The Longest Day(s)

We left O'Hare on Thursday, January 16th for Sweden. The plane ride to Copenhagen was about 9 hours, which wasn't too bad considering I'd flown for 16 hours to China last year--this seemed like a breeze. Once we got tot Copenhagen airport, it seemed more like a mall than anything else. Everything from Gucci to Hermes! Then we took a small "puddle jumper plane" to Goteborg. And that airport was like a car showroom for Volvo in baggage claim. Then we took four taxis to the hostel, which cost $800 USD (yes, you read that right). Our hostel is called Slottsskogens Vandrarhem Hotell.

 We went a block down the street from our hostel and ate at Da Vinci, an Italian restaurant. It was such a small restaurant. When our group of 18 people walked in, you could see the customers’ and the staff’s eyes get big. We conversed with the waitresses while we ate; they were teaching us some Swedish words such as “hej” (hey), “tack” (thank you), and “hej da” (goodbye). I ordered a margherita pizza thinking it would be like the American margherita pizza, but it ended up being just a cheese pizza, which was really good.

Afterwards, J.J. walked us down the street to the main road with bars, cafes and shops. He set us free and we wandered into the first bar called Istalet Restaurant and Bar. It was a quaint place with a nice outdoor cabana that was heated. Then we went across the street to The Temple Bar. There is where Haleigh and I met a woman who works at Volvo Cars. She was very friendly! She is a tester at Volvo now, but used to work in research and development. She’s worked there for two years and really seemed to enjoy working there because she could practice reading and writing in English. She said that at her previous job, she didn’t get to practice English much because it wasn’t an international company. So she really liked talking to us because she could practice. We asked what she thought of Americans and she said that we’re very loud and outgoing and think America is the best place ever and everywhere else isn’t as good. She went on to explain that a lot of her views, as well as other Swede’s views of Americans come from movies and the entertainment industry. After talking to her our group went back to the hostel because we were EXHAUSTED. But then of course some of the people got a second wind, so some of us hung out in the room. It was a great first/second day and I’m so excited to go on the bus tour tomorrow to get a lay of the land.