Half-time exam today!

Wish me luck!

Autumn ends, Winter Begins...

Hej! (hello)

Wow, it's been a while since I updated. I guess it means I've been busy or I'm not a very good blog writer. Of course, now after almost two months, I have plenty of things to write about. My updates are in sections, so feel free to read about whatever topic interests you (if any at all).

Research: 
Research has been going in some weird phases (sometimes really busy and sometimes not). I hit a roadblock a few weeks ago, and basically came to the conclusion that the project I planned might not work out too well.. I really wonder what I'm going to do in terms of research here, but hopefully, on Monday I'll have some more answers. Why? Monday is my half-time examination! That's three days from now! Just to give you an idea, the half-time is somewhat like a mini-thesis defense, where I have to present my research to three scientists in the field, and they get to evaluate my work. Of course, this will also include a wonderful 3 hour "discussion", which is just a euphemism for a session where they get to ask me  difficult science questions, but also hopefully give feedback on the future of my research.

Dance: 
Lindy Hop classes have been spectacular! The instructors are good, and while I can't understand more than 30% of what they say (classes in Swedish), I've definitely been learning the dance. The other night, I went to a social dance and danced with some really amazing leads. At one point, a lead threw me in the air for a jump-like move and it was the coolest move EVER (before I knew what was happening, I was airborne for 2 seconds). That night, I decided that I knew when I was dancing with a good lead if he/she could: 1) make me do dance moves I have never learned before, 2) make me look good while doing it, and 3) do them unexpectedly. Several people in that night kept saying that the jump/throw move was really cool. :) haha.

Choir:
Our October concert was a great success. I've put a few pictures of our 1930's outfits from the concert below. But since that concert, choir has been really intense, but fun (mostly). We have to learn 29 Swedish/Latin Christmas songs for some performances in December, and I need to know about 20 of them by heart. By next Tuesday the 23rd. Unfortunately, that is not going to  happen (I have about 6)... haha. Singing in Swedish is not easy people. Not easy. Anyway, I look forward to our numerous holiday concerts. On Nov 28, we will sing in an open air market wearing 18th century clothes. I promise to take pictures. On Dec 12, we will have our Lucia concert (if you don't know what Lucia is, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucy's_Day). And I have been bestowed the honor of being Lucia--yes, I get to wear a crown with live candles on my head. Woo?

1930's-inspired outfit from our Jazz concert. Yes, I have a feather attached to my head.
It felt like a bird was nesting in my hair.

The theater in which we performed. The girl in the center has a large feather hat.

Musings on the Swedish language:
I have been learning more Swedish and I know I am improving (slowly, but steadily). I had a five, that's right, five minute conversation entirely in Swedish with my roommate the other day. It was painfully slow, but that's how it goes. What makes me laugh is that I often end up inserting French words without knowing it until I see my roommate's confused look. haha. The grammar is fairly easy, but the hardest things about Swedish have to be the pronounciation and word order (switching nouns/verbs around when making simple statements). So many vowel and consonant sounds you've might not have made or heard before: å, ö, ä, skj, stj, sk, lj. What's strange is that the å sounds like "o" in English, while the ö sounds like "oe" in French, and the "ä".. well no equivalent. And the Swedish "o", is sometimes like an "oo", but other times like an "o". The skj, stj, sk all sound similar, but I just can't make that sound. It's aspirated, with an "r" sound. Needless to say, it's hard.

Weather:
The darkness is super weird. It comes around 3:45 pm now, with the sun setting around 3:15 pm. What is really bizarre is how the human body can feel so tired by 6 pm just because of the dark! I could go into all the scientific reasons for why this is cool, but I won't.

First snow fall in Stockholm. A bit pathetic, but still. It's snow!

This weekend, I'm going to see the Harry Potter film!!! And next week, I plan to throw a Thanksgiving dinner... :) More pictures and posts to come in the next blog entry (whenever that is going to be)...

Så till nästa gång, hej då! (So until next time, bye)

I'm learning Swedish!

The following story has to be one of my favorite moments of learning Swedish so far. 

Scene: Grocery store checkout. I have picked up some bread and placed it in a brown bag (that's what they do here).

Clerk: (Picks up brown bag and asks in Swedish): "What's in here?" 

Me: (Without much thought and in English): "Oh it's bread." 

Clerk and I both have puzzled looks on our faces. 

Me (to clear confusion): "Wow, I can't believe I understood you!" 

Clerk: "Oh you don't speak Swedish?" 

Me: (Brilliant Sherlock! Don't you think I would have spoken in Swedish if I knew any?) "No, I just started learning Swedish, and I can't believe I understood you! This is so exciting!"

Clerk: (starts laughing). "Yes, that's great!"

Indeed it is...  :)

Min semester i Grekland (My vacation in Greece)

Greece was lovely, to say the least. How does one describe a week's worth of sailing, swimming, snorkeling, and soaking up sun? :) I even spent some time learning Swedish! (Wow, notice the ridiculous amount of "s" words I used in the last two sentences). Perhaps the coolest thing was snorkeling because I had never done it before. Let me say, it was an experience that everyone should have! I saw little fish dig in the sand dunes of the ocean floor and I even saw a squid that could change the colors of its "skin". SO cool. I wish I had a camera that could survive underwater because the images I saw cannot be adquately described in words. One day, I'm going to go to the Caribbean or Australia and snorkel my eyes out staring at the coral reefs.

However, I managed to get some of Methoni (the town where I was). The photos are pretty self-explanatory... but they include the beach, the castle, and the town center.

So as you can imagine, I'm not super thrilled to be back in Sweden, where it substantially colder, cloudier, and less colorful. Actually, I don't know about the colorful part. Autumn has started and leaves are turning wild yellow, orange, and red!! Anyway, it's back to real life and real work :(

Busy bee

Fear not, blog followers, I'm still here! You may have been wondering from the lack of updates, what is she doing? Or perhaps not, but I suppose if you're reading this blog, you'll find out soon. 

After my few days of sickness, I became swamped with work. It started around Friday afternoon with a few emails from my US colleagues requesting me to look at some files and soon exploded into an avalanche of emails. At the office this week, I've been fervently typing out papers and reports. Thankfully, I got a nice break today when I got to do a small amount of work in the lab. Wow, did that feel good! (And yes, I did in fact say that lab work felt good).

My non-work life also kicked up a notch. This past weekend, while the Stockholm half-marathon took place, I attended an outdoor FoxTrot and ChaCha dance lesson. What a great experience it was to dance by the riverside and to have all the runners go by us probably wishing they were dancing instead of running their 20th kilometer... Then, motivated by all this exercise, I decided to get a membership at a gym and went on Monday night. I'm still exhausted from the weight-lifting. Oh well, it's supposed to suck in the beginning.

Tuesday night was choir practice, and we've been loaded with even more songs (I think we have around 15 now and we'll probably get more). Then I found out that our concert in October is going to be 4 hours long. Seriously, I ask myself now, into what have I gotten myself? Fun times, that's what. :-)

And tonight, I have my first Lind-Hop class and I'm super excited for it. Hopefully, I don't pass out from exhaustion before it..

Then Friday, vacation in Greece for a week. WOOOOOoooooHOOOOoooooo!!!!!!!!!

I'm really glad that I have so many things going on again. I realized a few days ago that it's been a month since I arrived. Time sure does go by fast!  The only thing that confuses me is the weather. Autumn is already here, as in leaves are already changing colors. As lovely as the environment looks, the weather is definitely getting crummier and I can already feel the light disappearing.. When I first arrived, the sun set at around 9 pm, but now it's setting at 8 pm. And as weeks go by, that time will soon become 3:30 pm. I. can't. wait.

Supplies, at last!

Woo hoo! My research supplies finally arrived yesterday. It felt like Christmas had come early. I don't remember the last time I felt so giddy opening a box full of stuff!! Now that I have all my stuff, you'd think I could start working, right? Wrong. Obtaining the tissue samples I need for my research is a bigger hassle than I had anticipated. Too many ethical permits and applications need to be filled out... but luckily, someone else in the lab who has an ethical permit to collect tissue samples will help me. Whew.

After barely avoiding this obstacle, I became re-excited about commencing work... only to be brought down by some Swedish cold virus... Now, all I can do is stay at home and hope my immune system does its job. I know everyone gets sick at some point in a foreign country, so I was expecting this... but I have to ask the virus this: why now?  Why not two weeks ago when I had absolutely NOTHING to do? boo.

Other than my non-existent research, I'm starting to enjoy life out here. (I'm not sure if this is a result of the weather being sunny and warm all week). The acapella choir is really fun, but I should really start taking those Swedish lessons soon if I want to start understanding more than 2% of rehearsal. In addition to choir, I signed up for a Lindy Hop course. Why? Well, this form of swing dance is extremely popular in Sweden, and when in Sweden, do as the Swedes do?? So, I went to a trial course last week, it was incredibly fun, and now I'm hooked. :) This weekend, there's an outdoor Lindy Hop event. I will attend said event on two conditions: the weather and my health. So here's to good weather and a speedy recovery!!

By the way, a picture album of Stockholm will be coming your way very soon.  I just have to remember to start carrying around my camera everywhere I go.

Best class photo ever

While perusing Facebook, I stumbled upon this photo. It's from my kindergarten class. I seriously love the expression of the kid front center with his tongue out! Turns out this fellow was one of my good friends/neighbors back in the day... haha. :)

By the way, can you find me?