Cleaning!

I've been cleaning and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning! We cleaned the bedroom, bathroom, hallway, dining room, and living room top to bottom today. Dusting everything from door frames to baseboards. We moved all the furniture which was possible to move and vacuumed behind and under them. We even dusted the plants!

We also cleaned out our closets and donated a bunch of clothes to Myrorna which doesn't fit anymore and we can't think of any use for. I've got lots of clothes left to sort, but I can't do everything in one weekend.

We took about 5 cubic meters of stuff out of the apartment too. We finally got around to doing the recycling. Saturday morning at 8.30am. Lovely since we got to do it in sunny weather. Same afternoon it started snowing and snowing.

We've got a few things to sell/give away, a small old TV (which works if you hit it occasionally), an old student desk (very stable, ugly as sin), and a small coffee table (a bit scratched, use a table cloth). If anyone wants them. Let me know. I'd be quite happy to get rid of some of this junk that is slowly taking over the whole apartment.

Tomorrow I start new classes! (And continue with physics...). It was nice to get a bunch of stuff done this weekend. I even caught up on sleep!

Kidnapped from Anna's blog

Du heter? Sarah
Smeknamn? grrl
Låt som du lyssnar på när du är ledsen? No idea
Beroende av? The internet
Vad tror folk om dig? Probably that I'm bitchy and weird.
Stämmer det? Very possible.
Vad säger du för att imponera på någon? I don't usually feel the need to impress people.
Hur imponerar man på dig? Be smart, responsible, and not a jerk.
Brukar du skratta för dig själv? Yes
Vad står det i ditt senast inkomna SMS? We lost.
Var bor du? Skellefteå
Trivs du där? Love it here, but sometimes I miss my family and/or friends in Uppsala.
Äger du några converse? Nope
Sprit, cider, vin eller öl? Generally wine, but I drink most things depending on the occasion.
Brukar du bli för full? No
Är du allergisk mot något? No
Hur svarar du i mobilen? Generally 'hej alskling' since it is normally David who calls me. ;) Otherwise 'hej, det ar sarah'. I've never understood why I have to say who it is. They should KNOW who they called. I want to know who they are!
Antal timmar sömn inatt? 8
Brukar du komma i tid? Yes
När mår du bra? When I feel needed and appreciated. When I don't feel bored.
När blev du fotad senast? A few evenings ago.
Hur känner du dig nu? Tired
Vanligaste färg på dina kläder? No idea. I've got a LOT of colors.
Vad tycker du om fötter? Stinky feet aren't nice.
Vad saknar du? My family
Hade du en bra kväll igår? Quite nice.
Favorit dryck på morgonen? Energy Drink. ;)
Rakar du benen? Yes. More often in summer than in winter though
När brukar du oftast gå och lägga dig? Around 21.30
Är du blyg? Yes
Sysslar du med någon idrott? No. But I should go to the gym more often
Tror du på kärlek vid första ögonkastet? No
Vad skulle du göra om du vore kille för en dag? Go be 'one of the guys' for once and see what makes it so special.
Är du nöjd med ditt liv? Yes
Vad gör du i morgon? Going to makeup store and getting a lesson, then cleaning the rest of the day
Vilken kändis tycker du är en bra förebild? Not sure.
Vad längtar du till? Summer
Har du bra vänner och äkta vänskap? I hope so!
Vad använder du för shampoo? Biolauge(sp?) A bit expensive men WOW great.
Hur gammal är du? 25
Tycker du om någon just nu? Yes!
Gröna eller röda äppeln? Both!
Gillar du golf? No
Vilken tid gick du upp idag? 5.30am
Har du sovit i din egna säng inatt? Yes
Har du strumpor på dig nu? No
Är det okej att gråta? Yes
När grät du senast? I can't remember
Vad skulle du göra om du vann en miljon? Remodel the kitchen, get some new clothes, then save the rest.
Bär du glasögon eller linser? Yes
Tycker du det är viktigt att ha märkeskläder? No
Har du piercing? Yes
Vill du gifta dig? Already have
Vill du ha barn? Yes
Solar du ofta? No. I just end up red
Är du bra på att laga mat? Not as good as I'd like
Är du flygrädd? A little bit.
Är du musikalisk? Sadly no
Vad dricker du helst när du är törstig? Water
Vilken är din favoritglass? Magnum. The white one with strawberry icecream
Tror du på ett liv efter döden? Yes
Tycker du om sushi? Some types
Vad äter du helst när du ser på film? Nothing.
Har du tandläkarskräck? Not really
Är du morgon- eller kvällsmänniska? I love mornings generally
Vilken ögonfärg har du? Gray
Har du någon gång gråtit dej till sömns? No
Biter du på naglarna? No
Just nu? No
Röker du? No
Hur ofta tränar/motionerar du? Not often enough!
Senaste låt du hörde? Zelda tune from a trailer the husband was listening to.

Summer Classes

This is a repost from my school forums, but I was happy with the post so decided to repost it here. :)

There are a ton of summer classes out there. Last day is the 16th of March to apply. And you can probably get CSN money during the summer if you are taking enough points. So you'll likely have money to continue with whatever you're doing. (we'll see how long my links work... otherwise just go to studera.nu that's where I found all of these in the first place).

I've not taken any of these courses mind you. I'm choosing them at random based on interesting titles. I found a ton of interesting classes when looking for things to do myself this summer. Mostly writing up this list since I'm trying to be 'productive' while studying. The apartment is already clean. Writing in English because I'm lazy.

First there is a course in our very own Skellefteå!
Konstnärlig anatomi och skulptur

Then there are a bunch of online classes, perhaps even in your field of study, so you can stay in town and continue to party all summer long. ;) Learn a new programming language? There are courses in that. Maybe you're a grafiker wanting more programming knowledge, or a spelutvecklare who would like to know more about art than 'oh look! a pretty picture!' ;)

Introduktion till spelanalys och design
3D-modellering och animation i Open Source-miljö
Concept Art
Character construction and Online Worlds
Programmering med Ruby
Introduktion till Spelprogrammering
Programming Using C#, Basic Course
Datornätverk
Spelprogrammering i Windows – introduktion
Flash för grafisk design
Datorspel - en introduktion "Kursen riktar sig till alla som vill förstå vad datorspel är och varför man spelar dem. Den lämpar sig lika väl för den som vill förstå datorspel i ett bredare perspektiv, bekymrade föräldrar och nyfikna lärare, som för inbitna spelare som vill lära sig mer om sin hobby."

Even if the class seems easy, why not? Summers should be easy, and you never know. You might *gasp* learn something.


Or you can branch out and take something new. Why not try Arabiska för nybörjare? Or Japanska: Preparandkurs I? Or get points for your reading this summer. Fantasylitteratur

SFI

Dn's Article

If you get a chance, read this article. It's really interesting actually. A lot of what is in there is very true from my own experiences with SFI. I lucked out and ended up in a class designed for those with education already. Almost everyone in there could speak 2 languages besides Swedish. (Except for me of course, as I've forgotten what little German I once knew.)

I still remember the first day I came home from SFI and very upset showed David my homework. We were to learn the word 'realistisk' or something like that. And our sentence had to do with how it was more realistic for Fatma to go get a cleaning job than an engineer job, even though she was highly educated. That was day 1.

Arbetsformedling came in to our classes about once a week. They explained how we could be cleaners. Most of us stopped coming or we made up answers to the dumb questions they asked. "What would you look for as an work giver?" We answered with stuff like 'Someone that likes Chocolate' and whatnot. Some actively left the classroom when AF showed up. The time was such a waste. Many already had jobs or training lined up as soon as they were done with SFI. Why waste our Swedish learning time with explaining what nice cleaners we'd make.

I was quite glad to be done after 2 months. I had lucked out and gotten two courses in Swedish previously through Uppsala university when I was an exchange student a few years previously. I just needed that SFI diploma thing. I moved to Sweden in August... I didn't get into SFI until February. They didn't have 'space' for me until then.

The classes were set up in such a way that it was really hard to work around them. Luckily I was studying a university course at the time that only met once a week. But 12-4 4 days a week wasn't productive. Two 8 hours days would have made it much easier for people to work at the same time. Our class was almost entirely female. The guys were working since it was so hard to mix SFI with work only one could afford to study.

We were an interesting mixture. Lots of Europeans, a bunch of Kurds (generally well educated... one was an arabic teacher and spent most of her time explaining Swedish grammar to the others in their own languages). We had a girl from Dubai who had a learning spot at the local hospital when she wasn't at SFI. AF days were just a waste to her. Same with me who was studying and just wanted the diploma so that I could have proof of my Swedish knowledge.

Shortly after I was done with SFI I moved to Skellefteå. Man I had to fight hard to get myself out of Swedish classes here that I considered entirely too easy. Exclusively due to the fact that I was volunteering my extra time with the English classes I believe... and the English teacher was also the higher level Swedish teacher, I was able to test out of Svenska Grund and go straight to Svenska A. They tried to hold us back it seemed. The old guy here didn't want us moving on. I think he was afraid of his job if we took less than 3 semesters to finish Svenska Grund.

There is much that could be better with Swedish language instruction in Sweden. But so many countries offer nothing. I got NO money for studying, but I also did not have to pay for my lessons. For free lessons they were not bad.