Ambassadors

My stay in Sweden is now more than halfway over. Seriously. I've already been abroad for over three months and I've only got less than three months left. It felt like just yesterday that I was sitting on that SAS flight on my way to Copenhagen, just yesterday when Lauren and I were sitting at my house in Rocklin scheming about our Italian vacation, just yesterday that I was turning in my application to study abroad. But here I am -- it's a success story, already, of my ability to not only live on my own but in an entirely different culture than my native one. I've dealt with so many things since I've been in Sweden -- sickness, class scheduling conflicts, and internet troubles. I even helped my friend call a locksmith when her key broke off in her lock at midnight. So I think I've been pretty good these last three months, and I'm not scared of the next three. That said, I'm already dreading coming home.

Yes, of course, I want to see my parents and my brothers. I can't believe that life in America hasn't stood still since I've been gone -- Kenny went to Hawai'i on business (lucky!), and Steve got a brand new job in Boston, MA!! So now my family is spead all over the world, Ken in Ohio, Steve in Massachusetts, and me in Sweden. My poor mom -- now Ken is the closest one to her, and he's over 2,000 miles away! And of course I want to see my dog, Cisco, most of all (miss ya Bobbaloo!), but it's the idea of going back to UCLA that I'm not fond of. I'd much rather come back to Lunds Universitet.

I also realized last night that I actually feel sort of bad for these Swedish people. I mean, don't get me wrong, they are so lucky to be Swedish and live in this wonderful place. But as I've been teaching them the meanings of various English swear words which they've picked up, the Soulja Boy dance, and what it means to be "hyphy", I've realized -- I'm not really the best ambassador for these things. Honestly, half the time I don't even know where swear words and insults come from, and who am I (very white and not ashamed) to be instructing even whiter people on the Soulja Boy dance? I feel sort of sad for them that their access to learning these things from American pop-culture has to come from such a bad representative. But then, maybe they are better off not learning these things altogether.

And now I've realized that I never finished describing my trip through Italy, or my stay in Eastern Germany with Daniela's hilarious family, or even my most recent trip to Bruges. So I'll have to spend the next few days chronicling these adventures. But first, let's focus on Sweden -- I mean, it is the country which I decided to come to, and I have had the bulk of my experiences and learning right here in Scandinavia!!

All in all, I'm surprised by the professors here. Firstly, I don't know any of my professors last names. Seriously. They insist that I call them Jens, Anamaria, and Annika, respectively. And they're so relaxed, it seems. Honestly, Jens once asked our class if we had done our readings for the discussion. He said, "If not, that's okay, in that case I'll have something else for you to do." Seriously! Thankfully no one owned up to not having read the book and we plodded along through the discussion just fine.

Also, there are much more limited resources here in Sweden than back in California. I've grown used to a 24-hour library where I can check out books and do my readings at leisure. But here the libraries are only open from 10 - 18 (that's 10am to 6pm), which is totally ridiculous if I have class until 17 (5pm) and want to get some reading done after class from the library reserves. I realized that this isn't just a complaint of Americans either, as I ran into a Canadian girl who absolutely agreed with me about the ridiculous hours of the library. I mean, the libraries aren't even open on Sundays! What about last minute homework and readings that must be done?

The main library is also the only place where students without printers can print out their papers. At UCLA there was a large computer study room in each building grouping (one for rieber, one for hedric, etc.) that were ALSO open 24-hours. So what's up Sweden? Do Swedish students not really need all that library time? Well, probably not, since their professors don't even mind if they don't do their readings! But I'd at least like to learn SOMETHING while I'm here. If I just wanted a six-month vacation from school, I would have gone to study abroad somewhere like Italy or Spain (sorry Lauren), where there are more disko-clubs than classrooms. But honestly, I really am learning quite a bit, especially since I'm taking classes a bit outside the realm of UCLA anthropology. It's nice to not have to listen to the same things over and over again (anthro classes can get sort of redundant). So far, none of my professors have thrown up a big pictures of Indiana Jones on the powerpoint and said "This is NOT anthropology!" Duh.

But my fellow (Swedish) students are fantastic. I've even gotten to be pretty good friends with my floormates (or corridor-mates as it translates here), though it's taken some time. My friend Fredrika was shocked when I told her that the expensive types of mascara only cost $8 in America (that's 50:- crowns, whereas cheap mascara here is 150:- crowns!!!) She insisted that there must be something that is cheaper in Sweden that in the States. I told her if it exists, I have not found it! And then she told me that my favorite chocolate brand here is sold in IKEA -- so guess where I'm going once I get back to California? :-)

Here's some Swedish for you to learn:
choklad -- chocolate
fantatisk -- fantastic (that's an easy one)
antropologi -- anthropology (ok, there's another easy one)
Social- och- Beendevetenskap Biblioteket -- The Social and Behavior Science Library (that's my home library!)
lärare -- teacher/professor