Studying in Sweden

One of the central buildings at the university

I came to Sweden to get my master's.  It's very exciting to finally be here after all the preparing.  Last week I started International Student orientation, which is just a funny phrase to use to describe myself.  I'm an international student?!  Weren't they the weird students in college who cooked funny food, had interesting smells about them and thought so differently than all the American's in my class?  Now, I'm one of them.

The first week I sat in giant lecture halls with some 2000 international students learning about how serious Swedes take plagiarism, how to safely ride a bike and that I should have already picked my research topic for my thesis.  It's serious business here and at times I feel a bit overwhelmed.  I think it's the University's job to scare new students but come on, we don't need to know statistically how many of us in the room won't make it to graduation.  It's only our 2nd day in the country!

How to ride a bike and not get fined by the police

When I start to get overwhelmed I just hop on my bike and take off for new bike paths to discover, parks to wander around and festivals to eat through.  I am loving my new city with it's cobble stone streets and Nordic charm.

Everyday, I am more and more happy with my decision to live and learn in Sweden.  And, really, orientation isn't all that bad.  Tomorrow we have a class titled, "How to Meet a Swedish Man."  I can hardly wait for that one;)