Praha Princesses

In the morning I awaited the arrival of my dearest Arielle! After that little smush picked me up at my hostel we were ready to go! Off to Bohemia Bagel we went!!! We got great brunch, caught up (must read Arielle's blog to hear about the Hungarian Catastrophe which is comical), and decided what we should do the whole week. Arielle and I walked around town and by the castle and what not on our way to the TOY MUSEUM. When we got there let's just say it was a little bit of a let down. The toys were creepy, they didn't have good facts. It was like this doll used to come on the train sets in the 1920s. Or this is a Christmas tree with ham hanging on it. Like not really anything exciting. However, when we went up to the second floor - my mind was blown. BARBIE LAND!!! The first barbie ever, bill clinton barbie, nascar barbie, barbie with a fetus inside her barbie, dior barbie. Like it was a dream come true for Barbie lovers like myself. However, I am so glad Barbie has changed her style throughout the years because the first barbie ever would now be considered ax murderer barbie. 

After exploring a little more Arielle went to class, while I just hung around the hostel anxiously awaiting 7pm because I was meeting up with GAIL AND BRUCE LEVIN. That is right - the levin's were in Praha. So I casually met them at the clock tower (which is by far the most overrated thing ever - like you really want to stand there to watch a skeleton ring a bell and then little men shake their heads as the clock turns to the next hour? Talk about medieval entertainment. Youtube pleaseeee). Bruce, Gail, and I sat at one of the outdoor restaurant tent things and had a nice cup of hot chocolate with rum. Arielle came and met up with us and then after a few hours we parted our ways with the Levins. But it was great to see them - sorry you missed out Danni (all we did was shit talk you anyways).

Arielle and I trekked back to her dorm and got Baguette Boulevard - which I wish that sweden has some nice cheap sandwich shop that isn't subway but whatevs. After a struggle of getting people out of their beds we attempted to go out - but the pub was closing in 20 minutes when we got there so obviously Arielle, her friends, and I went to their late night hang out - KFC. Yeah I know weird right cause all KFCs in the states closed and are bankrupt and like Kentucky Fried Chicken in Prague - but whatevs. At closing - which I would say closing at KFC is like a last call at bars - we headed back to her dorm.

In the morning Arielle went to class and I stayed snug in her bed until it was time to meet her for brunch. We went to her favorite cafe, Cafe Savoy, and the french toast was actually out of this world. We split french toast and a spinach, garlic, onion omelet. This place was great, words can't describe. Well actually they can but I won't. Arielle and I then tried to figure out what we should do for the day that was cultural. But it was kinda gloomy so what we did was get a thai massage. 

Let me explain this thai massage fiasco - so first, they are everywhere in Prague! It will be like 8 Euro Thai Massage so like that's tempting right? So Arielle and I were determined to try them. So we find this cute little one off of Old Town Square with lots of Buddhas and pretty stuff. We decide to get just the 15 minute foot and leg massage for 8 euros. It was great! And like great is an understatement. If I lived in Prague - weekly occurrence. So as Arielle drank our tea and basked in our late afternoon foot rub bliss - we decided we had to get the back massage. They have us a discount so like $15 for a 30 minute back massage. Done. So after our couples massages and our second cups of tea we were ready to take on Praha.

Which means we went to the Communism museum. It was a cool, it was a lot of reading. Not something I would recommend for people who are only going to be in Prague for a limited time, but worthwhile if you will be there for more than a couple days and if you like history. After that we went back to the dorm and went to this Italian restaurant near her dorm. We decided to get take out which was totally the move - way faster and then we could eat it in the comfort of our own bed. 

Then it was time for what I had been pumped for since day 1 of booking my trip - THE ABSINTHERY! So many of you know that there is a special kind of absinthe that is illegal in the states, that is obviously what we had to try. What I found upsetting about the absinthe is you get about a little more than a shot, but you are supposed to sip it. Like ewww idk why I would do that - not good. Wait rewind, so you ask for the absinthe, they pour it in a cup (at this point it is green). They then light it on fire and melt a sugar cube through a cool absinthe spoon. It was really cool watching it be on fire. Then eventually it turns brown and ready for you to drink. It is warm though which is not what I like but whatevs and it tastes like black licorice which is fine if you like black licorice. 

After the absinthery we went to Chateau Rouge - this random bar. It was fun. But let's just say there are some things you can find more easily there an a cannoli in Italy (circa to when Amanda and I spent an hour looking for cannolis). But like accessibility was key at Chateau Rouge. Once we left Arielle forced me to get a fried cheese sandwich because apparently it's a thing. It was good - I would have preferred some sauce because a mozzarella stick in a bun isn't the best but whatevs. The weirdest part was Arielle asked for a sausage, a single baby sausage, and they gave her a 4 sausage sandwich. She then took 3 bites and offered it to some random guy on the street. I told her not to cause that's weird - but the weirdest part was the boy took it and ate it. Like granted Arielle doesn't seem like a criminal who will drug your food or put glass in it. Still it was weird. Then it was bed time.

In the morning I met Arielle and her friends at Choco Cafe for lunch. Brilliant idea of a restaurant. They serve this hot chocolate that is basically just melted chocolate in a cup - I got mine with strawberries and bananas. It isn't the consistency of pudding, more soupy, but not the liquidiness of actual hot chocolate. It's like fondue maybe. Idk but it was good.

So after Choco Cafe (which was like 2 hours later - cause it's amazing). Then we walked around and went up to this amazing look out by a castle and church. You could see all of Prague and there was cute little walking paths (so no falling down a massive muddy hill fiascos occur again). We spent a long time just looking out and walking around this area because it was so cute.

So we went back to the dorms eventually and waited for Cori (Arielle's amazing roommate- hi Cori!!!!) to come home because she had been with her dad and brother all week. For dinner we went to this fun little restaurant where you cook your own food. I was lazy and ordered a burger (but like it was one of the best burgers ever if that is any consolation). So like Arielle and Cori had a burner at our table and they would just cook their own chicken it was cool. Then we had to stop at KFC so Arielle could get wifi and BAM! Congratulations on the Teach For America internship this summer Arielle - so proud. So we decided to get celebratory desserts at the easter market. Chocolate covered bananas on a stick was prime.

Back to the communist dorm we go to get ready to go out for the night. We were going to a club Retro - which is totally the scene on Wednesdays (Hi Kath Sherbin, Hi Jess Ruiz). I would now like to rename Retro Wednesdays as "make out with a czech boy" wednesdays. Literally the only thing going on in that club it seemed like. But whatevs. Retro Wednesday was a good time. Then obvi we got late night at KFC - but like whatever we ordered was not what we wanted. Arielle kept saying "Be Smart Box" because it was supposed to be fries and tenders but Cori got a sandwich in a hot dog bun and I got a chicken wrap but whatevs. All I know is the white dipping sauce is the shit. Then it was KFC closing time. So we hopped on the tram - passed out - and woke up 20 minutes later and were the most ready for bed.

In the morning I packed as they got ready for class and then we parted our ways. I had a great time though, Prague was quite the success - and even more of a success is - guilty confession time - I didn't buy a metro/tram/bus ticket once, thanks for the honor system Prague.  So shoutout Arielle and Cori for letting me stay with them!!! Couldn't have asked for a better time.

As for now, I am back in Sweden just preparing for my exam on Thursday and chilling out enjoying the cold the never ceases to stop. Otherwise life in Sweden is the same old same old - meatballs, pancakes, nations, ikea. You know the drill.

Until next time….

x0x0x0x

Running Praha Solo

Walking 45 minutes at 5am to the train station to catch a bus to the airport is how my trip to Prague started. With 2..5 hours of sleep, I was ready to go. By the time I got to Prague I had napped a little on the plane but was still exhausted. I got to my hostel at 11am and they said I couldn't check in until 3pm so just leave my bags and go walk explore. So there goes my napping plans. Thanks.

I was dying of hunger though so I stopped at a little italian restaurant and had a pizza and pina colada. My waiter totally judged me because 1. it was a sunday at 11:30 am and 2. I was alone - but hey I had to start this trip off right. So after my lunch I just wandered around the city and saw a bunch of the areas and buildings you are supposed to see. Obvi went to the Lennon wall and did some selfies with Lennon. 

When I was walking I found this like huge nature area so I started climbing the path, like it was a pretty big hill! So when I get to the top I find out that it is where the Petrina (or something like that) is. Which looks like the eiffel tower but is a lot smaller and in prague. So after my adventoursous climb I am walking back down. There are so many different paths to choose - so I go with what Robert Frost has always told me - take the road less traveled. So I pick to go down these stairs. Well fuck you Robert Frost because the stairs ended and I was stranded in the middle of the hill. It was muddy and slippery and I was wearing nice boots. So I casually did a run to a tree and have it break my fall, then run to the next tree and stop. Eventually there were no more trees and I didn't look to slippery so I started walking. Well I slipped and my life literally flashed before my eyes. Next thing I knew I was sprint slipping down this whole hill just praying I didn't end up a mud monster. Eventually some cement saved me and that's when I decided to just follow the crowds on some things.

I stopped at the Easter Markets in Old Town Square and enjoyed a really great nutella and banana crepe (Rendezous needs to step up their game back in AA - just saying). After wandering around Prague and just exploring on my own I headed back to the hostel. I got some paprika chips and a yogurt (because I was still full from the crepe) - so Paprika chips were my dinner but like let's be real they are so good. If anyone from a chip company is reading this blog, please start making Paprika chips in the US  - plzzzz. I just chilled in the hostel for the rest of the night conversing with one really cool girl who was traveling from Geneva and one really really really really weird girl. Like I can't even describe how weird she was - but all I am saying is if I hear one more person tell me that the American government bombed the Twin Towers I am going to freak. I then showered to escape the wrath of this cray cray girl. So that was my day in Prague alone - it was a great day.

Praha - to be continued....
x0x0x

"What is an Ikea?" - Firenze friends do Sweden

Sorry about the recent hiatus from blogging. I just didn't think my audience would be too amused by my daily mundane activities. Here is the short version - everyday I wake up run, go to class, come home, chill and every few days I work in the pub or wander around town and overall just live like a Swede (eating meatballs and hard bread - the usual). But other than that nothing too exciting has happened until recently. So I will pick up with the excitement resumes.

Thursday I went to Stockholm because Annalisa, Emily, Jay, and Tommy were visiting fpr their spring break. It was good to see them again, well at least Ani, Emily, and Jay - Tommy meh (jk Tom, love you). But when I first got there we went to the Vasa Museum. Which is a really old viking ship that sunk and then they brought it back up and it is all in tact and everything. It was actually a really cool museum and we got in for free because Ani said we were all 18, so like now I still got 20 dollars in my pocket. Whoot. The only thing that upset me was that we weren't actually allowed on the boat! Like what? Bummer. The museum is closing for a couple of months soon though so it was nice to be able to see it before it closed. 

After that Jay got this weird wrap that had like mashed potatoes, hot dog, and something else in it but he liked it so whatevs. As we were on the bus a lady had a really cute dog and we tried to trade Annalisa for the dog, but she wasn't as thrilled with the trade as we were. Then we obviously went to Max Burger for a late lunch. And all I have to say to Annalisa is - Did I get a mozzarella stick? Did I? After lunch we attempted to ice skate but like the ice skating rink was more of a circle of ice cubes so we just decided to walk around town and explore. So we went to Old Town which is the cutest little area of Stockholm. It is so quaint and has cute little shops everywhere. On the way we passed Parliament, the Opera, and some castles. Stockholm is the shit.

After that we walked around a little longer and went to the H&M's and then decided we were going to the Ice Bar so we had to find wifi to do the reservations so we went and chilled in 7-11 for literally 2 hours. Here is how the 7-11 saga begins. As we are in 7-11 Jay and I decide to get candy (cause bulk bin candy is the shit) so we bought soooo many gummies and I decided my favorite are the sour octopi. OMG. Annalisa had a magnum bar. So as we were doing the reservations on our phones - Tommy remembers he lost his book - so Jay and him go to find it - Annalisa then eats a second ice cream bar. By the time they get back we have the reservations but Annalisa credit card alerted her dad that she spent 180 dollars not swedish kronor so we had to wait for her to call him. In the meanwhile Tommy tells us this story about how he lost his book in H&M and asked the girl who found his book out - Anna Sven. Too bad she got sick and had to cancel on him - Tommy could have found his wife. Bummer. Better luck next time Tom.

So then it was time for the ICE BAR! Which was soooooo cool! We put on this big coats with gloves on them and walked into a room completely made of ice and our drink glasses were made of ice. It was the best. Ani, Jay, and Emily got some drink called the snowflake - but obvii Tommy and I got tequila sunrises. TEQUILAAAAA. So that was super fun and after that I took the train home because I had class in the morning. Hmmph.

So after class on Friday Annalisa came up to spend the night with me in Uppsala which is hard to describe because ridiculous would be an understatement. I gave her a quick tour around town and got her a semla (the swedish cinnamon flavored bun filled with almond cream treat sent from heaven). Then we went back to my apartment and made pizza - it was actually so good. I think Annalisa still might be a little upset that it wasn't mac and cheese pizza but she will just have to wait for Mesa back home. Then we pregamed and went to the club. To spare you all from the ridiculously detailed account I could provide (from what I gathered from other's knowledge) - it goes like this: Go to club, introduce Ani to all the workers, take tequila shots, go to dance floor, lose Ani within 10 minutes, leave the club (without Ani and without my keys), wait until Ani finds her way home at 6:30 am, go to bed at 7:30am, wake up 9:30 to meet Jay and Emily at train station, somehow survive. All in all I'd say Annalisa in Uppsala was a success.

We then met Jay and Emily at the train station because Tommy was "too tired" to come. I gave them a personal tour of Uppsala, we went to the castle, the church, a museum, store torget, and just walked around. We then decided Ikea would be the best place for lunch! We got to Ikea and with so much despair they weren't serving meatballs due to the "horse meat" fiasco that had occurred early. But like I was totally prepared to eat horse meat, sorry Black Beauty. Whatever type of chicken I ate though had a wonderful sauce and was so good - Ani enjoyed her french fries and cookie and Emily her swedish pancakes. We then took a tour of Ikea, but I still didn't learn - what is an ikea?!? 

After that we took the bus back to my apartment to show them the wonderful building of Flogsta I live in (jokes - I live in a shithole). Then we went to town and made sure to get Emily and Jay a semla and Jay got princess torte as well.It was all delicious!!! And then I had to say my goodbyes - but unfortunately the next time I will see them will probably be in America - Annalisa most likely at a McDonalds.

This week I just have class and don't have anything exciting to do - but on Sunday I am traveling to Prague!! So Arielle get ready!!!

Peace, Love, and Swedish Gummies

x0x0x0

Paninis. Gelato. Cannolis. Pizza. Leather. That is Italy

Literally everything about my trip to Italy was based around food. We woke up in the morning and went to the best panini place in the world, where you build it yourself and is double the size of your face. Gives Maize&Blue Deli a run for their money. The peccarino cheese spread was the move, all I'm saying. Then we all wandered around Florence just looking at the sites and spending a lot of time in the leather markets. Literally I wanted everything, if I studied in Florence I would be two things - poor and fat. Rough times. However, then after searching around and haggling some Annalisa and I got this cute leather purses for 15 euro and Emily got a hot pink belt for her dad (lawlz). Annalisa and I went to get gelato and see the Ponte Vecchio during the day before she went to class. Gelato de niri round 1 - amazing. Round 2 - just wait.

Then while my Minnesota friends were at class, Amanda, Heimberg, and I hung out. All I have to say is Italy needs to pick up their efficiency - we waited in line for them to get train tickets for probably 3 hours (okay only like 45 minutes but still). We just walked around and stopped at the markets again so I could grab some souvenirs. Our mission was to find a cannoli, so we literally went to 10 different places and none of them had cannolis. Finally we found one and damn it was good. Def not something I would want another one of for like 6 months though - so much cream. 

Then I met back up with Ani, Jay, and Emily so we went to dinner with Adam and Jack at this cute little pizza place where it was a pizza and drink for 5 euros. Literally Emily knows the best deals. The restaurant was doing some construction and redecorating, like literally as we were eating they were painting the wall next to us it was so funny. Also we all got what we thought was "sausage" pizza but ended up being cut up hotdog on pizza - it was  just goofy. I was so full from all the food I had ate the whole trip though I could barely eat half of the pizza.

We went back to Jay's apartment to chill and drink before we went out. Unfortunately Emily spilled red wine on her white shirt, but if you ever need a good way to get red wine out - SALT. It will soak up all the wine. Brett came over which was nice to catch up with her. After awhile no one could decide where to go, besides Adam was determined to go back to Di Niri for more gelato so they ran there. It closed at 12 but we rolled up at 12:05 and still got some. Everyone was telling me to get the nutella flavor gelato so I got that and raspberry mixed. But all I am saying it is wasn't nutella gelato - it was homemade nutella. So I literally ate a cone of nutella - not complaining.

We then headed to the bar where it was 4 shots for 10 euro -so 4 tequila shots for me and 4 for Ani. After trying to get Tommy some ladies we headed to secret bakery obvi and totally convinced some girl who was talking to Tommy to come with us. Like she was a freshman studying abroad (totally DTF). I think we spent a good 45 minutes at secret bakery. We walked home and the only thing that I was upset about all night was I was totally trying to watch Project X when we got back but Annalisa's roommate was sleeping (thanks Maria - plz try throwing something at Ani again - I dare you).

In the morning I woke up at 630 to pack and head to the train station. I was literally in a Nutella coma. I don't think I can eat nutella for a good couple months. And all I have to say about my travels home is that the Italian train system is stupid and doesn't make any sense. I bought a ticket, but validated it incorrectly I guess so they tried to make me pay some fine. The guy didn't speak any English though and I don't speak Italian so after showing him that I had no money in my wallet he wrote down something on my ticket and just let me be. But it was like a 10 minute ordeal of him waving my ticket in the air and showing me some italian brochure and I was just sitting there like "yeah no".

But after a long day of travels and actually being full still from all of the food I ate in Italy, I got home and made some wonderful swedish meatballs for dinner, before I started studying for my exam that I thought was today and showed up to the exam but it was all in Swedish and realized it was tomorrow. Whoopsies. I have a ball tomorrow night though so updates should be coming soon.

Until next time....... 

x0x0x0

oh ps - thanks to CAROLINE CHEVAT - i am now addicted to this horrible trend of harlem shake videos... this is one might be my fave - hotties underwater what is better?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkNrSpqUr-E 

#wheninflo

Obviously I went to Florence's version of Tio's (shoutout to the server from my birthday - we still love you erika?). But Annalisa and I met up with Amanda, Jen, and Jen's friends from home to have margz and such. Obvi Ani only order chips with cheese and nothing else. After a little bit Raleigh was like "6 tequila shots for the table plz". I was so down and let me tell you these were massive tequila shots. The table behind us gets up and leaves and I notice that they left like over half a pitcher of mojitos, and who wastes that shit? Not me, so I sniped that up and we drank their pitcher. Then 10 minutes later they casually stroll in from a smoke break. Whoops sorry about it! Thanks for the drinks boys. So we took that as our cue to peace and left for the Lion's Fountain Bar.

We got there before it was super busy so not only was it 2 dollar shots (like they accepted dollars) but the bartenders gave us some tequila shots - so why not keep the tequila on a roll. This is the bar where we wrong our names on the Michigan shirt on the ceiling and defaced the OSU and MSU shirts. Sorry about it. But as Amanda would say "Have you ever heard of Michigan??".  I was def trying to get more free shots from the bartender, especially cause he was hot and rumor has it the bartenders take off their shirts at the end of the night so I was trying to convince him to take off his shirt early. Sadly it didn't work, but I got a free beer so whatevs #wheninflo

After awhile we left and were under this weird notion that we were going to get into this club Yab for free. I really didn't understand any of the situation. Jen was schmoozing some bouncer (classic) who knew her brother and Lane was talking to some kid, idk - I was just chilling like 6 tequila shots deep. So after failing to get into Yab, because whose paying 15 euro to get into a club? Not us. We dipped and went to the secret bakery.

The secret bakery is heaven on earth. It is this little bakery that sells warm croissants at 2am for 1 euro and you have to be really quiet and knock on a door in an alley. I got nutella croissants - literally amazing. As we were walking home Ani and I ran into Jay and Adam who were headed to secret bakery so we went back with them. I think Ani had like 4 croissants. As we walked home Annalisa tried to convince us she could do a backhand spring round off. FALSE.

to be continued..... 

x0x0x0 

Pisa. Pizza. Priza.

Number one travel tip - when meeting up with friends, make sure you have an actual meeting spot in case your phone doesn't work or better yet - they give you the wrong phone number. After trying to get like 6 different people to let me borrow their phone and getting denied each time (cause Italians are definitely just so friendly) I just wandered around the airport trying to find Ani. After waiting because her train was delayed Ani and I got on the bus to go take a pitstop at the Leaning Tower of Pisa before heading back to Florence. So for any of you who think that picture is photoshopped (JIBBY) - it's real life. It was actually really funny watching everyone taking touristy pictures and some people do super goofy things (http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/leaning%20tower%20of%20pisa). 

Then we just hopped on the bus back to Florence and first thing we did as we were walking back to Ani and Emily's apartment was get gelato obvi. I had gelato everyday I was there. Italy would be very dangerous for my waistline if I lived there. We were supposed to go to soccer game but by the time we got in the ticket places were closed. So Ani gave me a self-guided tour of Florence and we went to Gusto Pizza. It was AMAZING. For those Minnesotans reading, it was like Punch Pizza but like authentic and better. These random boys in line behind us started talking to us and ended up sitting with us because it was so packed. When we were about the leave one of the boys turned to Ani and said "so are you umm going to finish that". Like sure help yourself rando. After walking around some more we went back and made homemade nutella brownies thanks to Pinterest (I was def taking the "allowed to break lent in italy" thing super serious).

In the morning Emily and Ani had class so I went for a nice run around Florence. I was finally able to run in shorts compared to thermals, wool socks, hats, and mittens like in Sweden. I also had to run off the gelato that was consumed and too be consumed. When Ani got back from class we walked around and got some lunch, followed by gelato obvi and then met up with Emily, Jay, and Adam and headed up to Fiesole which is about 20 minutes outside of the city and has the most beautiful view of all of Florence.

We went specifically at 3 because it said online the museum closes at 5, but we get there and it closed at 1. Cool. Thanks. And there isn't really much else to do up their, and I wanted to get a picture overlooking the otherside, so I causally hopped the turn-style and then some lady came out yelling "SENORINA SENORINA" at me - so I just pulled the "I didn't know and I don't speak Italian" card and hopped back over. We decided to walk up the hill. Then we ran into a crazy lady - I think she is known as the "crazy fiesole lady" because she was trying to hack into someone's mailbox and a car told us to get her to stop but like we didn't understand what was going on. Then Emily said "oh what a cute puppy" and the bitch started yelling "ugly girls ugly girls" in Italian and just being like a witch.  After exploring for a little we sat a pub and chilled for a bit, but don't tell Annalisa's group project group that because she lied and said she missed her bus and was stranded in Fiesole and had to walk home.. alone... Okay, that's exaggerated but still. 

Emily, Jay, Adam, Tommy, and I went to this little restaurant for apertivos (while Annalisa laid at home in a Ritz Cracker Coma). Apertivos is like appetizers, so we all got a drink and a full buffet for 9 euros. It was great except Emily and Jay asked for Miami Vices and they didn't really know what it was so they had to explain it and their drinks were double the size of ours - hmmmph. My margarita was literally straight tequila and Tommy's long island had no ice tea in it - but whatevs the bolognese pasta was amazing so no biggie. 

And the saga will continue......

Ciao x0x0x

Wut u doin? Nuthin chillin @ the Hostel Inn

Since being back from Budapest, life has been just chilling. Especially when I went to the ice sculpture garden the other day - that was especially chilly. There is an ice sculpture garden in Uppsala and sculptures all around the city. They are brought in from Lapland, Sweden which is about 5 hours north of me and very cold. I think that eskimos actually live up there and their made mode of transportation is dog sledding - which is cool unless you were forced to read the book Stone Fox in grade school, then dog sledding doesn't seem so cool. Spoiler alert: the sled dog dies. Not the best read for a second grader (or third, and fourth - thank you Mrs. Hoffman for that torture). Sorry for the tangent.

Currently I am sitting in a hostel in Stockholm alone trying to amuse myself after a wonderful afternoon with myself. I had to stay in Stockholm for the night so I can be closer to the airport because I have an early flight to Florence in the morning!!! HIIII ANNALISA!!! HIIII EMILY!!!! So excited to see you guys. So today I took the train to Stockholm and then walked around a little bit. Then I went to a coffee shop (wish it was the other kind of coffee shop but whatevs) and did some studying for my test thats next week - which I need a 50% to pass. It should be a real toughie. So obviously Ani and I will just be in the library the whole time I'm in Florence, jokes. I will study when my flight is most likely delayed as usual - thank you RyanAir.

On Ash Wednesday though I went to mass because I am like the most devout Catholic ever duh. (Momma aren't you proud??) Although the reading is always the same I left more confused than usual, probably because the whole mass was in Swedish and the only words I understood were Corinthians, Joel, and Amen. But the best part of the church was that they actually had nuns wearing habits and everything #oldschoolnunswag. So much more stylish than Sister Jean and Sister Katherine. But anywho hopefully my Lenten resolutions won't be too hard this year. I decided to give up sweets and run at least 50 miles. The running will be a breeze but the sweets might pose a little bit of a problem due to the care package (the most epic care package ever actually - LOVE YOU MOMMA) Leslie sent me with homemade oreos which is like my version of kryptonite. I stored them in the freezer though so ROOMMATES DON'T EAT THEM!

I had my last class for my Swedish Politics class on Thursday so now I have an exam and then I will be starting my next class which is going to be international sustainability and research development which seems cool so I am excited. And I switched out of Religious Life in Sweden to Comparative Welfare States for my third course because even though Sweden is like 87% Lutheran I think 100% of them are atheists. And I would totally rather learn about how it is a social norm to have kids at 20 because of such a stronger welfare state compared to some outdated religious stuff that I probably learned and forgot in my 13 years of Catholic schooling. But back to the babies - it is like super normal for people who look younger than me to be toting around babies like they are a fashion bag. But I mean they are cute babies so I am thinking about getting one too.

Also last night we went to a nation - which is referred to as the "meat market" by locals which is funny because let's say if that was a deli back home, I didn't want any of the meats they were selling. It was fun though, but the main reason we went was to escape the infamous corridor party. So I like in a building that is in a neighborhood of 10 identical buildings, all with 7 floors and 2 corridors of 12 people on each floor. A lot of times the corridors will throw parties and when I say parties I mean ragers. I think they are really fun but usually super crowded. However, the party last night was on my floor!! My side of the floor was very anti-party because no one wants to clean up that shit. So we locked our conjoining doors and pushed the couches in front of the doors and our plan was successful! Yahoo!!!!

Sorry this post was so scattered and random, but it is hard to organize your thoughts when the computer keeps telling you it is going to timeout on you because I can't find any punctuation on this stupid Swedish keyboard that is missing the O key. Underratedly the hardest part of traveling is when you get to a different country with different letters in the alphabet so their keyboards aren't the same as American ones. No thanks to you Mavis Fucking Beacon, I am not an internationally savvy typer.

Until next time... Ciao Bitchez
x0x0x0

BudaBEST is more like it

Since it was my last day I wanted to make the most of it. I woke up early and Caroline was already headed back to the airport and Amanda just wanted to chill so I went on the free walking tour. It was so snowy and beautiful I was really happy that I went. 

I learned so many fun facts.

1. Budapest is separated into two different parts - Buda and Pest are different sides of the river. 

I stayed in the Pest side and it is where the downtown, the old jewish ghetto, and the touristy part is. Buda is where it is super hilly and super old and mega beautiful. 

2. It is pronounced Budapesht.

3. The way Yoda speaks is in the Hungarian tense. They took his lines, translated them into Hungarian, then back into English.

4. The Hungarian language is so difficult because the Mongolians were the ones who were first in control of Hungary.

5. I would be super fat if I lived there because each meal is like 2000 calories.

6. They invented the rubiks cube,

7. They like their booze, especially their wine

8. You say cheers in Hungarian like this - egészségére #lawlz

There were so many other cool things I learned and I saw all the classic buildings which was super fun. Then after the tour I went back to hostel and packed up my bag and said my goodbyes. The weirdest thing about making friends in the Hostel is like these people you hang out with for a couple of days and then you say bye and may never ever see them in your life again weird. I really didn't want to leave, I had so much and was really starting to love Budapest, but maybe it will just be a "see you later".

So then once at the airport I spent my last hungarian money on a massive chocolate bar and I mean massive and of course it's gone already because I had to get ready for Lent and my flight was delayed 2 hours again so I was munching.

It was nice to get back to Sweden and be able to breath clean air, not worrying about a car hitting you, a classic 3 feet of snow, and obviously over-paying for everything. So yesterday I just cleaned up the apartment and wrote my comparative swedish politics paper that I have been putting off forever. Today Caroline and I celebrated Fat Tuesday by getting real Swedish Semlas, which are like pastries that are usually like cinnamon-ish bread with almond cream in the middle but mine was more flaky and had chocolate on top. It was good - not my fave but def something you need to try when you're in Sweden. So that was my farewell to sweets for Lent. The only exception will be when I go to Florence on Sunday - who can go to Italy and not eat gelato? That is a sin, even Jesus would be chowing. 

That is all for now - until next time...

x0x0x0x

Boozapest

It was a beautiful sunny day when we woke up so we decided it was a prime day to walk around Budapest and go see the Danube River. So we just walked and walked for hours around town. We went shopping in the city center because the way Hungarian currency converts to American Dollars it works in our advantage. Every 215 forint is  $1 so I got a nice shirt for 800 forint so basically $4 - what a deal. Then we stopped at a little restaurant on the way home and Caroline and Amanda got a traditional Hungarian meal while I was a little less adventureous and got a pizza - but damn was it good.

Then after coming back and taking a little cat nap - we hung out with the hostel peeps and the hostel owner made us a hungarian dinner for $2. The people in this Hostel were absolutely amazing, not even just the employees the travelers were so fun and there were a lot of people who were very very long term and basically just lived in the hostel. It was a great atmosphere. So after dinner we got ready and started pregaming for the booze cruise on the Danube River.

When we got there, there were about 5 other hostels with double to triple the amount of people we came it. Once on the boat we all got a bottle of champagne. Granted that it was a little cold (but once your drunk you don't care) - the Danube River at night was so beautiful with Parliament and the Castles all lit up. The funniest thing about the booze cruise is they say there is this old Hungarian Myth that everytime you go under the bridge you have to kiss someone or else you will have 7 years bad sex. But who believes in old Hungarian myths anyways ;)

Then in the morning - let's just say it was rough morning. That top bunk will do it to you (throwback to sophomore year Quaderdays - holla Robin - sorry about your textbooks Alexa). So after looking so prime that morning we just hung around the Hostel for awhile watching tv and movies with everyone. That was actually really fun because I really got to know a lot of the travelers and their stories. It was cool though because hopefully I get to travel with them or to see them in the future like we talked about (Trent and Lein that means you - see you Brussels 2 weeks). Then we went with some people to get Langosh - which is described as a communist pizza - and it was just deep fried dough with whatever you wanted on it. I just got garlic sauce and cheese but the traditional one is with garlic sauce, cheese, onions, and sausage. It was delicious, cheap, and artery clogging all in one.

Then we went ice-skating and all I have to say, is granted I never became a Tara Lipinski, thank you momma for putting me in ice-skating lessons as a kid and for raising me in the Artic. Compared to the Australians and Amanda I looked like Michelle Fucking Kwan. We were ice-skating on the largest outdoor ice skating rink in Europe. It was amazing. Then on the way back Trent and I realized our shoes at no traction so we were slipping and sliding all over the places have competitions on who could go the furtherest. Despite what Trent says, I totally won - but I guess we will re-match if we ever get to Brussels. Also since it was snowing - it was the perfect packing snow so we had a snowball fight on the walk back and I only hit like two random strangers which it could've been worse and who doesn't love a good snowball fight? I will tell you who - people who don't have souls.

So then the rest of the night I just chilled out and watched some movies with some hostel peeps while everyone else went on a bar crawl and by judging everyone when they got back - I was pretty content with my decision to not crawl again.

One more to come.....

x0x0x0x

Bare Booties in Budapest

Top bunk living again and I love it. The bunk beds in hostel each have their own curtain so in an 8 bunker you have some privacy which was nice. It was so hot in our room which is such a change from Sweden - but it was kind of a waste brining pajamas because I just slept in my underwear and bra. Which I guess it's nice that we have curtains on the bunks so I can sleep nakey and it don't matter. 

But after waking up we had breakfast and went to go try the thermal baths. We walked all through town and it was very pretty buildings despite how grey the weather was. Everything is so old and its very obvious that everything is post soviet. The Hungarian people just look sad and worn and everyone smokes. Like i actually think I might get lung cancer just from being here for the weekend. Pretty sure it is a right of passage when you start kindergarten to light up your first smoke. It's like hey boy you made it, smoke up. They learn to tie their shoes and light a lighter and roll a cigarette and say the ABCs all on the first day.

Many Hungarians don't speak any English though so this is the first place I've been where it is very very hard to communicate with people. However once we bought our tickets for the thermal baths it took us like 20 minutes to figure out how to open the lockers and find the baths. We also forgot to think ahead and didn't bring towels. So after relaxing in the baths and saunas and trying to not look around because its all old people in speedos - hot stuff - we had to dry off but we had no towels. Such a problem. So I decided I'd dry off using a hair dryer. It was so resourceful and worked out very well but then Caroline and I had to creep through the upstairs to our locker room naked. Who can say they have went streaking in a Hungarian bath? Obvi me. 

We then found a cute little cafe on the way home. Everything in Hungary is so cheap!!! My full hot meal plus desert was 8 dollars and in Sweden it would've been like 40. It was cool though I tried Hungarian food - idk what it was but it was good. They are really into meat and more meat so it isn't like you can go wrong - unless you are veghead (sorry Michelley).  But then we stopped at a grocery store on the way home and I got a bottle of win for 2 dollars. Win!!! A full basket of groceries and a bottle of wine for 14 dollars - I could get used to that. They didn't ID me either because the drinking age in Hungary is birth. 

We came back to the Hostel (Hi 5 Hostel - literally best Hostel ever). We then played their version of Kings Cup, which is a little different than how we play it at home - a little more intensive on the drinking but hey aren't we always trying to ramp it up. Then we went on a bar crawl - but Caroline and I weren't much up for crawling, so after getting a shot of the nicest vodka in the bar for $2.50 (literally a joke) - we got some pizza (.75cents a slice - jokes again) and headed back to the hostel.

To Be Continued....

x0x0x0

Flying in a Snow Globe

Wednesday morning I went to class and left straight to the train station with a cheese and salami sandwich on hard bread in hand. After a quick train ride to Stockholm I hopped on a bus to the skvasta airport which is not the usual airport you flight into to Sweden but its the airport that the wonderful Ryan air flies out of. So then after going through security which is 10000x chiller than the US. 

So after getting some gummies for the plane I was so ready for Budapest. Random side note - swedes love their gummy candy but they are usually pretty hard and that's how they like it. And gummies also come in the bulk candy containers which is great!! #rip the bulk candy containers in the dorms. As we walked to the plane I could barely see because I was literally in a snow globe. 

After siting on the plane for a half an hour they began de-icing the plane which I think it would've been more convenient to have done that before hand. So then I took a quick nap and when I woke up I was expecting the plane to be ready to go.... But nope. Obviously it's RyanAir. So then it was time to de-board the plane because the airport closed their runways due to the fact we live at the North Pole. 

So my plane was supposed to leave at 4 and by 530 we were all back inside the airport and were told they would reassess the snow situation at 730. I was just laying around being pissed off listening to my boy timeflies when an announcement was made that if you were on the delayed flights you get 5 euros free at the bar/cafe but 5 euro is like 42 kronor and the only thing you could buy was a croissant or a cookie. Gee whiz thanks I'll pass. So then I heard the word Budapest over the intercom and I literally was up and at the gate within 3 seconds. So finally by 8 we were up in the air. Thanks to all the elves who were plowing the snow in the North Pole. 

Then once in Budapest we hopped on a bus which was literally aluminum box on wheels to the metro which was also an aluminum box on a track. Then walked to the hostel and by that time it was midnight so I googled where the closest McDonalds was and got myself one classy American meal, took a shower, and then passed out. Oh and the chocolate shakes and fries are just as good as they are in America.

To be continued......

Xoxoxo

p.s i have this new profound love for America - not saying I don't love Europe because it is absolutely amazing - but like so is America... as those weirdos say "I AM A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD"

Brb Sweden

The weather has significantly improved in the past week - it is now roughly 25 everyday with a high of like 32 degrees. Its almost time to start wearing shorts basically. I was able to pull out the new purple vest I bought at H&M for 30 dollars. The thing with the H&Ms (plural because every store looks like H&M on the inside - its kinda freaky, like a store warp) however, the stores here have very little organization. The H&M is three floors in city center and all three floors have a womens section - its very confusing, like why can't one floor be women, one men, one children and randoms. Whatevs, classic swedes.

Speaking of Swede things, Meatballs are a god-send. Meatballs are among my favorite swedish food by far. You just buy them in bulk at ICA (Club ICA as Caroline and I prefer) and they take like 7 minutes to cook and delicious. I have yet to try a semla which is basically just a big cream puff, but I don't like cream very much. However I love chockladbullar which are little chocolate balls that are uncooked and it is like chocolate with butter and oats and then rolled in coconut. They are like truffley things and delicious. I like to have those at Fika. Fika as I have probably said before is like coffee/tea and snack time. So most of the nations offer fikas on different days because drinking coffee is a much more social thing in Sweden, they don't do the whole grab and go before work or class like Americans. But Swedes drink so much coffee is absurd, we have coffee break in all of my classes. My professor said you can tell who is an international student versus a Swede depending on who leaves the classroom to get coffee during the break. I still don't plan on ever liking coffee so whatevs. The other swedish foods that top my favorite list is their bread. They eat hard bread, so it is basically like a cracker but I love them! Wasa are for sure my favorite (wasa.com). Also I really like pitty-padma (sp??) which is traditionally whatever you have left over chopped up and cooked together but the kind I like and the kind they sell at ICA is potatoes, ham, and onions so it is a nice little side dish with eggs because it is basically like american hash. Other than those foods the food is pretty similar and nothing too crazy, except I still haven't experienced a traditional smorgasboard :(

I have just been going to class, exploring the city (running helps because I run through fields or different parts of town and get more acquainted with my area), and trying to be a swede. Caroline and I have deemed every saturday - tourist saturday and we will just do super touristy things so that we can explore Uppsala and we are planning a trip to Stockholm soon. Like last weekend we went to see the Cathedral which is the tallest building in Uppsala and it is so beautiful. I really wish that America had old buildings like that and it is nice that the tallest building is a beautiful landmark and not some stupid high-rise (aka Landmark in AA or industrial buildings). It is called Uppsala Domkyrka, which is the swedish word for Cathedral and it is definitely in my favorite top 3 spots of Uppsala. But as we are attempting to be more swedish, the other day we went to a birthday party for one of my friends friend the other day and we were the only americans which was super fun because they were all swedish and we usually only meet internationals. They were the nicest people I had ever met - like when I thought I lost my phone for a hot second #classic, they helped me looked for it and checked in the next day to make sure I found it. Also the girls were the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. They were the Swedish stereotype of tall, blonde hair, and BEAUTIFUL. I am still not feeling the Swedish boys but whatevs.

 Swedes are very very honest people and it shocks me how some of their systems work compared to in America. For example, like in America when you go to  the DMV and get a number and wait til your number is called that is how every place in Sweden is whether it is the bus station, the migration board, or even some stores. I kind of like it though because it avoids waiting in lines and the whole issue of budging (throwback to the 1st grade). But also the other day I had to print something out and you just go to the student union and print and then after you receive your pages you pay for however many pages you print, but it is all on the honor system. Like that would never work at school - I'd be like hell yeah printing is free bitchez. But I guess that adds to why they are such nice people compared to us ignorant americans.

However, what I was printing is the exciting thing. It was my boarding pass to go to BUDAPEST. Caroline, Amanda, and I are off to Budapest for 5 days tomorrow morning!!! I am beyond excited - so today before I go work at the pub I have just been packing, doing laundry, making dehydrated apples for airplane snacks (they are so good but take soooo long - 15 hours!!!), and procrastinating writing my paper for my class. What I am really hoping to do is to just go and be super touristy in Budapest and try hungarian food and the thermal baths (told you I needed to bring my swimsuit Kiley!!!) So I will be MIA for a few days and then I'll be back with Budapest updates and all!!!

Until next time....

x0x0x0

Mhmmitsmeatballs

Today I went to Ikea and had Swedish Meatballs with pepper cream sauce, mashed potatoes, and lingonberries. It was delicious. That is all.

x0x0x0

Just being kinda swede-ish

I have learned a few more things since my last post

1. People aren't used to sharing drinks
2. Australians be cray
3. I SUCK at washing dishes
4. The earlier you go out - the earlier you get home - and the more awake you'll be for class
5. grocery stores have better discounts during the day (and i still rock at grocery shopping)
6. i am over prepared for these class without even trying #michigandifference
7. running in sweden is cool
8. not having a microwave isn't the end of the world like i presumed
9. i am thankful to not be on a program
10. if you fall when walking down a hill, it's so casual
11. Pear cider is the shit

Due to the high price of alcohol here, and I mean HIGH price of alcohol, people are not used to sharing drinks or buying drinks for others. At the club last night - which was actually super super fun. It was at Snerikes Nation and down stairs I was sick of listening to bad american pop music so then we ventured up to top floor and found the hip-hop room to get my true groove on. But I ran into one of my roommates Jacob out at the club and I was talking to him and took his beer and had a sip and he just kind of stared at me very confused. I was thirsty, whoops not sorry about it.

So at the club I met some australians who go so hard - like stupid hard. We decided to leave and do

 the good samaritan thing and took this Aussie home. I don't know his name but I do know where he lives, that he is in Varmlands nation, is from Perth, and has super crazy hair as Caroline described - Dragon Ball Z hair, but actually. It was comical dragging this boy on the bus and in the elevator to his room; I was just happy he didn't vom.com on us.

I SUCK at washing dishes - and I don't mean like my pots and pans when I am cooking at home. I started working in the cafe at my frat and I had to wash the dishes from lunch. Granted I know how to use big dishwashers because of my wonderful wonderful job at home (FUCK BDUBS) I usually don't have to do the dishes. I was in the back after lunch was over slaving away scrubbing the lasagna pans and somehow the boy i was working with was perfectly clean and me i was sopping wet hmmmph. Hopefully i recruit some boy to do the dishes for me when I work on Friday - girls shouldn't have to wash dishes. But as for working at the frat, besides the fact i get paid shit, it is fun it is a nice way to meet people and fill up my free time. I am trying to move on up to work in the pub rather than the cafe but i will keep you posted.

Last night we started pregaming at 7pm. Yeah that's right, usually when I would be laying in my bed napping at the Abbey or making tacos with Abbz, I was pregaming. We then go to the club at 830 because we didn't want wait in a long line (Q - as they call lines here) and you don't have to pay cover if you get in before 9. So there was barely a line so we got in around 845 which was nice because we only had to pay for coat check which was 10 kronor (aka $1.50) as opposed to 90 kronor ($13.50) - after 9pm. Although it seems odd to start drinking that early it was kind of nice because I had gone out and had a great time and was in bed by midnight and totally ready for my 10am class.  Unlike some other people who were like "OMG I shouldn't have stayed out so late because I had class this morning" - like who are you ?? At home we stay out until like 230 and who cares if you have class the next day and a 10am isn't even bad! Maybe if it was an 830 but 10? Cmon, get real and grow a pair.

Grocery stores have great discounts during the day. Meat is really expensive here but when I went they were having a sale on beef so I totally stocked up. Now I can have burgers for dayzzzzz.  And chocolate bars and gummies are great in sweden CAAAAANDY!

So i had my first discussion class yesterday and granted we had to have read 300 pages for class and I read ummm 30? But the girls in my class were freaking out that they still had 30 pages left to read and I was like if you know anything about politics in general you can figure this shit out - but then I realized I go to Michigan (GO B1UE) and she went to South Florida. South Florida, Mouth Morida - blah. Also no one knew basic things I figured any polisci major would know like Duverger's Law. Sorry I go to Michigan. But then it was kind of annoying because my discussion wasn't learning more about Swedish politics, it was me explaining american politics to the rest of the class. They still don't understand Super Pacs and our campaign finance - too bad I know way too much about Citizens United for my own good. Shout out to Shermzzz Pucket - miss youuuu!

I went for my first run in Sweden the other day and despite how cold it was - it was great because everything is so pretty here. Literally ran from a city center to a countryside - so cool.

My apartment doesn't have a microwave and i thought that it would be detrimental to my life. Like def on the top 25 of worst things that happened to me, but now i have learned to live without it. You just have to heat things up in the oven or stovetop - although it takes more time it makes me feel more like a real person. I would like to think I will be anti-microwaves when I return but let's be real, it is just sooooo easy.

Although it is harder sometimes being an exchange student and just thrown into swedish life opposed to being in a program. I met some girls in a program and they are kind of forced to be friends with eacother and do things together even if they don't like eachother and if any of you know me - that would not fly with me. If i don't like you…. k byeeeeeee. Also i feel more like a real person living like a swede instead of being an american just raging in a different country, sight-seeing during the day and hanging out with kids from my program. no offense to anyone in programs.

There is this huge hill outside my dorm that you have to walk down to get to the grocery store or the bus stop and sometimes Caroline and I like skating down it because it is so slippery. But now that it keeps warming up and then raining and then re-freezing it is sooooo slippery. Also my shoes don't have any traction so I have been contemplating just bringing a trash bag and sliding down it instead of wobbling down. I just don't want to look like a dweebus. However, it is nice to know that if you fall or wobble people will catch you instead of laughing at you because everyone is struggling.

And finally, beer sucks and PEAR CIDER IS THE SHIT. It is soooo good and they sell it everywhere. If you go to the liquor store you can get different strength levels of beer and cider here which is nice because I like the strong stuff. But pear cider is definitely a cheaper alternative to vodka and tastier alternative to beer. Pear Cider #ftw 

Sorry for the length - but until next time bitchezzz

x0x0x0

P.S watch this video - its great!!!! SHOUT OUT TO PAIGE NEWMAN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o

Meet Johann

Johann is one of those boys that you meet and the next time you see him you pretend you didn't meet him.

We were waiting for the bus the other day and he came up to us and knew we were internationals and started chatting us up. He was studying abroad the whole year and is from Monterey Bay, California. He kinda just urked us out - also I was the only one who noticed that he was going to a party alone and had been here for 6 months already, but whatevs. We parted our ways hoping to never see him again.

However, at open mic night not only did he show up and was the opener for the open mic night his friends were sitting at our table, so he sat right next to us. He awkwardly was like "hey guys! how are you" and tried to remember our names; however, he remembered my name, didn't remember Amanda's, and referred to Caroline as Carol. Lawlz. Carol. 

To make matters worse he opened with an acoustic version of "I just had sex" and said it was dedicated to all the new internationals that just arrived. 

I posted a video below because it was just too funny not too. Hopefully we don't have anymore run-ins with Johann and Johann I am sorry if you found my blog and are reading this.

Hej! Mitt namn är Mira

So as I'm finishing up my first week being a Swede it is getting a little better each day. Sometimes I feel like I could be doing more but then I look back at my day and realize I've done something new or different everyday and it is only the first week. However as the days go by I am becoming more and more swedish. By the time I get back I will have forgotten how to speak english, only eating meatballs, and wearing clothing similar to lederhosen. 

Last night was my first time going to a club at a nation. It was a lot of fun just because everyone just goes to dance and have a good time. However I learned that Swedish people don't bump, grind, gyrate, or have sex on the dance floor which was actually wonderful not having to worry about being groped by some rando. But swedish boys are also very reserved so although these swedish boys were dancing like jamming out with us all night Amanda and I couldn't tell if that was them flirting or not - so ill report back on swedish boys hook up tactics hopefully sooner than later ;) 

However the club we were at was doing a pop night so the swedish songs they played were great and now I know a good popstar named Veronica. But the American music they considered pop was ummm very dated. It was weird because Cher, Greenday, Beach Boys etc would come on the swedes were loving it and I was like yeah no not music I want to hear. Where's my girl Rihanna and my boy Macklemore? I also was kind of upset they didn't play any Avicii or Swedish House Mafia but I think it's cause it was a bad dj. So k byeeee Gotlands Club. 

Other than that I had class today and it was a 2 hour lecture with an hour break in between and then another 2 hour lecture. It wasn't bad at all. The teacher gave us 2 10-minute coffee breaks which was weird but at least he's considerate of people with small bladders. During the lunch break me and a few American girls I met in my class went to lunch at a nation. I felt so swedish. Two of the girls were from university of Illinois, 1 from Gustavus (MN represent what what), 1 from UND, and 1 from UConn. Two of them were nice and normal, the others though k byeeee. 

Now I'm just doing some homework, working on my side trips (so if anyone has recommendations or input holla back) and just chilling out and watching Shameless which Laura got me hooked on like 2 days ago (hi from sweden laura) until I go to hopefully a better club than last night. And when I say club pronounce it "cloob" - its much more swedish. 

Until next time x0x0x0

As the settling goes

So lately there hasn't been anything extremely monumental happen yet. It is still a lot of settling in and just getting used to getting around town and doing random international student activities. I would say that at this point I am a pro at the buses. Although today I was riding the bus home from class and I pressed the button to get off and the bus just kept driving right passed my stop. The bus goes in a loop though so it wasn't a big deal because then I just stayed on and rode around and got to see more of the outskirts of town which was nice, not something I could choose to do, but nice.

I am also getting better at understanding what things are at the grocery store. The swedish are very big with putting food in tubes like toothpaste, especially cheese and spreads. The most popular is caviar spread, which I obviously didn't try. And then there is like shrimp, bacon, ham, and other random things. I got the goat cheese one because it at least seemed normal and its not bad at all actually. 

More of the phantom flat mates have moved in. It was just because most of them were gone on holiday still, so it is me, Caroline, two german girls (one is really quiet and the other is very nice and friendly, Carlotta), the african boy, and then swedish boys (one who has yet to make an appearance). So its nice to not feel like I'm the only one living in this apartment, but I do wish that they were closer with eachother but I will deal. 

A couple floors below us had a party last night and we went to go check it out to see what their parties are like so I know what to expect when I actually go to one and when my flat has one on the 8th. The few things I learned was 1) you can wear sweatpants or a dress and heels and no one gives a fuck 2) bring your own alcohol because otherwise there will be none 3) don't go sober 4) even if it's your flat there will be probably 75+ there that no one from your flat knows at all. People literally just hear about parties and go. It was like a mini-frat party in these little corridors. Like this one even had a DJ and strobe lights. It was very bizarre. Not how we throw parties back in the states, because they actually plan their parties for weeks and advertise them; whereas for us, Alexa (shout out to my bitch back home) on Wednesday will be like "let's have a party Friday" and then we are all like kk. But I didn't stay too long because I didn't want to miss my first class and it was early this morning.

My class, Swedish Politics, was nice because it seems to me to be the equivalent to Polisci 111 at Michigan yet I'm getting 300-level credit for it. Score. But its just a paper and a mini-exam and the lectures are optional, but the 3 seminars are mandatory which isn't bad at all. I meet with this class a total of 10 times before its over so that is cool. Then my next classes start and I figured out my schedule for the other classes so now its time to start planning my side trips! YAYYYY!!!

And finally the last few things I have done in the past couple days is I went to my first Swedish Fika. Fika is like where they have coffee and tea and cakes and cookies and just chill out. It is very casual; like apparently if you want to go on a date with someone you ask them to a fika - if they take you to dinner that's the real deal because it is so expensive. But Caroline, me, and this girl Sara went to fika at Varmlands nation the other day. It was fun and cool because it was super swedish thing to do. Varmlands is a nice nation, it is one of the more fun nations that we have been recommended to join. However, I think I might join Snerikes because I hear they have great parties, and you get in for free if you belong (Tuesday is their big night) and they pay their student workers the most and they are allowed to drink for free after they are done working and get free meals. So I am going to Snerikes for dinner tonight to check it out and I will probably go back to their club later tonight.

Other than that yesterday we went to an international student Pub Quiz at Smalands nation. It was fun, we lost by a half a point which was stupid. But Caroline, me, and this girl Amanda (who is from Miami, I like her a lot) sat with two dutch girls, a girl from Sri Lanka, and a finnish boy. It was fun; although I bought my first and only Swedish beer. It was the equivalent to $5.50 for a tall beer and let me tell you it was hard to finish it. Yuck. But I did make it to the liquor store, Systemblot, which is the only place you can buy alcohol because Sweden has a monopoly on it and it can only be sold at Systemblot; so I got myself some vodka - although it seems overpriced to me, but I am just glad it isn't Karkov or Crown Russe. 

Sorry this post was so boring there just wasn't anything too fun or funny that happened. However, once arriving I was hoping that I would find a Swedish Prince to wife me up, but I don't think that will happen just because the Swedish boys tend to be skinny, blonde boys and I def prefer dark haired boys who don't wear smaller pants than me but we will see ;)

Laterzzzz x0xx0 

Tidbits, or tidlongs, of Day 1/2

Wake up in the morning feeling like a snowman... basically is how I think Kesha would describe Sweden and how I felt waking up this morning. Except for the fact I had my space heater on full blast, but the sheet of a blanket that was given to us during move-in was not sufficient obviously and I didn't have time to go to Ikea until today. However, the fact I have my own room and my own bathroom, which I would like to describe as a quarter bathroom, is still very nice. Our bathrooms have a toilet, a sink, a curtain in the corner with a shower head that is a hose connected to the sink and a drain in the middle of the bathroom. I think its the equivalent to how we clean animals in the US but it really isn't that awful.

My flat, corridor, dorm, floor whatever you'd like to call it is very very very UNsocial. So that was very uncomforting to me and Caroline (the other Michigan girl) when we moved in. We met a german girl briefly and she was nice and quiet, but I can't pronounce nor remember her name. Whatevs. Then I met a boy from some country in Africa that I had never heard of but nodded my head and was like "oh yeah totally I have lots of friends there"... lawlz. He was really cool though; I was in my room unpacking and he was playing Drake and Lil Wayne so I went out and was like this is my jam and then he was telling how Wayne is coming to Stockholm soon and I was like "yo boy tell me when the tickets are fo sale and I be there" he was like "coo, I'm so down" - so now we are besties, except I don't know his name either. Other than that Caroline and I haven't seen the other 6-8 people who are supposed to live here, so we just really don't think anyone does. I'll keep you guys posted but for now we think we live in a phantom flat. The other flat on our floor is always playing loud music so we went and met them today and they were really nice so I think I'll try to be friends with them but who knows. 

Other than that basically Caroline and I have just been running a lot errands. Yesterday I got my housing keys and my welcome package. I met a lot of international students in lines and such. I met more Canadians than I would have ever imagined or wanted to meet in my life. Also a lot of people from the Netherlands, Holland, Australia, Poland, and some place named Cyprus. I haven't met that many Swedes yet but I think once I start classes and join a nation (aka a Swedish Frat) and hopefully get a job I will meet more. 

Also yesterday I ventured to the grocery store which is only like a 3 minute walk from my flat. It was really hard to figure out what a lot of food was and to figure if I was paying too much for food since the exchange rate is so bizarre. For every american dollar it is about 6 swedish crowns aka kronor. So when I saw the box of oreos for 60 kronor I was super bummed, but I bought these really good mint chocolate cookies called ballerinas I think? But other than being a very big hassle on trying to find the food I wanted the grocery store, ICA, and I will soon become very good friends. (Swedish Hint - bring your own grocery bags or else you will be charged for the bags you use/are forced to buy).

Then after showering in the watering hole and making a frozen pizza for dinner (BY THE WAY MY FLAT LACKS A MICROWAVE!!! Awful!!!) it was time to go to bed. Caroline and I did a lot today, a lot of un-fun things.

We started off the day by walking from our flat to campus, which we were told was about a 20 minute walk, but is definitely 45 minutes+ because we didn't know how to figure out the bus system yet. And the fact that is was -2 degrees didn't make us very happy. However, our first stop was the international office to get our schedules which I was very very happy about. I am taking 4 classes, but one for each month I am here. So my first class is Swedish Politics and the times vary per week. Example the first week I have class Tues, Thurs, Fri, the second week I have Tues, Wednes, Thurs, the third week I only have class on Wednesday, and the last week I have Thurs and Fri. This will be nice to leave lots of time for exploring (the tundra), traveling, and getting a job.

So after that Caroline and I went shopping downtown to get necessities and a go-phone. We got these Nokia phones that literally weigh .000001 of a lb. Throwback to the early 2000's, so if anyone knows any good polyphonic ringtones - holla at your girl. Also if anyone knows how to turn T9 off of Swedish, get at me or should I say comma åt mig. Then we bought our bus passes. And let me tell you after riding the bus 5 times today I would say I will be a pro by like Wednesday. We had lunch at a burger place, Max's, the Swedish version of McDonalds and I guess they think plain cheeseburger means baby sized cheeseburger, but whatevs that trans fat will get you everytime anyways. 

Then real life Ikea, oh man let me tell you it is crazy. So we did some shopping for some real blankets and dishes because we are scared of the phantoms plates because they don't look very clean. So after a very long day we made it back and then I went to meet with my "buddy", Axel. We hung out for a little bit but he was going on ski-trip and will be back on Wednesday. He was cool though and he will be a nice person to be able to hang with out and tell me about things in town to do (like which nations (swfrats) are popping).

Sorry that this post was so long, if you made it this far I promise you it won't be this long all the time!!! There is just a lot going on right now. So other than that, I'd like to give Lauren Rouff a shout out because her dance group is having a dance performance tonight back at Michyyy YAYYYYY RHYTHM TAP GROUP! Despite how busy I have been there are points of the day where I get really homesick and sad, so tomorrow Caroline and I are going to the liquor store to help with that....

Until then bitchezzz x0x0x0

And let the traveling begin

It's comical how much I stick out as an American without even trying. While going through security and customs in Germany they automatically speak to me in English. Or once I stare at them blankly for long enough  then they repeat themselves in English. So I flew on a German airline, Lufthansa - don't ask me to pronounce it because as much as I try I always feel wrong. The only real language barrier I experienced so far is that the flight attendant didn't understand when I said vodka - she said "we have juice, diet coke, coke, and sprite". So that's either her not understanding that I was trying to get bombed on the flight or she thought I wasn't old enough to drink. It might be the fact I'm carrying a stuffed animal through the airport but hey Wishbone wants to be a world traveler too. What would Sweden be without my best dog; however the traveling hasn't been too kind to his coat so we might look into getting him some new stylish Swedish clothes. 

As for the rest of the first flight it wasn't bad. Except for the fact that wine and cognac were offered twice after dinner and not to me. Hmmph. And that I slept through breakfast but otherwise I slept contently trying to combat the jet lag battle early.

The bathrooms in the Frankfurt airport are basically an upgraded biffy - legitimately a closet turned into a bathroom. If only my layover was longer and I understood what the bartender was saying then I would've had a drink before my second flight. Although my layover was at 830am there were plenty of people in the airport drinking - now that's what I like to see and could get used to.  But instead ill just sit with my iPhone, iPod, wishbone, northface backpack, and northface coat with the word "American" stamped across my forehead.