Lucia, Eldkonst and Good-Byes

Tjena :)

Before I write anything I have to tell you that this will be the last entry for at least 3 weeks. I will go to Austria tomorrow and I guess I won't write anything during my time there - I'll give you an update when I'm back in Sweden.

However, last thursday the Swedes celebrated St. Lucia - I think nobody celebrates it, beside Italy. Basically it's a nice ceremony with a girl wearing candles on her head and Swedish people seem to love it - ever since I came here people kept telling me that this is a very special day. The ceremony was in the university - it was quite nice, but nothing special. Just a choir singing some St. Lucia/Christmas Songs (some of them are damn catchy "Santa luciaaaa*sings*") and afterwards we got free Julmust (some hot drink) and lussekatter...and a small present which I haven't opened yet (feels like a book...and it is a book which I won't be able to read*lol*).
On Friday there was another "event" called "Eldkonst" (Fire Art). Students of the University danced, symbolizing the different elements - since it was outside (and in the evening) it was really cold (I think it was one of the coldest days in Karlstad this winter). In the end they burned some wooden sculptures..it was quite cool, especially the "location" and the decoration was nice. Since it was so cold all the people I went there with wanted to go to some warm place as soon as possible and we weren't really able to enjoy it because we were freezing so much ;)

Well, those were the nice things that happened - the sad things are that many many people left or will leave soon. Elisabeth left on Thursday (Jonathan and I drove her to the station) and it's soooo strange that she isn't here anymore. On Thursday and Friday I had those typical "oh, let's ask Elisabeth what she's up to" moments, when I realized that she's already in Austria. Claudia left on Saturday, Harry today...Lena will leave tomorrow (I will bring her to the station) and so am I... And when I come back in January most of the people I got to know will be gone. This will be weird, I guess, because I have to start from the beginning with the new exchange students. I'm so glad that Jonathan and some other people stay next semester...

I hope/know that I will keep in touch with some people I met here, and I'm already looking forward to meeting them again in some months/years...

God Jul & gott nytt år :)
Manuel

...tell the northern lights to keep shining

Hej :)

Some hours ago I came back from Kiruna. Some people asked me where and what Kiruna is, so I'll give you a very short description - Kiruna is in the far north, approx. 1200 km away from Stockholm and sweden's biggest town up in the north. It's a really nice town that lives of the mining and tourism.

However, we went there to see the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi and to make some tours with sledge dogs, snow mobiles and snow shoes. Of course we also hoped to see the northern light...
We arrived on Friday around 1 o'clock - it was not that cold but already getting dark. A taxi drove us to our hostel (which was really good - it was like a small apartment with our own kitchen and bathroom). Later we went downtown to go to the tourist office and look around the town. On Saturday we were picked up from the hostel to get to the snow mobile tour - it was quite far away from Kiruna.
Driving with the snow mobile was really cool - it wasn't that cold (around 0 degrees, which is really warm ;) ) but we got warm clothes before we jumped on the snow mobiles. With the snow mobiles we drove through the forest, over frozen lakes, streets...until we arrived at the Icehotel. There we had time to look at it - and I must say that it's pretty amazing. It wasn't that special, in my opinion, but it was nice to see. I wouldn't necessarily want to spend a night there - it's much cheaper to go camping somewhere in Sweden's wilderness - and it has the same effect. Nevertheless, it's really cool to look at all the ice figures and the rooms. It isn't finished yet, so we couldn't see everything - but it was enough ;) Afterwards we drove back to the "camp" and had some reindeer meat with potatos.
The next day we went to church - oh yes. We wanted to have a look at the church and since our timing was perfect we were able to attend mass. Mass is probably the wrong expression - it was a christmas mass with christmas carols and Jesus-Story - played by adults, who sang some songs. It was interesting to watch - and to listen to the swedish ;)
In the evening we went for a walk - on snow shoes. It was nice...but since I'm not a huge fan of winter sports it wasn't my favourite activity - although I must say that it was fun to do. And we saw our first northern light - the sky was clear so we saw many many stars - and the northern light. The guide took us to a small hut where we had coffee, sandwiches (of course with reindeer meat) and cake.
On Monday, our last full day in Kiruna, we had time to do whatever we wanted. I decided to stroll around the city and go inside the town hall. In the evening we made a dog sledge tour - which was my personal highlight of the weekend. The dogs were really beautiful and well trained - they really had fun doing this. It was a very unique feeling to sit on the sledge, hearing the dogs and the sound of the sledge, watching the stars and the snowy landscape...it was really cool, I enjoyed it a lot. It was freezing cold (around minus 20 degrees) but we got good clothes there, so it didn't feel too cold. After the sledge tour we went for a walk - and we saw some more northern lights. It is so fascinating to watch them, I guess you can't believe it unless you see them yourself. We stood there for more than 1 hour to watch them in the sky. Most of them were green, but some of them changed their colour from yellow to red to green...fascinating.
However, today - Tuesday - we left Kiruna and came back here. I really enjoyed the weekend and if I ever have the change to go there again - I will do it. It was an amazing experience :)

So, that was my travel-report ;) Sorry if it's quite boring to read, but I'm tired - and I wanted to write it before I fall asleep.
I will write again later this week...
cu
manuel

OH YES - Of course you can watch pictures of Kiruna...here ;)

and btw - the headline is taken from a Tori Amos Song ("Amber Waves")

Rufus + Kiruna

Well, until tuesday I will be in Kiruna - this means no messages etc. before tuesday evening. But feel free to write me, I'll answer as soon as I am back.
Here's a short video of Rufus performing "14th street" not in Stockholm, but he sang the song in Stockholm too ;) (oh yes, I'm still amazed and in awe ;) )
greetings from Sweden,
manuel

forget all your troubles, come on GET HAPPY :)

Hejhej :)

I'm speechless. In awe. Unbelievable.
The past weekend was absolutely amazing - mainly because of the Rufus Wainwright concert, but also because of Stockholm. This time I had the chance to see some not-so-touristic parts of Stockholm and it was amazing. All the tourists go to the (boring) palace and shopping in the Gamla Stan where you find one tourist shop after another but the swedish people are somewhere else. I discovered some really nice cafés and a really cool independent bookstore that sells all kind of books - in english ("New York Stories" - Odengatan 100). The shop owner is a really nice woman who comes from NY but has been living in Stockholm for 25 years now... and the shop is really small and cosy, I almost forgot that bookstores like this exist (nowadays you mostly see these huge bookstores without personal contact and so-sophisticated-and-cool-looking reading cornes everywhere...that sell paperbacks and sheepworld-stuff).
However, I spend the whole saturday afternoon shopping for christmas presents and discovering some parts of Stockholm. In the evening I went to a small and really cool looking coffee house ("Chokladkoppen", Stor Torget 18, Gamla Stan) and had the best hot chocolate...
Afterwards I went to a bar and back to the hostel.
On Sunday morning I went to the Museum of Modern Art which was...OK. Nothing too special, in my opinion. There were some really good pictures (some Picassos ;) ) but nothing too extraordinary. They showed some movies of Gunvor Nelson, a swedish film maker/artist who made some interesting art-movies - mostly in the 70s and 80s up to today.
In the afternoon I met Linda, a swedish girl I know from a Rufus Wainwright Message Board. Together we went to the concert arena and waited for the concert to begin...and that was the Highlight of the whole weekend! The concert was amazing and the audience was in the perfect mood. Believe it or not, but Rufus is a much better entertainer than Robbie Williams. He's sincere, honest and really charming.
At half past 7 Rufus and his 7 bandmembers entered the stage and started the show which ended up being an amazing night full of surprises and greatness. He wore a green suit which glowed in the dark (*lol*) and after a 10 minutes break he changed to his fabulous Lederhosen from Austria ;). The encore was amazing...for the last 2 songs Rufus got dressed on stage - he was wearing a bath robe sat down and started putting on lipstick, high heels,... I know, this sounds freaky, but the crowed went wild. Then it got dark, the music started and his band members came on stage, wearing black suits and dancing a funny choreography...Rufus sang Judy Garland's "Get Happy" (original Judy Version... RUFUS VERSION). He ended the show singing "Gay Messiah"...
It was an amazing show (oh, I think I already mentioned that several times*lol*).
However, I could go on forever about the show... but I think I won't waste your time any longer ;)
Tonight we have a big christmas-dinner in my corridor, since this will be one of the last evenings where everybody is here... :(
On Friday we'll fly to Kiruna (that's in the far north) and I'm really looking forward to that. Although it will be really cold (today it has -12 degrees) but we will get warm clothes up there...

bye
manuel
PS: As always - you can watch some pictures HERE (I didn't take many pictures on the concert since they always end up looking blurry...)

Christmastime and more...

Hejhej :)

Well, Christmas is approaching quite fast...and I still need to buy all the christmas presents - which I will do this weekend, in Stockholm :) I'm going there to see Rufus Wainwright live (on Sunday...I can't wait!!).
However, today the university invited us to the museum to watch an exhibition about swedish Christmas traditions and to eat lussebulle and drink glögg (similar to the austrian "Glühwein"). It was really nice :)
Afterwards we (Lena, Claudia, Elisabeth, Hong, David) went to a small caffee to have some coffee/hot chocolate and cake. It was really cosy sitting there and talking... We might go out tonight, but I guess everyone is quite tired, but since it's the last weekend everybody is here, we should take the chance and do something.
Well, that's it for now...I'll write again on monday - when I'm back from Stockholm and I'm sure I will have a lot to tell about the concert ;) For now, a short video of Rufus performing "I don't know what it is"...enjoy :)
CU

Westcoast :)

Hejhej :)

Well, a lot has happened since last week...but let's start from the beginning.
First of all - I passed my Digital Imaging Exam...! I'm so relieved, because I thought I had failed ...but thank god, I didn't - which is quite surprising, considering that 10 of 17 students failed...(as you can see, Exchange Students HAVE to study to pass an exam...).
What else happened...last Sunday we baked christmas cookies, which was really cool and fun - in the end we had 6 different kinds of cookies - all of them taste great. (both pictures (c) by Elisabeth).
However, on thursday we had a huge international dinner at the university - every nation (well, almost) prepared some typical dish and we - the Austrians - made an "Apfelstrudel" with Vanilla Cream. It was really cool to taste all the meals - my favourite was the swiss "Käsefundue" - finally something that reminded me of Vorarlberg ;)
Speaking of which - I'm really looking forward to going home over Christmas. The closer it gets, the more I think about all the things I miss (well, kind of). Small things, like eating Austrian sausages (I don't like swedish sausages...believe it or not, they taste totally different), seeing mountains (although I already know that I will be annoyed by them after 1 day). And of course to see my family and friends again :)
Let's not get too sentimental...I'd rather tell you about the amazing trip to the westcoast.

On Friday Harry, Claudia, Elisabeth, Lena and I drove to the Westcoast - once again we started at 7 o'clock and drove to Fjällbacka, which is a small town at the coast. Ingrid Bergman used to go there regularly (it was her favourite town), that's why the main square is named after her. (some random information...in case you ever have to know it). The weather wasn't that nice, so we had to imagine how lovely the town must be in summer. We climbed on a rocky hill where we had a great view to over the town, the sea and many archipelagos...
Afterwards we drove to Smögen, another small town on an archipelago. We stayed in a cosy Hostel, directly by the sea. We even went to the sauna (small red building on the pic), which was next to the hostel - and afterwards we (well, Harry and I) sprang into the swedish sea to get a refreshment ;). It was really cool (*lol* notice the wordplay ;) )...
The next day we went to Lysekil, which is located at the Gullmarsfjord. The town itself wasn't that impressive, but the Fjord was quite nice, in my opinion. We drove on to Håverud to watch the aqueduct. We saw some amazing pictures of it in a travel guide but when we came to the Bridge of the aqueduct, we weren't impressed at all. There was a small sign saying that they open the sluices once a day - for five minutes - and only during summer. So our timing was really bad... Nevertheless, it was nice seeing it - and I learned what an aqueduct is, because I had never heard of it before...
The trip to the wecstcoast was really beautiful - Smögen and Fjällbaka are the typical swedish postcard motives with the sea, archipelagos, narrow red houses,... If I ever have enough money, I'll buy a summer residence there ;)
As always - you can watch some pictures on Flickr.

Today (Sunday) we'll go to a small christmas market in Karlstad - I'm already looking forward to that.
Next weekend I'm heading to Stockholm (again) to see Rufus Wainwright live (finally :) ) and buy some christmas presents... On the 7th of december we go to Kiruna (in the far north) and 11 days later I'm heading home...time goes by so fast....

Bye
Manuel

Stockholm...

Yesterday night I came back from Stockholm - I finally managed to go there. After 3 months in Sweden it was about time to go to the capital city.
We - Elisabeth, Harry (both from Austria) and Heidi (Finland) arrived in Stockholm on friday morning around 11 a.m. Since it's getting dark around half past 3 now and all the museums close at 4 we had to hurry to see something of Stockholm. We went on a boat-sightseeing tour and to the Astrid Lindgreen Museum "Junibacken". It's a really nice place, especially for Lindgren Fans and - of course - for children. Sitting in a small train you drive through the stories of Astrid Lindgren, and although it's mainly for children, we really enjoyed it there. In the evening we walked around the Gamla Stan (the Old Town), bought some souvenirs and went to a really cosy Pub.
The next day we got up quite early to go shopping and to see the Royal Palace. The palace looks quite interesting and nice, though you can't compare it to the Schloss Schönbrunn or any other Palace in Austria. We didn't go inside, because they had some technical problems (whatever) when we wanted to go inside and since we wanted to go to "Skansen" we didn't have much time to wait. Skansen is a huge open air museum/park/zoo on one of Stockholms islands. It was the world's first open air museum and shows a lot of old swedish houses. There are also a lot of nordic plants and animals, which makes the park really interesting. You could spend a whole day there, looking at the animals, the houses, the old shops or just walking around.
We had a good time there - and finally I saw a living elk ;) and reindeer.
All in all I have to say that Stockholm is a very beautiful city and definitely worth to visit. All the small Islands, the old buildings, fashionable (and mostly good looking) people, a very lively bar/pub scene and interesting museums make it to a very unique and cool city.
In 2 weeks (1st weekend in december) I'll go there again - on my own. I'm really looking forward to explore more of this amazing city. :)
To see some pictures - click here.

Walk to the lake

Well, just a short entry - I uploaded some new pics. Click here to see them.
I walked to the Vänernlake today - finally. I planned to do that for quite a while, but never had enough time to do it. But today I got up and thought that I should do it, since I don't have to study or work on a project. It's quite a long walk, so it takes some time to get there (all in all it took me 3 hours to go there and back home). It was really beautiful and I took many pictures.
!!! - you won't see any human being on the pictures! Only trees, water, more trees and sometimes even stones ;)

Well, that's it for now - I've written everything else in my last entry (Halloween and stuff...)
Cu
Manuel

Halloween and stuff...

Hejhej :)
It's me - again ;) The last few days were really busy and stressful - learning for the exam, preparing the project,...enough stuff to do. But finally I have some spare time and nothing to learn.
First of all I had my swedish exam last friday (not yesterday) - it went OK, i guess. The exams in Sweden are totally different than in Austria - there are special rooms for the exams, and when you enter the room you have to show your ID and a person checks your name on a list. Then you get a number - and you have to sit on the table that has the same number. So you can't choose where to sit and who's sitting next to you... You're only allowed to have a pen and something to drink/eat on the table - no clothes, no papers, nothing. Everything must be put in the back of the room. During the exam some guards walk around (!) and check the student IDs. Of course they also make sure that nobody's cheating. Totally different than in Austria.
However, yesterday I had my second exam (WebDesign and Digital Imaging) and it was OK - we were allowed to use computers to write the HTML Code, so the WebDesign part was quite easy (at least for me). The Digital Imaging Part, however, was quite hard - we weren't allowed to use a computer and had to know all the photoshop functions by heart. Honestly, who knows where to find which tool and how it's called without actually sitting in front of photoshop?
Well, time will show if I answered enough questions correctly.
On Tuesday we had the presentation of our Homepage and thank god, it went really well. Jelka, Doreen and I did a very good presentation, in my opinion. We did a Homepage for a swedish Trash Metal Band called "gotma". You can find the Homepage here (ONLY for Firefox).

On Wednesday there was a Halloweenparty (of course) and since I really was in the mood for dressing up, I decided to put some effort in my costume. Yeah, this should be a Freddy-Krueger dress up. Too bad I couldn't find some good gloves/hands with knifes ;) But I was quite satisfied with my bloody face with the scars and the burned skin.
The Party was not very special, which was a shame, because I was really looking forward to that. Quite a lot of people were dressed up - but the most shocking thing of all - most of the americans didn't dress up at all.

Well, yesterday there was another party at the campus but I didn't stay too long. Before the party, Jonathan, Elisabeth and her brother (he's visiting her) came to me and we were sitting together talking in my room - it was really nice and interesting because we had a really good conversation. Around 11 p.m we went to the party, decided that it's not good, and went home around 12. I met Sofia and Andreas in the kitchen - what really surprised me, because usually both of them party all night long. Not this time. They didn't like it at the party (so I wasn't the only one ;) ). We ended up talking and eating for quite a while. It was the perfect ending of the day, in my opinion :)


So, basically that's everything that has happened in the last few days. Boring, isn't it ;)
Oh, some random information - I booked my flight home (so everybody who wants to meet me or go on holidays to avoid meeting me ;) - I'll be back home on the 19th of December, but will most likely go to Salzburg on the 20th - just for 1 day ).
More random stuff - I started baking again! (I used to bake quite a lot when I was younger)
I baked bread last week - why? Well, I made some "Kaiserschmarrn" for an international dinner we had - 16 people from 9 nations - everybody prepared a meal from his/her country - it was delicious ;) However, making the Kaiserschmarrn got me in the mood for baking. So I baked bread some days later...and today I baked even more bread and muffins. Probably I quit studying and become a Baker instead ;) just kidding.

That's it for now...feel free to contact me if you want to share some stories or some recipes ;)
Manuel

Ingenting

Some Swedish music...KENT - Ingenting, taken from their new album "Tillbaka Till Samtiden".[Back to the presence"]
The video is strange, but I really like the song (and the whole album :) ).
Enjoy :)

When the days get shorter...

Hejhej :)

Winter is coming fast. Almost too fast. It's getting colder and darker - the sun already sets around 6 o'clock (check the time on the picture). And it will be even earlier after the clock change. Wohoo! And I've just realized that this is my 3rd picture of a Sunset here...sorry for posting so many of them, but I really think that a post without any pictures is boring, therefore I post some nice sunsets instead of stupid pics of myself ;)

Well, 1 week ago my best friend from Austria came to visit me - I showed him Karlstad, all the cool shops here and some of the (few) sights. I tried to show him Sweden's Partylife, but I failed miserably. The parties on the campus were really boring last week (8 people on a birthday party...hello?!) and the other "parties" were more or less just sitting together and drinking. B-O-R-I-N-G. Well, I guess it's because now all the exams start and people realize that they actually have to study, that's why they are called Students ;) We were at a Salsa Party, which was really cool - in the beginning. Some Mexicans showed people how to dance Salsa and everybody was dancing and having fun - but then they changed the music (to some strange music) and everybody left the room/the party...oh well.

Nevertheless, we had/have much fun together. We bought some winterjackets (that's why I'm broke now...70kr (approx. 7 euros...) left on my swedish bank account) and we strolled around the city, drank a lot of coffee and had a good time. He made a lot of trips (to Örebro, Oslo, Stockholm and Gothenburg) and he'll leave on Tuesday.
This weekend he went to Gothenburg, so I have some time to learn (yeah...). Next week I have my swedish exam, I hope it will be ok.
Oh, by the way - I got good mark (a "B") for my "Discrimination Laws in Austria and Sweden" Essay I had to write for the Aspects of Sweden course... :)

So, that's it so far...I'll go back to my swedish stuff ;)
cu
manuel

Oslo

Hejhej :)

Sorry for not writing for such a long time...quite a few things happened, but lets start from the beginning.
Last Sunday (30th September) Jonathan, his girlfriend, Elisabeth and I made a "Pancake breakfast" - we met in the morning and made Pancakes - at least 40. We ate them with whipped cream, vanilla sauce, jam and - the most delicious things of all - Nutella. (we all agree that nothing's better than Nutella on a warm Pancake...yummy). In the evening Claudia, Elisabeth, Lena and I made some Pizza and watched a movie...so that was last weekend. ;)
During the week nothing too spectacular happened...I went to the hairdresser and paid a fortune for a new haircut - Swedish style. Nevertheless, I look like Manuel, the Austrian guy desperately trying to get a new style.

This weekend we (Claudia, Elisabeth, Mathieu and I) went to Oslo, Norway. We stayed there for two days (Saturday, Sunday) and it wasn't enough time to see all the sights of Oslo. My first impression when I came to Oslo was "well, quite nice, but not too extraordinary and not too beautiful" but as soon as I saw some more parts of Oslo I changed my mind. Oslo definitely has a lot of things to offer but - to quote my beloved Lonely Planet Travel Guide - "it [Oslo] doesn't make a big fuss about it".

Beside historical buildings (Parliament, Theatre...Palace) it has a lot of interesting museums. For example the Vikingship museum (if you're interested in vikings) or - my personal favourite - the national Gallery. Like in London, the entrance is free and it has quite a good collection of nice art. I guess Munch's "The Scream" is the most famous one, but in my opinion, it's not the most interesting picture in the gallery. I really liked some of the Norwegian artists, like Tidemand, J.C Dahl or Fearnley...I could go on for hours, but I think it'll bore you... Speaking of artists - like Barcelona, Oslo has its own Park for one of Norway's most famous artist Gustav Vigeland. You might not have heard of him before but I guess most people know his sculptures. The Park was really fascinating and beautiful, I kind of liked it more than the Park Güell in Barcelona (although this is also a very nice Park and - in fact - quite different than the Vigeland Park).

Oslo is also quite famous for its ski jump, the Holmenkollen (honestly, I've never heard of it before...but apparently it is famous because everyone else is crazy about it). It's a nice place and you have a great view over Oslo from top of it. It reminded me of Innsbruck's Bergisel and the whole atmosphere there was like in St. Anton or any other Ski resort.
So, before I bore you to death with all my babbling about Oslo's museums and sights, I better stop - I uploaded some pictures - click here. Have fun watching them and probably let me know what you think of them (Feedback is always good ;) ).

So, that's it for today. On Thursday my best friend from Austria comes visiting me - I'm really looking forward to that and I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun (and of course, I'll take some pictures of it ;) ).
Tjena!
Manuel

RoadTrip

Hejhej :)

Well, after I've recovered from my muscle ache from thursday, I went to a Roadtrip to Örebro. Harry, Claudia and Elisabeth, the other Austrian guys, took me with them (thank u :) ).
We drove to Örebro, watched the sights there and went strolling through the city. Örebro is a really nice town with a very beautiful castle. I guess it's really romantic in springtime, because the river that surrounds the castle has a lot of water lilies. Obviously, they weren't in flower anymore.
In Örebro there's also a mushroom-shaped water tower. When I first saw the pics I thought that it's not really beautiful and nothing special, but as soon as I stood next to it, I changed my mind. Still, is certainly not the most beautiful building in the world, but it's quite nice. And you have a great view from top of it.
Afterwards we drove to a hill a few miles south of Örebro. There was an exhibition called "Konst på hög" and there were some really strange, but somehow good-looking things to look at. (check the pictures here to see the obscure objects).
In Karlskoga we went to the Alfred Nobel Museum, which was quite interesting, but you didn't really learn much about his live. Basically you just saw his house and the rooms he used to work in. However, it was quite interesting and especially the area around the house is really beautiful.
Kristinehamn was the last station of our Road Trip. It's a small town near Karlstad and there's a Picasso statue. It's nice, but nothing too special. I was more interested in the cool looking tree opposite the statue ;)
We came home around 7 o'clok and I was really exhausted...but there was a Theme-Party going on (Dress up as your favourite movie star) and since I told everybody that I'll be there, I had no other chance than going. But I didn't dress up, because I had a) no idea and b) nothing funny to wear. Some people were really dressed up which was really funny ;) I met Superman, 2 pretty women and hang out with Madonna (see pic). Probably I'll dress up on the next party, depending on the theme ;) Although I was tired, it was a funny party.
I'm already looking forward to the next weekend - on Friday there's Sofia's Birthdayparty (the finnish girl on my corridor) and on Saturday I want to go the Nöjesfabriken.
But before the weekend I have to study...I must write an essay about the differences of the Swedish anti-discrimination laws compared to the Austrian ones *yuck* I'm so glad when this course (Aspects of Sweden) is over...
Well, that's it so far... I'll write again as soon as something spectacular, important, unbelievable, whatever thing happens. Meanwhile, you can check the Örebropictures and the new Partypics...
Manuel

Working out...

Well, yesterday I had my first working out-training. Basically I just got instructions, how to do what and which stuff is good for me etc. Today I went there again, working out by myself. And I have to admit - I like it. It feels really good and honestly, I can't wait to go there again ;)
I even bought some special Protein-Drink, because I don't want to lose weight (I'm already too thin).
Well, in order to have a good work-out, music is very important, in my opinion...and Róisín Murphy (former Moloko) definitely has the style... Enjoy the video ;)
cu, your sporty Spice...äh...Manuel

Sunset always seems sweeter...

after you've traveled far (by Rufus Wainwright - he's a genius). How right you are, Mr. Wainwright. I love sunsets and I've seen many beautiful ones (and I'll never forget the one in Ibiza...) - but here the sunsets are really beautiful, as you can see in the picture. The whole sky gets orange/red and then turns to blue...beautiful.
Well, right now I sound really cheesy and "oh I wish I could have someone to share those very special moments with..." but no, I just felt like talking about it ;)

The weekend was really calm - I decided to take it easy and NOT to go on a party - although there were several parties going on around the campus (as almost everyday). I watched some movies instead and did a lot of work for the web design course.
This weekend I'd like to go somewhere. Some people might go to Örebro and I'd like to join them. Although I don't have much money left now because - and this is sooo strange, I still can't believe I did it - I subscribed for the local gym. How weird is that?! Me - lazy bastard Manuel - going to the gym. But I decided to start doing some more sports.
In Salzburg I tried with jogging, which is fun sometimes, but most of the times I really had to force myself to go out and run. And in winter I don't like running at all.
Here I wanted to try Capoeira (Martial Arts), but after watching some videos of it, I thought that this might be a bad idea (standing on one foot, twisting around, jumping up and landing on the other foot,...come on, I can't even do a handstand right, how on earth should I manage to do something like that?!).
So I decided to go to the fitness center - I can do whatever I'd like to do, listen to some music and feel really sophisticated ("yeah, look at me, I'm so trendy with my hip NIKE sport clothes and my stylish MP3 Player"). On Wednesday I have my first try - someone will give me instructions and advises me what things to do. It's quite expensive to go to the gym, but I hope this gives a reason to go there frequently (it was expensive...so I want to use it as often as possible...even if it's just for sitting at the bar, watching people and drinking some disgusting carrot-broccoli -whatever drink).
However, I'll let you know how I experienced my introduction to the sweaty gym-world.
Vi Ses!

Partying...and Ikea ;)

Hej!

Another week has passed...it was quite a busy week, lots of courses and quite a lot of work - but it was fun doing it. On Wednesday I went shopping - Swedish style - IKEA - yeah ;)
But I can tell you - Swedish Ikeas don't look different than the ones in Austria. Except that you don't understand anything and you don't know if that strange thing in your hand is supposed to be a carpet or a blanket. You just know that it's called "Ludde" and that it could work as a carpet but also as a blanket...well, those are the huge problems you have to cope with when you're in Ikea ;) Nevertheless, I found some nice things for my room - for example "Lykta", my beautiful "70s-like-retro" lamp. Or my new "I cost just 50 kr, so buy me and throw me away after 1 year" carpet called "Agger"...Finally my room is more comfortable and cosier than before.

On Thursday we had a big "Welcome Dinner" - it was the last part of the Orientation Days. A big dinner at K6 - it was funny and I met quite a lot new people, because you couldn't choose were to sit (you got a number for the seat and you had to sit there). So you couldn't stay with your friends, which was - of course - a bit sad, but also quite good, because so you had to talk to new people. The Host Students planned the whole evening and sang various songs, which was quite funny. Afterwards every nation had to go on stage and perform one song from their home countries. It was really funny when all the Germans (it must have been at least 60 people) entered the stage and sang a Sportfreunde Stiller song...and of course Austria had to sing too. We were just 6 people and sang "I am from Austria"...well, or at least we pretended to sing it, because only a few people knew the lyrics to it...I was just humming along, singing some words I knew. I guess I'm a bad bad Austrian for not knowing the lyrics of the unofficial Austrian hymn...

Afterwards most of the exchange students went to a nightclub nearby (ARENA) and of course I joined them ;) It was quite cool there, although the music was really really strange. People who know me know that I like dancing to almost every type of music, as long as the DJ is good and knows which songs go well together... But I think the DJ at the Arena was on drugs, because he played songs like "I'm a gummibear" and other Aprés Ski Hits, followed by Rhianna's "Umbrella" (in a cool Umbrella/Cinderella version [I found it (free&LEGAL) on last.fm (I [Right click - save target as...]) and some Techno and Rock stuff...My musical brain was really confused by all this style-jumping. Still, I had quite a lot of fun there, danced and laughed a lot.
On Saturday I went to the Nöjesfabriken ("Fun Fabric") - another big Nightclub in Kalrstad.

Before I tell you how I liked it, I'll tell something about Karlstad's Nightlife.
There are several bars and 3 Nightclubs - "Arena" (for people 18+), Nöjesfabriken (entrance for people 20+) and BlueMoon (23+). And - that's the most disturbing thing here in Sweden - ALL the Bars & Clubs close at 2 o'clock a.m. It's really strange compared to other countries (especially Spain/Ibiza, because there the party starts at 2...*g*). Of course this doesn't mean that the party is over after 2 o'clock,because a lot of people go to private parties afterwards...

The Nöjesfabriken - it's huge - really huge. There are 3 dancefloors (House/R'n'B, Rock/Alternative[with live bands], Swedish Schlager), a bowling alley, several Bars, Go-Kart, and a Restaurant - all in one building. It's massive...almost too big. Of course I had most fun in the House/R'n'B room - the dancefloor was really big and crowded, everybody was dancing and having fun. The "Schlager Room" was strange - I think you can compare it to the Aprés Ski Rooms in Discos like "Nachtschicht" or A14 - just without the kitschy plastic cottages.
Although the Nöjesfabriken is so huge, it was quite crowded - it seems as if everyone between 18 and 40 goes there to have fun. And of course all the fun costs something...80 Krones (about 8 €) for the entrance. One beer costs 50 krones (~5 €) - but thank god, I only drink coke (20 krones = ~2 €).
So, it was really cool and I think I'll go there again soon...

That's it for now...I've added a new gallery (click here )with some beautiful pictures from the Värmland-trip & some other party pictures...Enjoy :)

First week @ University

Well, I survived the first week at University. As I wrote on Monday - it was really crowded and I have a lot of lessons. So far I really like it.

Web Design is good, although I already know most of the stuff we're doing right now - but I think this will change as soon as we start working with Photoshop CS 3 and Java Script. This is my main course and I have it 4 days a week...which is quite much, compared to the other courses. But I hope we won't get many assignments to do at home...
Swedish as a foreign language - well, we didn't learn much yet, because we were split into 4 different groups - that's all we did. Tomorrow I have my first real Swedish class.
Aspects of Sweden - hm, well...what shall I say...we talked about politics in Sweden, which is quite interesting, but it was a bit too long and I was too tired to follow every word the teacher said...But this course will be finished in 4 weeks, so it won't be that long...

The University is cool - a lot of buildings, a huge library and 3 cafeterias that serve delicious coffee and good food. You can also bring your own food and put it in the fridge and warm it in the microwave - I've never seen this before in a university, but I think it's a cool idea. All in all the food there is quite healthy, compared to other universities I know.

On Wednesday my "Survival Package" from Austria arrived - When I packed my suitcase, I went out of space (obviously) so I bought a big cardboard box where I put all the things in, that I need in Sweden, but didn't fit in the suitcase. After I've arrived in Sweden I told my father to send it to me. It contains all the important stuff I need to survive, like winter jacket, a second blanket, a flat iron(!!), pictures...and my running shoes (I have some resolutions to become more sportive...).


Jonathan (the canadian guy, remember?) moved into his new apartment on Wednesday and invited Elisabeth, me and a friend over for dinner. We ate Köttbullar & Potatis (meat balls with potatoes), a typical swedish dish. It was really tasty :) Afterwards we went to a small party at a host student's apartment, where we met some other exchange students. Some people went to a nightclub later, but I decided to go home, because I was tired and had classes the next day. Nevertheless, it was a really nice evening...
The rest of the week was quite calm - except for Saturday:
We went to the "Värmland Trip" - it's part of the Orientation week. We drove to a beautiful lake in Hagfors. There we were able to make some activities like Mountainbiking, Canoeing, walking...or just sitting there and relax. In the morning I went canoeing - it was really funny and exhausting (who would have thought that it is so hard to move a small boat through the water?!). The weather was just perfect for this... In the afternoon it started to rain (thank god Eva helped me out with a shelter*g*), nevertheless I joined some people on a "GPS Tour" - we got a small GPS device and had to search coordinates. It was like a scavenger hunt - if we found a coordinate, there was a paper telling us the next coordinate and so on... Absolutely no sense, but it was fun, though.
Back home I was so tired that I wanted to go to bed immediately. Since it was too early to go to bed I joined Sophia and some other guys from my corridor in the kitchen, where we watched Oceans 13 and Dirty Dancing (*lol*)...

Well, that's it, this was my week...thanks for reading ;) some pics will follow soon.
Manuel

First course...

Today I had my first course at University. "Web Design and Digital Imaging" - today we learned some basic stuff about HTML and the Internet - nothing new to me, but still, it was really interesting and I think we'll do some cool projects during the semester. I have a lot of lessons, I was really surprised about that...
I wasn't nervous, when I woke up today - but when I went to the university and saw all the people and hundreds of bikes and cars I really got excited. Compared to the University of Applied Sciences in Austria, this University is huge. Someone told me that there are 10.000 students, which seems kind of unbelievable...

On Saturday everybody was really tired because of the party on Friday...nobody was in the mood for partying. Nevertheless, I went to town, where I met Matias - a cool Swedish guy I've met on facebook. He took me to a birthday party and to some pubs. It was really strange, going on a birthday party where I knew absolutely nobody, but it was cool, though. I met a lot of nice swedish people and had a lot of fun. I even learned some new Swedish words (although I've forgot most of them already...).

Sunday started with a big breakfast that Andreas, a fellow-austrian, prepared for us. He made bacon, eggs, coffee...everything that's important for a good english breakfast. Afterwards we decided to go to the lake. So we went to the beach - although it was really really cold and very cloudy. But we thought that it might be the last chance to go to the lake (soon it will be much colder and who knows how much time we'll have when the courses start...). Although it was quite cold, we had a good time on the Vänern lake. The last few days I was on a smaller lake near the Campus but this time I went for the big one ;). We found a nice Bay with rocks and sand and enjoyed the sun (luckily the clouds were gone quite soon).

So, that's it for now...I write again soon (prob. tomorrow when I had more classes...).
I also uploaded some pics of the first Week in Karlstad on Flickr (click here)...
cu

Party, Relaxing, Party...

Tjena!

Well, where shall I start…the last few days have been really good. On Thursday we had some more lectures and were introduced to the sports program of the university. I think I’ll going to do some “Martial Arts” stuff, like “Caiopeira”. Some guys played “Floorball” – definitely no game for me ;)

In the evening I did nothing…yes, you read right, I did nothing at all. I had dinner and went to my room, watched some sitcom-episodes, went for a walk in the sunset and went to bed quite early. After 3 evenings of partying until break-down, I needed some rest. I think most people needed it, because you couldn’t hear any loud music or loud talking on the Campus on Thursday night.

The next day, on Friday, I finally went swimming in a Swedish lake (I’ve been looking forward to doing it for quite a long time). Some people went to a lake nearby the Campus (30 minutes walk) and I joined them – it was a beautiful lake and actually I was surprised of how warm the water was. It felt good swimming there and relaxing on the shores – finally a day where we had free time, no lectures or information about anything.

In the evening there was an “International Party” – everyone should wear something that represents his/her nationality. Well, too bad that I forgot my Lederhosen at home…So I just wore a red T-Shirt and put some (white) letters on it, that say “Austria”. Very creative, I know, but I didn’t know what else to do. I wasn’t the only one who didn’t have anything to wear, so it didn’t really matter. Before we went to the party, Elisabeth (another Austrian student from the Burgenland) and I went to another party of some Swedish people. We wanted to meet some Swedes and Alex (another Swede, he lives in the same floor as I) told us to go there – and he also told us, that we had to make the first step, because Swedish people don’t start talking to strangers. And it’s true – if you want to get to know someone who is Swedish, you have to start talking with them. At first we were just standing there, not knowing what to do (we’re both not the “hi, what’s your name? start talking to me now!” type…I guess, we have some Swedish blood ;) ). Nevertheless, after some minutes of embarrassing standing there and not knowing what do to, we finally went up to a guy and said “Hej!” and “Skåne” (Prost!). And then he started talking to us (unbelievable) in Swedish (even more unbelievable) but when he recognized that we didn’t understand a single word he was saying, he spoke English. We ended up talking for more than 1,5 hours, which was really nice, because we talked about really interesting stuff like the differences of the Swedish and Austrian culture, politics, our studies…stuff like that. Afterwards Elisabeth and I went to the international party. It was really crowded and funny and I met a lot of people there.

Tonight there's another party...and I'm going to meet some guys downtown, they'll show me some cool Pubs and Bars - I'm already looking forward to that, although I think I'll be quite tired...

Well, see you soon :)

Jag talar lite svenska...!

Hello again...or should I say "Hej!"?
It's really strange if you live in a country where you don't understand the language. At first I thought it was an interesting experience, but by now I'm quite annoyed, because it's not funny at all, if you don't understand a word (or, let's say, you don't understand any important words. Just basic smalltalk stuff like "how are you"). If I go somewhere, my first question is "Hej! Talar du engelska?" (Hi! Do you speak english?). Of course most people here speak english (quite well, too) but I really hope that I can speak at least some swedish soon. I try to remember all the swedish words I read somewhere (on the street, supermarket,...) but I forget most of them...I hope this will change soon.

Well, yesterday we had our first day of orientation - some interesting informations about the University, Sweden, Karlstad...and of course lots and lots of new people. All in all there are about 190 exchange students, most of them from Germany...some US-Americans, Canadians, Italians, also some people from Thailand and many many other countries. And - so far I've met 5 other Austrians. But I try NOT to stick together with german-speaking people, because I want to speak english (and swedish ;) ) and so far it really works well.
I've also met Jonathan, a Canadian guy - we had some contact before, through Facebook and met yesterday for the first time. He's really nice and he has a girlfriend in Gothenburg. He's a "free-mover", which means that he doesn't have the support of an exchange program, so he has to organize everything by himself, but I think he's doing fine so far.
So, as you can imagine, I met a lot of people, heard a lot of different names and spoke a lot. Gladly, I spoke in english, most of the time. In the evening we went to a student's Pub called "K6" and had some drinks (all the international students and some host students were invited to join). It was really nice, everyone was talking to everyone and I met some nice people from Sweden and Norway.

The people who live in my corridor are quite nice, too. More about them a bit later, when I know them better (I think you can't really judge someone after a few days...especially if everything is new and overwhelming).

Today we had a guided tour through the town and some swedish games, like "Brännboll" (it's similar to Baseball) and "Kubb" (a very strange game where you have to throw wooden sticks on other wooden sticks and...well, let's not get started with that). It was really funny, but now I'm really exhausted and tired.
By the way - the picture you can see above shows the Monument on the "Stora Torget" (Main Square) of Karlstad...but nobody here likes it and it was voted for the "ugliest place in Sweden" twice.

And - I'm really proud of that - I managed to make a bank account, finally. If anyone wants to give me some money - just ask for my account number ;)
So one more thing I can delete from my "Thing's to do" list. No news on the internet problem, though. I hope this will change soon.

So, that's it so far - I promise that I'll upload some pictures and make a flickr-diashow, but I forgot my camera yesterday, so I haven't taken a lot of photos yet (stupid me, I know ;) ).
Hej då!

Hello World :)

I'm still alive...;)
I'm in the University again - finally managed to get my ID for the wireless network, so now I can work with my own laptop.
The last few days have been really good, although it was quite strange living without internet. I'm not used to it anymore. I explored Karlstad and the area around the campus. Yesterday I went for a walk on the "Vänern", the biggest lake in Sweden. It's really nice there, although it's different than I expected it to be. I don't know how to explain it, but I imagined it to look somehow like the "Bodensee" or any other lake in Austria. But no, it's different. There are many islands in the lake, so you can only guess how big it is, because you don't actually see far. I hope you know what I mean... The picture above shows the lake - the thing on the right is such an island, so the lake is much bigger than it appears.
Enough of the geography-lesson ;)
Today I'm going to make a new bank account and call some internet providers - there MUST be a chance to get internet access without a swedish ID.
The orientation days start tomorrow - some lectures about sweden, swedish habits/customs and some other stuff.
So, that's it so far...writing again soon
Manuel

Here I am...

Finally - I'm in Sweden. And finally - I have access to the internet ;) I'm sitting in the university right now, trying to type on the swedish keyboard (the Z and the Y are switched). I don't have any internet in my room yet :(
Well, my journey was nice and as promised, I used Gregor's "RFOL" technique...

Zurich Airport:
Ok, I'm feeling excited now. I'm sitting in front of the gate, waiting for it to open. My heart beats fast. I*m excited, afraid and sad.
Excited because of what's going to happen to me. Afraid because I hope that everything goes well with my flight (and that my suitcase won't get lost). Sad because of all the people I had to leave behind.
Well, the gate opens soon, I write again late...

Some time later...
I'm sitting in the plane, somewhere over Germany (Frankfurt I guess). Honestly, I don't know what to write...so far it's a nice flight. I watched some funny Tom&Jerry Cartoons, ate a tasty muffin and now I'm calm and relaxed. The pilot just announced that there might be some turbulences du to heavy winds, but I guess (and hope) we'll survive it...
later :)

9.10
I'm in Copenhagen now, waiting for the Gate to open (again...). I really really hope that everything's ok with my baggage and that it's on the same plane as me.
Denmark seems to be a beautiful country - at least it looks nice from above. Note to myself - visit Denmark soon. So far I just know that it's flat. Really flat.
I know that some other students will arrive in Karlstad at the same time as me - I wonder if I'll meet them here...although it would be a big coincidence.
The airport in Copenhagen is really nice - it's quite big and there are lots and lots of stores. If I had time (and money) I'd stroll around a bit.
Boarding starts, cu later

9.40
Ok, I'm sitting in the plane - if that's the correct expression for this "thing". this must be the smallest plane I've ever travelled with. 20 people were on the bus to the plane - and the plane is nearly full. But it's cool, I feel like a guy in one of these adventure movies on their way to "treasure Island" ;)

10.05
We're flying...and it's wonderful watching the landscape on the ground, it's completelty different from anything I know. The flight itself is a bit "bumpy" and loud, but it's ok.

10.30
Sweden looks really nice from above. I'm already in love with the small islands in the lakes. Really cool. Unbelievable how many lakes there are...! So far I've counted more than 60 lakes.

Soon after this last entry I arrived in Karlstad. And those must be the most boring entries ever written ;)
I picked up my suitcase (it didn't get lost ;) ) and a met 3 other exchange students, who I've already seen on the plane. We were picked up and brought to the campus - there I unpacked my suitcase, called my parents and tried to realize that I'm actually here...in Sweden...away from home.
Björn, a Host Student with whom I already had some contact (StudiVZ...) came by for a short visit and answered some of my questions.
The rest of the day I explored the area around my room, went shopping (more about that later...) and in the evening there was a small sitting-together-and-having-some-drinks in the kitchen, where I met some nice people from the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, Germany and America.
So, my first day in Sweden was really nice...
Sorry for NOT posting any pics right now, but I'm using one of the computers from the University...
Manuel

Sverige, jag kommer!

(Sweden, here I come!)
Well, my last night in Austria for a very very long time. In the last few days I met some friends, said Goodbye and shed some tears (oh yes, men can cry...). I've started to realize that I'll be away for several months, away from my home, my friends, my family. It's not like I can catch the next train and stay home for a weekend, no, next time I come here will be on Christmas.
But honestly, I'm not that sad - because I know that I'll see my friends and family again and that we stay in contact. It's not like we'll never hear or see us ever again. Still, some good-byes have been really hard...

And I'm really looking forward to Sweden. I can't wait to explore Karlstad, see the swedish landscape and meet some new people.
So, all my bags are packed, I'm ready to go (100 points if you know the song ;) ). Tomorrow, 4 o'clock a.m my father will drive me to Zurich. 7.05 a.m my plane to Kopenhagen leaves. And at 11 o'clock I'll arrive in Karlstad, where someone will pick me up from the airport.
As soon as I have access to the Internet, I'll write a short note. In the meantime I will do "RFOL (right from on location)" (Copyright by Mr. Schmidinger ;) Gregor wars *fg*) which means that I'll write down my thoughts on a piece of paper and re-type them, when I have access to the internet.
So, Good-Bye, hej då...see you in Sweden :)
Manuel

Time to say goodbye...

The last few days have been full of "Goodbyes", "Good Lucks" and other wishes... On Friday I had dinner with my best friend and his girlfriend (who is also a good friend of mine). It was really nice, talking and eating the delicious chinese food...Afterwards we played "Singstar" - of course I lost ;)
it wasn't really a "Farewell-Dinner", because we'll see each other again before I leave, but nevertheless, it was a nice evening that I'll remember, when I'm in Sweden.

Yesterday night I went dancing with some of my friends - my last weekend in Austria had to be "celebrated" in a proper way, so we've decided to go to a disco (instead of making a farewell party...).
It was really cool and funny - as always, when we go out.(don't know why I look so angry in this pic...:-/ )
Well, within the next few days I'll meet some more of my friends to say goodbye...

And I have to pack my suitcase and organize some more things. I planned to go to various doctors before my departure (dentist, orthopedic specialist, dermatologist,...) but I think I can't consult them all in one week...As always I postpone the awkward things until the very end...
Then I have to contact Erasmus, because they sent me the contract so late (on Friday), they won't be able to give me some money before end of September (signed contracts have to be sent to them 1 month before the departure...).
And of course I have to pack my suitcase...so I won't be bored this week, that's for sure.
I'll keep you updated,
m.

London, Baby!

Yesterday night I came back from London - I had a great time there, sightseeing, shopping, relaxing...We (my best friend and I) had much fun and I'd say we saw everything that's important of London.
The Hostel we stayed in was quite good, too - but, when we wanted to check in (tired of the journey, at half past 12 a.m) the guy on the reception wanted us to pay 192 Pounds, because he didn't believe us, when we said that we had already paid over the internet. Well, we tried to convince him but he got quite angry ("Don't tell me how to do my job"...shit like that) and in the end we paid the money but went to the manager the next day - who gave us our money back. Apart from this small incidence everything was fine with the Hostel. Rooms were good (8 people in one room, so you can't expect a french bed ;) ), breakfast simple, but ok.
London was great, as always. One day we drove to Highgate and Hampstead, suburbs of London, but they still belong to London and are connected to the tube. It was really amazing, because you have a great view over the city center and Hampstead is full of idyllic lanes, unbelievable that this is still London.

Of course we went shopping, too. And - obviously - I spend most of my money on CDs. Next time I go to London I will sleep in the Virgin Megastore...;)

Well, the thing that REALLY was exciting - when we wanted to fly back to Salzburg, Austria:
We entered the plane, the plane started, flew for 20 minutes...and turned back. The pilot said something about a problem on the plane's backside and that we have to return to Stansted and continue our journey later. Well, that sounded OK - but when we landed in Stansted, they announced that the flight will be CANCELED, because the airport in Salzburg is closing and won't let any planes in. F*ck.
Well, so we had to book a new flight and because everyone in the plane wanted to do so, the good flights were soon gone. We told the (really nice) guy on the Ryanair desk, that we had to go on a wedding on friday, so we REALLY need to be in Austria by friday morning. If we had some money, we would have stayed a little longer in London, but w/o any money and no booked hotel we had no other chance than to find a flight.
We ended up booking a flight to Venice on thursday morning, 6.30. So we had to spend the night at the airport, where we met 2 nice girls from Salzburg. We had a blast together (oh, that sounds nasty ;) ), talking nearly the whole night in the arrival hall.
Nevertheless, at 6.30 we flew to Venice - this time without a return to Stansted. In Venice we took the next train to Innsbruck, both of us tired, dirty, sticky and exhausted. The journey to Innsbruck was OK, one italian conductor wanted to charge 50 Euros, because we forgot to put a stamp on our tickets (WE DIDN'T KNOW! Nobody told us...!) and since we didn't have any money left, he wanted our passports, to contact the embassy... Well, to put it in a nutshell - we were f*cked up (sorry for the strong language...). We went off the train at Verona and a nice italian lady, who heard the whole 50-euros-for-one-stamp-wtf? thing on the train, took us to the costumer service, where she told the whole story. In the end, they said that conductor didn't write down our names and won't contact the embassy...so we're well off. Who would have thought that italiens could be so nice? The lady who helped us, had to leave and we had to catch our train, so we couldn't invite her on a drink or sth like that...but she really helped us, so a BIG THANK U...if she'd ever read this ;)
The rest of the journey was calm...

Well, and in one week I'll be heading to SWEDEN. Finally I got an e-mail from Erasmus and now I can download the contract, sign it and send it to them. And I still haven't packed anything...! I'm starting to get really excited. I will arrive in Karlstad at 11 a.m, someone will pick me up from the airport (I already got a e-mail telling me where to go...Oh, I love how the scandinavians organize everything :) ).
I'm off now, trying to pack some things and sign the contract...
Manuel

2 weeks and 1 day...

...then I'm in Sweden. I'm really looking forward to it. Until now I had the feeling, that it's not that big deal to leave Austria for 1 year (or longer) and told everybody that it's not that hard for me to leave. But last night I couldn't sleep because so many thoughts were in my head.
Thoughts about my friends, family, things I have to do before my leaving,..stuff like that. I began to wonder how the goodbye will look like...

Well, I'm planning to make a small farewell-party next saturday...nothing big, just me and some friends, going to our favourite Disco/s and having some fun...
On Saturday I'm going to London with my best friend - I'm really excited, I love London (my fav. city) and hope to have a great time there...
Manuel

Kent - Den döda vinkeln

Some swedish music to get in the right mood for Sweden ;)
Another good song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwPdIpqBML4

Sitting here...

in a boring room...
I'm moving out of my room in Salzburg - this is my last evening/night in my room on the Campus. I'll miss this room, because I spent so much time here and there are so many memories connected to this small apartment - good and bad ones. Well, and now it has come, the time to leave Salzburg (at least for a week...) and soon I will leave Austria behind and start a new chapter of my life in Karlstad, Sweden. I still can't believe that I'm actually away for 1 year....
Yesterday I said goodbye to all of my colleagues and friends in Salzburg and on thursday there was an "end of semester" party. I'll see some of my friends during the holidays and I really hope that we'll keep in touch afterwards...
Enough sentimental babbling, let's get to some news.
I still don't know how much help/money I'll get from the Erasmus program. Yesterday I was at the international office, but they told me that Erasmus had some problems with their database and that they'll let me know how much money I get as soon as they know.
Furthermore, my flight to Karlstad changed - I'll leave from Zurich on the 17th of August, 7 a.m - not 10 a.m as planned. They rescheduled the flight due to some weird circumstances I don't understand...so now I'll arrive in Karlstad 2 hours earlier, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Tomorrow I'll leave Salzburg and go back to my "real" home (although Salzburg feels more like home than Vorarlberg...), at least for some days...
bye
manuel

Oh, and btw - I changed the layout a bit and uploaded this strange, cheap-looking banner. I'll change it when I come up with sth better.

Hej Sverige...

Hur har du det?
In a few months I'm in Sweden and I'm already so excited... In the last few weeks I had some Swedish lessons - at least I can speak some Swedish yet. The funny thing is, that some words are really like "vorarlbergerisch" (my austrian dialekt), so it's not hard for me to remember the words ;) If I forget something, I'll just start speaking dialekt*lol*
I still can't believe that I'll spend 1 year in Sweden...I think I'll start believe it when I'm in Karlstad, sitting in my Swedish room (on my Swedish IKEA Bed), looking at the swedish forest outside and smelling Swedish air. Probably I'll listen to ABBA while during that ;)
I've already started listening to some Swedish bands, such as KENT - they sing in Swedish, so I can learn something from listening their music...;)
Hej då,
Manuel

Eintrag 1...noch in Urstein

Kaum zu glauben...in nicht einmal 3 Monaten bin ich bereits in Schweden!
Der Flug ist gebucht (17. August), das Erasmus-Formular abgeschickt (nun heißt es warten...) und soeben hab ich die Bestätigung für das Studentenwohnheim in Karlstad bekommen - ich werde in meinem Wunsch-Domizil, dem Campus Futurum, unterkommen *freu*
Nun kann es also losgehen...ich mach mir schon allerlei Gedanken über das Gepäck, welches ich nach Schweden mitnehmen werde. Brauch ich Töpfe? Geschirr? Was soll ich zum essen mitnehmen? Wieviel Kleidung? Fragen über Fragen...ich hoffe, ich finde bald Antworten darauf.
Ich freu mich jedenfalls schon riesig auf Schweden...gut, es ist nicht Bowling Green (wohin ich ursprünglich wollte), aber dennoch bin ich überzeugt, dass Karlstad mindestens genauso gut und interessant werden wird :)

So, das wars für erste...mehr gibts zu gegebener Zeit ;)