So, my time in
Sweden...has been one of the greatest experiences of my
life. It is still unbelievable to me that within 3 and 1/2
months, I will have traveled to 7 different countries and
met hundreds of new people. So here is a recap of what my
time has been like while in Sweden:
When I first
arrived in Sweden, naturally, I was a little nervous.
Excited, but nervous. My room was huge and I had a big
bathroom and I had nothing to put in either of them accept
the essentials. So, I went shopping immediately and bought a
rug and a lamp and some pillows and after those few
additions it already felt more like home.
My corridor is
great. They call them corridors not dorms and from the
outside of the building it looks like a big dorm building
but on the inside the building is split up into four
different sections and each section has ten bedrooms and a
kitchen, their own mailbox and so on. So, I love it. I live
with all Swedish students accept for one who is German but
he has been attending Umea for three years now. They are all
so nice. They have helped me tremendously while I've been in
Sweden. I have become particularly close to Maria. She is 30
and lives right next door to me. I should probably mention
that the average age at Umea University is 27 so it is very
common to live with people that age and older. Anyway, we
get along so well. We clicked right from the start and she
has really helped me through my time here as well as made it
that much more meaningful. We drink tea together and have
long conversations about life and it is just such a blessing
to have her around.
Something that
my corridor does, along with the majority of other corridors
is that we have Fika. It is usually every Sunday and it is
done by the person who had their cleaning week the week
working up to that Sunday. Anyway, that person will make
some sort of dessert and will put out lots of tea and we
just all sit around and chit-chat and drink tea and eat
really great sweets. It has been one of my favorite parts
about Sweden. You can have Fika essentially anytime, it is
not just special to the corridors or Sundays. For example,
in each of my classes we have Fika in the middle of class.
We get a 15 minute break to go get coffee or tea and maybe
some fruit or dessert. It is also very common for friends to
go downtown Umea to one of the little cafes and have Fika.
Or, as sort of a sign of interest, a guy will ask a girl if
she wants to have Fika or vice-versa.
School is
going really well. I have to say the work load is not as
heavy as in Monmouth which is nice because I have been and
will still be doing a lot of traveling and it would be
somewhat hard to fit all the work in. But I am taking a
course in the history of the Baltic sea which includes
politics, economics, religion, etc. and I am really enjoying
it. There is a lot of really great discussion. And my other
course is Swedish. Swedish is a fun language to learn, but
very challenging. The other hard part is that essentially
everyone in Sweden speaks English well if not fluently so
one is not forced to use Swedish which makes it harder to
learn. So, my corridor mates force me to speak it every now
and then and it's fun. They laugh at my accent and I can't
even imagine how bad it must be, but they are very
supportive.
So, the places
I have been: I just recently returned from Russia and it was
so beautiful. I went with the International group from the
University. It was a trip that the University organized and
we went to St. Petersburg. We stayed in a really nice hotel
that was in a great location. We went to the Russian ballet
and the Hermitage museum and the Winter palace. The Russian
ballet was my favorite part, it was one of the greatest
performances I have ever seen. And I mean, if you're going
to see the ballet, the Russian ballet is about as good as
you can get. Then in the Hermitage museum, I was surrounded
by originals from Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir,
Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Da Vince, Matisse and so much more
and it was such a great experience. It is one thing to
experience those artists through a book, but standing face
to face with their works is slightly surreal.
A few weeks
ago I went to Lapland to a town called Abisko which is past
the arctic circle so needless to say it was cold but
absolutely breathtaking! The scenery was just gorgeous! I
went with Alexis and Julia. Julia is from Finland but speaks
perfect English with no accent whatsoever. She lived in
Japan for six years at an international university so she
spoke English there and when she was quite young so it
developed rather well. We have become very close as well and
she will be someone that will make it very hard for me to
leave.
Anyway, the
three of us took the train up and stayed with a friend that
was studying up there for a couple of months doing research
and whatnot. Anyway, while we were there, we went fishing in
Norwegian fjords! Abisko is about as north as you can get in
Sweden and so we were able to drive to Norway. I was so
impressed with northern Sweden, but being in Norway was
unbelievable. The mountains and the water and the sun
setting over all of them with these magnificent colors was
so beautiful and more beautiful than any scenery I had every
seen. It was a great experience. I didn't catch any fish but
two other people that went with us did and so we ate it that
night and it was delicious.
So, my trips
coming up: My sister is coming tomorrow and I am so excited!
Her, Lex and I are then leaving for Paris on Saturday the
5th. We will stay there for a few days and then fly to
London, stay there for a few days and then fly to Dublin,
stay there for a few days and then fly to Stockholm where we
will spend one day and then fly back to Umea the next day.
So, it will be a total of 10 days and I am very excited.
Then the weekend right after we get back, my sister and I,
along with Julia and our other friend Svea who is from
Germany and who also speaks fluent English, will go caving
in Norway. I have no idea what caving entails but I heard
that it is an amazing experience so that should be good. We
will be doing that for the weekend then we will return to
Umea.
So, so far I
have been to Russia, Finland, Lapland and Norway and I will
be going to Paris, London and Dublin and back to Norway. So,
it has been an eventful trip so far and I look forward the
trips ahead.
I can't
believe that I will be returning home soon. It is already
November and time has flown by. But is has been amazing and
I know that there will be many things that I will miss upon
my return home to the states. I have to be honest though and
say that no matter where I travel, no matter who I meet,
there is nothing like being at home with the family and
friends that you know and love so very much.
I do miss
Monmouth and everyone there and my family and I can't wait
to see them. But if I had the option, I would do this trip
all over again. It has been unbelievable and a great
opportunity for me to grow in so many different ways. I have
been forced out of my comfort zone and it has been amazing.
I also just want to say thank you to all that have sent me
cards and packages. I hang all of the cards on my wall and I
love looking at them everyday so thank you for thinking of
me. Okay, that's all for now. :-)
Lindsay
