Last night in Stockholm

Hi everyone!


As my time in Sverige (pronounced Sveh-ree-yeh) comes to a close, I wanted to take a moment and honor the people who have made this trip so much fun thus far. This is more of an attempt to bring my international experience back home, and I hope you all can appreciate the mix of people that have made my trip to Sweden so fun.

Mark - 26 - Being an MBA student studying International Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility (at Baconi Univeristy in Milan), we connected on levels of academic and social interest. It was a very lucky, yet welcome coincidence to have such a nice transition into a foreign country. We had a blast as we toured the various parts of the city, quoting the various Youtube, SNL, and Goldmember quotes (which we all know and love), and people watching the beautiful Swedes.



(Albeit not the most genetically diverse area of the world, everyone in Sweden is GORGEOUS!)


Jasenka and Monica - 25 and 26, respectively - Our two Croatian friends I also met the first night here, these girls accompanied Mark and I on the various tours we took around town. They both work for a tour group agency in Croatia, and they spoke fluent Spanish and Italian, on top of great English. Being around them reminded me of how much I missed Romanian and all the other languages I learned, but havent had the constant bombardment with in order to keep the repertoire fresh. They were very proper, yet enthusiastic and giggly if that makes any sense? They were great friends to tour with, and I can't wait to see them again in the future.

Christoph - 23 - A bear of German, Christoph could speak a little bit of English when we met him, but he admitted to "thinking" in English by the end of the week. His German insight was very interesting, as he was well versed in the youthful music and drinking culture of Ze Germans, but he was a bit pessimistic about the country for the most part. As the week went on, his humor and disposition, along with his English, clearly improved. He told us many stories, and kept us all entertained. I will also definitely keep in touch with him in the future - 2009 is his year!!

Lars - 48 (I think) - A Norwegian businessman who only stayed for one night, he met Mark and I with great English and a big grin. Asking where he was from, we found out that Lars just bought a boat in the harbor and was coming back in about a month to pick it up and take it for a week-long sailing trip back home. He was a jolly Norwegian man, and he was awesome.

Mercedes - 33 - Venezuelan lady with a lot to say about Chavez. We played "Cadaveres Quicito" and One Fat Hen the first night we met with some Falcon and SkAl beer, right before we went out into the Swedish trendy party scene. She spoke great English, like everyone else (it makes me feel very wierd about our American culture when everyone in Europe speaks a minimum of 5 languages), and she was an undoubtfully interesting addition to the group.

Bjorne - 26 - A Swedish native abotu 2 hours drive south of Stockholm, his insight into the Swedish culture was unparalleled and incredibly helpful. He clarified many of the inconsistencies between Stockholm and the rest of Swedish culture, which is necessary since only 700,000 live in Stockholm, and only 8 million people are in the entire country. He spoke flawless English, and was one of the top online poker players in Sweden. His travels to Stockholm were mostly for the first poker-office (which had a beautiful location and lay out), on top of a little touring on the side. We had a lot of fun mingling with the Swedish ladies, and we also visited the VASA together - which is a must see for anyone travelling to Sweden.

Chris -19 - A wakeboarding Florida kid whose father flies for Delta, it was his 2nd time to Stockholm within only 2 months. He knew more about local Swedish beer than most locals, and I must say that "Ocean" and "Gemini" are two fantastic brews that everyone should try before dying. Make it a priority. He was my roommate for the last 2 nights in Stockholm, and we visited the Absolut Ice Bar together. There we met two lovely German girls who joined in a game of Jenga with the ice cups we had started :)

Simon - 34 - Aussie with an attitude, he was on a mission to take Stockholm by storm. He reminded me very much of Justin Montrie, so supplementing that with an Australian accent is a recipe for excitement. He definitely contributed to the energy and enthusiasm of the rest of the group.

Well, that's about it for the Hostel Renstierna in Stockholm (I highly recommend this place to stay - great breakfast, great service, and very nice people as you can tell)

It is Spring in Amsterdam now, after the busiest weekend in the year. I had the chance to take many pictures of both plants and people in their time of "blooming" here in the Vegas of Europe. More stories to come....

Dank u vel for reading, and I'll post more pictures soon!