Since I last blogged, I've had my first class! I'm taking Swedish history, and I think it's going to be very interesting. It's so different taking classes here because, at least for my class, there is so little time spent in lecture. My class lasts until the middle of February, and I only have 5 lectures and 2 tours of historical places! It seems very strange to be in class for so little time, but I've been enjoying exploring the town during my free time.
I've still been busy trying to meet lots of different people. Mostly, I've met a lot of international students that live in the same housing as me. I've been so (pleasantly) surprised at how friendly people are - it makes it very easy to enjoy my time here! My new friends and I have been planning lots of different excursions over the next couple of months. So far we want to go on cruises to Helsinki, Tallinn (capital of Estonia), and Riga. I also am planning a trip to meet up with some other ISU study abroad students in Paris.
The people in my hall are very close knit with each other, and we all do a lot together. We've already had a birthday party, and we're having a going away party tonight and ice skating and basketball tomorrow! Last night our floor went together to one of the nation's parties. The parties crack me up because they only play American music there. It's funny to hear what American music the Swedes like - the most played songs so far are Jackson 5 songs and Johnny B. Goode! That was definitely not what I expected!
Yesterday I joined Stockholms nation. It is one of the 3 biggest of the 13 nations here, so they have a lot of activities planned. They also have their restaurant and pub open almost every day, and they have fika a lot! Fika is my absolute favorite Swedish tradition so far. Fika is when people get together in the middle of the day for coffee and a pastry. It helps that I have loved all the Swedish pastries that I've eaten so far! My favorite is the kanebulle, which is like a cinnamon roll except that it is flavored with cardamom.
Oh, I also think it is important to let you know that I have mastered one Swedish phrase (besides hello, goodbye, thank you, etc) that I make a point to use in everyday conversation. The phrase is "Jaha! Precis!", which means "Yes! Exactly!"
The pictures embedded in here are both views from my room. The courtyard is part of a school, and I can see kids playing there a lot. The other view is just to show what typical buildings look like here - I love all the color!
Well, I think I'm off to fika! :-)
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