Movies, Cooking, and Basketball

Last Sunday a few of us went to dinner and a movie. It's so strange that even the simplest things like going to a movie, are so different than what I am used to. Before we could go to dinner we had to buy our movie tickets first. After dinner, (we ate at a Chinese place. Not the best food and not the worst) we went back to the theatre to watch The Mysterious Case of Benjamin Button. FYI, probably the saddest movie I have ever seen. But thats not important, I just want to let you know how the theatre is. There is a Mcdonalds and a grocery store connected to it. They dont care if you bring in outside snacks or drinks into the movie. You can just go to the grocery store and grab a snack or drink and then go watch your movie! This could be why the movies are so expensive though. I think it cost almost $14! I later learned the reason why we had to buy our tickets early. Apparently they have assigned seats!! It was definitely a new experience!

As of this week, I have two classes now! I started Intercultual Communication which is also on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I think it is going to be an intersting class. Plus it is going to be a huge help! For Ball State, I have to write a cultural comparison paper to get credit for a class this semester. The interculutral comm. class, pretty much covers everything that I plan on using for the paper. The class on Tuesday is from 1-3. The teacher gave us like a ten minute Fika break. (fika is what the Swedes call a coffee break. They love love love their coffee). On Thursday we had class from 1015-12. Got a 5 minute break in that time. Had a lunch break from 12-115. went back to class from 115-3 and also had another break in that time. Its fun! :-)

I have also started cooking lessons. My friend David is giving the lessons to me because I cant cook. So on Tuesday we made noodles with a cream sauce and bacon mixed with it. Proud to say it turned out and was edible! yay! Passed day 1 of class :-) On Thursdays, since we are at school for lunch, I get to eat the traditional pea soup and pancakes! Ahh its sooo good!

Last night, I went to play basketball. There were 3 of us from Rosenborg that went and nine people total. However, I was the only girl. It was actually a lot of fun, but I learned that I am completely out of shape and today my body hates me! I feel like I have been hit by a bus or something! When we went last night, I just thought we would jump write into playing games. But I was wrong. The first half hour was like a middle school basketball practice! We did lay up drills, the three man weave, and dribbling drills. It kinda made me laugh! Eventually we did get to play three on three tho!

The something I have noticed section is actually getting hard to write. I have been here for a few weeks and the stuff that I first noticed as strange is just becoming a part of every day life. But with that being said, I'm sure I can always find something! Swedes like to be on time. They want to be on time and they want everyone else to be on time. Teachers always point this out and really expect you to be in class, when class starts. Not walking in a couple of minutes late. To help with the act of being on time, busses actually stick to their schedule. You know that when the bus schd says the bus comes every half hour, it will be there every 30 minutes. Some of the bigger bus stops have these computer genereated signs that says how many minutes you have until your bus comes. Its a very nice system becuase everything seems to run so smoothly!

Here are some pictures that I have taken this far. Just click here to see them!