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:

• 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.

The less obvious:

• 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.