Monday, August 29, 2011

First Day of School

This trip seems to have a lot of ups and downs. Today was one of those worse days. Skip this post if you don't want to hear me griping. I need to vent.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Amerikansk

Wednesday marked the start of orientation, which meant that I had to figure out how to get to the university 3-4 miles to the south. Uppsala has a lot of people who get around mainly by biking, but with the impending onset of winter and my only being here until mid-December, I decided early on to travel mainly by bus. It wasn't too hard figuring out which bus to take to get down to SLU. I bought a bus card beforehand and loaded it with money so that the rides would be cheaper overall. I think I might just end up paying for unlimited rides each month because I have already used up most of the money on my card from having to ride the bus every day.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

I Made It!

The past 3 days have been crazy. My flights to Chicago and then to Stockholm were running on time, but Sunday was still a very long day. The flight to Stockholm was strange- it was around 6pm EST when we left and when we landed it was 7:30 in the morning according to the local clock. During the flight there were about 4 hours of darkness, which was disorienting in itself. Cabin lights were switched off during that time to accommodate sleeping, but I had a hard time getting any rest. Plane rides are so noisy and cramped! We were served a (presumably) typical Swedish dinner and breakfast.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Three Days Left!

I just realized I've jumped through a lot of hoops to get to this point. Between passports, registration, classes, visas, housing and finances, I'm lucky things worked themselves out in time. It'll be weird being away for a semester.
My plane leaves Louisville on the 21st(Sunday) at around noon and takes me to Chicago where I get to wait around until about 4:30 to leave for my 8-hour flight to Stockholm. When we land it'll be 7:45am local time(1:45 in the morning EST!). Not looking forward to that jet lag,especially since I habitually stay up so late already. I might just say awake the whole plane ride and then sleep for a few hours when I get to my apartment. Hopefully the buddy I have been in contact with will agree to meet me at the train station after I leave Arlanda Airport so I can find my apartment more easily. It sounds like I'm staying in "Rackarbergsgatan 10:417." I think that means building 10, apartment 417, but I guess I'll find out when I get there.
I will be attending SLU in Uppsala, Sweden, which is apparently an ag school. I will be taking Viticulture, Foods in Europe, and some ag econ class with a long name. This will work out well for my food science/food manufacturing operations majors, even though the classes are really only electives.
Scrambling to pack for fall/winter in Uppsala. Supposedly the climate is similar to Michigan's, so hopefully it'll be only slightly colder than winters in West Lafayette. I'm debating between taking 1 big suitcase or 2. If I pack everything into one, it still may exceed 50lbs and then I'll have to pay for 2 anyway...but I don't think I can tote 2 heavy suitcases around very well, either. Guess I'll figure it out when I get everything packed.