Stockholm Weekend

This weekend I traveled to Stockholm for a day just to explore.  I traveled with a whole bunch of corridor mates.  All of them are really cool and everyone here is an exchange student (most not from America), so I have been making friends from everywhere. 

In Stockholm I saw a big castle and the old city... Everything in Stockholm and Sweden in general is pretty expensive, but c'est la vie!

First class was today:

 Complex Analysis.

Time to Class:

50 minutes walk

Arrived:

1.5 hours early.

Professor:

Was nice. I can't repeat or even attempt to spell his name.

Also spoke in Swedish half of the course. Syllabus also in Swedish....

Thankfully exams are repeatable and the textbook is in English. (and failure never shows up!)

In Sweden

So the other day I went to the cliffs of moher and some other place that was very interesting. It was on the west coast of Ireland so I had to take a bus over to over there and it was a LONG ride.....

Afterwards went to bed and woke up at 4:30, caught a taxi to the airport and flew into Sweden! After four more hours once in sweden of traveling I arrived in Uppsala and registered for classes! 

I am still confused about where everything is and how I am going to get from place A to B but so far it has been a blast. At Uppsala you are recommended to join one of 13 nations, which seem to remind me Hogwarts and their four houses. I am thinking of joining Värmlands nation which parties every Thursday or so night!

While here I met an Afghani guy that I spoke to in Persian for a good 20 minutes while buying candy from him :-).

And just earlier tonight I met a lot of my floor mates and they all were really nice and from different countries or different places, so it was pretty cool. After we all met and everyone made their own dinner (mine consisted of overcooked scramble eggs ... I need to learn to cook better, sooner - before I starve) we almost all went out to a nearby house/trance club which was a lot of fun and I just got back with half of the guys while the rest stayed out. Unfortunately I have to wake up early for some international brunch, more shopping and figuring out where classes are!

So till next time,

Joe

Yesterday I made my way to the Jewish quarter, the Louvre, and out to the show Moulin Rouge!

I had some schwarma in the Jewish quarter and, wow it was good! I couldn't find anyone to talk to in Hebrew, though I almost could swear I heard some yiddish in the background as I and my friend walked around. After that we went to the louvre and of course on Tuesday's it is closed so I couldn't get in...

I had made reservations earlier for Moulin Rouge this time and oooh la la all the pretty dancers were naked and it was an entertaining show. The feathered things from the cancan dancers kept getting in my face though as we were seated flush with the stage. In all it was a pleasant experience. Afterwards I wanted to go clubbing, but decided against it and on our way back people noticed my program from Moulin Rouge and continued to pester me to come take a look at their better show. Thinking quick and not wanting a hassle just say everytime some girl or guy from the side of the street - or rather from the shadow of the alleyway (how they hide themselves so well, I wish I knew) - would slither up to me, "I'm gay". And with a frown and sometimes a comment would slink back to the shadow without argument!

I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Tonight I am going to Trinity Dublin College to visit with one of my Hebrew Cluster mates from the Language House and then tomorrow I have a tour of the Cliffs of Moher on the west side of Ireland.

Today I actually woke up early, but didn't get out of bed till 11:45! (my friend Alon decided he needed to nap half the day).  We then ended up getting lost for a bit looking for the Notre Dame cathedral, eventually found it and took a gander. The gothic cathedral reminded me of Italy and all the large churches in Florence.  I then bought some leather shoes from bata (an italian shoe company that I really like) for tomorrow's Moulin Rouge at 9 pm.  Afterwards, headed back to the hotel just to rest and was hoping to catch up on Facebook... but yeah in the last three days i've developed my French vocab to over 300% what it was... I know more than just bonjour and merci!

I know (definitely not how to spell) good, bad, excellent, how are you, 33 (my room number at hotel novoutel at volontaires station), etc...

Being in Paris the last couple days made me realize how similar every person in this world is... though i've certainly come to this conclusion before, it's reassuring that all humans have the same thought patterns no matter the country or language. (By the way, I love the architecture here...)

Well, until next time...

au revoir!

I must still be pretty jet-lagged because I woke up at 8 am, got a croissant for breakfast and then passed out until 5 or so! Well anyway here are some photos of the Eiffel Tower (constructed by Mr. Eiffel for a world fair and finished in 1889) at night. Only the first two floors were open, so we took to those and on the first floor there are a bunch of snow structures that were well made.

After the tour eiffel we tried to go to a Moulin Rouge show not realizing that we needed reservations... :-( We then walked around at night and I passed out back at home...

\

So I just arrived in Paris. I love the airport! The clear escalators are very a -maze - ing. Though Paris looks a bit dirty, the buildings look like they all come from a different era!

This is the view outside of my Dublin youth-hostel on the north side at 8 am. (Paddy Wagon's youth hostel). Traveling and meeting the locals we learned that there is a financial gap between the north and south sides, and as such a rivalry and dislike. 

Below are some little children crying outside of the Dublin international airport.  I really enjoy the artwork all around!

Here is the maze of escalators...
Me at the arc de triomphe

And that's it for now, later I will try to upload some pictures of Dublin.

Arrived!

Well I am currently in Dublin! I arrived just last night and am having a blast so far. Once we arrived we found our hostel bus - which we waited for 2 hours to pick us up... and of course I immediately fall asleep. Luckily my friend wasn't as tired and he arranged our stay, which they thankfully put us in a wrong room ( a private double ) for the night and unfortunately we had to switch over to a mixed 10 bed room today... c'est la vie! Well, we are here one more night and might head out to a James Joyce musuem... if so I will let you know!

Anyway, time for lunch...
ps. GMT +0