Hey Guys,

I got behind myself and came up a couple days late on the blog post.  Long weekend.  I am having a great time here and I think the speed at which the time is going proves it.   Before I left, the programs and seminars that gave me insight into the abroad experience told me that the first month could be quite hard as that is when the culture shock and home sickness is at its height.  The culture shock was a bit difficult but, for me, it was just the language that had me twisted.  Everything else was quite enjoyable to experience in a new culture.  Any sort of disappointment because of the language was gone by the first week when I met my international friends from around the world.  They did not know Swedish either.  Frida and Per (first Swedish friends) helped me figure things out that first week in Sweden.

I was talking last night to a good friend from Canada and the University of Saskatchewan , Kara, and we were talking about this theme of home sickness and students abroad.  We both agreed that it did not really affect either of us and this is because of the ability to use Skype.  It is FREE internet calling (with video) to any other skype account.  The following is the website to download the software and get an account if you want to talk to me:

http://www.skype.com/intl/en/welcomeback/

My username is ddemeree20 if you would like to find me.  

Chris-  you need to get this to talk to me about our plans when you come over to visit!

So this software has made it impossible for computer savvy people to get homesickness.

I will tell you about this past weekend.  It was a long one with late nights and now I am a bit sick because of it.  I have to make sure I get better before my journey to within the artic circle a week from now.

Saturday night- one crazy night.  A friend of mine bought me tickets to a viking themed dinner on campus at one of the student unions-the one for all the veterinarian students.  We had to dress like vikings and I was the worst dressed but I had my horns on and a shield to cover my torso.  The shield actually did not match the theme of the night because it had a cross on it.  The vikings were pagans and not Christians.  I was told this many times throughout the night.  The most common fabric there was burlap.   The dinner had no silverware and a clump of straw tied together was used for napkins.  It was a three-course dinner and when every course was served you had to turn over the slab of wood you were eating on to have a “clean” plate.  This dinner may also be the reason why I am sick now *consume a couple pills of echinacea*.   We then participated in a number of games.  One was to knock your opponent over with a heavy sack as you tried to balance yourself straddling a beam.  I went 5-2 on the night but the next day my inner thighs were quite sore and this is not good when your bicycle gets you places.  We then went on to some dancing.  It may have been viking style but I could not tell a difference from my usual dancing techniques.  The event was down on campus so I decided to ride my bike down there and was planning on riding it bike home when the night was through (a 6.4 km journey- I google mapped it).  I was not planning on the rowdiness of the vikings that night and one of them let the air out of one of my tires.  None of the air compressors work at 2 on a Sunday morning so I had to walk my bike home only it was too cold to walk so I ran my bike.  I can imagine anyone who saw me on this late night must have thought I was one sad case.  I suppose I was.  Halfway through my jog, I came upon a 7-11 gas station and thought that they may have had a compressor I could use for my tire.  With much happiness, I found that they not only had an air compressor; it was free, it was on, and it was in a heated/enclosed box.  And it worked!  At the top of my viking lungs (and in full uniform) I yelled, “Oh Thank Heaven for Seven Eleven!”  It was a good thing I had my Christ-shield on.  Got home and fell asleep at 4.30am.

Sunday- Not as action packed on the European side of the Atlantic.  It was superbowl sunday and I was able to bring along some international friends to enjoy my national holiday.  To watch the game, we went to O’leary’s Irish Sports Pub.  O’leary is a guy from Boston who fell in love with this Swedish girl when she was in the states and brought him back to Sweden where he then littered all of northern Europe with his sports pubs.  It was a good atmosphere.  It definitely had a American feel except that everything was in Swedish.  We rooted for the saints as did everyone in the place.  They are good sports fans in Sweden and rooted for the underdog team.  We were not able to watch the commercials however.  During the breaks, the coverage would go to a team of Swedish sports commentators that seemed to be analyzing what was going on in the game.  I did not understand them but I would have been interesting to see what they were saying about a sport that they are not that familiar with.  It was a good/fun night but again did not get to sleep until 4.30am and had a class at 8 am.  We watched it live and the game started at 12.30 am over here.  Go Saints.  

Gotta go to a dinner date so see ya! 1000 words!