Jag är i Sverige!

I made it to Sweden! The last few days have been really busy, so its hard to know where to even begin! So I am going to just break down the past couple of days into sections.
Trip to Sweden
My flights over were pretty uneventful which is just fine with me. I lucked out because on 2 of my 3 flights no one sat with me so i had the seats to myself. I flew from Indianapolis to Philly to Manchester England to Oslo and then took a 3 hour bus trip to Karlstad. FYI: the manchester airport is by far the most dirty and creepy airport I have ever been to. I was trying to find the bathroom at one point. I got directions and had to go down a narrow stair well to the bathroom. No one was around and it was kind of dimly lit. I felt like I was in a scary movie! I opened the bathroom, but there werent any lights on and I couldnt find the switch, o but of course when i looked down, the switch was level to my knees. Ah such a logical place for a light switch!
Host Students
Karlstad University has a program set up so international students get host students to help them them get settled in. In my group we have two Swedish girls (Anna Stina and Ida) who are hosts to me, Sarah from Canada, and Kathrin from Germany. They are so nice and have been so so helpful! They met us Sunday night at Rosenborg (our corridor) after we arrived and helped get our luggage up to our rooms and to make sure we have everything we need in our kitchen (like plates and glasses, which we have 0 of btw, but that should be changing). On Monday, they showed us around town, helped us get bus passes, and they are letting us use their old cell phones so we don't have to buy one while we are here! That was a nice surprise :-) If I didn't have them, I would be completely lost and confused! So to Anna Stina and Ida: Tack saa mycket! You girls are great!
Rosenborg
I live in a building named Rosenborg. My room is actually quite nice. I have a bed, 2 desks, 2 chairs, and cabinets/shelves plus my own bathroom and shower. There are two kitchens on my floor and less than 20 people. The kitchen I have to use is disgusting. But after talking to other international students, most everyone else has a gross kitchen no matter what place they are staying in. I dont understand how mine is so dirty though. I havent seen anyone in my kitchen. The only way it can be this way is if the students from last semester just left all of their garbage and dirty dishes with cleaning it up. In my kitchen there is also a dinner table and a living room type of deal. There is a couch and a tv (which btw plays american shows. i have been watching the hills from like 4 seasons ago and Americas funniest videos). My building is three floors. I live on the third floor. On the ground floor there is a ping pong room, a laundry room (i think it may have been the first laundry room ever built from the looks of it) i have no idea how to work the washers/dryers and all the directions are in swedish. Should be interesting! In the laundry room there is also this drying closet thing. Apparently, you hang your clothes in this thing and it dries them? im not really sure. We also have a sauna. I havent looked at it yet though. Rosenborg is kind of like Laffollotte (one of the really old dorms at BSU). Its really old and kind of ran down. I think after we leave they are tearing Roseborg down this summer.
Karlstad University
The university is about a 25 mintute bus ride from where I live, but the ride is not bad at all. We have had orientation the last couple of days. Tuesday was a very long day listening to lecture after lecture of information about the school. We also went on a little tour of the school (and btw, their tours are not like BSU. The didnt walk backwords and talk at the same time.) The different buildings do not have names like Braken Library or Cooper Science. Instead they are numbered: hus 1, hus 2, etc. The university has a very modern look to it. I heard that in one building there is a classroom that is shaped like a big egg. You can see the Egg shape from outside of the classroom, but once inside it is just like a normal classroom. I will take pics of it soon so you can see. The way they schedule classes is different too. For example, right now I have no clue what time/date/or building my classes will be in. And i just found out today that one of my classes has been cancelled so I have figure out what I want to replace that class with.
Karlstad - The City
Karlstad is a neat little city. I can walk to the city center in about 20 minutes or take the bus and be there in like five or ten minutes. The city center is called Stora Torget. There are lots of shops and banks and those sorts of things around it. Today, we had tours of the city and also played a scavenger hunt type game. Basically it was for us to go out on our own and try to figure out where things are. Most of the sidewalks and walking areas are brick and have a cobblestone look to them! The city is surrounded by water and the houses are very cute. They look like old wooden farm houses, but are painted and look new and nice. Something that will take getting used to, is crossing the road. It's not becuase they drive on the opposite of the street (which they dont, they drive like we do). Here people have the right a way to walk at all corners or where there is the white lined walk way. They just walk out in the road and the cars stop for them! It is hard for me to do that. I sometimes catch myself stopping and waiting until there are no cars until I cross the street. Heck if you walked out like that in the US, you would get ran over!
The People
There are lots of exchange students from Germany, The Netherlands, Finland, and about 6 from the US. The past few days I have met soo many people and heard many names that I cant even say, let alone remember. Its funny when I meet people and they ask for my name. I say Brittanie, and they are like oo ok like Britney Spears. I have heard that quite a few times now. And when they ask what state I am from, I of course say Indiana knowing that most people probably have no idea where that is. But there have been two people who say they have a "connection" to Indiana. One girl's mom was an exchange student in Indiana when she was young and another girl had an aunt who lived in Indianapolis. Last night, all the exchange students went to a place called The Bunker in english. It is a place for students, ran by students and I guess a lot of people call it their second living room. It was a pretty neat place, kind of felt like a house. There were lots of couches for everyone to sit. Getting to the Bunker was a problem though. Sarah (from Canada) and I left Rosenborg and took a 25 minute bus ride and from there we were lost for about 35 minutes until we finally found it.

Sorry this was so long and probably pretty boring. I havent taken any pictures yet, but for the next post, I promise there will be some! I should probably get to bed now. I am still jet lagged. I fall asleep for like 2 hours and then I am awake for 4 hours and then try to fall back asleep :( Another thing that is difficult to adjust to is the darkness. It gets dark about 330 or 4. It makes me so tired! O and the weather here is about like home. Well I guess not so much now that you guys have snow! I left home and then it snows and I come to Sweden right after theirs melted! I hope everyone at BSU is have a great first week of school! :-)