Saturday at 2pm we, Vita Hasten, have a pre-season game! I don't know who were playing or where we are playing. I just know I have to be at the rink at 8am and we are making a stop at Hockey Monkey on the way to the game. Apparently it is a big deal. There aren't a lot of good hockey stores around Norrkoping so when they get a chance to visit Hockey Monkey they go crazy. Since I've been here Hockey Monkey has been referenced like 10 times. I am excited to play and see how the team does. I heard the team we are playing is good. Last year, Vita Hasten played in Division 2, but this year we are playing in Division 1. 20 minute stop-time periods. I can't wait to see if the game is played differently here. Mandy said it is more physical which is fine with me. Throw some bows. I will score you all a Swedish goal.
Sneezing. No one says "bless you." You sneeze and it is as if nothing happened. Different, but I like it. I don't see the point in saying anything. I will come back to the US and seem rude because I'll be used to not saying anything. Also, I love how I don't have to make small talk with strangers or make eye contact with anyone. Everyone keeps to themselves. Buses are silent, no one talks in line, cashiers just check you out and you go on your way. I am always in my head anyway so its nice not having to talk a lot.
I was on my way to class and I heard a marching sound. I thought to myself, "Oh, it's normal, probably some people dressed in weird clothes marching in a line." I looked behind me and it was a man pushing a cart that was making the sound on the sidewalk cracks. Is it bad that I am assuming students marching a normal thing now?
School is going well. Almost done with week two. This week was on wetlands. We took sediment samples in a wetland in Linkoping and determined the phosphorous content of it. Pretty fun. We got to wear waders and strut around in the highly vegetated wetland that smelled like poo after a night of drinking...I can't say I enjoyed that part. But besides that, it was fun. I like the students in my program. We all get along well and cooperate well in lab. They are respectful of the fact that I don't know Swedish and speak to each other in English so I can join into conversations. If they want to switch to Swedish so it is easier to express themselves they will apologize first and tell me they are switching.
Jens, the sports manager for Vita Hasten, has set me up with a job. It is were most of the team is employed. It is called Bemannings Profssen and is a warehouse job filling up packages. It is in Norrkoping so I don't know how much I will be able to work with having class everyday. The way it works is they will text you asking if you can work on a certain day for so and so hours and you can reply yes or no and tell them the hours you can work. It will be very random for when they text me. I visited two places in Linkoping today and gave them my resume. One is at the International English School. Lyndal, my goalie, works there and said they were mentioning they were understaffed and are in need of substitutes as well as other work such as cleaning. She also told me about a place called Konsert & Kongress which is the concert hall in Linkoping. They need people to help set up and take down events and clean up. I visited it today and met with the main cleaning lady named Erica and she was really nice. So I have a few options for work. They will all call if they need me so it is sporadic work here and there but it is better than nothing. The more money I make the more traveling I can do.
My friend Per is having a party tonight and invited me over to hangout so I think I'll go and make some friends. No drinking because I have a game but I want to meet people so I'll go until they go out. When I was looking for placed to live he was one of my options but I ended up picking this place but he is a hockey fan and we became friends. He has a car and helped me pick up some furniture when I first got here.
TGIF peeps. Have a good weekend!
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