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  Umeå, Vasterbottens Lan, Sweden
Monday, August 24, 2009

Has it already been 7 days in Umea? I cannot believe it. I must confess, I have spent a majority of this past week catching up on lost sleep and getting unpacked. Horribly unexciting tasks - definitely not considered "blog-worthy." But here's a taste of what IS:

I finally got a chance to get some grocery shopping done - and acquired a pillow, which really didn't make a difference, since I could barely notice on account of utter exhaustion. I met with an American girl (Christina) who took me out to fika, a coffee/tea/cake hang out, showed me around town, took me grocery shopping, and made me tilapia for dinner. It was great to be taken care of away from home!

Also got a chance to meet with my friend Lionel (from Congo) once again, who doesn't understand my hibernation habits and thinks my sleeping overload is a sign of depression. Not the case, by the way. He introduced me to a million and one new friends, many who are from Sweden. I had an excellent time. They made me soup and tea for dinner. We went downtown, and I had my first taste of Swedish vodka, which is actually spelled "wodka" in real life. I didn't wake up the next day until 3 pm. Taking bets now on how soon it will take me to die in the snow with frostbite and a bottle of wodka. Kidding, I'm being totally responsible.

Today was my first day of orientation. What a totally off the wall experience! Out of all 1,000 something brand new international students, I think it's safe to say there are close to 5 from the US. Just 5. That means there are 995 foreign accents and new cultures I get to explore. Met two girls from Ireland (Aggie and Sarah) and we exchanged contact information.

Met my new best friend - Russell (from Bangladesh). We will be sharing a majority of our class time together. Tonight he bought me McDonalds (finally -- a craving has been submerged) and we met with a huge population of international students at a downtown pub called Allstars. Which isn't that exciting because it's a lame sports bar. Russell thinks I worry too much, and likes to tell me this frequently. At the pub I met: Fa (Thailand), Bruno (Peru), Annia (Germany) and Maria (Russia). We all exchanged emails and phone numbers and it was simply just a jolly good time.

August 31st I will begin my first "module," or class on International Business Environment. Here in Sweden, students only take one class at a time - classes last (on average) about 4 hours a day.

Need to get to bed early tonight, as orientation starts at 10:15 am tomorrow!

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