holy crap... i've been here how long?!

ahhhhhhhhhh it is October 17!!!!! I've been living this here in Sweden for over 2 months now... amazing. I haven't written a blog entry in forever, i know. So much has happened since my last entry.. i don't even know where to begin. first i guess i could just say how happy i am. life here seems normal now... i really really cannot believe that i have an entire other life across the ocean. i love the people here so much and have been learning so much about myself and this world through this experience. sometimes the things in life that are the most beautiful also cause the most pain. although we all try to avoid talking about it, the closer i get to people here, the more i realize what a broken heart i will have when i leave.
ok. well instead of crying, i will tell you more about what has gone on here.

it is officially fall here... the leaves are changing and it is incredibly beautiful. it rains a little more often now, the days are getting shorter, and it is chilly outside, but it all seems natural and i am really enjoying it. okay, not enjoying biking to school in the rain so much, but this kind of weather breeds bonding times.. lots of movie watching, lots of cooking for each other, lots of chillin, and my favorite, LOTS of dancing. The one salsa club in malmö is closed for the winter. awesome. great news. i went one time. ah! but its okay... we dance often in the kitchen or take over the music at parties so i still get to get my latin dance on. every time however, i makes me miss you guys at home... my friends here have seen me go crazy with that, as i talk about my love for bachata, and they have seen the other loco side... HAIRSPAY. i have seen it 4 times since being here, listened to the soundtrack to many to count, won international students to be fans of it as well, and gone crazy with my own creative choreography to it in the kitchen. oh! and the spaniards have also started to teach me to dance flamenco!!! yesssssssss! so good.

so here are some pics of what has been going on in my life:

wonderful spaniards serenading me from my window:


mmm that's right. went to see JASON MRAZ in concert:


after the concert, nano and i terminated a pint of ben and jerrys... viva america!!!:


On October 4th, it was National Cinnamon Bun day here in Sweden so of course we made the most amazing calorie loaded cinnamon buns of my life... this is the process:

step one. kneed dough:


step 2. add butter. lots of butter. an insane amount of butter:


step 3. add massive amounts of sugar and cinnamon and roll into bun shapes:


step 4. bake and enjoy the final result!!!!!!:


The cinnamon buns were delicious, especially when you dont think about how much butter is actually in them....

walking around the city one evening:


a beautiful sunset from the boardwalk harbor area:


laughing with friends out to coffee:


i voted from sweden!!!!!! apparently this mug is the most american thing ever...:


Well as i finish this entry, i just feel beyond blessed to be here as well as deeply missing all of you from home. i am so thankful for SKYPE and it makes my day whenever i talk to anyone i love on it. (evan... this message is for you even if you are not reading my blog... get a freaking skype.) ok! please let me know what is going on in your lives as well! i promise it won't be another month before i write again:)

my norwegian adventure :)

and what a trip it was! last friday becky, my friend from australia, and i left on a night bus to Oslo at 11 pm. We looked ridiculous biking to the station, bundled up and wobbling from the bags hanging on the handle bars thinking to ourselves "what are we doing?!" The bus was less than restful... I was exhausted when we arrived in Oslo completely disoriented at 6 am. The city was asleep except for the large gypsy woman stumbling around the bus station. Excellent. We took an 8 am train to Bergen. The train ride is rated as on of the top 20 train rides in the world and it really was beautiful. Okay, so I slept the first couple hours, but I woke up to amazing views of mountains and glaciers.

View from the window:


The train stopped to let us take pictures of the glaciers:


We ended up meeting with a group of Australians from the exchange program who were in Bergen at the same time as us which was really nice. Bergen is a small town in the middle of the mountains and called the "gateway to the fjords." It was also ridiculously expensive. This goes for all of Norway really... a hamburger meal from mcdonalds is about $25 USD. WHHATTT?? yes. horrifying i know. We tried to bring food with us so that we would spend less money... and as a result I had ramen noodles for breakfast twice. Nothing like it to get you going in the morning!! We are so lucky because we had incredible sunny weather the entire time we were in Bergen. Bergen is the city that gets the most rain in all of Europe... it's record was 80 days STRAIGHT of rain!!! I am so glad that didn't happen when we were there...

the harbor area:


posing with the harbor:


other side of harbor:


Bergen by night:


with friends! it was a little cold...:


on the fjord cruise:


a house:


mountains:


So after almost 3 days in Bergen, we took the night train to Oslo. Oslo was cloudy and cold, but it is a beautiful city. We saw the opera house, went to the palace, an incredible sculpture garden, and the Nobel Peace Center which was amazing.

early in the morning at the opera house:


incredible imitations by me and becky:



I loved this statue:


We took a ferry overnight from Oslo to Copenhagen. This was our room:


We had such a great time on the trip, but I definitely was glad to get back to Malmö. After being here for over a month, it really is starting to feel normal for me to be here and I really love it. I have really bonded especially with the students from Spain.. they were upset that I hadn't mentioned them yet, so here I am! I understand almost everything when they speak and it makes me feel more at home being with them... they are very warm people, loud and crazy... I fit right in ;)

I love them:


My amazing Vecino who lives across the hall, Nano:


I will miss them so much when I go home, but we try not to talk about it. And they all have invited me to Spain, so I think I will hit that up this summer! I am so glad to finally really be happy to be here. It it is weird to feel so connected to people and places across the world, but I think this is going to be my life. I'm okay with it :)

copenhagen and more

this week i celebrated my one month anniversary of being here in sweden... i can't believe it! the time has gone by so quickly. my classes have started to get a little more intense. it is strange to have class only twice a week, but there is a lot to do in between. we had a "bring a dish" dinner with all the exchange students this weekend and i made an american classic: s'mores! i had to use the microwave since building a campfire indoors was problematic, but they were good and somewhat well received. when someone liked it, i told them "come to america!!!!!" i do this as often as possible, actually... just trying to spread some good parts of the USA whenever i can. last week, one of the swedish girls who lives on my hall prepared swedish food. we ate herring, potatoes, eggs with caviar, cheese and toast. it was... not italian. haha, well i liked the potatoes...



yesterday, i finally went to Copenhagen. it was so beautiful... a much bigger city then malmö, and reminded me a little of new york. it's weird to think that i went to another country and came back in a day, but what a day it was! after following a walking tour of the city including the oldest theme park in europe, the little mermaid statue, the Nyhavn Canal, and the Rosenborg Castle, we spent the afternoon in a park, basking in sunlight. it was fantastic!!!

the group in front of the theme park:


at the canal:


america is everywhere:


next to the tallest man in the world:


that's right.. awkward turtle!! from usa to sweden, denmark, and spain...


in the palace square... st. peter's look alike!!! italy in denmark!!


ferocious:


innocent next to the little mermaid? maybe just strange...:


danish church:


playing dead in the park:


well at the end of this week i am heading to NORWAY which should be awesome.. i'll let you know how it goes ;)

words to live by:

today i love sweden :)

the last couple days have been perfect. the weather has been amazing and i have been able to go to the beach everyday... im so happy! today especially was incredible. i went down to the boardwalk by myself and soaked up the swedish sun all afternoon. i found a great italian gelato shop where the lady thought i was italian (holla!) and told me the price in italian.. super sweet. i feel so good right now, so i just want to show you all some pics from the last couple days...

down at the beach:


i love sun:


crazy old swedish man swimming:


gelato made my day:


the boardwalk:


what a blessing.

The semester begins...

First of all....
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!! I WISH I COULD BE WITH YOU TODAY!!!!!!!!!
*****
Wow, I can't believe I have been in Sweden for over 3 weeks!! I am finally understanding the layout of the city and am able to respond to someone at the grocery store with more than a stare and a smile. To get around everywhere, I ride a bicycle which is very useful, but seems like something out of a movie, especially when we are a mob of exchange students trying to get somewhere. There are bike paths everywhere which make it really easy to get around. Last week, we took trip to Lund, an old university town 30 minutes away. Last weekend we did a little tour of the surrounding area of Malmö, but typical of Sweden, it poured down rain the entire day.
Some pictures from the trip:

i'm in Sweden!!!:

enjoying the beautiful weather:

soaking wet:

teaching spaniards to be gangsta:

real Swedish Fish:


The Malmö Festival ended last week and there was a crazy electromusic concert... I have never seen anything like this. It was heart pumping music and people dancing like they were having seizures, and so much fun. I took a video which should help describe some of the craziness:

I am really starting to find a place in the city and in the exchange group. I am not in love with Sweden, but the people here are what make the experience so worthwhile. It is chilly and rains a lot and it breaks my heart that the next time I will feel real heat is next year, but I guess everything has a season. When it is good weather, however, the city is amazing. Today was fantastic and I couldn't stop smiling and saying "I am so happy!" I went down to the beach with some friends, which on a day like today, was breathtaking. The water is too cold for me to swim in, but there are crazy swedes who enjoy it. The grass is such a vivid green and contrasts so starkly with the open blue sky, the clouds, and Copenhagen in the distance. Here are some pics of the city:

chillin at the beach:

sunset in the city:

malmö by night:


I started classes last Friday and am really excited about the academic side of this semester. I am studying International Migration and Ethnic Relations (IMER for short) and it seems really interesting. It is going to focus a lot on refugees, immigration, and their results on people which seems fascinating. I am the only American in my class which should be pretty interesting. I'm also continuing Swedish classes so we'll see how that goes.

I am really having a great time here, but that whole culture shock thing is really starting to set in. This ISN'T italy and it's not America and i miss them both. Sweden is beautiful in its own way and I'm starting to appreciate that, but I STILL MISS YOU ALL!!

Hugs and kisses from Sweden.