Caroline

This weekend, when I went kayaking in the Mulberry River, it hit me once again how different we are. For lunch, our trip leaders had packed bread, turkey, and cheese among other things. I took a slice of bread and asked “do we have any butter?”. One of the trip leaders looked at me. “Butter? What do you want butter for?”. “For my bread”, I said. He looked a bit surprised and said “Do you put butter on your turkey sandwich?”. Just as he was shocked about me putting butter on my turkey sandwich, I was surprised he didn’t. After that a discussion followed and I learned that the only time Americans put butter on bread, is when they eat toast in the morning. Me, I could never eat a sandwich without.

I’m never prepared for experiencing the differences between your culture and mine. I think it’s because on the outside, we are so alike. We look just like each other. Just as you surprise me, I probably surprise you. But I must say, in the future when I look back on my time in the U.S. I will remember this: We are very alike, you and me. But we are also very different.

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’ve talked a lot about the culture in the country that I grew up and compared it to yours. Most of the time, I’ve written about positive culture chocks that I’ve encountered in my every day life. But I also experience a big difference when it comes to the way we are being brought up, and the way we live our lives.

Some of my thoughts, I’ve posted under the page Sweden vs. Oklahoma. Some of you may think that I’m a bit nagging - and I agree with you - but I guess it’s just a way for me to handle being away from home.

The weather, or to be more exact the weather that could be, is really scaring me. I don’t know how you handle it. Say “tornado watch” or “severe thunderstorm”, and you scare the hell out of me. Every time something like this occurs, I’m on the edge of having a nervous breakdown.

Earlier this day I actually wondered what’s wrong with me. I could have chosen to go somewhere else to study, but I chose Stillwater. It’s not like it’s a secret that the state of Oklahoma has a lot of tornados. In the same time, people wouldn’t live here if it was that dangerous, right? Or are people, including me, that stupid?

I know that it is not as bad as I think it is, but people have told me stories and given me “survival tips”. Like, if I’m outside when a tornado comes, I should go under a bridge. And that if I have a belt, I can tie the belt around myself and something stable. But, I mean… Oh my god. Its times like this that make me miss Sweden. A tornado? Nope. An earthquake? Nope. A severe thunderstorm? Well, they are not really that severe. Ok, it’s not as warm as it is here and we do have rainy summers. Still, that’s way better then knowing there’s a chance a tornado will come.

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.