Thursday, August 20, 2009

Day Four: Just a normal day in Sweden

This morning we had an information session with a police officer from the town and a bunch of health services personnel. We found out that STD testing is both required and free in Sweden if you suspect you have an STD. All the treatment is also free! We also found out that the counseling center has a light room to keep your circadian rhythms regularized during the darker winter months. You can go in there whenever you want!

The police officer was entertaining and very friendly, which follows what the men on our train from Stockholm told us: the police here are not as intimidating and harsh as police in the U.S. We have heard both positives and negative opinions regarding this trend. We found out that alcohol is illegal on the beach, with fines, but that public intoxication carries no fee. The police will either walk you home or take you back to the police station to sober up. Also, we can drive here if we want, using our licenses from home!

After this first meeting, we met with Rickard, our professor. Apparently professors go by their first names here. Rickard gave us a lot of great information about our course and answered all our questions. He also told us about the flea market on Saturdays, and showed us the location of his house on our map. He invited us to "ring the bell" if we're ever in the area!

We were now motivated to go to the bookstore, so we went to buy our books. We were thrilled to find that the bookstore had all the books we planned to buy! On the way there we stopped in a clothing store where Christine bought a short sleeve shirt for about $7! (She did not bring many short sleeve shirts here, because she thought the weather would be colder.) After the bookstore, we were walking home looking for the post office when we found a store with post cards and stamps! We bought some of both. Stamps are almost $2!

Then after dinner Christine went out on her own for the first time, meeting Karin (a Swedish friend) at the lake. With a couple of Karin's friends, they enjoyed the beach as well as some drinks and popcorn at Karin's apartment. After proceeding to another friend's house, Christine decided to take her leave and finally returned home via the bus. It was quite an exciting day!

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