Best of...

WARNING! This post will include a lot of pictures...sorry for that, but I think that's the best way to present them. My first intention was to present the most beautiful/funny pictures but somehow I ended up making a collection of pictures that remind me of the good times in Sweden/Karlstad...a lot of pictures are missing, since I tried to keep it as "short" as possible...Also - it will be a bit sentimental :(
This won't be my last entry..I plan to write a final conclusion in the next few days - and I'm sure I will post some random stuff before flying back home...for now, enjoy the pitures...

Lena, Elisabeth and me...we had a great time, I miss them! But I'm going to meet Elisabeth back in Austria :) and Lena hopefully in Munich...

Sandra, Theresa, me and Christoph on the Värmland trip...seems like years ago, but it was last autumn...and it was a great trip! (picture from Theresa)

One of my favourite Oslo shots...again, it was a great trip and actually I wanted to go back to Oslo in spring...well, next time ;)

Me, Elisabeth and Mathieu in front of the Munch Museum... THE SCREAM :P

When my best friend from Austria came to visit me...it was great! I'm so glad that he came! I'm really looking forward to seeing him again!

Alster lake..one of my favourite Spots here...

The Westcoast-trip with Lena, Harry, Claudia and Elisabeth...this must have been the most beautiful trip ever!

A jumping picture during the westcoast trip (picture from Harry)Claudia and me in the Icehotel...it was so cool! Kiruna was a very special and amazing trip... (picture from Claudia)

the last "group picture" (sadly Elisabeth and Jonathan are missing)

Stockholm in December..that's when my love for this city started...and it was the first time I saw Rufus live, which was truly amazing! And it was realy nice to meet Linda, a fellow-rufus fan :)
2nd term in Karlstad...the winter was dark and without much snow...but the sky looked really cool sometimes...

Sofia, Carl, Ilana and me...all of them are great people and I'm so happy that I met them!
*lol* on a lazy afternoon in February- the TV was running and Sofia, Ilana and Jimmy were cuddled up in our kitchen and sleeping...
Me, Ilana, Sofia, Carl and Jonathan...the Bangers :D I'll miss them all, but I know that we will meet again! Probably not this year (Carl and Ilana), but definitely within the next 2 years... (picture from Ilana)
Stockholm, again...in spring I REALLY fell in love with this city. Partly because of all the nice people I met there (Niklas, Mike, Freddy, Linda...to name a few) but also because of the beauty of the city and the surrounding islands...
Sofia..a very beautiful picture...We were the "hard core" in our corridor and I really enjoyed the time with her...We became really good friends and will definitely stay in touch...
Gothenburg/Göteborg - another amazing trip and another beautiful city...Jonathan, Hong and I stayed at Sanna's place (Jonathan's girlfriend) and the whole family has been so kind to us...! It was a great time...
Malmö with Hong and Jonathan...I will never forget this trip... (picture from Hong)
Jonathan and Hong...two really dear and close friends and I'm so glad that I've met them! Again, we are going to stay in touch and meet again...Hong will come to Austria soon (for the Eurocup) and Jonathan plans to come to Austria in autumn...and I plan to fly to Canada next summer (it's really on top of my list).
I'm going to miss both of them a lot...but as Jonathan said this morning when we brought him to the station- this was just the beginning...

Stockholm again ;)

Hej :)

4 more weeks to go!! Unbelievable how fast time goes by :(
Anyway, last weekend I went to Stockholm and it was great. The weather was perfect - warm and sunny. I arrived there on friday afternoon, met a friend and we had dinner with another friend of his. Afterwards we played Guitar Hero, which was quite funny but I prefer SingStar ;)
Anyway, it was nice but not very exciting. On Saturday I went do "Drottningholm", the royal castle, which is located a bit outside of Stockholm. It was really beautiful - the castle has a huge garden and it's a very popular place - not just for tourists, also a lot of Swedes go there to relax since the garden is really peaceful and beautiful.
Afterwards I went shopping for some spring clothes, then I met Niklas and some other people at Tantolunden (a Park in Södermalm). Afterwards we had a small BBQ in another Park which was really nice.
I guess I never had so many BBQs as in the last few weeks ;)

However, that was my trip to Stockholm - it was quite calm, but I enjoyed it a lot. Though it was a bit sad to say "good bye" to the people there and Stockholm...But I hope it's more like a "See you", because I really want to come back.
I don't know why, but I love Stockholm. Sure, it's not a huge city and some people there are probably a bit "snobby" but the town itself is so beautiful and the atmosphere is great. All the small islands that are connected with each other give it a "special feeling". I definitely want to come back...

Well, I came back home yesterday afternoon, then I met two friends for ice cream and a walk around the town. Afterwards I had to clean up my room, because I have my room inspection today - an obvious sign that I'm going to leave soon...

So, that's it for now. Sorry, that was a very boring entry - but I'll try to make the next one a bit more exciting ;)

As always, click here for some pictures from Stockholm :)

This time I took a lot of random pictures, because that's how I want to remember Stockholm, and I already have tons of pictures of the Royal Palace and so on ;)

Manuel

The ultimate experience...

Hej everbody :)
I'll excuse in advance for a very Rufus-related entry. I'm sure I'll write something like "it was so great" for about 30 times in this entry.
However, for all the people who are not interested in reading a loooong breakdown of my weekend in Stockholm (which had more to offer than just Rufus [though Rufus was the main thing ;) ]) here are the hard facts:
it was great; I met a lot of nice people; I had fun (in every sense); Rufus was amazing-both times!;

So, let's start..with thursday, because that was when my weekend started. You could call it the "Pre-weekend-Party". We had a very tasty Schnitzel-dinner in our corridor (Dominik, an exchange student from last term was here to visit us..and he made the Schnitzel) and afterwards Martin, Lukas, Maria and I went downtown to see a concert. The Swedish band "Johnossi" played at a local club and since I really enjoy their first CD I didn't want to miss them. However, the concert was nice but not too special. Actually, it was quite "loud", but I enjoyed it anyway. The small picture shows the band.

On Friday I finally drove to STOCKHOLM, something I had been looking forward to for more than 2 months... I arrived there around 4 o'clock, went to the Hostel, grabbed something to eat, strolled around the city and looked at expensive, but perfectly fitting jeans - but I didn't buy them (now I wish I did...). Then I went back to the hostel, had a shower and went to a Party I was invited to.
The Party was on Södermalm (an island that's part of Stockholm) and started around 7 p.m. I was quite nervous, because I just (kind of) knew the host (Niklas) and nobody else. But it turned out to be really good, because I met a lot of really nice people (Swedes only ;) ). Since it was a swedish Party it (obviously) was a "Pre-Party" and around half past 11 we went to a Nightclub nearby. And well, what can I say? It was great, I had a real blast there - dancing, talking,...and so on ;) (this is the wrong place for more details)

The next day I met some people from the night before. We had brunch at a nice cafe (String) and afterwars we strolled around Södermalm and Djurgården. At 4 o'clock I met Linda - I know her from the last Rufus concert and she bought my ticket for this Rufus concert. We walked around (you see, I walked a lot in Stockholm) and waited for the concert to begin. We were really nervous and looking forward to it...The concert was at "Dramaten", the Royal Theater, a really beautiful place with a very nice flair.
It's hard to describe the concert itself, because it's something that you have to experience yourself to believe it. It was amazing and really special - and we had tickets for the second row! Rufus came without his band, so he sang and played the piano or the guitar himself and although his music is quite opera-like with a lot of orchestration and instruments, his songs worked really well "stripped down" like that. And once again, he proofed that he is a great entertainer. He really rocked the place with his witty comments about Sweden/Stockholm, Sylvester Stallone and other things. He's just so authentic when he is on stage. He makes mistakes and laughs about it - and the audience laughs with him and he means every single word he says. He doesn't have a script with jokes he tells every night, because he tells something different every single time.
After the concert Linda and I went to the backentrance to wait for Rufus to come out. We met some other Rufus fans (mostly people from the off. Rufus Messageboard) and together we waited for him. He came out and was really nice - he tried to talk to everybody and signed CDs, tickets, pictures... Since there were so many people we couldn't take a picture WITH him but I took plenty of pictures OF him. It was really nice meeting him - finally. Though I was quite nervous and I didn't know what to say...but he told me that he loves Austria and that it's so beautiful there :D *faint* Obviously I needed some time to calm down afterwards..I was really tired and just went Downtown to meet a friend at a bar but I left quite quickly because I was so sleepy...

The second concert on Sunday was even better, although the first concert was really hard to top. Rufus played different songs, talked a lot and told many funny stories - and he recognized some people in the audience who were there on the night before. It was really special and amazing...I had goosebumps on both evenings, especially during "Ready to Love", "The art teacher" and "This love affair"...AMAZING!

On Sunday (before the concert) I met Niklas again, for a trip through Stockholm. We went to the TV tower (but the weather wasn't that nice, so the view wasn't as impressive as it should be ;) ) and afterwards we went shopping. His boyfriend came back from work and we went to have lunch at a wok restaurant and shopped some more...But I didn't buy anything, because I really should save some money. It was hard, but I resisted buying some really good looking and perfectly fitting clothes - I didn't even buy a CD! Nothing! I spend my money on food (and the entrance to the nightclub) and nothing else. I'm surprised of myself, though I wish I had bought some clothes...hopefully next time.

It was a perfect weekend in Stockholm...and I really want to go there at least one more time before I leave Sweden...
More pictures of Stockholm
More pictures of RUFUS
Anyway, here's a Video of Rufus - not from Stockholm though. Listen to the song - or at least the awesome piano part around minute 2.45...

Farewells...

Hej!

Sooner than I planned to - my new entry.
Ilana and Carl have left :( They had a big Goodbye Party on Tuesday and yesterday we had a big "fika" (coffee/tea time) in our kitchen and a lot of people showed up to say goodbye to them.
It's really sad... It's hard to realize that they are not here anymore. I got so used to seeing them nearly every day, hanging out with them, going out, laughing,..just having a good time.
But I hope we'll meet again. Maybe not this year, but hopefully next year - I really want to go to South Africa. The picture shows me, Ilana, Sofia, Carl and Jonathan - hopefully there will be a re-union :)

What else is there to say... something went wrong with my course registration and I missed the first class yesterday, because I didn't know about it (haven't got any information). It was just a 20 minutes class to get some basic information about the course, but still, I hate the feeling of having missed something. Anyway, the next class is on Tuesday and I'll be there - with or without registration.
I'm heading to Stockholm tomorrow - Party on Friday, concert on Saturday (and maybe even on Sunday...) :) And hopefully the weather will be nice...Last time I went there, it was cold, dark and rainy. At least it won't be dark this time (sunset around 7.30 p.m) :)

Nice weekend, everyone!

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...)

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.