That's basically all the coaches say on the ice. Bra jobbat! Bra jobbat! And vatten (water). I'm slowly picking up on the common words the coaches use to explain drills. But I mostly just watch them draw it and figure it out on my own. I now say thanks, you're welcome, and goodbye in Swedish. Tack, hej då, och varsågod. I have practice tonight and tomorrow morning. Had it on Wednesday. We do a workout before with running, pushups, abs, etc. I love practice. There are no mats from the locker room to the ice so we have to wear skate guards. Brings me back. We keep our stuff at the rink in bins that go into a drying room. Pretty cool. I have been getting a ride with my teammates from Linkoping which is nice not to have to deal with buses. Its only about a 35 minute drive to the rink.
School is good. Week 1 down. 7 weeks to go with this course (Methods in Ecology) and then exam week. There are 6 of us in the Ecology and the Environment masters program. We all get along well which is good. It is funny because 4 out of the 6 of us are Swedes so me and this other kid who I have no idea where he's from are causing the course to be taught in English. Everyone speaks good English but sometimes they can't get across what they are trying to say so they switch to Swedish. We have lecture once a week, 2 seminars where we discuss papers and topics, and lab. Each week is a different topic in ecology and there are different professors for each topic so I have like 4 different professors for this course. Something different from the States. For this week's lab we went outside to the campus wetlands and collected organism to do a trophic cascade experiment. At the end of the week we have a report due on the topic of the week. The professor said 2 pages and I was thinking piece of cake and then I read the instructions and it said single-spaced. Ugh. But overall it seems pretty easy and straightforward. I am also enrolled in a course called Advancements in Academic Studies. We are supposed to read and analyse scientific papers. My program's professors think it is redundant for us to take that class because we read and analyse scientific papers in our courses. So they are petitioning for us to get out of the class. I hope they win ha. It is once a week on Thursdays and I showed up yesterday for class and the professor was like blah blah we are going to be reading and analyzing papers in this class and next week so and so will be talking about scientific writing and then we were done. Huge waste of getting up at 9:30am for a useless 20 minute talk. If I were to order books they would take over 4 weeks to arrive so I guess I'll either buy them at the campus bookstore for more expensive or use the library copies and see how far I can get with that.
My roommates and I went to Ikea yesterday to get stuff for the house. It is so cheap there. We got tons of stuff. The common areas looks homey now instead of bare and the kitchen has everything we need. New curtains, shower curtain, rugs, candles, etc. We ate dinner there and it was amazing. Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce and potatoes with gravy. Sweden loves sparking water. They have it on tap and it is so good. I also got their soft-serve ice cream. Omg, best soft serve ever. It was practically whipped cream. They also had really cheap chocolate bars and these cinnamon rolls things called kanelbulle. I sound so fat right now but like all this stuff is SO tasty. You would eat it too. Also, they sold "Swedish Fish" in Ikea. Obviously I bought them. They taste way better than the Swedish Fish at home. And the fish say "Swedish" on them. I find it ironic to be eating Swedish Fish in Sweden.
This afternoon I went with Karin (Swedish roommate) to train her dogs. She mushes. It was awesome. We drove to a military reserve and she has a wheeled sled for non-snow training. I go to drive the wagon as well as sit and enjoy the ride. The dogs are amazing. Her and her friend have 6 huskies. They need 8 for races so they borrow two of their friends. I will upload pictures. I told her I'd go anytime with her I love it. And she said since I'm helping during the off-season that I have earned the right to participate in the winter. I can't wait.
Earlier this week my roommates, Deb's boyfriend, and his coworkers went to a student ran pub called VilleValla Pub about a 7 minute bike ride away. They have tons of beer selection. Good stuff. I ordered a fajita there. Not a typical American fajita. It was more of a quesadilla. I liked it.
Looking forward to the weekend and not having school. Love/miss you all. PEACE
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