Week 1

Week 1

1/15/24

Jet lag is still killing me, so I woke up at 5 AM today (which isn’t too bad) and read a bit, then went out to take photos. I had to be at my orientation at 9, so I could leave at 8:30 which was nice. For orientation, we got together in an auditorium and did a quiz, sung songs, and then we broke out into smaller groups and got different lectures. We played with Lego’s, talked about DEI, sex, and recycling/sustainability, and played a few games. We also had lunch at this place called Mom’s Kitchen, which was pretty good. I had spaghetti, which was really well done. Then, after orientation was over, I came back to my living space and had some popcorn and went to bed since I was super tired and jet lag is a killer :).

1/16/24

I woke up and went for a run and did my morning stretches. Today was the second day of orientation. We started at 8 AM and went to the migration agency to do biometrics and then we got our books at the book pick up. Me and my roommate then went to IKEA to get some stuff for our room and I also got a scarf, which looks fantastic (I love scarves). Then we went to a housing session, which was nice but was sort of a reiteration of a lot of what we had already heard. After that, we were done for the day, so I started reading my textbooks since I’d rather be ahead than behind. I was also pretty exhausted from walking around so much the previous days that it was nice to not have to do too much.

1/17/24

I woke up and went for a run and did my stretches to start with. Today, we had our core course field study. We went to a photography museum (Fotografiska) that had a hip hop section, a sun section, and a section called “The Fury Within” which had a video and which was a little uncomfortable, but was really cool as well because it forced you to face uncomfortableness. We then went up to the Cafe and had Fika, which was really good and we talked about what we saw.

1/18/24

I woke up and went for a run. Today, I had my first class, which was a lot of fun and we started talking about what we read the night before. Then I had a meeting with my visiting host family and he gave me some ideas on places I could visit while I’m here, which was awesome. Then I met my faculty advisor for my independent research project and we started to talk through my project and he gave me a few ideas and a person to meet to get a better look at my project.

1/19/24

I woke up and went for a run. Today was my big class day. I had school from 8:30 til 4:30. I met the man that my advisor told me to and everyone in my classes was super nice. I’m really excited for this semester and excited to learn a lot. I started with tumor biology and oncology, which seems really interesting but I have a lot of work to do to figure it out. Then I had statistics and that is a class I’ll need far into the future so I’ll probably spend a lot of time with that one. I had a two hour break where I ate a bit and studied a bit as well. To end my classes for the day, I had a neuroscience of emotion lab where we played with Lego’s and made a story about what made a good researcher. Then I went home and made some dinner and went to bed.

1/20/24

I took a break from running. Probably going to do that every Saturday so it can be a big exploring day. Today, I got a bit of shopping done. I went to the Mall of Scandinavia and got chocolates. Then I went to T-Centralen where I got two watches and a hat that I’m super excited about. I then took a break back at my apartment and then had dinner plans at 5:30 at this place called restaurang tradition. I had salmon and it was all pretty good. I also got this chocolate ball and this chocolate cake that tasted like pizza but had an amazing aftertaste that was like chocolate and pizza, but worked?

1/21/24

I went for my longest run today. I'm not entirely sure how long it was, but it felt nice. Then I did a bit of checking in with myself, took a long walk, and went to this fast food restaurant called Max which appears to be pretty popular here. I also typed out this blog, did some more learning of words and prepared for the week ahead. I got ahead on a bit of reading, just to make sure I don't fall behind in school so I can spend more time exploring and checked what I had to do for the week ahead. I also wanted to make sure that I was okay because some of my depression is still lurking and so I wanted to make sure that it wouldn't control me again, that I was okay and not pushing myself completely past my limits. I also felt like I was adjusting to the new city on this day, I had felt that before, but it felt a lot more prevalent today. Excited for the rest of the semester! :)

Learned words:

Och - and

Vatten - water

Var - Where

Nej - No

Hej - Hey

Hej då - Bye

Ja - Yes

Eller - Or

Öl - Beer

Vin - Wine

Far - father

En - a

Är - is

Jag - I, me (I, usually used with Jag är - I’m)

Smart - smart

Mor - mother

Min - my

Bror - brother

Bröd - Bread

Syster - Sister

Fru - Wife

Man - Husband

Snäll - nice

Familj - Family

Lång - Tall

Dotter - Daughter

Son - Son

Ung - Young

Har - Have

Hund - Dog

Katt - Cat

Du - You

Vi ses - See you

Bra - Good

I - In

Så - So

Mycket - Much

Tack - Thank you,

Förlåt - Sorry

Bor - Live

Åh - Oh

Kanske - Maybe