Stopping by the city on a snowy evening

This evening in Gothenburg was one of the more beautiful sceneries that i have ever witnessed. the light snow in the breeze was almost enchanting as i walked all over the city tonight. in fact, there were several times that i chose to walk rather than taking a tram because the city, the streets and the buildings were all too beautiful, all despite the cold of course. I wish i had a camera that was powerful enough to convey the true world because tonight i would have take them all, just to be able to describe in a better way the awesome scenes. i have always imagined living in a big city, and tonight, as i walked in between a row of residential and commercial building in the city center through the light snow fall, i realized that this is what i am doing right now.

good night

Four Week Strong

today/yesterday/two days ago marks the 4 week time period of my arrival in sweden.

i must say that its starting to grow on me, i was able to walk from my class all the way across town with out using the trams or a map and it made me feel really good about my time here and my orientation skills.

i cant believe its been 4 weeks, it seems like time is going slower and slower, but when i think back it also seems like its gone by fast as well, im like a living paradox.

in 2 days it will mark the official one month time of me arriving, it was january 17th, and that will mean that ive got a mere 4.5 months left here, and that may sound like an eternity now, but if they go by as quickly as this last month i will be out of here before i know it, and im totally not complaining about it, because im still very homesick, but as each day passes and i become more and more used to the european lifestyle and i become more attached to this place.

one thing i really like is that im going to be able to say that "i lived in gothenburg sweden." not only did i visit, but i resided here for 6 months, and not many people can say that about a foreign country. its going to be something that i can tell my kids about i think, and i think ill be able to appreciate it for a very long time :)

my first class is ending in a matter of days, and my second class will begin, so in someways, after january 21st, i will be officailly 1/4 of the way done, but in terms of time i am shy of that fraction by a little.

well, ive noticed that this writing has become more of a weekly thing, and i think im ok with that. a weekly update, but maybe next week ill talk more about the things i do instead of solely the passage of time and my feelings about it, haha.

john

February Sixth/Seventh. Three weeks in

Today the sixth and tomorrow the seventh marks my 3rd week here in sweden. its been pretty hard, and i have not written in here nearly as much as id like to. but i like to think of time passing like, ive been here for 3 weeks, but like tomorrow will be my 4th monday, and so on, and i think that helps time pass. i miss home, and although im having a good time here, making lots of friends, i still miss home and the constant communication of cell phones. the international office of UNCW made a big deal of the consequences of culture shock after a few weeks of international living, but i dont think i have been shocked too hard, its only the time difference that bothers me a great deal. and that my only tool of communication to the world outside of sweden is my computer, without a wireless connection in my room. i remember there was a girl at the send off meeting for international students of UNCW, and this girl said that in her opinion, you did not need to bring your laptop with you on your exchange program, and that the campus of your university would have plenty of computers to use. WHAT WAS SHE THINKING?!?! if i had taken her advice, i would have been dead from internet withdrawal after a matter of days. and to add, the computers on my campus ARE IN SWEDISH. i can barely understand the basic commands when i have attempted to use these computers, and luckily i have my computer with a 25 foot ether net cable to use constantly in my room. however, i have had problems with my laptop no doubt. ive been here for like, 21 days or so, and my computer has crashed from the blue screen of death at least 10 times, maybe more. i have narrowed it down to my webcam and streaming video. i think i can use my webcam, but if i am doing anything else at the time, it will crash, and if i go full screen in any video stream it will most likely crash. but luckily no data is lost, after a quick reboot everything is back to normal. but i was so paranoid when i was typing my six page paper for class, every time i finished a paragraph, i would save it to my flash drive just to be safe, but fortunately it didnt crash during that 3 day period i was writing.
My friends ian and jake are both still getting settled and start class in the next couple of weeks, i have to remember to wish them both good luck. im sort of jealous of jake because he is in S. Africa and it is summer there and beautiful, and here it is ice ice ice all the time. but i think i am much more comfortable in sweden where i dont have to worry in the slightest about crime, and once spring comes, it will be beautiful here. and i think that africa is such a large continent that it would be hard to travel to many different places, but in europe, intra-continental travel is very easy. i may even have a chance to go to st. petersburg at some point, which is a dream of mine. at this point, im planning on visiting oslo, stockholm, denmark, riga (latvia) maybe finland, maybe france, maybe italy. and henry recently alerted me he might be summering in britain, and if i get the chance, ill hope the pond and spend a few days with him there! that would be awesome.
i need people who are willing to travel with me. i dont really want to travel alone, for safety reasons as well as for social reasons, haha. its unfortunate ive made so many friends here who have already been in sweden for a semester and have already traveled so much, but luckily ive met a few guys that may be willing to travel with me, should be fun.
ive seen two films in the film festival, an american film as well as a swedish one. i enjoyed both, as well as the theater atmosphere. it was a nice reminder of home, and things like this make me think that swedish and american culture are very similar. the way people act, the eaterys, and many buildings are very similar to the way things are in america. but everything is sooo much more expensive here. its not uncharacteristic to easily spend 14 dollars on a simple lunch. its sad and embarassing to say that i actually miss stores like walmart, anywhere open 24 hours. cheap food and drink anywhere will be welcome upon my return to america. i think driving will be difficult after this long period of not.
my parents are coming to see me and leave with me at the end of my program, and that should be fun, and i hope by that time, i can give them a good guide around the city, or maybe the country if they take me on some sight seeing to some places ive already been to. but i hope i dont have to stay too long after my classes are over because im sure ill be ready to be home as soon as i can.

heres to another 3 weeks. in three weeks ill have been here for 6 weeks, which sounds much more daunting than 3 :)
and also, i hope to post on here more often if i have time. i want to be able to remember everything ive done here clearly, and i dont take nearly enough pictures haha.

(ive been listening to a lot of pierce the veil and owl city to apply some musical associations to my memories, but i should stop with owl city, because ive already got several musical memorys with owl city, haha)

Sweden hardcore scene

I went to a show in Gothenburg last monday, monday the 31st of january. it was expensive, but what isnt over here? 

I was able to buy my ticket the day of the event, because i suppose demand was not too high, and i almost thought there were not going to be many people there. and when i went to the record store to purchase my ticket for the night, i was made aware that bring me the horizon, who were headlining that night would be in the store in a couple of hours to sign autographs, i was like, awesome. so i went back in a couple of hours with my global studies text book and met the band and had them sign my textbook, lol. a good memory.

ultimately, the experiences were very similar, but there were several little differences that i noticed and enjoyed. i was very surprised by the security measures taken by the venue or the promoter or who ever was responsible for it. the barriers at the front were well guarded similar to the united states, but the really strange aspect was if a person was under 18 they were forced to stand in an upstairs area, so i guessed that was the reason that there was a lot more room on the ground floor. 

the other thing that i found very interesting and funny was that they had medical staff that had water bottles giving water to anyone who wanted it between the sets. i guess they care more about the publics general health and welfare in sweden than they do in america. but i liked it :)

overall, i'd say that it was worth every cent i spent, and if i have another chance, ill go again!