Swedes being Swedes

There is a funny joke about Swedes that they like to keep to themselves and not interact with anyone so at bus stops people are spread out like 5 feet from the next person. I got a perfect picture of it today on my way to the campus bus stop. Funny stuff.

My trip to Ireland with Daniele is booked! April 20-26 with a pit stop in Amsterdam Apring 22-24. I can't even express how excited I am. Guinness all day all night. MMMM. I also have booked a trip to Copenhagen with Mandy and her classmate/friend Erin. Mandy needs to check out some Dutch museums for her thesis and she asked if I wanted to tag along. Of course I do. I have been wanting to go to Copenhagen really bad since it is so close (3.5 hour train ride). The free city tours that Court and I did everywhere on our Eurotrip are in Dublin and Copenhagen so I am definitely going to do those. I have definitely caught the travel bug and I love it. 

I have been helping with construction work at the golf course. I like it. The floor is being done at the moment so we have been leveling out the gravel and laying foam blocks on top. Lots of chainsaws, measuring tape, and rocks. Using a chainsaw is badass. I have also gotten myself back into working at the warehouse for Stadium (sports store). So I am going to be busy with work and planning my thesis at the same time as well as still having hockey practice for a couple more weeks.

I am a little nervous about next year's hockey season. First off, I am worried we aren't going to have enough girls to have a team. I have been hearing rumors about girls leaving and we were only 12 consistently throughout the year this season. However, I think the coaches have been trying to bring new girls in so I hope we have enough. It is sad because we have now moved up to the higher division and this is when we really need the girls' commitment. Secondly, I am worried there are problems with money and management. The guys team did not make it through the playoffs so there is a good chance that sponsors are going to pull out. Us being the girls team I think will really be hit hard from that. But this is all me speculating and being a negative nancy. I have faith that my coaches will fight hard enough for us. They are really invested in the team and I don't think they will give up.

It is SO spring here and I love it. The days are getting longer and I no longer need to where my hat and gloves. Those were definitely my best friends this winter. Time for the flip flops, sunglasses, and drinking beers outside. Mmm. My Swedish is coming along well. I have learned how sentences are structured which makes everything a lot easier. I've also learned the rules of things. Like why nouns end certain ways and stuff like that. The big thing left is learning vocab. I need to watch Swedish shows/movies to get the sounds down better. Some of the sounds are impossible to make. One of the sounds is very simular to the way Stewie on Family Guy says coolHWhip. The It is also good to watch shows in English and read the Swedish subtitles to learn vocab. I was thinking the other day about being fluent in another language. I am nothing close to being fluent in Swedish, but I was thinking about how when my Swedish friends speak English they are just freely talking and listening without thinking about it in Swedish first. I find that crazy. Mostly because I am trying so hard at Swedish but still I am so slow and bad. Oh well. It will come with practice. 

Vi ses (See you)!

Spring?

So all the snow has melted, it has been sunny and warm, and stuff is green. I am confused. I am in Scandinavia in the beginning of March and it is Spring conditions. I am not complaining, I am just confused. I am about to pull out my flip flops. But I have a feeling it is only teasing me and there will be another month cold spell where it is freezing to the point where I won't go outside unless I absolutely have to and I wear like 3 layers.

I just had a two day home exam that drained me. I spent way to much time thinking and doing school work. Like 14 hours in two days. Not fun. But now it is over and I am very relieved and excited for the weekend. I have one more week of Conservation Biology. It will consist of a debate. I have to argue against people being able to utilize/live in national parks/reserves in the tropics. Meh. I have never done a debate so I will probably suck. After this course I have a 4 week thesis planning course where I get everything figured out for my thesis. I have changed my mind on my project. Instead of wetlands I am going to study an endangered beetle that relies on old oaks. Oaks are declining so I am doing a survey on the population of the beetle. I'll walk around old oak forests and find beetles. My kind of thing. I always seem to be involved in things dealing with forests. I like them. Maybe I'll end up in some kind of forestry job/research in Sweden and never leave. Yeahhhh. I have been thinking since education is free as long as I have a work permit that I will stay and get my PhD here. Maybe. Why not?

So two teammates decided to prank me and put tiger balm on my lufa. I showered and it burned. I decided to get them back and put a laxative in their water bottles during practice. Yup, payback is a bitch. The next morning they were best friends with the toilet. Don't mess with me. However, I am scared to experience their payback to this. I think this is going to be an on-going battle until someone goes to far. I hope it's me who gets the last one in.

Daniel plays pick-up floorball (innebandy) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have gone with him a couple times. It's a good time. I am not good at running with the ball yet but I will get better. It is like competitive floor hockey with a wiffleball and plastic sticks. Basically what we play in P.E. in elementary school in America but it is a real sport here. Most kids play it and continue into high school with it.

My next travel plans are Ireland and Copenhagen. I need to work a lot this month to save up. Daniele and I are planning to go together. What a shit show. We are thinking to go the week of April 16th and take a day trip to Amsterdam on the 20th. No reason. Ha. If anyone is traveling to Europe let me know because I will so meet you where ever you are.

Everything is good. Every once in a while I'll be riding my bike in beautiful weather and just think about how awesome it is to be in Sweden. It's like so chill. I am looking forward to the next phase here. No hockey, no school (maybe a little thesis work), a lot of work, and a lot of traveling. My brother wants to come out this summer and backpack/camp here. I think that will be really fun. Sweden is full of nature. I love it.