Anyway getting here went very smoothly even though it took such a long time. The family dropped me off at SFO where I took off on my 9 hour flight, then I landed in london at 2 in the afternoon their time. I took a cab to my hotel and promptly fell asleep for the next 14 hours. Woke up in the wee hours of the morning and watched the bbc and trashy english telly for a few hours while I drank every pack of complimentary coffee in the room. When breakfast finally opened at 7:30, I popped downstairs and got some food and was joined by a guy from Japan who was on his way to study in Leeds. Both exchange students en route, we had a lot to talk about and he was really nice. We both said that it was a good omen that we haven't even made it to our universities and we're already making friends. :) After that I hung out with the owner of the hotel while I waited for my taxi. He was so funny with that suuper dry British sense of humor, and told me to take care of myself. After that was my 2 hour flight to Stockhom, then a bus ride (that was fun with all my bags) and then I finally made it to Uppsala! So amazing! Riley and Collin met me at the station and helped me drag all my bags to the place where I had to pick up my keys (also it was so hot and it got so disgusting lugging my backpack all over... nice first impression). At the keys place, I met a girl from the Netherlands who was also signing into her room at Flogsta, so we shared a cab to Flogsta which was such a good idea because it's pretty far from the city center. After I unpacked a little bit, Collin Riley and I got some food and then I came home and sleeeeped.
Yesterday morning I woke up early, took a shower in the silliest bathroom ever. You have to turn on the sink and then flip a little switch to make the water come out of the shower. Also there is no specific floor space for the shower, it all kinda drains into a hole in the floor. Also it's small enough for me to sit on the toilet, brush my teeth, shower and shave all at the same time. There is no wasting time here! :P Then I met Riley at his house and we made breakfast after grocery shopping at the ICE (my new favourite place), then wandered around Uppsala until we had to sign up for classes. We checked out the cathedral (which is older than the USA by the way) where they were holding a communion. It was absolutley breathtaking. After that, we went to register for our Intensive Basic Swedish class where we met TONS of people! We all decided to meet back up in an hour to go to ikea together which ended up being such a fun trip! My buddy (the university matches up international students with swedish students and it's been such a big help!) Stina came with us. It was my first time meeting her and she's so nice and helped a ton navigating and telling us where to get alcohol :P The group consisted of 5 californians (two from monterey, two from sonoma and myself), two ladies from the netherlands, two irish girls, a lady from Switzerland, a guy from Germany, an Aussie, a Spanish fellow, Stina and I think that's it. It was so so fun and so great to meet all these new people. After Ikea and the Systembologet (the government-run store when you get alcohol), we split up for dinner, but met back up at Flogsta for drinks. We sat outside on the lawn till midnight exchanging stories and talking about life in the places we're from. I loved it and I'm so excited to see everyone again today.
Finally, this morning I woke up too early again, but finished unpacking and I have my room pretty much the way I want it. I need to go back to Ikea and get some storage things for my desk but I think I"m pretty much set. The girl who lived in my room before me totally hooked me up and left me FOUR duvets (gave one to Riley :P), sheets, a hair dryer and straightener, a phone, ethernet cable, a giant red area rug, hairspray and lots of other little nick nacks. Thank you so much Devin from Illinois!
Alright. I'm off to do some grocery shopping and to buy minutes for my phone, then I have class at one! so excited!!
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