Sigh.

I already feel an immense heaviness in my heart knowing that I will soon be leaving this beautiful place and all of these beautiful people... I know my heart will tear into several pieces on Wednesday. I'm not ready to go home. Saying goodbye this time is going to be the hardest. I know I'm going to cry like a baby... I suppose I should just focus on making the most of what time I have left here in Sweden and not concentrate on what leaving it will be like.

Further still, the love I carry for the ones most dear to me will stretch. I'm already emotional as I type this post up. God. I better not cry until Wednesday or I'll be sorely disappointed in myself ;)

Apologies for this post, I just can't escape the heartbreak of this lovely vacation ending... It's taken so long to get here and it's gone by all too fast. 

Wakka Wakka

For Saturday, we had a very full day planned at Hönö harbor with Simon and William. I thought Rasmus was going to join us but he ended up not showing :/ Marcus sums up Rasmus by calling him a wild card; you never know what he’s going to do. But before we headed down to the harbor, Connie and Morgan took us to another place on the islands that had more midsommar events going on and we showed up in time to partake in the lotteries there. Connie gave Thomas, Marcus, and me 100 kronor each :D Pretty freakin’ fantastic of her! I wasn’t sure how the lotteries worked so I had Marcus and Thomas explain to me how exactly one was to play. It was a very simple procedure but if you put it into another language, the simplest things become the most difficult! I won two times the first time I played though, so that was pretty exciting :) I’m fairly certain that the girl handing out the lottery prizes didn’t speak English so that was interesting when I went to retrieve my prizes. People kept budging in front of me too which was annoying as HELL. Especially when they were a bunch of little brat children. Oi. But oh well. I eventually got my prizes so who cares :P

I panicked a bit while we were at the fair because I thought mother nature had given me my monthly gift. So we rushed home as soon as we could before heading out to the fiskemuseum. Turned out to be a false alarm but I don’t mind making sure when it comes to things like this. 

Connie and Morgan drove us down to the harbor which was nice since we would have been late in meeting up with Simon and William. A lot of people would probably think that a fishing museum would be a really boring way to spend a Saturday but it has definitely become one of the most fascinating things we’ve done thus far! Yea, I couldn’t understand a lot of the text that went with certain pictures or displays but that’s what Swedish translator friends are for! ;D Marcus kept prodding me to take lots of pictures. Early on, an old fisherman entered the museum behind us and walked with us while telling –in Swedish—a lot of interesting facts about being at sea. Such as how to lie in the odd sleeping cavities without being tossed about in the middle of the night and how the sailors would put hay in their boots to keep their feet warm. He eventually became an impromptu tour guide for us which was fantastic since we had wanted to pay for one but didn’t have enough people – apparently you need a group of AT LEAST ten people to pay for one. You’d think that if someone was willing to pay for a guide, you’d just let them have a guide… Ah well. The old fisherman ended up being way more knowledgeable than most paid tour guides anyway. I think the most interesting room at the fiskemuseum was where the remains of an old German submarine was kept. One thing that stuck with me the most was a picture of a hand-carved wooden train. Apparently, there was a young father on the submarine who spent his free time carving it to give to his newborn son when he returned home. But, he never did. When the remains of the submarine were found however, the excavators made sure the train reached the son.  

Afterwards, Marcus, Simon, and William took me to the top of the water tower that they all liked to hang out at. It was pretty cool but reeeaaally windy! I tried to take pictures but my camera died after about… three or so :( It only makes sense that the ONE thing I forgot to bring was my damn camera charger! ARGH. It’s not too big of a deal though since Thomas said I could use his if I needed to. William had to leave early so we all walked back to the harbor with him; along the way Simon and I started messing around and the bastard threw me into a thorn bush XD THE DAMN THINGS WENT DOWN MY PANTS. But he let me use his bathroom to rid myself of them. Thank God! It was a long and painful walk to his house though, haha. When William left us, Simon, Marcus, and I decided to get ice cream for the walk home. There is the COOLEST looking ice cream here in Sweden! Why the HELL don’t we have such cool ice cream in the USA?! Anyhow, Marcus got some strange licorice ice cream, I got spring berry and chocolate flavor with a scoop of walnut on top of that, and Simon…. I don’t even remember what Simon got XD Something funky, I’m sure.

The only thing that sucked about this day was when Marcus and I got into an argument. Usually we tease when we argue but it was most definitely not the case this time :/ We were discussing films and I guess we both ended up misunderstanding one another and it escalated into a rather loud and very unpleasant shouting match. You know, I can honestly say that there is nothing that sucks more than fighting with your best friend… Almost six years of being friends and that was the first time we ever got really angry at each other. In short? IT SUCKED. I felt so sick walking home after that. We didn’t say a word to each other for a really long time and I just felt like puking. I feared that I had worn out my welcome and that the rest of the trip would be a painful creeping around one another and not saying much. I felt like crying and almost nearly did. Finally, Marcus came over to me and we both apologized to one another for getting upset over such a trivial subject. Misinterpretation sucks on all levels and fucks up some of the best times. This is why I hate communication over the internet. Though it is useful and handy in its way, it is incredibly rife with error and misjudgment. And as you can see, this sort of thing occurs even without the help of the internet. Oi. But again, we made up with one another and the night carried on as normal. We also apologized to Simon who was the poor bystander that had to be witness to this chaos. Poor dude, heh heh.

We played LoL upon reaching Marcus’ house and kicked ass for the first two games but got destroyed in the last round. It sucked and put us all in a rather sour mood. Again XD But having awesome barbequed food helped ;) Connie and Morgan make the most bomb meals. Seriously. What a duo. After dinner, we all sat down and watched Inception which is a movie that feels a hell of a lot longer than it really is. And I hated that XD It was pretty good though. Not as amazing as it was hyped up to be but still good. Simon was falling asleep though since he usually gives up quite a bit of sleep to hang out with us. So after that movie had ended, he went home.

Marcus, Thomas, and I all still wanted to do something – regardless of it being almost five in the morning by this point. We spent some time deliberating on what amazingly epic event we should partake in when we finally decided to go feed the ducks at the pond XD We didn’t want to drive over to the pond so Marcus and Thomas decided that it would be fun to teach the American how to drive their bikes. And by bikes, I don’t mean cycles. Yup, that’s right Dad! (I know you’re reading this and I can just imagine the look of sheer horror on your face, buahahaha) Turned out that only Thomas’ bike worked and we decided just to have him drive that with me on the backseat and Marcus following on a bicycle. It had a flat tire though so he ended up using a scooter XD Interesting fact: Here, they’re called kick bikes. Or some silliness like that ;) Marcus had to return the bicycle to the house and Thomas went with him. Why, I can’t remember but they left me to guard the bike while they were gone back at the house (we were near the main road when the flat tire was discovered). I guess to speed up their return to where I was, they both decided it would be a good idea if they BOTH hopped on the scooter and tried to ride it. I’ll never forget seeing them coming down the road, wobbling left and right while squabbling at one another in Swedish XD

Eventually we made it to the pond though. It was odd riding behind Thomas at first since I didn’t know how exactly to hold on and whether or not it would be okay to grip onto his leather jacket. I ended up just using my legs to hold on and that worked just fine. The ducks were very happy to see us though! Probably not too many people come out to a smelly pond at nearly five in the morning to feed them. After we had finished, Thomas decided it would be way more fun to chase and harass a poor mallard that couldn’t make it over the fence into the water. He chased him so long the poor thing got tired and couldn’t waddle in a straight line XDDD Kept swaying as he ran and running into the fence to escape this crazy human! I joined Thomas at one point but decided to leave the petrified duck alone before it had a heart attack and died from fear. Thomas chased a female duck as well which set off all of the males, heh heh. When she started crying out, they all convened over to where Thomas was. Of course, once the female made it over the fence, all the males tried to mate with her. Poor thing couldn’t just be left alone, haha.

A group of guys ran into us at the pond and I was at first rather on edge since meeting a group of young men at this time could be a potentially threatening experience. But it turned out that Marcus knew the ring leader of the group so that was somewhat of a relief. The other guys kept looking over at me which made me slightly uncomfortable. They started talking to me in Swedish but I informed them that I couldn’t understand and they immediately switched over to English. Islanders apparently are not very good at English since they don’t usually have much of a use for it. But they made a few comments to me before speaking in Swedish again.

After that group left, Thomas and Marcus badgered me into trying to ride Thomas' bike. Eventually I caved and gave it a go but I forgot to switch gears! Poor bike! Thankfully it was a short distance so hopefully I didn’t ruin the bike :P Thomas and Marcus decided it would be fun to race home – keep in mind that Marcus is racing a scooter against a bike. To make things more fair, Thomas and I had to take a longer path home since that would even out the odds a bit. But get this: Marcus actually won! He sure can haul ass on a scooter!

We were all pretty tired when we finally got home though. It had finally reached that hour where anything is ridiculously funny. Marcus had been telling us about a time when he had to kill a mouse to put it out of its misery with a quick death. To which I questioned him on whether or not that could have been a quick and painless death if he had to smash it with a shoe. He retorted with, “Well, it shit itself so you know it died.” I. COULD. NOT. STOP. LAUGHING. It was a simple statement but I burst out into such a ruckus of laughter that it caused Thomas and Marcus to laugh as well. Dear God and it lasted for a good 15 minutes before I could regain my composure. Remembering it even NOW still makes me snicker! AND IT’S SUCH A HORRIBLE THING TO LAUGH AT BUT I CAN’T HELP IT!! I want to feel sorry for the mouse but I just can’t XD

Whew!

But anyway! That was my Saturday! I know I still have SO MUCH to write about but at least I’m still posting! I might start on another post before heading to bed just to get some of it out of the way.

Until next time! Ajdö!

Catching Up!

Thursday was a really chill day around the house. As stated in a prior post, it was probably a good thing given how tired Marcus and I were. We took our time getting up in the morning, had breakfast, showered, etc. We spent the day playing games and contacting people back home. LoL was the first on our to-do list of the day and later on we Skyped with Dan and Chels :) We had planned to work on my CthulhuTech character but ended up getting distracted by other plans.

Dinner is becoming a more casual event as the time goes on and I love that feeling! I still feel a little lost sometimes when a new food or combination of food is placed before me and I don’t know if there’s a proper way of eating it? If that makes sense. But, I figure just to roll with it even if I end up making a fool out of myself. Thursday night we had tacos so I wasn’t lost for that meal ;)

I know this sounds like it was a boring night but in reality it was incredibly fun. Can’t remember the last time I had the chance to sit down all day and play video games :P It’s so nice to be more and more comfortable with Thomas, Connie, and Morgan. Though Marcus still tells me that his parents are acting shy even then. But, I imagine that shyness for all of us will go away in the next couple of days.

On Friday, we woke up earlier than usual so we could go to the midsommar festival! Turns out, we had the wrong time and we ended up getting there late after all the big activities had been done. Kind of sad but I still had a fun time watching everyone dance around the maypole. I actually had no idea that we had missed everything until later that night. It was still something I had never seen or done before though so I enjoyed it regardless. It’s cool to see a massive amount of people gather in one spot and dance and socialize with one another. I don’t think we have anything like it back home. We stayed only for a little while but I got to meet two of Marcus’ cousins as well :) Morgan tried to get Marcus to dance with me around the maypole but Marcus' response was: "HELL NO." XDD

For dinner that night we had traditional midsommar food that was composed of herring, potatoes, a sour cream type substance, eggs, cheese, green stuff (I think it was onions), sausages, and meatballs. Morgan and Connie gave me a small bottle of alcohol to toast with the whole family. Marcus and Thomas had something else since they don’t like alcoholic beverages :P But we toasted a few times throughout the meal. Connie seemed rather impressed that I ate the raw herring and LOVED it! It was like sushi :D Dessert was fantastic as well! We had strawberries and cream. There was also ice cream since Thomas despises strawberries with a deep, burning passion. All-in-all, veeeeery tasty!

We invited Simon to come over later that night to watch a movie and hang out but things turned a bit sour… Simon was extremely late in getting over with Rasmus and William and, of course, it was making Marcus mad for a number of reasons. I knew he was irritated but I never knew how much until later in the night. It all escalated when Thomas, Marcus, and I were playing Rock Band 2. Marcus had somewhat of a sore throat and wanted to sing but, for whatever reason, Rock Band 2 kept giving him bad scores on his vocals so that only ended up furthering his irritation. By the time Simon, Rasmus, and William showed up, Marcus was so angry he had to leave for a little while before he could deal with the group again. I wanted to go after him to make sure he was okay but I wasn’t sure if he was the type of person that liked to be left alone when they’re angry so I stayed and played Rock Band with Thomas and Simon. He returned later anyway and I waited until it was just him and me before asking him if he was okay. He confessed that the whole day had been very frustrating for him since we had been late in getting to the midsommar events and therefore missed out on the bigger things, then our lack of sleep which made him cranky to begin with, the rest of the group being late, and finally not being able to play and enjoy the game. I knew it wasn’t just the game that had set him off but he wanted to make sure he let me knew that it wasn’t me or the game. Either way, I hated seeing him so upset.

But things turned out fine for the rest of the evening. We watched Salt –which wasn’t too great. Rasmus seemed rather moody at the start of the evening and William clearly stated that he didn’t want to be with the rest of us. When I called him out on it and asked why he even bothered, he just shrugged and couldn’t give a straight answer. Everyone seemed to be in somewhat of a bad mood that night but things got better after we watched Salt. Simon, William, Rasmus, and Marcus got into a really animated conversation. I had no fucking CLUE as to what the hell they were talking about but it was so incredibly amusing to just LISTEN to them! There’s something so absolutely fascinating about sitting in on a conversation and not being able to understand what’s going on. Don’t ask me why, it just is. I guess there’s something about observing human interaction without the ability to understand where the raw emotion of connection is visible. Yea, sometimes you feel left out and want to join in on the conversation but at the same time it can be more fun just to sit back and imagine what’s being discussed. There were so many times in the night where they would all burst into riotous laughter and I couldn’t help but laugh with them despite the fact that I had no idea whatsoever they were laughing about!

I just felt happy watching them interact. Swedish is such a cool language and I’m not saying that because I have Swedish friends ;)

Rasmus and William suggested going down to the harbor at Hönö and visiting the fiskemuseum there. Marcus didn’t seem very interested in it and bashed it for being too boring to do but I think it sounded like fun! William and Rasmus planned a very full day at the harbor for us which was a nice change of pace since poor Marcus usually has to come up with stuff to do for every day that I’m here. He had also expressed frustration over some of his friends never being able to make decisions or coming up with their own ideas for the group to partake in. And I can understand that. So again, it was nice to have someone else get excited and plan something :) 

Essentially, that sums up my Friday! There’s probably more that I’m forgetting but that’s all of the main, important things that made up my day.

I know it took me FOREVER to get this up here and I know I still have a lot more to write about but I’m going to stop here simply because it would be WAY too long of a post! So, for now, enjoy! I will do my best to fill in for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday by tomorrow. If I don't get all of it, I'll at least get one or two days of events typed up. 

Until the next post!

Uffda!

To those who are waiting patiently --and those who aren't (you know who you are)--, there will hopefully be a very full and very long post tonight to fill in on all of the things that happened on Friday and Saturday. And, of course, today as well. I haven't forgotten, I swear! I just get too tired to type anything up at the end of the day. Just know for now that things are going well :)

Wed-nes-day

Yes yes, I know that it is now Thursday but I was far too tired to document the details of yesterday's adventures. Anyway!

Marcus and I managed to get up at a more decent time today, though that was mainly because we were going to Liseberg: Sweden's biggest amusement park. Marcus came and woke me up at 11 but as soon as he left, I plopped back down onto my bed. I almost fell asleep when my alarm clock went off, scaring the shit out of me XD When I went to go find Marcus, turns out he had gone back to bed too! Haha. Anyhow, we got up --eventually--. For breakfast I had toast with a very interesting shrimp spread on it. Very different but very good :3

Liseberg logo and its scary green mascot

After that, we still had some time before we had to leave so Marcus decided to teach me how to death metal growl. I wouldn't do anything at first but eventually I just jumped in and gave it my best. Turns out I'm not bad for a beginner :D Our throats were a bit raw after-wards but it was awesome! Might continue the lessons today.

Hope to sound like this sexy beast someday!

With every passing day, I'm getting more and more comfortable with the Midefelt family. It makes me really happy :)


Marcus and I had to walk to the ferry so we could get to Liseberg since I didn't feel like driving after what Simon did to me when we were trying to drop him off at home XD We ended up running for a little while since we barely had enough time to get there! But my knee started hurting like it always does and we had to stop :/

One of many ferries to the islands

But! We still made it in time to catch the bus we needed so it was all good. Emil went with us as well, which is huge since he seemed pretty adamant that he wasn't going to go. It was really awesome having him there though. Such a cool dude. We took the bus into Gothenburg where we met up with Thomas and Simon at the terminal. We decided to stop into a 7-11 to get some drinks before heading out. I was tempted to get something I recognized but I figured I'd never be in a 7-11 in Sweden any time in the near future so I got a drink with the name Festis on it. For those who want to know what they look like, here are some pictures.

 

The one I bought looks more like the one on the left in the first picture. It was strawberry and yumberry flavored... or something. Marcus bought a Festis--under Emil's guidance-- that was guava and banana flavored.

Banana and guava flavored... Blech!

Yea, I can just see the looks on your faces XD It was preeetty bad, haha. Of course, it was kind of good too... Either way, Marcus never finished it and ended up throwing it away at Liseberg. He was not very happy with it, hahaha.

Moving on!

We accidentally took a tram that we thought was going to Liseberg but was actually heading into a really bad neighborhood of Gothenburg. As soon as we realized what happened, we jumped off on the next stop and took the RIGHT tram to Liseberg. We all gave Simon a hard time for telling us the wrong information but only jokingly ;) We made it to Liseberg around... 5? I think? We were supposed to meet William at the entrance but he called and told Marcus that he was going to be a half hour late. So we decided to go in and find him later when he got there.

Gothenburg tram map. I'd get lost too XD

It was a tad intimidating to buy a pass for myself. Marcus keeps telling me to stop worrying and I think I have for the better part. But I found out how to buy a pass (akpass or something like that) and we were able to ride all day. It was kind of expensive but I think it was worth it for the six hours or so that we spent there.

I think the best part of the day was the Flogging Molly concert that we went to while we were at Liseberg. THAT was awesome! But we arrived a little late and had to stand pretty far back. Damn Swedes are so freakin’ tall that it’s hard to see! But we could still hear everything really well so it was fine ^^ We managed to get really close for the last two songs though. Simon at one point tried to get me and Emil to jump with him but my feet were killing me so I just wanted to stand. Simon, however, decided that I was going to jump ANYWAY and slung my arm over his shoulder and lifted me off the ground for about three hops XD He apologized later but I thought it was fun. Thomas took some pretty good pictures/video so hopefully I’ll get a chance to snag copies of those later! We even managed to get our picture taken with some of the Flogging Molly members though we all look ridiculous XD Even so, probably my favorite picture of us, haha.

Flogging Molly!

Best worst picture. EVER!

Finally got to meet William and Anna too! Really cool people :) There was one moment where I thought a fight was going to break out between William and a complete stranger though. That was interesting. We had just gotten some ice cream and were walking around and these two dudes walk up and screamed in our faces. I shrugged it off—though it was pretty annoying since the same thing had happened a few moments ago with another pair of guys—but William seemed rather angry and yelled something at them in Swedish which, when translated into English, goes like this: Come at me!! Come on!! You wanna piece of me?! BRING IT!!!” To which the opposing guys immediately turned around and both William and the guy who yelled at us got up in each other’s faces and started… not shouting… but acting very confrontational with one another. I was tensing up and ready to jump in but fortunately, the two parted and we continued on our way. Even though it was startling, I have to say that I like William a lot more for it.

Simon, Anna, and William

All-in-all, a very eventful and fun day ^^ Thomas seemed a lot less shy around me and started warming up. I think that’s what I loved the most about yesterday. I’ll also love William’s remark as he sat next to me on a ride: “I’m going to sit next to my friend so you’re not alone.” Makes me smile :) 

We all got quiet on the bus ride home since we were all pretty exhausted after walking all evening. Ugh. Everyone except Emil and William was nodding off. The ferry ride home was cold as hell! All the Swedes were fine, of course. Simon even took his jacket off! What the hell! Connie ended up picking us up at the ferry –minus Simon who biked home and Emil who walked—which I must say was pretty darn awesome of her. I made sure I thanked her when we got home. Then Marcus and I had dinner at 1 in the morning XD My eating schedule is so weird now! Haha! But Connie is such an amazing cook! I thank her for every meal she makes but I need to make sure she knows how great her cooking is! Thomas made coffee for himself and me and we all talked for some time in the kitchen before finally heading off to bed.

So there’s my Wednesday in a nut shell! Today’s plan is to relax and play some games. I’ll also be talking to people back home since I haven’t done so yet for a lot of people. Heh. I’m a bad person :> I did try to call home last night but I forgot the extra zero I needed and ended up calling some unfortunate Swedish people… oops! At like… 3 in the morning too XD Ah well. So yes. Very chill day along with some updating and such. My feet are STILL killing me from yesterday so it’s a good thing we won’t be doing too much.

Until the next update!

Venturin'

So today, as I posted earlier, Marcus and I had a late start in getting up today. We meant to sleep only until 12:00 but I guess our bodies dictated otherwise XD It was rather nice to catch up on some much needed sleep though. Shortly after waking up, we ate breakfast. Marcus had some apricot goo with milk and I had strawberry yogurt --from a carton!-- with some tasty crunchy bread thingy. It was really good :3 Breakfast at 4:30 in the afternoon. Aw yea!

Om nom nom!

Thomas, Connie, and Morgan came home from work while we were eating and Thomas made coffee for me! Yay! So, much thanks to him for that otherwise I might be more of a zombie than normal what with the time difference and all. After that, Mr. Midefelt told me that I could drive his car while I was staying. Which is scary as HELL. The roads are so narrow and I kept thinking I'd run someone over or crash into another car! Some of the signs are the same but Marcus had to help me with the speed bumps since I usually blazed right on over those because I couldn't see them, haha. It was terrifying to go down a road with another car coming from the opposite direction! AGH. I would lean over towards Marcus whenever a car came by XD Like that would help, heh heh.

Driving in Sweden. Eek!

We then went venturing all over these cliffs and I took SOME photos. Not a lot though. I'll upload some of the ones I like into this blog. Marcus and I raced each other to some distant rock and I was ahead for a while but Marcus ended up beating me. He cheated... I know he did... We also had a seagull dive-bomb us XD I think we were near its nest so we hurried and got away from it.

The gorgeous place Marcus and I ventured around.

It's just a little windy in Sweden.

Marcus the champion

But! Simon and Emil are over right now so I gotta' hurry and put my computer away. Until the next update!

First Night

Apologies for the tardiness of this post! I meant to update my blog as soon as I had a chance to settle down but are you really that surprised that it didn't happen? ;P

Anyway! The flight was insane. I managed to sleep through the majority of it but my God! My bum is still crying out in agony even after sitting in an Economy Comfort chair. Thank God for my seat mate as well. He was an older gentleman but also a veteran international traveler so he was able to give my advice and tips on how to navigate through the Amsterdam airport. He was friendly but not overly so and left me alone to sleep. Perfect seat mate! Very much unlike the one I sat next to on my connecting flight... Man. Who would have thought that Germans were such cranky people? Sheesh.

Side note: Marcus sings while doing almost everything, haha. I can hear him in the shower right now.

It was so nice to finally reach Gothenburg. Going through that airport was the easiest I have encountered thus far. Didn't even have to go through security! It was set up a little differently than I'm used to but I managed alright. It was awesome to finally meet Marcus' family though I hate myself for being so shy around them. I didn't eat a whole lot at dinner time and I really hope that it didn't come off as rude. I was just shy as hell! Hopefully that will fade and I can get back to acting like myself.

Marcus and his family really seemed to like the gifts. It's always an awkward thing to get through on both ends but Marcus assured me that they really liked them. I couldn't explain Connie's gifts to save my life though, haha. She did use it at dinner though :) Marcus has THE coolest house by the way. All the houses in Sweden are awesome! I need to take pictures like the nerd tourist I am. That's another thing. I haven't taken ONE picture during my entire trip or my first night here. I apologize!

It's interesting that I still haven't had a holy-shit-I'm-finally-here moment XD Marcus' and my meeting each other was a very calm but happy moment. We both think the reason we don't get bouncy and silly is because we talk on a regular basis. Even though we don't see each other all the time, we figure we're just close enough not to act like pre-teens infected with Bieber fever.

After I got settled in and had dinner, we decided to head over to Simon's house to say hi. Emil and Simon were both watching the championships for LoL (League of Legends) which Marcus and I ended up getting sucked into and staying out until... well, we didn't get to sleep until almost 5 in the morning. Despite all the advice I received on going to bed at a decent hour, you all should know better! Well, it definitely came back and bit us in the butt since we didn't end up waking up until about 4 in the afternoon! Oh well, I probably needed that anyway so it's a good thing.

Marcus also has two of the cutest, fluffiest cats I've ever seen! Casper and Dotty. Or maybe it's Dotti... Either way, I must post pictures of these adorable fluffballs :D

Turns out, I kicked Thomas out of his room in order for me to stay here! XD He's sharing Marcus' room but I still feel a tad guilty, heh heh.

And that pretty much sums up what happened on the first night :) I'm probably forgetting something and that's why I should have written this yesterday when it was all still fresh in my mind. Meh :P Marcus kept the first night free for anything since he didn't want to throw me into a huge game of tag like we did for him xD All-in-all, the first night was very chill and I'll probably post more as I remember it. I think the most fun about this trip is hearing everyone speak to each other in Swedish. I can't understand a WORD of it other than "Simon", "Melissa", "Emil", "Hello", etc. Still fascinating though!

Hopefully I'll stop worrying, relax, and be myself on the remainder of this trip. NO MORE SHYNESS. Ugh.

Until the next update! Bye!

All Packed!

Just a short entry for today. I know I haven't been keeping up with this very well but that will change, I promise! I have been strictly informed to take lots of pictures while I'm gone or otherwise face severe punishment. I won't post every single picture here on Blogspot, just the ones worth sharing. For those who are friends with me on Facebook, you can see everything there :)

A good thing to know for those back home is that my phone will NOT be working in Sweden. This sucks for a multitude of reasons. I'm still bringing it with me however as I am one of those insecure persons who needs their mobile electronics at their side every waking moment. If you'd like to talk to me, I assure you that there will be Skype sessions so feel free to spam my inbox with your Skype accounts to keep in touch. I'll try to update Facebook as much as I can though my updates will probably be massive dumps of photos more than they are actual statuses.

Well! Gotta finish packing and double check that I have all that I need. The next time I update this, I will be overseas :D Goodbye to all that are back home!

Twenty-four more hours!

Ugh.

Bear with me please as I figure out ways to make my blog look all spiffy and awesome. Other than that, not much else to say today. And here you thought there would be more interesting posts. Haha, silly you.

Thirteen more days!

Välkommen!

Hej!

I suppose I should start off the very first post by explaining my intentions for this little blog here. This was created solely for the purpose of keeping track and documenting an upcoming trip to Sweden. I'll be gone for two and a half weeks and I know very well that I probably won't check in or call as often as I should with my friends and family back home. Thus, the creation of this blog. Of course, seeing as I am new to blogging and very much a procrastinator, I detect a creeping feeling that I may not be able to keep this blog as updated as I'd like to whilst venturing around Sweden.

Nonetheless! I shall certainly attempt to do my best. I'm not sure how many people, whether I know them personally or not, will actually follow me on here but for those that do, I certainly hope you enjoy reading along :)

And with that, I end the first post for my blog. I promise more interesting entries in the future.

Fourteen more days!