A lot has been going on since my last post. On måndag I had my first class. There are about 20 students in my course and all of us are international students. There is a mix of students from Japan, Korea, China, Turkey, Germany, France, Russia, Spain, and a few others I can't recall. Our teacher is very informal and prefers that we call her by her first name, Kaisa. She is an excellent teacher and our lectures are exciting yet informative. We also have 1 hour of swedish each class period so when I return to the US I hope to be able to speak lite, lite svenska.
On Monday evening I had choir rehearsal with Brygghuskoren. So far I'm only able to read the music notes but I'm lost when it comes to the words and lyrics. I asked one of the choir members what we were singing about and she told me gas and aftershave...but I think she probably meant foam instead of gas. Lol! Should be an interesting semester with the choir but this will also help me to improve my Swedish accent. For starters, here is a little pronunciation lesson:
ö = ur (make your lips like you're going to kiss someone)
ä = air
å = or
Today (onsdag) was a particularly busy day for me as well. I have class 3 days a week for about 4 hours per day including my Swedish lesson for 1 hour each day. After class today I signed up for a trip to Stockholm. Apparently, there are only a limited number of slots available for this trip but I was one of the lucky ones. I already have made a few good friends here in Sweden and they saved me a spot in line while I was in class.
This afternoon I met my fadder, Lotta. She is a Swedish student but spent around 10 years in the US and she is training to become a Swedish police officer. Its great having a fadder that has spent substantial time in the US because she is able to understand me at my normal pace of speaking with no problem. She is really nice and we're already planning on having an international potluck sometime in the future with other fadders and international students.
This evening I took part in my first sittning with theEHVS on campus. They served a traditional Swedish meal complete with pickled herring and meatballs. We also formed small teams and had a quiz on Scandinavian culture...of course we all know who won...none other than yours truly. My two teammates and I won a bag full of Swedish goodies.
Lastly, after a week of being in Sweden we FINALLY got some snow today! All the international students from warmer climates spent the afternoon making snow angels and having a snowball fight. It was tons of fun until all our hands begin to freeze and we sought cover indoors. Hopefully the snow will still be there tomorrow...they say its particularly warm for this time of year...but i don't know about that...it was -3 degree celsius this evening on my way home from sittning...guess I'll still have to get used to the weather.
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