Talking about guys
"Even if he is good and happens to know how to put his socks into the hamper, there are still a million things that you as a women will do. And he'll say that he's doing half of the housework."
Ummm... hello... If the guy is doing that, perhaps sit down and talk to him?
"Housekeeping should be an art." - Then it is an art I don't like. Perhaps decorating your house is an art, but cleaning the bathroom is just an annoyance.
I also made a note in my notebook that the girls seem to want to have equal pay, equal everything, but they still want the benefits. They want the guy to buy dinner even when they earn the same amount. They want the guy to do housework, but don't want him to get time home with the kids unless they don't want it. They really need to make up their minds!
My professor speaking about one of her old friends and how they knew each other... "We toilet trained our boys together. They liked to pee in the corner together." - Gives very little respect to the guy. Granted I point out that David is house-broken... but that's just because he knows how to wash dishes.
Oh! And one of my favorites for the class day... "If you want to question my authority, just raise your hand and I'll call on you." Ummm... then we're waiting for her authority to recognize us and then we aren't really questioning it. We're confirming it!
I also made a note that my professor did not know how to turn the class computer on.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Oh so tired... always so tired.
I was so tired last night that I went to sleep quite early. I slept in this morning and I'm STILL tired! If this doesn't get better by next week I'm going to get rid of my Tuesday morning hours. It'd lower me to 12 hours a week, but I think I could manage. I guess part of the problem is that on Mondays I spend 9 hours in class or work. I got home at 8pm last night and was basically too tired to do anything. I took a shower and fell into bed. I studied a bit then slept. I was going to eat dinner, but I wasn't even hungry.
In other news I've decided that I'm either a bad teacher or my intern is a slow learner. I mean... how many times do I need to explain excel? I'm trying to get him used to checking his work. Ok... does it make sense that you have half of the population in this town in 2000 as you did in 1990? He starts to say yes and I'm thinking no. I made him add up the total populations we started with and then we found the mistake. He forgot to add the female population in. He keeps asking me how to problem solve. It's like argh! You just look to see if it looks right, then you go figure out what you might have done wrong. And when you get frustrated and give up, you get someone else to check what you might have done wrong. Not that hard.
Besides work I've been doing a lot of school work. I wrote down a bunch of annoying quotes from class last night, but I don't have much time this morning to post them. I'll try to find time this afternoon. If the weather is as bad as it is right now I won't be running, so I should have some free time.
Off to go eat my dinnerbox from last night as breakfast!
In other news I've decided that I'm either a bad teacher or my intern is a slow learner. I mean... how many times do I need to explain excel? I'm trying to get him used to checking his work. Ok... does it make sense that you have half of the population in this town in 2000 as you did in 1990? He starts to say yes and I'm thinking no. I made him add up the total populations we started with and then we found the mistake. He forgot to add the female population in. He keeps asking me how to problem solve. It's like argh! You just look to see if it looks right, then you go figure out what you might have done wrong. And when you get frustrated and give up, you get someone else to check what you might have done wrong. Not that hard.
Besides work I've been doing a lot of school work. I wrote down a bunch of annoying quotes from class last night, but I don't have much time this morning to post them. I'll try to find time this afternoon. If the weather is as bad as it is right now I won't be running, so I should have some free time.
Off to go eat my dinnerbox from last night as breakfast!
Monday, January 30, 2006
Yum!
My cooking project for this week went rather well. I bought some thin-cut pork chops and fried them up. Then took the pork chops out of the pan. Then I put in a whole blue box of slice mushrooms, then fried those up. I poured some cream in with the mushrooms, added some pepper and some seasoning salt and some soy sauce. Then I put the meat back in. I let it simmer for a minute or two, trying not to eat the mushrooms out of it. I served that over rice with some steamed broccoli. YUM! Plus I made enough for 3 more meals. That'll give me lunch and dinner tomorrow and lunch on Tuesday. If I have a lunch sitting at home for me, then I can work for another half hour or so at work before coming home.
I didn't get as much homework done this weekend as I planned on. Originally I wanted to have all of my classwork for the entire next week done. But I got done two of the three papers that are due and a bunch of the reading. I still need to do my study questions and three more chapters of reading tonight, but that seems manageable.
I hope everyone had a nice weekend!
I didn't get as much homework done this weekend as I planned on. Originally I wanted to have all of my classwork for the entire next week done. But I got done two of the three papers that are due and a bunch of the reading. I still need to do my study questions and three more chapters of reading tonight, but that seems manageable.
I hope everyone had a nice weekend!
Sunday, January 29, 2006
I don't wanna!
I don't want to study! I don't want to write any papers! I don't want to answer study questions! I don't even want to read my textbooks! Despite my dislike, I've been doing just that all day. I've written a short paper, read another 100 pages in a book, read some articles for another class, and I still have lots to do still. I have some journal articles I have to write for my political theory class. I need to find another Iran article for my crossing boundaries class. I need to write out answers to my study guide for that class. I have three chapters to read for my international economics class. I also have another chapter to read for my child development class. Ick!
I've got to admit though, one of the articles I read really got me thinking. My Crossing Boundaries class is about feminism and modernization. I read an article by Ursula LeGuin about language. She explains that there is a father tongue that is used by men and by official society. It is a language designed to show superiority and to argue and to state the facts. She says that society puts too much weight on this and not enough on the mother tongue. This is the language of experience, of sharing, of friendship. She says that guys don't do this. It was quite interesting really. I have a few quotes and my opinions on them to share as well.
Keeping house is not considered work by the American culture. "Do you work? - and she, having stopped mopping the kitchen and picked up the baby to come answer the door, says, No, I don't work." Argh! How can that not be considered work? If she did not stay home and do that, then someone else would have to be paid. This whole industry of child caring, home keeping, and cooking is invisible labor. It has no value in today's society. But today's society is designed on past societies. This means it is a man's world. "Most men are prevented form housework by intense cultural bias; many women actually hire another woman to do it for them because they're scared of getting trapped in it, ending up like the women they hire." Whenever I read things like that, I'm happier and happier that I have David and not some American guy. Granted I think this was written quite awhile ago, but you can still see it today.
"Freud famously said, "What we shall never know is what a woman wants," Having paused thoughtfully over the syntax of that sentence, in which WE are plural but "a woman" apparently has no plural, no individuality - as we might read that a cow must be milked twice a day or a gerbil is a nine pet - WE might go on then to consider whether WE know anything about, whether WE have ever noticed, whether WE have ever asked a woman what she does - what women do." I can't say much about that quote, but that it made me think.
"The failed woman - the old maid, the barren woman, the castrating bitch, the frigid wife, the lezzie, the libber, the Unfeminine." This puts into words in a way that women fear this. If they aren't a happy family, does that make them a failure? I sometimes think society does think this way.
I see in this course though an image of feminism as man hating. The article stressed how men should not be trusted. I wonder if there is feminism out there that doesn't involve women acting like men. Women can still be women and get equal pay and equal rights. But that does not excuse anyone, man or woman, of slamming doors in other people's faces. It does not excuse being kind to others. Any woman who takes it as an insult if a man helps her open a door, change a tired, or collect dropped items should be dropped on her head!
I've got to admit though, one of the articles I read really got me thinking. My Crossing Boundaries class is about feminism and modernization. I read an article by Ursula LeGuin about language. She explains that there is a father tongue that is used by men and by official society. It is a language designed to show superiority and to argue and to state the facts. She says that society puts too much weight on this and not enough on the mother tongue. This is the language of experience, of sharing, of friendship. She says that guys don't do this. It was quite interesting really. I have a few quotes and my opinions on them to share as well.
Keeping house is not considered work by the American culture. "Do you work? - and she, having stopped mopping the kitchen and picked up the baby to come answer the door, says, No, I don't work." Argh! How can that not be considered work? If she did not stay home and do that, then someone else would have to be paid. This whole industry of child caring, home keeping, and cooking is invisible labor. It has no value in today's society. But today's society is designed on past societies. This means it is a man's world. "Most men are prevented form housework by intense cultural bias; many women actually hire another woman to do it for them because they're scared of getting trapped in it, ending up like the women they hire." Whenever I read things like that, I'm happier and happier that I have David and not some American guy. Granted I think this was written quite awhile ago, but you can still see it today.
"Freud famously said, "What we shall never know is what a woman wants," Having paused thoughtfully over the syntax of that sentence, in which WE are plural but "a woman" apparently has no plural, no individuality - as we might read that a cow must be milked twice a day or a gerbil is a nine pet - WE might go on then to consider whether WE know anything about, whether WE have ever noticed, whether WE have ever asked a woman what she does - what women do." I can't say much about that quote, but that it made me think.
"The failed woman - the old maid, the barren woman, the castrating bitch, the frigid wife, the lezzie, the libber, the Unfeminine." This puts into words in a way that women fear this. If they aren't a happy family, does that make them a failure? I sometimes think society does think this way.
I see in this course though an image of feminism as man hating. The article stressed how men should not be trusted. I wonder if there is feminism out there that doesn't involve women acting like men. Women can still be women and get equal pay and equal rights. But that does not excuse anyone, man or woman, of slamming doors in other people's faces. It does not excuse being kind to others. Any woman who takes it as an insult if a man helps her open a door, change a tired, or collect dropped items should be dropped on her head!
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Ahhh...
Well... week 1 of school over. 15 weeks to go. Tonight I am just going to take it easy. Perhaps study a bit. I definitely need to study. Tomorrow I will study all day. I have lots to do before next week.
Oh. I mailed David two letters today. One is my transcript the other my expected graduation date. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to get there. They were supposed to be there by February 1st. Somehow I don't think they'll make it. They might though! If the postoffices work well together then the letters might get there by Monday or Tuesday... Then David might have time Tuesday of Wednesday to take them to the admissions office. Then they'll be there by closing time on the 1st. I REALLY hope that happens! We'll see though. Nothing more I can do now that I've mailed them. And I got them into the mail box before they picked up mail for today. That might help. If I can get the mail moving during the weekend rather than sitting in a box somewhere the letters stand a chance of actually getting there on time!
Oh. I mailed David two letters today. One is my transcript the other my expected graduation date. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to get there. They were supposed to be there by February 1st. Somehow I don't think they'll make it. They might though! If the postoffices work well together then the letters might get there by Monday or Tuesday... Then David might have time Tuesday of Wednesday to take them to the admissions office. Then they'll be there by closing time on the 1st. I REALLY hope that happens! We'll see though. Nothing more I can do now that I've mailed them. And I got them into the mail box before they picked up mail for today. That might help. If I can get the mail moving during the weekend rather than sitting in a box somewhere the letters stand a chance of actually getting there on time!
Friday, January 27, 2006
Friday is here at last!
I'm done with classes for the week and I have only 4 more hours of work!
I've decided that this long grain rice is NOT as easy to cook as the Jasmine rice. So I'll be going back to the stuff that I can boil and still have it taste good. And korv strogonoff does not taste quite the same with hotdogs as it does with falukorv.
Speaking of food... I've invited my mom over for dinner, not this weekend but the next. This gives me a week to decide what I want to make for her. Somehow I don't think frozen pizzas will do it. ;) I told her she has to bring her own chair since we have /1/ kitchen chair. The other three are in pieces and I'm too lazy to put them together. Maybe I could make a taco pie. I don't think my mom has ever had that. I'll have to search the internet for a recipe and instructions.
It definitely looks like my life will be VERY busy this semester! Hopefully this will keep me busy enough that I won't think too much about how much longer it is until I get to go back to Sweden! Here are two links for whoever. ;)
Time until David Comes (June 15th)
Time until Sweden Movie (August 15th)
The dates aren't set in stone, but it is nice to at least have a date to look forward to!
I've decided that this long grain rice is NOT as easy to cook as the Jasmine rice. So I'll be going back to the stuff that I can boil and still have it taste good. And korv strogonoff does not taste quite the same with hotdogs as it does with falukorv.
Speaking of food... I've invited my mom over for dinner, not this weekend but the next. This gives me a week to decide what I want to make for her. Somehow I don't think frozen pizzas will do it. ;) I told her she has to bring her own chair since we have /1/ kitchen chair. The other three are in pieces and I'm too lazy to put them together. Maybe I could make a taco pie. I don't think my mom has ever had that. I'll have to search the internet for a recipe and instructions.
It definitely looks like my life will be VERY busy this semester! Hopefully this will keep me busy enough that I won't think too much about how much longer it is until I get to go back to Sweden! Here are two links for whoever. ;)
Time until David Comes (June 15th)
Time until Sweden Movie (August 15th)
The dates aren't set in stone, but it is nice to at least have a date to look forward to!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Ballroom Dancing and a day off
Last night I had my very first ballroom dancing class. I've never seen a group of guys that nervous before. They were like cute little robots. I'm going to try really hard to stick with this class. It's late at night, but some of the social graces might be useful. We've learned the first few steps of swing dancing so far. I've managed to gracefully trip over my own feet a few times. They have us all dancing in socks so at least we can't crush each other's feet too badly. I need to get some shoes though, my feet hurt too much from dancing on wood all night. I miss my super padded running shoes that I wear as everyday sneakers!
Well, today is my day off of work. I've got 4 hours of school and that's it. I have a lot of things I want to get done this morning, but I don't think that they'll all happen. I was hoping to get two days of homework done, run to the store, spend time talking to David, and do 150 other things. I might settle for a bit of homework and talking to David. Although I did want to go to the store and buy some ground beef, some tomato paste, some dish soap, and whatever else I become attached to when there. Maybe a box of Kix cereal. I've had a craving for that recently.
Sometime this week/weekend I want to try making korv strogonoff. I guess that means I should buy an onion too. I have some hot dogs, which is the closest thing to falukorv I know of. I don't even know what tomato paste would look like here! My mom has informed me that strogonoff is NOT red and should not have tomatoes in it. I don't really care, I want to make it the Swedish way because I like that!
I'm amazed right now at my lack of free time. I wake up in the morning, check my email, study a bit, talk to David for maybe an hour if he's home, then head to school. I go to school/work for a few hours, run home for lunch, run back to school for more classes/work, run home for dinner/clothes change, then back to school again. Then home again. By the time I take a shower, make and eat dinner, and try to pick up the mess a bit it's my bedtime or past. I go to bed, try to finish a few chapters in whatever literature we'll be covering in class the next day, then sleep until morning. Then I wake up and repeat! My life is boring! *cry* :)
But then... then we have Thursdays! I am free until 12:30 when my first class starts. :) It's like Tuesday but without work!
Well, today is my day off of work. I've got 4 hours of school and that's it. I have a lot of things I want to get done this morning, but I don't think that they'll all happen. I was hoping to get two days of homework done, run to the store, spend time talking to David, and do 150 other things. I might settle for a bit of homework and talking to David. Although I did want to go to the store and buy some ground beef, some tomato paste, some dish soap, and whatever else I become attached to when there. Maybe a box of Kix cereal. I've had a craving for that recently.
Sometime this week/weekend I want to try making korv strogonoff. I guess that means I should buy an onion too. I have some hot dogs, which is the closest thing to falukorv I know of. I don't even know what tomato paste would look like here! My mom has informed me that strogonoff is NOT red and should not have tomatoes in it. I don't really care, I want to make it the Swedish way because I like that!
I'm amazed right now at my lack of free time. I wake up in the morning, check my email, study a bit, talk to David for maybe an hour if he's home, then head to school. I go to school/work for a few hours, run home for lunch, run back to school for more classes/work, run home for dinner/clothes change, then back to school again. Then home again. By the time I take a shower, make and eat dinner, and try to pick up the mess a bit it's my bedtime or past. I go to bed, try to finish a few chapters in whatever literature we'll be covering in class the next day, then sleep until morning. Then I wake up and repeat! My life is boring! *cry* :)
But then... then we have Thursdays! I am free until 12:30 when my first class starts. :) It's like Tuesday but without work!
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Homework
I've managed to get through most of my reading for today. That last bit of homework that I need to do involves going to school and printing some stuff. My political theory class is going to be fun. I worked my way through 3 articles already. Two of them are by authors I already was familiar with. Morgenthau and Clautz (spelling?). There are something like 50-60 short articles from various sources in my textbook. I also have two required novels to read out of five. I've bought 3 so far because they seemed interesting and I'll probably get one more.
Work yesterday was relatively boring. Although I have learned how to make a pivot table with data that isn't actually inside Excel. External Data Sources baby! Ok, so I'm a bit crazy. I'm still waiting for my boss to write me back and let me know if I can come in an hour late today. Somehow I think I won't know until lunch if then. I might end up just going in at my planned time.
Some people write their blogs about important things, big life changing events in the world, or make interesting comments into the runnings of something. Then there is my blog. It's about whatever I'm thinking of at the time. It tends to be a response to the non existent question 'and so how was your day?' or perhaps 'what did you do today?' It's not well-written, it isn't filled with book quality material, it is just what I've done with myself. Occasionally you get rants where I am annoying at something.
Anyways, I think I'll go read the last bit in my Child Development chapter and the last article for my other class. After that perhaps I'll take a bit of time to just relax and collect fish in Animal Crossing: Wild World. I need relaxation time too, I just have to find time for it!
Work yesterday was relatively boring. Although I have learned how to make a pivot table with data that isn't actually inside Excel. External Data Sources baby! Ok, so I'm a bit crazy. I'm still waiting for my boss to write me back and let me know if I can come in an hour late today. Somehow I think I won't know until lunch if then. I might end up just going in at my planned time.
Some people write their blogs about important things, big life changing events in the world, or make interesting comments into the runnings of something. Then there is my blog. It's about whatever I'm thinking of at the time. It tends to be a response to the non existent question 'and so how was your day?' or perhaps 'what did you do today?' It's not well-written, it isn't filled with book quality material, it is just what I've done with myself. Occasionally you get rants where I am annoying at something.
Anyways, I think I'll go read the last bit in my Child Development chapter and the last article for my other class. After that perhaps I'll take a bit of time to just relax and collect fish in Animal Crossing: Wild World. I need relaxation time too, I just have to find time for it!
Today my mood is.... ARGH!!!
I hate dealing with petty little people and their red tape! I'm going to have to change the hours I work because my work has different regulations than the state. If I work 4 hours I have to take a lunch break. So that means that anytime I want to work 4 hours I 'm supposed to actually block 4.5 hours out of my day. No thanks. :P State regulations is for 6 hours you have to take a lunch break. I'm going to pretend that I thought I had to work MORE than 4 hours before taking a lunch break and change my plans a bit. On Tuesdays I'll start work an hour earlier, and on Wednesdays I'll start an hour later. It almost makes sense.
I went by records today... they haven't even made the fall grades official! So they haven't sent transcripts out yet! ARGH! They say there is no way that the transcript I ordered in December will be there before February 1st! They said I had a better chance of ordering a new one and hope that they finish them sometime this week... picking it up myself, and mailing it myself! So David will get lots of nice little letters from me sometime this week that I'll force him (at dagger point) to hand deliver for me.
My classes should be fun this term though. As long as I don't go crazy. If things start getting too crazy I'm just going to drop aerobics or ballroom dancing. Either that or I get rid of my Tuesday hours all together. We'll see what works out for the best.
Right now all I want to do is sleep, not go to another class. This one should be short though. I've sat through the intro 3 times already during my time in university. It shouldn't even use the whole hour. They'll tell us what we need, give us a piece of paper or too, then we'll go on with our lives. On Tuesdays I will make 3 separate bike trips to school. One for work, come home for lunch, back to school for 3 hours, then home for an hour and a half to change clothes, and then back to school for aerobics, then home again for the day. Ick! I guess I need the exercise?
I went by records today... they haven't even made the fall grades official! So they haven't sent transcripts out yet! ARGH! They say there is no way that the transcript I ordered in December will be there before February 1st! They said I had a better chance of ordering a new one and hope that they finish them sometime this week... picking it up myself, and mailing it myself! So David will get lots of nice little letters from me sometime this week that I'll force him (at dagger point) to hand deliver for me.
My classes should be fun this term though. As long as I don't go crazy. If things start getting too crazy I'm just going to drop aerobics or ballroom dancing. Either that or I get rid of my Tuesday hours all together. We'll see what works out for the best.
Right now all I want to do is sleep, not go to another class. This one should be short though. I've sat through the intro 3 times already during my time in university. It shouldn't even use the whole hour. They'll tell us what we need, give us a piece of paper or too, then we'll go on with our lives. On Tuesdays I will make 3 separate bike trips to school. One for work, come home for lunch, back to school for 3 hours, then home for an hour and a half to change clothes, and then back to school for aerobics, then home again for the day. Ick! I guess I need the exercise?
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
First day over
Well, my first day of school ended and today will be my 2nd day. After surviving Mondays I feel like I can survive anything! It was a long day. Left home at about 8.15 or so. Went and spent a small fortune on books. 340 USD! And I haven't even bought them all yet! I got to my first class, Child Development, a bit before it started at 9. It's all girls, 18 girls. I guess guys don't have any care in the kids after they've finished the child creation part. I would expect guys to take the class because there are so many girls. It's a required class too, it replaces nutrition and a few other lifetime learning classes. You just need to take one. I figured this one fit into my schedule. And it's good that I took THIS Child Development class, we're right across the hall from the daycare. It's also known as the child observation lab.
After my first class I went straight to my second class. The class is a bit full. It is an absolutely required class for anyone majoring in International Relations. It cannot be changed for anything else, no alternatives. It's only offered once a year right now, although they're saying in the future that they will over it more often. It is going to require a LOT of reading and writing and I won't have any points really until I turn in my final project in May. The professor says that short of us stabbing ourselves in the foot, then tripping and falling, then impaling ourselves on our own sword, he doesn't expect any of us to fail. That's good since most of us are graduating seniors. That means this is our LAST chance. The class has like 60 people in it instead of the 25 that it's supposed to have. A lot of people are going to drop the class though. I know my friend will. If you don't HAVE to take it, don't. It's too much work.
After that class I ran home, made myself some pasta, then ate said pasta. I made enough originally, I thought, for lunch and dinner. But then I just felt hungry and ate it all. I figured I could buy dinner on campus later. After lunch I went to work. I got there and my boss goes, I don't have anything for you to do. Check your email and head on home. I then got abducted by another boss type person. I told her I was more than willing to do her filing and clerical stuff as long as she was willing to pay me for my time. At 9 bucks an hour it's still cheaper to have me move boxes around and organize papers than for her to do it herself. So I spent some time as an overpaid clerical assistant. My boss got back from lunch about the time that the new intern showed up. I did some training with him, had him move lots of computer stuff. I have a new 'office' now. Well, mostly it's just a little cubicle farther to the back, but it's still nice.
After work I went and bought a snack at the BMU. I then went and pestered the Honors department. They're trying to move furniture. So along with about 4 other bored students who showed up, we all gave helpful advice. Most of their advice was more helpful than mine.
I then went to class. It's a sign that I've been at this school for too long. I didn't recognize a single person in my class. I've NEVER had that problem since my first semester at Chico. The honors classes are offered with such a small group of students from each year that I usually know most of them. But most honors students have finished all of their honors requirements before the last semester. I'm just a bit slow. My last class is only once a week, but it means I have to sit still for 3 hours. The professor is one I dislike. She handed us 12 pieces of paper and half explained 4 of them. She jumps from topic to topic and never finishes anything. I would have been MUCH happier if she started at the top of one paper, explained it, then went to the next. Less jumping around means more things covered in a shorter amount of time. I left the class feeling like I STILL had no idea what was going on with our first few assignments. This class only has 4 small novels and a course packet that I need to buy.
When I got home I dragged my roommate grocery shopping. My argument was that we now have like 8 bottles of booze, 24 beers, and some other alcohol in the fridge... but NO food. I thought we needed more food to balance it out a bit more, hide some of the alcohol behind, etc. We spent quite a lot, but I just wanted to have food again. I finally got around to eating my dinner at 10:30pm last night. I went to sleep at about 11:30pm and managed, somehow, to stay asleep until 6:30am this morning. Pretty good.
So that was my day. Hopefully today is filled with easy classes! Wish me luck!
After my first class I went straight to my second class. The class is a bit full. It is an absolutely required class for anyone majoring in International Relations. It cannot be changed for anything else, no alternatives. It's only offered once a year right now, although they're saying in the future that they will over it more often. It is going to require a LOT of reading and writing and I won't have any points really until I turn in my final project in May. The professor says that short of us stabbing ourselves in the foot, then tripping and falling, then impaling ourselves on our own sword, he doesn't expect any of us to fail. That's good since most of us are graduating seniors. That means this is our LAST chance. The class has like 60 people in it instead of the 25 that it's supposed to have. A lot of people are going to drop the class though. I know my friend will. If you don't HAVE to take it, don't. It's too much work.
After that class I ran home, made myself some pasta, then ate said pasta. I made enough originally, I thought, for lunch and dinner. But then I just felt hungry and ate it all. I figured I could buy dinner on campus later. After lunch I went to work. I got there and my boss goes, I don't have anything for you to do. Check your email and head on home. I then got abducted by another boss type person. I told her I was more than willing to do her filing and clerical stuff as long as she was willing to pay me for my time. At 9 bucks an hour it's still cheaper to have me move boxes around and organize papers than for her to do it herself. So I spent some time as an overpaid clerical assistant. My boss got back from lunch about the time that the new intern showed up. I did some training with him, had him move lots of computer stuff. I have a new 'office' now. Well, mostly it's just a little cubicle farther to the back, but it's still nice.
After work I went and bought a snack at the BMU. I then went and pestered the Honors department. They're trying to move furniture. So along with about 4 other bored students who showed up, we all gave helpful advice. Most of their advice was more helpful than mine.
I then went to class. It's a sign that I've been at this school for too long. I didn't recognize a single person in my class. I've NEVER had that problem since my first semester at Chico. The honors classes are offered with such a small group of students from each year that I usually know most of them. But most honors students have finished all of their honors requirements before the last semester. I'm just a bit slow. My last class is only once a week, but it means I have to sit still for 3 hours. The professor is one I dislike. She handed us 12 pieces of paper and half explained 4 of them. She jumps from topic to topic and never finishes anything. I would have been MUCH happier if she started at the top of one paper, explained it, then went to the next. Less jumping around means more things covered in a shorter amount of time. I left the class feeling like I STILL had no idea what was going on with our first few assignments. This class only has 4 small novels and a course packet that I need to buy.
When I got home I dragged my roommate grocery shopping. My argument was that we now have like 8 bottles of booze, 24 beers, and some other alcohol in the fridge... but NO food. I thought we needed more food to balance it out a bit more, hide some of the alcohol behind, etc. We spent quite a lot, but I just wanted to have food again. I finally got around to eating my dinner at 10:30pm last night. I went to sleep at about 11:30pm and managed, somehow, to stay asleep until 6:30am this morning. Pretty good.
So that was my day. Hopefully today is filled with easy classes! Wish me luck!
Monday, January 23, 2006
Forgotten good news
In my rush to write that long boring entry below, I seem to have forgotten to give you peoples really good news for my finances. My mom says she'll buy my ticket over to Sweden as a graduation present. She pointed out that a plane ticket to Europe is a normal present in our family. My brother and I both got one for our highschool graduations. This is an even bigger event. This takes 1500 off of my required expenses! I can get a ticket for less than that, but I had given myself that much just to be on the careful side. I'm going to go play with my excel spreadsheet and see how much I need at various exchange rates... BRB! :)
If you people remember way back when I used to actually remember to write about my trip (you know, what this blog was created for!) I decided that about 5000 SEK a month is a good amount. I've also calculated how much I need for 4800 and for 5200 per month. I've done that at various exchange rates.
Rate - SEK - 1 month - 12 months
7.66 - 5000 - 653 USD - 7833 USD ** Current Rate
7.00 - 5000 - 714 USD - 8571 USD
7.50 - 5000 - 667 USD - 8099 USD
8.00 - 5000 - 625 USD - 7500 USD
8.50 - 5000 - 588 USD - 7136 USD
Since I have 6,238 dollars saved up and will be getting 1500 in semester money as soon as the check arrives and my mom deposits it... I am doing so well! I started out with a goal I thought was impossible and I'm almost there! I've almost saved up enough money for 12 months of living expenses!
Today is also the first day of school. I have 9 hours that I'm either in class or at work today. That doesn't include the hour lunch break or the hour dinner break I gave myself. I have a 9 hour day, three 6 hour days, and one 8 hour day each week this semester. I'll be working 15 hours and going to class for 19 hours.
Oh, and my mom told me that I 'should be a tad more mercenary.' She thinks I should take all the money I can get from her this semester because I don't know how much I will be getting in the future. So I think that excuses me from helping my mom out with finances! I can keep almost all of the money I earn this semester now! Weee! Although since I don't have to buy my own plane ticket... I only need about 100 USD (yes, just a hundred) to have enough to survive for 12 months at the current exchange rate. Now I can work on surviving for a longer period of time and saving up some startup money. Be great if I could get like 500- 1000 USD of start up cash for things like buying a new bike.
Now off to slowly lag my way into the school's website to figure out when/where/what my classes are for this week.
If you people remember way back when I used to actually remember to write about my trip (you know, what this blog was created for!) I decided that about 5000 SEK a month is a good amount. I've also calculated how much I need for 4800 and for 5200 per month. I've done that at various exchange rates.
Rate - SEK - 1 month - 12 months
7.66 - 5000 - 653 USD - 7833 USD ** Current Rate
7.00 - 5000 - 714 USD - 8571 USD
7.50 - 5000 - 667 USD - 8099 USD
8.00 - 5000 - 625 USD - 7500 USD
8.50 - 5000 - 588 USD - 7136 USD
Since I have 6,238 dollars saved up and will be getting 1500 in semester money as soon as the check arrives and my mom deposits it... I am doing so well! I started out with a goal I thought was impossible and I'm almost there! I've almost saved up enough money for 12 months of living expenses!
Today is also the first day of school. I have 9 hours that I'm either in class or at work today. That doesn't include the hour lunch break or the hour dinner break I gave myself. I have a 9 hour day, three 6 hour days, and one 8 hour day each week this semester. I'll be working 15 hours and going to class for 19 hours.
Oh, and my mom told me that I 'should be a tad more mercenary.' She thinks I should take all the money I can get from her this semester because I don't know how much I will be getting in the future. So I think that excuses me from helping my mom out with finances! I can keep almost all of the money I earn this semester now! Weee! Although since I don't have to buy my own plane ticket... I only need about 100 USD (yes, just a hundred) to have enough to survive for 12 months at the current exchange rate. Now I can work on surviving for a longer period of time and saving up some startup money. Be great if I could get like 500- 1000 USD of start up cash for things like buying a new bike.
Now off to slowly lag my way into the school's website to figure out when/where/what my classes are for this week.
LONG and BORING entry.
I'm actually writing this entry while offline. Been sitting at my apartment for the last 4 and a half hours without internet. I managed to get mostly unpacked before I got bored. I'll have internet again when my roommate gets here. Who the heck knows when that will be. Anyways, the rest of this entry is likely to be quite boring to most people, it's just me thinking in list form and posting it. I do that quite often. But wooo! I'm in the home stretch now for my move! Just have to finish one more semester of school/work and then I get to move to Sweden! I can't wait!
I've started talking to my mom about what else I need to do before I go. Mostly I just use her to bounce ideas off of. I've decided that just about anything that doesn't go to Sweden with me I'll need to make choices about.
Category A: If the item is not likely ever to go to Sweden (microwave, toaster, anything that plugs into the wall) it is going to be given to my mom. She can decide what to do with those things. Give them to my brother, store them, sell them, give them to any of her friends kids. I don't care at that point. I have a LOT of unused plug in things, but it isn't worth trying to make them work in Sweden. So that's one category of items.
Category B: Items that aren't likely to go over to Sweden anytime in the next few years but that I'm not ready to give up yet (if ever). This group contains things like my barbies, my victorian doll (complete with clothes and furniture), and my cheerleader uniform. I'm sure there are a lot of things I haven't found yet that fit into this category. Probably some of my favorite figurines from when I was a kid and such.
Category C: Things that wait until I have my own place with more space. This group is things like my nice dishes. And perhaps some of my hardback books. David's apartment just doesn't have the space or the need for things like this right now. Jenny has a lot of plates and such. Very durable. The kindest thing about the dishes David and Jenny have right now is that they sure as heck won't break easily! They're just basic IKEA student dishes. My fluffy blankets are in this category too. No need for them now or in the near future, but I like them too much to get rid of!
Category D: Things that will come over as soon as I have space in my luggage. This is mostly kitchen stuff. Some nice glass baking dishes and some of my pots and pans. It doesn't need to come over this trip or the next, but eventually it'd be nice.
Category E: Stuff that either needs to come over THIS trip. This is stuff like clothes, important documents, my computer, etc. Important things that I use often enough or are important enough to justify dragging across the ocean.
My mom reminded me that when I pack up my apartment this summer I'll need to carefully separate things and be sure the boxes are marked. A stuff will probably go up into the attic. B stuff is most likely NOT in my apartment right now. It's probably sitting in my closet and will remain there, perhaps a bit more organized. C stuff will be boxed up and probably put into my closet at my parents' place too. (It's a BIG closet, it currently has a dresser, a space heater, 8 boxes, and 2 chairs sitting on the floor.) D and E stuff will hopefully end up in either my bags or David's bags. Or else it will come over the next trip I make home.
I'm sure I'll change my classification system another 12 times before I leave. I just need to organize things a bit in my head. I still have 6-7 months before I move over there. Thank goodness David will be here in like 5 months! I don't think I could wait until the very end of summer to see him again!
Amazingly that thing only took me 15 minutes to type out. So much for killing an extensive amount of time with it. Maybe I'll go do something productive rather than just thinking about being productive. Like put my clothes away or make my bed... or heck, maybe pick up the books that have taken over the floor of my room.
Ok. I managed to spend 45 minutes organizing and sorting my books. I've gotten them up off of the floor now too. I also counted my books. I have 106 paperbacks and 9 hard backs that I like enough to want to bring over right away. I have 36 paperbacks that I'm not so attached to and might leave behind. Those are all just science fiction/fantasy. Besides those I have 54 romance novels. I figure I'll choose maybe 15-20 and abandon the rest. I have 12 hard backs that I'm leaving behind because I also have them in paperback. I have two paperbacks I'm leaving behind because I am missing one of the three books and I have one hardback book with all three inside, so going to bring the hardback instead (already added into the bring novels). I have 21 random books in paperback and hardback that are either swedish learning books with grammar or are otherwise special enough to bring. I also have 12 books that I'm planning on leaving in the states. That means that I currently have 250 books in my room at my apartment. And I have already mailed 7 kilos to Sweden, left several books there when I was there, probably have some books in my room that I haven't found, and I know I still have books at my parents. This might be a bit too many books to even mail! I'm going to have to make choices eventually! Have I mentioned before that I like books? It's 7pm and my roommate is still not here to give me internet. At this rate there is going to be one LONG entry by the time I do get internet again!
I've started talking to my mom about what else I need to do before I go. Mostly I just use her to bounce ideas off of. I've decided that just about anything that doesn't go to Sweden with me I'll need to make choices about.
Category A: If the item is not likely ever to go to Sweden (microwave, toaster, anything that plugs into the wall) it is going to be given to my mom. She can decide what to do with those things. Give them to my brother, store them, sell them, give them to any of her friends kids. I don't care at that point. I have a LOT of unused plug in things, but it isn't worth trying to make them work in Sweden. So that's one category of items.
Category B: Items that aren't likely to go over to Sweden anytime in the next few years but that I'm not ready to give up yet (if ever). This group contains things like my barbies, my victorian doll (complete with clothes and furniture), and my cheerleader uniform. I'm sure there are a lot of things I haven't found yet that fit into this category. Probably some of my favorite figurines from when I was a kid and such.
Category C: Things that wait until I have my own place with more space. This group is things like my nice dishes. And perhaps some of my hardback books. David's apartment just doesn't have the space or the need for things like this right now. Jenny has a lot of plates and such. Very durable. The kindest thing about the dishes David and Jenny have right now is that they sure as heck won't break easily! They're just basic IKEA student dishes. My fluffy blankets are in this category too. No need for them now or in the near future, but I like them too much to get rid of!
Category D: Things that will come over as soon as I have space in my luggage. This is mostly kitchen stuff. Some nice glass baking dishes and some of my pots and pans. It doesn't need to come over this trip or the next, but eventually it'd be nice.
Category E: Stuff that either needs to come over THIS trip. This is stuff like clothes, important documents, my computer, etc. Important things that I use often enough or are important enough to justify dragging across the ocean.
My mom reminded me that when I pack up my apartment this summer I'll need to carefully separate things and be sure the boxes are marked. A stuff will probably go up into the attic. B stuff is most likely NOT in my apartment right now. It's probably sitting in my closet and will remain there, perhaps a bit more organized. C stuff will be boxed up and probably put into my closet at my parents' place too. (It's a BIG closet, it currently has a dresser, a space heater, 8 boxes, and 2 chairs sitting on the floor.) D and E stuff will hopefully end up in either my bags or David's bags. Or else it will come over the next trip I make home.
I'm sure I'll change my classification system another 12 times before I leave. I just need to organize things a bit in my head. I still have 6-7 months before I move over there. Thank goodness David will be here in like 5 months! I don't think I could wait until the very end of summer to see him again!
Amazingly that thing only took me 15 minutes to type out. So much for killing an extensive amount of time with it. Maybe I'll go do something productive rather than just thinking about being productive. Like put my clothes away or make my bed... or heck, maybe pick up the books that have taken over the floor of my room.
Ok. I managed to spend 45 minutes organizing and sorting my books. I've gotten them up off of the floor now too. I also counted my books. I have 106 paperbacks and 9 hard backs that I like enough to want to bring over right away. I have 36 paperbacks that I'm not so attached to and might leave behind. Those are all just science fiction/fantasy. Besides those I have 54 romance novels. I figure I'll choose maybe 15-20 and abandon the rest. I have 12 hard backs that I'm leaving behind because I also have them in paperback. I have two paperbacks I'm leaving behind because I am missing one of the three books and I have one hardback book with all three inside, so going to bring the hardback instead (already added into the bring novels). I have 21 random books in paperback and hardback that are either swedish learning books with grammar or are otherwise special enough to bring. I also have 12 books that I'm planning on leaving in the states. That means that I currently have 250 books in my room at my apartment. And I have already mailed 7 kilos to Sweden, left several books there when I was there, probably have some books in my room that I haven't found, and I know I still have books at my parents. This might be a bit too many books to even mail! I'm going to have to make choices eventually! Have I mentioned before that I like books? It's 7pm and my roommate is still not here to give me internet. At this rate there is going to be one LONG entry by the time I do get internet again!
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Plane Tickets!
I've started on my quest to buy plane tickets. It's a bit crazy trying to find the cheapest tickets that do what I want them to do. I have so many options. I can buy a one way ticket, I can buy a round trip and not use the other half, or I can buy a round trip ticket and try to set the return near Christmas just in case I want to use it.
Right now I'm leaning towards option 1 since I've found some ok tickets there. If I buy a student ticket I can get to Sweden for under 1000 USD in early to mid august. I can get a round trip with a return in October for less than 1200. I need to decide if it's worth the extra 200 USD to have a return ticket that I probably will not use.
Anyways, if anyone is bored. Need a ticket leaving from either SMF (sacramento) or RNO (reno). I want to be in Sweden by mid to late august at the latest. I could possible leave as early as late July. Return ticket doesn't matter much, feel free to experiment with dates. Oh, and the plane should hopefully land in ARN (stockholm). The tickets need to be booked all at the same time. No finding part of the ticket here and part there. If my flight is delayed or cancelled I want the next bit to work well. And the higher the luggage limit the better. I think that's all the information...
SMF or RNO to ARN
Leaves sometime between late July to mid August
Tickets booked all with the same website/company
Now I'm supposed to be packing to go back to my apartment today. ICK! I'd rather go back to Sweden!
Right now I'm leaning towards option 1 since I've found some ok tickets there. If I buy a student ticket I can get to Sweden for under 1000 USD in early to mid august. I can get a round trip with a return in October for less than 1200. I need to decide if it's worth the extra 200 USD to have a return ticket that I probably will not use.
Anyways, if anyone is bored. Need a ticket leaving from either SMF (sacramento) or RNO (reno). I want to be in Sweden by mid to late august at the latest. I could possible leave as early as late July. Return ticket doesn't matter much, feel free to experiment with dates. Oh, and the plane should hopefully land in ARN (stockholm). The tickets need to be booked all at the same time. No finding part of the ticket here and part there. If my flight is delayed or cancelled I want the next bit to work well. And the higher the luggage limit the better. I think that's all the information...
SMF or RNO to ARN
Leaves sometime between late July to mid August
Tickets booked all with the same website/company
Now I'm supposed to be packing to go back to my apartment today. ICK! I'd rather go back to Sweden!
Dinner
I had a nice family dinner tonight. We went out for my Dad's 50th bday. But somehow it ended up being about my bday too because one of my aunts wanted to eat the cake that came with it. She said it tasted quite good. :P I had a small glass of wine with it. First family dinner that I've /ever/ had alcohol with. My parents bought a bottle and I just asked for a glass as well. Everyone was all shocked until they remembered I have been old enough for quite some time!
I mailed my first M-bag today. 15 lbs 8 oz. Cost me 15.20 USD. This batch was mostly text books and other nicer books. Paperbacks weigh a lot less.
I STILL haven't managed to get much packing done. I ended up washing clothes and such instead.
Our cat can now open closed doors. We have doors that open by pushing a handle down. He's discovered if he jumps up his weight is enough to move the latch. As long as the door opens away from him the door will open. He can get out of the laundry room at night if we don't lock it and he can get into my parents room. My mom goes out through the laundry room in the mornings to go to work at like 6am or something. If she doesn't remember to lock the door behind her (it's a one way lock, once locked she can't get back through) then the cat will be in my dad's face 5 minutes afterwards. The cat doesn't like being alone. He cries if my dad takes the dog outside to get the mail and he is left inside. It's so sad. Poor lonely abandoned kitty! (even if there ARE people in the room with him, daddy is giving attention to the dog instead of the cat!)
And I think that's the most interesting thing that's happened all day. The cat opening doors. That and a really nice dinner.
I mailed my first M-bag today. 15 lbs 8 oz. Cost me 15.20 USD. This batch was mostly text books and other nicer books. Paperbacks weigh a lot less.
I STILL haven't managed to get much packing done. I ended up washing clothes and such instead.
Our cat can now open closed doors. We have doors that open by pushing a handle down. He's discovered if he jumps up his weight is enough to move the latch. As long as the door opens away from him the door will open. He can get out of the laundry room at night if we don't lock it and he can get into my parents room. My mom goes out through the laundry room in the mornings to go to work at like 6am or something. If she doesn't remember to lock the door behind her (it's a one way lock, once locked she can't get back through) then the cat will be in my dad's face 5 minutes afterwards. The cat doesn't like being alone. He cries if my dad takes the dog outside to get the mail and he is left inside. It's so sad. Poor lonely abandoned kitty! (even if there ARE people in the room with him, daddy is giving attention to the dog instead of the cat!)
And I think that's the most interesting thing that's happened all day. The cat opening doors. That and a really nice dinner.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Wow
That was a whirlwind of a trip. I can't believe it's over already. I think part of the reason I can't accept that I'm back in the states is that I wasn't looking forward to coming back. I've spent the night here and it still doesn't feel like I'm home.
I think the main 'take home message' from my three weeks in Sweden is that I'm a bit more Swedish than I thought. I fit in, I could find food at the store, I learned to make korv storonoff from scratch, and it didn't feel like I was in another country. I figure the more Swedish I learn the more like home it will feel.
Right now I have a killer headache, so I might go lie down for awhile and type up a much longer report later. I'll edit this and add more in after a nap. *yawn*
*EDIT*
Back again! Slept for an hour, woke up with the headache still, took 2 painkillers and a whole glass of water, feel better now.
The trip back home was quite interesting, I sat next to a Swedish guy who has a girlfriend in the states. He seems to get to see her MUCH more often than I get to see David, just not fair! Then again both of them work full time so they have money to run around the world with. This guy was cool, he does contract work for Nokia or something and spends lots and lots of time in China of all places. After getting off of the 9 hour flight we wandered through customs then had pizza together. We then proceeded to spend about 2 or 3 hours walking through the ENTIRE airport, without using the tram or the moving walkways. LONG walk.
I did question him a bit on what things he had to answer to customs. They asked him the most annoying personal questions! I figure it's acceptable to ask why someone is here, how long they plan to be here, and that type of thing. But they asked him if he had a girlfriend here, if he was going to marry her, if they had spoken about marriage... I mean, wtf? How is THAT any of their business. He just answered no to everything figuring it wasn't their business. He was quite annoyed and I don't blame him! Other things someone visiting the state needs to be sure they know is the address of where they will be staying, how much money they spent on gifts/items they plan to leave in the states, etc. Otherwise it's hard to fill out the paperwork.
Oh! Funny thing, that poor guy who came all the way to the US to visit his girlfriend filled in an address of a hotel. He doesn't even get to stay with his girlfriend! *laugh* He says she still lives with her parents so she won't let him stay there! This makes me feel a bit more normal about my parents though.
I've started a list of things that I'd like to bring to Sweden that I might be able to. Things that I'd like to bring but that might be a bit impractical are my washer and dryer and dishwasher, etc. ;) Have to be a bit restrained you know. I will hopefully have some space in my luggage to bring some kitchen stuff over. Maybe a pot or a pan or a wok. I managed to leave 20 kilos of stuff (half of what I brought over) and a suitcase in Sweden! Granted most of that was presents, but I still hope that I'll have taken enough stuff over that I'll be able to bring over some less necessary items later. And if David comes over maybe he'll let me use 10 kg of his 40 with some of my junk. ;) I can always hope! I can be selfish and cheat by saying 'since I'm giving up everything to move over there, this is the least you can do!' but that would be mean. ;) I figure I'll just let him use as much as he wants, but any extra room I'm taking.
I wonder if I could actually plan things well enough that I go back to Sweden at the same time he does? That would be really cool, but probably not work. I might start looking into the prices of tickets for traveling in early to mid august sometime soon. I figure David will come visit me in mid June and leave mid July. If I work until the end of June I can maybe use some of the time David is here to plan my move a bit. I can always leave my apartment earlier than planned.
Now that my trip to Sweden is over, I feel like I've moved onto the next phase of planning and moving to Sweden! I'm still working on earning as much money as possible, but that's expected. After seeing David's kitchen and apartment I figure I might need a bit more money than planned. I could use some start up money for getting a book shelf, making the kitchen a bit more usable, buying some new things for David's room, etc. The things that I'll want. There is NO reason David or Jenny should buy things that they don't need. I need them, they should be my problem. But I fear there will be a lot of things like that. I might try to set myself up with a thousand or so SEK as start up money, perhaps more.
I think the main 'take home message' from my three weeks in Sweden is that I'm a bit more Swedish than I thought. I fit in, I could find food at the store, I learned to make korv storonoff from scratch, and it didn't feel like I was in another country. I figure the more Swedish I learn the more like home it will feel.
Right now I have a killer headache, so I might go lie down for awhile and type up a much longer report later. I'll edit this and add more in after a nap. *yawn*
*EDIT*
Back again! Slept for an hour, woke up with the headache still, took 2 painkillers and a whole glass of water, feel better now.
The trip back home was quite interesting, I sat next to a Swedish guy who has a girlfriend in the states. He seems to get to see her MUCH more often than I get to see David, just not fair! Then again both of them work full time so they have money to run around the world with. This guy was cool, he does contract work for Nokia or something and spends lots and lots of time in China of all places. After getting off of the 9 hour flight we wandered through customs then had pizza together. We then proceeded to spend about 2 or 3 hours walking through the ENTIRE airport, without using the tram or the moving walkways. LONG walk.
I did question him a bit on what things he had to answer to customs. They asked him the most annoying personal questions! I figure it's acceptable to ask why someone is here, how long they plan to be here, and that type of thing. But they asked him if he had a girlfriend here, if he was going to marry her, if they had spoken about marriage... I mean, wtf? How is THAT any of their business. He just answered no to everything figuring it wasn't their business. He was quite annoyed and I don't blame him! Other things someone visiting the state needs to be sure they know is the address of where they will be staying, how much money they spent on gifts/items they plan to leave in the states, etc. Otherwise it's hard to fill out the paperwork.
Oh! Funny thing, that poor guy who came all the way to the US to visit his girlfriend filled in an address of a hotel. He doesn't even get to stay with his girlfriend! *laugh* He says she still lives with her parents so she won't let him stay there! This makes me feel a bit more normal about my parents though.
I've started a list of things that I'd like to bring to Sweden that I might be able to. Things that I'd like to bring but that might be a bit impractical are my washer and dryer and dishwasher, etc. ;) Have to be a bit restrained you know. I will hopefully have some space in my luggage to bring some kitchen stuff over. Maybe a pot or a pan or a wok. I managed to leave 20 kilos of stuff (half of what I brought over) and a suitcase in Sweden! Granted most of that was presents, but I still hope that I'll have taken enough stuff over that I'll be able to bring over some less necessary items later. And if David comes over maybe he'll let me use 10 kg of his 40 with some of my junk. ;) I can always hope! I can be selfish and cheat by saying 'since I'm giving up everything to move over there, this is the least you can do!' but that would be mean. ;) I figure I'll just let him use as much as he wants, but any extra room I'm taking.
I wonder if I could actually plan things well enough that I go back to Sweden at the same time he does? That would be really cool, but probably not work. I might start looking into the prices of tickets for traveling in early to mid august sometime soon. I figure David will come visit me in mid June and leave mid July. If I work until the end of June I can maybe use some of the time David is here to plan my move a bit. I can always leave my apartment earlier than planned.
Now that my trip to Sweden is over, I feel like I've moved onto the next phase of planning and moving to Sweden! I'm still working on earning as much money as possible, but that's expected. After seeing David's kitchen and apartment I figure I might need a bit more money than planned. I could use some start up money for getting a book shelf, making the kitchen a bit more usable, buying some new things for David's room, etc. The things that I'll want. There is NO reason David or Jenny should buy things that they don't need. I need them, they should be my problem. But I fear there will be a lot of things like that. I might try to set myself up with a thousand or so SEK as start up money, perhaps more.
Friday, January 06, 2006
In Sweden!
I've been so busy the last week or so that I haven't had any time to write at all! We now have my laptop hooked up to the net though.
It's been a bit weird being in Sweden again. The weirdness is not due to things being strange, but rather them not being strange. It hardly feels like I've been gone. I feel a bit like I just slid right back into life here. People stop by and say hi, I still shop at the same grocery store, and make the same food. It's hard to believe that I've been gone for 5 or 6 months.
New Years was nice, trip was exausting, I spent time at David's summer house, travelled back to Uppsala (airplane had a flat tire so the trip took a bit longer than expected), and in general have been having a wonderful time. I STILL am not on Swedish time though. Oh, and my bike has a really bad flat tire and I've had to abandon it in town.
Here's a nice reindeer picture to make up for ignoring my blog. Enjoy!
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