Sweden!

Oh, Sweden was beautiful. We were at Klubban field station, a unit of Uppsala University located in Fiskebackskil on the west coast of Sweden. And no, I can't pronounce the name of the town.

We arrived after a 14 hour bus ride that involved several sleepy stops in rest areas as well as a 3am ferry ride from Germany to Denmark. Less than ideal :) But we got in on a beautiful day and had some free time to wander around. We checked out the beach and then for some reason decided to go swimming. And yes, swimming in the North Sea is at least as cold as you'd think it would be.

We then met the rest of our class which was fun! It's cool to finally meet the people after talking for so long on Facebook and wondering what everyone would be like.

Since we were at a field station, we had to cook for ourselves, which involved a trip to a Swedish small-town grocery store. This was my favorite discovery-fish paste! I think...

Most of the week was spent hearing research lectures from the professors from the four universities as well as more information about the programs at each of the universities. I won't bore you with the details, but it was a lot! We started at 8:30 each day and went until around 10 with an hour for dinner. Then after that we were socializing until after midnight each night. Yikes! And then there were the articles to read in our "free" time.

But it was an awesome setting to experience and a great way for us to hang out.

Now I'm back in the Netherlands and will post another update soon. But for your viewing pleasure, I present Sweden.

The view from my dorm room at the station.

The view from the mountain we climbed. One of the French girls called the view "scandalously picturesque" a phrase I am completely in love with.

I have arrived!

Hello from the Netherlands! I arrived yesterday morning and have wandered around, met a bunch of my classmates, attended a festival, and am now chilling in one of the very few places open on Sunday around here. A French bakery with wireless internet. Awesome.

There are so many bikes! It's crazy. And I don't really think many students are around yet, as school doesn't start until Sept. 6th. And none of them have had streamers or pink baskets on them.

Fashion: Lots of leggings for girls. Fitted pants, not loose. And I need a lot of new clothes. Mine aren't nice enough.

To buy beer, you first buy bottles and a crate to carry them in, then you just pay to refill the bottles, and that it very cheap. Curious to try that out once I get back from Sweden.

But yes, off to Sweden tonight and then I'll be back here on Saturday!

And I'm off!

On Friday I'm heading to Groningen to begin my program! Once I get there, I head almost immediately to Sweden for summer school, so I'll be out of touch for a while. I do promise though, that there will be great pictures and stories once I'm back. Keep checking in!

Three things I love

The first thing I love: Mangoes! I love mangoes in nearly any way they are presented. Fresh off a tree, super fake essence of mango in various products, mango sorbet, and many, many others. This is why I was so excited to find that Burt's Bees now has a mango chapstick. It has a nice, strong mango smell which I love. It doesn't taste at all mango-ey, which was a little disappointing but is probably good or I'd chew my own lips off! Oh, and it actually works as a decent chapstick too.

From: http://www.burtsbees.com/natural-products/lips-lip-care/nourishing-lip-balm-mango-butter.html

The second thing I love: This shirt. I found it in a Delia's in Ft. Lauderdale a few years ago. It was too small when I bought it, but I loved it so much I convinced myself it would do. Now that I'm cleaning out to move to Europe, I've decided it has to go. But I took a picture of it for your pleasure. It is a short sleeve girly tee.

The third thing I love: These shoes. Keep in mind that I don't "do" shoes. They are merely a functional thing for me. I did, however, actually love these shoes. They are the one of the cooler items of clothing I've ever owned. This picture was taken way past their prime, but think of the glory days... They were also my first Kangaroos. Great-looking, fun shoes with miserable quality. And yes, that's a zipper on the side. Very cool.

My new baby!

I got a new laptop!  It's pretty and fast and weighs about half of what my old one did. Don't get me wrong--the old one lasted me six years, which I think is some kind of laptop record, and it still works (mostly), but it was time for a new one to accompany me on my European adventure.

The new laptop is an HP 1060us. It has a crazy touchpad that will take some getting used to, but which allows some features I can already tell I'll like a lot. It also has Windows 7, which is a bit strange to me, given that I stuck with XP and skipped Vista.  So all kinds of new fun things to learn and play with. More review to follow, I was just so excited I had to let you know about my new toy!