Oh those shenanigans!

So I'm taking another break. I'm almost done with my take home exam. I just need to adjust one more question and that'll be it. Done with the class. Oh, get this. yesterday we met with one of our teachers to get the grade of our big paper. we did a research project and we thought we did an alright job. I thought we did well and I've got some experience behind me to let me say so. we walk and and find out we barely passed. It was all bullshit. I swear. Our research design was done much much better than other kids I saw walk out of there with better grades. This isn't our only qualm with the teacher either. At the end of this meeting one of the guys in our group still needed to get his exam back. This was weird cause every one got their graded exam back like a month ago. So he gets his back and the teacher had dropped a couple points of the test. Points, according to my friend, were awarded to him earlier when the teacher showed him his grade a couple weeks before. So my friend got really pissed. I thought he was going to deck the teacher. There were some heated words, I left the room, and the guys had a short terrible discussion. This meeting totally ruined our scholastic day. We were going to work on some other stuff but after this meeting every one was bummed. We got nothing done; sat there for an hour or two. then we had to get out of there and stop moping and went to the coffee shop. Once there the mood lightened, we saw some friends there and the day seemed salvageable. On our way to said coffee shop I saw my friend Louelle who told me that I was supposed to make a pizza for my roommates birthday dinner. Okay, it was my roommates birthday like last Thursday and there were two failed attempts to celebrate, but we finally did it up right last night. there was a big dinner with great food. It was a good time. I also got my hair cut cause the girl who cuts hair was there and she had her stuff there. It's fairly short but I like it. I'll post some pics soon. after that my friend mike was really trying hard to get me and Leila to go out. We were tired but after about an hour of pushing we let in and went to a sports bar for a few drinks. I was good to get out, sort of. We just hung out and it was good, but I needed today to work on that take home exam as well as some other stuff later on today so I couldn't be out too late. Too bad, but we got home around 2:30 or so and after that we came home to some shenanigans. Vodka bongs, deep frying (we bought a deep fryer a couple of days ago), a water fight (my pj's got soaked), and people wanting to watch a movie. We started the movie but we got too tired. This was around 4 when people left my room and I went straight to bed. sleep didn't come so easy and I was tired, am tired. so I got up at seven (three hours later) and started stuff. I finished some of this exam and started my laundry. So far things are good. Not sure for the rest of the day, but for now I'll keep going.

When is it ever going to get done?

It's so hard to concentrate right now. I'm trying to finish up a take home exam and I just realized that I don't have everything that I need here. I'm at JIBS and I need some handouts. I'm also needing food. There are other things that are making it difficult to concentrate which I don't want to discuss. But I need to get this stuff done so wish me luck.

Okay I'm back. Still can't think. I'll just chalk this up to my break. So yeah, i downloaded the current episode of Prison Break that we're going to watch tonight. I'm sort of excited for that. There's been a group of us who've watched season 3 together and now we've been keepin up with this new season week by week. It's fun to have this to look forward to every Tuesday but I think this may be the last episode of the series so "good bye" to this show. I know there'll always be others, but this one was sort of special in way because we did this way before we had internet. Also there are only a few more weeks till everyone leaves Sweden to go back to there own countries for good, or moves out of Delta house, or I just won't see these guys for weeks. Things are really going to change soon. It's sort of sinking in now. It's a good thing. I need some change right now.

Have I mentioned that there's snow on the ground? Yep. We got snow in November. I heard that it doesn't snow here much and it usually comes in January or something. Well, I'm not a huge fan of snow. It's cold and slippery. I'd love it if it were warm, like sand on Sunset beach. And there's this debate that snow is much better than rain. I'll agree to a point, but after the precipitate has fallen rain leaves a small trail while snow leaves a lasting impression that I usually can't wait to get over. The temp here is going to rise anyway. It's going to be in the positives tomorrow anyhow and all the lovely snow will be washed away by the awaiting rain that supposes to fall. It's not that I like rain, dislike it too, but I just prefer it over snow. This is a current opinion subject to change any second so don't battle me on this one.

Okay, I'm going to get some more stuff done for real this time.

Later tater.

Brave the cold!

I had to come to the university to do some school work. Can you believe that it's 24 degrees today. I mean that's the high temperature. So cold. But I had to brave it to get stuff done. So much distraction at home, right? I mean when there's a tv going and a few people watching, what else is there to do? So cold, though. It's alright cause it'll be much warmer in a few days. It snowed a bunch too. I was just talking to someone about Hawaii just a second ago and I got a little jealous of all of you back there. I'm still really trying to get there this June. I found some cheap airfare back to the states which might be a good idea so i can maybe work? Who knows?

I think one of the major reasons why it's hard for me to be motivated here is that it feels that I've lost a good deal of my identity. I mean you are what you do, right? And I haven't been doing anything that I normally do. I haven't been riding my bike, I acquired a guitar very very recently, and other social activities seem so far from what I normally do. It may be a slight touch of homesickness but I don't I've every really had that in my life. If part of growing up is learning to deal with different situations then why am I regressing? Maybe I am growing up and I need some stability and I'm not getting that here. Everything, it seems, is up in the air. What I really think it is, now that I think about it, is that my needs are being met. I'm working on that too. Louelle is trying to get an apartment and I may room with her. Her dad is helping her and he's Swedish so this may happen. Finding a place is very difficult here.

I should get back to studying (I really mean starting). So I'll let you go.

Wish me luck.

What?

I feel like I'm trying to be torn in two and I'm using most of my energy to keep me together. Such a taxing weekend. Things have definitely changed and they can't go back. And I'm constantly being reminded of the new situation. I wish the fog would blow away and I could see my true path. I'll just have to stay in confusion at least for a little longer. Just being drawn to something that could never happen. So close I can feel it but can never take that last step. My heart rate can't take it much longer. I need something to give.

Heart. Pounding

You know those times when emotion seems to dictate every action in life? Well, that doesn't happen to me very often, but the last couple nights I've been over run. It's sort of exciting but I don't like it in the fact that I'm not in control. I'm not saying that I'm always in control but these moments are uneasy because of the distance from that control is greater than I'm used to. I think I'm more scared than excited; definitely more scared. But I have to experience life, right?

Road Trip, Baby!

Oh, man. I know I'm not good at updating this thing but here's more. I think I say something like this every time I write something here. Any way, internet friends, here's the up side of the down low: Last weekend Leila, Jerome, Alice, and I took a road trip up to Gothenberg and Oslo. And, yeah, it was pretty fun. I was more excited about riding around in car. The US has such a huge car culture and I've only been in a car a couple times in the last three months, so this was sort of a big deal for me. I love road trips. This one wasn't that big. It was only a couple of hours drive to Gothenberg, where we stayed a couple of nights, and the ride to Oslo was 4 more.

Here's my view of the ride to Gothenberg:

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

We met up with Leila in Gothenberg later. So, yeah, Alice is from Latvia so she brought her car back with her like a month ago. It's her last night here in Jonkoping, btw. Anyway, this was our last chance to go on a road trip.

So we get to Gothenberg, found Leila, and stayed at a friends apartment. This friend of ours used to go our school but found a better college there. We met him at the big mall there so he could bring us to our place:

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

It was great to see him again. He was a guitar buddy of mine who has an electric. I'd borrow an acoustic and he would solo over me playing. It was great. So he lives with two other Iranians who used to go to school here as well. We dropped our stuff off and explored late night Gothenberg. We ended up going to a bar. we were all a little tires so just a few drinks, walking a round a bit, and back to the apartment.

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

We danced in the street:

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

The picture was taken late, but we did.

Here's a picture of Naheem on our way home:

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

so we get back to his place and the sleeping arrangements sucked. I slept on the concrete hard floor, not really sleep, but everything was sore when I got up. It was horrible. We were going to bring stuff to sleep on but the car was so horribly small that we only brought a blanket and a couple of tiny sleeping bags. Leila was disappointed because I was supposed to bring more but I was convinced to do otherwise. I really wish I listened to Leila.

But the next day i bought a guitar!

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

Well, this was the cool shop that I bought it at. Pics of the guitar will come a little later. I bought cause it was like 500 crowns cheaper than anything here in Jonkoping. That's all i really wanted.

After that we went to a Persian restaurant which was a very exciting thing for the Iranians. it was really good food too. It was my first time sampling this cuisine.

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

That was Leila's plate. It was really good.

After that we went to some discovery place where they had a zoo of sorts and other things. here's a few pics:

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

I'm noticing that the pics I'm showing are mostly of Leila. Let me explain that the other two on this trip are really really good friends who are practically joined at the hip. They're always together. So while they were together doing their thing, that left Leila and me to do what we wanted. I'm cool with that. I like Leila.

After that we were all very tired cause we all slept horribly. It also gave me a chance to play my new guitar, which was cool cause there were other musicians in the flat.

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

so that black acoustic is my new one. And that thing I'm holding is an Iranian drum that the guy with my new guitar owns. he's really good at the drum thing. At the time of the photo they were playing traditional Iranian songs. It was fun. Those guys were fun.

After that we went to sleep cause we wanted to wake up early to have time in Oslo after the drive. You know everyone we talked to said that Norway was super expensive so we bought food in Sweden to bring with us, and when we got there we barely noticed a difference. totally not worth sitting with bags of food around me for hours on our way up. So we get there and we didn't book a hostel before and it turns the first two we tried were completely booked. The next one we tried was in the best location, nearest to the center of the city, and we found a room with four beds. It was completely perfect.

Here's some pics of Oslo:

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

Can you believe they had doritos? I've been looking for those in Sweden for a long time. I also found Mountain Dew for like $4 per can.

We Also went to a museum statue place with a bunch of naked art:

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

From Gothenberg and Oslo trip

so that was the trip. we left for Sweden soon after those pictures were taken. The trip was good. The weather was fantastic. It was as good as it gets for that time of the year. Sure it was cold but the sun was shining almost our entire trip. And you have to realize that these places are known for being rainy and windy. We totally lucked out. Then we had a 6 hour drive back home. It went by fast and I was tried when we arrived. If I wasn't i would've gone to the switch party.

Wow. That was a long post for me. I someone appreciates it.

I'm out!

Here's my weekend

Guess What! We finally got internet! It's been like three months in the making with multiple broken promises on the way. There've been a few sign put up by "the man" telling us soon, but that all turned to rubbish. So I payed for it yesturday (i went friday to pay but the place isn't open then) at noon and I had to wait till 4 o'clock till it started working. But once it started I've been off and running. I've downloaded a few movies, iLife, microsoft stuff, and the like. I've also looked at web pages. It's awesome. Rock band has gotten some songs. Oh, I found a guy who owns the drums and another guitar who lives close by and we've become friends. Mostly because I want the drums and this guys barely has any games. Here's some pics:

From Jonkoping

From Jonkoping

From Jonkoping

As you may have noticed some of us were in the halloween spirit then. We were there for a preparty. So one of those guys was Captain Planet, another a hippie, a zombieish thing. You can see that my face was black but I did that to put the emphasis on what was going over my head:

From Jonkoping

pretty sweet, huh?

I carved the sucker first and it looked like this:

From Jonkoping

live this in the dark:

From Jonkoping

It was fun. There's tons of people here who haven't done that sort of thing before. The whole halloween spirit, I'm finding out, is an American thing. It was sort of lame here. It was even hard to find people to watch scary movies with.

Here's an alternate costume. Me as a swede:

From Jonkoping

And lastly there was an animal party where we did an international cook off. I of course made some pizza and it was great. here's my creation:

From Jonkoping

There was a lot of food and my pizza was the last entre presented at the table after most of the other foods were eaten. We polished it off too and everyone was super full. Amazing party.

That's it for now.