my first real visitor (parents don't count)

Hey guys. Long time no see. I'm sad to say I haven't been doing anything terribly exciting here lately. I haven't been traveling anywhere, in an effort to save money and avoid going outside (its cold). So I go to class, I hang out with my floormates, I try new recipes...Very exciting stuff. Over the past 3 weekends I have gone to various erasmus parties (erasmus = what europeans call studying abroad) I went to an Irish pub and watched a rugby match. What an odd game. Being in a bar, watching sports on a big screen with lots of people really made me miss football (the american kind) That is one thing that people here definitely don't understand.

This past weekend things were a little more exciting than usual because I had a visitor! Lillian, a friend from high school, is studying in Vienna this semester, and decided to pay me a visit. She was here Thursday until today (Tuesday) and we did all the touristy stuff. We went shopping all over the place- Sodermalm (the trendy south island), Drottningsgatan (the main shopping street near the central station), and Gamla Stan (the old part of the city). We must have spotted at least 15 H&M's along the way. There is a big H&M on Drottningsgatan, with one across the street, and one 2 doors down... Not sure why that one street needs 3 H&M's, but whatever. I admit that I have gone to all 3 on a single shopping trip. For those that don't know what H&M is, shame on you! Its only the best store ever. And its Swedish. Lillian was very excited to shop in an authentic, Swedish H&M (although they really are no different than the ones back in the US)

Lillian on the south end of Kungsholmen (the island I live on)

On Sunday, we got lost on the way to a Christmas market and nearly froze to death. We wanted to get to this Steninge Slott market that we had read about in a guide. We checked out the website and the instructions seemed simple enough...take the train to Marsta, then the bus to a certain stop, and follow the signs to the market...So we took the train 30 km out of the city and found our bus. The bus stop we wanted was in the middle of a residential neighborhood, but there were signs, so we followed them. So we started walking, but somehow along the way we became lost. We ended up on a path in a forest, which didn't seem quite right. Eventually, we encountered a man walking his dog and I asked if he knew where the christmas market was. We had taken a wrong turn, so we backtracked, and finally found this place after about 45 minutes of walking...in the snow. Anyways the market was nice. I bought a julbocken....a christmas goat. I'm not sure what the significance of these are, but you see them everywhere now. It is this horse like thing made of straw and ribbon. It looks way cool on my table next to my new IKEA candle.

Julbocken är kul!

So I had a fun time with Lillian, but now I'm going to have to do all the tourist stuff all over again because my sister will be here tomorrow morning! But I'm a way good hostess, I think I convinced Lillian to move to Stockholm. I was nice to speak to an American again, at a normal speed without having to explain what different words mean. I think you will find when I return that my english has gotten worse. Oh well, I'm an engineer, I suppose it works.