Last weekend was pretty awesome. There was a gigantic party on the roof of Flogsta (my housing area) 5, which is right next door to me. I'm really glad I did the summer program, because now when I go to these things I know a bunch of people. At a certain point I was asking Pierre how to say French swear words so he taught me "enculé". Granted I'm not sure of the exact translation or even if it's a name you can call people, but it didn't stop me from yelling it at people who pissed me off. Actually, my exact phrasing was more like "Stupid fucking enculé!" because I didn't know any more words.
In other news: I joined a nation! I'm now part of östgöta because I felt the place had good vibes. I have no other reasoning. Also the building was one of the prettier ones so I decided I could really enjoy going there regularly.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Apparently they are making an American remake of this movie. This has made a lot of Swedish people unhappy. I can kind of see where they are coming from, but I don't know if this is the movie to freak out about. I mean Pippi Longstocking is one thing, there are actual elements of Swedish culture in that. But GWDT (originally titled Men Who Hate Women) is really not the best example. The main character is a computer hacker, and while she is insanely badass, she is not really a typical Swede. Or a typical anything. In the second book she gets shot in the head and KEEPS fighting.
On the other hand, I can understand that good crime novels and movies aren't what a person associates with Sweden, so they might not want to lose one of their stories to the country that has perfected, if not created, the violent badass crime genre.
I'm kind of curious about what other people think of this American remake for the two or three people out there who care (Mom and Ben).
On the other hand, I can understand that good crime novels and movies aren't what a person associates with Sweden, so they might not want to lose one of their stories to the country that has perfected, if not created, the violent badass crime genre.
I'm kind of curious about what other people think of this American remake for the two or three people out there who care (Mom and Ben).
Yay! People!
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| Pictured: People |
Otherwise, things are just uneventfully positive. I went to Stockholm last weekend and went on the roller coaster there. It was beautiful and sunny until one point in line when it just started pouring. Then five minutes later it was fine. Then of course when we get on the ride it starts raining again. Right after we were like, what should we do now? And my brilliant suggestion was "Let's go on the swings!" I can't take all the credit for this silly, stupid plan because Mel and Pierre were both like "YES!" By the end of it we needed coffee so badly. Then we pretty much slept the whole way back to Uppsala.
Last night was the first orientation event. It was supposed to be a movie, but due to horrifically bad planning they couldn't fit everyone in the theater. So a bunch of us just went to Norrland's nation and had beers. It has the cheapest beer in all the nations, which is going to be a consideration when I decide what nation to join. (V-Dala is another option because they have a lot for international students and a they host local rock bands).
Sunday, August 22, 2010
crayfish party
okay so this is a little late, but i'm just going to post multiple blogs today.
Last weekend I got to go to a real Swedish crayfish party! Apparently it's a big thing out here because it's like the last major event of the summer (which is kind of sad because it happened it August. I guess summers don't last forever here). Christian took me and Mel out to the Swedish archipelago (a series of islands off the coast of Stockholm). It was seriously one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The ocean was more of an inlet so the waves weren't very harsh and there were all these rustic red cottages around it. Red buildings are kind of the Swedish trademark.
When we got there we played a Swedish game (can't remember the name) where you basically throw a piece of wood and try to knock down another piece of wood with it. Like all games it sounds really stupid when I try to describe it but is really fun to play. When I get back I'll have to find or make it. Then we went to the area to eat and I got to try crayfish! It was so much work to get at like a tiny bite of meat but it was delicious.
Swedish meals are so much fun to eat because we had to wear funny hats while we did it, and they have the tradition of singing and song (usually about drinking) and shouting "skål" and taking a drink of snaps, which is a really strong alcohol. Combine this with the fact that with a bunch of Swedish males you have to fight for any food you get and I was feeling a little dizzy by the end of the meal, but I managed to eat enough bread to survive.
The rest of the night was pretty much just a party with dancing. Later a bunch of people went swimming, but this only lasted like five minutes because even though it was pretty warm, it was still Sweden and it was still after midnight.
The next day as we waited for Christian to get the energy to drive back to Uppsala, we just hung around the cabin watching movies, going swimming, and eating. It was gorgeous because it was raining a little bit and the views were just incredible. Some summer in the future I'm coming back and renting a place on one of these islands because they are amazing.
Swedish meals are so much fun to eat because we had to wear funny hats while we did it, and they have the tradition of singing and song (usually about drinking) and shouting "skål" and taking a drink of snaps, which is a really strong alcohol. Combine this with the fact that with a bunch of Swedish males you have to fight for any food you get and I was feeling a little dizzy by the end of the meal, but I managed to eat enough bread to survive.
The rest of the night was pretty much just a party with dancing. Later a bunch of people went swimming, but this only lasted like five minutes because even though it was pretty warm, it was still Sweden and it was still after midnight.
The next day as we waited for Christian to get the energy to drive back to Uppsala, we just hung around the cabin watching movies, going swimming, and eating. It was gorgeous because it was raining a little bit and the views were just incredible. Some summer in the future I'm coming back and renting a place on one of these islands because they are amazing.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
wipeout
Wow, I'm posting a lot. Don't worry I'll get better later.
The big news in my life. We all knew it was going to happen. Frankly I'm surprised no one took bets on how long it was going to take. If you did, who won? It is a tragedy of the least epic proportions and I always figured it would happen this winter, or at least during some sort of rain. I had a major wipeout on my bike.
The first and most important question: Why does Kate have a bicycle when she can barely walk in a straight line? No one knows.
Basically there was a metal bar blocking what I thought was a clear path because I was not paying attention. I saw it at the last second. I hit it very hard. People laughed. I laughed. I hope I get remembered for this. Then instead of doing the smart thing: going home and getting rest, I decided to continue on to the club and drink. Then I decided to dance. Then I had to take a cab home because I was in a lot of pain. Then I slipped crossing the street to the cab.
Today I am bedridden.
Also, I left my bike by the club. Guess I'll be bussin it to class tomorrow.
The big news in my life. We all knew it was going to happen. Frankly I'm surprised no one took bets on how long it was going to take. If you did, who won? It is a tragedy of the least epic proportions and I always figured it would happen this winter, or at least during some sort of rain. I had a major wipeout on my bike.
The first and most important question: Why does Kate have a bicycle when she can barely walk in a straight line? No one knows.
Basically there was a metal bar blocking what I thought was a clear path because I was not paying attention. I saw it at the last second. I hit it very hard. People laughed. I laughed. I hope I get remembered for this. Then instead of doing the smart thing: going home and getting rest, I decided to continue on to the club and drink. Then I decided to dance. Then I had to take a cab home because I was in a lot of pain. Then I slipped crossing the street to the cab.
Today I am bedridden.
Also, I left my bike by the club. Guess I'll be bussin it to class tomorrow.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Homesickness
Today is the first day that the homesickness has really hit. Don't get me wrong, I am having SO much fun. Friday I had dinner with a bunch of French exchange students and yesterday was the Upplands tour so I saw Linnaeus' house and a castle that I really cannot remember the name of. I also visited Sigtuna, which is this really picturesque town near Uppsala. Apparently it's a tourist attraction around here, but I don't think anyone in my tour group had ever heard of it. Maybe it's like Knotts Berry Farm, which is really popular for a lot of people, but most people haven't heard of it.
The homesickness just kind of hits randomly though. Like being lost causes it. Or realizing that today is Kyle's birthday and I can't see him or make a big deal out of it to annoy him. Or grocery shopping, because even though I'm working on learning the words there are situations where you are looking at two versions of something and it's really hard to figure out what the difference is. I kind of realized how far from home I am yesterday at a club when the guys I was hanging out with started speaking Swedish to me and then they were like "sorry, you're going to have to get used to this happening".
Someone should come visit me here! Someone such as Gavin who I miss very much.
The homesickness just kind of hits randomly though. Like being lost causes it. Or realizing that today is Kyle's birthday and I can't see him or make a big deal out of it to annoy him. Or grocery shopping, because even though I'm working on learning the words there are situations where you are looking at two versions of something and it's really hard to figure out what the difference is. I kind of realized how far from home I am yesterday at a club when the guys I was hanging out with started speaking Swedish to me and then they were like "sorry, you're going to have to get used to this happening".
Someone should come visit me here! Someone such as Gavin who I miss very much.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Instead of unpacking or cleaning or paying rent...
I will post an update because I'm sure everyone is breathless with anticipation about my last three days...
Let's see. Last time we left Kateland she had just returned from the tour of Stockholm. Since then, very little of interest has happened to her. She will warn you now that you will receive long and detailed posts after absolutely nothing has happened because that is when she has free time. When she has no free time, and therefore interesting things to say, you will know nothing of this. And yes, she has decided to talk in third person for the rest of the blog. If this annoys you, exit now. She will not be offended. (She won't even know about it).
Monday: Kate began her language class where she has learned such useful phrases as "Jag heter Kate" and "Varifran kommer du?" and "ursakta" (she hasn't figured out how to put Swedish letters on here, so true accuracy will have to be saved for a later date.) Unfortunately she is no closer to learning how to ask where the bathroom is, understanding the response to that question, or being able to order a sandwich, which is just a failure on the part of the instructor and means that ordering food is pretty much a game of einy-meeny-miny-mo. This has turned out pretty well because most of the food she's eaten here has been delicious and coffee is a very easily translated word. Did you know that they drink coffee like ALL the time here? Kate has SO much respect for the culture. In America it's kind of weird to ask people if they want to go for a cup of coffee because the usual response is "I don't like it" and you just sit there going... well I was just asking if you wanted to hang out... way to get stuck on minutia, loser.
Anyway, coffee digressions aside (did she mention how good the coffee is? this is what happens when a culture respects it and treats the drink with the dignity it deserves), Monday (or måndag, realized I could just use Google translate to get the letters) she pretty much went to class and then made fajitas that night because she and Mel bought the stuff to make for her buddy, but they were too tired to make them on söndag and the food was going to waste so they made them måndag. She later went to sleep after using Skype for far too long.
Side note: you can use Skype to call her when she isn't online, and it's like 2 cents a minute, so it's probably the easiest way to do it. You just set the country to Sweden. Email her if you want the number.
Ummm... tisdag, was yesterday. After class there was the culture component entitled "Swedish Food", which is the one Kate was most excited for. She tried pickled herring, some sort of preserved salmon, meatballs of course (they had jam on them, it was surprisingly good), reindeer, and cookies. The reindeer was the best part. Afterward, there was a major club event at the Snerikes nation that most of the foreign exchange students went to. She talked to some German guys about American culture, but found it hard to really defend it because she makes fun of it too much. It's not that she has no national pride, but merely that she tends to mock the things she loves. Anyway, it was a difficult conversation, but it was fun to hang out with people, because somehow despite moving to a country halfway across the world, she still only hangs out with these three Californians. Seriously, one of them is from Huntington Beach and goes to Long Beach State. It is sad.
Since Kate is rambling so much, and most of the readers have probably gotten bored and gone to do more interesting things (such as organizing their sock drawer or clipping coupons), she will mention some of the major differences she has noticed:
The obvious:
There are other things she would like to say, but anyone who is still reading this has suffered enough, so that will have to be saved for a later date.
Let's see. Last time we left Kateland she had just returned from the tour of Stockholm. Since then, very little of interest has happened to her. She will warn you now that you will receive long and detailed posts after absolutely nothing has happened because that is when she has free time. When she has no free time, and therefore interesting things to say, you will know nothing of this. And yes, she has decided to talk in third person for the rest of the blog. If this annoys you, exit now. She will not be offended. (She won't even know about it).
Monday: Kate began her language class where she has learned such useful phrases as "Jag heter Kate" and "Varifran kommer du?" and "ursakta" (she hasn't figured out how to put Swedish letters on here, so true accuracy will have to be saved for a later date.) Unfortunately she is no closer to learning how to ask where the bathroom is, understanding the response to that question, or being able to order a sandwich, which is just a failure on the part of the instructor and means that ordering food is pretty much a game of einy-meeny-miny-mo. This has turned out pretty well because most of the food she's eaten here has been delicious and coffee is a very easily translated word. Did you know that they drink coffee like ALL the time here? Kate has SO much respect for the culture. In America it's kind of weird to ask people if they want to go for a cup of coffee because the usual response is "I don't like it" and you just sit there going... well I was just asking if you wanted to hang out... way to get stuck on minutia, loser.
Anyway, coffee digressions aside (did she mention how good the coffee is? this is what happens when a culture respects it and treats the drink with the dignity it deserves), Monday (or måndag, realized I could just use Google translate to get the letters) she pretty much went to class and then made fajitas that night because she and Mel bought the stuff to make for her buddy, but they were too tired to make them on söndag and the food was going to waste so they made them måndag. She later went to sleep after using Skype for far too long.
Side note: you can use Skype to call her when she isn't online, and it's like 2 cents a minute, so it's probably the easiest way to do it. You just set the country to Sweden. Email her if you want the number.
Ummm... tisdag, was yesterday. After class there was the culture component entitled "Swedish Food", which is the one Kate was most excited for. She tried pickled herring, some sort of preserved salmon, meatballs of course (they had jam on them, it was surprisingly good), reindeer, and cookies. The reindeer was the best part. Afterward, there was a major club event at the Snerikes nation that most of the foreign exchange students went to. She talked to some German guys about American culture, but found it hard to really defend it because she makes fun of it too much. It's not that she has no national pride, but merely that she tends to mock the things she loves. Anyway, it was a difficult conversation, but it was fun to hang out with people, because somehow despite moving to a country halfway across the world, she still only hangs out with these three Californians. Seriously, one of them is from Huntington Beach and goes to Long Beach State. It is sad.
Since Kate is rambling so much, and most of the readers have probably gotten bored and gone to do more interesting things (such as organizing their sock drawer or clipping coupons), she will mention some of the major differences she has noticed:
The obvious:
- They use the metric system. This means kilometers and Celsius (don't worry, American culture will eradicate that soon enough).
- They also have a 24 hour clock. Kate is constantly getting time wrong because she is convinced that 20:00 is ten at night. It isn't.
- Food and alcohol costs more (in the case of alcohol a LOT more. No $2 forties here.)
- Kroner require a constant division by 7 to get American dollars. Stupid Euros require a division by 10, which is just a constant reminder of the sad state of our economy.
- Swedes are very comfortable following the rules. Therefore they DO NOT make exceptions. Like, ever. You cannot beg, threaten, or cry. They just ignore you and look uncomfortable. This is unfortunate when Kate wants something, but amusing when others do.
- People are really quiet. You can hear yourself think when you are on the bus or in public. It serves as a reminder that Kate does not have very many thoughts, and she just never noticed.
- Punctuality. They believe in it. They practice it. They expect others to practice it. Kate does not yet understand it.
- The shower. It is hooked up to the sink and there are no definite boundaries. The bathroom floor is the shower. Kate will have to post pictures of it when she gets the camera working.
There are other things she would like to say, but anyone who is still reading this has suffered enough, so that will have to be saved for a later date.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Beginning
Alright, I finally have this thing up and running (sort of).
Well I made it safe and sound after nearly 14 hours of flying and layovers and irritation. Naturally they got my bags mixed up and I decided just to wait at the airport until it arrived. Actually this turned out pretty well, because Mel was on the next flight so we met up and I had someone to do all the boring first few days stuff with.
Otherwise, I've just been unpacking and getting to know the area. On Friday night, Mel and I went with her international buddy (a person who is supposed to help you adjust to life in Sweden) and one of his friends to a nation. A nation is like the center of social life here, and you join one at the beginning of the school year so that you can get into your nation's events for free or discounted amounts. That night was a club night, and the three of them were pretty amused by the fact that I've never been able to go to bars in America, so this was my first time being able to drink legally and they made a bunch of jokes about this being my 21st birthday. I can't wait until my camera's issues are fixed so I can upload the pictures, we all look silly and happy in all of them.
Today was my tour of Stockholm. I went to a museum about a warship from the 1600s that sailed for approximately 1 hour before it sank. I loved looking at all the skeletons they recovered! Then I had a tour of the old part of town and got to wander around and get coffee and food and stuff. Also I've learned the Swedes drink as much coffee as I do, which is beautiful!
Tomorrow my Swedish class starts, which is nice because I hate having to say "English?" every time someone talks to me. I always feel like a stupid American, so hopefully I'll get to the point where I can at least order a sandwich or get directions in Swedish.
Well I made it safe and sound after nearly 14 hours of flying and layovers and irritation. Naturally they got my bags mixed up and I decided just to wait at the airport until it arrived. Actually this turned out pretty well, because Mel was on the next flight so we met up and I had someone to do all the boring first few days stuff with.
Otherwise, I've just been unpacking and getting to know the area. On Friday night, Mel and I went with her international buddy (a person who is supposed to help you adjust to life in Sweden) and one of his friends to a nation. A nation is like the center of social life here, and you join one at the beginning of the school year so that you can get into your nation's events for free or discounted amounts. That night was a club night, and the three of them were pretty amused by the fact that I've never been able to go to bars in America, so this was my first time being able to drink legally and they made a bunch of jokes about this being my 21st birthday. I can't wait until my camera's issues are fixed so I can upload the pictures, we all look silly and happy in all of them.
Today was my tour of Stockholm. I went to a museum about a warship from the 1600s that sailed for approximately 1 hour before it sank. I loved looking at all the skeletons they recovered! Then I had a tour of the old part of town and got to wander around and get coffee and food and stuff. Also I've learned the Swedes drink as much coffee as I do, which is beautiful!
Tomorrow my Swedish class starts, which is nice because I hate having to say "English?" every time someone talks to me. I always feel like a stupid American, so hopefully I'll get to the point where I can at least order a sandwich or get directions in Swedish.
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