August 26, 2004
Blech
Whew—nothing will make you homesick like a little illness. Nothing big—I think I just ate something that disagreed, but I was up for a couple hours last night feeling quite sorry for myself. And it was a shame because I had such a lovely day!
Furniture arrived in drips and drabs, and along with it came the news that all the beds were "wrong" and were being sent back. So it will be a few more nights on the temporary cot for me—poor Roya and Tomomi are stuck on the floor.
After a major assembling effort (the desk and chair are now together!!) I quickly changed clothes and went to Centrum with Roya and Tomomi, where we met about a dozen international students for drinks at one of the pseudo-English pubs. I met two really nice Swedish guys, who helped me set up the voicemail on my mobile phone (we'll see if it works!). I also realized that what I thought was a voicemail was really a text message from Red! Very exciting.
The group split up, with some people going to play pool and others staying to watch the Olympics. By 10:30 p.m. everyone had enough, so there was a mass exodus back to our apartments. I quickly fell asleep (after admiring my desk!), only to wake up in the middle of the night. It was icky, let me tell you. But I digress…
Once I got back to sleep, everything went back to normal. I slept in until 10 a.m., and now I'm at my new desk, writing a few things before I go take a bath/shower. After that, I don't really have any plans, other than going to campus, checking email, and picking up a desk lamp they are holding for us at the Student Services desk. Oh, and I'm also going to assemble my bookcase, one of the last pieces to arrive yesterday.
After talking to a bunch of the international students, I've come to appreciate how lucky I am to be in Sweden for this year with no major money problems. People in my program are really scraping by—counting every kronar. While I'm not splurging on extravagances, I can certainly afford most things. Hurrah for the D.C. real estate market, which made this all possible!
Related to the money issue, Roya and I have agreed to turn our living room (which was not going to be furnished by the University) into a third bedroom. Right now, we're waiting on a couple students to see if they are interesting in moving in. A third roommate would certainly reduce our rent significantly, but would also be a much smarter use of the space, since we weren't going to buy any furniture to fill the room.
**Also, I realized that I forgot to upload an entry from August 24, 8:30 p.m. I've backdated the entry, and you can view it now by scrolling down.
