Shopping

Posted on Sunday, 23 November 2014, 22:01 by Alexandra

No studying happened today. I don’t feel bad, because I know that if I tried it wouldn’t have worked… Not in the mood for it. But I’m sure it will be fine anyway. Today was all about shopping, and more specifically jeans shopping. I have one pair of jeans and I am not just getting tired of them, they are starting to fall apart and I don’t wanna realize one day that there is a big hole in an inconvenient place and then have nothing to wear. So I bought a pair of Bullhead jeans today for $45. It’s an okay price, especially if you compare to Swedish prices. I also bought my first Christmas gift, but I still have no idea whatsoever on what to get my roommates. I am not good with gifts… And the last thing I bought was three pair of Calvin Klein underwear.

When we were done, Kelsey, Pelle, and I went to In ‘n Out for dinner. Pelle paid for all of us which was very sweet of him. But on the other hand, Kelsey and I did get him a blanket. We were all super full after and I still am. I feel bad actually. I need to stop eating unhealthy. I’ve gained a few pounds the last couple of weeks…

When I came home I was in such a food coma that I didn’t feel like doing anything except watching a movie, so I watched The Anchorman until I fell asleep. Then I kept watching when I woke up and I was so not in the mood for studying when it was over. So I watched an episode of The 100 and now I am trying to buy a train ticket for Friday, but the Amtrak website is down. I will have to do it tomorrow instead. And also pack. Kelsey and I are leaving for LA on Tuesday.

I think I will go to bed now and hopefully wake up early tomorrow.

Serenity Swing hike

Posted on Saturday, 22 November 2014, 18:57 by Alexandra

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.

Yesterday I started my day by discussing a project with Johanna and Courtney in our Sustainable Environments class. We are gonna put together a project proposal for a future project here in SLO. Courtney told us that after each school year and everyone has to move out of their places, everyone just throws everything away. They throw away stuff that new students will buy just a few months later. So we are gonna propose that a club will be started which will take care of this big waste of functioning things. In June, when school ends all of the things the students don’t want anymore will be picked up and stored during the summer for the new students to buy for a reasonable price when school starts up again for a month and then the leftovers will be donated to other organizations and the rest thrown away.

After that I was very restless so Kelsey suggested that I would go for a run. Why not? So I put on my workout clothes which has just been laying around for way too long and then decided to run to Serenity Swing and back. I actually walked most of the way up to the swing. I can’t run uphill with these stupid calves. And it was way too steep to run anyway. It was a real hike at the end. I was all alone up there, took a lot of beautiful pictures, rested for a while and then started walking back. But as soon as the steepest part was over I ran. And I kept running, all the way home. It felt good! But today it does not feel as good, I am so sore, especially my calves and hips. I walk like an old lady.

SLO in the background.

Then it was time to start studying. I have so much to do the next couple of weeks. So this upcoming week is Thanksgiving and we have a break from Tuesday. I am going with Kelsey to LA to hang out with her aunt and cousin for a few days. We are leaving on Tuesday and I will take the train back on Friday so I have the weekend in SLO. Because on Monday the week after (Dec 1^st) I have a homework due, I am also meeting up with two different project groups that day so all my research for that has to be done. On Tuesday (Dec 2^nd) I have a midterm, and on Wednesday one of the projects are due. On Thursday the other project is due and we are also presenting it at that time and in the afternoon I have a final. And in the upcoming week after that I have two more finals. But as soon as I am done with that I am off to the Caribbean for 23 days! I seriously can’t wait. But at the same time it sucks because that means that Kelsey is leaving and that is gonna be so sad…

I studied and pregamed at the same time which was a good combination. I actually got one of the projects almost done. Then Lauren, Kelsey, Ciara, and I went to a frat party with a Geek/Jock theme. One of the guys in our building invited us and we had a great time. I was a jock because I didn’t have any geeky clothes. And I am glad I went as a jock, everyone at the party was geeks. I got a lot of questions if I was on the basketball team, haha. That was funny. Ciara and Lauren left early so it was just me and Kelsey at the end. We walked home later and it was so much fun. We walked into a random house to use the bathroom and we took a break on the sidewalk. Fun times. When we came home, a lot of other guys stopped by and Kelsey and I cooked for all of us, haha. Scrambled eggs, bacon, bratwursts, and cornbread. A real feast at 3am.

The black light was really cool! My hair and my nails were shining like crazy.

I don’t know if anything is happening tonight, but I wouldn’t say no if something came up. I have been studying today and I did some errands so I wouldn’t feel too bad about it.

Today I slept until noon and when I woke up my whole body was sore. I wasn’t that hungover, but my body hurt! My poor calves, hips and calves… But it was totally worth it! Lauren, Kelsey, and I (Rachel is in LA this whole weekend) went to Target where I bought hygiene products (small bottles of schampo, conditioner, soap, sun screen, and toothpaste and then a couple of extra empty bottles) for my trip. I am not bringing a check-in bag to that trip so I need to bring small things of everything, and pack smart. That will be a challenge. But I think I will make it. We had lunch, all of us from different restaurants, Lauren form Panera Bread, Kelsey McDonalds and I Panda Express. It felt great eating something unhealthy, and the Coke was the best part! Coke is the best drink for hangovers.

I got a package today and I think it is my Patagonia jacket (that was way fast) and I ordered a GoPro floaty so my GoPro doesn’t sink if I lose it in the water. It will definitely be worth $11.

Now I should go back to studying, I had a long enough break.

New shoes

Posted on Sunday, 2 November 2014, 1:45 by Alexandra

It is the day after Halloween, most people were hungover but there were still a lot of people at the library. On a Saturday… It was a bit sad going there, but it was fun being there with Kelsey and dark-haired Cody (there’s a blonde one too). I did get work done, I wrote about one page on my Field Trip paper.

Walked back home after a few hours, talked to Lauren for a while and then wrote some more. At 8pm me, Kelsey and Lauren went downtown to meet up with the fourth, Rachel, and we had dinner at Habit. Really good burgers and sweet potato fries.

On our way to the car we stopped at Ross and I found two pair of shoes that I accidently bought. What’s good about Ross is that it is very cheap, and I kinda wanted to have high-heels. Converse isn’t that pretty when you go out. I am still looking for sandals, but those are hard to find in the stores now since it’s “fall and going towards winter”. I still want my sandals. Maybe I should look on Amazon. They have everything! And I am gonna order some things from there tomorrow or maybe the day after. I am gonna buy a GoPro (I think I said that before), snorkeling gear, and a garlic peeler. I might as well add a cute pair of sandals.

This morning when I woke up my sinuses hurt. I have been sneezing this whole day. I really don’t wanna get sick again. I just got non-sick! I hope it will be better tomorrow. Because tomorrow’s the big soccer game!

I am going to the CARIBBEAN

Posted on Wednesday, 29 October 2014, 23:43 by Alexandra

In 43 days I will be sitting on a plane on my way to my biggest adventure so far. Sure, moving to San Diego for 13 months was pretty big, and moving to San Luis Obispo to try out the life of an American college student was too. But going on a more-than-three-week-vacation alone to the Caribbean is pretty frickin big! It is still not completely 100% certain that I will go all by myself, I am still trying to convince my mom and Toby and his brother. And I will of course meet lots of people at the hostels, but I will go there by myself. And I couldn’t be more excited!!

So, on the late evening of December 11^th (my last day of finals) I will jump on a plane to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It is pretty far away so it will take me 14 hours before I land at 2pm on December 12^th, and that’s when my adventure will begin. I will stay in Punta Cana for 8 nights (Dec 12-20), then fly for an hour to San Juan in Puerto Rico. The hostel there has a 7 night rule so I will be on my way to my third and last destination on December 27, to Montego Bay on Jamaica. I will stay there for 8 nights and then a 12 hour flight back to San Luis Obispo on January 4^th. I am beyond excited and I was literally shaking when everything was booked this afternoon. In total everything will end up at $3000 and I think that is a fair amount of money to pay for 23 days in paradise.

I’ve started googling on what there is to do and I have a feeling that the planning is gonna take a while. There are so many things to do, and so many amazing beaches!! Have you ever heard about the Blue Flag Organization? Me neither. But that is a ranking thing in Europe and they rank the best beaches in the world. Punta Cana has several and the Dominican Republic in general has more Blue Flag ranked beaches than any other Caribbean island. I think I will be in for a treat (since I love beaches).

I just started looking into it so I haven’t really come up with anything yet except that there is a Hard Rock Cafe in Punta Cana and that there is a catamaran cruise to a very beautiful island. It costs $90 but it looks awesome. And since I will be traveling alone I think tours would be good for me. But I will of course have plenty of lazy days by myself at the beach too. And I am planning to go ziplining on one of the islands.

I’ve also decided that I am gonna invest in a GoPro camera for $399. I am going to the Caribbean, crystal clear waters and hopefully nice fish and turtles (dolphins?) and the new series are waterproof. And with a stick I would be able to take selfies without looking too ugly up close. I don’t wanna go to several paradise islands without having proof that I was there. So I will buy it, hopefully soon. And when it comes to money, I’m not short of it. A few days ago I got the stipend from Chalmers for going here. It’s pretty great that my school pays me 25 000 SEK ($3400) to go to California to study for a year. And in a month I will get my financial aid of 46 000 SEK. I am not gonna be wasting money on unnecessary things, but I also don’t wanna feel like I did on Hawaii this January when I couldn’t buy things because of lack of money. So I am not gonna feel bad for renting a car for a whole week on Puerto Rico for example. I will save money on food, since it is a bit awkward to go to restaurants on your own.

I’m sure you can tell that I am excited since I’ve been writing almost a whole page in word about this already. I just can’t believe this is happening. I am going to the Caribbean for 23 days in just 43 days!!! 😀 I don’t want time to go faster than it already is, but I want Winter Break to be here NOW! And I guess time goes slower when you really look forward to something? So that’s good too, because I still don’t wanna leave SLO. And when this trip is over I have Spring Break to look forward to. I’m hoping for Cancun!

Anyway, this morning I couldn’t sleep in because I had a field trip in Paso Robles at 8:30am. It was an interesting field trip as well. They had transformed a street (21^st Street) into a “Complete Street” I think it was called.

When I came home at 11am I booked the trip and then I went with Kelsey and Toby for some errands. Lauren had to study so she couldn’t come with. We bought pumpkins, carving tools and some other things. It was a successful trip. I got home, just had time to make dinner and then off to class. I almost fell asleep today, but I managed to stay awake by eating my dark chocolate pieces flavored with pomegranate I accidently bought today. Good thing I did though, because they kept me awake. It’s so embarrassing falling asleep in class…

Now I am home and I know I should go to bed, but I so want to go to google and look up amazing things to see and do on DR. Stupid excitement!

This is the closest beach to the hostel I will stay at on Dominican Republic! EXCITED!!!!!

Wine tasting, tattoo, BofA, shopping, frat party

Posted on Saturday, 25 October 2014, 15:02 by Alexandra

Yesterday was a very fun day. It started with a field trip to a winery in Paso Robles, Kukkula Winery it was called. It is Finish and means “living on the hill” or something. The guy owning the place had a Finish father. The farm was an organic and dry farm, which means he doesn’t use pesticides, fertilizers or water. If the soil is fertile and full of porous rocks it works out in the end. It is very important to keep away weeds and have distance between the plants to keep the water competition low.

We got lunch there and at the same time a mini wine tasting. We tried 8 wines in total, one white, one rosé and the rest red. When the grapes aren’t watered the color and the taste become more intense which made the wines very spicy and strong. I wasn’t a big fan of it, but I have to say that my favorite was a red wine called Sisu.

I got a little tipsy after that to be honest but not too bad. When we got back to SLO Kelsey and Lauren picked us up and we went to the Halloween store so they could look at costumes. They didn’t find anything.

Our next stop was Traditional Tattoo. I had an appointment at 2pm with Butters. I was a little nervous, like always. It went well and it hurt more than the other two I have, probably because it was so close to the bump on the side of my ankle. After about 40 minutes it was done and it was perfect. So much better than the picture I showed him. I am very very satisfied with it. It is the biggest I have so far (but it is still not big) and it was also the cheapest, I paid $80 for it.

But when I tried to pay my card didn’t work. So it wasn’t just the ATM that didn’t work on Thursday. My whole card is wrong. I went to the bank and they told me that the card was completely gone from the system. The guy who helped me get a new card told me he had never seen anything like it. Weird. I got a temporary card and will get a new real card pretty soon.

Our next stop was for a late lunch at Panera Bread. We had dropped off Johanna before the bank and the three roommates went clothes shopping at Forever 21. I don’t have many clothes here and really needed to buy some more tops and a new pair of “longer” shorts. It was needed. And it was cheap, no fancy brands like I did last year. I bought 6 things for $80. That’s not bad at all.

That store was huge so we got straight home after that. I cleaned my tattoo, took a shower and put on the $9 dress I bought and went to a frat party with Kelsey and Margarita. It was the British boy’s Phi Psi frat and I have to admit that it was fun. Three floors in a house, bottom was a dance floor, middle one was the bar and third social floor. Nothing bad happened, we just had a fun evening dancing. I liked it and will probably be back another weekend. Luka, the guy from Chalmers is a pledge at Phi Psi as well, but he wasn’t there last night.

I was home at 2am I think and stayed up for a while talking to Rachel, who just got home from a line dancing evening, and Lauren who couldn’t sleep. I stayed up and waited for Kelsey and made sure she got home safe and sound, which she did.Me and Lauren in the middle of the night.

I slept until 12:30pm and I am still very tired. I am not hungover, just tired, so I should probably take a nap before I start writing on my two papers. I also have to look into how to send packages to Sweden. It is more complicated here since I have to do it online.

Last day of WoW

Posted on Tuesday, 23 September 2014, 0:04 by Alexandra

So, yesterday was last day of WoW. It was sad. Even after just a week we all got so close and it is weird not hanging out every hour of every day. I will of course still see them but it will not be the same. We have talked about having reunions every Sunday or something.

The day started with a goodbye ceremony in the Performing Arts Center. People talked about what was amazing with WoW and we watched a movie with pictures from the week. We had a goodbye talk and we took some photos. After that me and Ryan were club buddies and went around campus talking to different clubs and signed up for a few. I signed up for Global Food Tasting, Beach Volleyball, Surfing, Engineers without Borders, Civil Engineers Association, Poly Escapes and probably some more which I don’t remember. Poly Escapes seems awesome, they have bigger trips pretty often during the quarter. I am on the waiting list to a stand up paddling tour in Yosemite Valley and I just signed up for a weekend in Ventura where we will surf and camp on the beach. I am super excited! And I really hope someone from the Yosemite trip will cancel so I might have a chance at getting that spot. Johanna and another guy from Sweden, Marcus, already signed up.

In the afternoon I went home with Johanna and we baked a Swedish mudpie for the international potluck. There were a lot of people there, maybe 40-50. All the Swedish people brought desserts, like carrot cake and chocolate balls. It was a nice evening but we left at 6pm something, it was getting cold. When I got home, super sweaty and tired after the long bikeride up the hills there were free pancakes in the courtyard. I didn’t have any, but I stood in the extremely long line with Ryan and his roommates. After that I took a quick shower and went to hang out with some people Ryan knows out in the middle of nowhere for a couple of hours. It was nice. And since it wasn’t that late when we got back we watched the latest episode of Doctor Who.

Today was a long day too. Classes started today, but not for me. I am off every Monday and Friday this quarter and I only have one class (7-10pm) on Wednesday’s. Tuesday’s and Thursday’s though are pretty full and they look exactly the same, 7:40am – 6pm. I have a big four hour hole in the middle though, which will be perfect for lunch and homework.

Anyway, I had to get up a bit early to go to an international advising appointment. I talked to Susan Tripp, the one I have been in contact with the whole summer, and I got my DS-2019 signed so I can leave the country when I will go to like the Caribbean and Mexico and Canada.

After that I went to the Rec Center (the huuuuuge gym) and got my code so I can go there. You use your code and your hand to go in. Pretty modern and cool. Then I sat at the UU Plaza for an hour, eating a small breakfast and reading for an hour before Johanna was done with spinning class. Then we went textbook shopping. I spent $260 in that store on books, notebooks, folders and a hoodie.

I didn’t have anything to do so I went with Johanna to downtown. I was looking for a pair of sandals and a backpack. I found neither but I did find three belts. The way home was horrible. The two books for Fundamentals of Transportation Engineering and World Architecture History were both very heavy so I walked the bike almost all the way back from Johanna’s where I left my things. At home me and my roommates (Rachel, Kelsey and Lauren) talked about rules we want to have, kinda made like a roommate agreement. Then I was just chilling, our door was open so some people stopped when walking by to talk for a bit. It was nice.

Now it is past midnight and I have to get up at 6am to go to class at 7:40… I am nervous but also very excited to start school again.

We had goats outside our living room today. There are lots of animals around here, we also have deers and horses and I think cows maybe?

First day in San Luis Obispo

Posted on Saturday, 13 September 2014, 21:29 by Alexandra

The first day of my new life is over, almost. And I wish I could go to bed right now, but going to bed at 8pm in a hostel where four other people sleep is probably not a good idea. Or maybe it is, so I can get some sleep before they all come in.

Yesterday was a very long day, I was awake for about 24h. I got up at 9, picked up Johanna at 10 and I said goodbye to mom almost an hour later. The plane to Stockholm left Gothenburg at noon and 35 minutes later we were at Arlanda. A million people decided to be at that airport at the same time, retarted. We had no time at all left to do anything than to hurry to the gate, which of course was at the other end of the airport. Our plane from Gothenburg also landed at the national terminal so we had a long walk.

Me and Johanna had two of three seats in the middle on the second to last row in the plane. We left the middle one empty to have our feet on. The flight was only 10h, I was expecting 13, but then I remembered that 13 was the whole travel time. It was over very fast and it wasn’t that bad. At one point I was extremely bored and couldn’t do anything so I just sat there until I got the ants in my pants away and read some more. I finished The Assassin’s Blade and started the third book Heir of Fire. Amazing books!

I also watched a couple of movies. I saw Free Willy for the first time in probably 15 years. So cute movie! And then I watched Frozen for the third time in just a few months. That movie gets better and better every time I see it.

We landed at 4pm in Los Angeles and it took us three hours before we were on the road up to SLO. A million people had to get out of the plane before us, the qeue to US Customs was the longest I’ve ever seen and then we had to take a shuttle to the car rental place and that line was also retardedly long. We didn’t get a Nissan Altima which was a big win. Instead we got a Toyota Camry which was nice to drive. But it was a 3 hour drive and any 3 hour drive is tough after being awake for almost 24 hours. We survived and had dinner at Ihop. For some reason not as good as I remember. Maybe my sweet toothness has started to disappear?

I dropped Johanna off at her house and then tried to find my hostel. It took a little longer than it should have, but I arrived at midnight, got my room, and fell asleep directly.

Today I woke up at 6am and couldn’t go back to sleep. I lay in bed until 8:30 though when I got up and paid for my room and tried to connect to the wifi on my computer. I talked to one of my roommates which turned out to be a Swedish girls I’ve talked to on Facebook a few weeks ago. SHe was checking out today to move to her house.

I picked up Johanna and we took a brunch at a place we found in downtown SLO. It was good and well needed. This whole eating-out-thing will stop as soon as I get a routine here which should be in a week when classes start. After that we went to Bank of America to start up bank accounts. They were busy today though, so we got appointments for it on Monday morning. That was too bad, I was looking forward to get rid of my big bunch of cash… Our next stop for the day was to get cell phone plans at T-mobile. We went to Best Buy and took the car there. A car would be so convenient (but we will wait a bit to get help with buying one, bot me and Johanna very much wants to buy a car so we can easily go to the beach, do grocery shopping and take weekend trips), but until then we will get to know the bus system and buy bikes as soon as possible. They have a very nice system with plans here if you don’t want to sign up for a long period of time. I was amazed when the guy told me how it worked. So, you bought a sim card for $15 and then you bought a month of a plan of your choosing. So depending on how much you pay (30, 40 or 50) you get different things. I decided to go for the one which cost $50 and in that unlimited texts and minutes and 1 GB are included. That is valid for 30 days and when that time period is over I need to buy a new plan and it doesn’t have to be the same as I had. And I don’t have to go to a store to buy it, I can do it online or by just sending texts. An awesome system. The only problem with it is that it is so ridiculously expensive. But I will survive.

The third stop was Target where I bought a lot of things, like towels, a hair dryer, hairspray, after sun lotion, tooth paste, Nair hair wax roll on and nail polish remover . I also had to buy a bag since the city of San Luis Obispo has decided not to hand out plastic bags anymore to save the environment. I like that, but I wish I would have remembered to bring my bags I brought from Sweden.

At Albertson’s I actually bought a reusable shopping bag when I bought some snacks for tomorrow’s visit to the beach.

We returned the car, took a taxi to downtown where we had an early dinner. We met four of the five Swedish students from Uppsala and then we went home and on the way took a few detours in to some stores, like Bath & Body Works, Victoria’s Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch. At Bath & Body Works I found a scented candle that smelled amazing!! I am not allowed to have scented candles in my room, but I am thinking about buying it and just having it smell in my room and then bring it home. It was amazing! Oh right, I don’t think I can have things that smell in my room either. Then I will ask them if it is okay to have it in a plastic bag until I get home to Sweden. I need to have that candle! It smelled of Mahogany Teakwood. Sounds weird, smelled amazing.

At the hostel I went straight up to my room, started writing and will go to bed as soon as I am done. Maybe start marking interesting things out on the SLO map I got from the reception.

Tomorrow I will move to my room in the shared apartment on campus. The other girls won’t be there for another day or two. After that it’s beach time with Johanna and maybe Maria. There might be some shopping as well, I have a feeling I need to buy things for my room, like a comforter and pillows.

It was a nice day, the weather was warm (26C at its warmest) and the sun was out at all times. Palm trees does exist this far up north, even though there aren’t that many, and I still get happy every time I see them. I am back in California and I couldn’t be happier about it. This will be an amazing year!

SLO downtown All around the city mountains rise. It is beautiful! It’s not over the ocean, but the sunset tonight was still amazing. I came to the realization today that San Luis Obispo is very very tiny. This is pretty much it. A bicycle will be plenty enough and even walking. Only 45 000 live here. But it will be a nice experience to live in such a small city too.

New haircut

Posted on Wednesday, 16 July 2014, 1:47 by Alexandra

My computer was kaputt last night, so even if I had a lot of interesting things to write about, I couldn’t. My weekend is over and it was over way too fast. I wouldn’t have minded another week or so. My Friday was celebrated at Stage Door (a bar) with some of my colleagues. A very nice evening that ended at 1:30am.

Yesterday I woke up at 1pm I think. It was awesome to sleep in that long for once! I had an ambition to study some, but I realized I had lots of time so I decided to do some other necessary things. I called Radiotjänst again and asked them if they could give me back the last 500kr for wrongly charging me for the TV-license. They told me I would have it by the end of the week. The phone call, waiting including, took almost 30 minutes… After that I tried to call Kosmetisk Kirurgi to make an appointment for hair removal. I have two left since 2012 and thought I should get at least one done before I leave again, or hopefully both, but they have vacation now until the beginning of August, so I will have to wait. Not many people know it, but I have been going through some IPL treatments to remove hair under my arms. I am not done, but what an improvement after 6 (I think?) treatments. I can go one or maybe even two weeks without shaving, when I had to do it every day before.

My third call that day was to the hairdresser, they had an appointment just a couple of hours after I called so I took it. I like being spontaneous. I knew my hair was getting pretty damaged, even if it didn’t look too bad. But 6 months since last time, it was needed. It felt kinda stupid afterward though. I paid 400kr and the before and after picture look exactly the same… It feels better though and it definitely is healthier now with no split ends. I wanted to have the hair in the front a bit shorter as well, so there is a little bit of difference actually. I will post the before/after picture just because it’s so silly to pay that much for that little…

On these pictures it actually looks better on the before picture, probably because I am newly showered and the light is better. And I suck at taking selfies… Tomorrow my hair will look awesome after a shower and a hair mask and when I can style it the way I want.

I walked around in Nordstan (downtown) after that, tried to find a place who could fix my sunglasses. My engineering skills aren’t that good yet. No one could help me so I decided to make one final serious attempt to fix them. I bought thin iron thread and made a new loop and with some glue and tape it actually seems to be working. I just have to be careful and not put them in my purse anymore. If this doesn’t work I’ve actually found a website that sells those spare parts and I will order some if they break again. I know I am stupid for trying so hard to fix a pair of sunglasses that just cost $4, but they are so cool and so me and I love them. I don’t want another pair unless they look the same!

I did some grocery shopping on the way home because I had a very special plan when it came to dinner. Pierogi (according to Google Translate)! I had found a recipe for pierogi with spinach and feta cheese with pink pepper, parsley, hazel nuts and garlic. It wasn’t as perfect as it sounds, but definitely edible and a little more. Probably not the best with vegetarian food for me right now though. I’ve realized I probably don’t get enough proteins anymore. Poor and no time to cook real food have made me a temporary vegetarian. I like vegetarian food, but I think I need to focus on the meat now when I have money again. I have 17 000 right now in my account! But as I’ve said, I am a saver from now on.

And just when I was about to start updating the blog yesterday my computer pretty much died. No, it didn’t, but I couldn’t go to any webpages that required a login, like Facebook or my blog or even Google. It said something about an SSL problem. I googled it on my phone and after a while decided it was time to reinstall it. I probably got some virus… That’s what I did this morning inbetween my study sessions. Now it is working perfectly fine again. I tried the option to reinstall the operative system without removing my personal files (which is stupid when I have a virus, I know, but it worked!). It went’ smoothly and I just had to reinstall some programs.

I studied for a few hours, but I only managed to solve two problems. The easy wooden and steel pillar problems are done and I am now getting myself into the concrete ones. I hate concrete… But it started out pretty okay, I understood what I did and just when I reached for a new paper to continue the problem on, I realized all of them were out. It was raining outside but I was in such a good flow, so I took a break, went to Nordstan (where by the way, hundreds and thousands of million people were!! On a Tuesday afternoon?), bought two notebooks, a new deodorant and went home to continue on the problem. That’s everything I did actually when it comes to studying, but I am trying to understand what I am doing, not just copying the answer key, so it’s okay that it takes time. I will do some more tomorrow before work.

I had another pierogi for dinner and then played a few hours of Guild Wars 2 before I noticed the late hour. Time just flies when playing that. What’s so awesome about GW2 is that they are always updating the game. They release new seasons of the game with new storylines and map changing quests. The first season I missed because I was in California. It was a fun one I’ve heard, maybe it is possible to go through it by reading about it or something. I know the biggest thing that happened, and that was that the biggest city on the map got completely wiped out. I was so surprised when I logged in after a year and saw it and had no idea what happened. This time though I am playing through season 2 from the start. Today the second part of it was released and it turns out that another big-ass dragon is awaking! So much fun! I love this game, it’s not just the same thing over and over, but they are always changing it, good job, ArenaNet, you have really succeeded in making a great game!

Shopping

Posted on Saturday, 17 May 2014, 0:51 by Alexandra

My body is pretty much dead right now. My feet hurt and so does my back and thighs. This much walking can’t be good for you. Around 16 000 steps. It is needed though, the food we are eating isn’t the best one and I am swollen like a dead pig… I miss Sweden!

We slept a little longer today and didn’t leave the apartment until 11am. We took the Tube up to Oxford Circus and started to walk along Oxford Street which is one of the biggest shopping streets in London. I actually wasn’t in a shopping mode, at least not for clothes, so I didn’t buy much. In the first store, a bag store of the brand Carpisa, I bought a new wallet. I didn’t really need one, but it was onlt £8 and so cute. Always good to have two of everything in case the first thing breaks. Or something. It was worth buying anyway!

I don’t remeber all the stores we went in to, and I guess it doesn’t matter. We walked to a tea shop called Postcard Teas, but that was nothing for me. Too expensive and not my cup of tea. We then walked to Selfridges & CO, a huuuuge shopping mall. I usually never have troubles with too much perfumes in one place, but the ground floor of this mall was too much. It was awful! The reason we went there was to eat lunch. The food court was big. A lot of things to choose from. I had a mushroom soup because my throat is hurting today. It helped a bit. I am afraid I’m getting sick. I hope that’s not true, I have a test coming up in a little more than a week…

After that we split up, Gudrun went t-shirt hunting and the rest of us went to Victoria’s Secret. Wow, that store was amazing! So luxurious and fancy! Several levels, black walls, crystal candelabras and banisters. It was nice. I bought three pair of panties.

Then we walked along Bond Street which also is a big shopping street but more suitable for rich people. Lots of jewelery stores and expensive brands. It was fun to see. The next store we walked into was Abercrombie & Fitch. And that was also wow! First of all, we were greeted by a half naked guy with a very nice six-pack. The store was also very fancy with lots of small rooms, and a second floor from which you could see the first floor. Glass cases with clothes in them and of course, the moose head. Super expensive though, so I didn’t buy anything. But I enjoyed the smell and got a little piece of home :).

Next store was a secret store. In case that person reads. And then we went to Europe’s biggest bookstore. I was planning on on buying Inheritance, but this country only have big pocket books, and I want small. So I didn’t buy anything else than a cup of hot white chocolate in the cafe in there. The store had 8 floors, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t so tired.

We split up even more after that so it was just me and mom for the rest of the evening. First we walked up to Oxford Street again and on the way say the Hollister store. I just had to go in. It was also very fancy and cool or how to describe it. It was more small rooms inside the store, with half-stairs going down to them. It was like a very cool apartment turned into a store. Three levels which were connected by a stair. On one of the four walls was a big ass flat screen and on it were waves from California with surfers. The three others were mirrors, so it looked like the surfers where all around you and it felt like I was back in California again. It felt like home. I didn’t buy anything there either.

We went back to the Carpisa store because I found a carry-on bag for only £35! It had a cute turtle on it and I really couldn’t resits. I don’t have a carry-on so it wasn’t an unnecessary thing to buy.

Down in the Underground tube again and this time we went to Hyde Park Corner where Hard Rock Cafe was located. The waiting was 45-60 minutes, but then I showed the guy a Priority Seating ticket I’ve earned. We got the nxt available table. They said 25 minutes, but it didn’t take more than five or maybe ten. I had a hard time deciding what to eat, the local didn’t sound very appetizing and they didn’t have the California Burger with guacamole on it. Eventually I decided to have a Magical Mojito (elderflower and lime in it) and a Mushroom/Swiss Burger. It was good, but not as good as the other ones I’ve tried (like the Local Legendary on Maui with Pulled Pork and grilled pineapple!). The food only took like 15 minutes and we were done with the dinner after an hour since we got there. Perfect.

We were really full and decided to walk it off. We took a walk all the way back to the apartment, which wasn’t that far, but took forever since Buckingham Palace was on the way. We took some photos and I have come to the conclusion that the Palace isn’t straight horisontally. It’s an optical illusion. Because how many times I tried to take a panoramic photo of it, it didnt’t turn out straight!! Extremely frustrating.

Anyway, I think the Queen was home, the flag was up. The Beefeaters were outside guarding and many people outside the gates taking picture, even at 10pm.

Back home I sat down, had a cup of tea and some candy and just relaxed. My whole body is so sore and I don’t know how I will manage almost three more of these days!

Oxford Street. A display window of the Selfridge & CO mall. Another one. Inside the Victoria’s Secret in London. Three floors. Abercrombie & Fitch in London. Only two floors, but by far the most exclusive A&F store I’ve ever been in!! Waterstones. Europe’s biggest bookstore, with 8 floors. Hollister in London. Also by far the fanciest Hollister store I’ve ever been in. Hard Rock Cafe London, #11 My 11th Hard Rock Cafe visit! 🙂 Before this I have 4 drink glasses and 6 shot glasses. Today I bought a pint glass.Buckingham Palace from afar. The panoramic picture of Buckingham Palace. What happened?? I did exactly like I did with all the other photos, and they are fine… Two days of shopping. Might be more in the end :).

London Pass

Posted on Friday, 16 May 2014, 1:25 by Alexandra

Another long day is over and my legs and feet are so sore right now. A lot of walking today again, and lots and lots of Brittish history. It’s been a really interesting day with audio tours at famous landmarks. The London pass includes a lot of attractions and discounts and so on. We only bought one-day pass which was a good idea. I don’t think I could have handled two of these days in a row.
Our day started a bit earlier than the other days, with a tour inside the Westminster Abbey church, which is a really really old church, I am remembering so many dates and all of them are mixed up. But I think I remember that this one was built in the 11th century. 200 years later it got its gothic style and was completely done in 1600 I think. Every coronation in London since 1066 has been there and the last one was in 1953 with Queen Elisabeth II.

We each got a phone-like thing with buttons. We walked around in the cathedral and whenever there was a sign with a number on it, we put that in our phones and listened. It looked kinda funny when everyone was walking around with phones.

We weren’t allowed to take any photos inside. And I will never be able to describe what it was like. First of all, it is 31m from floor to ceiling and then there are decorations, statues, coffins and such, EVERYWHERE. Not much space in there was just flat stone. It was incredible! So much history in one place. Isaac Newton and Darwin were buried there, and so were a lot of famous authors too, like Jane Austen.

Our next thing with the London pass was a cruise on the Thames. On the way there we took a lot of pictures of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. The Thames tour was nice. It felt really good with a breeze in the warm sun. That one took about 30 minutes.

The boat stopped right in front of the Tower Bridge and Tower of London (not the same thing, like I thought…). We had lunch first and I had my very first fish n chips. It wasn’t bad, but not good either. Flavorless. And boring. I think this was the first and last time I had it.

Inside the Tower of London we had another audio tour with phones. This one wasn’t as easy to follow as the other one. And we didn’t listen to everything since it took so long! We listened to the first one though, about the history about the place. The big fortress in the middle is called the White Tower and was built in the 11th century too. At that time it was humungus and completely white. Very hard to miss. It was built by William the Conqueror asa fortification. I don’t remember when, but the White Tower has been open to visitors for many centuries now (3-4?) with weapon and armor exhibitions. Carved wooden horses were inside with armors riding them. A lot of donations from far away were also kept there. And speaking of foregn things. The Tower of London has been a menagerie for exotic animals. The first lion was put there in 1210 and has been since been accompanied by polar bears, elaphants, tigers and so on. In the beginning of 1800 the animals were sent to the London Zoo in Regent’s Park.

Our next stop inside the Tower of London was the exhibition where they keep the Royal Crown Jewels! No photoraphy inside there either. And I have the same descriptive ability as with Westminster Abbey. It was ridiculous and so amazing! All the crowns, maces, silverware (goldware) they use at the weddings, huuuuge diamonds and so much gold I couldn’t believe my eyes. I wonder how much all of that was worth!! They had a golden spoon from 1300 which is used at every coronation. It looked so well-preserved and I can’t believe it is 800 years old! I got the same feeling with the inside of Westminster Abbey. They must maintain it pretty damn well.

When it closed at 6pm we went outside and took some pictures of the Tower Bridge, one of the world’s most famous bridges. The plan was to go up in it, but it had closed by the time we were done at Tower of London. But just pictures were fine with me.

We took the tube to Chinatown where we had dinner again. Today I had sweet and sour shrimp. Really good. Everyone of us were really tired and I can’t believe I stayed out with mom until, yeah, whenever it was. Helena and Gudrun went home earlier.

All of us went to the M&M World store together though, and it was as crazy as the one in Las Vegas. I bought a big green cup since I don’t really have a big teacup at home and I didn’t have room to buy one last year. Then we went to a souvenir shop where we had £5 off each. I had no idea what to buy until I saw that they had Rainbow Loom rubberbands. I took two bags to my cousin Ella. She will love it!

Out on Picadilly Circus I tried taking another 360 degree photo, but it was hard with the bright light of the big commercial screen. But I got it worked out after a few tries. While I was there I got an unknown phonecall, but I answered, and it was Chad calling all the way from Sweden just to talk a bit because he missed me. That really made me so happy! Very sweet of him :). And it was nice to hear some American English. I’m not sure I like the Brittish accent, it sounds snobby…

We took the Tube home and for some reason three hours just went by. I am so extremely tired now, and tomorrow will just be a calm day with some strolling, shopping and so on. That will be nice. I actually did a little bit of shopping today as well. I bought three pair of belts (£1 each!) and sunscreen at the third of the Swedish price at Primark. Tomorrow I am planning on buying a book, Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. I have the three first ones at home and thought it could be fun to buy the last one abroad.

Time to go to bed now. Goodnight!

Westminster Abbey west entrance. Westminster Abbey north entrance. Houses of Parliament. Big Ben. Houses of Parliament.There are so much cool architecture on the banks of the river Thames. Tower of London. Audio tour inside Tower of London. A room of torture. White Tower. Armor on display in White Tower. I have no idea why this guy as a thing on his armor but it looks so stupid.Wooden carved horses with armors. The Royal Crown Jewels are inside these walls. Cool architecture.Lots of ravens at Tower of London. They say that when the ravens leave, the kingdom will fall. Tower Bridge. Panoramic photo of M&M World London, taken with Gudrun’s iPhone. I have to say that her phone captured the moving colors in the dispay of the store much better than mine. This is probably the only time I will say that an iPhone might be better than an Android…