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.