Frukost, lunch, och middag (Breakfast, lunch, and dinner)

Three more new words!

So I made it through 2 full days of orientation for school. 9am-3pm both days. There are about 10 students in my “Ecology and the Environment” masters program and about 40 in the entire Biology masters department. Seems like a good group so far. I have made friends with a girl named Hannah from England and a guy named Benedict from Germany. The professors also seem nice. The first year consists of courses as well as planning for my thesis. The 2^nd year is devoted to doing my thesis. I can pick any project I’d like that fits within the realm of ecology and the environment. The professors propose their own research topics to choose from as well. They said there are opportunities to conduct my thesis abroad as long as it is feasible and stays within the program’s requirements. The professors have a lot of contacts in different countries such as Bolivia, Kenya, and Vietnam. I am going to try and get a project abroad since I didn’t study abroad at Union. The orientation was pretty boring. Talked about Linkoping University as well as the city and Sweden in general. They went over my program and what to expect. The schedule is pretty intense. Classes everyday including lectures, seminars, excursions, and labs. Gross. I start Monday at 9:15am.

On Thursday we had a break and the school’s orchestra performed for about 15 minutes. They were really good. They had people doing little skits during the songs wearing costumes and being ridiculous. The orchestra wore overalls. Standard. Not a moment goes by without a group of students dressed in something ridiculous doing something ridiculous. It is hilarious. Lines of students marching around campus wearing nun clothling, graduation gowns, space suits, pirate outfits, doctor outfits, bunny ears, etc. They have whistles, instruments, and props. I still don’t get it. It’s just what they do. I wonder if it stops eventually or it is just what normal student life is like.

I had my first “fikka” after orientation today. It means coffee break. Everyone stops what they are doing, drinks coffee, and eats treats. It is what Swedes do. Everyday, multiple times a day. I like it. The coffee is good here and I don’t like coffee. The bathrooms (or shall I say water closets) are personal rooms along hallways which is kind of cool and more private. Maybe there is a lot of poop fright here.

There was a girl wearing leopard pants the other day. And I see dino girl next door all the time wearing her dinosaur tail everywhere she goes. I went to Norrkoping this morning for an interview about hockey for the paper. I’ll post the link to the article when it comes out. I have never been interviewed before and I’m sure I said some weird stuff so hopefully they focus on normal things. I’m excited/nervous to see the final product. And I hope I look semi-normal in the picture.

I’m staying in Norrkoping this weekend at Mandy’s (American teammate) place.  I ate my first kebab here and it was SO good. A pita with meat and veggies and a sauce. Norrkoping is a really cool place with lots of shops and walking streets as well as canals throughout the city. Saturday and Sunday hockey camp starts at 7:30am and goes to the afternoon so I don’t want to have to commute a half hour in the morning and go back to Linkoping Saturday just to come back Sunday morning. I have been told that we are sleeping over in the rink Saturday night as a team building activity…interesting. I brought my sleeping bag/pillow.

I am going to explore Norrkoping this weekend which I am excited about. Can’t wait to meet my team and get on the ice to see what it’s going to be like. I’ll report back about the hockey camp/weekend.  Have a good weekend! Oh and I already have a nickname. “Suess” like Dr. Suess. Apparently when Swedes say my name it sounds like Suessanne. I kind of like it J