Oh Hej There!

Hej!

(Thats "hey" in Swedish; it makes up half of my Swedish vocabulary) 

Everything so far has been really nice, and perhaps it is obvious from my horrible blogging (or there-lack-of) that I am having a really wonderful time. I'm so sorry ,I'm awful at this! I have been quite busy the last ten days settling in and nesting in my new (temporary) home and getting used to my new very relaxed Swedish lifestyle. I now feel very laid back and comfortable and really have nothing exciting to say or report besides that I am really happy and having a great time! I'm sorry for being so boring! 

The sleepy & foggy weather, small buildings and general coziness of Sweden and of Orebro have made me very calm and relaxed. I have yet to be drunk here and while I have sat around a few times watching my fellow exchange students start to party, I always find myself home early with a cup of tea. I'm actually really enjoying it. It feels like my life has slowed down to half speed; I have no serious commitments, few places to be and a lot of time to myself. Its kind of funny, but I don't really have any inclination or desire to party while I'm here. I'd rather be up early; going for walks and short explorations of my new culture and surroundings.

There are many more hours of dark than light, and what daylight there is is usually interrupted by soft fog and cloudiness. But rather than depressing, its quite cozy and comfortable feeling. According to the man beside me on my flight to Stockholm; beginning December 21st there are seven more minutes of daylight everyday. Currently the daylight fades at about 4.30 in the afternoon and slowly re-emerges just after 8. It's really weird actually, there doesn't seem to be any distinct sunsets or sunrises only a periwinkle-like glow for a short while and then it flips into day or night. 

Okay, enough rambling!

Yesterday Caroline and I caught an early train into, and late train out of, Stockholm. I had such a perfect day wandering around the city and shopping my heart out! Better yet, this part is for the girls, everything i touched was on sale! And so, obviously, I cleaned up! The clothes in Stockholm seriously give the all of the unjustly beautiful people of Sweden some stiff competition. Seriously; if you want to feel ugly walk around Stockholm. You don't know where to look! Its overstimulating with all the gorgeous architecture, clothes and people! But its a really neat city; I think I will go every ten days or so as it is just under two hours by train from Orebro. The styles of the buildings seems to change every few blocks as you enter a new area, from very medieval looking castle-like buildings, to soft, round edged sandstone buildings in a range of salmons and pinks. Its a really interesting city!

Better yet, Caroline and I made some Swedish friends who came along and I had so so so much fun with them! They are three girls that we met at school and we are all going out and for sushi together this Sunday night for one of their birthdays. We also plan to go up to Stockholm all together again soon! It was so nice to have some locals to show us around the city!

Well, I'm not sure if many of you have made it this far yet as I have been making up for my lack of posts with my rambling. However, in summary I am having such a wonderful time! My life here is slow paced and I feel like I have lots of time to enjoy all the little things and to soak up the culture and experiences as a local instead of as a foreigner.

As i learnt from my new Swedish friend (the other half of my Swedish vocabulary)....

Puss & kram!!

(Kiss and hug!)

Ps. The first picture is of the castle in Orebro, the next is of me in a street in Orebro, the third is of a cabin I stayed at when the exchange program went up to this cabin resort a few hours from Orebro last weekend (it was really relaxing and beautiful there! We had a verrrry nice, kind of fancy lunch there that was also provided to all of the exchange students, went for saunas and drank hot chocolate in the cabins...i'd go on but I feel that I've already bored you all with all of my ramblings!) I chose the last picture as it nicely captures the sky at sundown as I was describing earlier.

Safe and sound in Orebro

Everything is great.

Sweden is a really beautiful, simple country with very friendly (and beautiful) people. I arrived in Stockholm on Saturday night, but was very tired and jet-lagged so I only made it out for about a 45 minute walk. Our hotel was weird, but also beautiful! When Caroline arrived no one was there! Not any staff or anything, and it was in this old, stone office building behind a huge wrought-iron gate and so she had to wait outside for 3 hours when finally someone working in the building let her in and passed along our key! So we basically had our own hotel, which was this floor of this old building with a winding staircase and its own kitchen with sandwiches and breakfast food. It was strange, but really nice! Then....surprise surprise we were running a little late and missed our bus to Orebro, and so we had to buy a train ticket as well but finally arrived to University in the afternoon. 

Basically everything about Sweden is adorable! All the buildings are short and quaint and the people are really happy and glowy! The campus is a cluster of small buildings with gorgeous interiors and art all over the place. My dorm room is more of an apartment, as it is about 400 sq. feet and has its own shower, washroom and closet space! It is also fully furnished in brand new ikea furniture, its so cute and nice! I added a picture of it at the top of this post. Well, just the corner of my place where I will probably spend most of my time.

The people are BEAUTIFUL! Especially the girls, the boys are actually a little on the nerdy side, but both the girls and boys are really stylish.

Ugh, im sorry this is a really boring post! Im basically still a little shocked to be here and super jet-lagged and kind of a space cadet. The last few days just kind of blur together as I've just been settling in, meeting new people, trying to adjust to the 8 hour time change and getting to know the University and city of Orebro. But everything is even nicer and better than I had expected and I'm super happy and excited to be here! I thought I would just update whoever is reading this and, although I have nothing too exciting to talk about yet, let you know that all is good! Well, I'm off now for dinner and some more orientation meetings and whatnot. Hopefully my next post will be a little more interesting!

Syd

xoxo

Oh Hai There!

I leave today and am buzzing with nervousness and excitement!!! I can't believe how fast today has come. I have no idea what to expect and can't imagine what this foreign winter-wonderland will feel like as my home for the next few months. While Calgary suits me just fine, it's not the setting but the people that make me feel so comfortable. I know I'll miss this comfort the most, and can already feel the ache of loneliness and homesickness that creeps up on one after a few weeks away from home. However, at the same time I'm so curious and excited that the closer I get to take-off, the less afraid I am of what I'm going to miss! Everything that matters will be exactly the same once I'm home! 

And so; here's to a trip not plagued by such worry, and its partner the heavy-heart, and to my Swedish adventure! 

To my dear friends and blog followers; I'll keep you updated as best as possible with photos, thoughts and stories of this trip. My apologies in advance for any mopey/whiney/lonely posts that I'm sure to resort to every so often. Many thanks for being my friends and in my life (or in the case of a few of you, for creeping on my blog). I hope that I don't bore you, and that this keeps you up-to-date with my life in lieu of the chats I have, and time I spend, with many of you at home.

E-mails, messages and love notes are always welcome, and over the next few scary months, encouraged.

Love,

Syd

xoxo