September 29, 2005
Hello There!
Hmm, where to begin? Well,
I got a bit homesick last week, and I do not get homesick
easily. It started when I got a package from home. While it
made me very happy, it triggered something and made me
really miss home and MC. The package was fantastic! My mom
sent me another blanket (its starting to get colder!), some
sweaters, lots of scarves, pictures drawn by my brother,
Kool-Aid, and Kraft Mac and Cheese! Both foods have gone
over very well with my new friends, although the Brits find
the Kool-Aid to be too sweet. Anyway, I realized that I have
been away from home for over 50 days which is a really long
time. Usually at about this time I would be able to go home
for a visit, but alas, the whole overseas thing puts a
damper on that. So, I have been keeping busy!
Last weekend I went to the
zoo. Not like the Brookfield Zoo....this one has only local
animals like moose and lynx. Best of all we got to see the
reindeer! My little brother Luke was way excited about the
fact that I was going to see real live reindeer. Before I
left I was complaining about the high airplane costs and he
looks at me in all seriousness and goes, "Honey, why don't
you just borrow Santa's reindeer on the way home. You can
have one for you and one for your luggage. I'm sure it would
be much cheaper than the airplane." In his 6 year old mind,
it made perfect sense....of course Santa would give me a
good deal! So he made me promise that the first reindeer I
saw I would take a picture and send it to him. So I did. I
also bought a little stuffed reindeer that has a blue and
yellow (Swedish colors) ribbon around its neck from a little
old lady that gave us hot chocolate on top of a mountain.
The day was long, but full
of adventure. We left early in the morning on a bus and
drove a couple of hours away. We stopped for lunch at this
random place in the middle of the forest. We learned about
how the northern lights work and about some of the history
of the area. Then they fed us lunch and tea. (I’m telling
you, we drink tea ALL the time!) Then we went to the zoo and
walked around for about an hour and a half. We saw cows,
goats, moose, elk, lynx, wolves, wolverines, bears, seals,
reindeer, buffalo, and some other random animals. After the
zoo we rode to a camping area and hiked up a hill to have
hot chocolate and cake at the place I mentioned earlier.
When that was done we hiked back down the hill and had to
cross the river to get to an island. We did this by the
bridge of death, a.k.a. a swinging bridge. Seriously, I was
terrified! Not only was the bridge very long, it is also
over rapids. Rapids! But no worries, I made it across safely
and we had a delicious dinner of hotdogs roasted over a
campfire, apples, and chocolate. We were able to hike a bit
and explore the island before we headed home. Check out my
yahoo page to see pictures from the day.
Well, this entry is
becoming quite long, so I’m going to sign off. Next time I
will tell you all about my every day life. I miss MC like
crazy!
Lex
September 19, 2005
Hello There!
I haven’t written in a
while, but I thought I would send in an update. So far my
life in Sweden has been amazing. I love the school so much
and find that I fit right in with the surroundings, except
that the Swedes are very quiet. (Don’t worry, I’m working on
not being so loud.)
My classes are finally
under way. The Swedish system of study is very different
from the way that I am used to. Most Swedes only take one
course at a time and they think it is nuts that I’m taking
three. Each class period is broken up into two forty five
minute sessions with a fifteen minute coffee break. The
professors are very funny about making sure that we get our
break and have even been known to stop mid sentence because
it was time for the break (or Fika as they call it). So, I
have a Swedish language course two times a week and am
starting to get the basics of the language. It is an odd
language that is hard to understand and speak, but pretty
easy to read. The sounds are so different from both English
and Greek, although I’ve had some major flashbacks to my
Greek school years, ugh, not good memories. I’m also taking
a course called The Welfare State in a Period of Challenge
and Change. I have only had one lecture so far for that
course, but it seems like it will be an interesting course.
My third course is only in the month of October, so I
haven’t started it yet.
The
girls that I have become friends with have planned a bunch
of fun trips for the semester. This coming weekend we are
going with the international program to the zoo. It features
only Swedish animals such as moose, lynx, and reindeer. It
should be a fun day trip.
We are also planning a trip
to Lappland (the northern part of Sweden, above the arctic
circle) to meet up with a friend who is studying up there.
We will take the train up
for the weekend and get to experience the far north. Lindsay
and I also planned a 10 day trip to London, Paris and Dublin
for the beginning of November. There last trip we will take
is a 6 day trip to St. Petersburg in Russia! I am so excited
about this trip because I never thought I would get a chance
to visit Russia.
Ok, as for the
weather….wow! It is only September, but two nights ago the
temperature was 1°C which is about 34°F! Whenever we go
outside we have to have gloves and scarves and hats! Last
week we got to experience something that I was hoping to
see. My friends and I were standing outside at about 11
o’clock in the evening and we glanced at the sky and what
did we see? The aurora borealis! (Northern Lights) There was
a huge green ribbon of light moving across the sky. It would
fade and brighten and change its shape. It was an absolutely
amazing sight that I will never forget. It stayed around for
over two hours before it started to fade.
Yesterday
we had a small adventure. We started off the afternoon with
Fika (snack) downtown. There was a huge celebration of the
University’s 40th anniversary. Lots of booths, music and
even a parade. (Check out the link to my pictures to see the
event.
After the celebration we
decided to bike to the ocean. Now, there had been some
rumors about how long it would take to get to the ocean
ranging from 30 minutes to 1 hour and thirty minutes. It
turned out to be the latter. We rode our bikes 15 kilometers
there, and then 15 kilometers back.
We had one flat tire and
one lost peddle, but otherwise we made it back safely. We
only spent about twenty minutes at the ocean, but it was
definitely worth it. One of the guys (an American) went
swimming for a bit. (Remember what I said about the weather?
Yeah, he was a bit nuts.) On the way back we stopped at a
little restaurant to have some tea and coffee before heading
on home. We made quite a scene riding along the highway
since there were eleven of us. By the time we got home we
were very sore and very exhausted, but it was a fun
experience.
Well, this has turned out
to be a very long entry. The one picture is of me and my
Finnish friend, Julia at the 40th anniversary celebration.
The other is of the ocean view.
I miss Monmouth so much! I
hope everyone is doing well. Feel free to email me if you
have any questions or just want to say hi!
Alexis
August 29, 2005
Hello, or Hej, as they say
over here. Well, I am finally in Sweden! After a whirlwind
of a summer I am starting to get settled in. But I'll back
up a bit.
Greece was amazing! It took
Lindsay and me almost four days to get to Karpathos. We had
to take the ferry....we are poor college students remember,
and it was much cheaper than flying...and we couldn't get a
cabin so we spent 24, yes 24, hours on the floor of a boat.
It was hell. By the time we got to Karpathos we were
exhausted.
We spent the next ten days laying on the beach
and going out at night. It was great to see my friends and
cousins again after four years. While we had a great time,
it was a very emotional week. Being in Greece without my Yiayia was much harder than I thought it would be. It got
easier as the week went on, but the first couple of days
were very very hard. After Karpathos, we took the ferry back
to Athens, (This time we had a cabin so we slept for 19
hours straight) and met up with our friend Evan
Constantinides from school/church. He brought his girlfriend
and two friends from Ionian Village where they were all
counselors and we all stayed in our tiny apartment. We spent
5 days tripping over luggage, but had a great time. We took
Lindsay to the Parthenon and to see the changing of the
guards and did lots of shopping. we say a bouzoukia concert
and got into amazing clubs for free because of connections
people had!
So, now I'm in Sweden! It
is beautiful. Trees and Green everywhere! I am living in an
apartment complex that is a 25 minute walk away from campus
so everyone rides bikes. I bought one for 500 Swedish Krona
which is about $66. Its pink and named Betsy! It has a
basket on the front and a headlight. We have so much fun
riding everywhere but my bum is a bit sore. As for my room,
it is huge!
There is a 14´x 14´ bedroom with a huge window,
table, chair, lounge chair, bed, drawers, side table and two
bookshelves. there is also a very large entry way that has a
coat rack and a huge closet. The best part is that I have my
own bathroom and shower! I don't know what to do with all of
this room! Lindsay and I went shopping and bought some
plants to keep us cheerful once it starts to get dark. Right
now the weather is beautiful but cool. Its very refreshing
after the hot weather in Greece. Its been raining the past
couple of days and the temps are between 60 and 70 and very
windy. I have made a bunch of new friends from all over the
world. China, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Greece,
England, the Netherlands, Canada, Brazil, Russia, France,
Turkey, Spain, and so many others! Everybody speaks English
so its not too confusing. Lindsay and I are known as the
American Girls, even though there are four others from the
states. We don't start learning Swedish for another week,
but I am slowly picking up a few words. Reading it is much
easier than speaking it. The pronunciation is hard!
Anyway, I am very excited
to be here and I can already tell that it is going to be
very hard to leave in December. I could definitely see
myself studying here for four years, but I do miss Monmouth,
so don't worry, I will be coming home. I would love to get
emails or letters or even packages! My mailbox is very
lonely!
I miss you all!
Alexis
