So life in Sweden just keeps getting more interesting. Where as just a couple weeks ago I couldn't even find my own corridors shower, flush the toilet without a little thinking, etc., now my environment is starting to make a little more sense. I find that I am able to enjoy my surroundings more becuase I am not worried that if I stop consentrating on where I am at that I will get lost. I think I realized this yesterday on my trip back from relaxing in the sauna at Nautilus, for without realizing it I was strategically finding a path home that required the least effort/time.
Enough about my cultural aclimation, and onto other things right? Well, one thing that I would like to talk about before talking about my adventures in Gothenburg is some of the people that I've been living here in Svededen with. When I first got here I thought that all my learning would be on account of either my teachers or of my own accord. Well, I'm proven wrong on this notion everyday here at Patrikshill (or out in the community also), for there are so many cultures jammed into Patrikshill that I am constantly learning things from my friends here. Every Sunday we've been having a culture-specific dinner prepared by people from Austria, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, the list goes on... Needless to say, they are much better cooks than me and I am glad that I have 5 other Americans to help me pick up the slack when it's our turn to cook. The food, and the stories that go with it are really interesting. Another tradition that we are starting is that we celebrate everyone's brithday with a culturally-relevant celebration. This means cake, a present (we're all tight on money so they haven't been to exciting so far, haha) and a party (with their favorite music) to follow. One thing is for certain, before I come back, I will definently have my fill of all dance and techno music. It is so popular everywhere other than America, that it has been played at every party.
Alright, and now onto the Gothenburg trip as alluded to in the title of this entry. I was invited to go with 2 Austrian guys (Ronnie and Peter) who are also studying ID on Wed along with Nick from KU. We got up early (7:30) and after everyone but me got a morning jump-start from coffee made our way down to Ronnie's little red 4-door Lancia. After knocking off a foot of snow, and finally getting it to start, we began our trekk north through town toward Gothenburg. It was at this point that I relized how nice it was to actually ride in a car to get to a destination. We take it for granted in the States, yet here you bike or walk everywhere. So, going anywhere requires more time and energy. Anyway, I digress so onward with the story, the trip was mainly spent on the divided highway that runs along the coast of Halland. Unfortunently it was so foggy and dim that all I could see was as far as the yellowed Lancia lights could reach. So, onward we went into the fog at a pace of around 110 KM/Hr.
An hour and a half later we arrived in Gothenburg. We were immediatly surrounded by buildings that would do KC proud, and enough group housing to accomodate a couple Universities. We found the city center after we pulled over and I asked some old guy with a british accent where the city center was. We parked and started walking in the general direction we were pointed toward. After walking for 15-20 mintues we started to see more and more shops and statues. We had MADE it finally to the Gothenburg city center. We walked around for a while stopping in at any store that looked mildly interesting. This is when I went to the timberland store and *shock* actually found some boots that I both liked the design of AND fit my size 13 feet (47 over here). Only one problem... I didn't do the right conversion in my head for the cost (sorry Mom & Dad, I owe ya big time). I put the boots on hold though, I didn't want to slow the group/myself down lugging around the box/bag for the rest of the day. We went into the turist center and grabbed a map and found out where the Design Museum was. This was by far the highlight of our daylong adventure, for I saw the likes of Aalto, Eames, and Eletrolux in their special Scandinavian Exhibit. It was awesome. I don't know how to describe looking at something in person that you have only seen in books before hand. This also showed me how far ahead this area is in design, because both Ronnie and Peter had seen most of these design classics before in other exhibits or even *gasp* private collections. Which is quite interesting. Chalk up another design-based advantage to the swedish design students compared with american design students (I have come to find there are quite a few). After almost dying from hunger (alright I so it wasn't that bad, but we were really hungry) we found a really quaint Pizzaria just a block or so from the Museum. It was down in a basement of some building, yet it had a cool kind of local feel to it. We all ordered specialty pizza's like my Ham, Cheese and lots of other things I can't type cause they were in Swedish. But non the less it rocked my world (and my stomach). This gave us enough energy to trekk onward and explore more of the city. At one point we found this really small alleyway where there was a nice little coffee shop. It was all lit up by lights and had outdoor seating. Mom&Dad, if you were here, this is the place you would want to have coffee at, it just seems like a place you'd like.
Anyway, time flew and soon enough (4 or so) all the shops started closing. We took refuge in a well-design coffee shop, where I asked for some apple cider. I was quickly told scornfully that "we do not serve alcohol here SIR." Ah, drat, um how about apple juice? So she took 5! apples, put 'em in the machine and made me apple juice...haha. It was pretty good actually. Let's see an apple a day keeps the doctor away, looks like I don't have to eat any fruit for a couple more days, yes!
Overall, it was a great trip. I learned a lot about design through the museum. I got a chance to learn more about Ronnie and Peter, and their way of life back home, and I explored an new city. It was a good day, and hopefully there will be more like it in the next few weeks.
I hope everything is going well back home for all my friends and family. I miss you guys and wish you could experience this with me. I have tried to contact some people through my Skype connection, but due to my horrible wireless connection our conversations weren't more than 30 seconds. It was still good talking though. Hopefully, I can get the connection worked out, but until then, please comment in my guestbook, or just send me an email at schmidt.reed@gmail.com
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