Blogs from Luleå, Norrbotten County, Sweden, Europe

Gestern bin ich also nach dem Fruehstueck (seit ein paar Tagen gibt es auch in den Hotels keine Butter mehr, dafuer waren aber wieder Corn Flakes da) mit dem Bus von Kemi an den schwedisch-finnischen Grenzort Haparanda-Tornio gefahren. Dort gibt es eine schöne neue Busstation nur leider ohne Geldwechselstube. Aber in der kleinen Innenstadt ein paar hundert Meter weiter konnte ich mir dann doch schwedische Kronen besorgen. Hier hat der Euro durchaus sein positives, nur sollte man sich trotzdem an gueltige europäische Vertraege halten. Nach einem Kaffee bin ich dann weiter nach Lulea gefahren, eine schwedische Kleinstadt mit einer schönen Sehenswuerdigkeit, die ich mit am naechsten Tag ansehen wollte. Dort habe ich mein Hotel leicht gefunden, bin ein bisschen in der kleinen Fussgängerzone und am Ufer umhergelaufen und habe im schönen und vorbildlichen Kulturzentrum meine Internetgeschäfte ... read more

I currently feel like I am on a long-term holiday as I have alot of down time that I spend exploring the city and campus. Now that orientation period is over and classes are underway there is less organized activities with other exchange students. Downtown Lulea: there are basically three shopping malls in the shopping area of town. There is a mall called Shopping , which is the oldest shopping mall in all of Europe (opened in 1955). There is also one called Strand Galleria and the newest one, Smedjan (which is also the largest it seems of the three). Malls here are a lot different than back home as they have several levels (like 4 floors). For a city with less than 50,000 people or so, the shopping is ... read more

Well monday i had my last Biocomposite course. Nothing to exciting. To finish the class all i have to do is complete one more assignment and turn in a lab report. YAY! I am still trying to get my online Fronter (access to my classes) to work. My academic advisor has added me to the swedish history class but I cannot access the powerpoints online and my Microbiology class is still listed. UGHH i hate all of these online formalities when it comes to college. I do love my swedish history course! It is very interesting and I am trying to come up with serveral ideas of where to go! One thing is for sure my hunt for a Dala Horse has been unsuccessful thus far but i will prevail! On Thursday Isabel, Santi, and I ... read more

Hey guys check out photo bucket ive added new photos!... read more

So basically i spent all this week in bed....getting sick is never fun! Isabel went out and got me some cough medicine and after plenty of rest I was ok. But there are a few differences between getting sick in the US and getting sick here. First and foremost....no chicken noodle soup.....i cried. Seriously when I am sick and cold i just want my awesome campels super salty chicken noodle 90cents a can goodness....but not so much here. Actually its hard to find any soup here! Most of it comes in powdered form or has fish in it :-/ Second big problem (as i am sure many of you know) is pharmaceuticals here are quite different. There is no cough syrup, NyQuil, DayQuil, or any sort of decongestant. Instead you can find several forms of ecanacea ... read more