School?

As a fore--note for this entry (mainly for my dad), my main purpose for coming to Sweden is to study, and learn a lot of things. However, not everything is learned in the classroom. For example, in Swedish today, we were in the classroom for about 15 minutes, and then we took a walk to a nearby park where we learned about how farmers lived in Sweden 300 years ago. It was very interesting, to learn that Swedish farmers and their families slept sitting up to keep the water and blood in their bodies from mixing. Also, there were 17 people, including children and servants did this every night (with chickens running around the floor in the winter) in a room the size of about 12x20. it was tight with the 16 students, one teacher, and one museum guide in that space. After that adventure was lunch, which if I have not mentioned already, the food is always good, and very fresh. After lunch, was nothing. Class was over. At 12:30 in the afternoon. Anyway, a Swed from SVF who lives in the area borrowed his dads car and took some of us to his house, and where he is from to show us some of the amazing views that are surrounding Jonkoping (unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera...i just thought we were going into town). However, with the magic of Facebook, I have some of those pictures. 

 From left to right: Nate Elia Travers; Ben Poor; Me; Carl Rudenstam (the Swede who showed us all of the views and drove us around)

 From left to right: Ben; Dan Pihl, Nate. I'm on top. This is at the place were Carl worked. It is an apple orchard and we are in and on a box. 

The picture below is the opposite of the box (see it in the lower left hand?) on top of the apple orchard overlooking Lake Vetten and Jonkoping in the Distance. Amazing. 

From left to right: Nate; Dan; Me; Ben. This is on top of a large hill in Husqvarna (yes, the very same as the power tools. They are made here!) It took a master like Carl to get us to this place, but what a view! Lake Vetten, Jonkoping in the distance, Husqvarna at the bottom of the hill, and four handsome men in the foreground.

Until next time...

getting into a rythm

Its the third day here in beautiful Sweden, and things are starting to become more and more familiar. We started classes today with History of the Mediterranean, which for the first third of the semester is going to cover the thinkers of the Greek world...pretty interesting stuff.

Yesterday we took a more formal walking tour of the city of Jonkoping.

This is one of the many churches that are located within the city.

Having been downtown every night for the first three nights has given me quite a familiarity with the city. It is nothing that big, but seeing how everything is written in a language that I don't completely understand, it can be a little confusing at times. The whole city is comparable to that of downtown Milwaukee for those of you that have been there. One of the main differences (which you can see in a picture below) is that there are no sky-scrappers or tall buildings. the steeple of this church is the tallest building (at least I think it is). The view of the surrounding country side from a pier on the lake is unbelievable, and breathtaking at sunset. One of the things about where the school is located, is that it is on top of a very large hill, and since we are poor college students studying abroad, we usually walk...down the hill into town, and up the hill to get back to our dorm rooms. I guess that the only advantage to this is that whenever we go to town, we automatically get a work out.

I have discovered the address of where I am staying if you want or need to send me some snail mail:

Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola

Box 3155
S-550 03 JonkopingSweden

Adjö!

Here we go...

The city in the picture is Jonkoping where SVF is located. What a view!


 I'm here! After a long day of traveling, we arrived at SVF at right around 17:00 (thats how they keep time here!). The campus is extremely small. So small that you could fit it inside a normal city block, but it is cool. I live in Hemgarden which is right across from the dinning hall and where classes are held. I have a room to myself but I am rarely alone. Right outside of Hemgarden is a wonderful view of the city Jonkoping (where SVF is) and the lake. Today and tomorrow are all orientation of the school and the city. Its wonderful to finally be here in such a beautiful country! 

Last Night in America

its my last night in the united states! just finishing up some loose ends around packing and other things, then hitting the hay. my flight leaves tomorrow at 4, and i couldn't be more excited. to all my friends in chicago, and wauwatosa, or wherever you are, i'm going to miss you all! stay in touch! i'll post an address at some point so you can send me snail mail if you choose. i'm going to try to keep this up to date, once a week maybe...we'll see what happens. bear with me!