Relay Time!

Dear Family and Friends,

I cannot believe that it is almost April! Relay For Life, the signature fundraiser of the American Cancer Society, will be held at The Colorado College from May 2nd to 3rd this year. As most you know, I started Relay at Colorado College with Caitlin, my fabulous roommate, in our freshman year. I am incredibly excited that this will be Colorado College's third Relay! I am writing because you have either supported my Relay For Life efforts in the past (thank you!) or because I think that you might be interested in this fantastic cause!

As you all know, I am currently studying in Jönköping, Sweden. Even though I will miss Relay at Colorado College this year, I have been actively involved in the planning and I want to support it as much as possible. Relay For Life is a twelve-hour overnight walk that honors cancer survivors, remembers those lost to cancer, and inspires everyone to fight back against this deadly disease. The money raised from the event goes directly to the American Cancer Society's revolutionary research programs and advocacy efforts, which are increasingly important as we approach the election season. The money raised also supports community outreach programs that assist cancer patients and their families. I cannot stress enough how vital the American Cancer Society's work is to saving lives, each and every day.

This year, I am going to Relay Swedish style! I will complete the twelve-hour walk using Lake Munksjön as my course (during daylight hours, in the interest of safety). Details are to be determined, but I am excited. I am aiming to raise $1500 for the American Cancer Society this year. I was so amazed at the $1050 in support that I had in 2007, that I had to up the bar. If you would like to make a donation and support Relay For Life at Colorado College 2008, please visit the link at the end of this email. We are hoping to raise $40000 with the Colorado College Relay this year. I know that we can do it!

I hope that you are having a wonderful start to the spring season! Enjoy the sunshine!

Peace,
Courtney

Relay For Life at Colorado College
Great West Relay For Life Youth Task Force
Great West Division Region D Regional Council

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If you would like to make a donation, please visit Colorado College's Relay For Life website:

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Another beautiful day...

It was sunny and gorgeous here today! New classes are starting this week, beginning with Swedish 2 tomorrow. I am ready to get back into learning Swedish. Swedish 2 is supposed to emphasize speaking more, so hopefully I will be able to communicate a bit more than "Hej" in the coming weeks.

My new favorite Swedish phrase is: "Ej testad på djur" - not tested on animals - which can be observed on exactly one brand of shampoo in Jönköping. Thank goodness because my other bottle had run out and I was not going to wash my hair with death!

Three Cities in Three Days

On Monday, I embarked on a crazy whirlwind trip south. I basically had the week off from classes, minus the International Trade final exam I had yesterday (I guess it could have been a week of studying...yeah right). I really wanted to check out Copenhagen, which happens to be very close of Malmö and Lund. I figured that I should try to see all three since I was already going to be traveling four hours...

I took the crazy 3:45 am bus to Copenhagen on Monday morning, so that I would arrive a little after 8:00 am. That was not my number one travel choice, but the only other option was arriving in Copenhagen around 3:00 pm, which is a whole day wasted. I was able to get in an entire day of sightseeing this way! I opted for the city 'walking tour,' which turned out to be an awesome loop through all the historical sights of central Copenhagen. I love the canals running through the city! I checked out some cool (and very old!) churches, saw the Royal palace, went to the coast to see "The Little Mermaid" statue, and braved the wind, rain, and snow. I think that Americans have a much different view of what constitutes old...I am continually amazed at the age of the buildings I see in Europe. It is amazing to think that some of these places have stood the test of time for hundreds and hundreds of years! Copenhagen was a really busy city and a little bit overwhelming. Unfortunately, I decided to visit on Easter Monday (I had never heard of this before), so the city museums were closed. I am not always a huge fan of museums, but some of them sounded really interesting. Plus, when the weather is less than optimal, museums are a great activity!

Canal in Copenhagen

I spent the night in Copenhagen at a youth hostel, which was a bit far from the city center, but allowed me to see other areas. It was interesting, to say the least. I have to say that the three-tiered bunk beds were not my style, nor was the loud 'hip' music playing everywhere all the time. Since I was only staying a night, it was not that big of a deal. The thing about hostels is that you book them online, so there is really no way of knowing exactly what to expect. I like them though...it is a great way to find a cheap place to stay and I wish that we had a network of them in the USA like I have seen here in Europe.

I left Copenhagen for Malmö early on Tuesday morning. It is only 45 minutes away by bus, over this HUGE bridge which connects the two cities. You can actually see the other city across the water. My absolute favorite part of the trip was all of the wind turbines that are stationed out in the sea! I think that they really add to the aesthetic value. :)

Malmö is the third largest city in Sweden. I found out when I arrived, that it is also a really environmentally conscious. It was the first city in the world to be designated as a "Fair Trade" city. The main city park has an amazing organic garden and greenhouses. All of the buses are run on biodiesel. There is a 'green newspaper' in addition to the normal city newspaper. Needless to say, I pretty much loved Malmö! I had lunch at a little vegetarian/vegan cafe that was in the "Ethnic" area of the city. It was sort of a hole in the wall place, run by students, but definitely neat. Everything vegan on the menu was marked and they even made soy hot chocolate! I think that I saw the entire city of Malmö thanks to my handy tourist map. I went down to the coast in the afternoon and it was the perfect time. Malmö has some lovely beaches that are really popular in the summertime.

I spent the night in a small hostel outside of the city center. It was an adorable, little house that was definitely historic. It was much more of my style than the crazy hostel in Copenhagen! If I visit Malmö again, I will definitely stay there.

Malmö's Coast

My last stop was Lund, Sweden...Wednesday morning to Wednesday afternoon. I arrived in the middle of a huge snowstorm, so I had to wait it out at the train station. Luckily, it cleared by mid-morning, and I got to check out the city. I really enjoyed Lund! It is another old city, based around a prestigious university. The most amazing feature is the City Cathedral (below), which is over 1000 years old. That place was amazing! It is absolutely huge - a main church area, small side chapels, a crypt complete with dead bishops...very cool. I loved the botanical gardens too. They house an amazing greenhouse complex with plants and trees from every climate. I also spent a few hours at the Museum of Sketches, which houses the world's largest collection of sketches and models for final art. It was incredible! The art comes from all over the globe, in a all styles. I had a hard time leaving!

Lunds Domkyrka

I took MANY more photos than these three! Check out my picasa album for those.

Back from a crazy three days...

Well, I finally arrived back in Jönköping last night. The past three days were an absolute whirlwind. I think that I can safely say that I have mastered the art of seeing an entire city in exactly one day...and I did that three days in a row. I have a lot of photos, which I promise to post soon. I have my International Trade final tomorrow, and definitely started studying for it, oh, about three hours ago....so I probably should focus on that. I got super sunburned and windburned (how is sort of a mystery), which means that I have been lazy all day and need to get down to work ASAP.

Going South...

I am taking a quick trip because I have a few days off of class. I finished my second exam last Friday, and my last one is this coming Friday with no class in between. It does not make much sense to me but that is okay! I decided to check out Southern Sweden and Copenhagen (Denmark). I am going to Copenhagen REALLY early tomorrow morning (3:45 am...yeah!) so that I arrive at 8:00 am and have the whole day. I am going to stay overnight there and then go Malmö (back to Sweden) in the morning. I am spending Tuesday and Tuesday night in Malmö, going to Lund on Wednesday morning, and will be back in Jönköping on Wednesday night so that I can study on Thursday for my final on Friday. It will be crazy and also awesome. I am doing this trip by myself because some people still have classes, are taking tests...it's screwy. However, I am feeling good about it since I have done the bus trips/hostel stays before and know what to expect. Copenhagen is all around awesome, Malmö is Sweden's third largest city and on the coast, and Lund is the home of two of the oldest universities in Scandinavia. It was supposed to snow all three days, but I just checked the weather and it looks like rain is a possibility instead. Yippee! I am hoping to get a LOT of great pictures. Check back soon!

Glad Påsk!

It snowed a LOT last night and today is absolutely gorgeous! The question of the moment is WWJB? Yes, "What Would Jesus Bake?" I think that Easter = dessert but I cannot decide between carrot, apple, and raspberry cake. Gosh my life is tough. Haha. I am going to update this more later when I am bored tonight...long story.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

...and Happy Snow Day too! Look at what I woke up to this morning!

Yes, I do believe that it is my first time waking up to snow in Jönköping! It was absolutely beautiful yesterday, so I had no idea that it would snow today. I doubt that it will stick around long, but it was a nice surprise.

Yesterday, I went for a hike in the morning to think about my senior thesis. It was gorgeous outside and I re-sunburned my nose (I guess SPF 15 was not enough).

Spring flowers


In the forest...

I thought of quite a few thesis topics, but no specific questions. I have to submit my top three questions with a description in a week! Does this sound crazy to anyone else? I have been thinking about it non-stop for the past three weeks because a thesis topic is not exactly something that one can just choose on a whim. I definitely want to do something with environmental policy and developing countries. I am going to write my thesis with the Economics Department because I like it better than Political Science (haha!); as an IPE Major, I get a choice of options for my senior year. Also, course registration is coming up. I cannot believe that I am about to register for my last courses as an undergraduate! What happened to my undergraduate career? What happened to my LIFE?

And then there is life in Sweden...it is good! I took my BIG Swedish final on Friday and I am sure that I passed it. It was sort of difficult, which was expected, but I prepared as best as I could for it. I know that I did a lot better than the majority of my peers because I a) opened my books and b) enjoyed the course. The actual testing was a horrific experience! I am dreading all of my future examinations! Here is what I dislike about school here: lack of challenge, relationships, and trust. The challenge part I whine about all the time - school is way too easy here and some of the courses (ahem Economic Geography of Europe) are easier than those that I took my senior year of high school. I would LOVE to go to lecture more often and actually have assignments. I have learned a lot, but it has mostly been self taught, which is okay, but I did not come to Europe to home school. I honestly think that the European educational system is much easier than that in the USA. I also miss knowing my professors. I have no idea who my professors are here. For my Economic Geography course, I have a different professor every time and my International Trade course had upwards of one hundred students. I do know my Swedish teacher, which is really nice. I miss having professors that know my name and actively engage students in class. I hate being the only person that answers questions because everyone gives me weird looks and the professor looks completely surprised that someone actually answered. It makes me wonder if all of the questions here are rhetorical?

And trust. Well, I have to say that coming from CC, I am used to being highly trusted. The Honor Code is super important. I am allowed to take my examination in my room, on an airplane, in another state...and I am trusted to only use the resources specified. JIBS is the polar opposite. All of the examinations are given in special 'examination rooms' with rows of desks spaced a few feet apart on all sides. Students are required to register for the exam two weeks in advance (taking the course is apparently not good enough) and bring confirmation of registration along with TWO pieces of ID to the testing room. All belongings except a pen must be checked in at the back. I actually had to beg one of the proctors to let me keep my coat because it was freezing in that room! During that actual exam, no one is allowed to leave (there is a bathroom in the room) and two 'exam police' patrol the rows the whole time. The teacher checks in every now and then. It is so incredibly nerve wracking! The girl behind me ate an apple LOUDLY for at LEAST an hour and the boy in front of me would not quit sniffing and blowing his nose as LOUD as he possibly could. I will admit, I did not check any of my work and finished that exam in a third of the allocated time because I had to get out of there!

Okay, so that was pretty much a rant. I will give this school a little bit of credit and say that they sort of need a system like that. Last Tuesday, I had to take the other part of my Swedish exam - the essay part - in the classroom. Afterwards, I found out from the other students that I was literally the ONLY person who did not cheat on that essay! Are you kidding me? We had to write fifty to one hundred words about a picture and people cheated? Everyone had words written up and down their arms on a system with their neighbor. It was so appalling. People here have no integrity.

Now on to better news...
After the exam of death on Friday, I went to After Work with some people from my class because we thought that it was a fitting post-Swedish exam activity. On Fridays, restaurants have a special promotion where people buy drinks/pay to check their coats and then can hang out between 4:00 to 8:00 pm and eat whatever they want from the 'After Work buffet.' It is a really good way to meet people. I think that we will do it again next week! Yesterday, we had the monthly international dinner at my house and this time, the countries cooking were: Holland, Germany, and the USA. I made cruelty-free chocolate chip cookies and everyone loved them! Chocolate chips must be an American specialty because I could not find them here. I improvised and spent a good forty-five minutes chopping up dark chocolate bars into little pieces. I also ate my body weight in cookie dough, which was probably not the best idea, but also delicious. The best part about vegan cookies is, of course, the fact that they are free from exploitation, but second is the fact that the dough will not make you sick! I brought my own dinner to the dinner because I could not eat anything else there (the other American delights were mac and cheese, meatloaf, and coke/ice cream floats - the last one really freaked people out)...but it was fun anyways.

Today I have class and should probably work on that home exam for the Economic Geography (really easy, but also boring). I am making yummy potatoes and cabbage tonight. :)

Cute bunny...

Check out this adorable bunny that was RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW this afternoon! Actually, he was pretty big...about the size of a cat, but still cute. Why am I so excited about this? Well, I do love bunnies, but more importantly, this is the FIRST ANIMAL I HAVE SEEN IN SWEDEN. Sadly, I am not joking unless I count the birds and the abused moose that I saw at that gross zoo. Anyways, I am very excited about this wildlife development.

Maybe I will start leaving snacks outside and turn this bunny into a pet. Or maybe I should study for the incredibly difficult final Swedish examination that I will take tomorrow...

Ice photos, etc

Well, I have pretty much been terrible about updating this blog. My apologies to the very few people who read it! I have been spending a LOT of time outside because the weather has finally gotten much nicer. I actually got sunburned on my nose last week!

School is going well. I am entering finals phase for the first quarter, so reviewing has been taking up a lot of my time. I have the first part of my Swedish final on Tuesday and the second part on Friday. It is definitely the test I am most worried about. I think that I will be able to manage a passing grade (required for Swedish 2), but I would like to actually do well on it. I have learned so much in the past few weeks, and I am excited to start focusing more on speaking (as opposed to the basics: verb conjugation, noun forms, etc) in the next course. I have started to make flash cards and color-coded charts, which is quite enjoyable. I am also in the process of taking my Economic Geography of Europe final. It is the infamous ten-page take home final, which I have two weeks to take. I received it on Wednesday, started it about two hours ago, and am aiming to finish all of it - except for the question I need the information from next Wednesday's lecture for - by the end of the weekend. I am positive that I could have passed it without ever attending a lecture because it is one of the most basic exams I have ever seen. Interestingly enough, my International Trade exam is still two weeks away. That one is going to be interesting. Our lecturer on Wednesday taught the effects of subsidies and tariffs on trade and domestic welfare INCORRECTLY. I spent the lecture thinking how different it was from what I had learned previously, and went straight to my computer after class to verify that her graphs were incorrect. Great. At least I will be one of the few in the course with the correct information!

In random news, I am pretty much addicted to Ki Jympa. Why is it only offered twice a week? I applied for another internship position, and have been keeping up with my beloved Relay back at CC. I made some cranberry-cinnamon-oatmeal-sunflower seed cookies yesterday and idiotically baked all of them. I rarely bake all of my cookies because I would much rather eat the dough (frozen!) then the actual baked version. I guess I will have to whip up some more...haha.

I took these cool ice photos of some bushes next to Lake Vattern on Thursday. They were definitely a limited time sight...I passed by a few hours later and all of the ice had melted!

Spring is Coming