Escapades In The Frozen Tundra

A Couple More Pics

2010-03-13T02:52:00.000-08:00

Nice Day On My 28th

2010-03-13T02:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday

2010-03-13T02:46:00.000-08:00

I wake up on the morning of my 28th Birthday, and it feels like just another day. Certainly a pretty uneventful birthday. Other than being in another country, it won't be too exciting. The day starts with a 9:00 group meeting for leadership. I then have another group meeting after that as well as other papers to write.....

However, it is a beautiful day, so I take a study break to walk around Lappis and take some pictures. Post to come

We head to the restaurant in Lappis for a couple beers around 9 with Corne. That is the extent of my birthday celebration. 28.....old

Drew

Weekend # 8

2010-03-13T02:27:00.000-08:00

Weekend number 8 couldn't come fast enough as Joe and I have actually had a pretty good amount of schoolwork to do. We have a 20 page group paper in our finance class in which we are in the same group. We also have separate groups for leadership and a 20 page paper due there as well. Throw in a littany of individual assignments, and we have been quite busy.

However, when Thursday rolls around, we are ready for another pub crawl. This time, the crawl is around Ostermalm. The 2nd bar we go to is an English pub called Spitfire. Definitely right up my alley. We haven't found to many relaxed, pub style type bars here, so this is nice. I step up to the bar, grab myself a $9 Guinness, and I am in business. Next, we go to a fancy steakhouse that has a huge bar area. I have been in enough watering holes to know that this will be even more expensive than normal. However, my brain leaves me for a second, and I agree with Joe that we should order an Old Fashioned. About halfway through the bartender making this extensive cocktail, I realize that this is not going to be cheap.......200 SEK.....son of a bitch. That was ok at Collage, because it was your first week here, but you know better now; rookie mistake, unacceptable.

We finish off the crawl by going to Sturehof. Sturehof is also the place that we have met Gustav on many the Friday for happy hour after work. The happy hours at Sturehof are simply amazing. Joe and I split off from each other as we both get caught up in other conversations. Next thing I know, I have a text from Joe that he left in time to catch the metro. I look at my cell phone; 12:58....blast. Oh well, cab ride it is. Certainly a 2nd successful pub crawl.

On Friday, Joe had some friends coming into town from Barcelona. They arrive around 4:00, so we head over to their hotel to meet up with them. Amazingly, they have gotten word about the cost of booze here, and they have brought tons of it. After a drink in their hotel room, we head back to Sturehof for our normal happy hour spot. We meet up with Gustav and his new girlfriend, as well as A.C. We grab a couple drinks there, and Joe and company decide we are doing a nice dinner on this fine evening. We go to a restaurant called Prinzcen. It is very fancy. We look over the wine list to find the cheapest bottle. It is some Greece/Portugal mix, perfect. After a couple appetizers, a couple bottles of wine, and some delicious entrees, we pay up, and head out.

We meet up with Levar and Anna at Spitfire for a couple rounds after dinner. Once we have had a couple pints there, Levar and Anna split, and we hit the streets. Lauren then leads a very determined charge to get into a club at 11:30 without paying or without waiting in a line. We try to convince her that this is not possible, but the Greekport we just had is working to strengthen her resolve. 30 minutes of wandering the streets later, the wine starts to wear off and we hop in cabs and head home.

Levar

2010-03-03T15:38:00.000-08:00

Joe and I headed over to Anna's place on Saturday to meet up with Levar. Levar has texted me earlier in the day to let me know that he bought Knob's Creek at the duty free shop. This means that Joe and I are off the hook for drinking Lord Calvert tonight....you cannot imagine the relief.

We meet up with Levar and immediately form a threesome to catchup in which I am a foot shorter than the average person. Awesome....I remember why I love Corne and crew. Joe is the giant in our exchange crew, I am the midget in this one. After a couple drinks, we decide to play some Swedish karaoke. After working Joe in a couple english songs, I dominate a Swedish one. My pronunciation would make Frida blush......

We try to head out but there are queues everywhere.......oh well, gold medal hockey game tomorrow night :)

Levar meets us at the Hard Rock Cafe on Sunday evening for the Gold Medal hockey game!! We are very excited. We have been here for the football games and a soccer game, so the pigtailed Swedish girl knows that she loves me.....this makes it easier for me to get $10 beers :). While she might work on commission, I know this is different. We are also watching the game with about 11 Canadians. They are up 2-1 with about 40 seconds left when the USA calls a timeout. It is hilarious to watch how tense they are. It is like Red Sox fans pre 2004, they are just waiting for the guillotine to drop. Sure enough, Zach Parise (chicken parm) score with 24 seconds left. Levar, Joe, and I three way five while the Canadians cry. Crosby ends up making them all happy, but it was worth it just to watch their faces when we scored the equalizer. Marijuana dealers cleaning up in Vancouver tonight......

Catch the bus by about 3 seconds and get home to weep
Drew

Do You Win In Swedish Casinos??

2010-03-03T15:28:00.000-08:00

Joe and I decided on Friday that we would test to see if Swedish casinos pay better than American ones. We start the night by heading to O'Leary's to watch the USA Olympic semifinal game against the hated Finnish. We get to the bar about 5 minutes before game time and every single TV is dedicated to the biathlon. This is a sport that combines cross country skiing with....shooting a guy: how many alpine snipers are into this? Now not to steal too much material from Jerry Seinfeld, but come on....already a man has died participating in a sport that would be the exact same if people competed against their will. Come on buddy, you're in the luge......

We ask the bartender, and she tells us that the hockey game will be put on half the TVs once it starts. We are happy about this, so I order a 66 SEK Guinness. As soon as the hockey game starts, half the TVs switch over, and the whole bar erupts. I have never heard a group of people so pissed about having the TVs switched away from cross country skiing. Joe and I have a moment of panic as we see the waitress point towards us and say some words in Swedish. We assume this means "if you want to kill anybody over this issue, kill those two Americans." As it turns out, she was just explaining that they could still watch the boring biathlon on the TVs around the bar. As it turned out, not a very exciting game. The US scored before we could even sit down. They then made it 2-0, so I texted Oskar. 3 min later it was 4-0. I texted Oskar to let him know the score, and before i finished the text, it was 5-0.....needless to say, the US took those damn dirty Finns down.

Joe and I then headed to the casino to try our luck. Coat check was free.....already up 20 SEK....booyah. I get dealt 11, of course you double down. Although in Swedish casinos, the dealer only deals their up card, and they dont get a down card until after you have played. The dealer has an Ace showing, and I have no idea if she is going to get a blackjack or not.....so I double down, get 21, only to watch her deal herself a ten and take double my original bet. I am not happy about this, so I run out of the casino and get 7/11 pasta. Fun to see how serious people are at casinos outside the US. However, I still celebrated wins. And.....the doors to the bathroom were amazing....you had to be there

Levar gets in town tomorrow, booyah
Drew

Sweden Presents Us With.....Work

2010-03-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

Joe and I found ourselves in an interesting predicament the last seven days.....there were exams to be studied for and work to be done. While I thought this was a cruel snow filled joke at first, it was indeed true, I must study. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday preparing for our psychology of financial markets exam. One of the things we had covered was the idea of the "hot hand fallacy." In relation to sports, this meant that a guy that was 10-10 for the night was not necessarily better to take the last shot than a guy that was 2-10 for the night. The decision was based on career FG %. I thought basketball to be a poor example, so I send the professor a long email about the z-test regarding......well, long dorky story short, he posted his response the my personal email on the class website....luckily there are only hot girls in that class....

So I finish the exam and head off to McDonalds. The night ahead has our first Swedish pub crawl. We start this "pub crawl" at a French restaurant. Joe and I order a couple beers and wade into the crowd. We are talking to a couple people when in walks the french girl in our exchange program. I say hello as she walks towards me, and all of a sudden, I am in the movie Ghost Dad.....she literally passes through me. The young french ladies are truly mannerific.

Corne and company meet us at the second bar. This bar is oddly located in the middle of what looks to be an elementary school. After a couple drinks there, we walk to the last bar before our final destination, Sturecompanient. At this bar, we meet up with AC and company, and shots seem to be on the menu. In addition to that, popcorn comes in bags and is for free. Yes sir, these $10 drinks are actually $10 - the marginal utility of a bag of popcorn......

As Corne and I head to Sturecompanient, we hope that Joe has also made it there. Once there, dancing ensues.....I hope to say that this is the first time I have ever dance to MMMBop.....I don't know if this is a Swedish thing, but recycling shitty American songs 10 years after the fact with weird beats added in doesnt' make them good. However, the girls somehow love Hansen all of a sudden....maybe it is cause they all look like girls...

Last Swedish Class

2010-02-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

Monday is a sad day, as it marks our last Swedish class with Frida. I head into town early to get myself a haircut. I walk into a place that has a sign for student haircuts for 190 SEK ($28). After I am done, I go to check out and hand him what I think is 240 SEK. I am not sure whether or not to tip, but I just figure I will anyways. He looks at me like I am crazy, and I say, yeah that is for you. He looks at me even more confused, and it takes me a second to realize that I have only given him 140 SEK. This would explain the reason that he wasn't happy with his tip. I give him another 100 and he seems very pleased. Joe says later that people don't tip for haircuts....oh well.

Our last Swedish class is a lesson on all of the Swedish holidays. They certainly have a lot of them, and most involve tons of food, dancing, and singing. Most of the holidays seem to involve a specialty food that sounds....well kinda gross. And Frida doesn't seem to disagree with this fact, as she makes interesting faces while describing most of the dishes. The worst of which seems to be some sort of rotten herring they bury underground. However, the holidays all sound like a lot of fun, especially MidSummer. This is the biggest holiday in Sweden. Everybody leaves the city and heads for the country for 24 hours of daylight to drink, sing, and dance. She teaches us a midsummer song that they sing while they dance around a maypole. It is called Sma Grodorna, and the words are as follows:

Små Grodorna, Små Grodorna
Ar lustiga att se
Små Grodorna, Små Grodorna
Ar lustiga att se
Ej Oron, Ej Oron
Ej svansar hava de
Ej Oron, Ej Oron
Ej svansar hava de
Koacka ka koacka ka, koacka kacka ka
Koacka ka koacka ka, koacka kacka ka

Translated that is loosely:

Small Frog, Small Frog
Funny You Are To See
Small Frog, Small Frog
Funny You Are To See
You have no ears, you have no ears
you have no tail
You have no ears, you have no ears
you have no tail
Ribbit Ribbit Ribbit, Ribbit Ribbit
Ribbit Ribbit Ribbit, Ribbit Ribbit

and here of course is a clip from youtube to illustrate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on9PLzlY0Ww

Frida sings it for us and does the little dance, which is pretty awesome. She then gets the group of us to do the same. It is pretty funny, and she gets a huge kick out of it. Certainly the highlight of the Swedish class. We collect our certificates for having attended enough classes to be Swedish pros, and we head out. It is definitely sad to know that Frida is walking out of our lives forever....

Also, the other thing that comes with the even colder than normal weather is that the bus schedule has turned erratic and impossible to count on. This makes getting to class on time, very difficult. We will be walking more places until it warms up I suppose....

In unrelated to Sweden news, I will be flying to Dallas for final rounds with AT&T on March 8th. Awesome way to spend a birthday....but definitely excited about the opportunity. Poor timing, as I miss almost a full week in Europe, including my planned Barcelona trip. However, certainly glad to have the opportunity.

Drew

My Personal Fridge

2010-02-23T10:48:00.001-08:00

Pics Of Gamla Stan

2010-02-23T10:45:00.000-08:00

Weekend In The City

2010-02-23T10:31:00.001-08:00

The weekend started on Thursday with a night out at Sturecompanient with a group of exchange students. Nothing special, although the evening did start with my first fall down. I have been here 7 weeks and managed not slip badly enough to actually fall down, so it was bound to happen. We were getting off the bus at our metro stop, Universitetet, the slipperiest place in Stockholm. I planted on my right foot way too hard, and launched up into the air. I got absolutely parallel to the ground before eating it on my bum. Luckily, all that was hurt was my pride as the group got a good laugh out of it.

On Friday, Joe and I woke up to walk around Gamla Stan and take some pictures of some sights. We make the decision to dress kind of light, as it doesn't seem to cold outside. We stop for lunch, and by the time we are done, it is about 20 below 0. We walk around for a couple hours before the weather gets to be absolutely unbearable. However, we are able to get some good pictures of the snowy Old City.

Saturday, Oskar's apartment building is throwing a party on account of one of the tenants moving out. We head that way at about 9:00 and stop for a drink at an Irish pub near Oskar's place. We grab a couple seats at the bar next to a guy in a kilt and a scary looking guy. About 20 minutes in, their is a scuffle in the soccer game that is on, and the scary looking guy gives me a little elbow and says "I thought this was a game for poofters played by fairies, why are they acting tough?" Too which I smile and nervously laugh. We find out that he is from Australia, so he is used to rugby and aussie rules football. He proceeds to make about 20 inappropriate comments over the next 30 minutes, but Joe and I continue the nervous laughter at the fear that we might take a shiv to the neck otherwise.

We then head off to Oskar's place. We get there in time to cheer the Swedes to a gold and a bronze in the 30 km combined cross country skiing. We then head to the basement for the party. Oskar's building has a cave-like basement that is both convenient for parties and a bit scary. There is a DJ and a bar down there, and we spend our evening dancing and drinking the night away. Being in a cave does have the effect of causing you to lose track of time. At about 4, I decide to hop on the metro and head home. Oddly enough, I run into a couple classmates on the metro so I have some company trucking through the snow from our metro stop to home. Btw, this is probably the coldest night since we have been here. The walk home is brutal....snowing, wind howling, and freezing. But certainly a great evening. Oskar and company throw one serious party.

Ski Pics II

2010-02-21T10:40:00.001-08:00

Ski Pics

2010-02-21T10:37:00.000-08:00

If You French Fry When You Should Pizza.....

2010-02-21T10:11:00.000-08:00

You're gonna have a bad time - Tad McKowski. "Stan Darsh"

Joe and I set out on our first skiing expedition on Wednesday. Now I use the term skiing expedition lightly as it is a couple hills built on a landfill in the middle of the city.....but whatever, skiing is fun regardless. I wake up to see that it is snowing outside, which is pretty awesome....powder, here I come. This means that I can cut even harder than normal, as I have no doubt that I will hope right back into the saddle even though I haven't been skiing since I have been able to legally drink alcohol....sadly, that is a very long time

I wake up and put on every piece of clothing I brought to Stockholm. I have so many clothes on that I think I lose about 8 pounds on the metro on the way to the ski hill. We get up the counter to get our ski rentals and the lady asks Joe what size boot he needs. He responds "48" she double takes....umm, let me see if I have that. We don't normally get giants here. She thens asks him how tall he is, to which he responds 190 cm. She then asks me the same two questions. In any situation, my 170 cm is not exactly impressive, but after the 190, I believe she thinks I am a midget. "Let me head to the kid's section and see what I can find."

We get to the bottom of the hill and realized that instead of a chair lift, they have a T-bar lift. Neither Joe nor myself have ever used one of these. However, we see a bunch of 7 year olds successfully navigating it, how hard can it be. We get to the front of the line, and Joe hops up to the plate. Of course there is a cute girl working the lift, making it that much more nerveracking. He is on a snowboard, so he has it pointing out front with one foot in boot and the other out. The girl asks if he needs help, but of course we are big boys and can do it ourselves. Joe misses the first two that come at him as the young kids behind us let out collective groans. I am not a mind reader, but I believe they are thinking "who are these old clowns that can't figure out how to get up the mountain?" Finally, Joe catches the third one that comes by. Sweet, now it is my turn. As I am about to grab the first bar that swings by, I hear three noises. A clunk to the ground, an english obscenity, and the laughter of kids behind me. I look up and Joe has fallen off his T-bar and is now rolling down the mountain. It was truly one of the great sites I have seen in Stockholm. I go ahead and grab my T-bar and head up the mountain as I pretend to not know him.

I manage to hop pretty quickly into my skiing routine. Making cuts, hitting jumps.....pretty awesome. I do quickly remember that skiing is quite a workout on the legs. After our first run down, we collect to hop back in line for the T-bars. Never have I been more nervous for something so simple. The girl sees us coming this time and walks up to help us the way that she does when the toddlers come up. Joe, has another train wreck, but not quite as spectacular this time. It takes him about 4 attempts to finally grab a T-bar, but no rolling down the mountain. After a couple runs, we get the hang of it all. We are comfortable enough that when the girl offers to help Joe, he says "I got the hang of it now." Sure enough.....fall number two, rolling down the mountain again. Amazing...

After 3 hours of skiing, we hit up Max on the home. I certainly wore way to many clothes as it really wasn't very cold. Next time I will remember to not wear quite so much. We have our 2nd to last Swedish class, so we gotta hurry back. We have pharmaceutical phrases to learn, and I gotta soak up my last couple hours with Frida the amazing Swedish teacher.

A Long Weekend In Stockholm

2010-02-15T07:09:00.001-08:00

The annual career fair, Handelsdagarna, took place this past week at school, so as a result, we didn't have our normal classes on Thursday. This gave us a nice, 6 day weekend. On top of that, Handelsdagarna is very much a work hard, play hard type career fair. Everybody does their smoozing during the day, and then school throws huge parties in the evening.

Wednesday, after the Vasa Museum trip, we met up with Corne at the restaurant within Lappis. We had a couple beers there before heading over to the University of Stockholm for a party there. We weren't looking for a late night, and that was probably a good thing, as this party had the main effect of making Joe and I feel ancient. Also, Corne ran into one of his German lady friends with a couple of her German friends. They couldn't run quickly enough to circle around the Dutch German-magnet. It is truly an impressive phenomenon

Thursday night the plan was to head over to school for one of the Handelsdagarna afterparties. Beforehand, Joe and I decide to head to Dovas for a couple drinks and some facetime with face tattoo man. The crowd here tonight is actually very nice, and a little bit more our speed. There is one girl in the corner that would be extremely pretty if you could talk her into removing the bull/nosering thing she has going on. In all seriousness, this place is not so bad after 10; just an odd group during the day. One kid is very drunk causing the owner, one of the scariest men I have ever seen, to just stare at him and his friends. Very glad to not be a part of that group....we enjoy a couple starkols and head over to the party. The party at school is indeed as crazy as Gustav had described. Odd versions of MJ songs blaring and drink being drank....

On Friday, Oskar has invited us to eat a very Swedish dinner at his family's place. This will give us a chance to meet Oskar's dad and brothers and enjoy some fine cuisine. We grab a bottle of good old fashioned Napa Valley wine and head on over. We aren't sure exactly what to expect on a food and drink level, but we have heard that moosemeat is on the menu. The first thing that I notice is that we have one napkin, two forks, and three.....drinking glasses. First things first, a round of a traditional Swedish liquor, aquavit, is poured for us to sip on prior to eating. Skoal.....and that was not sipped, that was shot. I see how we are doing this. Aquavit is actually quite smooth on the way down for being 80 proof, but the aftertaste is very....interesting. Heinekens are then poured into the beer glass and we work on the starters. The first round is some flatbread with herring and some sort of sauce on top. I feel like Jim as I stare nervously at the dish. It wasn't exactly my thing, but certainly delicious in its own way.

After round 1, more Swedish liquor is poured and shot, and then the moosemeat is brought out. The moosemeat is very delicious. Not quite as "gamey" as I had expected, but very tasty. Along with the moosemeat, is a dish that is very similar to potatos au gratin, but includes onions and some different flavored spices. It is amazing. I help myself to many helpings of both that and the moosemeat while of course not ignoring the Heineken glass. Also, whenever one person gets the inkling for some Swedish liquor, they are not supposed to drink alone, so a skoal is called out and we all drink.

During the main course, some zingers are thrown out amongst the family. Oskar's brothers are significantly less outspoken, so Oskar teases them about this and claims after one of the skoals where Petter is forced to leave the table "I have failed my family. I have not properly taught my younger brothers how to drink." Oskar's dad also delivers a nice one when he tells Oskar that he needs to figure out how to find a lady. All in all, nice to see that picking on family members extends outside the Johnston household.

After the main course, wine is poured into our third drinking glass, and desert is brought out. With desert is the introduction of coffee and then of course a fourth drinking glass for any scotch you might desire. Having never been one to turn down a nice scotch, I oblige. We eat a cheesecake type dessert that is also delicious, and I am full in both my eating and drinking stomachs. The conversation then somehow turns to tax policy somehow and Joe is using words too big for me to understand, which I imagine means those to which English is a 2nd language are also a bit confused. Although it is hard to keep Joe's average word size down after a couple shots of Aquavit and some Heineken. After enjoying a couple cups of some strong Swedish coffee, we are ready to head to school. As I stand to leave, I remember that we had four separate vehicles in which to drink alcohol out of during dinner. I also think that during that meal, I doubled the amount of Heineken I have had in my lifetime as it has not traditionally been a Drew beer of choice. Regardless, we head to school. We know there will be a queue, but Oskar "knows a guy in the choir." I chuckle for two reasons 1) guy in the choir and 2) this wields power? To which Oskar shuts down both with 1) Well he hangs out with all girls, mostly Swedish and they sing and drink wine together and 2) apparently so.

We get to school, and there is indeed a huge queue. Luckily Oskar's friend comes to meet us. Oskar then comes over and says "we will have to wait a while, so lets grab a drink across the street" Apparently, his connection allowed him the ability to chat with said choir boy, but not actually enter the party. We head over to NSee bar for a quick drink, and we will try our luck later. By the time we enter the party, Joe and I are a bit spent, so we actually leave very shortly thereafter. Oskar has disappeared into the mix to find Mrs. Kroenmark. We head on back after a very fun, Swedish meaty night.

Sunset In Stockholm

2010-02-15T06:49:00.000-08:00

More Vasa Pics

2010-02-15T06:39:00.000-08:00

- Walking through the ship, I realize I am the perfect height to be a Swedish sailor in the 1600s....Joe is not.
- At the bottom is the king when the ship was commissioned: King....Gustav. There is also a picture of how Gustav looks today
- Diving Bell for those in the navy that REALLY trust physics
- Eat your vitamin C kids

Vasa Museum

2010-02-15T05:47:00.000-08:00

some shots of the ship. couldnt get all of it in one picture. also, the harbor and the museum from outside on this beautiful day. and...the cheap chinese buffet we rolled the proverbial dice on. not really "all you can eat" when you only get 10 ounces of Coke. Painfully ironic that a country that loves the use of salt as much as Sweden is oddly limiting with their drink portions.

Quick Link To Pics

2010-02-10T11:04:00.000-08:00

Joe and I walked around a bit today and went to the Vasa Museum. Going to meetup with Corne for drinks, but just wanted to post the link real quick. Commentary on the trip to come later after said drinks.

http://picasaweb.google.com/johnstondrew/VasaMuseum#

Another Fun-Filled Weekend

2010-02-09T11:14:00.000-08:00

I have posted some pictures from this past weekend, but I figured I should give a bit of context to them. Our weekend started by yet again meeting Gustav at Sturehof after he got off of work. This is a very popular after work spot for 20 somethings in Stockholm. We grab a place along the sidebar that happens to also look out at the entrance. It is very hard to pay attention to Gustav as he tries to tell us about his week as the young professionals pour in. Everytime Gustav introduces us to one of his work friends, we say "oh yeah, we are going to a Bandi game tonight" and they all give us the same "really??" face/reaction. Sweet, we are fired up.

We head to meet up with Oskar at the Bandi game. It just so happens that it is Oskar's team, Hammarby that is hosting tonight. From all that we have heard from Oskar, Hammarby is not the best club to be a fan of. Their soccer team won the championship in 2001 and promptly fired their trainer. Since then, they have been relegated two divisions. Their hockey team has declared bankrupcty, and apparently their Bandi team is very good, but they always choke in big games. So their Bandi team is like UGA's football team it sounds like....

The Bandi game is all that we imagined. For those of you that have been to a futbol game, you know that there are hooligans dispersed throughout the crowd. This crowd is like that, without the non-hooligans. It is like all the hooligans need their hooliganish fix, so if there isn't a futbol game going on, then Bandi it is. We immediately get swept up in the Hammarby allegiance. Hammarby scores to go up 1-0 in the first half, and Oskar teaches us their only cheer. The only word in the cheer is Hammarby, said many times over to a cute little tune. It is very impressive. Hammarby leads 3-2 at halftime, and we head into the drink tent for a refreshment. In the 2nd half, Hammarby is leading 4-3 as we cross the 90th minute and into stoppage time. This is when I notice the shirtless guys standing in the -10 degree weather. In the 95th minute, the opposing team scores to tie the game at four, and a minute later, the game ends in a draw. I am now very aware of the heartbreak that Oskar speaks of as an HIF fan.

Saturday evening is the night of our exchange dinner at school. We get all dressed up and head out for dinner at 7. As I walk outside for the first time in anything other than my boots, I realize that it is almost certain that I fall down and rip my pants or break a hip. Not only am I not in boots, but I am in dress shoes that seem to be newly waxxed on the bottom. This is going to be interesting. The event starts with us all in the lobby drinking some weird raspberry vodka/mineral water combination. At dinner, we are served mashed potatoes, lingenberry, and oddly shaped swedish meatballs. This cuisine is not the most shocking thing that has happened to us since we have been here. The next very not shocking thing, the post party plan is to head to Cafe Opera....yeah, we have been there.

We head off to Cafe Opera, and the coat line is absolutely absurd. This is certainly a downside to living in a country that has the deadly combination of super cold weather and an obsession with looking hot all the time. An hour later, we are good to go. We are coming into Cafe Opera on the heels of a company event of some sort. As a result, it is an oil and vinegar effect as the young idiots pour in and the old guys try to rush out. Although many cougars stay back and lurch in the crowd.....it is dangerous out there, and I just pray that the young guys in our program keep their eyes open. It is also Corne's birthday, and everybody takes this as an excuse to buy him a tequila shot. I am very impressed that when we leave, he is still standing given that he has had quite a few of these. I do my best to fight off all the Germans trying to battle for his love and get him back to Lappis. Btw, I cracked the Cafe Opera music code. They have a 90-120 minute tape that they just loop. I think this was the first night that we were there for more than 120 minutes, so I just realized it, but there is no doubt that it loops. I am not sure that Ronnie or the Situation would put up with this. No way Karma would pull this shi.....

On a random side note, as we are waiting to grab a cab, we hear a girl say something along the lines of "wait up yall." This triggers Joe and my "southern american radar." We ask the girl where she is from, and it turns out, she goes to ECU and her parents live in Durham. Small world. Her and a friend are visiting Stockholm from Orebro (about 2 hours away and in the middle of nowhere). Anyways, when we tell her we are from Chapel Hill, she proceeds to make sounds that would have driven Sierra crazy....and Sierra might have heard them in Atlanta at this level.

We head home to rest up for a big American Sunday. Oskar and AC have invited us to join them at TGI Fridays....the only place in the country with free refills. Very excited about some American cuisine and football in which you can use your hands and it is not encouraged to flop whenever somebody touches you.

Drew

2010-02-08T15:14:00.001-08:00

Hammarby choking the game away.....sweet Hammarby fan, Swedish Dawson, Super Bowl setup, and a Bandi Shot

More Pics

2010-02-08T15:10:00.001-08:00

Documentation of a Chapel Hill boy lost in Stockholm as we stumbled upon a fellow Carolina soul. Also a couple pics from Friday night. Crazy fans at Bandi, the guys in the Bandi concessions tent and crazy Hammarby fans.

Pics From SB Weekend

2010-02-08T15:07:00.000-08:00

American Day on SB Sunday included a stop at Friday's where Oskar was our host. Saturday night, the boys dressed up (corne, joe, and christian: from Rotterdam U in Netherlands and St. Gallan in Switz) Same night out at Cafe Opera and then the guys enjoying the big game

Have To Go To Bed

2010-02-05T19:08:00.000-08:00

The snow is so deep here....I just had to jump in! It was very refreshing

I Almost Got Away With It

2010-02-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

So I leave class today and head to System Bolaget before hopping on the bus for Lappis. I am standing in the store debating my choice, even though I know it will be Lord Calvert, and a lady walks up to me and says "Var ligger en starkol." Having just learned from Frida that this means "where is the beer," I point to the beer section. When I walk to the counter, a lady says "urseckta" (excuse me) to which I reply "Nye, du" (no, you go). I then go to the counter and the lady says "Hej" to which I reply "Hej." She rings me up and says "Tre hundra trettifyra kroner" and I pull out my credit card. She asks for my ID, and I give it to her. I am 99% of the way to getting out of this building with nobody knowing that I suck at Swedish. I calmly wink at the cute Swedish girl behind me, and I go to bag up my good. As I am bagging, the checkout lady looks at me and says something like "Kan jå min penna" I stare blankly and think....oh shit, I am screwed, run before they know that you don't speak Swedish. I just reply, "Nye" thinking she is asking if I want my receipt. She then gets upset...."Ge mig min penna" I look down, and I have a pen in my hand that I certainly did not come in with.....F*$k. Everbody is laughing at me as I run out in nonSwedishspeakingshame.....so close

I will get it tomorrow
Drew

This post goes out to my short friend back in the Thrill....MC. Tell Gary, I will be back soon, and I will look younger than ever.

Doing Some Actual Studying....

2010-02-04T02:42:00.000-08:00

Joe and I are actually doing some work in the Studentpalatset near school. (Student Palace) It is just a huge building for all students from nearby schools to study in. There are rooms for group meetings and then all kinds of individual tables to study at. We had Swedish class yesterday, and we learned how to ask for and give directions. I can successfully now ask how to get most common places in Swedish, however, I fear that this will cause the person I ask to think I actually speak Swedish, and the response will leave me no closer to my final destination. At least I can shake my head and that person will go on there way believing I speak Swedish. Unless, I head in the complete wrong direction....

We received another heavy snowfall last night. The snow has risen quite a bit, however, during the day, it has been warm enough that some of it is definitely turning to mush. I can only imagine in March, when it all melts, how the sidewalks will fare. In other news, Joe and I booked our trip to the UK. We fly out on March 22nd to Dublin for the nice price of $22. This is on RyanAir, so we might be flying in the cargo space, but regardless, it is cheap. We then fly from Dublin to Edinburgh on the 25th. We are hoping to make a day trip either to Glasgow or the Highlands, but this is contingent on being able to function a manual automobile on the left side of the road without killing ourselves and/or many sheep. The Edinburgh distilleries are also very much on the agenda. Hopefully, there is enough room left in our bags for a little duty free Scotch to bring back. We fly back to Scotland on March 28th for 3 final days in Stockholm before we depart. Our original plan was to fly out right after our last class on the 16th, to be in Dublin for St. Patty's Day, but our good Norwegian friend Oyvind is joining us in Stockholm for a KFBS reunion the weekend of the 18th-21st. Saunas and cruises to take place during said reunion.

Weekend Plans So Far:

Friday 19:00 - The Bandy World Championships are going on, so we are going to watch a Bandy game. For those of you that don't know what Bandy is (mentioned earlier), and since it is only played in Scandinavia, I imagine that is everybody but Gustav, it is basically a hybrid of Ice Hockey and Futbol. The players wear skates and have mini hockey sticks and they pass around a rubber ball. It is played on ice, but the field is the size of a futbol field. Also, the goals are the same size as a futbol goal. As you can imagine, this makes the goalie all but useless. The game is played at an insanely fast pace, and it sounds very fun as long as you bundle up properly. Below is a clip of some of previous World Championships. Luckily, it is supposed to be significantly warmer than last weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5C2Rdz6Mik&feature=related

The only other set plan we have is the SSE Super Bowl Party from Sunday 21:00 - Monday 4:00. I am going to attempt to run a SuperBowl Squares Pool. However, I fear the Swedish students will just see this as me collecting money from everybody and randomly giving it back to people after each quarter....this may discourage them from participating. At least for a four hour block of time, I will be receiving questions instead of asking them. Should be a nice change of pace, if only briefly.

Alright, back to work
Sturecompanient Tonight
Drew

Sofias BDay Party

2010-02-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

We celebrated one of Oskar's Roommate's Bday by going out to a ship-bar called Patricia. It was snowing and very cold, and we finished the night off with a Swedish tradition, McDonald's late night and snow angels.

2010-02-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

2010-02-02T10:08:00.000-08:00

Stockholm Updates

2010-02-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

It has been about a week since my last update, so I won't bore you with absolutely everything, but I wanted to let you know what Joe and I have been up to in the past 7 days. So I will dip into some highlights.

The week started with a little bit of a late Monday morning as we had stayed up to watch the Vikings and Saints battle it out in overtime. While I like an exciting football game, the one thing that a game that started at 12:30 am local time didn't need was overtime.....I would blame Favre, but the reality is that Peterson needs to hold on to the football, and Childress needs to hire a VP of Common Sense for the end of game decisions. The only class we have on Monday is our Swedish class at 5:00, but we have a meeting with our finance group, so we hop on the bus towards school at 2:00. We get to Swedish class and there are only 6 of us. The bad news is that it is very intense and your blank stares are much easier to pick out of a smaller crowd. The good news however is two fold: 1) we learn quite a bit from the individual attention that we get from Frida 2) well....individual attention from Frida

On Tuesday, we had our two classes, and I had a meeting with my Leadership group. We start to put together our project that we have due at the end which is on the auditing industry. It is starting to get very cold as we prepare for what is supposed to be the coldest weekend in Stockholm since we have been here. -20 degrees.....so I buy a scarf. The prettiest one is the Celtic FC team from Scotland....so I am now a Celtic fan. This has the added bonus of being a country from which I look like those that live there. So now I look like a wandering Scotsman that is lost instead of a wandering American that is lost....just need an accent. I head home to study the Celtics and find out that they are 7 back of the Rangers with a game in hand.....damn you Rangers. I hope I don't meet any Rangers fans while I am here, or I will be forced to be mad at them before they pummel me. Also, they signed young sensation Robbie Keane; I am very happy about this!

Wednesday is another day that has Cafe Opera on the menu. After Swedish class, which unfortunately had more people in it this time, we head to NSee bar for some food and a beer with Corne and Yogesh (one of the Darden School kids). In Swedish, btw, we have to perform dialogs. I can actually make out a decent amount of what everybody is saying, and hopefully ours made at least a little bit of sense. After the NSee bouncer/bartender/busboy/cook/owner made us feel like we didn't belong there at all, we head back home to get ready to go out. I think he was just having a tough day as he was wearing many hats, but when I asked him for a beer, I thought he was going to go all Vasa Warship on me. We head over to pregame at Saltis before we head out. Corne hands Joe and I the first beer that I think I have ever had to set down and not finish. Apparently the most awful temperature to keep beer is about 5 degrees below room temperature as this sat in the fridge for just long enough to get there. Also, many of the exchange students have gotten very caught up in the Jersey Shore mania that has swept the USA. As a result the following things happen: a) they think we are even more retarded b) much fist pumping goes on at Cafe Opera. The nice thing is that they look to me for fist pump tutelage. I glady oblige......we rock the night away. A cab ride home awaits as public transportation shuts down early on the weekdays. Luckily, we have Corne, Dana, and Kamilla to share one home with us. Ahh, correction, Corne got swept up by a German lady and is not in the cab with us. Poor Corne, I hope he is alright.....Germans have not been historically nice to the Netherlandish....

On Thursday, AnneChristine (Danish girl that was in Chapel Hill), has invited us over for beer and pizza. Apparently, it is very clear to everybody that the fastest way to an American's heart is beer and pizza. We are set to meet Oskar over there at 7:00. We get out of class at 5:00 and decide to kill time at the computer lab. We get over to AC's apartment at just after 7:00 and it is dumping snow. It has been snowing all day, (really the first real snowfall we have had) but now it is just pouring down. AC's has a very nice apartment off of the metro stop St. Eriksplan. After a couple danish beers, we order pizza from the local pizza place.....there are lots of those. I get three different kinds of salami on my pizza, two of which are very tasty.....We also get served a helping of "pizza salad." As best I can tell, pizza salad is an even cheaper form of coleslaw. Oskar inhales his like the plane is going down....I try a bite and then head for the pizza. For dessert, we try one of the salty chocolate candies that Frida Mol has told us we won't like. Once again, Frida is correct, and she gets another point in my overflowing point book.

After dinner, we head out to meet up with Gustav at Stureplan (sp?). He is with shipdriver Martin from previous posts. SDM is entertaining a young lady, so Gustav and us grab a drink at the bar. Once again, I am torn by the instinction to tip when I am told not to. So I tip a little...apparently this is worse than tipping none as I am somehow insulting the bartender. I have got to learn not to tip. Apparently SDM is leaving for a 3 month trip on an oil tanker down to Mexico on Monday, so he is throwing down hard this weekend. I have no idea how a man that woke up, drank bloody marys, and went to Finland...on a SUNDAY "throws down hard," but I am scared for the city. We are smart enough this time to leave before the bus shuts down but too dumb to actually have checked the bus schedule. We get to the bus stop at 12:04 for a 12:30 bus....26 minutes waiting in about that much negative temperature. Oh well, good night all around. Also, Oskar had one of the funniest/wittiest comments I have ever heard tonight. I can't replicate it, but it was amazing.

Friday, we have some great things to look forward to. First, we meet Gustav and some of his work friends after they are done working around 5:30. It is absolutely freezing outside.....-18 degrees Celsius. Luckily, the new scarf is keeping me extremely warm. After work drinks, we stop at a burger place and then head to Gustav's to watch.....ESPN America! At the burger place, I order ice cream to go. The guy ringing me up looks at me like I am an absolute alien. Gustav laughs and says "it is going to melt"...to which i reply "you live 5 minutes away and it is -18 degrees outside....if anything, it will just freeze even more." Apparently nobody in the history of this restaurant has ordered ice cream to go. As they are packing up our orders, you see the guy say something to the kid preparing our orders and he makes a weird face to which Gustav says "that was him telling him to add an ice cream to go." Starting trends baby. We flip on ESPN America and low and behold, hockey is on. Seems like ESPN Sweden to me, but nice to hear english announcers.

We head to Gustav's friends place who is turning 30. As we walk in, we realize that everybody is very excited about Rock Band Hero being played. There is actually a Rock Band Hero tournament scheduled.....awesome. There are about 30 people there and we are having enough fun that we end up not going out. Also, it is harder to go out when it is cold enough to freeze a shot of vodka before SDM has a chance to even take it. Also, SDM and his brother show up and turn the party up a couple notches....at 3, as we leave, he invites me to his place at 7 am for hockey on his big screen.....i politely decline as that is about 3 hours from the earliest that I will possibly get to bed.

On Saturday morning we have been invited to brunch at Joe's old Opares house. He apparently had a Swedish Opare growing up, and they are being reunited in Stockholm. They live at one of the highest points in the city, and it is a beautiful view. Their young children do not speak English, and I believe they are terrified of us. Who are these giants that speak gibberish? After a nice meal, we think to stop at System Bolaget as it closes at 3, and we have a party at Oskars place tonight. We are full on Swedes. Back at our place, we get a nice nap in before waking up for some pregame college basketball. We watch as Georgetown and Duke squareoff in the "We are not an Ivy League School but think we are with twice the arrogance and dorkiness" semifinals. Winner plays "The Darden School"....still don't know what state that is in. Then we head to the old town to meet up with Oskar.

Oskar is hosting a party for his roommate who is turning 27 today. We have been to Oskar's before, so we are familiar with all of his roommates. In addition, there are many new faces here to celebrate. One of them is a guy who is working here for the next couple months from Portugal. The amount that this guy looks like Tim Fraraccio astounds me. He is an exact replica of Tim with a slight Portuguese twist. I can't think of anything else as I chat with him. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture as there was no easy way to ask for a one on one picture with a guy, and I didn't think that "you look like a portuguese version of a friend of mine" would be kosher to a stranger. Oskar has us in stitches most of the party. The kid was funny in Chapel Hill, but now that he is in his own environment...he is on another level. He also mentions that he was proud enough of his thursday joke, that he emailed it to his friends. Awesome

We head to a bar called Patricia's. This is a ship that has been converted to a bar. It is very similar to the other places we have been. Lights, dancing, expensive drinks. We head back out into the cold, and the group declares that we are going to McDonald's before we head home. Apparently this is very common as McDonald's is absolutely slammed from wall to wall. We head home after another great night, and I prepare for a productive day of laundry and kitchen mastering tomorrow.

Sunday is relatively boring....laundry (of which i stumble through as the machines are all in swedish and Frida has not taught us common laundromat words yet.) I go for lunch while my clothes are being cleaned and I run into my corridor mates. We chat and get to know each other a bit better, and then I head to grab my clothes. I am praying that they have not shrunk to 60% their former size as I have no idea what I picked for a drying cycle. They seem to be ok, and I head back to wrap up my kitchen duties. I was kitchen master for the week, so on Sunday I have to sweep, mop, and take out the 40 different recycling bins. I finish my duties, watch a little Family Guy with some people on my hall, (this show is always on), and hit the hay. Another big week in Sweden ahead. Super Bowl Sunday on the agenda!

Drew

More Pics

2010-01-25T16:26:00.000-08:00

Saturday Pics

2010-01-25T16:11:00.000-08:00

The wolves stared me down and then charged....but once I stared at them back and showed no fear.....all was good

The Latest Happenings In Nordic Town

2010-01-25T14:13:00.000-08:00

Friday rolls around, and we are ready for another weekend in Stockholm. I use the term weekend very loosely, as we only have class on Tuesday and Thursday, so we are pretty much engrossed in one long 3 month weekend. We make plans with Gustav to meet him at a common SSE hangout called N See Bar. This place is quite a bit nicer than Dovas, and the beers are about the same price. Although I don't see the point of going to a bar where you don't have to fear that the bartender might leap over the bar and chokeslam you....but whatever.

Joe and I have a drink with Gustav and a couple of his old school buddies before Gustav has to run to go on a dinner date. We will just plan to meet up with him later, as he thinks this will just be a quick dinner and then adios. In the meantime, we have plans to head over to meet up with the gang at Saltis before they all head out to a part of town called Sodermalm. This is an island a bit further south than our school. It is known for having a great night life, and is supposed to have a couple more down to earth, pub style places. However, we are going to split off and meet Oskar at what he has called a "pub" as well.

First off, it takes Oskar a while to direct us where exactly we are going. He claimed when he got to Chapel Hill that he was from Stockholm....not so sure now. Then again, when you are that pretty, you don't need to be smart. We finally get to the location he is talking about, and two things strike us. 1) The definition of "pub" in this country might not exactly translate. At least not in Oskar's eyes. This is very much a crowded dance club. 2) We are about 9.5 years older than most everybody in here.....time to leave

We walk down the street to Monk's where we eventually meet up with Oskar's. We have passed Monk's many times and there are two things awesome about it. You can get a beer in a quiet setting and just hangout, and the obvious.....the name rocks for those of you that are Seinfeld fans. Oskar's is with some of his friends from high school who begrundgingly taglong with us to the next pub, Dick's. They are not happy that we pulled them from the adolescent dance club scene. After a couple drinks with Oskar we head back home. Time slipped away from us a bit hanging out with Oskar, and it is now about 2:30 in the morning....nothing ever closes here. Oskar solidifies himself as one of the funniest people I have ever hungout with and easily makes up for lack of being able to help us navigate anywhere in the city.

We get up on Saturday and headout to meet Anna who has so graciously offered to show us around the city. This is a chance for me to actually take some nice photos of the city in the daylight and just get some of the tourist out of me. We set out from T-Centrallen and walk the scenic way along the big port, past the main financial district, and head towards our goal, Skansen. Skansen is a neat park that is setup with some old Swedish schoolhouses, farmhouses, and other buildings that were transported, as is, to setup here. It is very interesting, and the snow on the ground makes it beautiful. Also, it isn't too chilly this afternoon, so I am liking my choice to only wear a long sleeve tshirt and my new north face. Definitely the highlight of the Skansen trip are the animals. This park has wolverines, wolves, lynx, bears, reindeers, gigantic horses, otters, and seals. Some of the animals hide from us, but the wolves alone were worth the trip. Seeing these animals in the snowy surroundings trumps seeing them in the ATL zoo fighting heat exhaustion. It is definitely a fun trip. We decide to leave, as the sun has gone down and I now can't feel my chest. Turns out that my decision to wear this outfit.....yeah, retarded. I have been here long enough to not act shocked when the sun goes down at 4 pm, but sure enough on this day, not so much.

On the way back home, we stop at a burger joint called Max Burger. This is like MacDonalds on absolute Steroids. It is extremely tasty. At the fountain drink station, they make it very clear that refills cost 10 kr. We ask Anna about this as it is very crowded and obviously the effort it takes to enforce this rule is clearly not worth the couple times a day that they will collect 10 SEK. Anna just let's us know that it isn't a problem as nowhere in the country can you get free refills so nobody in Sweden has ever gotten one. This is odd as Joe and I have gone to get refills at places, and while we have gotten strange looks, we have not gotten scolded. This explains the looks......oh yeah, and there is apparently only ONE place in all of Stockholm where you will get free refills....TGIFridays. AMERICA!

We trot back home, and after about 15 minutes in my room, I get all the feeling back in my body. There is apparently a huge party at Lappis tonight, but Joe and I are pretty beat from a long day of walking around, braving the cold, fighting wolves, and taking pictures. I have attached the links below this paragraph to both Joe and myself's picasa albums from the day. I will also post my favorites onto the blog.

http://picasaweb.google.com/johnstondrew/WalkingAroundTheCIty#

http://picasaweb.google.com/jmckinnie/Jan222010#

Sunday was a pretty low-key, get ready for school day. I spend the first part of my afternoon trying to sort the trash in my room. There are about 95 different categories you have to sort your trash into to throw it out. It takes me about 2 hours to learn the system and another hour to then sort it. I need to get good at it, as it is my week to be kitchen caretaker next week so I will be sorting trash more than your average UGA grad. I then spend some time studying Swedish, as I have to do my best to impress Frida Mol tomorrow. We make plans to meet up with the Canadian crew at Hard Rock Cafe to watch the AFC championship game at 9, but before that I manage to find a link to stream the GT-FSU basketball game. Being in Sweden and watching Tech BBall games on your computer is different in two ways. a) you curse in swedish and b) you dont have a remote to throw. It is similar in many ways a) Paul Hewitt still looks confused as to what a set play is b) He still calls timeouts at the crappiest times c) They still shoot 50% from the line......I dont know how you can win a close game if you can't shoot free throws and your coach isn't sure what timeouts are for. The best was down 1 with 10 seconds left Brian Oliver nails a wide open three....YES!! Wait, there was a whistle...offensive foul? travel?....nope, Hewitt called a timeout to make sure that instead of taking a wide open three, he draws up one of his "dribble and pass the ball around the three point line before taking a horrible, covered jump shot" Game over. Oh well, off to watch American Football

The Colts handled the Jets pretty easily, not too exciting. They shutdown at midnight, so we can't watch the NFC champ game, which turns out to be a much better game. I did manage to wake up to watch the OT period online. Pretty exciting game it seems. Group meeting and Swedish lessons tomorrow....oh yeah, and we have to pay tons of rent.

Drew In Sweden

New Pics 5

2010-01-22T19:06:00.000-08:00

Operation "Keep Swedish People Hot" think this is a 2 pack. they are mistaken....you can eat both

New Pics 4

2010-01-22T19:05:00.000-08:00

New Pics 3

2010-01-22T19:02:00.000-08:00

New Pics 2

2010-01-22T19:01:00.001-08:00

New Pics

2010-01-22T18:59:00.001-08:00

First Day Of School

2010-01-19T14:35:00.001-08:00

Today is our first day of school! I am very excited to get to see my fellow classmates. Our first class is at 10:15, and it is Leadership. The first thing we do as we walk into the room is to write down the person that most embodies a leader on a post-it and put it on the board. I write down Bruce Springsteen without even thinking about it. Next subject.

After going through some introductions and speaking of the different requirements of the class, we break for coffee. Coffee breaks during every class could get expensive, but I do appreciate the time to stretch my long legs. Directly after the break, some kids come in to talk to us about the career fair coming up shortly. I decide that I will work in Sweden. After that, we go through some of the leaders that were chosen on the post-it board. Somebody makes the comment that most, if not all, of the people that have been chosen are male. Our female teacher wants to address this (clearly a bit worked up). Somebody raises their hand in the back. He says "I think that women just don't" he pauses, thinks about what he is about to say. At KFBS, this is when the person realizes "wait, i am about to say something stupid and then get beat on for the following ten minutes." He then restarts to reword his thoughts...nope "This is because I think women lack the skills it takes be a leader." Fast forward 10 minutes, numerous females spitting fire, and this man crying, and we are back on track. Oddly enough, considering we are in a MBA class, few people picked business leaders. It was almost all political figures. Just an interesting thought.

Our second class is the Psychology of Financial Markets. Our teacher is an absolute goofball. He is clearly very smart, but man he is goofy. I laugh quite a bit through the 100 minutes of our class. When he asks where I attend school, tell him that I went to Ga. Tech and now go to UNC. He says...."ahh, Ga. Tech, that is where" (please dont say Marbury, please dont say Marbury) "Bobby Jones went? Do you play golf" I answer that I do, and he claims that this "gets you bonus points, or at least means I will treat you very fair." Sweet. He looks like a cross between Swedish Rick Moranis and Swedish Michael Bolton (Office Space Michael Bolton). I love him, and he has set the roadmap for what should be a very interesting/informative class.

We grab a quick drink at the Lappis Market, and the TV is on MTV. Luckily, what is showing is "My Super Sweet 16." I just love when shows are on that are exactly how I want the USA to be portrayed. My favorite quote from the episode is when the girl that is 16 years and 0 days old says "I finally got my BMW." God Bless. Those of us from Lappis then head to Saltis for a bit of hanging out. It is now about midnight, and I have two options.....a) Bed b) Try to stream the GT vs. Clemson game that will only make me upset with Paul H. Tough call

* I didn't really write The Boss as my leader

** Saw the prettiest black lab not named Sierra on the Tubin (metro). Apparently they are allowed on some cars, and not on others

***Class trip to Ikea and then out to Cafe Opera tomorrow. Hopefully, good time ensue

Update on Swedish ShipDriver's Escapades

2010-01-19T14:32:00.000-08:00

Email from Gustav regarding his friend who walked home without his jacket:

I actually talked to him today, this is what happened afterwards.. after waking up at the other ship drivers place still without his jacket, the two of them decides to go for brunch at place called Kvarnen at södermalm. Unfortunately the place doesn't open until 12 so the two ship drivers decide to kill some time with a beer at the famous "unemployed bar" "gröna jägaren". After 8 beers each, kvarnen opens and the two head over for some much needed brunch and bloody marys. After finishing their brunch and probably a couple of more rounds of bloodys they leave for the bar where they believe ship driver 1 forgot his jacket and keys. Unbelievably, the jacket is still there which off course has to be celebrated.. At this time they also start calling me to explain how great it is that they've found ship driver 1's jacket or something. It's very hard to understand what they are talking about at this point. After this they apparently spontaneously decided to go on a 24h boozecruise to finland and came back to stockholm yesterday night. That's what I call making the best out of the weekend!

I love it

Ongoings From The North

2010-01-19T14:22:00.000-08:00

Our Sunday was spent preparing for class and overall relaxing. We did venture out to the "Lappis Market" to see just what kind of rations we have within our living area. Some good things were discovered during this trip

a) We can buy 2 frozen, very hearty pizzas for 45 SEK ($7)

b) We can buy the mixings for an awesome sub sandwich for about 35 SEK ($6)

c) There is a restaurant that serves very good pizza for a reasonable price

d) I watched a women buy a bucket of beers (5 beers) and the man seemed to ring her up for 100 SEK ($15). I am very excited about this. I inquire, and I have not seen incorrectly

e) "Starkol," which is the beer we thought we were drinking at Dovas Pub, is actually the word for "Beer." This probably explains why when we asked for a Starkol at Dovas, Mr. Face Tattoo looked like he wanted to kill us for being American Jackasses.

f) The Starkol that they have on tap, Zheuherts, is 29 SEK. Very Good

This is a productive Sunday. However, it is 16:00 when we are eating at this place, and it is absolutley pitch black. Other than that, good Sunday

We don't have any actual class on Monday, but we do have a Swedish lesson in the afternoon. Now don't get me wrong, I am very interested in learning Swedish, and I think I will soon be a professional Swedish speaker, but there is certainly part of me that is going just to hear our Swedish teacher speak. Joe and I are determined that we are competent enough to learn to read and butcherly speak the language, but I am not sure that I will ever be understand it when spoken conversationally. The sounds are just so very different than anything we have ever tried to speak. After our Swedish lesson, we head back for frozen kebab pizza and a Nurrlands Guld before bed.

2010-01-18T14:59:00.000-08:00

The picture that surely seems out of place here is the Swedish version of "How Stella Got Her Groove Back." This is in our communal kitchen. I found this very funny......

Also, the sign on top of Oskar's Apartment tickled me. It appears to say do not climb on the roof....or take a whiz. Interesting

Pics From Top Of Apt

2010-01-18T14:53:00.000-08:00

First Weekend In Sweden

2010-01-18T14:17:00.000-08:00

Friday:

Friday starts with a session involving registering on the school's network and getting a library card for the world famous SSE School Library. A productive morning, but certainly nothing that is mindblowingly exciting. This is all we have to do for the day before we meet up with our groups for the quintet of preparties before going out to, as Gustav puts it, "one of the poshiest clubs in Stockholm," Collage. Considering that the night scene in Stockholm is pretty posh overall, I feel that this is definitely saying something.

My night starts at my group leader, Sebastian's apartment. Our group has convened for dinner, and we have chosen to make homemade pizzas. The toppings that are laid out for us are marinara sauce, ham, cheese, and bananas. Ok, not traditional, but certainly worth a shot. Once we have made our banana pizzas, I start to mingle and spread the American brand name. One of the SSE students that is there is named Karl, and he is very enamored with the USA. Specifically, he loves Texas and anybody resembling a cowboy. When I tell him that I am from Georgia, he immediately goes crazy that I am from the same state as Cohutta. For those of you that aren't as nerdy as myself, Cohutta is a character from the Real World: Sydney. He was from the Blue Ridge Mountains area of GA, and he has one of the most absurd southern accents that has ever been spoken. Karl proceed many times throughout the night to scream in the most amazing swedish/southern/cowboy/redneck accent "I'm from Bloooo Ridge Giooorrgia" It is pretty awesome. He also tells me that I will fit in quite nicely on the Booze Cruise as it is for "Swedish Rednecks." Overall though, he is very disappointed with my lack of a thick accent.

After wandering through our preparties, we finally get to Collage. It is pretty much exactly as I had expected. Line outside, very pretty girls that are either mute or dont like to talk to me, and very expensive drinks. We have a good time as a group dancing and soaking in the Stockholm party scene. I only buy one drink while I am there, as my whiskey and ginger ale costs me 150 SEK (about $22). If you ever go to a Stockholm club, stick to beer.....it is about 1/3rd the cost.

The club starts to wind down at 3am, so Joe, Corne, Dana, and myself hop in a cab to head home. Corne and Dana are fellow exchange students who are also living at Lappis with us. They both attend Rotterdam University in the Netherlands. My night ends at about 4 am as we finally get home and wind down. I have survived my first "clubbing" night in Stockholm. I enjoyed myself quite a bit, and I think I managed to not stick out too badly. People, guys especially, don't get especially dressed up, which is nice for me. Everybody more or less just wears jeans and a nice button down shirt. That was a pleasant surprise as I don't have a whole lot more than that.

Saturday morning doesn't exactly come very early. Joe and I both manage to sleep until quite late in the morning. As a result, we don't experience alot of daylight on Saturday. If you want daylight in Sweden, you must wake up pretty early in the morning. We don't really have anything on the schedule today until we meet up at Oskar's place at 7. We do remember, just in time, that if we are going to bring anything to Oskar's place, we must get to the System Bolaget (govt stores) by 3pm when they close. Once we get there, we realize that 2:45 on Saturday is a VERY popular time to be in these stores. After we buy our supplies for the evening, we grab a kebab on the way home and head back to Lappis.

We get to Oskar's place at 7. He lives in the "Old Town" which is a really nice part of town. He lives in an apartment that is about 100 meters from where the princess will be getting married this summer. The lady that used own the apartment building died about 50 years ago, and in her will she declared that the apartments will always be used for student housing. It is a really nice place, and he lives with 5 other students. We go up on the roof, because there is an amazing view of the city. Pictures to be posted. Anna also met us at Oskar's to head out with us later on to meet Gustav. She is very excited to meet Oskar as he is very famous in Chapel Hill, and she has heard quite a bit about him.

We then head out to meet up with Gustav at a more casual bar than the aforementioned Collage. This is more of a Highlands/Franklin Street type bar. The beers are actually pretty reasonably priced here, which is a nice relief. Gustav introduces us to his friend who is a ship driver. He apparently spends his time driving cargo ships around, making a lot of money, and spending none of it. He decides on this night, his money is best spent on many shots for himself. He apparently gets enough alcohol in him that he makes it all the way home without realizing that he has forgotten his jacket. Now I can see losing/forgetting a lot of things in this city, but a jacket is not one of them. I couldn't walk 3 seconds outside without realizing I am missing even one of the two jackets I always have on. This is especially unfortunate since his keys were in his jacket pocket.

It was certainly great to see Gustav and Oskar. Luckily, we are in bed at a slightly more reasonable hour this evening. An awesome first couple weekend nights out in the capital of Scandinavia. A nice relaxing couple days ahead before we start classes on Tuesday.

Drew

Pics 3

2010-01-14T15:19:00.001-08:00

One picture of a Stockholm Center Shopping area mixed with 4 pictures of the pups that I wish I could have brought with me to the financial capital of the Vikings. Have seen WAY more dogs here than I expected. Also, they bring them onto trains and into stores....no worries

Apt Pics

2010-01-14T15:15:00.000-08:00

Pic 2

2010-01-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Pics

2010-01-14T15:02:00.001-08:00

Still Cold

2010-01-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

Quick rundown of Day 3:

After deciding that the subway was the better way to get to school, we hop on like true Swedes and get to school at 10:00. We are picked up in front of school by a tour bus that will take us all around the actual city of Stockholm. The city of Stockholm is an archipelago in and of itself. It is harder to tell that this time a year as snow covers the whole city. However, we cross many bridges in our bus while touring Stockholm's biggest islands. All in all, Sweden has about 24,000 islands....kind of insane. I continue to fight the battle between taking pictures and trying not to look like a tourist. This tour allowed me to take some though, and I will post those after this. We see some pretty neat sites on our tour. They drive us through the area with all the diplomats homes, which are all ridiculous. We also get to see the US Embassy for what is hopefully the only time. We get to see where I will pick up my Nobel Prize for Economics in about 30 years. We also leard that Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, was apparently a "pacifist" This from the same tour guide that called the Vikings travels "expeditions" as opposed to "rapings and pillagings" We also learn that every Swede that has ever been in a history book is named Gustav. I venture to say that this made history exams pretty easy in grade school. (although they get no grades until 9th grade.) We also see a line of about 10 three year olds that are all attached by a chain with helmets on. Cutest thing I have ever seen. Although, if one falls, I am pretty sure that they all go down.

We learn of a market underground that apparently sells some pretty good kabob. You might remember from my Turkey travels that I happen to love kabobs. Lunch is set. Joe, Sergei, Tomas, and I head to the underground kabob place as soon as we get off the bus. Luckily, we have two and half hours for lunch....so we should be set. Sergei is from a German town near Frankfurt, and Tomas is from Helsinki, Finland. Finnish accents are pretty awesome, and apparently their language is similar to absolutely nothing anybody has ever heard before. I go into a store to purchase a beanie as my head and ears are freezing. I have my first episode where I hold out the Swedish money in my hand while the lady checking me out pulls the correct amount from my hand. I will soon learn all these coins. We also stop for an expresso on the way home. The guys behind the counter ask where we are from. We tell them Atlanta, and the guy responds "ahh, so you know Jermaine Dupree" Glad to know that is what Atlanta is famous for. The other guy then says "Hotlanta" this makes more sense as when we had the Olympics is was over 40 degrees pretty much the whole time.

Our last couple sessions of the day include a lesson in Swedish. Our teacher is pretty awesome. She has the best accent I have ever heard. The end of our class involves a three paragraph article on the Swedish language. She randomly asks Joe to read it aloud.....this is what Joe does best. His deep, melodic voices puts everybody at ease.

On the way home, I stop and grab McDonald's (that's right, i needed a big mac). The portions are much smaller here as I suppose this is part of Operation "Keep Swedish People Hot" I applaud it. Coke is so good btw. We hop on the bus and head home. Tomorrow is gonna be a super long day and so much fun. We end with a cocktail hour from 5-6. I then have a pre-dinner party at my group leaders house. Then, dinner....then, prepreparty, then a preparty, then out to clubs. Very customary in Sweden for people to go to many parties before going to the club, as drinks are expensive once you are out. Also, the clubs are open til 5 am, so no rush to get out. I bought hair gel....so I am ready

Things Gustav has told me that I am pumped about

- Booze Cruise - Mentioned this briefly before. Apparently it is about 100 SEK ($15) to get one of these boats. They then float around the Baltic Sea for about 15 hours as they take their time getting to Finland. While on the boat, you drink duty free booze, which takes off about 40% of the price. You then land in Finland/Estonia and get to buy free cheap booze to bring back. You then float back, again drinking duty free booze. This is very popular amongst the 20 somethings.

- Once classes start at SSE, it will be filled with sweet people of all genders

- I get to see reindeer in Lapland

- He has ESPN

Overall, I am having an absolute blast. The people here have been very nice to us, and the whole town is covered in snow and just so beautiful. It really isn't that cold, you just have bundle up a bit. Not that much colder than it was in Chapel Hill when I left, but I get snow as a bonus. Can't wait to make homemade pizzas with my group tomorrow and get to know everybody a bit better. First experience in a Swedish club should be interesting. If you had told me I would find my way into one of those back when I was a youngin studying EE at Georgia Tech, I wouldnt have believed it. Gonna try and not stick out too much....

PS - For those of you that went to GT with me. A guy sat next to me on the train today that was a Swedish Michael Leonard. It was unbelievable how much this guy looked like Leonard had he been born an Aryan. I couldnt get over it. Shockingly, he wasn't with a female, but he made sure to tell me that he had been last night.

For those of you that go to UNC with me. The first day, I saw one of the guys from Darden and he struck me as oddly familiar. About an hour in, I realize what it is......he looks exactly like David Shields, but he is from Ghana (descendant of India). I will do my best to get a picture with this man. It is so weird how much he looks like an Indian version of David Shields. Unfortunately, that means he is fighting an uphill battle since all I can think of when I talk with him is the great DS. Our Swedish teacher today said that SEB was the biggest bank in Stockholm, and he immediately raised his hand and called bullshit and then made out with Chinese Beau.....made that last part up. but he really does look like DS. We also saw Yen Chiat Chew in 40 years at Dovans.....the things that amuse me are really amazing.

Drew In Sweden

Day 3 Update

2010-01-14T13:10:00.000-08:00

Quick rundown of Day 2:

We showed up bright and early for orientation on Wednesday morning. We hopped on the 40 bus as it drops us off about half a kilometer from school. However, at the first stop, the driver said a bunch of things in Swedish and everybody got off. This prompted one of the Swedish students, who saw that we were completely confused, to tell us "you guys gotta get off." Not sure why, but it worked out as we hopped on the subway which drops us off right at school.

First thing we did was meet everybody and get a quick overview of the program. The UVA kids went with "I am (name), and I go to the Darden School"....loved it. The ladies that are in charge of us while we are over here, Viktoria and Mimmi, are what you might expect from Swedish ladies that work at a university.....easy to have a crush on. Joe and I have decided that they could be anywhere from 28 to 40 and we would not be surprised. It is extremely difficult to guess how old the local women are, they age very well. I think the cold weather causes your cells to move slower and therefore you age slower. We then got to meet the cabinet for the SSE Student Association. Let's just say that being on the student association board and being a dork is not a USA thing, it seems to be a global trend. The sports guy made the following two statements:

1) They had just won the indoor rowing championship in Barcelona (I play real sports. I'm not trying to be the best at working out)
2) They also played in the basketball championships and averaged 1.3 points. This leads me and Joe to believe that we might be able to be superstars on the SSE intramural BBall team. We are going to introduce the pick and roll Stockton/Malone style. Ja

Our catered lunch was Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes. After lunch, we had a nice 90 minute break to explore a bit. As we walked out the front door of the school, my instincts told me to turn right. Unconsciously, I walked into a bar called Dovans and asked for a nice cold beer. In return, he asked for 30 SEK ($4 and change). I thought this was very reasonable, so I paid him that amount. (everything is built into prices. tax and tip) I later learn from Gustav that Joe and I have found the absolute cheapest place to buy a beer in all of Stockholm. He is very confused as to how we found that having been in Sweden less than 24 hours.....it is innate, I truly can't explain it. And yes, $4 for a pint is as good as it gets. There is no Ham's franchise over here. I know understand why Gustav continuously called Chapel Hill the greatest place on earth.

After we are done at school, we meet up with Gustav for a drink at Dovan's. This place is pretty awesome if you like cheap swedish beer, soccer, and bartenders with face tattoos. Something tells me that if we are to get the group to come out as a whole, we will have to venture places without face tattoed employees. Gustav is in his work clothes (suit) and is clearly out of place. He calls this the "umemployed bar." No wonder Joe and I love it. Apparently there is a better bar closer to school that is a college bar with 35 SEK pints and no face tattoos. Investigation to follow. We then head to dinner with Gustav.

On the way to dinner, Gustav complains multiple times about how cold it is. Granted he is wearing thin suit pants, but it is nice to hear that people who live here think it is cold as shit. Because it is. This leads Joe and I to discuss those in the US that live in cold states. The following dialogue ensues while riding the bus home:

Joe: "It is a relief to know that locals think it is cold here as well"
Drew: "Yeah, so different than in the US when you get retards that claim they are from cold weather, so they are immune and then proceed to wear shorts in 0 degree weather"
Joe: "Yeah, I mean I am from Atlanta, but it doesn't mean that when it is 100 degree outside, I throw on long pants and a sweater because I am used to the heat"

Once again, Joe puts it better than I can. Thus ends day two. The bed remains very small, but at least now I have sheets and a comforter. And I am pretty close to a normal sleep schedule. I think I will be completely unjetlagged by tomorrow. 10 oclock start.

Lessons Learnt So Far:

First off, it is very odd being in a country where you understand absolutely 0% of the language. All of the signs are of course in Swedish, so you have to make some educated guessed based on the pictures on said signs. This is easy sometimes, but many times it is very confusing. As I found out "Risk for Snoras, Istappar" means "watch out for falling icicles." Many Swedes have apparently died from walking too close to building in the winter time and taking a stalag(notso)tite to the top of the skull. The language is also very reliant on sounds and accents that I just don't have. However, we had our first Swedish language lesson this evening, so I will slowly learn.

Another lesson that we have learned, things are very expensive in Sweden. Everything costs about 20-30% more than it would in the United States. Luckily, this is less of a shock to those of us on the dollar, since it is strong right now. Many of the other exchange students are very pinched depending on what currency they are using. There are 10 kids from the US (UVA, Chicago, Minnesota, and UNC) 14 from Canada, and then a mix from Europe and Down South.

Also, a "short break" in Sweden is about 20 minutes. Our built in breaks between sessions are like 60 minutes long. I am starting to get the idea that Swedes take their breaks very seriously.

Surely more lessons to come. I am a blank slate

Drew In Sweden

2010-01-12T08:34:00.000-08:00

Travels

2010-01-12T08:13:00.000-08:00

The flights when on more or less without a hitch. We got to the Atlanta airport at 10:20 for our 1:20 flights, and flew through security. This put us in the awkward position of being at our gate by 11:00 and one of us having to ask the question "is it too early for a preflight beer?" Luckily, Joe manned up and asked that question, and I told him it was way too early and he needs to get a hold of himself.....wait, that doesn't sound like me. A couple beers later, we were on our way to Dullus International.

Now I have never been to Dullus International before, and for those of you that haven't been, the people movers are something else. They basically look like one of the bad guys from one of the star wars movies: http://gadgets.boingboing.net/gimages/legoat-at.jpg. They use their hydrolics to raise themselves up, load you on, lower you down, and then very slowly weave their way through oncoming airplane traffic across the tarmac. One of the more inefficient ways to people move.....apparently it was setup to mirror Congress.....slam

While in Dullus, we visited the duty free shop. Joe and I walk out thinking we are the smartest guys in the room as we have bought many the bourbon for very deep discounts. While checking in at the airport for our flight to Copenhagen, Joe tells the attendant he would like an exit row. He then adds that we would like to sit together to which the attendant looks at me and says "we usually save those rows for umm......(puts hand above his head" yeah, i get it, tall people. a simple no would have sufficed. He actually ends up giving us the bulkhead exit row. It was amazing. Between that and the Scandinavian looking flight attendant showing me the trick of putting my feet up on her seat across from us when she wasn't using it, I could practically lie horizontally. Oh yeah, then when going through security in Copenhagen, they confiscated our booze. They claim that if you don't buy it in within the EU, you can't bring it into Denmark. I look over and see about 8 handles of liquor they have confiscated and it is 9 am. Looks like TSA agents in Denmark drink for free.

Landed safe and sound in Stockholm at 9:30 local time. We successfully navigated a cab to our apartment and through our stuff inside. Anna then met up with us and took us around the city for a few hours to see the sites and pick up some essentials. It is indeed cold here, but nothing we can't handle. The sun did indeed set at about 3:22, but it is all part of the adventure. Getting all setup and trying to rally to meet Gustav and Oskar for a quick drink before an early bedtime. Long day of orientation and people meeting tomorrow. I posted just a couple pics of what the snow looks like, and of how dark it is at 5:00 here.

Skype me when you see me on!
Drew In Sweden

Prep Time

2010-01-09T11:52:00.001-08:00

I have started this blog to journal the almost countless number of stories and experiences that Joe and I will generate over the next 2+ months. I believe that I am packed and ready, but what southeastern kid can truly know if he has enough to brave .75 meters of snow. Until I actually see 2 feet of snow, I am not sure that I really believe that it exists.

Joe and I take off from Hartsfield at 1:00 pm tomorrow and land in Stockholm at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday. Escapades to follow:

This season on Joe and Drew In Stockholm:

- Sauna and Ice-Bathing - The Ultimate Dunkaroo
- Sunsets at 2:30 pm
- Skiing in Northern Sweden & The Swiss Alps
- Scotch Drinking......In Scotland
- Train rides where Joe reads books aloud to me
- Ridiculation of Drew's Height by Swedish Chicks
- Partying In Barcelona
- The Mumbles Mile
- The Scandinavian Koozie Introduction
- Visitation of Ooyven
- Soccer Matches
- The Ice Hotel & Northern Lights
- Hanging with Anna, Gustav, and Oskar

I hope to be able to entertain as we trek through the topography of Europe, but hopefully I can at least provide beautiful pictures of the scenery we will get to enjoy. I will miss all you guys as we travel, especially you Sierra, but I will be back soon paler and very ready for the pool.

In 36 hours, I will be in Sweden, it hardly seems real. Take care of the ATL and the CH for me

Still North American Drew