these enzymes we have the opportunity to isolate are found.
Hej då!
The first lab assignment is daunting - choose an enzyme, figure out what material to isolate it from, isolate it, and purify it. All using whatever methods you like (and find to work). I'm not sure that UNC's labs have prepared me for this. I'm used to getting a 12 step procedure and following it word by word. So this is slightly stressful, but not too bad. It does mean that I'm going to go write out glycolysis and the citric acid cycle after this so I have copies with me here. I didn't bring any of my biochem stuff with me.
I've met some very nice people in my class. One girl, Stina, is my lab partner (she's from Sweden) and there's another girl from Iran who seems quite nice, although quiet. Slowly people are starting to figure out that I'm one of the students in the course who makes the teacher speak in English, as they come up to me and say something in Swedish and I am unable to reply.
But I think that course, while challenging, will be very good for me and hopefully not too too frustrating!
Also, today, I went to the Kristianstad Nation for baking! Every Tuesday a few people (volunteers, with one foreman overseeing things and baking, too) get together and bake all the bread and cakes for the week's meals. Today I helped make a pineapple cake and I also got to help shape and boil bagels. Good times. In return for 4 hours of my afternoon and evening, they feed you while you are there, as well as offer you thank you dinner on the Friday after you work, where you get yet another free meal. Sounds pretty good to me! And it was fun. I am starting to learn a little bit of how to read Swedish recipes, but not nearly well enough to manage one on my own. I may even sign up to help cook a meal or two with the nation to improve my cooking skills (and get more free food). The people I worked with tonight were really nice.
But now I'm off to re-write biochem cycles so that I can remember exactly where these enzymes we have the opportunity to isolate are found.
Hej då!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
på svenska!
Jag heter Charliss. Jag är född i Maryland, men jag flyttade till Chapel Hill när jag var åtta år. Jag studerar på UNC-Chapel Hill normalt. Just nu studerar jag på Lunds Universitetet. Jag bor på Magistratväg 55 i ett studentrum. Min rum har en säng, två stolar, ett skrivbord, en bokhylla, tre lampor, två soffbord, och ett fönster. Jag har ocksa ett litet badrum med en dusch.
Jag har en lilesyster och en lilebror. Min familj har också en mor, en far, och en farmor. Jag har en pojkvän som heter Tyler. Tyler studerar på Northeastern i Boston. Han ska flyga till Sverige! Jag är upphetsad!
Jag ska begynna min kurs i morgon. Jag läser kemi, och kursen är Biokemisk metodik. Den är på engelska.
Jag har en lilesyster och en lilebror. Min familj har också en mor, en far, och en farmor. Jag har en pojkvän som heter Tyler. Tyler studerar på Northeastern i Boston. Han ska flyga till Sverige! Jag är upphetsad!
Jag ska begynna min kurs i morgon. Jag läser kemi, och kursen är Biokemisk metodik. Den är på engelska.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
the sun!
That's right, the sun came out today and was seen for almost the whole day! And now I have a beautiful view of the waxing gibbous moon from my window. To celebrate the sun I went out and bought a plant for my window. I think I'm going to name it Lena, though I know that Rachael will be much better at taking care of her Lena than I will likely be of mine. Good news is that I got a Kalanchoe, which seems to be similar to a cactus. Aka it will hopefully be semi hard to kill. Small steps to making this room feel like home.
I've also decided that this semester I'm going to learn to cook. So beware. I mean, so far I haven't even been able to find Parmesan cheese in the grocery store, so this might be a slow process, but I have hope/faith.
I also went running today to celebrate the sun and realized that my tendinitis has returned to my knee. oh joy. but I remember the exercises, so with luck I can beat this again and then stay in shape enough to keep it away. At least this time I'm not trying to heal in time for club regionals, so I have plenty of time. It's just frustrated that it keeps coming back. I'd like to be rid of it forever!
I also successfully did laundry, and realized that there is a tumble dryer in the laundry room, and I much prefer that to the "hot air closet" type thing that is the other drying option. My pants and socks were still wet when I had to take them away. :-(
I have gotten a lot better at looking less clumsy when I mount my slightly-too-big bike, which is a plus. Good things.
I've also decided that this semester I'm going to learn to cook. So beware. I mean, so far I haven't even been able to find Parmesan cheese in the grocery store, so this might be a slow process, but I have hope/faith.
I also went running today to celebrate the sun and realized that my tendinitis has returned to my knee. oh joy. but I remember the exercises, so with luck I can beat this again and then stay in shape enough to keep it away. At least this time I'm not trying to heal in time for club regionals, so I have plenty of time. It's just frustrated that it keeps coming back. I'd like to be rid of it forever!
I also successfully did laundry, and realized that there is a tumble dryer in the laundry room, and I much prefer that to the "hot air closet" type thing that is the other drying option. My pants and socks were still wet when I had to take them away. :-(
I have gotten a lot better at looking less clumsy when I mount my slightly-too-big bike, which is a plus. Good things.
Friday, January 18, 2008
rachael!
Rachael I love you and you are amazing. Let me know when you are available and I'll give you a call from Sweden and talk to you and Eggbaby for a little bit :-) I'm sorry I'm missing this, but I'm coming back as soon as I can!
Edit: Apparently Lena came as soon as I left for bed. I'm so happy for you, and I want lots of pictures!
Edit: Apparently Lena came as soon as I left for bed. I'm so happy for you, and I want lots of pictures!
so far, I haven't found the fish paste
it's been a while since I've written but not too much has gone on. It's actually been pretty nice weather-wise staying dry all night and then only starting to rain today. Luckily I was only biking when it was misting, not actually raining.
That's right, folks, I have a bike now! it cost me 500 sek, which is super cheap in this town, since everyone bikes. If you go to a used bike shop, the cheapest you'll be able to get one for is 1400 sek, and that was within the first few days of arriving. Now I'm sure you could only find things for above 2000sek, if you find anything at all. so I have a slightly-too-big-but-definitely-manageable silver bike with small bits of rust. and two lights, and a basket and a platform on the back that I can strap things to. With all 3 gears and foot breaks, this bike is a machine sent from the gods. It's amazing how fast I can get to class when it used to be a 40 minute walk! Almost all bikes here have a max of 3 gears and none of them have the double handbrake. I have footbrakes and one handbrake, but I haven't determined the purpose of having a single handbrake. At first I felt like I was back in elementary school with my foot brakes, but now I've gotten used to them and they work just fine. There are so many bikes in this town, that outside of our dorm we have bike shelters with a bike rack and a space marked with a metal plate, designating a spot for each dormroom. Someone has parked their bike in my spot, so I have kindly taken my neighbor's for the time being.
Swedish lessons have been going well, and I will soon put up a post in Swedish. Mostly I can say things to introduce myself - where I'm from, what languages I speak, how many brothers and sisters I have...the basics. My vocabulary is small, but I hope to pick up a lot more over the course of the semester.
One big part of the social life at Lund are the Nations. They're student organizations that you must join and they offer cheap lunches and dinners, as well as pubs and night clubs on certain nights of the week. I'm thinking of trying to help out with the cooking and baking in the nation I will be joining, the Kristianstad Nation. I'm not sure if I'll have time to, though.
I just got the course schedule for my first class, biochemical methods. It's pretty scary. I'm either in class or lab from 8:15-17:00(aka 5:00pm) every day of the week. If I'm reading the schedule right, though, I should be able to get off for the week that Tyler comes over his spring break if I plan it right. We'll see how that falls into place!
mmm other than that, I've just been settling in and eating lots of cookies. They have some very tasty cookies over here. I also hope to get myself back into running so that I don't become too squishy from the cookies. I cooked my first non-pasta meal tonight of chicken and vegetables and it was delicious. I haven't had swedish meatballs yet over here. I also got super motivated and decided to sweep and mop all the floors in my room because the guy who lived here before me was a mess. I feel so much better for it!
Tomorrow I get to have my first laundry experience in Sweden! It should be appropriately exciting. You have to book the washing machines ahead of time, and I hear that they don't cost anything! oh the excitement. (you should also see the looks on peoples faces when I tell them that in America, you almost always have at least one roommate in the same sized room that we have over here. And you have to share a bathroom with either a hall or suite of people. They are astonished.)
That's enough for now, I'll let you know how the laundry goes ;-)
That's right, folks, I have a bike now! it cost me 500 sek, which is super cheap in this town, since everyone bikes. If you go to a used bike shop, the cheapest you'll be able to get one for is 1400 sek, and that was within the first few days of arriving. Now I'm sure you could only find things for above 2000sek, if you find anything at all. so I have a slightly-too-big-but-definitely-manageable silver bike with small bits of rust. and two lights, and a basket and a platform on the back that I can strap things to. With all 3 gears and foot breaks, this bike is a machine sent from the gods. It's amazing how fast I can get to class when it used to be a 40 minute walk! Almost all bikes here have a max of 3 gears and none of them have the double handbrake. I have footbrakes and one handbrake, but I haven't determined the purpose of having a single handbrake. At first I felt like I was back in elementary school with my foot brakes, but now I've gotten used to them and they work just fine. There are so many bikes in this town, that outside of our dorm we have bike shelters with a bike rack and a space marked with a metal plate, designating a spot for each dormroom. Someone has parked their bike in my spot, so I have kindly taken my neighbor's for the time being.
Swedish lessons have been going well, and I will soon put up a post in Swedish. Mostly I can say things to introduce myself - where I'm from, what languages I speak, how many brothers and sisters I have...the basics. My vocabulary is small, but I hope to pick up a lot more over the course of the semester.
One big part of the social life at Lund are the Nations. They're student organizations that you must join and they offer cheap lunches and dinners, as well as pubs and night clubs on certain nights of the week. I'm thinking of trying to help out with the cooking and baking in the nation I will be joining, the Kristianstad Nation. I'm not sure if I'll have time to, though.
I just got the course schedule for my first class, biochemical methods. It's pretty scary. I'm either in class or lab from 8:15-17:00(aka 5:00pm) every day of the week. If I'm reading the schedule right, though, I should be able to get off for the week that Tyler comes over his spring break if I plan it right. We'll see how that falls into place!
mmm other than that, I've just been settling in and eating lots of cookies. They have some very tasty cookies over here. I also hope to get myself back into running so that I don't become too squishy from the cookies. I cooked my first non-pasta meal tonight of chicken and vegetables and it was delicious. I haven't had swedish meatballs yet over here. I also got super motivated and decided to sweep and mop all the floors in my room because the guy who lived here before me was a mess. I feel so much better for it!
Tomorrow I get to have my first laundry experience in Sweden! It should be appropriately exciting. You have to book the washing machines ahead of time, and I hear that they don't cost anything! oh the excitement. (you should also see the looks on peoples faces when I tell them that in America, you almost always have at least one roommate in the same sized room that we have over here. And you have to share a bathroom with either a hall or suite of people. They are astonished.)
That's enough for now, I'll let you know how the laundry goes ;-)
Sunday, January 13, 2008
semi-pictures
I was going to write a long post with pictures in it, but blogger wasn't being very nice to me as far as formatting went. so I'll just give you the flicker links for now, and try to put some words with it later. In brief, I've been walking around a lot (it's ~35 minutes from my dorm in the north of town to the AF building, where my swedish class, the only one I have so far, is held), taking a bunch of pictures, freezing my fingers and toes off, and also going by bus to a medieval town called Ystad and a castle that doesn't look much like a castle.
Enjoy, and let me know what is going on with you!
photos of the first few days, and my room
excursion
Enjoy, and let me know what is going on with you!
photos of the first few days, and my room
excursion
Thursday, January 10, 2008
i sverige
I have arrived! There was much travelling involved (3 planes and 2 trains to get to Lund, and then 2 12-passenger vans to get me and the other arriving students from the train station to the building where we got our dorm keys and then to get us to our dorms) but 24 hours after I left (actual hours, neglecting time zones) I arrived in my room.
It's huge. Not only do I have a single room, but I also have a mini ante-room as well as my own bathroom complete with shower. for less than a spring semesters rent at UNC ;-) Mostly yesterday I was so tired that I unpacked, talked with my corridor-mates (both Swedish) and fell asleep.
When I awoke today, the weather was again dreary and cold, and I got completely soaked as I tried to find my first information meeting. The campus is much larger than UNCs, and the campus buildings are spread out all over the place. I can see why so many people ride bikes here. it's a pain to walk! After my legs regained feeling and the first meeting was over, I joined some people (one guy was from canada, a few from France and Italy) and we ate our first Swedish meal in a cafe beneath an academic building. It was absolutely delicious. I had pasta with tomato sauce, green beans, and basil leaves. And all the bread you could eat. Unfortunately we had a time limit because we were going to be late to our Swedish language orientation sessions.
Jag heter Charliss. My name is Charliss. Vad heter du? What is your name? Jag är från USA. I am from the USA. all the good stuff. I have 2 weeks of this, and judging by the first day, I'm going to be learning a lot if I can stay awake through 3 hours of class as I watch the sun set at 3:30.
After class I walked around the whole town (in the well-dark evening) trying to find an internet cable, and then back to the grocery store so I can have something to eat for dinner. The grocery store was an experience, but definitely not a bad one. I asked a few people for help and they showed me the difference between ham and turkey and which milk was the one I wanted. Overall, the pictures on the boxes are pretty self explanatory. I was so tired from walking 2 and a half hours to get the cable and go back to the grocery store that I didn't fully examine all the strange foods, but don't worry. I will go back and find them another day.
Now I am home, with internet and happy for it, and also exhausted. Have I mentioned I need a bike? Pictures of my room and random places in Lund to follow shortly!
It's huge. Not only do I have a single room, but I also have a mini ante-room as well as my own bathroom complete with shower. for less than a spring semesters rent at UNC ;-) Mostly yesterday I was so tired that I unpacked, talked with my corridor-mates (both Swedish) and fell asleep.
When I awoke today, the weather was again dreary and cold, and I got completely soaked as I tried to find my first information meeting. The campus is much larger than UNCs, and the campus buildings are spread out all over the place. I can see why so many people ride bikes here. it's a pain to walk! After my legs regained feeling and the first meeting was over, I joined some people (one guy was from canada, a few from France and Italy) and we ate our first Swedish meal in a cafe beneath an academic building. It was absolutely delicious. I had pasta with tomato sauce, green beans, and basil leaves. And all the bread you could eat. Unfortunately we had a time limit because we were going to be late to our Swedish language orientation sessions.
Jag heter Charliss. My name is Charliss. Vad heter du? What is your name? Jag är från USA. I am from the USA. all the good stuff. I have 2 weeks of this, and judging by the first day, I'm going to be learning a lot if I can stay awake through 3 hours of class as I watch the sun set at 3:30.
After class I walked around the whole town (in the well-dark evening) trying to find an internet cable, and then back to the grocery store so I can have something to eat for dinner. The grocery store was an experience, but definitely not a bad one. I asked a few people for help and they showed me the difference between ham and turkey and which milk was the one I wanted. Overall, the pictures on the boxes are pretty self explanatory. I was so tired from walking 2 and a half hours to get the cable and go back to the grocery store that I didn't fully examine all the strange foods, but don't worry. I will go back and find them another day.
Now I am home, with internet and happy for it, and also exhausted. Have I mentioned I need a bike? Pictures of my room and random places in Lund to follow shortly!
Sunday, January 6, 2008
two days and counting
Saying good bye is always the hardest part. Tyler headed off to Boston today, so at least I get some of my good byes in stages, but really, I'm not sure that makes it much easier. It just kind of drags the tears out over two whole days.
My mom did show me a blog another guy wrote when he went off to Sweden for a year, and it had lots of pictures of the foods in it, and I must say I'm kind of excited, kind of terrified. Excited for the fact that ice cream seems to be everywhere (because really, what is better than ice cream?), but also a bit terrified because he had pictures of a TV dinner that was chicken and bananas, and also he had pictures of ...fish paste in a tube. I'm not so sure I'll be trying that stuff.
He did have a lot of pictures of hedgehogs which makes me think that they run around wild in some parts of Sweden, so I'll let you know if I come across any cute hedgehogs. You'll also get a billion pictures of them, because they're just that cute.
I finally got my residence permit and passport back on Friday after many sleepless nights of worry over whether I'd be able to leave on time, and I even have a working computer. There was only a little bit of threatening involved.
I'll write more and include some pictures when I get to the other side of the Atlantic!
My mom did show me a blog another guy wrote when he went off to Sweden for a year, and it had lots of pictures of the foods in it, and I must say I'm kind of excited, kind of terrified. Excited for the fact that ice cream seems to be everywhere (because really, what is better than ice cream?), but also a bit terrified because he had pictures of a TV dinner that was chicken and bananas, and also he had pictures of ...fish paste in a tube. I'm not so sure I'll be trying that stuff.
He did have a lot of pictures of hedgehogs which makes me think that they run around wild in some parts of Sweden, so I'll let you know if I come across any cute hedgehogs. You'll also get a billion pictures of them, because they're just that cute.
I finally got my residence permit and passport back on Friday after many sleepless nights of worry over whether I'd be able to leave on time, and I even have a working computer. There was only a little bit of threatening involved.
I'll write more and include some pictures when I get to the other side of the Atlantic!
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