Cafe's

If there is one thing I have to say about Linköping, it's a coffee-lover's paradise. There are cafe's around every corner, likely tailoring to the young population in the city. They can also be found in unexpected places, like this lighthouse I found today while riding back from the university hospital:

It was on top of a hill in a park across the street from the hospital, pretty much right on my way back. I went upstairs to take some pictures of the city. I felt like a jerk when I came back down to exploit the lady's bakery without actually buying something, so I did try something, and it was, indeed, delicious. Here are some of the pictures, I will have to return on a nicer day to get some better shots. I might go back just to study because the place was empty and so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I also wish the reflection of the lighting on the windows wasn't there... but such is life.

For a general update, I think I'll finally get to do some travelling and sight-seeing in the near future. It will be much better than the general weekend tradition of running errands and hitting HG, the student pub, at night. Gladly, the pub isn't a place for drunkards, drinking here is more social than it is for getting wasted, and it's nice to meet other exchange students while I'm out. We're planning a trip to Stockholm or Copenhagen the weekend after next and on Saturday I will be visiting the Swedish Air Force Museum, which is right outside of Linköping. I should probably mention that Linköping is pretty much the aviation capital of Sweden and one of the most technologically-apt cities in all of Europe. The university buildings were originally constructed by Saab and there is a Saab plant along the river. The country as a whole shares this trend; Sweden's most important exports are technological goods. To name a few examples: Nokia or Sony-Ericsson phones, or anything with an Ericsson nameplate, Volvo, Saab, and I'm sure I'll discover plenty of others. And oh I got a ticket for a 5-day trip to KIRUNA!!!! It's a city in the way north of Sweden, it has the ice hotel and magnificient views of the northern lights.

That is all for now. Keep me updated on UCONN!!!

Bringing up UCONN, I'm kinda-sorta pissed that I may miss one (or both... knock on wood) basketball teams potentially win a national championship.

My Corridor!

I figured it's time for an update, so I'll post some pictures of where I'm living. They call the student living areas "corridors," and one corridor consists of eight single rooms with private bathrooms and a shared kitchen and living room. I live with 5 Swedes, a Turkish student, and a PhD student from Rwanda. Everyone has been really helpful, though Swedes are fairly reserved so nobody is extremely outwardly social. It's not the level of interaction you would get in a typical USA dorm.

My bedroom:

Living Room and Kitchen:

So yeah, living here is pretty sweet. Doing my own cooking can be time-consuming but at least I'm eating a lot healthier than I would be at UCONN. Other than that, the Exchange Student Network at Linkoping has put on a ton of events for exchange students. Last night was jazz and burgers at one of the student pubs, and tonight is a party known as "Kravall" on-campus. I've met some other students who want to travel and it looks like I'll be back in Stockholm for a REAL visit sooner rather than later :-)

You all may find it amusing that I totally pulled a "Jason" on Sunday. I bought a garlic crusher at Ikea and when I went to open it the knife went through the plastic and then right into the side of my finger and left probably one of the deepest cuts I've ever had. It's healing pretty well though. Mentioning Ikea, I wish I had my camera on me when I went. While driving up the street, there was a huge Ikea (which IS Swedish btw), attached to a mall, with a McDonald's across the street and a Burger King another few hundred yards up. Seriously, it looked like the United States.

Some more observations:

Swedes really like coffee... yeah... like REALLY

Swedes are very much like Americans in the sense that it is their culture to be on time, and strictly so, for events, classes, etc.

EVERYONE in Linkoping, and this is likely true throughout Sweden, has a bike and it is a primary mode of transportation within the city. It's so prevalent that the government has a set of regulations just for bikers, including headlights, reflectors, etc.

This isn't an observation, more a joke for certain UK travelers: The sun may never set on the British Empire, but it also never shines on it.

Cathedral!!

Today the exchange students met at the cathedral for a tour and some time in the downtown section of Linkoping. The cathedral is probably one of the most, if not the most, interesting attractions in the city. Christianity was first brought to the Vikings by travelling monks in the 11th century, but did not take hold until the 12th. This cathedral, probably the tallest structure in the city, was built in the 12th century, and the city was likely constructed around it as the city's history goes back approximately 900 years. The cathedral is Anglican, not Roman Catholic. Most of Sweden today is Lutheran (approx. 80%).

Below are pictures of the original altar piece (top) and current altar (bottom). I could not hear the tour guide very well, but the original altar piece was apparently once stolen as a spoil of war and then later returned to the church. I could not make out the details of said war. It depicts the different stages of Jesus Christ's crucifixion.

Another very interesting item in the church was a small balcony on one of the pillars. On Sundays, the minister delivers readings from the balcony and relates them to the people's lives, similar to a Catholic mass's homily. The sides of the stairway depict biblical images. One that I remember was angels climbing down from Heavan to tell of Jesus's birth. Note the two angels that flank the minister as he speaks.

Pcitures of my room, apartment, Ryd, the campus, the rest of the cathedral picutes, and some shots of the city will be on FB shortly, so check it out! Other than that, I suppose that's all for now. Keep me updated everyone!!!

Linkoping!

I finally arrived in Linkoping today! The city is absolutely beautiful. I got a really good look at it because I had to go out on my own to buy a shape adapter for the outlets and accidentally got on the wrong bus at the central station. Luckily, all of the buses return to the central station anyway, so I never really got lost. What impresses me most is the architecture. Twice on the buses I passed by the nearly 900-year-old cathedral next to "stora torget," the downtown-ish section of the city with a bunch of shops, restaurants, cafe's, etc. Unfortunately, because I was running around like crazy I left my camera in my room. Pictures will be coming very soon, I will definitely try to go out with some of the other exchange students this weekend before classes start. If not, then I'll just have to go alone like I did tonight.

As for living, the room is large and well-kept and the corridor mates are pretty nice. I do have to do all of my own shopping and cooking, and anything other than staple products are wicked expensive, though some fish is relatively cheap. However, because the Baltic Sea is fairly polluted, most of the fish isn't necessarily good to eat, except the salmon. The city as a whole is definitely a "college town" on American standards. Ryd, the suburb where the students live, has a mall where students can buy pretty much everything they need and pay rent, do mail, banking, etc., everything is well set-up and logical, and accessible via bike or public transport.

Totally copying Allison here, but some random observations:

- Sweden has A TON of American influence. I've seen more McDonald's than I can count and half of the TV shows are in English. In fact, the American dialect of English, not the British, is taught in schools.

-Packaged foods are much less common in stores, and even the packaged brands are fresher and higher-quality than what is found in the US.

-Sweden is barely as heterogeneous as the blonde-haired, blue-eyed stereotype would indicate. Around 1/10 of the people of Sweden are foreign-born and minority populations abound, I don't feel like I stick out at all until I open my mouth.

-Breakfast is the largest meal of the day for pretty much all Scandanavians, and may feature a lot of deli meats and cheeses Americans would consider lunch or dinner items.

-Only the state-owned liquor stores can sell alcoholic beverages with alcohol contents greater than 3.5% by volume, and all such stores close by 6 PM. Students here LOVE the pub in Ryd.

Finally in Sweden!!!

Hello! I landed in Sweden today and everything seems to be going smoothly thus far. My flight from London to Stockholm was delayed by about 3 hours, but it's ok because I got a hotel room at the airport. Granted, the room was a little expensive, but after waiting behind a party who took FOREVER to check in they gave me a free upgrade to business class.

So far I hardly feel like I'm in a different country, but that is likely because I haven't really left the airport just yet. Every Swede I've spoken to speaks perfect English; there is hardly any accent, they sound British if anything. The only issue here is that everything seems to be wicked expensive.

For humor on the side, I've already blown out my power converter. I think I'm just going to use shape adapters from here on in as all of my appliances are rated up to 240 V anyways.

Hey all! I hope everyone is having an awesome break! Since I'm leaving for Sweden next week I figured I would start my blog.

For an update, my family went to Disney between Christmas and New Year's, and we had a blast despite the fact that pretty much everyone got sick at one point. The New Year's Eve fireworks actually weren't too impressive, but there was a fireworks and laser light show at Epcot the night before that was simply amazing. Other than Disney, I've been busy packing and mentally preparing for next semester.

How is break going for the rest of you?