I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once. ~Jennifer Yane

Hello everyone!

It's been a little more than a week since my last blog update, and I'm sorry about that. I have been a very busy but productive girl!

Last weekend my friend Caylie and I decided that we should take the ferry over to Denmark to check out the town of Helsingor. Unfortunately when we arrived on the shores of Denmark and starting walking around the streets- there was nothing going on. It was like a ghost town, the streets were empty, narrow, quiet, and dark. On the ferry over to Denmark, Caylie and I had some Albanian guys who were trying to trick us into following them to a bar, but of course we aren’t that naive. When we got to Denmark and saw that we were somewhat alone and we had those creepy guys following us around, we only had once choice. We decided that we’d rather go back to safe Sweden, our new-found home where at least we knew where everything was, and the night life was a little fuller with activity. So, we climbed back onto the ferry and boated our way back across the water. Thankfully we did that because when we got back to Sweden our night turned around. We had a lot of fun and met some new people, so all and all we had a good time.

The next day I was able to spend some time with Alicia, which was really nice as well. We went to the mall here, they just opened up a new wing and Alicia and I had not seen that yet so that's what we decided we would do. It was fun to see the Swedish style, I really like some of it. But the funny part is that so many things in this mall had the American flag on them, or something about America... it warms my heart. haha! 

On Monday, I was bombarded from all different sides. I found out that my first college exam was going to be held on Wednesday, and on top of other homework, I had to produce a three page essay for History. That had me a little stressed, but of course I never lost my head. On Monday I also had to get several things in town done.

First of all, I had to go and talk to the Swedish school to find out when I could start classes. When I got to the school, the lady at the desk didn’t speak English. Regardless of the communication gap, I learned that I was supposed to go to the tax office first and get a form before I came to the school to sign up. I would have to go and get that paper from the tax office and then come back on Wednesday to register. I then walked to the tax office, and on my way there I stumbled upon a local foods market in a churchyard. That’s one of the great things about living here, I never know what I am going to find!

After acquiring the proper paperwork from the tax office, I went to the bank to ask them why it was taking so long for them to open up my new account. My mother once told me “the squeaky wheel gets the oil” and that saying definitely held true in this situation. I went into the bank and asked them what was going on, and they had completely forgotten about me! I got that all straightened out, and I felt so good about how much I had already accomplished that day. Lastly, I went to a gym that’s here in town to ask about a membership. I think joining a gym will be very beneficial, not only from the health perspective but also because when it starts getting colder I still want to be able to run, or dance, whatever I want to do. I have to wait until the bank actually opens my account before I can become a member of the gym, but at least I know now that is definitely something I want to do.

The next day was filled with studying and brainstorming. On Wednesday I logged onto my school website, not really sure of what to expect from this exam. I was told that I had forty minutes to complete the test, but I wasn’t told how many questions there were or what kind of questions they were so I of course rushed right through it. I only used 16 out of the 40 minutes! There were forty multiple choice questions on this test… not exactly what I thought a college exam was supposed to be like but I’m relieved. Now when the next one comes along I'll have nothing to stress about. 

 Also on Wednesday, after completing my "college exam" Caylie and I headed over to the Swedish school together to sign up for classes. I am so excited that we are doing those classes together, it will be a lot more fun with her there with me. We got signed up for our night classes, they will be every Monday and Wednesday from 5pm to 8pm. Hopefully that's enough for us to learn decent Swedish in a year! 

I have since then finished my essay, and now I’m sitting nice and relieved on a Friday night. 

Well, now you all are caught up in what’s happening in the world of Cori. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!