Sunday Through Tuesday

Soooo yeah, nothing too exciting happening the past couple days. I was going to do work on Sunday, but only had a little reading to do because my professors are even lazier than I am and won't post any reading for the 2 classes I currently have. Weird. aaaaand, I really feel it is too early to select paper topics :)

So I've been pretty lazy. I've read a whole bunch of an online scanned copy of the Berserk manga recently. good stuff. for the many fans I know, I'd suggest reading it if you want to know what happens after the series ends. aaaand as a disclaimer, if you thought it bloody or anything before...it is way more so in the paper format.

Oh, I missed a swedish lesson today, but for a good cause. I meant to go watch a rugby match with the irish fellow paul earlier today at 3:30, leave a little early to make the swedish lesson at 5:15, but apparently they had the game on 2.5 hours late so we watched soccer, another match, and had a few beers while just hanging out. fun times watching irregular sports (for an american I feel.)

Birthday Celebrations

So I'm not too terribly hungover :)

Just a little headache from dehydration, but that is easily cared for. People came over from the surrounding dorms (the guys from downtown didn't make it up here, but, shit happens and it is quite far away, thier loss :P )... Drinks, music (what little partyish music I have), and eventually we went out on the town to another club, the name of which I completely forget and couldn't find again if I tried. The aqvavit and herring did a number on me. hehe.
dancing, drinking and such followed by going with the exchange students for drunk food at mcdonald's. ew. and, no, I didn't have anything. I've only been up for an hour and a half now, but I think I may need a nap :)

27th on the 25th!

It's my birthday!

I woke up late, went and had indian food for lunch...had class, then went and got some tasty looking salmon, which I just tossed in the oven. the festival portion starts later :)

Chuck

So if you watch chuck....you know they're nerds and they discuss fantastic sandwiches from time to time....well, here in Sweden I have met a fantastic sandwich. On a nice roll, roast beef, lettuce, crispy onions (like you use to make green bean casserole), and potato salad. so f-in' good!

I hate the person who lived in my apartment before me.

He obviously spent all of his time ripping his ethernet cable out of the wall instead of unplugging it...or maybe just kicking his cable repeatedly. Either way...my internet stopped working completely and I have to get someone to replace the damned socket. However, the...RA/building caretaker/enforcer just called and he's going to go fix it today. huzzah!

Football!

So football was very cool, the bar is good and does cheaper beers for people on football days (since there wasn't a seat free at all). However, the best part is that someone recognized our table as americans (perhaps that we were speaking english) and came over and invited us out to watch the green bay vs. giants game. pretty sweet, so I was the only one who went...they logged into a friend's slingbox in chicago and projected the game onto the wall...around 3:15 I had to go (giants 20, green bay 17) and missed the end of the game. I also missed my bus because I waited at the wrong stop on the wrong side of the street, I had felt pretty cool 'cause I found the stop in the first place...too bad I was completely turned around and tried to go south instead of north!

walking and more night buses got me home though, and only 30 minutes later than my original route would have.

Rugby

In addition to finding an american bar that will show football games, I've found an irish bar that plays all of the soccer and rugby matches. Paul (from Ireland) and I went down and watched two games this afternoon. His team lost unfortunately, but Munster put a solid whipping on the London Wasps. hehe, wasps.

Can't wait to watch a whole lot of six nations games there.

O'Leary's

I found the american bar! I know they have at least the pats game tomorrow, ideally I can make friends with the owner and hang around to watch green bay vs. the giants. go pack! why? 'cause brett favre is amazing. of course, I will be watching the superbowl there too.

Sad Museum, Happy London!

No classes scheduled for today either, so I slept in and eventually wandered downtown to go to the Mediterranean and Near East Antiquities Museum. I should have read a review I guess...It was small, didn't have too much...but chances are I still would have gone (what with the Ancient Near East courses I took at Hopkins and such, the interest was definitely there)!

I also wandered by the outdoor market, vegetables and fruit for far cheaper than the markets around here. bonus!

Upon arriving home, Tanzawa and I planned out a trip to London, we'll meet my US roommate Brian there. We'll be flying in pretty late on a Thursday evening and coming back Sunday (7-10th of Feb). So, if anyone knows the coolest stuff to do in London, let me know!

I'm currently trying to get people excited about a little bit of pre-partying up here at Lappis before going out later...which I can only presume will happen. Tomorrow I want to go to the Natural History Museum, apparently very good. Hopefully it turns me back on to museums in Stockholm!

Neglect

I've been neglecting the site already...but I blame my internet at my dorm. it has been working/not working on and off since I got here, but yesterday decided that it was just plain done. the company suggested it may be because of my cable...since they could detect that it should be working at the socket. sigh. I've got a new cable now, but I really doubt that was the problem, but I sure hope it is.

I went to the Vasamuseet with Tanzawa (too many John's at UNC) today, it was fantastic...everything I hoped and more actually. I had no conception for how staggeringly large the boat is. it looks like it would be able to float even now if you put it in the water it is so well preserved and the best thing of all was the random poster of AAAAHHnold in his Conan the Barbarian in the mythology section. someone obviously has a sense of humor.

I took a ton of pictures around stockholm in the past few days, I know you anxiously await their debut on my picasa page. they'll be there as soon as I get online. (I'm at a PC lab now).

PS swedish girls are hot.

21:00 13-1-2008

So much to tell, so much I want to go to sleep…I’ve been overpaying for text messages on my US phone for a couple days now. Last night I decided that unfortunately enough, the only way I was going to get to do anything is if I walked down to school where the other UNC guy has his room (john tanzawa). Unfortunately is was raining a little and the map I had only had half of the route on it (the 2nd half), and while I had checked out the route to school online before, I had to do it from a 5 day old memory. Didn’t get lost and got in touch w/ Mikael, my friend and unofficial exchange buddy who was at UNC this fall. So I went and checked email for important stuffs, then hung out with a gaggle of exchange students. We played a very convoluted version of Kings with screwdrivers…I was as lucky as always and drew the 4th king out of the last four cards. Everyone was pretty cool, there were even a few of the exchange buddies around who helped us get to the Soder, a place with a bunch more bars and clubs than downtown proper (where HHS is located). We stayed out ‘til closing time (3am) and people’s drunk-hunger made us miss the last train home at the metro but we piled into cabs and made it home just fine.

I crawled out of bed around noon today and immediately got a text from Tanzawa letting me know when he was going cell phone hunting. I needed a charger and to buy some credit for the prepaid card that was given to us in our welcome packet so I decided to hop the metro down. I had to find the stop first, easier said than done since I had the aforementioned useless map. I bought my month long pass (620 Kronor, just under $100) which, as usual, is a pretty good deal since each ride is about $5. So we ventured out, actually ran into another couple exchange students at the Phone House, walked down to the Gallerian (relatively nice mall), got what we needed and decided to wander around some just looking at Stockholm. We walked a couple miles, saw the Nordika Museet and the Vasa Museet which I will have to get back to for picture taking soon. Then we got lazy and hopped on the metro back towards school. Tanzawa and I feasted on some delicious Indian food, we both requested spicy and were well rewarded with runny noses and sweating.

Now I’m just biding my time ‘til tomorrow for orientation. Still no internet. Poop.

17:45, 12-1-2008 Stockholm

I had my first embarrassed moment here in Stockholm a few hours after arrival. I was at the relatively well stocked mini-grocery store in my complex of dorms, paying with my credit card…the little machine was asking me to do something, there were no cognates there to let me fake my way through it. I could have faked the “show ID to clerk” one, but the accept transaction one was impenetrable.

I like my room, pictures to follow, and rearranged it to my tastes…unpacking and setting up is quick when you’re only dealing with two suitcases and a backpack. I’ve set up the mini-ironing board that someone left here because I’m going to have to iron nearly everything I wear for the next couple weeks until it is all ready (or maybe tomorrow ‘cause I have no idea how to connect to the internet or anything).

Alright…I’m going to walk down to the school now. Maybe I’ll spot an ATM on the way, I need a day or so worth of cash to get by on ‘til I can swing by the post office Monday or Tuesday. Bank of America tried to sell at 5.97 Kronor, even the ForEx here in Stockholm is at 6.2…30 or 40 dollars difference if you toss a thousand at it.

Leaving Iceland

I hate airports. I mean, this airport is really nice. Easy traffic flow, the short-term parking is the size of a football field…yet they still tell you to get here two hours early. I did. Unwise…maybe I thought that international travel would somehow be different and require me to jump through more hoops or something. Nope. Now I’m bitter. I’m in a decently comfortable chair, surrounded by very nice hardwood flooring, and decent architecture too doesn’t seem cheap or old/dirty at all. I’m typing away in word, prepping this entry for when I have a chance to load it (current time is 6:14, my flight leaves in 91 minutes…), because I’m not going to pay for the wireless. So I get to waste a bunch of time and might be out the $10 or so “rental car refill” charge. Because at 5:43 when I was 5 minutes from the airport I thought I might NEED my 2 hours. Boooo! I say might in reference to this charge because the needle never really got below the F since I didn’t really drive it that far…

PS I love my suitcases. Four wheely rolly dealies. Snazzy, so while everyone else is tugging two suitcases behind them I’m kind of just guiding mine along upright in front of me. Ah technology (eons old technology!)

No squirrels...just Rabbits

Stockholm does not have squirrels...but it does have rabbits. I walked the three miles to school the other day (I had no Kronor for the fare) and saw 4 rabbits. very weird.

Total Pwnage

My site got a rotating photo album before WeCrow.

Total pwnage.

MMm. fish.

Creamy awesomeness. that's all you need to know about icelandic cuisine. I ordered Lobster Soup and "Pan Seared, Bacon Wrapped Monkfish"...holy crap. the soup was a cream sauce with huge chunks of lobster hidden under the surface with a blob of butter melting in the middle. I gained a pound looking at it...good thing I lost a pound walking everywhere today in 0 degree Celsius weather.

Regarding the main course, well, fish I hadn't had (somewhat tasty, very firm fish) wrapped in bacon (and that makes everything better)...on top of a bed of half tasty potato wedges (but not deep fried or anything) and half mixed vegetables (traditional red cabbage meets snow pea pods, red pepper and minicorn thingies)....with a side of another delicious cream sauce.

Iceland is expensive, obviously, they've got fish...and lava rocks...I would definitely come back here and only once I've been working for a few years.

Oh, side note on my supershady car rental...I asked if I could drop it off at the airport at 6am, the guy gave me a sad look...and said "just go to short term parking, leave the ticket and key under the floor mat". however, this guy did cost 70% as much as any other car rental. booyah.

Iceland

Blue Lagoon

It feels like a different day entirely than before my midday nap...and I feel so much better after lounging around in warm steamy geothermal goodness. the deal is...blue lagoon is actually man-made. accidentally man-made. they put in a geothermal powerplant and the residual water started forming pools, that they figured would just drain into the lava rocks...didn't. sealed all the holes with silica and formed the supersweet spa.

ok. time to get someplace to put my pictures online so I can get them loaded up here.

Iceland

I'm in Keflavik. it's cold. I landed around 7 in the pitch black. it's 10:23 now and finally things are a little grey out there. with what looks like a potential sunrise on one horizon. Something glitched online, I need to sort out my blue lagooning now. I don't want to miss the geothermal spas. if I do, I shouldn't have stopped here.

Well, now Iceland sucks a little. there's no record of my reservation to go to the Blue Lagoon. Also, when I was talking with the Iceland Air person in Reykjavik, she said I could get a shuttle from the hotel desk....the receptionist now thinks I'm an idiot because there is no such shuttle. BOOOOO! rent a car for an afternoon? taxi? hike? hmmm.....

Anxious!

So, I woke up this morning, got dressed and now...I have 11 hours til I leave from BWI, 8 hours til I get to BWI, and 6 hour until I leave for BWI. holy crap holy crap holy crap. I'm all packed up, suitcases weighing in under 50 pounds each and the carry on backpack that I got at REI on tuesday is all set with my Iceland adventure pack.

I hunted around for hours yesterday trying to find the best deal on hotels in the Keflavik area, as I had decided that a trip to Reykjavik would just be too complicated (it's about 45 minutes from the airport, and I leave early as crap on Saturday). So, turns out, that Iceland Air must be in cahoots with everyone around there...or just keeps an eye on prices closely. Their rooms were cheaper than almost everyone at their Flughotel that is 5 minutes from the airport, their package to take you over to the blue lagoon is cheaper than independently hopping a bus there and back...etc...

So yeah, I get in at 7am, then have to pretend that I don't feel like it is 2 or 3 am and be useful enough to do stuff and not just sleep all day in Iceland.

Getting Ready

I leave tomorrow....time for last minute laundry and organizing everything that has to come with me to Stockholm. I spent yesterday bopping around picking up things, a backpack of the proper dimensions for use on cheap euro airlines, sweet convertible pants for when I'm backpacking, and some basics. Today was "omg, I don't have headphones" day...and a power converter for John Tanzawa (the other guy from UNC Kenan-Flagler who is already in Stockholm).

I still haven't really figured out what I'm going to do in Iceland for a day yet. My flight out to Stockholm is at 7:45...too early to make getting back to the airport easy from Reykjavik (the airport is a half hour or so away in Keflavik). Soooo yeah. I guess that's something else I have to do today. whee.