Wanderings

My first full weekend in Stockholm was full of exploration. I went to the Nobel Museum and learned all about the prize that Stockholm is famous for - the Nobel Prize. This little museum in the heart of Gamla Stan is home to facts about the prize creator, Alfred Nobel, and many of the prize's recipients. It was really neat! There were videos about some of the winners so I learned about Marie Curie and others. There were also figures to help illustrate the winning achievement. Linus Pauling (winner of 2 Nobel prizes) was showcased by a model of a chemical he discovered the structure for. Marie Curie had an "air-free balance" to accurately weigh out her compounds. Another winner whose name I can't remember was represented by a camera for x-ray crystallography and there was a ball and stick model of hemoglobin, the blood protein, above it. I was really excited about this because I was remembering all I learned about hemoglobin from biochem last semester! There was, of course, a ball and stick model of Watson and Crick's DNA and, last but not least, a petri dish with penecillin on it! It was a scientist's (or Nobel prize lover's) dream! Of course they all aren't scienctists. The Nobel Prize is also awarded in the categories of Peace, Literature, and Economics along with the sciences of Physics, Chemistry, and Medicine. It was really neat! I am looking forward to going to more museums around Stockholm and I have decided I will probably spend most of my money going to museums. That is just fine by me! 


I then spent some time wandering around Horgoret. This is in the heart of Stockholm and has lots of nice looking buildings as well as nice shopping! I just wandered from store to store to see what was there. Of course I went to H&M and saw some amazing cute clothes! My favorite find was a small second hand store (kind of like Goodwill) that had a wonderful selection of clothes at reasonable prices. I was having a hard time knowing what size I was since everything is European sizes so I didn't buy anything. I think I will be going  back though! After my wanderings and arriving home safely, I decided that wandering was the best way to see the town. With no destination, anything is possible! 


I guess I should also say that I went to see Narnia with Emelie and cried a little at how much movies are over here. I paid 125 kr for the ticket. That is about $20 for a movie. Yikes! However, I love Narnia and I got to spend time with my host sister so it was just fine in the end. I don't think I'll be seeing very many movies here though. Unless I am sitting comfortably in my apartment! :) 


On Sunday, I found 2 wonderful things. The first was a place called the "Student Palace" which is a building for students at the university dedicated to studying. That's right. Studying. It's not a library but a building with tables! It was so cool! I spent a few hours reading my books for class. I will probably go there often especially since it's close to the Hard Rock Cafe in Stockholm! I also found a small church a lot like Richwoods back home. I was greeted warmly and really enjoyed worship with others in Stockholm. One of my favorite parts of the service was that I got to show all 40 people there how to do the twist! :) I was really surprised that I was the only one who knew how to do it (or at least volunteered to share that I did) but then I remembered that I am in Sweden and not everyone knows what I know! 


That's all for now. I am off to do some swing dancing with some students on campus! I'll let you all know how that goes! 


Swedish word of the day: "Jag" which means I. This is (of course) a very common word in Swedish. I find it really interesting that I is very close to yes (Ja). 


Swedish fact of the day: Sweden is most known for being a welfare state. All the citizens receive health care, a pension, and many other benefits for life from the state. This comes out of the idea that the government sees itself as a protector for its people. It seems to be working out pretty well for the Swedes who are able to care very well for all of their citizens. My host sister said that the universal health care was her favorite part of Sweden!