Hello!

I've been trying to enjoy the nice weather while it still lasts (last week was exceptionally nice), but of course the nicest weather mostly comes out when I'm in class. Last Thursday was especially sunny, so after I got out of class around 5, a few of my roommates and I went explore a nearby park we hadn't been to yet. It was really nice and we walked a bit through some trails along the water and then settled in a sunny spot of grass with a bottle of wine and a soccer ball. Saturday was also nice, so I packed a sandwich, apple, and tomato, grabbed a book, and headed out to find somewhere nice to picnic and read that I hadn't been. I first went to a nice square called Karlaplan, sat around its big fountain, and people watched for a few minutes. Then I headed to a park nearby in search of some nice grass, and sure enough, I found the perfect spot! I ate my picnic lunch and read (laying in the grass under the sun = the ideal reading conditions) for an hour or so . Then the sun went away and I started to get a bit chilly, so I moved over to a little open cafe in the park and cozied up in one of their complementary blankets to continue my reading with a coffee and kanelbulle (famous Swedish cinnamon roll)...perfect Saturday afternoon!

Friday night a big group went out to celebrate the 21st birthday of one of the students in my building, Adam from Seattle. We went to a club, which was my first time here in Stockholm because they usually charge a pretty hefty cover to get in. After the cover charge (~$18 USD) and 3 beers (~$24 USD), my wallet was not very happy, but we had a great time dancing so at least the money was well spent!

On Sunday I went with one of my roommates, Daniel, to an amusement park in Stockholm called Grona Lund. It was the last day open for the season, so it was pretty packed with cute little blonde children. It's right on the water, and so there are great views of the city from on top of the rides (if I wasn't so chicken I would have tried to take some pictures while I was up there). The weather wasn't very nice, and we got rained on a bit, but it was still fun...I don't think I'd been on a roller coaster in at least 5 years! We followed the day with a yummy dinner at...can you believe it...a restaurant! Because restaurants here are so expensive (but food at the grocery store is pretty equivalent to US prices), I usually cook at home; after almost 4 weeks in Stockholm, I actually hadn't eaten a real meal at a real restaurant. So I treated myself to a beer and a classic Swedish dish, pytt i panna (a hash of meat, onions, and potatoes)...cost me approx. $30 USD but it was pretty tasty!

CLASSES: I ended up dropping one of my courses, which freed up my schedule a bit. It was the equivalent of a class I took at UT last year, and so I decided that since I was getting no credit and learning nothing new, it wasn't worth the time. I took great pleasure in crossing out 6 hours of lecture a week from my class schedule...hooray! Last night I had my second Swedish language course. It's been good so far, it just stinks that it's from 5-9PM every Monday evening, so it's a bit hard to stay focused for 4 whole hours (especially during dinner time). Writing and reading Swedish is really not too difficult because there aren't very many grammar rules and many of the words are similar to either English or German. However, pronunciation is a whole different story! You would never guess that what is written is the same as what you hear because they drop the ends of a bunch of words so it all runs together, have a very specific intonations and rhythm when speaking, etc. In general, it is also difficult for English speakers to say a couple of the vowel sounds (I can hear the subtle difference if my teacher says them, but I can't make them myself). So all in all, it's great to finally be learning some Swedish vocabulary, but I don't have any expectations of being able to have an actual conversation with a native Swede on the street (also EVERY Swede speaks perfect English, and I've heard they will immediately switch to English so it's not so easy to practice conversation). Oh yeah, and I still haven't met a single Swedish person (everyone I interact with in my classes and in my building are international students), so that also makes it more difficult! Therefore,

semester goal #1: befriend a real Swedish person (but frankly, I'd settle for even meet/have a conversation with)

SLEEP: My sleep schedule here is really screwed up. And the fact that my class schedule changes every day/week, is making it even more difficult to get into a normal sleep routine. But the real root of the problem is that on any given night, at least one of my 8 roommates will be in the mood to drink, and I just don't have the self control to not join in on the fun. I've spent more than one school night up until 6AM, then will go to bed at 9PM on the next night, etc. So...

semester goal #2: stop drinking and go to bed at a reasonable time (on school nights)!

Well that's enough goal setting for now, and I'm sure you'd rather just view my new pictures (#217-251). And for a special treat, here are some videos from Friday night, complete with singing Germans and Portugese!