Tuesday through Thursday

Ok, I finally have a chance to relax and just sit in my room for the night... This week has been very busy! Where to start...

On Tuesday we woke up early and walked to the university so that we would know how to get there by walking. It took about 45 minutes! Once we got to the Konsertsal in Musikhuset we listened to some more helpful information and then a few of us ate lunch at the Pasta buffet here. The food was delicious but I wish I would have eaten more because I was still hungry! After lunch we were able to register for classes. I went with a couple other people from UWF to our registration and we were able to meet our Professors for the project work and set up a meeting time to start working. We also had a little tour of the facilities. The labs are so nice here!! I hope that I am more prepared for this research project than I feel! After that I registered for Swedish with most of the other exchange students.

After registration, a large group of us rode the bus downtown to visit System Bolaget in order to get ready for the big Tybble party that night. System Bolaget is a liquor store that is owned by the government. It you want to buy any alcohol that is over 3.5% then you must go here. It was the most organized and clean liquor store I ever saw haha. My friend and I got yelled at for taking pictures of an american girl who was buying alcohol legally for the first time (she's 20). After stocking up for the party, we went to a shopping mall called Class Olsen and I finally got a phone and shampoo! When you come for exchange here, you are given a really good deal on international calling and calling your friends with Comviq, so I had to buy a phone in order to use the SIM card they gave me.

That night we had the Tybble party and the theme was Countries of the World. Not very many people dressed up, including me, but there were some good ones. If I had some supplies I would have been Wonder Woman to represent the USA... I'll do better next time. I've learned very quickly that every party here consists of drinking and dancing - and there are a LOT of parties. I think it's going to be a good semester.

On Wednesday we woke up early again for some more informational sessions and then that night I went to a pre party at Tybble(Tybble, Studentgatan and Brickebacken are the three biggest neighborhoods where students live) and then a bunch of us caught a free bus to Strömpis, a popular night club here. It was a lot of fun and the beer was reasonably priced before midnight (25 kr ~ $3.50). They played a lot of 80s music and had a Bon Jovi tribute band hahaha. It will take some getting used to, but I enjoyed the atmosphere there. I don't know how often I'm going to go there though, because the entrance fee is normally 60 kr. I think I'm just going to stick to the Tybble parties since they are free :) I can't wait to do an American theme!!

On Thursday we had a tour of the downtown area and visited City Hall where they showed us a video presentation about Örebro and Sweden. I learned that Sweden is 75% forest and has over 90,000 lakes. I thought it was interesting to know that the royal family here is descended from Jean Baptiste Bernadotte from France and that after embarrassing himself, he refused to learn Swedish. After the presentation we had a short welcome ceremony and a toast, and then we headed out to have a tour of the Castle. This was my favorite part of the Orientation program, but it was SOO cold at that time. I want to go back for another tour, but that might have to wait until June!

I think that is enough for now, I will write more tomorrow and then hopefully I will be all caught up!