California dreamin'

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I apologize in advance that this blog entry is pretty long, but it's been an eventful trip so far and I wanted to get it all down before I forget it. I write it for myself just as much as for those of you who care 😊 Feel free to just skim through it and look at the pictures, if you so wish.

The journey across the pond

Normally when I travel to faraway destinations, big chunks of the trip are just spent wasting time at different airports. That's exactly what I had anticipated this time as well, but manwas I wrong! It made for quite an intense journey though.

Originally, I was supposed to fly Gothenburg - Copenhagen - Washington DC - San Diego, with the first flight departing from Sweden at 10 am. My parents were sweet enough to drive me to the airport with, what I thought, plenty of time to spare to check in and go through Security. Things were obviously not gonna go that smoothly though, nope! Something had managed to delay the flight from Copenhagen to Washington with 6 (!) hours, meaning SAS changed my journey so I would still get there but forgot to tell me about it. Standing in line for the baggage drop and thinking I had all the time in the world, my mom almost gave me a heartattack when she looked at my newly printed ticket and said "You're flying to Frankfurt at 9:30?" ...........Waaaaaah, stress! Luckily, a nice man at the Business class counter let me pass the long line to the Economy counter and helped me get everything in order before I had to rush through security and run to the gate.

Fast forward, the flight to Frankfurt was delayed and once again, I ran through the airport (which is pretty massive, I must say) to reach the gate for the flight to Washington. Time was on my side and I made it just as they started boarding, which I was very grateful for. Another Swedish woman who was flying to Washington with her kid told me SAS didn't manage to re-book all the people who were supposed to fly out from Copenhagen, so even if the change made it stressful, I was more than happy that I was able to fly at all!

The 8 h flight to Washington went smoothly and upon landing, I once again thought I had plenty of time until my final flight was gonna depart. I mean, it can't take two and a half hours to go through Customs, pick up your bags, re-check them again, go through Security, find your gate, get a new ticket... oh yeah, I forgot I was in America, The Land Where They Don't Like Visitors. When I finally reached my gate, sweaty as hell from running through yet another airport, most of the people had already boarded but once again luck was on my side and I made it on time (I felt bad for a lot of the people around me in line for Customs though, they missed their flights because of how long it took to get through). Next to me was a 5 month old baby named Gillian who insisted flying was terribly boring and that she would rather scream her head off for five hours, but by then I was tired enough to just put on my headphones and pass out against the window. Phew!

At San Diego airport, I was met by a guy from SDSU who put me on a shuttle bus to the campus, where I finally got my dorm key, unpacked my bags and fell asleep as soon as I put my head on the pillow.

First couple of days

I've been here for three days now, and most of the time has been spent putting my side of the dorm together, buying all the necessary supplies and trying to find my way around both the campus and San Diego in general. The room is shared with a Danish girl called Emma, but she hasn't arrived back from her Christmas break yet so I still have no clue what she's like. Judging from all the pictures on her wall though, she looks like a nice girl.

It's a good thing America is pretty cheap compared to Sweden. I managed to find mostly everything I needed for a very decent price, and my room is finally starting to feel like a proper room and not a hostel anymore! For some strange reason, it made me really excited and happy to walk into Wal-mart, Target and the other big chains that I haven't properly been to since I lived in Wisconsin, so I spent a long time just walking up and down the aisles and looking at things (It was more fun than it sounds, I promise! haha). One thing they don't sell, however, is duvet covers. Everyone here must be using huge comforters instead because I literally could not find a single one in either Wal-mart or Target. Luckily though there's a huge IKEA 10 min away, and they saved my day!

San Diego itself seems like a very pretty city. There's a trolley service that runs every 15 min from the SDSU Transit Center and goes Downtown, which makes it really convenient to get around. That was one of the main reasons I chose SD in the end, and I'm glad I did. I've been strolling around Downtown and the Gaslamp Quarter for a bit, and it's a sweet place. I think once we have our guided city tour next week, I'll know where to go instead of randomly walking around, but it's always fun to explore new places. Västtrafik should learn - a day pass for all of San Diego costs $5, which is about 30-35 kr. A semester pass (Jan-May, so 5 months) with unlimited travels costs $155, which is about 1000 kr. Not bad at all, seeing as that's almost what people pay monthly to get around in Gothenburg!

Campus is huge! With 30 000 students, I guess they need a lot of room, but damn... it's like a little city in itself. There are over 20 restaurants/food places/markets to get food and drinks from, plus a huge gym, three swimmingpools, our own campus police and god knows what else I haven't discovered yet. I love it though, there are palmtrees everywhere, it's sunny, green grass, blue skies... just like California should be! I'm gonna get so spoiled when I can just walk out the door and around the corner to the nearest Starbucks, haha (I think there are three on campus, which is how many we have in all of Sweden).

I also managed to sort out a bank account and a new phone number, so I feel properly Americanized now. Good stuff. Bring on tomorrow!

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Photos

Dorm 1
This is basically what my little dorm room looks like. I'll add some more decorations to the wall eventually, just haven't had time yet!

Dorm 2
Snazzy IKEA covers and smart storage space underneath.

IKEA
Almost like at home, just less snow and a few more palm trees!

School views
This is what I see when I leave my dorm. Not bad, eh?

School views 2
Huge campus, but gorgeous.

School views 3
I can definitely get used to this...

"Active shooter training on campus"
Only in America.

Comments

[Anne Lise]

Heldig gris!
Selv om det ble en litt stressende start så virker det som du har kommet i orden. Dette kommer til å bli helt supert det er jeg overbevist om. Vi kommer til å savne deg <3

[Anne Lise]

Glemte å sende med masse kyss og klemmer til tante fra Theo & Neah <3

[ccelander]

Jag tror också det kommer bli jättekul, men jag saknar er också! Ge Theo och Neah en jättestor kram från mig med! <3

[Goran]

Första försöket:)
Det händer mycket... Bätta nu bra:)