Lets catchup!

Hey guys!

I am sorry for the long delay between posts. It has been a busy week and I've had little free time on my hands since the last post. During the last couple of posts, I have been talking about the crazy events of kick off week and what we did during that time. Well, let me wrap up that story today. On Friday, the day started off with more lectures and hanging out with Army group. We also went to the hocky arena to hear a lecture on Swedish culture and social standards within the area. The last speaker was excellent and it was great hearing him speak about the Swedes from a Englishman's perspective. That night was suppose to be the party at the local swimming pool- I decided to skip this party just because I was so exhausted from all of the other events that occured during that week and I ended up going to bed early- which was one of the best decisions I had made that week. After random fun and events during the weekend, Monday arrived and we got ready to take part in the "Night Mission."

Classes began on Monday and I had only one class that day: Swedish 1. Despite being an undergrad class, I decided that I would take this class for a few reasons. For starters, I would like to say that I am tri-lingual on my professional resume- despite very few people speak Swedish outside of Sweden. Secondly, sense I am living in Sweden for a decent amount of time (4 months) I believe that it is my responsibility to at least attempt to learn the language while I am here (and I believe this applies to all study abroad/relocating individuals). That night, I met up with Army group in the JIBS courtyard and recieved a briefing on what we were going to do that evening. The night mission is essentially a massive scavanger hunt that involved getting a bunch of random its and performing random tasks. Much to my dismay- one of these tasks was to have all of the guys' legs shaved. As of today, that was the last night I wore shorts- the hair is still growing back. We all split up to gather random things; from an umbrella to fishnet stockings, from counting the windows on the Engineering building (I stopped counting at 500 and I took a guess of around 2,500 windows on the building) to having a one of the guys pose naked on a parkbench, to having one of the fadders give one of the sexkreators a lap dance. Oh- I also had to send a "sexy text message" to some random number- from what I wrote on there I sure hope the individual who received it was a female....... Anyways.....

So the next day was the end of kick off week and Army met up at Klubb Centrium after an award ceremony (I didn't go- I chose a cheaper party package at the beginning of the week). Turns out, our group received two awards (and the only group to recieve two awards!) with one for earning the most points during the night mission (and destroying the previous record that was set) and for having the best fadder: Fredrik, which he clearly deserved. After having a round of shots in celebration, the rest of the night was spent dancing away.

The rest of the week was spent learning Swedish and starting "Basics to Supply Chain Management" but the tradition of going to Akademein on Wednesday nights began this week as well. I find it to be a fun thing to do, since this is usually the only time I get to see the majority of Army group in one spot at one time. This one of the events that I look forward to each week- hanging out with friends and having a good time. I've met multiple people through Wednesday nights and continue to look forward to going to "AKA" and seeing friends. One of the best things that we like to do as an activity is pre-partying, something that Swedes love to do. This also a great way to meet people; and I have met many friends from pre-partying also.

Changing the tone of the story here, I want to tell you about my trip to Stockholm that I just came back from. Sitting at my computer last Thursday evening, I made a split second decision to go to Stockholm over the course of a day trip. Going to the bus website, I bought a ticket to Stockholm that left Jonkoping at 1.30 the following evening and a return ticket for that evening. Going to class on Friday, I got invited to hangout with a group of my German friends and have dinner with them. Being in Sweden, I have met some many Germans and learned so much about them as a people and their culture. I must say it is such a blessing to know them and hold friendships with them.

After hangout with them, I went back to the apartment and started packing- and then received a phone call from another friend asking if I wanted to hangout that night. Lets see, be responsible and stay and pack, or go have fun? Fun it is. I got to hangout with my friends Alfredo, Karin, Simone, and Liuli at a celtic bar for a couple hours and then I was responsible, and went back and finished packing. Ready to go, I went to the bus station and hopped on the bus that would show up in Stockholm at 6.30 in the morning. Much to my surprise, I was able to sleep during some of the ride. Waking up, I found us pulling into the bus station in downtown Stockholm. I must say, I had the weirdest experience in the bus station: I watched three seperate people get hauled away by security with a matter of 3 minutes- needless to say: I was impressed.

Going outside, I began my journey in the capital of Sweden with the first stop being the Palace.

Making my way to the palace, I quickly took notice of all of the canals and old buildings that made up this city. I stumbled upon a large building that quickly caught my interest: the Swedish Parlament building. I was absolutely amazed; you could literally walk right up to the doors of the building and knock on them if you wanted to. Try doing that in the US to a major government building. The building was beautiful, from the stone columns, to the decorated walls, to the manicured gardens outside on the NW corner of the building. Across another bridge from Paralment is the massive Royal Palace- home of "His Majesty the King" and "Her Majesty the Queen." Oh and on a side note to all American friends; the Princess Victoria (the daughter who will inherit the throne) was recently married and is now expecting and she'll eventually move there when the old man passes on. And on another note, I have yet to meet a Swede who likes the Royal family and thinks that they should remain a part of Swedish society. Yeah.

So, after looking around the outside of the palace I went to the shopping area right outside of the palace where the oldest square in Stockholm (oh- the square is older than the US). Looking around, I stopped at a cafe for a "kupp kaffe och bakelse." At noon, I went to the palace again and watched the "Changing of the Guard." It was a very cool event to watch. From there, I went to get a couple presents for my family then I began my journey to the other side of Stockholm to go visit the Vasa Museum. The walk there was beautiful- waterfront walk with many beautiful buildings and sites to see. Stockholm is a beautiful city- a sight that everyone should see. The Vasa Museum is amazing- you should go see it if ever given an opportunity. The Vasa was a warship that sank 15 minutes after being launched due to being under ballasted- not enough weight to hold her steady and it wasn't wide enough. She was built to help the Swedes maintain control over the Baltic Sea and help ferry troops to battle against the Polish Empire. After being underwater for 333 years, she was raised up again in the 70s and got it's own place in the early 80s.

After the Vasa, I walked all over Stockholm and just took in the sights. After stopping by Hard Rock Cafe Stockholm (yeah yeah yeah, I know- I just wanted to take a picture is all) I was taking some pictures when my camera battery died. My solution: go to a kaffehus and recharge my camera battery over a kupp kaffe. It was a fun time- I got to talk to the barista and had a nice conversation with her and then I read my book (1775) with a kaffe and waited for my battery to charge. After getting it charged, I walked over to the Stockholm Ice Bar and took my picture outside of it (I wasn't going to pay 200 SEK for entry) then I continued to look around Stockholm. Then I got to see something amazing after the sun went down: the Northern Lights.

Walking on the bridge between the palace and parlament building, I looked over the city and noticed an amazing brilliant green light stretching over the city. After making sure it wasn't the moon, I stood there in amazement, the Northen Lights. I wasn't the only one enjoying them, many people ended up stopping and taking pictures of it as well- enjoying the beauty of the North. Shortly thereafter, I went back to the bus station and caught the last bus back to Jonkoping- and stumbled back into my apartment at 4.30 in the morning. Needless to say, I was tired. Anyways, I should go. But until next time. Later!

Jonesy

Jonkoping Fun

Hey guys!
So I am sorry it’s been more than two days since I have last updated but classes have started and it’s been a fight to ensure everything goes properly and I am currently conduct a massive hunt to find a book I need for class. Jonkoping University is a great university but I cannot understand why they don’t have a large bookstore that sells the books needed for the classes offered here. As of right now- it is the students’ responsibility to find the books online or at bookstores nearby. I am currently taking two classes: Swedish 1 and Basics in Supply Chain Management and both are intense and full of information, but I am learning a lot.

So, to continue the story about kickoff week, I should go back to Thursday, which was by far one of the craziest days I’ve had here in Sweden. With lectures and meetings about the university occurring in the morning- I met Army group shortly after and I was told to be ready to perform a variety of tasks. After meeting up, we began our “march” to the East side of Jonkoping, close to where the shopping district is. Arriving at the bridge connecting the shopping district to the rest of town, we walked off the road to a river walkway which bordered the canal. That is when our Fadders gave the order to “strip and jump in” and that there is a race to reach the other side. Wearing only a pair of shorts that was under my coveralls and a shirt, I ran to the edge, jumped as high as I could, and closed my eyes at the peak of my jump. Much to my surprise when I hit the water and went under the surface by six feet, the water was actually rather pleasant, and refreshing. Rising up to the surface, I swam to the other side and when everyone arrived, we posed for a group picture. This event was something that really surprised me- you almost never see guys and ladies stripping down and jumping into water in majorly populated areas in the United States- unless you want a ticket or ride in the back of a cop car if caught. But I was told that Sweden is an “easy going” and “anything goes” sort of country, and I am starting to believe it.

One thing I may have forgotten to mention is that many of the tasks or crazy actions taken by the group are for the sake of point tallied by the “Sexkreators,” or the members of “Sexkreation.” Sexkreation is the group that is in charge of kickoff week events and social events throughout the year. The word “sex” means the #6 in the Swedish language and is also a VERY VERY old word in Swedish for “fun.” And of course the word kreator is the word for creater so they are “fun-creaters.” Anyways- enough of that. After getting out of the water and putting clothes back on- we walked to a park that borders the water, next to a massive fountain. From there, we were played a game of taking a boot and throwing it in between our legs and having it land in the fountain. Much to my dismay- my throw fell short. Once again though, a picture opportunity was had and all of Army posed in the fountain.

From there- we walked to the most active street in Jonkoping, which is where all of the nightclubs and many bars are located. We walked into a club where we were introduced to the club owner and we were put to the task of creating a dance to a Michael Jackson song- in five minutes. It ended up being a military march, turn hands oriented dance, turn line dance… with shirts off. So we ended up getting 90 points for the dance and 10 points for “nudity.” Once again- Sweden is not like the US. The US should start taking notes. From there, we walked to multiple sites including the local pharmacy, the favorite local pizzeria (known for their French fry and kebab pizza), and the Chaplin’s office where they ended up singing (really well) a well-known American song.

The second to last stop we went to was literally the downtown square of the shopping district. We met with two of the Sexkreators and were given instructions that we had to put on a fashion show for them- with women’s clothing. This resulted in me having to once again “strip” out of my shirt and take off the clothing I had taken from the pile of clothes we had to use (a Santa hat and a scarf). I escaped relatively unscathed; especially compared to my Swiss friend Henri who had to wear women’s undergarments, no shirt, pink angel wings, and an Irish St. Patty’s Day hat. What a team player. Our last stop was the local gym that was offering student discounts for incoming students. I found it to be rather ironic that they offered candy to us when we first arrived. From there, we split up to head back to our apartments to get ready for the biggest JSA event: the toga party.

The toga party was incredible! I was told that it was the best party of the year by our Fadders and they were not joking. This was the first wet (alcohol involved) toga party I’ve been to and it was a blast. We started off hanging out at a Fadder’s apartment nearby where we ended up getting our togas there and the process of figuring out how to actually put on a toga began. Walking over to the club- I was extremely excited for the event. Not for the alcohol or the usual reasons, but the group that I was going with had molded together so well and it was great hanging around such a solid group of people. At the end of the toga party, the vast majority of the toga clad party goers walked back to the canal for the annual post toga party swim. Much to my dismay- the water was much colder than earlier that day. My first thought as I plunged into the water was: “GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!” It was a great night and I look forward to many more. Well- I must be going but I will update again soon. I hope all of you are well.

Later!

Jonesy