Snö!

Geez, it is cold here! It has been below freezing for a few days straight now and there are about 2 inches of snow on the ground. It is actually snowing right now. I am all for winter because I love the holidays, snowboarding, and the coziness of inside, but only having a bike is extremely unfortunate and making me dislike winter right now. However, I do love the feeling of my nose hairs freezing…is that weird? 

Anyway, only 12 more days until I go back home and I am more than excited. I have thought about a couple more things that I’m definitely going to get when I’m back: Orbit spearmint gum, maple and brown sugar oatmeal, and wheat thins. 

Last week went by fast. Thesis work, tutoring, sold lottery tickets at the men’s game, practice, cleaning, substituting, and 2 WINS! The team did SO good and we beat the first place team. Now we are in 3^rd place, which is a perfect place to be going into the 2^nd part of the season. No stress, but confident to keep moving up. We have 2 more games before break. Home Saturday and away Sunday. 

It is totally Christmas time here. EVERYONE has candles/lights in their window, shops are selling glögg (spiced wine), gingerbread cookies, candy santas, and Julmust (holiday soda that tastes like captian and coke, which is awesome). I love advent calendars, but I refuse to buy myself one because that is just embarrassing. I’m waiting for my friend to buy me one. Assuming she actually does, I’m ok that it is a little late because then I can eat all the chocolates from the days that I’ve missed at once…don’t judge. 

My roommates and I had a holiday dinner the other night and it was really fun. We all contributed a small tradition from our country/family. I contributed Latkes to bring a little Hanukkah, Mel made a French dish that was like a croissant filled with goat cheese and jam that was awesome, and Hanne got her mom to send her Christmas crackers. They are these wrapped rolls that you and another person hold an end of and you pull and whoever gets the big part when it tears gets the present that is inside the roll. There are these paper crowns in the rolls also that we wore during the dinner to complete the tradition. 

I have been substituting a lot. I had P.E. the other day with 4^th graders and for the warm-up I told them to just run around and dance to music. I put on Gangnam Style and all of a sudden they all form into this “flash mob” looking formation and legit do the dance for the ENTIRE song. It was amazing. In another class I have been watching Wall-E. The joys of being a substitute. I am enjoying substituting more than I thought I would. If I end up staying in Sweden for another year, this school could be a way of supporting myself which would be so great. I have no idea what my plan is after I graduate in June. I should probably start to figure that out. Nahhhhh. 

18 days until home!

All I can think about is my visit back home. I haven’t gone home since a year and a half ago and lately I have been thinking of all of the things I can’t wait to get. 1) bagels , enough said 2) cereal- Honey Bunches of Oats, Life, Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The bomb 3) buffalo anything- wrap, sandwich salad, wings. If only I could get Union Inn wings. I might save up to go to Alumni Weekend just so I can get some blazzin’ ranch and moonshine. I’m excited to drive. Less than 3 weeks!

Before the vacation begins I have 3 more games, a Swedish exam, and data analysis to finish. I substituted at the International English School last week and I love it. It actually surprises me that they keep calling me back. I have NO control over the kids, but they seem to like me and respect me at the same time. Of course I let them do whatever they want as long as they finish what the teacher has left for them. We play Pictionary, charades, music trivia, or just chill. One kid was a troublemaker and I kicked him out of class. It was awesome.

We went up to Örnsköldsvik and Piteå last weekend for games. We went 1-1. The bus ride home was 14 hours. The first 9 hours weren’t so bad. Switched between computer games, the Twilight saga, tv series, and eating. Then everyone went crazy. We took a stop just to get out and we all were dealing with cabin fever. We play the same teams this weekend that we played last weekend so hopefully we can take some revenge. Next Sunday is HV71 again and then the break begins.

Cleaning, Swedish class, thesis meeting, and tutoring this week also. 

Leather and Moustache Party

Mel and I threw a birthday party at our apartment last night and it was CRAZY. Nearly 50 people showed up. The theme was leather and moustache. Apparently it is a common theme in France. So many nationalities were there: France, Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Peru, Columbia, Japan, America, England, and more. Everyone did an awesome job dressing up. The party didn't end until 5am. Mel is a erasmus student. Erasmus is the equivalent to our study abroad. So she has a ton of other erasmus friends that she has met here so that is how we had so many people from so many countries. I only had like 4 friends haha. But the night was awesome and I taught everyone how to dizzy bat and it was a huge hit. I regret teaching them now though because we played it outside and then everyones shoes were dirty and my floor was a DISASTER today. It took 2 hours to mop. A great success though. We had a beer pong tournament and everything.

Tonight I'm going to the annual Halloween party put on by Deb's friend. The theme is games. I think I'm going to be a red solo cup to represent beer pong or drinking games in general. I have a red towel and an unraveled hanger so I'm going to attempt to make my costume out of that. Sweden is really into themes. I think Halloween is already a theme, but then there is a theme on top of that. Weird.

This is the 2nd free weekend in a row from hockey. We play next Sunday home against HV71. All the national team players are gone this week for camps, tournaments, and olympic qualifications so we aren't so many at practice.

Thesis is going well. My data is basically ready to start analyzing. I am excited to see what patterns will show up. Swedish class is also going well. It is so easy to read and write but so hard to understand and speak. I am way better at understanding than speaking because I'm constantly listening to Swedish at the rink. I need to be more strict with myself about speaking. It is just so easy to speak English because everyone knows it. I had some revelations the other day. I never really thought about how English isn't the first language for my friends here and that they are most likely very different when they speak their first language. Like maybe they aren't so funny in English, but they are really funny in their own language. It's weird to think about being fluent in a different language. I hope to become fluent in Swedish eventually.

I am going to start English tutoring a Polish woman who wants to practice her English with a native English speaker. I am looking forward to that. I have never done anything like it so it will be interesting. I also picked up a cleaning job at the rink twice a week.

Time to go make myself a red solo cup. Take care all.

P.S. don't forget to feed my fishies on the top right!

Thesis and laser tag

Today was the most productive thesis day I've had in a very long time. I went to campus for a thesis meeting at 9 and stayed until 4 working on it. I figured out one of the problems I was having with ArcGIS so I was able to fly through things. It was a lot of pressing buttons and waiting for the program to run. I have made a goal for myself to have my methods section written by next Wednesday. My other goal is to have all of my data analysis done by the time I go home in about 7 weeks. These next 7 weeks I'm going to put a lot of focus into my thesis so I can be satisfied when I go home for the holidays. My plan is to get to campus around 9 and do work until 4. Then I'll head to the rink. The life of a hockey player. I love routines. I have been slacking on the thesis work and sleeping in instead and going into town for fika. Now it's time for a more productive routine. Bring it on 7 weeks, bring it on.

After my very fulfilling thesis day, I met up with some teammates for dinner at a kebab place and laser tag. I love laser tag. I get so into it. I'm all sweaty and sore after from running and ducking. We played older vs. younger and the youngsters won both rounds :( we almost beat them the 2nd round. My first laser tag experience in Sweden was last spring with my old team for our end of the year party. I stupidly wore a white t-shirt. The playing arena uses black lights so I was very visible. This time I came prepared and wore all black. Stealth. It was a great time and a good, active way to spend our day away from the rink.

My parents bought me a french press while they were here. It makes the best coffee ever. I am so happy to wake up in the mornings and turn my water heater on so I can make coffee. The little things in life.


This weekend is an away trip up to Gävle and Leksand for 2 tough games. Looking forward to playing with my new stick and taking revenge on these teams. The bus ride is long (5 hours), but we have a good time. By good time, I mean we all sleep the whole way. We stay in cabins on Saturday night which is good, fun bonding time. My parents brought me my beloved cow costume, so maybe that will make an appearance this weekend at some point.

Skansen

I went to Stockholm (5^th visit) on Saturday with a friend. We went to Skansen and it was awesome! The weather was shit all day being cold and wet, but it was still a great time. Skansen is an open-air museum that has a bunch of stuff. A zoo, an aquarium, a circus, and models of what Sweden used to look like back in the day. There is a full on, fake old town built and there are actors that work in the shops. Bakeries, markets, glassblowing, printing, and more. There were also models of how the farms around Sweden looked. The zoo was the best part. It had all the native wild animals of Sweden. Wolves, wolverines, owls, lynx, reindeer, bears, seals, otters, bores, and moose.

I am trying out a new stick with hockey and I love it. Maybe it will help me score some goals this weekend against Brynäs and Leksand. We suffered a tough loss on Wednesday against AIK. We were up 1-0 going into the third and ended up losing in overtime. We really need to figure out how to produce more offense. Kim (goalie) and the defense are doing a great job keeping us in the games.

I had Swedish class today and we focused on prepositions. Sometimes it makes no sense. i generally means in and på generally means on. But there are so many exceptions. Like if I am “in” a store I would use i for “in” but if I am “in” a restaurant I would use på for “in.” I guess it is just something I will have to memorize.

Practice was really good today. We did a lot of flow drills which I like. A lot of girls are sick right now so it was only 13 skaters today. Hopefully everyone gets well before the weekend because we have 2 tough games.

I have a thesis meeting tomorrow. I didn’t do much since my parents were visiting so it will be an interesting meeting. I am really going to bust some work out for the next 7 weeks until I go home for the holidays. My goal is to have my data analysis done and methods written before December 16^th. Wish me luck.

I am going to play laser tag tomorrow with some teammates. I love laser tag. I get so into it. I sweat so much. The adrenaline, you know? 

Parent come to Sweden, again.

I just had the best week with my parents. They came to visit and we had a great time. Lots of hockey! I had 3 games while they were here. We played Segeltorps twice and AIK. Won all 3! We had a rough start to the season with 4 losses in a row, but we have turned it around and have won the last 4 games. I think we just needed some time to get used to each other and fix our mistakes. We have been dealing with injuries and players being away with their national teams also. It is time for the Olympic qualifications, so a lot of our team is in and out playing for that. Next weekend is an away trip against Brynäs and Leksand. 2 tough games. We lost to them before, so hopefully we will take it to them this time. After next weekend, we have a break from games for 2 weeks.

The best part about my parent’s visit was that we didn’t really do much. Most visits involve trying to see everything and everything and not really having any down time. Since my parents had been here in February, we didn’t need to do the tourist things. We just chilled and had a lot of fika. The one cool thing we did was go out to the Cloetta candy factory. There is a store there selling all the candy the factory makes. So much candy. It was awesome. My parents bought $100 worth of candy to bring back to the States as gifts. I asked my parents to bring so much stuff from the States that they had to check an extra bag! Red solo cups was a must, of course. Halloween decorations, funfetti cake mix, and my favorite toiletries and medicines. I will be going home for Christmas and New Years this year, so I am looking forward to that. I haven’t been home since I moved to Sweden last August. Now Sweden feels normal to me and I think America will feel weird. I’m interested to see how I will view America now that I have been outside of it for a while.

Besides hockey, I am working on my thesis. I haven’t worked since the beginning of September so I need to get back into it. The school hasn’t needed me to substitute and the warehouse hasn’t needed me either. Maybe soon I will get some work. Along with thesis, I am taking my second level of Swedish. Now that I have been here over a year, I can really understand it. Speaking is my weakness. I am just too slow. But it will come with practice and time. The days are getting darker and colder fast. I am taking advantage of the light while it is still here. Once it is really dark and cold I will really focus in on my thesis. For now, I am doing the fika thing, chilling with friends, and spending most of my time at the rink.