The First days in Sweden

Photo is of myself and Jyns the viking, the mascot of the Swedish team at the Nordic Games. (You'll hear about that in the next post)

Days 1-7 may come later, but for now they are written in my notebook. They are kind of depressing, but I finally started finding my way, and this is what happened in Sweden. . .

Swedish Journal – Day 7 – September 1, 2006
Went to class, we learned about water usage from Jennie Barron. Hard to believe that the class is one quarter of the way through. Magnus is pretty cool, but of course I’ve already got something to worry about. I have to have a grade for the class, so I’m hoping that there will be a way for me to get one. Here they just do the pass/fail system, which won’t get me any GPA points back home.
Went into town for lunch, I was just kind of craving some Mc Donalds, you know how it goes. I went to the bookstore and bought a planner, notebook and some maps. They of course are all in Swedish which I forgot about, but its ok. There are no bad experiences, only learning experiences. I then went to Snerkies Nation to try and join. I got all signed up and everything, but I forgot to check to make sure I had enough cash. It turns out I didn’t. I’m still not used to looking in my wallet and seeing 180 of any kind of money and thinking that its not a whole lot. Its ok, I’ll go back on Monday and get it all settled.
There was an international student meeting that I went to. I showed up pretty late, I’m also still getting used to the 24 hour clock. For some reason I saw 16.00 and equated that to 6:00 pm. Yeah, WRONG, so I found out I can run to campus in less than five minutes, which will be useful in the long run I’m sure. I caught the last guy’s little speech. He was talking about the student newspaper, I think I’ll write a few articles for it while I’m here.
I then went and did some hardcore facebooking/myspacing. I was politely reminded that it was Megan Coyle’s birthday, so I gave her a shout-out, and gave her a birthday present of a high phone bill by calling her on her birthday. Whooo-hooo, 21!!!!! I then came back to the corridor, changed some clothes real quick and caught a bus to town to go to one of the nations. It was okay, but very croweded. I also can’t really get used to the beef taste. Its all grass fed beef, and I can certainly taste the difference. I sat with the Purdue peeps. I think I’ve really found my group of Americans at least. They mentioned something about going to denmark in a couple of weekends. I think I’ll probably do that. We went back to Snerikes Nation for a club party. Not much of a club, I heard several songs three times. Not so cool, but the drinks were cheaper. I’m not much of a whisky drinker, but Jack and Coke were my friends tonight. There was one Swedish girl that came up to our table and wanted a cigarette and we told her that we didn’t have one. Then she asked if we were Americans and we said yeah. Then she asked if we were Christians and we said yeah, (in fact we were all catholic), and she then proceeded to tell us that she hated us, religion was stupid and went on and on, at which point I stopped listening. Then she fell over a chair, so I figure that she got what she deserved. I went back to Storra Torget, which is the town square and ended up waiting 45 minutes for a bus. There was some guy that was talking to himself, and then one guy that was so drunk he could hardly sit there. I felt bad for his girlfriend who was holding him up almost the whole time I sat there. It was an awesome day, and I am falling more and more in love with this place everyday. I know that the culture shock and homesickness are coming, but hopefully with this group of American students that I’ve met up with, things will be eased significantly.



September 2, 2006 – Day 8 – Nothing to report today. I called my credit card company to make sure I had all of my stuff set up so my account wouldn’t get frozen. I spent 10 minutes with them on the phone, and they tried to sell me something. At least I got stuff set up so I can pay my bill online.
Talked to mom Just kind of hung around the house today. Went and ordered my global crop production book online. Hopefully my U of I account doesn’t get frozen. I sent them an e-mail. We’ll find out. I think that a couple of the Purdue guys mentioned something about going to Denmark in a couple of weeks and they invited me along, I’m all for it. Yay travel. I need to get internet ASAP. I’m going on Monday to have Stina fax my application. There’s another couple hundred kronor I’ll be spending. I need to really watch my money situation. Its pretty expensive here, esp for doing all I want to do. I’m going to church with the Purdue guys tomorrow night, they have an English mass at 6:15, so I’m going to check it out. I’m not tired, but Malin’s brothers (I think) and Mom are downstairs, so I think I’ll just watch a movie I have downloaded and chillax.




September 3, 2006 – Day 9 –
Had a nice and relaxing day. Woke up about 10, watched some movies/played computer a bit. Got hungry about 2 so I decided to go into town and try this place they call Max. It’s the Swedish version of McDonalds, (of which they have two within 5 blocks). But it’s a bit bigger, and a whole lot better. Not to mention the restaurant is in the middle of this Town square, has red carpet with velvet ropes that go up to the front door, and is much cleaner and has more room to sit down. So I ate there, and then wanted to go to H&M, a clothing store, to see what they had. I ended up getting a cool dressy/sporty coat, two shirts and a sweater for right at around $100 American which isn’t too bad for the type of stuff I got. I was really hot, plus I didn’t want to carry around my bag, so I went back home to drop stuff off/ change. I watched a little bit of one of my favorite movies, Dazed and Confused, and then hopped on a bus back into town so I could meet my friends for 6:15 English Mass. It was very different. I’m pretty sure English wasn’t the priest’s first or second language. He was almost as fast as Fr. Hembrow, I’d say mass lasted a total of 35-40 minutes. When we left we were looking for a place to eat, but nothing was open, so we went to O’learys pub, a place that the Purdue guys go to a lot. We went there, and I had a club sandwich, but didn’t eat much else. We sat and waited for our check for what seemed like forever. We headed out and luckily I caught the Tjugo back to SVA right away from Storra Torget. Came home and just kind of relaxed, nothing I really want to do, so I’m just not doing anything, and that’s fine with me. As long as I’m not spending money, I’m good. (even though I splurged a bit at H&M today)

September 4, 2006 – Day 10
Wow, 10 days, hard to believe. I think this will fly by faster than I thought it would. I guess someone was ringing my doorbell this morning, it woke me up at around 10. I kind of rolled over and went back to sleep. Got up and out at around 10:30. Went to the computer lab, then grabbed some food. Then I went to class. We learned about oil crops today. I was nodding and agreeing with the teacher and she asked if I grew soybeans back home, and I mentioned that I worked for the national soybean research lab back home, so that sparked some questions from other class members. It was a good class, but went a little long. Afterwards Seth and I went to talk to Stina-Lena about a couple of things. I think we are both going to try and participate in the Nordic Games. I want to try rowing while I’m here. The games are in Finland, and it costs 1300 SEK to participate. Stina answered all of our questions, I was concerned with grades, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Seth came back here and I showed him where I live. It was of course a disaster area, but whatever, we’re both guys. He left, then a bit later I went into town to get a Swedish Cell phone. I was going to use Matilda’s, but it didn’t work for some reason, so I got this other one. It wasn’t too awful expensive, but a bit more than I would have liked to have spent. I went to McDonalds again. . . bleh, I need to try some other places. This time the food was really really bad. I went back to Storra Torget and caught the Tjugo back to Galbo. I watched super nanny with Malin, her sister, I don’t remember her name and Maria. I of course had already seen it. Then I came up to bed and read a little bit for class. Now I’m writing to you and then going to bed.

September 5, 2006 – Day 11 – Woke up late, Phone had died over night, therefore no alarm clock, went to class. Picked my topic for my paper, I’m doing a comparison/contrast paper on Different ways of cultivating maize around the world. Went and signed up for the Nordic Games, YAY! I have to go and pick up a package in Gottsunda, that will have to happen tomorrow. Went and finished joining SNerikes. I’m official. I was going to go to Gottsunda tonight, but I would have caught the last bus, which totally defeats the purpose. So I ordered pizza instead. Kim gave blood today, I also found out she is vegan. I basically sat around and watched tv all night. Not too motivated. Very tired, Night.

September 6, 2006 – Day 12 -- HORRAY!!! I got internet in my room today, groceries, and my books for my online class! WOW!!! When it rains it pours. I’m very glad to have the internet, I needed it. I went and bought my groceries, it was a little more than I expected to pay, but its all good, a man’s gotta eat. Other than that, not too much else to report. I love it here!!!

September 7,8,9 & 10 – Days 13, 14, 15, 16. Wow, long time no write. I got a little busy with things this weekend. Thursday I was studying all day and night for my exam on Friday. I was really nervous so I was hitting the books pretty hard. I ordered a book from a company online and it still isn’t here yet! Had lunch with Seth at SNerikes, it was pretty good

Friday, I took my exam and we had our discussion. I was a little nervous about it, but I ended up getting the best score in the class. I went home and relaxed the rest of the afternoon. Then that night I met up with Seth, Sean, Tara, and Nate and we went and ate at China River in Uppsala near the train station. It was ok, but I don’t think I’ll go back. Afterwards we headed out to O’Learys for a few, and then we went to SNerkies for the evening. I really can’t tell you much about after that, but I did buy a plane ticket home that night, that I found out about the next morning. I’ll let you take it from there.

Saturday, Got up and tried to make pancakes, but they were horrible, so I just drank a lot of milk and juice for breakfast. Met up with Seth and Sean and we walked to Gottsunda because no busses run there on Saturdays. Got some groceries and stuff to make Alfredo Sauce, then I walked back home, they took a bus. I talked to Mom and Dad on the way back. My sandals gave me a huge blister on the back of my foot, so that kind of sucked. Stayed home the rest of the day and did laundry from Midnight to Three AM.

Sunday – Got up and headed to the bus station. I met up with some people from SNerkies and we rode to Stockholm for the day. It was pretty neat. I got to see lots of different things and places, as well as buy a few things. It was very touristy, which I’m not a huge fan of, but it’s an okay town. We saw a bunch of street performers, a bunch of people were trying to sell us roses, the little kids were even in on it, I felt so bad for them. Then we sat on the steps of the big square and some guy came up and asked us if we knew where he could get some cocaine. We said no of course. Then we headed to the train station and took a train back to Uppsala. We got off the train and headed to church, then we went out to eat at Tzatziki, a greek restaurant down on the river. It was pretty good. Sean was pretty cold so I gave him shit all night, but it was fun, and very good.

September 11, 2006 – Day 17. Lecture was cancelled today. I don’t think I’d have gone anyway. I was able to sleep in, and I really honestly did nothing all day. It was very nice, I was completely drained after my day in Stockholm. I met up with Seth and Nate at Snerkes. We had dinner and Sean was our waiter. The food was good. I got home later that night and pretty much went straight to bed. A bunch of us are going to Copenhagen this weekend, and then Helsinki next week. It should be lots of fun!

September 12, 2006 – Day 18. Not too much happened today. Went to class, then grabbed some lunch with Seth. Spent most of the day working on my paper and studying trop crop. Was going to go out, but spent all night studying. I think I got some kind of bug bite, its really starting to hurt.

September 13, 2006 – Day 19. Woke up this morning and did more trop crop studying and paper writing. This bite is really starting to hurt bad, tomorrow I’m going to try and go to the Dr. We went to try and buy some train tickets to Copenhagen, but Seth’s cards were blocked. We went out to eat and I got a sleeping bag, Air mattress and pump for the trip to Finland. I’m pretty excited. We’ll see what happens this weekend. Back to finishing my paper for the night.

September 14-18, 2006 – Days 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. Serious problems.
14 – Failed the Trop Crop exam, but Sweden is the land of second chances, so I get to retake it. Turned in a paper which was totally different than the one I started. I used a paper from freshman year and just tweaked it a little. Beginning to think the bite on my leg is actually a boil. Made the decision not to go to Copenhagen, got a bus card.

15—Couldn’t even lay on my bed comfortably, something had to be done, No classes today. Went to Gottsunda to the Vårdcentral, it was closed so I had some lunch in the bar there. Came home for a bit and laid down, went back at 2:30 when it was open again. Took my number after two old people practically shoved me out of the way. When it was my turn they told me that they couldn’t help me because I didn’t live in the right section, its something with their healthcare system I don’t understand, but whatever. So they said try another place. Seth had mentioned going to a place where a nurse looked at something for him, so I did that. I got there and asked to see someone and they said all appointments were filled, so they gave me a number to call and assured me it would be in English. It wasn’t, and to top it off, my phone cut out in the middle of trying to explain what was wrong. I went back in and practically begged for someone to see me. They said a nurse could see me after 5. I waited for an hour to see the nurse, and when she looked at my spot, she said I should go to the emergency room that night. She told me to home, get something to eat and take some Ibuprofen because I may have to wait for a long time, but I needed to go. So I did that. I got to the hospital about 8:00. I took a number and waited to be called. I went in and explained my situation. They said hold on for one sec. There was actually a Canadian Paramedic that was working there, so they got him to come and halfway translate what I was saying. He took me back and looked at my spot and said that it was a boil and needed to be drained. Then came the bad news, he told me that it was going to cost a ton. I said I needed it done, so whatever the cost, do it. It cost 5590 Swedish Kronor, That is equal to 800 US Dollars. After I picked myself up off the floor I said okay. I finished filling out my paperwork and went and waited to be called. Luckily I didn’t have to wait long. I was surprised for a Friday night, but lucky. They took me back, asked me some questions and the surgeon was in very quickly. He told me that he had more bad news for me, that local anesthetic wouldn’t work on the infected part that he had to cut, but that he could numb the area around it. So he did, and he was right, no numbness at all when he cut me open. The cut was about an inch and a half long, but he did it very quickly. It still hurt like hell. He drained the whole thing (which was pretty damn big), and cleaned it and sent some of the pus to the lab. I still haven’t found out what it was for sure, but Im thinking it was the same kind of staph infection that my mom and brother had this summer. They gave me some antibiotics to take, and told me to come back the next day. So I went home, took my meds, and then went to bed. It was a very long and tiring day.

16 -- Went back to the ER to get my dressing changed. The same nurse was working. Took a little longer. She worried so much that her English was poor, but she did a GREAT job. I kept getting other nurses in to check on me to make sure that I was doing alright. The only real problem of the day was when the gauze got stuck in the open wound so they could drain it. It hurt like hell, but again, this doctor was very fast at getting it out, and it only hurt for a little bit. Then I went and met up with Seth and Nate and we had some lunch. Came home, and I don’t really remember what else happened that night. Called my dad and wished him a happy birthday.

17-- Worked on my presentation most of the day. Went to dinner at Stacey and Caseys. It was delicious. Stayed up working on presentation. Sore around where the blister was. The skin is purple and bruised.

18-- Had exam and presentations today. Exam went alright, I passed and did above average. Presentation went well I thought. It seemed to generated interest and good productive questions. Relaxed in the afternoon with Seth, watched a movie. Went into town to get some supplies for the trip. Had dinner at a new bar. Very good. Had my introduction to wine tasting lecture tonight. It was great. Looking forward to that class. Leaving for Finland tomorrow at 1:00 pm. Cant wait!!! Late night laundry or early morning, cant remember!