Prize Hotel Umeå

... kids from my program (same kids that will be in all my classes for the next 3 years) and we're getting along really well. Saturday we had a party, watched futbol, danced to music, and then all left together to go to the bar on campus (reserved especially for the business students) called E-Puben. It was great. Everyone keeps approaching me saying "You are the girl from Texas?" followed by a million and a half questions, or stories of their holidays in America ...

... best friend - Russell (from Bangladesh). We will be sharing a majority of our class time together. Tonight he bought me McDonalds (finally -- a craving has been submerged) and we met with a huge population of international students at a downtown pub called Allstars. Which isn't that exciting because it's a lame sports bar. Russell thinks I worry too much, and likes to tell me this frequently. At the pub I met: Fa ...

... His name is Lionel, and he is a student from Congo studying computers here at the Uni. but he would ultimately like to return to Congo and work in Politics to help his people. He did not speak very good English, but was fluent in Swedish and French - I was able to use a bit of my French to communicate as well. My new friend does not understand my hair color; "Are you blond, or brunette?" He had just shaved his head ...

... Hällnäs, Bastuträsk, Jörn, Älvsbyn, Boden 2) Boden, Murjek, Narravaara, Gällivare, Fjällåsen, Kaitum, Sjisjka, Kiruna

... think too much about anything but making their lives as comfortable as possible. Boy-girl relationships center around sex. There isn't much romance. I imagine Swedish people going home with one another and thinking only about getting to the orgasm. Traveling Swedes often take two-week package deals to Bulgaria or Turkey or Thailand or some other cheap country where they can get drunk and be lazy and hang out with other Swedes. 4. RULES AND TAXES ...

... wrote Niemi. And, then, something struck me. I had a revelation. The Christian God, in simplest terms, is "power." He tells people how to live. He can kill them by merely willing a natural disaster. He brings them good fortune and bad luck and can teach them lessons. He can save them or damn them. He has hundreds of millions of followers who build churches to Him, pray to Him, give donations to Him, and worship Him. People worship Him. They worship Him ...

... American consumer who pays taxes - will he call for higher prices just to be able to call the USA self-dependent on oil, or will he call for larger imports and lower prices?" I don't know if Sara Lidman's books have been translated into English, nor if they're allowed in every country. But, I'd recommend reading them. Another alternative is Noam Chomsky's "At War with Asia." Reading "Alternative in Southeast Asia" by Eugene Black could also be eye-opening. Later ...

... Asia - especially India and Southeast Asia - is Nouri's favorite place to travel. Like Europe, Asia is heavily populated with people. Unlike Europe, Southeast Asia is still dominated by beautiful nature. "They haven't been polluting ov** th**e," says my boss. But, back to the United States. Nouri wond**s why the U.S. wants to be so pow**ful. He wond**s why the U.S. wants to be so needlessly rich, at the expense of poor third-world citizens. He wond**s why the av**age ...

... a second: "eggs-rated?" BAH ha ha wa wa! - serious for a second. I've been working on my Swedish here, and you should know that it's tone is subtly bouncy and silly-like-a-kid. My two favorite words so far are: "gorka" - cucumber "snarka" - to snore Cucumbers are also a part of - "Eggs-rated!?" Ahh ha ha! - a part of Swedish breakfasts, as well as cereal. Some people eat their cereal with thick, unflavored yogurt, instead of milk. It's too dry for me that ...

... property." I camped in forests two nights as I hitchhiked north. This far north, the sky barely darkens. From eleven p.m. to two a.m., the sky still commands a grayish illumination. The temperature has stayed close to sixteen degrees celsius (50 fahrenheit), day and night. It has rained a bit, so I simply hitchhiked Mary Poppins-style, hoisting an umbrella. Pine forests are virtually everywhere in underpopulated Sweden. I saw three mud-gray, stout-antlered ...