I suck at blogging.

But alas, it's harder than it seems. I'm sure there aren't many people still following. Probably mostly because I don't update enough, but whatever right? Well, I want to invite anyone who's left to my day of return. I'm getting into O'Hare on Saturday, January 16 at 12:30 pm, if everything goes smoothly. I'd love to see you there.

So tonight I'm going to see Avatar by myself, and honestly, these past few weeks have been rough. My class is awesome and I love the teachers and the material and the people in it. And then there was Kiruna, such a winter wonderland in every sense. After we got back from Kiruna, it was a string of parties to say goodbye to people as they dropped away from my life, possibly and probably forever. It's hard to think about, but it's natural I guess. And since the great days of departures, I have been reading library books and watching Tillsammans and Ratatouille and reading more books and hanging out in the library cafe so I can have internet. They have the BEST kanelbullar here when they are fresh out of the oven. It's impossible to resist the smell. Plus, there's the International Herland Tribune and the Times daily, so I can read and catch up on the world.

Tonight, like I said, I'm going to the movies, and tomorrow I'm going to bake cookies and make icing and go to midnight service at Domkyrkan with Michelle and some of her friends. Then we are having a pancake breakfast and Christmas dinner! So I won't be all alone for Christmas after all. And after that, Sarah H. gets back and we will celebrate boxing day canadian style, lol.

So now, I need to not resist the kanelbulle that is calling my name, and say until next time, blog readers.

Russia and this week

Sorry it's been so long since I blogged. But, I don't have internet in my room and it's hard to remember to blog when you have limited time. Plus, everyone who reads this can get in touch with me in other ways and probably view pictures on Fb anyway.

I just got back from my Russia trip on Wednesday (see pics on Facebook), after my train back from Stockholm broke down somewhere in Småland and we had to wait for over an hour and the next train came and we all crowded onto it for the last 45 minutes of the trip and ended up getting back to Lund 2 and a half hours later than expected...ugh. And I lost a glove on the ferry back from Finland. So Wednesday wasn't that great until Sarah bullied me into going to VGs...then it was great fun. I love the guys that live in her corridor.

Russia was brilliant. It was so strange and foreign. When I first came to Sweden, I was a little uncomfortable, but being in Russia was much stranger than that. The Russian people aren't really nice to strangers, but our tour guides were great for the most part and everything was either beautiful and restored or rebuilt or being restored or rebuilt. The Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow is actually an exact replica of the 19th century cathedral built on that spot, just finished in 1995. All of the buildings in Russia (well, not ALL, but you get it) are very big and imposing. huge vaulted ceilings and statues and mosaics and everything.

Our hotel in Moscow was the nicer of the two...it was actually part of the Olympic Village for the 1980 Olympics (that the US boycotted). Moscow is HUGE. The official population is like 10.5 million, and from about 2 hours outside the city center is pretty much solid apartment buildings and stores. One of our bus stops was a Russian Wal-Mart type place, which was definitely the biggest store I've been in since the USA, except for maybe IKEA. I literally was getting lost in there. The other thing similar to the States was that a bunch of things in Russia are open 24h or really late, which is really unlike Sweden. The only things open on Sunday in Sweden are IKEA and the grocery stores, and maybe one cafe.

Anyway, bus trips are never much fun, especially overnight drives, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I may never go back to Russia again and I already got to tour the Kremlin and Lenin's tomb (CREEPY) and see all this crazy stuff. So while I'd've liked to stay longer, I'm happy with the way it turned out.

A Blog about Prague

(hahaha I'm so funny.)

So on Friday morning I packed up my things and rode my bike to the hospital at 5:15 am to catch the airport shuttle to Malmö. And a few stops later Simon got on! He and Juan and some others I didn't know were going to Prague then Vienna and Budapest for the weekend. So it was a nice coincidence to see him and talk to him on the way to the airport. After getting there everything went smoothly. It was just a long wait. The Malmö airport is very small, maybe like 12 gates tops. But the cool thing was these totally glass rooms in the terminal that are for smoking in. It was interesting. Like a little smoking closet.

As we waited to get on the plane (there are no assigned seats with WizzAir so everyone kind of crowds up) there was a group of Swedish men in front of me. DRUNK Swedish men. I found out later they were a bachelor party and had stayed up all night drinking (flight at 7:45) in preparation for their ridiculous weekend of raucous fun in Prague, apparently. And they were ridiculous. So walking down the ramp they were slurring...i Mean asking me about Indiana or something and behind me I found out there was a guy from Boston. He sat next to me and we talked the whole time. He's a computer programmer named Mike who's living in Malmö and working from home. He just moved to Sweden in July or something. So that was fun.

Kara came to meet me at the airport and we took the bus back into Prague where she gave me a map, we had a pastry thing that was filled with something black and delicious, and left me for class. I went to the free tour meeting point. The tour was AWESOME. I learned so much history and cool things and had so many good photo ops. I met a Kiwi named Stephanie who is traveling for like 8 weeks all around Europe. She was really nice and we exchanged emails and walked around for a while after the tour. So, anyone who is traveling, check out Sandeman's newEurope tours. They are free and super awesome. The tour guides work only for tips so they have to be good.

Then I left Stephanie and walked up to the national museum for some pictures and then back down to catch the tram to Kara's dorm. There I took a nap and shower and we went to a club/bar place near the Old Town Square. I forget what it was called. Mostly because everything in Czech is nearly unpronounceable. It was a good time with dancing and stuff. Seeing what another culture's social scene is like is always a surprise. In Prague, people were just dancing alone and the dress was much much more casual than in Sweden. There wasn't so much dancing just with people you know. People were genuinely fun. The downside is smoking indoors. It has been I don't know how long since I was in a bar that allowed smoking. (It was probably the Lew, lol.) So my clothes all smelled like smoke and my hair too the next morning. It was not pleasant.

On Saturday Kara and I took the tram to town and walked up to the castle/cathedral. St. Vitus' Cathedral is INSANE. It is just...immense. I don't how how to properly describe it without sounding ridiculous. You walk in and it just keeps going up. Hundreds of feet, that's no exaggeration. So that was VERY cool. We walked back down, got some street food on the way to have for lunch/that mid-afternoon meal that I've become so fond of. That night was Kara's friend Elsa's birthday and her friend and boyfriend were also visiting (from Munich). It turns out they go to the same school as Bianka and Antonia and all those people (small WORLD, for real.) It's funny because there are only ten students from that school studying in Lund, which is a small small percentage. How crazy is that? Really.

So that night we ate dinner (delicious chicken with bleu cheese and potato pancakes) at a student pub and then went to Karlovy Lazne, which is this ridiculous five story club that is supposedly the biggest club in Europe or something. It was pretty fun, for the most part. But it is SO big everyone kept getting separated. And I got creepily creeped on by a old fat man in a pink shirt and maroon tie. Ewww. I shiver just remembering it. But my favorite floor was the "retro" floor that had a light up dance floor and played things like songs from Grease and other throwback-y sorts of songs that everyone can sing along with. We stayed there until 2:30 and I had to get on the tram to go to the airport (flight back at 6 am) at about 3:15am. So I got McDonald's and started my long journey to the airport and home. I made it back to Lund and to my bike and eventually home, where I slept all day without moving.

It was a good weekend.

No internet :-(

I'm sitting in the Math Building Cafe right now because of the lack of internet in my room. I called the internet people again today and she promised that the technician would call me as soon as possible to come out to my room and check the plug in. The internet company is only responsible for the connection to the building, and if it is my jack that doesn't work, it's the landlord's responsibility, or something. So, it may get a little more complicated if that is the case. Oh well, the woman today was the most helpful so far.

Also, it's funny to me that every building is a 'house'. Because in Swedish, they use 'hus' for everything. Like, I am in the Math house right now, translated directly. But when you talk to a Swede, it's easy for them to forget to use the word 'building' or something because house is so easy to translate and everything becomes a house. I love learning about little language things like that. It's so funny. It's the same for the word for teach/learn. In Swedish, it's the same word. So Swedish people are constantly saying, "He was learning me" when they mean "He was teaching me". Cute.

Anyway, I'm going to move to the library to get away from the lunch rush of people that just descended around me. Ciao.

SENSATION

On Halloween, I didn't dress up as anything. Instead, I dressed in all white, and went to the National Soccer Stadium in Copenhagen for this big rave-dj-show-dancing extravaganza thing. Called Sensation White. (go to www.sensation.com, then it will all make sense).

It was AMAZING. First of all, just the sheer number of people (>10,000) was awesome. And everyone of those people was dancing at some point during the night. Everyone of those people dressed in all white and it's just a really cool feeling to be part of something like that. It was all (drinks, lockers, tickets) much more expensive than we're used to in Lund, but the music alone was worth it. The DJs were Erick E, Morten Breum, Axwell & Sebastian Ingrosso (two members of the Swedish House Mafia), Mr. White, and Tocadisco. I might have missed one in there while we took an eating break. But Morten Breum and the Swedish House Mafia were definitely my favorites. DJs are the most under appreciated musicians, and should definitely be more well known than they are. No really, you should go look these guys up and listen to some of their stuff. It's amazing.

And on top of all that, there were crazy go-go dancers and an incredible laser and light show and big screens everywhere with different images on them to go with the music. You really could just watch, but we were there to dance.

A couple bad things about events in Europe (or at least Denmark):
- No one knows how to queue properly. I had to pick up my ticket when I got there, and it was absolutely hellish. So much that they had to get like fifteen security guards to form a barrier so people like me wouldn't get squished.
- No one even bothers to look for a trash can, and even if they did, there definitely weren't enough in the place to hold all the cups and lids and cup carriers etc that were produced. The trash was ALL OVER the floor and you had to kick it out of your area to dance. Sarah told me, "I feel like we'll be climbing out of trash at the end of the night," which turned out to not be exactly true, but the stairs were almost unrecognizable.

Anyway, it was totally worth the ticket price (~$120) for the music alone. The crazy show was just added on top of that. Crazy people dressed in white = wow.

Tonight I have film class...then tomorrow I want to go to Malmö or Kristianstad or somewhere here in Skåne for a day trip. Then to Will's for a preparty and VGs. Then Thursday-Monday, I have free! Crazy, right? Maybe I'll do something nuts.

Oh and Monika is planning a trip tp Kiruna in December!! So I'm pretty excited about that.

Birthday Party!

...was a blast!
I was afraid it was going to be too crowded in our little korridor kök, but only about 14 people came, which made it perfect! We played a lot of flippy cup, a few games of beer pong, and thought about playing quarters (with authentic American quarters, whoa!) but never got around to it. Everyone has been telling me how great it was, for a Monday night. I learned a few things.

Spilling beer is a sign that people are having fun.
Portuguese men are competitive to the point of cheating(Franciscooooo....)
I should not be afraid to speak Spanish even if it completely sucks.
Birthday presents are good (Thanks Sascha!)
And if you think you bought enough beer, go back and buy that much again, cause it is never enough...

haha. Just kidding on that last one, but I thought I would have some left at the end of the night and I totally didn't. I forgot how much flip cup makes you go through, I guess. I also encouraged everyone to come to the states for the Indy 500. Just to show them American drinking spirit...and probably terrify them. Haha.

Ireland!

Ireland was incredible. I really want to go back and see more of the countryside and do more touristy things, but being a part of the whole environment was so great. The Irish people are very very different from Swedes. The Swedes have this idea that if people need help they will ask, or if they want to tell you about themselves, they will tell you. The Swedes are very good listeners once a conversation is started, but they probably won't offer help if you're standing in the middle of town holding out a map. They'll assume you have it figured out and will ask if you need to. The Irish on the other hand, have no boundaries. Everyone will ask about the scratch on your forehead or where you're from and what you're doing here and they genuinely want to know. You can become good friends with an Irish person in a night. They will get your information and contact you again, even just to say hello...but almost always they have talked long enough to find something in common with you and a need to bring it up later.

I got to the airport Thursday around 6pm, and Casey's friend Damian didn't get off work until 7, and Cole's flight wasn't in until 9pm. So, I sat around and read and ate the Bagel Factory --- OMG SO GOOD. I'm going to attempt to make an eggworks sandwich soon --- and waited for Casey and Damo. I went to the pub in the airport and got a Guinness (cliche, but delicious), and then Casey and Damo were there! We sat around and talked and I was already having a magnificent time, and then Cole got there which made it all even better! We went back to Damian's house where Megan and Melinda were (also SMC girls) and we got cleaned up, pre-gamed and went out to the Roost in Maynooth. It was a Halloween party so a lot of people were dressed up. One girl was even H1N1. I can't say that I remember this in the first person, but I'm told I met these guys that were amazed it was my first night in Ireland and kept buying me drinks. Ireland has Bulmer's, which is delicious yummy cider. The rest of the night is either a blur or completely gone. I woke up in bed with Meg and Mel, though, so the night turned out alright.

Friday we went into Maynooth again and ate at the Bagel Factory for breakfast (again it was delicious) and walked around the town and campus. The church there is really neat and the grass really is greener in Ireland. I don't know how or why, but it is. Then we caught the train to Dublin and checked into our hotel room. Damian works at a hotel, so he got a really good deal on this AWESOME apartment-hotel room. We were right on the Liffey and on the fifth or sixth floor. It was incredible. We hung out there for a while to try to recover a bit more and take in the amazing view. The rest of the day went something like this--Karl, Stephen, and Gavin were around here and there, we bought frozen pizzas and ate them. We drank some disgusting 6 euro wine and went to a place called the Porter House Brewery. There was a guitar man playing there who was pretty awesome. He played covers from all the good songs that you want to hear. It was weird hearing songs I actually knew. Needless to say, the rest of the night was just amazing. It was so great to be hanging out with old friends and new friends and just...being alive. We stayed up until 5 am...but every minute was worth it. We moved one of the couches so it sat right up next to the window-wall and just talked and looked out at the river for hours.

Saturday we got up and had the most AMAZING breakfast at the hotel. It was really amazing just because we were so hungry, I think. Scrambled eggs, Irish sausage, toast, fruit, and coffee. I did try a white pudding and a black pudding --which is no dessert. It's basically oatmeal and, as Damo put it, "pig bits" all kind of wadded together. The black pudding contains pig's blood, too. It was completely edible, but not very good or flavorful when you get right down to it.

We thought about going to the Jameson factory, but after staying up that long, I don't think anyone (except Cole) was really in the mood to walk that far and then drink whiskey. So we walked along Grafton street, which is a pedestrian street that has a ton of shopping and street performers -- musicians and statue-men. And these street performers are crazy-good. Like, insanely. I could have stayed and watched the string quartet for probably an hour or more. But we made our way to the end and laid around in St. Stephen's Green the rest of the day until we caught the train to Clonsilla, where Stephen lives. His mother made us the best dinner and it was so nice being in a home and having home cooked food that isn't made to feed just one. And they have a 4 month old golden lab named Lucy who was freaking adorable.

Then we went back to Maynooth to someone's else place...Sean's I think. And watched some X-factor before going back to Damo's to drop off our stuff and change and shower. We were planning on going to Mantra, which is a new club in Maynooth, but apparently it's pretty upscale. As in, they didn't let John in with vans on. So we went to another bar/pub called Brady's, which was pleasantly not packed, due to Mantra, for the most part. After having an absolute ball and getting thrown around by this guy in a South Carolina shirt, we went to Supermacs and I got my first curry chips (fries). Absolutely delicious. American's are too narrow-minded about fries. Branch out from ketchup!!! It's so worth it!

So it was absolutely wonderful, the next morning we all went to the airport, except Cole, who stayed til Monday, and flew to our respective homes. It made me really sad that Casey and Meg and Mel were all going to the States. But I don't know if it was like a jealous sadness or if I will be sad to leave when I go home. Time will tell.


Me, Cole, Damian and Sean Thursday night at the Roost


The Church on NUI-Maynooth's campus


View of the River Liffey and mountains in the background from our hotel in Dublin.