Cycling Queen

Although I have to catch you all up on the past few days I have some breaking news: today I bought a bike! It's a red road bike and unlike a lot of bikes here in Sweden, it has hand brakes, which is a nice comfort. I never did like sports where you had to go back in order to stop (ex. roller blading, cruiser biking). So this is definitely a great addition to my Swedish life as everyone rides bikes here. Most sidewalks have a bike path to it so it's fairly easy to get around the city - and way way quicker than walking. Should be getting a basket and bell soon - how very European.

My jetlag is finally subsiding and it's been great to have the weekend to cathc up on a bit of sleep though both Friday and Saturday nights were late ones. Friday we went on a pub crawl and got to see some of the drinking establishments in the city. It wasn't crazy expensive (to a Canadian at least, whereas the Germans and Americans were up in arms about drink prices), I'd compare it to going out to like a nice lounge - that sort of pricing. The pubcrawl was pretty good but I was soo tired so went home at about 12:30am instead of the party animals that stayed out til 3 or so. Though, I am happy to say, that across the world, people eat McDonalds late at night. How very comforting. McDonalds here has donuts though! And a weird Mexican-ish menu.

Saturday we rode bikes into the city - kind of a scary experience for my first time riding a bike on the streets really. And of course, our activity of choice was shopping. Most stores are having sales (or reas) so that was nice - Zara and H&M are so much better here too. Also Nudie jeans are cheaper...just have to find my size! It was nice to be in the city on a weekend though, to see lots of Swedes puttering about and seeing what Swedish life is like a bit. We then went home and made some dins and headed to a party in another student accomodation. It was pretty fun to meet lots of people from all over the world and be comforted by the fact that even if people speak hardly any english, they know all the lyrics to all the poplular (and not so popular songs). Very funny.

And today, I went with Kat (from Germany) to get my bike. Now I'm soon off to go ice skating then a group dinner (savoury pancakes!).

Have more Swedish tomorrow as well as a tour of the city. Then off to my department to meet the international coordinator and figure out my schedule. Classes start Wednesday so that will be a whole new experience!

Some more facts:

1. The Swedes are actually pretty nice and polite. Unless 50 students barge into their intimate pub.
2. The liquor store closes at 2pm on Saturday. If that isn't blasphemous, I don't know what is.
3. People from all over the world have such different slang and terms. It can be a fun little game to figure out what one another are talking about. And of course, I had to educate everyone about the word "toque". Beanie is just a silly word.
4. I've really noted how things are all a matter of perspective. Maybe a beer costs 1 euro in France...so alcohol here is expensive. Not so amigos. Not so.

Ta.

xx

To the land of swedish berries!!

So I just decided to rekindle my old blog rather than create a new one...so here goes my 5 month adventure in Sweden/Svergie. This may be a long one.

I arrived two days ago and really meant to start blogging in Iceland, on a layover, but the layover was much shorter than expected as I had to go through passport control. I had enough time to snag a blow dryer with the right voltage and plug but not much more. My flights weren't bad as I manged to sleep for a lot of both of my long ones (Seattle to Iceland - 7 hours and Iceland to Copenhagen - 2.5 hours).

Once in Copenhagen, after collecting my bags and mistakenly telling a man I spoke Danish, I was off on the train to Malmo. This may seem like a simple task, but unfortunately, everything in Denmark is in Danish. Luckily, I found another Canadian girl and her mom that were heading to Lund, which is past Malmo. I rode the train with them (while they fed me delicious snacks) for about 20 minutes.

I arrived in Malmo Central Station weighed down with a large suitcase, a hiking backpack, a carry-on and was met by students called 'fadders'. These students are part of a club called Interact that help with exchange students. They brought me up from the train for my first glimpse of Malmo - very much at sea level with a mix of old building and industrial. Also very windy!

I then arrived at a building at the university that houses the library. It all looks verrryyy much like Ikea. Suspicious, I know. I signed my rental agreement, got heaps of information, my Swedish course book (scary), and a duvet and pillow. We then were driven to our accomodation...a cute little brick building that has been renovated. Pictures to come soon.

I started to upack, but decided to take a trip with Katreace (a girl from Aus) to the grocery store and to look for a pay phone. We went to a shop called Willy's which is quite big and apparently cheap which is good in Scandanavia. It was also probably the most overwhelming shopping experience ever. Not only was this store huge is also had about 400 types of milk a self-weigh and label produce system and a set-up like no other shop I've seen. Barring those factors, we got some essentials for breakfast and snacking and moved along. After our trip (where we discovered that half of the side walk is for cycling and half for walking) I unpacked my room and got settled. Katharina lent me some sheets kindly and I had my first sleep in Sweden.

My jet lag hasn't been terrible but I have woken up a few times a night. The next day a group of us walked to school in stead of paying 18 kr which is about 3 dollars. We got to explore the city and experience a bit of cold. We arrived a few moments late (which the Swedes don't generally appreciate) but got an introduction to the school. The rest of the day consisted of our first Swedish class (Jag heter Emily. Jag talar bara engelska och lite svenska), a dairy tasting (Sweden has a lot of types of cheese, milk and even yogurt milk - think YOP but common and without weird commercials) and a trip to IKEA! I had never been so excited. It also seemed to be cheaper and hotdogs were 5 kr which is less than a dollars Canadian. Yum.

Today we had our second Swedish lesson as well as an introduction to the computer systems at Malmo University (or Hogskola, in Swedish). There systems (computers, library cards, etc.) are similar to that at SFU except you also get a card to access all the buildings 24 hours a day. It's called a multi-card, but I like to call it a magic-card.

Our day ended with a trip to the mall, Entre, to buy a cell phone, which thankfully, I just figured out how to swtich to English and some more groceries, which was much easier this time. We then had a huge group meal with 12 people consisting of those from Australia, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, and me, the lone Canadian. It was delicious and quite precious as how often is it that you eat with 12 people?! Very cute.

So far it's been great. I am buying a bike soon to fit in with the crowd and hopefully will not die as I'm not used to road bikes.

To sum up my first few days:

1. Swedish people are very stylish. Like I want to be them stylish. Hipster to the extreme-stylish.
2. Everyone stands in line-ups. They are better at queuing than we are. Most shops and even the school has a take-a-number system.
3. Cheese is way less expensive here. 1 kilo of swiss for 3 dollars? Yes please.
4. All swedes have a personal number which allows them to get gym memberships, wireless internet, etc. Us exchange students can't get them, sigh.
5. Aussie slang starts creeping into your vocabulary very easily. I now say heaps and shop (instead of store).

That is all for now.

xx

Sasquatch withdrawl.

Following something so grand, something is bound to go awry. After a great weekend at Sasquatch (please refer to previous post), I have been plagued with some sort of sickness. It started with a raspy throat for excessive singing and yelling, then morphed into a sore throat/cough combo.

Due to my withdrawl from Sasquatch, even with a cold, I was determined to have some semblance of a fun weekend. Besides staying in on Friday night to continue my goal of painting/collaging more often, while also nursing my sore throat (ie. having a 2 hour nap), I managed to have a fun-filled day on Saturday.

My friend Sarah and I met up on Main St. to head to Fab Fair, a local jewlery and bag fair. We checked out some things but really wanted to be out in the sunshine eating a sweet treat. We made out way down to Science World area, got some McDonald's ice cream (high end ogre things) and sat in the grass while being assaulted by extremely small dogs. From there, we walked our way into Gastown to meet Tyler for dinner at Judas Goat. Since we were a smidge early, we wandered the trendy shops...where I found myself a vintage Coach bag! It's so quaint and not monogrammed, which I appreciate the understatedness of. Needless to say, it was a most excellent find (they also had vintage Dooney & Bourke, check out Nouvelle/Nouvelle).

From here, with our purchases in hand, we met Tyler (and some other interesting characters in Blood Alley). We had the most delicious tapas meal at Judas Goat, consisting of things like pork belly, scallop tartare, sable fish, a variety of bruschetta and much more. The staff were delightfully playful and the food was unreal. I would definitely recommend a visit to this new find, but keep in mind its a small place so try to make a reservation. I guess my love of Judas Goat suggests I should try their other restaurants like Salt and Irish Heather. Yum.

Disfigured (sunburnt, due to reading Capital all day at English Bay), Tyler headed back to his abode. Sarah and I made our way back to my Burnaby pad to enjoy the pleasures of hottubbing, scrabble and tea. Wholesome, I know.

Anyways, now I sit, on my couch watching Tyra about pregnant teen girls (uplifting!) taking a sick day to try to finally recover from the beast that was Sasquatch.

Worst Blogger Ever/ Sasquatch

I am awful at hobbies. I pick something up with every intention of being committed and diligent. This lasts for approximately four days. I tried painting. Produced a few for Christmas gifts, then petered off.

This trend is continuing with this new hobby: blogging. I know it's a great thing to do in terms of my future, considering I want to be a writer and self-publishing is pretty much a requirement now, but I find it so difficult to integrate something into my life. Am I already this old and stubborn? Seems like it. So I've made it my goal. Tonight I painted AND am writing this, so really I'm two for two. Let's see how long I can keep this going...

Well the big news. This past weekend I road-tripped down to The Gorge, Washington with more people I didn't know than I did. Piled into a 15 passenger van sans the back two rows of seat we headed south of the border to the land of 1.5L bottles of wine for $9.97.

First stop (after a Mexican adventure at the Pacific Inn right before the border)was Tulalip near Seattle for an epic Walmart trip. Torrential downpour didn't dampen our spirits when entering the most massive, consumerist superstore you've ever seen. Imagine Canadian Walmart on crack with a liquor aisle added. Oh and produce. Strange combination. We stocked up on camping essentials (sandwiches, bathing suit tops, and $16 30-packs of beer) and continued our journey.

After approximately 9 hours, one Mexican fiesta and no sustenance, we arrived in the quaint town of Ellensburg. Streets lined with fast food restaurants facilitated the convergence of our convoy, the last leg to Sasquatch Festival 2010. Away from the rain of the Pacific Northwest, we were in the desert (think Okanagan). Past windmills and brush we arrived at a pile of cars lined up to get into the campground. It was getting late but we had some friends saving us a prime spot next to what would become the party haystack.

After arriving at our spot near Honey Bucket (the port-a-potties) 27, we cracked a setting-up-tent beer and set up our tent. We roamed the campsite after wrangling a mash of gortex and poles we wandered the campsite and scoped our campsites to the best of our headlamps abilities. Deciding to save up our energy for the next three days we went to bed at a time which would soon come to seem very early.

In attempt to keep this post a reasonable length I will describe the three days of the festival as such:

- 7:30am: Wake up to extreme heat. Strip off all layers of clothing. Listen in to conversations of bacon, how wasted someone was the night before, or security yelling with a drawl at the hay bail partiers

- 7:45am: Set-up an outside of tent to resume listening to conversations. Apply sunscreen.

- 8:30am: Tap into the first beer. Play flip cup. Consider a hose shower.

- 9:30am: Make self publicly acceptable in terms of dress.

- 10:00am: Continue drinking. Pack bags for the day.

- 11:00am: Converse with friends and frolic around campsite.

- 12:30pm: Consider entering the festival site. Crack another beer instead.

- 1:00pm: Grab another beer for the road and hit

- 1:30pm: Enter the venue, be amazed by the scenery and beer prices. Enjoy music and dancing and the best time of your life.

- 2:00am: Return to campsite (not necessarily your own). Roam the campsite for sweet dance parties.

- 3:00-3:30am: Attempt going to bed. Be awoken by people describing dance parties with lasers they "didn't know they had" and those looking for "MARRRRRRLIIIIIIIIN!"

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Basically, it was the most exhausting and awesome weekend of my life (or at least this summer). The rest really seems downhill from here. I met tonnes of new people, listened to bands new and old, and danced more than you have danced in your entire life.

Some favourites you may ask? Vampire Weekend put on the most unreal show. Biggest dance party ever. Watching them with the sun go down over The Gorge was just the cherry on top. A-Track was a great way to spend hours dancing in the sweaty, sweaty dance tent. I really could just list every band or performer I saw here. So just look at the schedule and imagine they were amazing, cause that would be accurate.

The way back was rough. The van was hot. Subway in the States doesn't have Caesar dressing. And no one's brains were running at full speed. Though this was the case, the company was still great and the reminiscing continued for the five and a half hours back to Canada, the land of moderation and less alcoholism.

Now here I sit with nothing more to show for my weekend than a few pictures, random sunburns, and a sore throat. Well that and some of the most unreal memories to look back on.

Failed Stand-up Comedy

And no, not on the comedians part. My roommate Jocelyne and I went out after a long days work to catch a comedy show, part of the Tumble Weed Project, of a fellow we met in second year residence. Unfortunately, our sense of direction failed us and we were unable to locate Little Mountain Gallery.

Though seemingly a let down, we resorted to spending our cash saved from lack of admission prices on delicious sundaes with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and all. Really, there is no better way to spend a Thursday night in and unseasonably warm May. People watching. Hot fudge. Good company. Now that's golden.