First Full Week

It's been an eventful week. Our introduction to the Swedish academic system revealed a completely different way of doing things. Classes are held quite infrequently and an entire course is generally squeezed into half of an American-sized semester. Although four to five courses per semester is still considered full time, the classes are held two at a time during two periods within the semester. What all this equates to is free time. Instead of the regimented weekly schedule you would find at an American university, the schedule here is largely set by the student. This will be pivotal in determining our travel plans for the semester.

Here is a synopsis of the previous week:

Even the lecture halls here are beautiful. Surrounded by wood and ample desk space, it was oddly enjoyable to listen to two days worth of lectures from the international staff. Fully oriented, we are now prepared for the semester.

"Skrapan"-the tallest building in Västerås. We're actually in the Elevator heading down after learning that the observation deck was closed for the night.

The crew from Junior (accommodation where I now reside) invaded the local supermarket, ICA to do some group shopping after our trip up Skrapan. And I do mean invaded. Every person in the frame is from Junior and at least four other people are in other parts of the store.

A trip to IKEA yielded a green rum cake.

Also at IKEA: confirmation that ALL carts in Sweden (from airport baggage carts to shopping carts at grocery stores) have casters at all 4 corners instead of 2 casters up front and fixed wheels in the back. More culture shock, I suppose.

You know your school is good when it features its very own sky bridge.

A view of the school.

The sun! A view of its lovely face from my window, only thinly veiled by clouds. A truly picture-worthy occasion.

More proof that the sun does in fact come out from time to time in Sweden in the winter. I should really get something to hang on the wall. Although it looks like the room was attacked by a band of four-year-olds with beige finger paint, the peculiar patterns on the wall are due to selective removal of the wall paper, presumably from previously glued-on decorations.

Doin' laundry with the Finns. Actually it's two Finns and another American. Boy, they look pissed at me... Probably because I made everyone impromptu pose about 15 times before getting this gem of an unnatural snap. At least everyone made it in the frame, though. The laundry room is quite small.

That's all for now. There is still a ton to post about, but it's almost time for disco bowling. Stay tuned!

SWEDEN!

What a trip! Nearly 24 hours to get to Stockholm from 'burque. We invented a new game in the O'Hare airport, ate some neatly packaged meals on the international flight, and were completely blown away by the airports in Copenhagen and Stockholm.

Oh yeah. That's me playing "ride the luggage cart" in a deserted terminal at the O'Hare airport. Try it some time. It was a good enough game that Tyler and I were actually the last people to board the plane to Stockholm.

Dinner.

Look at those wood floors! And the glass! That was only the security check at the Copenhagen airport. The rest of it was even more beautiful, but you really do have to see it for yourself...the use of space and materials is something else.

If the luggage carts hadn't been in plain view, I bet I could convince you this was straight from a design magazine.

We stayed the first night with a local and his girlfriend in their apartment in downtown Stockholm and experienced some first-rate hospitality. After walking around Stockholm in the morning, we caught a train (barely...can you run up stairs with everything you own on your back?) to Västerås where we checked in to our new homes.

Tyler (left) and I stayed with Fernando (right) and his girlfriend in their Stockholm apartment on the first night.

Somewhere in the tourist district of Stockholm. We basically wandered aimlessly in awe of one of the coolest cities I've ever been to. Funny thing is that were were approached two (2!) times as Swedes...There were people performing surveys on the street, two of whom approached us with survey questions in Swedish.

How many churches have you been? Now, approximately what percentage of those had swings? And of those, how many thought to install the swing INSIDE? Only in Stockholm... NYC, you got nothin' on this.

Here's a video of the new pad. It's a student housing unit named "Junior" and is about 2 minute's walk from the university and 5 minute's walk from downtown Västerås. It's also full of international students. If I had to make a shot-in-the-dark estimate, I would say no less than 20 countries are represented.

I shot this a couple of days before posting and I have actually learned that I lie quite a bit over the course of the film:

• At the intersection, the direction without a crosswalk is due to a tunnel under the street!
• We actually are allowed on the balcony, but it requires a tool. There is a better balcony to go on, though, which is actually the fire escape.
• That map...the dorm is nowhere near the circle. It's actually way north of there.
  

Oh, and the clicking at the intersection is for deaf people. It changes frequency when it's time to walk. I always imagine: wait...wait...wait...wait...go!go!go!go! It really sounds like that. You should hear it some time.

That's about all I've got time for now. There is WAY more that I would love to share, but it's time for sleep. Check out Tyler's blog

for more pics and another perspective of the journey.

I would probably have a better post for this leg, but I spent approximately 6 hours FAILING to learn HTML. I think I've probably got enough for now, though, so subsequent posts should be devoted entirely to content.

Closing In

It's a commonly asked question: What would you do if you had one week to live? Variants of the question substitute differing time frames and are generally constructed to satisfy the questioner's desire for depth in the answer, but the premise is the same--what is most important to you? The past couple weeks have found me, in a sense, living my answer to that question. Of course I have every intention of returning to New Mexico, but it would be imprudent of me to neglect the innumerable possible outcomes of an extended stay overseas.

Family Time

An uncharacteristic holiday. Christmas eve lacked the usual fervor of the occasion, but the relaxed, muted alternative was certainly nothing to complain about.

Skiing

A week in Taos. Sub-prime conditions: a healthy dump at the outset of the week, but completely dry for the remainder of our stay. Sunny and warm. Spectacular food. Fantastic company. The new year arrived to a brief pause in dinner as we watched a cell phone's display refresh. And one of the most breath-taking sunrises on record.

Desert Adventure

With an early start and a set of chains for Nate's Bravada, we set out on another excursion through the New Mexico wilderness. Plenty of snow. Gorgeous New Mexican scenery. The inevitable car trouble...the upper control arm on the left side came unbolted (!) causing a slothful return to Socorro: we stopped at a Denny's in Elephant Butte at 1:30am and didn't see Socorro until 5:30am.