This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

I’ve spent two days in school now and I have gone to one of each class. And I like it. Yesterday morning I had Fundamentals of Transportation Engineering at 7:40am to 9am. The teacher seems to be really good and the topic is interesting too. I actually had no idea what I signed up for months ago. The teacher introduced me and Johanna in front of the whole class because we were from Sweden and that he was probably gonna ask us during class sometimes how it works with transportation in Sweden.

At 9:10 I had to find my next class. It wasn’t too hard but I was one of the last to get there so I had to sit in a left-hand seat. The tables you have in front of your chair in the lecture hall and it is just a tiny piece of table you fold up from the armrest and a few have a table on the left side, so that was weird. That class was History of World Architecture : Prehistory-Middle Ages. It is a fun subject. But I heard it is a tough class, much to remember and read. But I will probably be fine. The teacher is very monotone when he speaks though which makes two hours extra long. But I’m sure the multiple choice tests will be easy enough.

I went home after that, had a quinoa salad (so far I have actually been healthy!), and then went to my last class for the day which was a lab in Fundamentals of Transportation Engineering. It is two different classes for some reason. The teacher was nice. He called everyone’s names and he asked most of us if we preferred what he said or a nickname. So he asked me if I wanted to be called Alex or Alexandra. I said Alex since everyone here knows me by that name. Alex is a very very common name here. I meet Alex’s all the time. In the lab we were just doing a little research about the Interstate Highway System. It took a while for me, I need to get used to this. But I hope it was okay.

After that I went home, hung out at Ryan’s for a bit before we headed downtown with Johanna. Taco Tuesday offered $1.50 tacos and $3.50 margaraitas. That was fun. Then we went to trivia night at Woodstock with some of Ryan’s friends and then we headed to SLO Brew where we spent most of the evening. Apparently a guy from LMFAO was there so the line in was long, but it went really fast anyway. Not many people from our WoW-group was there but a few and it was a nice evening. So Pint Night works like this. Every Tuesday a few bars downtown sells a pint of beer for $1-3 depending on what beer you want. You first buy your own glass and then you just reuse that all the time. Cider was available for $3 which was awesome! I met a girl named Martina there last night and I met her in San Diego last year when she was roommates with Hanna (who did this exchange program two years ago). She was also an international student back then and now she is back for her graduate degree. I had no idea she was back and when I saw her, that was a nice surprise. She is very nice. I wasn’t too drunk but I still walked the bike home. I got home at 3am. And I am so glad I don’t have any early classes on Wednesday’s.

This morning I skyped with mom for the first time since I got here. It felt so normal, like I never left San Diego. Was I ever home in Sweden?

After that I went to the pool here in PCV and did a lot of reading. Here it is apparently normal to read what the teacher says before class to be prepared. So I spent a few hours by the pool reading about architecture history. I think I got a little tan. Not any redness at all. I think I am getting used to the sun here which is good. Of course I had a lot of sunscreen on but my first weekend here I got burned anyway.

I got home, took a shower, had another salad for dinner (I don’t have that much food yet) and then headed to my last class, which is Sustainable Environments. That class will be so much fun. We are gonna watch a lot of movies, he encourage us to listen to music like Bob Marley and Ramones (he put links to songs on the course webpage). And we only have three hours of class every week instead of four (it is a four credit class). So those last ten hours that’s missing we are going on field trips. The teacher gave us a lot of suggestions and after each we have to write a paper. On Monday I am going to a documentary called Cowspiracy, which is showed downtown and then I will go to a solar panel thing and a landfill and maybe something else. I need ten hours. We talked to the teacher afterwards and he seems really cool. I need to remember to bring a cup of coffee or something next time though. I got pretty tired and I don’t wanna fall asleep during class.

Tomorrow’s another Tuesday. Thursday’s and Tuesday’s look exactly the same. I don’t look forward to going up at 6am to go to class at 7:40… Goodnight!