Ok Hotell 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 ...

... of utter exhaustion. I met with an American girl (Christina) who took me out to fika, a coffee/tea/cake hang out, showed me around town, took me grocery shopping, and made me tilapia for dinner. It was great to be taken care of away from home!

Also got a chance to meet with my friend Lionel (from Congo) once again, who doesn't understand my hibernation habits and thinks my sleeping overload is a sign of ...

I am safely in Sweden, and I do believe that trip was one of the loneliest things I have ever done - especially because when I arrived in Sweden, I was all by myself AND everyone was speaking in Swedish. Kind of refreshing though - it's easier to relax when you're not listening to everyones conversation. I almost missed my flight to Umea, I had misread the gate number! But luckily I made it.

Everyone here thinks I ...

**st** tag, genau** gesagt **ste nacht. wir sind auf dem weg zum bus um mit dem zug fahren zu können. richtig, umea, eine kleine weltstadt hat einen kümm**lichen bahnhof und die zuggesellschaft hat wohl irgendwann entschieden einfach mal die schnellzugstrecke um umea h**umzubauen. dies** umstand besch**t uns eine tolle busfahrt nach vännas. ein kleines kaff das jedoch üb** eine ...

... the quiet bike trail up and down the slow, black Ume River. The river's green shore is populated only with quiet forest, hay fields, and soft white dogs who brave the cold water to swim. We also explored the forest which watches like a guardian over all of Sweden to within a ten-minute-walk of downtown Umeå. We stepped over dark-green clovers, sour red berries, and colorful mushrooms. Elaine plans on studying forestry and says going to the ...

... Anders talked business then chatted some, and then the visitor left. Anders told me, "That guy is very smart. He's a farmer. He's always changing his crops, depending on which one is most valuable." One year, the guy would raise this crop, the next year that crop. "I don't like him." The guy also had his own sales business. Anders didn't like him because he could never trust what the guy said. The guy was Christian. He was a manipulative salesperson and ...

... heading the World Bank, Black was a managing partner of Chase Manhattan Bank, the N.Y. Times, American Express Company, ITT, Electric Bond & Share Corporation, Cummings, Engine Corporation, Woolworths, and Royal Dutch Co. He was an advisor to USA Express Corporation and to the sheik of Kuwait. He also said, "It's very difficult to get a farmer in Southeast Asia to understand he has to pay for water." Yeah, no ****, Eugene - especially to a U.S. company! By trying to ...

... 5 - each snorkel where I see something cool 5 - catch a tricky underwater animal 5 - swim to an island 10 - chase down a rabbit or sheep 7 - see a moose 5 - see a fox, reindeer, or eagle 10 - see a bear, wolf, or lynx 10 - see an "igelkottur!" (hedgehog!) 10 - pick up an igelkottur (-8) - get bitten, stabbed, or trampled by an animal 2 - collect a purple, yellow, or red flower 2 - eat something in the wild 10 - go on a date 15 - in the event ...

... v**sion of Scrabble. Oumar - like me, and also like Paakow from Ghana - loves Scrabble. Oumar has opened my eyes to my latest revolutionary theory, and that theory is: All people from Africa love Scrabble, and not only that, but each one thinks he is the best p**son in the world at it. How silly is that? I mean, come on, you can't actually think you're the best p**son in the world at something. And, besides, it should already be a well-known fact that I'm the world's ...

... the river and see nothing but the river's flow and tree-settled islands. These spots are perfect for going to with a little red-haired girl. "Gorka borka magorka bajorka!" - the Swedish chef P.S. - A gray-moustachioed gentleman checked into my hostel room tonight. He was a rare Swede in that he didn't speak English. He and I had my longest Swedish-only conversation to date: about four minutes. My Swedish confidence is going up, slowly, but surely! Woohoo.