My day of airport people watching and connecting to shitty wifi was long, but I can't complain too much because I was lucky enough to fly first class. Thank you to the Delta employee who heard about my study abroad plans and wanted to bump me up to have a more 'enjoyable flight'. Let me tell ya... first class rules! I was nervous I was going to sit next to someone famous and not know who they were, but it turned out I had a window sit to myself. A flight attendant came around and served me champagne and a menu. Of course I ordered the ribs! Everything was so, so good, after my huge meal I reclined my seat flat watched some HBO and fell asleep. I arrived in Amsterdam and met a girl from North Dakota traveling to Italy to work for a family as an au pair... the world really is a small town. When I arrived in Copenhagen my bag was one of the firsts on the belt, I was SO happy!
I took a taxi to Woodah hostel in the Vesterbro district, the driver didn't speak english very well but kept telling me in broken english that I was in a dangerous area and shouldn't be staying here... I had a mini meltdown while the meter was on as we continued to pass junkies coming out of run down buildings. It turned out that he was lost and when he finally got me to the right place I was safe. I barley managed to get my 69 pound bag over all the cobblestone and into the hostel. I sure got a lot of pointing and laughing from all the by passers... Im sure they were saying something about me being a dumb American!
This was my first hostel experience and it was great! The interior was so cozy and very homey, not usually what you think of when you think of hostel, but this place had style. They offered yoga classes in the morning, but I was always too sleepy to join. Woodah was also the meeting grounds of Chloe and I. Awhile back Chloe messaged me via Facebook when she saw that I was also studying at LNU this fall. We took a chance and decided to meet in Copenhagen and then travel to Växjö together. Its crazy how much we have in common and how we 'clicked' right off the bat. I recently just found out the only reason she messaged me was because my name is Hanna and she has a cat back in Australia named Hannah. We spent the day in Copenhagen exploring the city and getting to know one another. Connecting with Chloe was serendipitous and I feel so blessed to be able to have a friend like her here!
Copenhagen was absolutely beautiful. I throughly enjoyed the little time I spent there and am already trying to go back! We left Thursday morning and took the train to Växjö. Being the well experienced traveler Chloe is, she had already purchased her ticket online. Me being as I am, I waited until we got to the station to get a ticket and in doing so spared us about 5 minuted to find out track and catch the train. I lost a wheel to my bag after sprinting down a flight of stairs... but hey we caught the train! I observed the ticket man and how he would always say "supa-tack" after scanning a ticket. I knew that "tack" is thanks in swedish, so I figured "supa-tack" must mean thank you very much. I continued on that day saying "supa-tack" whenever I got the chance... because it was fun to say! I later learned that this was a not a thing and the ticket taker made it up. Ha!
These are some of the first pictures I took while here in Växjö. It's beautiful right now and I don't want it to get any colder! The school sets up each exchange student up with a "Swedish buddy" to help you get acquainted. I lucked out with my buddy, Amy! We've only met once so far, but she is so sweet! We had a Fika at her apartment with Chloe and Christine. For those of you who don't know what a Fika is it's essentially a break accompanied with coffee and a sweet treat. I LOVE FIKA! We need to implement this in the states. Amy also set me up with a bike! The bike ride from my apartment to campus is about 20 minutes and its the most beautiful bike ride ever. Lakes, forests and cute mushrooms everywhere! There is a supermarket on my way home from university that I stop by a few times a week to buy food. I've never done a whole lot of cooking but since I've been here I've learned I really love preparing my own food and coming up with new food combinations.
I have since rearranged my room, but this gives you an idea of what my living space looks like! I have my own bedroom and bathroom and share a kitchen with like 10 other people who live on my floor. My building houses all exchange students outside of Europe, so there are a lot of Japanese, American and Canadian students living in my building. We all get along very well and I've enjoyed getting to know everyone in my building. Instead of sharing one big fridge, we each get our own little cubby to store food. Cute, huh?
Classes started last week and I'm loving only having it two days a week. The semester long course I'm in is called, Culture, Identity and Transitions in Sweden. I'll talk more about what I'm learning in a later blog post, but it is very interesting so far!
This past weekend I biked, went to a swedish farmers market, journaled, shopped at the first IKEA, had too many fikas, biked to Kronoberg Slott, spent time with other exchange students and dreamed about owning a swedish lake house. I'm so happy here.
Things I'm looking forward to this week:
- Buddy Mingle with Amy on Tuesday
-Wednesday I get to meet my local friend family!
-Thursday is my 20th birthday. Trip(s) to the Systembolaget.
- Field trip with my class to the countryside
- Saturday is the Welcome Dinner!
I'm going to spend the rest of today planning out the rest of my travels for the semester.
hanna
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