Swedish Spring

Last weekend I went horseback riding with the international association. It was a one night trip into the Swedish countryside over the Easter weekend. We rode a charted bus for about an hour outside of the city to horse farm where we split into two groups. One rode horses to our lunch and the rest of us walked there. It was one of the warmest days we have had so far this year and the sun was shining bright and high in the sky. We had a simple, quick lunch by the swiftly moving river. Originally we were supposed to canoe to the picnic site but the river was too fast for us to safely canoe there and the water was still very cold from the last of the melting snow. There was a surprising amount of snow in the woods and shadows. The horses we rode back are of an Icelandic breed that is smaller, but equally powerful, and rather hairy. I could tell the horses were trained to mostly follow each but we did get to gallop which was really fun and a little scary. The horse I rode was named Glanni and kept stopping to eat.

After our ride we walked through the woods and along the river to a very big, old house where we tried to have a bonfire and did have a party. The wood was too wet from the snow to make a strong fire but everyone brought enough alcohol and games to keep themselves entertained. However, before the usual college student antics we had hand-made Mexican food for dinner. I never tire of watching people from around the world bond over drinking games. There were a lot of people I hadn't met before and it was great to get to know them a little.

I have the same professor from last quarter teaching both of m courses. I am not pleased because is a very poor lecturer. Luckily though one of my housemates is in one of the classes so we can help each other stay focused. The beautiful weather isn't going to help either. The classes themselves don't strike me as all that difficult but time will tell.

I was supposed to go to Copenhagen today with my friend and her visiting family but her mother has food poisoning and couldn't go. It was only going to be for the day so we wouldn't have been able to do much anyway and we're planning to go for a weekend later in the quarter. In other travel news, I will be leaving Monday for the cruise to Tallinn, Estonia. Two thousand students from all over the Nordic region will be on the ship. It's a three day trip that I expect to be even wilder than the last cruise. Norway is also officially in the plans. It, like the cruise and Easter get-way, is a school organized trip. They all kinds of exciting things planned which I detail in a later blog entry.

Otherwise I'm simply living the quiet Swedish life and loving it!