Snow!

This has been a relatively mild winter for Stockholm and snow is a new arrival in the city.  But, now that it's arrived, it doesn't seem to want to stop.  Right now flakes are swirling around outside my window and every once in a while the wind will stop and everything gets frozen in mid-air for a second,  it's really quite pretty.
The snow has also made things a lot safer for walking around as it provides much more traction than the graveled ice that normally coats the sidewalks.

Yesterday Sarah and I made our way into the city center and explored the malls and shopping areas that surround the main Tunnelbanna station T-centralen.


Here are some random observations/musings on life in Sweden:

- Everything does actually come from Ikea. I do not think there is a single furniture item in my room that did not come from the store.
- H&M is VERY popular. From outside the T-centralen station there are 4 stores within maybe a quarter-mile radius.
- The Swedes are not all blonde-haired and blue-eyed but they are, on the whole, a beautiful and very well dressed people.
- It is quite difficult to me Swedes, they're kind of aloof and there aren't too many of them living in the student housing areas, however you can meet just about every other nationality wandering around the halls.
- I honestly don't know where Stockholm university students live... 95% of people I meet in the housing areas are from KTH, the Royal Institute of Technology, which is a fifth the size of Stockholm University.  (The housing areas are available to students from any of the Stockholm metro area's Universities, also SU has about 50,000 students so it's not like they can be easily hidden...)
- It is still socially acceptable to wear Uggs in Sweden, I am very thankful for this since their warmth is perfect for this climate.
- I have seen the sun twice in the past week :(
- I am still on the upper end of the height spectrum, I'm just less of an outlier.

Hej då!

Hej! hej!

I've taken a little time between blog posts because for the past few days I have been grumpy due to jetlag and malnourishment, but now that I have had sufficient hours of sleep and have gotten some food in my belly (thanks to my shopping spree and my hallmates) I'm feeling much better.

A contributing factor in my mood's improvement has been that I now have my life in order. I've settled into my room in the student living area called Kungshamra (pictures will come later I promise!) I've started my microbiology class and have registered for my Polisci class (but it may overlap with my required Swedish class so we'll have to see how that goes).  Now the two major things to do on my list are to purchase a cell phone and get a 3 month metro pass (an essential because I use it to commute to school).

Microbiology has been going well, but it is a very lab intensive class (if I don't get superlab credit for this monster I'm going to kill someone) we start lab at 9:15 most days and end at 4 with a one hour break for lunch.  Luckily this is only going to be for the beginning portion of the class, but still this is several weeks of all day labs!

Last night Sarah and I went out into Stockholm with some of her hallmates and their friends which was great and we had a lot of fun. Today I had no class and slept in late then went to ikea.  I got all the essentials, or at least I though so till I was sitting on the bus and realized that I had forgotten to buy sheets! Luckily Sarah has some extra in her room so I'll be able to sleep comfortably until I'm able to get back to Ikea.

The weather has been relatively good here and has stayed around freezing. And apparently this is one of the mildest winters they've had in years.  The first snow of the season came on the day I arrived and continued on to the 16th, but there's not much left on the ground. The downside of the warm weather is that it's the result of the constant cloud cover we've had it keeps the temps up but I haven't seen the sun, stars or sky since I've arrived, hopefully this will change sometime soon.


The Swedish cinema classic that my blog's title is in reference to is the Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman, its very good.  The other reason that I've called it this is that according to Haverford's online records Sarah and I are tied for the seventh Haverford students to come to Stockholm University.

All the Best!

Greetings from the land of ABBA and Ikea!

I'm writing this jetlagged at 4 in the morning (local time, middle of the day anywhere in the States) on the floor of Sarah's room (A fellow Haverford student who kindly donated her floor and sleeping bag to me this first night since I arrived too late to get into my housing) so I apologize if this becomes incoherent.

I got into Stockholm safe and sound last night after some 16 hours of traveling.  The flights were thankfully uneventful, and I was incredibly blessed on the first flight getting a bulk-head, exit row seat! For those of you who are not vertically gifted (or cursed depending on the situation) this may seem like I'm getting overexcited about nothing, but this seating arrangement meant that I did not have to contort myself into yoga poses for the duration of the 11 hr flight so I believe that my excitement is justified. Also since I was flying on Swiss airlines they gave us chocolates at the end of each flight, this made my day.  The only downside to my travel experience was the outrageous price of the taxi to the university, my fare was twice Sarah's!

Tomorrow (today?.... the 16th?) is going to consist of actually moving into my room, getting orientated and figuring out class stuff.  Should be a good time.

More to come! (hopefully)

Also kudos to anyone who gets what the blog title is in reference to.
Hint: It relates to a classic in Swedish cinema