Sweden- day 4 (I'm going to stop counting soon)

Let me first say that I hope many of you are reading this during class, preferably some especially boring class like professional responsibility. For every time you do, you get a bonus 10 Sebastian points (can be redeemed for prizes and love at your local Sebastian).

Man! Lots have happened lately, so much so that I didn't write yesterday. Let me go in order of importance.

First day of class. We met for the introductory lecture to "Comparative legal history and contemporary jurisprudence". I am SUPER stoked for this class. It covers many things I am independently interested in, such as history, Islamic law, roman law, jurisprudence. ALL of these issues I would consider taking a class on just them, and now I get them all in one low, plus I get to see comparative law from a truly international perspective. The class had it's first meeting in the Garden of Linne. Apparently this building was his tool shed or something, because it was right smack in the middle of the garden. It felt very historical (go Europe). There were about 20 students in the class, half of whom were Swedish. The other half was comprised of 2 Yanks (me and Dylan), two Aussies, 1 Kiwi, 2 frogs, a Dutchman, and some others I don't remember. We all talked about where we were from, and the different types of legal systems we used. Very informative. More than half the classes are seminars, in which we are split in half to only 10 students. I am already pleased with the quality of the education. This will be the only class I take (apart from a Swedish language course) until mid-semester, when this class ends and I take "Law and Psychology". This seems to be a uniquely Swedish system of intense study. Much reading to do this weekend.

Pub crawl! Last night was the nations pub crawl. All the nations' pubs were open without cover, and international and Swede alike went from pub to pub. I went with the crew from my dorm, Ekeyby, and we had a grand time. One fellow, and Aussie named Josh, is leaving Saturday after a year in Sweden. I talked much with him, and he seemed very bittersweet about leaving. He imparted much Uppsala knowledge on me. Other than that there was Emma, Aussie, Dylan and Julie, American, Mattias, German, Clair, Belgium, Yitaly, France/Russia, and Stephan, France (I think). I'm already getting to know the faces and (sometimes) names of other people around, from all over the world. Come to think of it, I haven't met anybody from Africa or South America yet. Bummer. Anyways, the Nation of choice for Ekeby is Värmlands nation, as they have the Friday night dance parties and as a member you get in for 10 sek instead of 60 sek. I figure I'm down with that.

The decision, however, was not easy. Today at 1 there was a sort of nations fair, much like the RSO fair at Chicago. They tried to woe us with various means. Candy, fruit, promises of fun trips to Finland and St. Petersburg. One Canadian girl representing österlands nation put forth a strong argument to join in that she was cute and was flirting with me. But in the end I saw the true good in life (money) and acted accordingly.

Speaking of Värmlands, Värmlands had it's first Friday night dance party of the semester. Ekeby show up in good numbers. It's a well kept secret that I love to dance, well kept because I've only dance in the presents of the Zhu-crew in China, and at one dance club in Miami (ask Nick Winning, he'll tell you how I tear up the floor). However, since I'm in a foreign country again, my inhibitions melt and I dance again. Värmlands party seem in many respects like frat parties. They are big and anonymous. However, since much of the interactions are in a different language and culture, I don't notice people being jackasses (if in fact they were. Which I assume they were). I just got some drinks and hit the dance floor. I started out slow but soon summed up all my adopted Dominican blood and tore things up. At one point (you'd be proud, Max) I ended up handing somebody all the stuff from my pockets and doing a handstand. Most of you in the states will never get to see this side of me unless it's a Scav hunt party, there is a hopping dance floor, and I'm really, really drunk (and what are the chances of those three happening at the same time?)

I've spent my limited free time exploring the city. I've been to lunch at some of the nations (they most all have little cafes), bought a Swedish phone, a bicycle, found a second hand clothing store and a comic book shop. I don't even read comics anymore, but it's comforting to know it's there if I wanted to. I'm still tired, taking naps in the evening.

I'll take this last bit to tell you a little about Sweden. Sweden is Europe with a Scandinavian twist. To explain- Europe is like America with everything a little off. The streets are smaller, the cars are smaller, the road signs are in funny colors, and everything is older and more cobblestoned. Buildings are quaint and cute. People have an odd mix of style and bad style. Men wear tight pants.
Scandinavia- it's cold, dark and snowy. Even coming from Minnesota, people really are tall and blond. The style is very interesting. Because people are well used to the cold, they do cold weather wear very well. All the women have cute snow boots. People have warm jackets with fur linings. Uppsala itself is a great small city. About 190,000 I heard. 40,000 of those students. People say this is THE university town in Scandinavia. It's also called 'little Beijing', because there are bicycles everywhere. Everybody bikes, even in the dead of winter. It's a very historical town but a young and vibrant one at the same time. It's also fairly international. I have met several non-Swedish non-students running shops and such. All in all, a good deal.

The Swedes themselves seem a little standoffish with strangers. All the Swedes I have met have commented on this (and how they like to go against that grain). Past this I have not gleamed so much. I will continue to investigate.

For now, a long sleep and weekend.

-The Wandering Norseman-