I have been too busy living my life over here, I completely forgot I need to write my blog! I think the title sums up my feelings for my life over here pretty well though. But where to go from here? There is so much and so little to tell!

I guess I’ll start with my classes, since that’s the most important. I love the school system over here! Seriously though. Love. I don’t care if that makes me sound like the biggest nerd in the world. I have about 6-9 hours of class time a week and the rest of the time to do my reading and assignments. We don’t have busy work here like they do back in the States (at least that’s how it has been in all of my classes at WOU) and all the papers we write are pertinent to our class work and focus on analyzing current conflicts in our world. And instead of normal written exams, I am graded based on my final papers and my participation in a discussion group with the teacher.

The weather here is always interesting. The sun sets around 4pm and it’s pitch black outside by 4:30. Sometimes it’s very sunny, other times it’s foggy and overcast like it was today. It snowed very briefly one day about a month ago and it got my hopes up, but we haven’t had anymore since then. When there is sun though, I like to take advantage of it as much as possible by taking hikes or riding my bike into the town center.

My friends here have quickly become like family. I live in a flat with 15 other people. I have my own room and bathroom, but I share the kitchen and living room. On my floor there are people from many different countries all over the world, and we spend a lot of time together. This past Friday we decorated the hall for Christmas (since most of us won’t be here for the actual day, we’re starting early!) and played card games until late. Then a  few of us stayed up to watch Home Alone. I’ll post some pictures of the decorations later! Tonight, and every Sunday, we have hall dinner where someone from the floor cooks for the rest of us. Usually it is something from their home country, but not always. Last week myself and the other American on my floor, Valerie, made tacos for everyone; this week, our German friend will be making us dinner and our English friend will make dessert! Not only is it a fun way to experience different cultures, it is also pretty inexpensive which is nice for all of us students here because Sweden is not the cheapest country to live in!

I will post more specific posts soon about various events I have been to over the past two months!