Hotell Dragonen Umeå

... love that part.

I joined a club called the Buddy Program, and it's basically just a program where international students can hang out and learn about each other. Tomorrow my group will have a team building/game day, then at night I can either head to a bar with them, or go to my friend Justine's house for a girls night with some of my classmates! Then Sunday I am going to my new friend Evelinn's house (Swedish girl) and she's going to teach me how to make ...

... Not the case, by the way. He introduced me to a million and one new friends, many who are from Sweden. I had an excellent time. They made me soup and tea for dinner. We went downtown, and I had my first taste of Swedish vodka, which is actually spelled "wodka" in real life. I didn't wake up the next day until 3 pm. Taking bets now on how soon it will take me to die in the snow with frostbite and a bottle of wodka ...

... I got there -- he had dreadlocks! He said he likes to switch his hairstyle frequently, he enjoys change.

My room is very, very nice - I have my own mail slot - and I'm right across from the TV/game room and our student kitchen. My little room kitchenette is so cute - there is a sink, a little Bunsen burner stove, and a little fridge with shelves and drawers. My bed is also very nice - the mattress made with that ...

... to keep their doors locked. If someone is renting an apartment, it's illegal for him to make a copy of the apartment key. If one key gets lost, the renter has to pay to have the locks changed so that the next renter will feel safe. 2. THE "GLASS BOX" - Even though they're all very equal, Swedes don't seem like members of a community. Instead, each one acts like a privileged, precious gem that must be kept away. It's like people put a glass box around ...

... institutions. Based upon the Christian idea that followers ought to be caring and unselfish, Anders found it strange that so many Christians are sly, upper-class businessmen. I told Anders that mainstream American Christians - well, the white ones - are also often well-off and wealth-seeking people. I told Anders I had no idea why this was. It had always seemed strange to me. We went on conversing, trading ideas and learning from each other. At one point ...

... made $38,000 a year during the war. Vietnamese, South Koreans, Thais, and Filipinos recruited by the U.S. military were paid twenty cents a day. One tribe in Laos had virtually no men remaining because the males left to fight for America when they were only ten years old. The U.S. said then that South Korea had been "pacified." This meant that South Korean workers earned $15 to $20 a month, a twentieth of what Americans earned. The U.S. wanted to do the same ...

... managed to lose at it. But, this time, I vow revenge! Once again, I think I'll create an imaginary competitor. We'll call him P.W.Herman, in homage to one of the greatest hitchhikers of all. I'm going to give P.W.Herman 100 Hitchhiking Scavenger Hunt points a day. If I'm out for three days, that means I must score 301 points to avoid losing to nobody. I hate losing to fricken' nobody. Let the games begin! May the best man win ... - Modern Oddyseus

... the beginning, he has given me a hard time for my country's policies. When I ask him wh**e he has been while traveling, he wisely cracks, "Ev**ywh**e but the United States, Great Britain, and Israel." He's told me some rath** enlightening things. He said he once got thrown in jail in Indonesia, because he was Iranian and happened to be going to the same island President Reagan was going to. Nouri explained, "When Iran stopped selling their oil at the price the United ...

... is set up the breakfast buffet, sit around for two hours making disgusted faces at the sill, and clean up the buffet. I'm joined in my sitting around by the hostel's owners, Victoria and Anders. They both have good senses of humor, so it's a lot of fun ... except for the fact that I don't get paid. Victoria is twenty-eight and has a short haircut made up of spiky fluffs. It's kind of a haircut like the girl singer in Swedish pop-music-sensation Roxette ...

... is like a big pedestrian mall, with shopping, fast-food restaurants, and grocery stores. The town has little "Swedish" charm, because a recent fire hit the town hard. But, it is a progressive college town, with lots of vegetarians and vegans and activism and dread-locked hair. The town is also cool because so many people ride bikes here. Old-style bikes fill bicycle parking spots all over downtown. Many of them aren't locked up. It's wild to see a whole wave ...