Glad to get this post in before I get to bed for a good start to a new week.  Just got done discussing plans to go to northern Sweden with a group of friends.  While up there, we are going dog sledding, checking out the ice hotel, and hopefully will see some northern lights.  Should be fun.

These week has been a good one.  I can say that with confidence because of the speed at which it has passed for me.   I hope my stay here will not pass too quickly.

Classes are going rather smoothly and I am enjoying the relaxed nature of them.  The very small classes lead to interesting discussions from perspectives around the world.  I am in a group of three students to complete a term project and the group represents three different continents.  A guy from Chile, a girl from France, and yours truly from the great continent of North America.  It is really cool and it is fascinating to be in a class where practically every student has a different perspective from being from a different part of the world.  This makes studying abroad worth while in itself.  However, one major hardship I have to endure is the weather and because I bike two miles to class everyday, it makes it especially hard.  One day this past week, there was a snow storm during the day and my bike ride home took more than an hour in blizzard like conditions.  I could not bike most of it and therefore walked my bike a lot.  “When in Sweden” I guess.

On Tuesday, a group of ten of us went down to Stockholm for a day and it was a lot of fun but very cold.  It was very interesting to walk around Gamla Stan “Old Town” (the oldest part of Stockholm) and see these buildings that are truly old (some as old as the 13th century).  I guess have no concept of old buildings in the states because we are relatively new country *Europeans laugh*.   It is a really cool city to see.

This weekend I spent some time doing some outside activities and testing my bodies’ ability to keep me warm.   It has been especially cold lately- like -15  Celsius.  On Saturday, I went out with bicycle gang to north of Uppsala where lay Gamla Uppsala (old Uppsala), the original settlement of Uppsala.  Really neat up there.  We saw the massive burial mounds of the vikings- like 50 feet tall and 50 feet wide.  The kids were sledding down them.  My camera died so I was not able to take photos but I am sure I will be back.  It is only about 2-3 miles north of the city center but it feels like a lot more when your thinking that you could use your toes to cool down your drink (not suggested).

Earlier today (Sunday) we went out south of town by bus to a place where you could rent ski and skate equipment for some winter activities.  We rented some skates and went out on the ice over a lake.  It is quite popular to skate on frozen lakes and they have 80k races in this fashion.  The blades are longer and I suppose it is easier to skate with these skates but I am still quite the beginner-fell only once though!  Made sure that the landing of the fall wasn’t so harsh that I would break through the ice; it is my own technique.

Peace from the other side (of the Atlantic Ocean).