M.I.A.

Salutations, kiddies, seniors, and other faithful followers of this blog.  So sorry I've made myself scarce on this side of the web lately.  I've been very busy these last couple of weeks, and November seems to be flashing by right before my very eyes.  It's hard to believe I will be celebrating my 23rd birthday in just 3 days.  It's even harder to believe I'll be spending it grocery shopping and working on assignments rather than kicking back with a cold one.  Welcome to adulthood.

HONORABLE MENTIONS of the past few weeks...

1.  HALLOWEEN PARTY - I threw a Halloween party in my corridor, co-hosted by my roommate Jonathan (pictured below).  It was a great success, if I do say so myself.  In typical fashion, I came up with a bizarre-yet-somehow-appropriate costume about half an hour before the festivities began.  Halloween is a distinctly American holiday, so it's not nearly as commcercialized here in Sweden, and when you do find costumes, they are usually tailored for children. But did I let that stop me?  Never.  I bought a child's one-piece Superman costume earlier in the week at Toys-'R -Us, and while I knew that the likelihood of it getting anywhere past my navel was slim, I thought, "Well, maybe I can cut this up somehow.  Or burn it."  I took the former approach and cut straight through the waist, allowing a pair of stark blue and red tights (with attached "booties") to fit smugly against my long-johns. I donned a capilene shirt and used excess material from Superman's sleeves to make a headband.  "But what to BE?!", thought I.  I rummaged through my drawers and found a condom that had been given to me free at a club one night.  It took me about 15 more minutes to be transformed into "Captain Fertility," wherein my chest symbol (made out of construction paper) featured three prominent sperm swimming parallel to each other.  I superglued the condom to the makeshift headband and then attached a red circle with a slash through it to convey my alter-ego's complete dismissal of contraception.  "BUZZ!" went the bell of my corridor, and I greeted my guests one by one as they arrived.

I was really quite impressed with the effort put into costumes.  Many of the international students had never celebrated Satan's birthday before ("Dis is my felst 'alloween palty!"), so it was especially noble of them to go to such lengths to make an appearance.  Costumes ranged from zombies and dolls to John McCain and a human vagina.  Now, I hesitated even mentioning this tasteless attire, but the thing looked so absurd - more like a plush JELL-O casserole than anything resembling a sex organ - that I had to tell you about it.  It was strapped to the pelvis of a very annoying, very drunk Swedish girl, who nobody seemed to actually know, nor were they able to suggest why she was there.  But she slung one part of her body or another on or around nearly every guest that night.  She continually swiped my camera from my hands and took pictures of herself, the stuffed animal on her crotch, and random corners of walls and hallways.  She was also one of the last people to leave.  She will not be invited back.

Inappropriate elements aside, everyone seemed to have a rockin' good time, and I was generally pleased with my trans-continental party-throwing skills.

2.  SEA BATTLE - November 2-4, over 1200 exchange students studying in Scandinavia this semester boarded the S. S. 'Romntika' ferry en route to Tallinn, Estonia.  There were about 48 of us from Örebro (we stood in line in the cold and dark early-morning hours for tickets, remember?)  Anyway, this was my first trip that resembled anything close to a 'cruise', so just being on the boat itself was ultra-cool.  But combined with college students from all over the world anda plethora of tax-free alcohol...well...you're looking at some pretty intense partying.  By the time we docked in Tallinn the next morning, I felt like an empty shell.  Hallow.  I walked around the Old Town all day with my buddy Max and my friends from the Czech Republic, Klára and Andrea.  The four of us felt equally pitiful from the previous night's mayhem, so it was all we could do just to keep our eyes open and not pass out from the intensity of pure daylight.  Still, it was a day filled with laughs, and after walking around until our legs threatened to give way, we boarded the boat that afternoon, took a power-nap, and greeted the evening with the same energy and vitality from the night before...well...almost.

3.  STOCKHOLM WITH MIA - My dear friend Amelia (or "Mia" as I've always called her) came to visit me in Sweden this week!  When she finally called me the day of her arrival, she was at the Örebro University library!  I was thrilled to see her, and more-than-impressed with her independence in getting here.  Flying to Stockholm is one thing, but getting anywhere else is almost a journey within itself.  I'm sure everything seemed pretty non-stop for her, but she never complained of fatigue.  We seized the highlights that Örebro had to offer, including several places I had never been myself.  An evening of karaoke, eating Thai food, spending a quiet evening at Lake Hjälmaren, visiting the castle, perusing the art hall - everything seemed new and exciting while she was here.  On Saturday afternoon, we caught a last-minute train to Stockholm - and I do mean last-minute!  Because of the difficulties my Visa card has been giving me in this country (for whatever reason), I was unable to purchase the tickets online the day before, so we frantically marched down to Tybblegatan with bags in tow to hail a taxi.  1 brief cursing session and 135 SEK later, we made it to the train station with 10 minutes to spare.  My sweater was stained with sweat by this point.

Once we arrived in Stockholm, my plan was to head to Skeppsholmen to see if we could get a cabin on the af Chapman, the ship-turned-hostel where I had stayed before.  Of course after taking nearly an hour to walk there, they were completely booked, both on the ship itself and inside the hostel.  We called up some places, and settled upon the cheapest price presented to us, which ended up being a steal in all regards.  We stayed at Långholmen Vandrarhem, a very stylish, newly-renovated hostel converted from a prison built in the early 20th-century on one of Stockholm's island's, Långholmen.  The place was awesome. Our "cell" had a plasma screen TV, a total of 3 beds (2 hide-away), and a private bathroom that would rival facilities at a 4 or 5-star hotel.  We each paid about 380 SEK (€ 38).

We managed to book rooms at Skeppsholmen for the next two nights, the first on the ship, the second in the hostel.  Both were very comfortable and more than sufficient.  We didn't get to see everything that we had originally planned, but we did quite a bit for just a 2-day stay.  We saw as many museums as we could, but they all close at 5 PM, and half of them are closed on Mondays, so creating a "plan of action" for each day was difficult.  However, we managed to maximize our time and I think we did a damn fine job making the most of Stockholm together.  I had an incredible time, and I think she did too.

...So that's basically it.  The good, the bad, and the ugly so far this month.  I'm in the midst of grad. school applications right now, so it's possible you may not hear from me again until that's complete, but more than likely I'll come back in a week or two, as usual.  I'm a slave to this thing.

Give my regards to Obama.  

Until next time - - Hej då!

S.