August 30, 2009

It’s now Sunday evening and I’ve been in Sweden for almost a week. I’m starting to adjust to Swedish culture and getting better at navigating around campus. I got a bike last week! That was exciting. So now I can get everywhere a little bit faster. It takes about 15 minutes or so to bike to downtown Växjö so that’s not too bad.
On Friday and Saturday I had an orientation for exchange students. Friday night a few of us decided to go check out one of the pubs on campus, Sivans. Reaallly fun. I met a Swedish girl named Marie who was introducing me and a couple other Americans to some Swedes. It’s somewhat hard to meet and become friends with Swedish people because they will not approach you and talk to you. Some will, but most do not. Marie says it’s partly because of the culture and partly because if they hear us speaking English, they are intimidated or not comfortable asking us questions in English. That’s one thing that will be hard to get used to. Even if you are walking through campus, people don’t look up to say hello to you if they don’t know you. There are a few exceptions though… standing in line to get into the pub we met a Swedish guy who was really excited to talk to Americans. I told him I was from Minnesota and he started talking to me about Brett Favre and the Vikings and Packers! Pretty funny. Apparently they have an ESPN America and it’s fairly popular here.
Here on campus there is something called VIS- Växjö International Students. It’s a popular student club that provides pretty cheap trips and travel opportunities to students. Earlier today I signed up for 3 trips later in September that I’m really excited about. One to the very first Ikea store, one is a moose hunt and tour of the glassworks and crystal companies, and the other to Göteborg, an island off the coast of Sweden. It’s also pronounced Gothenberg, and used to be one of the main points of the Gothic period in Europe. Lots of old castles! So there’s a lot to look forward to. I will also be taking a trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia later on in the semester. Should make for some good pictures and stories!
Start expecting some postcards soon!
Hej då!
~Sara

First Photos

Arriving in Växjö!

Hello everyone! I've finally made it to Växjö and am starting to settle in. The trip went pretty smoothly, with the exception of a ridiculously uncomfortable plane ride and a little confusion at the Copenhagen airport/train station. My flight to Copenhagen had some electrical issues... so there was basically no air flow and the overhead lights were stuck either on or off the entire way, and the TV on the back of the seats didn't work. So it was pretty miserable. The man who sat next to me was from the Dominican Republic and maybe said 5 words to me the whole way despite all of my attempts to talk to him. The train ride from Denmark to school took about 2.5 hours and for about half of that I was pretty sure I was on the wrong train... but I made it!
The train went up through Malmö, Lund, Alvesta, Växjö, and would eventually end in Stockholm. I decided that Sweden looks and feels a lot like Minnesota except with a little more character. (I'll post some pictures and you'll see what I mean.) Växjö even has 3 different lakes.
It was pure chaos here the day I arrived. Out of 400 international students, 280 of them showed up the same day I did. So everything was pretty crazy. I was really nervous about my living situation, but ended up getting my first choice of accommodation so that was nice! I live in a corridor with my own bedroom, bathroom, and two big closets. Then I share large kitchen, living room, and dining room with the 12 other people in my hallway.
This whole week is welcoming celebrations and kick-off so at any given time you can walk around campus and run into a mob of drunk Swedish kids... and I'm not kidding when I say mob... like 30-50 people at a time. But campus is BEAUTIFUL. Växjö University if fairly new, maybe 15 years or so. It's like a miniature town within a town. The architecture of the buildings on campus is incredible as well.
The first night here I didn't have food, blankets, pillows, toilet paper, a hairdryer, clothes hangers, and a whole bunch of other things that I really needed. I had a brief moment of panic and I thought I made a mistake by coming here. I felt completely out of my element and a world away from home and ALONE. Not fun. I think this was my moment of culture shock.
Everything got better the next day... there was a flea market on campus and I bought a nice big comforter and pillows for only 100 SEK and made it to a supermarket (probably the most overwhelming thing so far.. nothing is in english so you kind of have to guess what things are when you buy them.) I couldn't believe how small everything is here. Even a bottle of shampoo is about half the size they are at home.
Yesterday I met my Swedish buddy. Her name is Malin and she's GREAT! Her mom was actually with her because they were moving things into her new apartment. But we were able to drive into town to stores where I got some more things I needed and then Malin and I walked around downtown Växjö for the afternoon. It's funny how people here speak Swedish at first, then when they realize you are foreign they apologize and immediately switch to English. When we walked back to here apartment her mom had made a couple snacks and some coffee... the coffee I was excited about, but the bread with liver spread and onions on top was not so great. Apparently they eat that stuff for breakfast. Pretty gross. Anyway, I didn't end up getting back to my room til about 8 pm so it was a full and fun day. Last night I cooked dinner with two Italians, Flavio and Aleysia. They speak pretty rocky English so they instructed me to correct them every time they make a mistake. A few more of my corridor mates, Sophia and Fleur from the Netherlands, Iae from Japan, Tatiana from France, Jon from Sweden, and a few German students all had a little get together last night in our common area. It was foreign language overload. But very fun.
This morning I'm going with a couple students in my corridor to try and find a bike to buy for cheap. Everyone in this town has a bike, it's incredible. I've never seen so many bikes in my life. But it's pretty much the only way to get around. Town is just far enough away that walking takes too long, but it's perfect by bike. And there's bike paths EVERYWHERE.

Well... it's just past 10:30 am here and I have to get the day going. And I need to buy a bike!

I hope everyone is well, more to come soon!
Hej då!
~Sara