La Petite Vie: September 2010

So what do I do all day? Well, being a grad student I don't do much more than read and study and read some more, but for those of you who are far away, here is a little picture by picture account of what a typical day looks like for me :)

For now the weather is still a pleasure--we have had a lot of sun and while there is the nip of Fall in the air, you can still get away with a light coat and scarf. I am trying to take advantage of this so instead of heading straight for the tram in the mornings on my way to school, I'll take a stroll down to Lindholmen to hop on the ferry to Rosenlund.

Lindholmen

There is the ferry I just took!

And then I'll wait for the tram at Järntorget

I get off the tram and here I am at campus

That's my building!

And look, people just park their bikes here. They don't even lock them up! Can you imagine?! This really is utopia.....

I can take a little detour through our "secret garden" and grab an apple for a snack from the small orchard

Close up of the main building where all of my lectures are held

Here is the computer room at the library, where I spend a lot of my time. There are weird mask-like sculptures on the wall...I'm not too sure about those, but I guess they are cool to look at

There are a lot of excellent open lectures held by the various departments within the university. This one was one of Jan Eliasson and was held in this gorgeous hall

Jan Eliasson himself (if you don't know who he is, look him up, it's worth it)

And then I make it home and take over the kitchen table (to the boyfriend's dismay) with all of my reading and studying and reading and studying......

Not too exciting, but now you know!!

So it has been quite a while, and a lot has happened. The past few months have really been a whirlwind of hellos, goodbyes, surprises, shocks, solitude and lot of flying and moving around.

I have returned back to Sweden after two months back in the States. My parents came back with me for their first time to Scandinavia and they loved it—what a relief! I had such a great time showing them around my new home and introducing them to my “other family.” I couldn’t have asked for a better visit.

Now they are back home, and J and I are here, all settled in our apartment. There is still a lot of work to be done here, but it does already feel like home. It kind of always has.

I know it’s only been about two months, but I have to say, I am loving this “living with my boyfriend” thing. Initially it was something I really never thought I would do, and after being preoccupied with all of the technicalities of getting here (applying to school, getting into school, getting the visa, making the flight and getting all my crap here), I kind of didn’t really pay attention to the reality of what I was doing. But then I sit here, in our apartment, and become my 16 year old self again. I am living with my boyfriend. With my best friend. How cool is that?! We can do whatever we want! Eat candy for dinner, stay up and watch TV as long as we want. Kiss whenever and wherever we want. It is awesome!

Ok yes, I swear, I am an adult too. Yes we have to pay bills together and are having a slight disagreement about where the Tony Sopranos poster will go *cough*storage closet*cough*. But after being in a long-distance relationship pretty much my whole adult life, I am so completely ecstatic to know that I only have to be away from my love for no more than a matter of hours a day. So mushy and cheesy but so true.

Finally on the same continent again!

As for other updates—summer was great and exactly what I needed. A little re-charge of California and family and friend love to hopefully hold me over for the long, dark winter ahead of me. Working at IIE was great and geared me up for my studies.

I started school almost a month ago now. For those of you who don’t know I am pursuing a Masters in Global Studies at the University of Gothenburg. I am really loving being a student again. I get to go to the library and read for hours a day and then write papers and have seminars and lectures. It’s awesome! Haha. My class is really interesting too—there are 85 of us total and we come from all corners of the world. There are so many interesting people and perspectives—I am really happy to be studying in another country again.

I also have found a little job for myself teaching English to elementary school level children in an after school program here in Gothenburg. I really enjoyed teaching last year and am so happy I will be able to continue. And Swedish kids are so darn cute! Maybe even cuter than French kids? Hmmm…. :)

Other than that I am still very active as the Program Chair of the American Women’s Club of Gothenburg and am starting Swedish Language lessons next week, so I am definitely keeping busy. Oh! And I am going to join Friskis och Svettis (Chelsea L knows what this is), because I need to get some exercise going.

Ok there are probably like a million other things I have to say and I apologize this was not the most creatively written blog entry but I just felt that I needed to throw everything at you list-form to get it out and get you caught up. I will try my best to keep you all updated regularly, but honestly, I am just so busy!! But I love it! And I love Sweden! And I am so wonderfully, incredibly, probably annoyingly happy right now it would probably make you sick to hear about it all the time but I really will try to let you all know what’s going on. I love you! I miss you! Oh—and I’ll be home for Christmas :)

Puss och Kram!!