Wasting Away Again in Växjö, Sweden...

Hello Everyone!
As some of you witty people may notice I took my title from Jimmy Bufffet because I thought that was completely appropriate for my life in the past weeks.  I have been lying in the sun doing nothing for the past 20 days or so.  I have been spending so much time outside that I have not been around to write on blog.  Sometimes I love writing this and other times it feels like a chore so I have been avoiding it.  Today I felt led to update my family and friends on my life.  Apparently people keep asking my family members how I am and they are having trouble coming up with an answer due to my lack of communication...well here is my apology...I am sorry I have been busy doing nothing! haha  Anyway rather than tell you what I did each day which is practically nothing worth retelling I will just show you pictures and tell you about the memorable things.  So here we go back in time..to April.  As I mentioned in the last blog when I left you I was starting a two week break from class and had no plans.  One of my friends from America, Ashley, was leaving on the 24th so we had a surprise birthday dinner for her.  She was so excited and grateful...here is a photo.  By the way it was a "potluck" dinner amongst exchange college students...you cannot even imagine the weird food people brought but nevertheless it was nice.

Some friends at Ashley's goodbye dinner.

Ashley & I

The wonderful thing about meeting people from America is that there is a good chance our paths will cross again so that makes goodbyes less painful.  Ashley is from L.A., California and is such a cool friend! I will see here again, it's an excuse to visit Cali!  Then on Friday the 22nd we all went to Stallarna for Ashley's last night there...it was unforgettable as always. Saturday I set my alarm early for a reason I never wake up early for any reason not even class (just kidding ;) ) but today was special I was going to pick up my package from AMERICA!!! You see I have a mail box at my flat but it is small and if you do not answer the doorbell when they deliver it then you have to go pick it up.  Naturally I missed there ring and so I was left to go pick it up.  It arrived in Sweden on Thursday but I had to go 3 times because of the STUPID Swedish working hours.  I swear some of the businesses are opened for 10 minutes a day and if you blink they are closed.  So this day, Saturday I was not going to be denied my package because do you know what wonderful things it contained??????

AMERICAN EASTER CANDY!!

Ahhh my mother is the BEST!! (by the way...Happy Mother's Day mom, you know you're the SWEETEST most loving mom in the world)!!   It's sad looking at this photo actually because all that is left is a headless bunny and a few Cadbury eggs that I am making myself ration...it's so hard!! Sunday was a weird day...it was Easter if you can think back and remember the 24th.  If you would like to know what my Easter was like let me tell you...I woke up around 2:00p.m. met up with my group of friends and laid out and hung with my friends.  Went to Maestro's the pizza place on campus and bought a pineapple and ham pizza and ate that for lunch.  Then spent the rest of the afternoon lying in the wonderful sun.  When it got dark I went to a bonfire with a lot of Italians and Americans.  It was NOTHING like Easter at home, no church service, Sunday dinner, family, or egg hunts.  It was a little sad and I missed my family for sure.  One thing I wanted to see or learn while studying abroad was if I could move to a place thousands of miles away and see if I could survive on my own.  Well I can, sometimes it's hard we get so used to traditions and routines and when things change it can be sad or hard.  Easter was a little sad having pizza and a bonfire is not usually in our routine at home but it was fun and I think it's cool to know I am making it on my own.  Anyway back to the updating...the next few days I did nothing worth remembering...Tuesday I finally put real clothes on and went into town to do some spring shopping.  It is getting really hard to make winter clothes work in 70 degree weather.  I had no idea it got this warm...my bad.  Sadly my search left me wanting more...I am not loving the Swedish clothing for summer.  Believe it or not I don't fancy crop top shirts.  I didn't find so many things I wanted but saw the sweetest Easter decorations in town...I took some pictures to share with you.

The Swedes put feathers in the trees during Easter to decorate and I loved it!

It is hard to see but this was a bakery with Easter cakes that were so pretty.

I think students from local schools made these chickens that were out around town.

Kaitlyn in front of a pretty tree...notice the tank top...we were burning up  much to my surprise Sweden is really beautiful in the Spring

Let's see we are at the 26th of April  I had a friend come to Växjö that I met earlier this semester and we have become really good friends.  He moved to Stockholm to search for a job but we kept in touch and he came to visit friends here so I spent a greater part of that week withe 26th of April  I had a friend come to Växjö that I met earlier this semester and we have become really good friends.  He moved to Stockholm to search for a job but we kept in touch and he came to visit friends here so I spent a greater part of that week with Rubz my friend visiting.  Friday I went again with Melodie and Kaitlyn to go shopping...this time at the Swedish mall.  Before going to the mall we did something I have been dying to do all semester!! You see there is a fast food restaurant that is native to Sweden and it is called Max.  Max is similar to a Culver's if I had to compare it to a fast food chain in America...however I think it was the most delicious thing I have tasted since January 11.  Perhaps that is because I have been eating crap for months maybe it really isn't even that good.  I guess we will never know but one thing is for sure we enjoyed. the whole experience!

Melodie & I,  it's a little blurry we didn't have time to take another...we were too excited to eat and we didn't take the time to take another.

5 minutes later...

Kait & I LOVE MAX!!

Bouncy at the Max...just dropping the kids off while I go shop...

Max! I looked like such a tourist...this would be the equivalent of you going to your local McDonald's and seeing 3 girls screaming and taking 30 pictures...haha I don't even care.

After Max we were off to the mall is similar to in America but also very different if that makes sense.  It was JUST finished so I am lucky :) Here is what it looked like...

Kait and Melodie heading into the Mall. 

Friday night I went to Stallarna...what's new.  Saturday Kaitlyn, Melodie, Ariane and I decided to do something rather than just lay in the sun like always.  We borrowed some tennis rackets from friends and went and played tennis. For those of you who know me well you can pick your chin up off the ground.  Yes, I did some physical exercise on my own free will and I enjoyed it.  We played for an hour then took a walk around the town and sat by the lake for a while.  Saturday must have been the day for trying new things because that night we decided to go downtown to go out. Since I have lived in my town in Sweden I have gone to two different pubs.  This night we decided to go to Kafe de Luxe with some Swedish friends. We had a great night and I finally felt like I was going out in Sweden... Swedish style.

Me, My (Swedish), Ingrid (Swedish), & Kait

Monday May 2, Class resumed which was tough.  I was NOT motivated to go at all...I decided I should go and drug myself out of bed. It was so strange after class I was at the pizza place with my friend Ashlea (from North Carolina) and Matti (Belgium) and I was watching TV and found out Osama had been killed.  It happened in the middle of the night on Sweden time but still by 4:00pm I was one of the last to know.  It's crazy how out of touch I am with things going on in the world because being in Europe I am a lot closer to many things being talked about in the news so you would think I would be more informed...nope.  Tuesday I went to class and Stallarna as usual. Wednesday I worked on homework which was good for me...out of the ordinary.  Thursday the 5th of May is one of my friends, Luis' birthday.  So we decided to go to his girlfriend's apartment and when he got there surprise him with his gifts.  It was so nice Luis was surprised and happy.

Thursday May 5th happens to be one of my favorite holidays, Cinco de Mayo.  Despite being in Sweden and around only 2 Mexicans who informed me they don't even celebrate it I was not going to let my tradition die.  Kaitlyn and I made a taco feast.  After our feast there was a HUGE party.  All of the Spanish exchange students (from Spain nothing to do with Cinco de Mayo) coincidently planned a Spanish party for this evening.  They made tons of traditional foods and Sangria.  We ate, talked, danced, and drank the night away.  It was one crazy Cinco de Mayo...I will give you a little taste of some of the crazy events that occurred. I was doused in boxed wine, Kaitlyn's hair got lit on fire, we broke a perfectly good bed, the Swedish police came to calm the party down, a statue was stolen during the middle of the party, and I learned a little about clogging...it was one WILD night...I will never forget it!

We love Spain!!

Two French an Italian & American

Hurricane Pardo struck...thanks for the wine Pardo

Happy Cinco de Mayo y'all! haha

Friday I went to town with Melodie to pick up some things and then we came home and had a barbecue.  One friend of all of my friends from last semester Roland was in town for the week so we decided to BBQ since it was his last night in town.

After the BBQ we headed to Stallarna.  It was a fun night but I would say the after party/ walk home was the best.  Let me tell you why...or show you...

We found a wild Swedish  hedgehog!!

How cool is that!!!! It was so sweet!

The funny thing is about a week ago I was walking to Kaitlyn's and something ran by my feet and scared me to death because I was outside alone but no...it was a hedgehog.  I dropped my things and ran to get Kaitlyn to come look....naturally when she came outside it was gone...then I was left thinking I was seeing things and going crazy.  Turns out hedgehogs are common in Sweden! Now I bet you didn't know that!  Saturday I needed rest from such a busy week.  Being back in class 3 times a week wore me out! I don't know how I'm going to go back to the states where I am required to use my brain and move a lot more.  It will be rough.  Today, Mother's Day was another sad day not being with my amazing mother.  One interesting thing it is not Mother's Day in Sweden.  It is not until the last Sunday in May.  I spent the day relaxing with my friends.  Miquelon my friend from Ibiza,Spain went fishing on Saturday and caught a pretty nice fish.  So today we prepared the fish and some potatoes.  It was really neat, I just LOVE doing typical Swedish things.  It is very Swedish to enjoy nature.  I'm sure you noticed I lie in the sun, play tennis, take walks around campus and the lakes.  Swedes love nature and they have a lot of it.  The guys prepared the fish and we all got to try Swedish fish, finally!! It was even cooler that we got it yesterday from the lake!

Pardo preparing the fish.

Ready to cook....yummmm!

Luis (in yellow) Miquelon (in purple) Melodie (in tan), Pardo (topless) haha

Vicky "taking the sun" haha!

I spent the rest of the day doing nothing....I don't know if you all are as amazed at my ability to do nothing as I am...anyway this week is an exciting one. One thing I have noticed that I do not love about Sweden is the rising of the sun.  It rises at 3:30a.m. and sets around 10:00p.m.  On June 21st we will have 24 hours of light.  Each day the sun rises earlier and sets later.  Before we know it the sun will be setting at 12:00a.m. when we head to the club and it will rise at 2:00a.m. when we leave...that is just crazy!! Anyway Monday I have class and a presentation and I am packing for FRANCE!! Tuesday morning Melodie, Kaitlyn and I are leaving Växjö for Gothenburg by train then flying from Gothenburg to Brussels.  Then we will go on to Lille & Paris, France.  Melodie lives in Lille and we will stay with her family part of the time.  Lille happens to be on the border near Belgium so we will also go there! I can't wait!  I will be away from May 10-17 and I am so excited. I only have a few more weeks left in Sweden and it is crazy.  I miss my family and friends so much but I am not ready to leave this place.  Life is good and so easy.  My friends are so fun here and I have grown so much!  I have gained SO much from this experience and I think every person should do this at some point in their life! Anyway I'm off to France!
Au revoir,
Allie

Here comes the sun..and I say...It's alright :)

Well hello there!!
Just like that I've done it again....let time get away and here its been 11 days since my last post.  But I know you are not worried my fearless followers I am back!   I hope you have twenty minutes to read this...its a long one!! Okay lets not waste anymore time and get you updated.  Last time I left you it was Friday April 8th and I was leaving for Stockholm on Saturday.  Friday night I had the brilliant idea of going out to Stallarna when I had to be up at 7am the next morning.  To say waking up that next morning was hard is certainly and understatement.  You see the night before I had a drink that contained Red Bull.  I have never really drank a Red Bull but let me tell you caffeine DOES effect me.  I was awake in my Bed all NIGHT!  I was going mad.  So the next day for my journey I was a little under the weather.  However I made it up at 7am to get ready and get on my way.  Pardo, Melodie and I headed to Stockholm.  We left Vaxjo by bus and rode 20 minutes to Alvesta a nearby town and then got on the train in Alvesta and rode to Stockholm that way.  We arrived in Stockholm around 1:30pm and headed to our Hostel.  We took a 35 minute stroll through town with our luggage (mind you I am not feeling good).  Finallay we arrived at our hostel which was on a boat.  Pardo booked it and thought it would be "fun".  See for yourself...

The Red Boat Hostel

Our tiny room!

In case you are wondering there were two beds on the other side of the and I am not sure if you are all familiar with how hostels work but there were 3 of us and one extra bed so we had an "neighbor" as Melodie liked to say.  He was a geologist from Austria who had just moved to Sweden for work and was working on a bridge right beside this hostel.  He was looking for apartments...and also not showering or changing clothes in the meantime.  He also slept without a shirt on and lets just say he is no model but anyway he was nice enough, let us come in really late, take over the closet..I mean room, and best of all he didn't rob us!  As you can tell I have not gotten used to the hostel living! So back to my story...we got our room and went exploring.  We walked all around Stockholm taking pictures, shopping, eating etc.  Stockholm was a nice city but HUGE!! I appreciate my car so much!! Here are some pics of Stockholm! Don't ask me what they are...I  don't really know.

I believe this is called Old Town or Gamla Stan and this is  "original" Stockholm.

After we walked around for the day we headed back to the hostel to get ready to go out.  We had a little trouble deciding where to go but finally stopped at a Jazz Club in the city.  Now Jazz was not our first choice and after paying and entering we realized maybe this wasn't our cup of tea.  Now I'll tell you who would have enjoyed this place...my parents.  The music was jazz and soul from their era.  Fortunately they raised me to appreciate all types of music so I could handle it, I had no problem actually.  However Melodie and Pardo wanted to keep searching...so off we went.  After taking 3 cabs driving around, walking around and finding nothing up to par...guess where we ended up...back at the jazz club.  I was slightly irritated, we all were so we had a few strong drinks and got over it.  The interesting thing about this club was the crowd that was there...they were ALL in their 20-30's.  And when we got back it was PACKED! I can tell you we ended up having a great night.  I belted all the oldies and made quite a few Swedish friends.  We were the last to leave.

Fasching Jazz Club

After the crazy night we headed back to the ol' red boat to sleep.  The next day we woke up and went into town... On our way into town we ran across this..

Melodie was so excited! In fact I was on my way to meet a friend in town and she was so wrapped up in the marching band that I headed into town without Pardo & her and met up with my friend.  I spetnt the day walking around Stockholm, talking and having coffee with a friend who went to Vaxjo but is finishing his masters from Stockholm.  That evening we went to dinner, at McDonlads (yuck) by this point we had eaten a lot of fast food.  Then we walked around a little before heading home because the next day, Monday we left for our CRUISE!!! We woke up at 9:45 and had to be out of the hostel by 10am...we got breakfast and got on a bus to the terminal for our cruise.  After waiting two hours all of the Vaxjo students arrived.  We then got into a line with all of the other international students to board the boat.  After boading we got ready in a hurry because our dinner was at 5:30 and it was 4:00pm.  Dinner was very interesting because it was the only meal included in the cruise and it included free beer and wine...needless to say it was NUTS!

Kaitlyn (Georgia), Me, Signija (Latvia), Melodie (France)

Our first few glasses of wine...

Dinner ended and we headed on to continue the party.  There were two clubs and we spent the evening bouncing between the two.  One of my favorite parts of the night was at the karaoke bar. I was belting the songs but unfortunately I was not able to have a star performance...perhaps that was for the best... :)  I think Melodie & I's night ended around 3:00am which is a little embarrassing.  The next day, Tuesday, we woke up by 10 am to go explore the small but pretty Tallinn, Estonia.  Eastern Europe was nice (what I saw of it) but I would never need to go back.  Here are some pics though...

Eating some chips in the street...

Old Church

Inside the church.

Tallinn, Estonia

Notice our Cruise ship was in ICE ha

After a short but plenty long viewing of Estonia we headed back to our boat for a much needed nap.  After napping we got ready for a long night!! Melodie and I had a romantic dinner on the boat together then we began the party in out cabin 1575!

Cloe (France), Me, Kaitlyn

Gonzalo (Spain), Signija, Pardo(Spain)

It was amazing the amount of people we fit into that small room.  We pre partied in our room until the club Ibiza opened at 11 and I didn't leave the club until 7am.  Well if you have been on a cruise you know how you run all over the boat...so technically I was around the ship but for the most part I danced the night away (literally).  We saw the sun come up from the club...

Vaxjo International Students, aka my Study Abroad family!

Sad the sun means we are back in Stockholm...still in party attire.

We headed back to the room around 7am to find it empty so we decided to go get food.  Finally returning to sleep at 8:45am giving us approximately one hour of sleep.  Let me tell you Wednesday was a hard day.  We woke up, shoved our stuff into the bags and got off the boat.   We took a bus home which took 6 hours and it was miserable.  After arriving home I hit the bed and did nothing the rest of the night.  Thursday I woke up with a cold.  This may come as a shock to you but I had a horrible cold.  I am thinking this may have been a result of partying for 6 straight days.  Anyway I am still paying for it now.  Friday I also did nothing but sleep and watch movies until it was Stallarna time.  I had been in my bed for 3 days and it was time to see the moonlight and my friends despite my cold.  It was a regular night at Stallarna...I think we were all worn out form Seabattle so nothing crazy happened.  Saturday was the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona match and let me tell you EVERYONE was watching it.  It was a draw but still fun to watch it with my crazy passionate Spanish friends.  Sunday was the most beautiful day yet in Vaxjo and I had to spend it in the library...luckily I wasn't alone.  A group of my friends and I went there to study...however we did take a break to "take the sun".  This is a funny story.  Melodie is French as I have told you and the expression they use it to "take the sun" so she wrote on my facebook wall that we should take the sun after we study...so another friend commented on it yes go take the sun and put it in your pocket.  This caused a huge discussion because my Spanish and French friends saw nothing wrong with this expression and it is my duty as the "English expert" to correct them when they are wrong and I didn't.  The thing is sometimes they say things that are so cute I don't correct them...anyhow we have been laughing about this since.  That was my Sunday, studying and spending time with friends in the green grass under the sun.  Monday I had class at one and after class I spent more time with classmates under the sun.  You might notice this is a very common thing to "take the sun" well one thing I have realized here...since it is so cold for so long when you FINALLY see the sun you are so happy.  The sun is so welcomed and not at all taken for granted.  I love that...at home I never care about the weather but I love how happy the sun makes me now.  It makes my day if the sun is out and we spend time laying and talking outside under the sun or having barbecues.  Today I had class at 9:45am which I might have thought about skipping if it wasn't the last class before our 2 week break...(cha chinggggg).  We had class with a Swedish class and discussed preschool in Sweden verse our home countries.  We broke into groups and I was with 6 Swedish students and I talked for the complete hour.  I am not sure if the Sweds know how to take me...its funny for me to watch them listen to me..haha  After class I was officially on break!!  No school until May 2 what to do with all this time? Perhaps take a trip or read, lay in the sun, who knows but I'm sure I'm going to enjoy it! Right now it is time to get ready for a bbq before Stallarna.  Basically every night there is bbq somewhere because we love the sun!! Now is goes down at about 8:30pm and rises at 5am.  We have the sun for a long time in now in Sweden and I love it! So much in fact that yesterday it was inspiring me to listen to songs about the sun..such as Here Comes the Sun and after listening to the lyrics I am confident when I say the Beatles had spent time in Sweden when they wrote this number one hit...listen to these lyics...

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, 
and I say it's all right 

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter 
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here 
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun 
and I say it's all right 

Especially this portion...

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces 
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here 
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun 
and I say it's all right 

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes... 
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes... 
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes... 
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes... 
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes... 

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting 
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear 
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, 
and I say it's all right 
It's all right 

Another great song about the sun that I have been enjoying..Soak up the Sun by Sheryl Crow.  I told you I'm excited about Spring and the sun...so I leave you with this...go outside and sit in the sun...soak up some Vitamin D..its good for you! 

Until Next Time,

Allie