Caroline

My semester in Stillwater, my graduation, and my job are all coming closer. I started the count down two weeks ago, and every day I inform my friend (that’s in the same situation as I am) about the remaining days of all of these happenings. Of course she is getting tired of hearing me nagging about it, and she actually told me yesterday to stop. So I stopped, at least saying the numbers out loud.

In my head the numbers are still repeating themselves, and there’s a reason for that. Still, there are a lot of things to do and very little time to do it. You see, I’m flying home in 19 days. I have to present my master’s paper in 32 days. I start working in 24 days. Repeating the numbers of the days left creates a positive (or is it?) stress, and for the first time since I got to Stillwater, I am actually concerned with how I will manage to do all the things I have to do.

Well, I guess I have complained enough.

It’s Easter. It’s the time when families come together for eggs, herrings and a lot of candy. This year I’ve decided to ignore Easter. I can do the eggs and candy, but you know what? It’s just not Easter without the family.

Let me start with apologizing about not writing for some time. It’s not that I haven’t been able to write, I’ve practically been sitting by my computer the whole time. The thing is, I have so many things to do that I don’t really know were to start. Most importantly, I have to finish my masters paper before I go back to Sweden. Good luck, Caroline…

To help me with my prioritizing, and to not forget about any of my assignments or appointments, I decided to make myself a to-do list. Being the person that I am, I couldn’t settle with having a to-do list on a piece of paper, I had to have it on my computer. I could write it in a word document, but the thought of having to open the document every time I start the computer got me tired. What I wanted was a program that showed me my to-do list, that was always on the desktop, and that were prioritizing the things to do based on when they are due.

Doesn’t this sound simple? Obviously, it isn’t. Every shareware I found made it too complicated. In the end, all I want is a really simple program.

So in my hunt of the perfect program for my to-do list, I lost about two hours of the time I was supposed to use for studying. And, in the end, I still don’t have a to-do list.

I leave the U.S. in 42 days. That means that the reality, and the real world, is coming closer.

I can’t stop thinking about the new chapter of my life that will start as soon as I leave the U.S. After four years in school, this is my last two months. When I get back to Sweden, I will present my paper and get my master’s degree. There will be no more school, it’s time to grow up and start working.

In one way, I miss home. In another way, I don’t think I will be ready to leave the U.S. in 42 days. There are so many things left for me to do - places to visit, people to meet, adventures waiting to be explored. You might think I’m exaggerating; 42 days are a lot of days. But you all know that time flies. I had a lot of plans coming to this country; what to do and how to spend my time. I’ve done a lot of things, I shouldn’t complain. But in the end, there are so many things to do in so little time.

I was way wrong about the weather; there’s no snow in sight. Based on the common opinion about snow among Oklahomans, I’m sure you are all very disappointed…

To make up for me misleading you, I decided to teach you guys some Swedish. In that case, if you ever long for snow and decides to go to Sweden to make your snow angels, you can say a few words in Swedish. That would really impress the Swedes you are talking to. Here are a few phrases that are good to know:

• Hej! Jag héter …… och kómmer från Amérika. Vad héter du?
  Hello! My name is …… and I’m from America. What’s your name?
• Hur mår du?
  How are you?
• Tack, bára bra!
  Just fine, thanks!

We have three letters that you don’t have: å, ä, and ö. The å, as shown above in the phrase “Hur mår du?” is kind of pronounced like the o in the word “more”. I’m probably not making it very easy for you, I know, but the main thing is that you are trying and that you are having fun.

Swedish - a brief presentation

I like the snow; it makes me feel like home. But don’t you think the weather should make up its mind, once and for all? I mean – snow and winter jacket one day, sun and t-shirt the other? That’s just crazy! If I were to decide there will be a lot of snow next week, so much that school will be cancelled and you can be out playing all day long.

Making snow angels, diving into the snow (without hitting the ground…), building a snowman and having snowball fights. Just as I did every winter when I was growing up – and still do.By the way… You probably know that it really hurt if you get hit by a snowball, so don’t forget to practice your skills!

The Agency.com snowball fight

The concept Spring Break is just soooo cool! It makes me feel like I’m back in high school all over again. You know, I haven’t had any break from school (except for the summers) since I started at the university 3, 5 years ago. That’s just the way things work at my university.

But… you shouldn’t really feel sorry for me. Actually, I probably deserve it. You guys have to drag yourselves out of bed every morning, every day of the week. On top of that you actually have to stay in school a major part of your day (I agree with you, it sucks not having time to do the stuff you want to do). I, on the other hand, am use to having one or two classes per week, approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes at the time. That makes me lazy. The thing is that when you go to school that rarely, it actually becomes hard to separate the Saturdays and Sundays from the rest of the days of the week – you study just as much, you sleep in just as often and you plan most of your day depending on the things you feel like doing that day.

That’s one thing I like about OSU and having to drag myself out of bed every day – when the weekend come, the weekend come.

In an attempt to make time before spring break go faster and of course also to have fun, I and two of my friends decided to go on a road trip. Saturday morning we left Stillwater, headed for Six Flags over Texas. This was the opening weekend, so I was a bit worried that we would spend most of our time doing what you mainly do at fun parks – waiting in line. But since the weather wasn’t all that great, we didn’t have to queue to get on a ride a single time.

So, let me tell you about one of the rides that I and my friends explored. It all started with me saying:

- This looks like a fun house. Let’s go inside. Even if it is a roller coaster, it can’t be higher then the house and it is not that high.

Let’s just say that I fooled myself and my friends. After walking around and around in the house, we finally ended up at the ride. We sat down, without a clue of what was going to happen. Suddenly the train slid to the left. In front of us, two doors opened and exposed Mr. Freeze – the highest and fastest roller coaster in Texas. In 3, 7 seconds we went from 0 to 70 mph. I leaned forward, closed my eyes, and hoped that I would survive.

You’ve probably figured out that this ride scared the *pip* out of me. I am afraid of heights. I am afraid of high speed. Mr. Freeze was not meant for me.

After a lot of trouble, I just bought a plane ticket for spring break. During the period of planning, I’ve had time to become quite angry with the (almost) non-existing transportation system in Oklahoma. How are people supposed to get to the airport, if they don’t have a car? But, as for everything, we have a tendency to forget about all the trouble ones everything works out okay. Fortunately for me, I have really nice friends. So now I’m just looking forward to spring break.

I’m going to spend my spring break in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, with my boyfriend. We are going to do all the things that you would expect a tourist to do, like visiting The Universal Studios and Disneyland. But, I think visiting Las Vegas is what I look forward to the most. During my time in school, I’ve been working as a dealer in one of our casinos in Sweden. I’ve been dealing Black Jack and Caribbean Stud Poker. Finally, it’s my turn to be a player at the table! If I’m willing to loose my money, that is…

For many people, today is a big day. It’s Valentine’s day – a day to express your feelings for the people you love. In one way, I don’t like the fact that this day exists. I think we should be able to show our love every day, not just today. In another way, I secretly like Valentine’s Day.

The fact that I like Valentine’s day is a bit depressing when the people I love are far, far away. It’s days like this, that makes me feel homesick.