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.

crayfish+abba=crazy swedes.

Well this Crayfish Festival was definitely one of the strangest things I have ever witnessed. After Swedish class on Friday, all the exchange students were instructed to make these ridiculous paper hats for the festival that evening. We were told that the hats were a traditional part of the festival.. however, I did not see too many others sporting the same kind of headgear. Ridiculous... hahah!! We all headed down to the main square in Malmö later that afternoon and the craziness continued. The crayfish were passed out and the drinking began. There was a swedish band on the mainstage playing what sounded like american country bluegrass music. They put the words on huge screens so that everyone could join in the drunken singing. It seemed like something out of a movie... huge crowds of people linking arms and singing incomprehensible lyrics, and swaying to the songs. I thought that was crazy enough... then came ABBA...

I have heard that Swedish people love Abba. This was more than love, however. I don't think I have ever seen anything like it. A group dressed up as Abba came out in full costume and performed for hours. The entire crowd went nuts for this Abba impersonation group... singing and dancing with everything they had! Describing it doesn't quite do it justice...

I think it is something you have to see to understand, so I hope you enjoy these videos and pictures!!!

PICTURES:
i can't get the link to work, so just copy and paste to see the pictures...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2220272&l=dc538&id=7821429

Hej... jag kommer ifrån amerika!!!

some pics so far...





Well it's been a week now that I have been in Sverige aka Sweden. I've been taking swedish classes all week and im actually learning something although i feel ridiculous speaking the language.
Some swedish for you:

Hur mår du? Jag bor i Malmö. Ja talar lite svenska.

Eh? Good huh?
Well I have been having so much fun with the exchange students here. There is always something going on during the day and at night. We did a "pub crawl" with all the exchange students last saturday and we ended up at a place called "Cuba Cafe" where YES, there was a live SALSA band and dancing. Ah, perfect. I can dance even in Malmö! Some of the students from spain asked if I was spanish since I was singing along with the songs... HOLLA!! Yesterday in Swedish class we sang "head, shoulders, knees and toes" in swedish which was absolutely ridiculous. We also learned swedish drinking songs for the upcoming Malmö Festival and Crayfish Party which lasts a week and starts tomorrow. Don't worry.. I will take many pictures of the craziness. This is what one of our lectures said in regards to the festival "You will be very dirty, very drunk, and still hungry." Sounds great!!!

Well, I hope you enjoy the picture of the city and my time here so far.. the weather is absolutely schizophrenic. It will be sunny one second, raining hard the next, and then rain even if there is sun... I miss hot weather, but Sverige är bra!!!

they really are tall and blonde...

I'm alive and in Malmo!!!

I am beyond exhausted right now. I have started to settle in my room, gone grocery shopping, and met some people on the program. So far in my hall there are people from France, China, Spain and Holland. This is gonna be awesome.

Sweden is freakin beautiful... one of the first things i saw as we landed in Copenhagen were windmills everywhere. I'm so excited to really explore this city and get to know all these crazy internationals.
Oh! And good news! I have internet in my room, so I will actually be able to keep in touch via skype ect.

... and I'm not kidding. Everyone here is tall, blonde, and beautiful. I felt like a midget walking around the train station...

oh sweden.

"you're going where??"

well the adventure is almost about to begin. for the next 5 months i'll be an exchange student at the university of malmo. i'm not sure why i've chosen a country that gets very cold, has little sun in winter, and is famous for meatballs and abba, but off i go!

so it may not be italy.
it is sweden and i'm am very, very excited and cannot wait to see what will happen...

please keep in touch while i'm away! i'll try to actually do this whole blogging thing and let you know what's going on in my swedish life.
untill then, god ajö! (i hope that's right)