I'm here in Uppsala and it's great! I arrived Wed. the 16th and got settled in my dorm - which is really more like a studio apartment - then spent the next couple of days with my parents (who accompanied me :) ), getting to know the city and getting ready for school. It was really nice having them with me- Thanks for helping me and touring the city!! Mom & Dad went down to Stockholm on Monday, then flew out on Tuesday, so we spent Saturday & Sunday together, ending the day with a concert at the Uppsala Domkyrkan (Lutheran Cathedral - largest in Scandinavia) of Handel's Messiah. It was beautiful! My apartment is about 6km south of the main campus and city, so I take a bus into town & now I'm working on finding a second-hand bike for getting around town!
Uppsala by night - looking up the Fyrisån River in the city
The weather is unusually warm for this time of year - everyone says this whole winter has been unusually warm. No complaints here! It snowed on Tuesday and it was beautiful! It lasted one day and for the past week it's been a moderate (for Sweden) 32-41 F. Actually, warmer than most parts of the US from what I hear! So, I'm getting the whole layering, gloves, scarf thing down and it's actually pretty fun.
Looking out my window (Playground, Laundry Room...) after the first snow
On my walk to school
School started last Monday and I've already had one exam and a presentation! The Ekonomikum (Business School) is great - central in the city and a great place to hang out, eat, work on group projects, etc. I have 2 classes right now, Management Consulting and Service Relationship Management, on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the AM, so other than that I've been getting to know the city, learning the bus routes and participating in student activities.
The Ekonomikum - where I go to class - the day it snowed!
At Uppsala Universitet, they have a really great system for students to get involved, meet each other, eat cheap food, and of course party all together. There are 13 student "Nations" - each named after a region in Sweden. Essentially they are student clubs that all date back to the mid 1600s! Every student is required to join a nation, so the memberships vary from about 700 to 4000 students. It is through the nations that the students receive their University ID card, which you show to get discounts around town and for other things like paying rent and taking exams. Traditionally students join the nation that corresponds with the region that they are from, but International students are free to join any nation. The nation I joined is called Värmlands Nation and has about 2300 members. Each nation has a beautiful house, also very old, where you can go to study, eat lunch or dinner at their cafes, and go out after dinner to their pubs/clubs. They are entirely student run, so in addition to participating, you can work there. I'm really a fan of this system.
In addition to the Nations, the Ekonomikum (Business School, again) has a program for the first month of every semester for all new and international students. There are about 4 activities/events/parties a week for everyone to participate in - ranging from movie night, cocktail reception, dance party night where they divide everyone into groups & you have to dress up like your theme... our group's theme is Bollywood..., etc. (google it if you have no idea what I'm talking about) Again, I'm a fan.
So... I think that's pretty much all I have to report for now. It's taken me a bit to get settled in, but now I think I have it all down. I found a big grocery store really close to my house, which is nice because I don't have to take lots of small trips all the way back from the city with a bag of groceries....
I love you and miss you all!
Laura's Address in Sweden:
