Shallow Wallet
Trip Start
Jul 09, 2008
1
23
44
Trip End
Aug 22, 2008
Stockholm,
Sweden
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
After sleeping in way late yesterday, thanks to the previous night's partying, I ending up missing a bunch of the seminars I wanted to catch. It's kind of hard because only a few of the activities/talks are offered in English, so if you miss one you tend to not have a lot to do for a while. I ended up window shopping again before making it to eh next activity. It was called Dildoklubbingjfhsjkfhkhfkjhy (I forget the actual name, but it started with dildo and was long). Basically they took this Scandinavian game where you throw sticks at blocks of wood and compete in teams for this and replaced the sticks with dildos. I managed to only get 2 pictures before my batteries died, so I can't show you the full glory of this event. The rest of the day I basically spent hanging out with these couple of guys I keep running in to (we went souvenir shopping and had a drink), then came back to the hostel, made supper, went out with them for another drink, and called it a relatively early night
Dildo Kubb (Pre-Throw)
. That is after I stayed up on the internet and chatted with this young gay couple staying here.Today was not that much more interesting, but definitely more expensive. I woke up a little late so I missed the first seminars again, then wandered around and shopped. I definitely need some more self-control because I bought 4 t-shirts and a pair of underwear. Ack! Granted, some of these were on sale and they were all reasonably-priced, but it's not the thing to do while you backpack. So, bad Justen! After that, I tried checking out this guy they call the gay Justin Timberlake, as he was going to perform, but he ended up canceling, so I just hung out and waited for my hair appointment. Basically, my hair's reached the awkward stage between long and short, so I had to get in cut and Sweden isn't the cheapest country in the world, so there's more cash. Plus, I had lunch out today and that was even more. Though, it was a tasty bit of salmon and I've realized on this trip that I think I would eat more fish if I lived somewhere it'd actually be fresh. So, this day has taught me I really need to curb my spending from here on out. I did stop myself from buying a couple CDs, though!
I did catch the opening of Youth Pride. When you walk in, it's like a blast to the past
Dildo Kubb (Post-Throw)
. They were playing songs like "Never Ever," "Candyman," and "I Want You Back," so it's was like being back in high school. Kind of odd.The opening itself really wasn't all that spectacular and I was disappointed because the program says all the events there would be in Swedish and English, but I didn't hear a single word of English except in a couple of the songs from some local youth musicians. The only person speaking it was QBoy, a gay rapper based in London who's performing at EuroPride a couple times and showing a documentary he helped make on bullying in schools. Needless to say, I felt a little isolated and tried chatting with some other people who seemed to be there on their own. I did spot a cute guy and tried chatting with him, but another guy swooped in and tried hanging out with us and just became super-chatty (plus he and the other guy were both Swedish, so they got to chat a bit in their first language). I ran into the young couple from the hostel there too and we chatted a bit. They're nice, but we don't really click, so I've been spending a lot of time on my own. Thankfully, the people in this city are all so extremely friendly and they all speak English so it's really not lonely like Paris. Though, I did notice today just how much I talk to myself when I've been on my own a for a bit.
Anyway, tomorrow there's a 4-hour workshop on writing for performance, so I'm definitely going to ensure I wake up early and not miss it. I have to say, it's been nearly 3 weeks already (almost halfway over) and I still haven't been hit with homesickness in the least. I don't know if I will, but only time will tell.
