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