Hej!
After a wonderful day of sunshine, I'm finally back to writing. As implied by the title of this post, my biggest adventure since the last time I wrote was attending the international student gasque! But I'll start at the beginning of the week, and write from there.
Just after my last post, it started snowing in Uppsala. It was wondrous to see everything all white and beautiful, but it also made biking to class more interesting. I was really impressed with how well the city kept the streets and bike paths clear though; as long as I stuck to the more well-used paths and roads instead of the many short cuts I've picked up, they were cleared and covered with gravel and sand. The really interesting biking happened later in the week, when the weather warmed to about 4 degrees (40 in Fahrenheit) every afternoon three days in a row, and melted all of that lovely snow into mush that got churned into interesting shapes and frozen every night. Most people gave up on biking altogether, but I thought it was more of a good challenge to get to class without slipping. Fortunately the continuing warm weather has melted most of the slush away, so the biking is actually the best it's been yet.
And of course, I have to write something about what I was biking to! Neuroscience has been fascinating as usual; this week we had lectures about the auditory system, emotions, pain (which is actually controlled by an entirely different set of neurons than the rest of the touch sensory system), and the neurology of biological rhythms, namely sleep. We had our second oral exam, which was a decided mix of good and bad news. The good news: the discussions we had were really interesting, and we kept getting side-tracked on interesting tangents away from the actual questions. I wish people just sat around at talked about science like that more often! The bad news: I have A LOT of studying to do before the written exam.
I've also been working on my literature overview project, which is about the neuroscience of music. It's also been really interesting, but the rough draft is due tomorrow and I'm not nearly ready to turn anything in. Sometimes deadlines are good because they force you to actually get going on something, but other times they're really just frustrating.
The end of the week was marked by more than just the oral exam for neuro, however. This Friday was the international student gasque. A gasque is a formal dinner and dance, and every Nation has several. This particular one wasn't hosted by any specific Nation, but was for all of the international students. I had a blast! It was fun to get all dressed up with some of my friends from neuro (I haven't been that giggly and girly since high school!) Everyone mingled for a bit when we got there, and then we went upstairs for dinner. Every gasque has a random seating arrangement, so there's no pressure to go with anyone in particular, or to get a date. I sat next to a girl from Austria, Johanna, the secretary of Smålands Nation, and my friend Jeremy from Canada. (He's the one who organized the Super Bowl party). We had a blast, especially once I discovered that Johanna followed ski racing. Most Austrians do, even if they're not skiers themselves. For an Austrian, not hearing about Hermann Maier is like an American not hearing about Tim Tebow; even if you don't follow football you can't escape completely.
Dinner was also fun because of the Swedish traditions involved. Between every course, (this dinner had three) and often during the courses as well, the toast master of the event will interrupt everyone, lead a drinking song, and then everyone will toast and drink. I was quite happy toasting with my soda, and no one seemed to care so long as I tried to sing all of the songs (in Swedish, mind you) as exuberantly as everyone else.
After the dinner (this was at about 11:30) they cleared all of the tables away and had the "after party" part of the gasque. In one section of the room there was a live band, and in another there was a karaoke going on. Between them was a bar and places to sit an hang out. Most of my neuroscience friends were pretty thoroughly inebriated by this point in the evening, and watching them sing karaoke (I'm a Barbie Girl and Summer of '69) was absolutely hilarious. I stayed until about one, when I decided I'd had about enough and walked home. It was a fun experience, and hopefully I'll get the chance to attend another gasque.
I'll unfortunately have to make this post shorter than the last several, as I really should be writing my neuroscience paper at the moment. Hopefully I'll have something interesting to report next time!
Until then,
Hej då!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Turning Dreams into Plans
Hej!
As this is officially Vecka Fem (Week 5) of class, I can officially say I've used up a quarter of my time here in Sweden. What a terrifying thought! At times I feel like I can't imagine what it would be like to not hear more Swedish than English, to not have the cathedral and the castle as part of the skyline, and to not eat Wasa everyday. (After a quick review, I have discovered I have not expounded the joys of Wasa yet. It's a flat bread/cracker type of thing, and I put cream cheese, peanut butter, jam, or Nutella on it. It exists in the US, but it's really popular here.) At the same time, I can't believe time is rushing by so quickly, and I feel like it's only going to go faster.
So it's rather fortunate that this week past week my attention has been turned, by a number of circumstances, to making plans for all of the wild dreams I've had but never really acted on. It began last weekend when Henri invited me to join him on a day in Stockholm.
Stockholm is about forty minutes away by train. I was really excited to travel by train, which is something Henri found rather odd. He's used to taking the metro or the train everywhere, and it wasn't until I showed him a map of Denver's LightRail system (which I do love, but has nothing on European train systems) that he understood. Trains are wonderful. They're fast, smooth, and you don't have to worry about anything but being on time. We arrived in Stockholm at 9am, and proceeded to explore Gamla Stan, which is the island that has the "Old Town" on it. Stockholm is comprised of fourteen different islands, all of which have a slightly different character. Gamla Stan includes the currently used royal palace, the Stockholm Cathedral, and a wondrous maze of tiny, winding, cobbled streets.
This was again something that completely enchanted me that Henri was slightly more used to. After some thought, I decided that perhaps one explanation was that most US cities were built in an era of at least horse-and-buggy transportation, if not car transportation, so all of our streets are wide and straight. While he also enjoyed walking around Gamla Stan, he was rather amused with how awed I was. It was beautiful! The buildings are mostly faded red and yellow, and they're all pressed together around the little streets. The best part about Gamla Stan is that no matter how you turn yourself around, you end up on the edge of the island soon enough, and then it's very easy to figure out where you are from the landmarks across the water or from the towers of the various churches and the cathedral. For a bit we crossed the bridge to Norrmalm, which has the modern downtown.
We also went inside the Stockholm Cathedral, which is very different from the Uppsala Cathedral. The inside is made of brick, unlike the grey stone used in Uppsala, so the whole cathedral has a much warmer and cheerier feel to it. When we were there a group of musicians, mostly string and piano, were warming up for a concert. Someday I would love to hear a concert in a cathedral; the acoustics are really incredible. Even listening to them warm up was quite a treat.
After several hours spent like this, we both decided we were cold and wanted a bit of fika. (Fika, loosely translated, means coffee break; it involves hot drinks, some kind of sweet bread, and time to chat, but it can be at home or at a cafe. It's very casual, and one of my favorite things about Sweden.) On our ramblings, we'd found a triangular courtyard with creeper-vines arching over the streets and a large tree in the middle, and a cafe on one side. We managed (somehow) to make our way back to it and ordered semla (a bun with the top cut off, filled with vanilla custard and whipped cream) and tea, and proceeded to spend the next two and a half hours talking. Our conversations ranged from regional food specialties to history to current politics to our homework. Talking with Henri is a joy.
After our extra-long fika, Henri and I took the ferry to Djurgården, another one of Stockholm's islands. Djurgården is part of Stockholm's Royal City National Park, the largest city park in the world. Our goal was to go to Skansen, which is a living Swedish history museum. I'm guessing it's a bit like colonial Williamsburg, if anyone is familiar with that; a town built to historical standards, populated (at least during the day) with people dressed and acting in accordance with the time period. You'll note I said "I'm guessing," because we never actually made it there. When we got off the ferry, I caught site of a really massive building and I wanted to see what it was.
Turns out it was the Nordika Museet (Nordic Museum) which houses artifacts of all kinds about the history of Swedish culture. Henri and I spent three hours wandering around before we realized it was dark out, and at some point we should probably get back to Uppsala. A ferry, a train, and a bike ride later, I was exhausted but completely content with my adventure. Henri and I have agreed we need to go back to see the Stadshuset, where they give the Nobel prizes (except the Peace Prize, which is awarded in Norway) and to finally make it to Skansen!
On the train ride back, I made a comment about how much I love going places. I've always wanted to travel around Europe. Henri gave me a funny look and asked me why I wasn't doing it. He pointed out that I was much closer to the rest of Europe than I will be for a while, and told me that the bargain airlines have really good deals sometimes. "Just book something and go," he told me. After I thought about it for a while, I decided that Americans see traveling to different countries as a much bigger deal than Europeans, simply because going to another country (that isn't Canada or Mexico) means traveling a very, very long way.
He inspired me to spend a rather unfortunate (for this week's neuro reading, anyway) amount of time on a website called Skyscanner, which searches all of the European airlines for really cheap fares. I can fly to cities all over Europe, like Rome, Prague, Paris, or Geneva for under 100 euros. These are cities I read about in stories that might as well be fantasy because they're normally so far away, but now it's a two to four hour plane ride! While I didn't click the green BOOK button last night, I think I will in the near future, if I can ever decide on where to go. If anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate them!
My last "dream turned plan" is a little closer to home, and was inspired in a completely different type of situation. This week in neuro we covered the somato-motor system (the sensation of touch and the ability to move and balance, which are actually more closely related than most people think). One of the lecturers, Klaus, explained about joint receptors, which measure how much tension we're putting on ligaments and tendons. When you tear something, an ACL for example, you also tear the neurons that feed the joint receptor, and that's part of what you have to regain during physical therapy if you ever want your balance back. When Klaus was explaining this, he was speaking with the air of someone who knew what it was like to tear a ligament, so when I asked him a different question (about stretch receptors) during the break, I also asked him which ligament he'd blown.
He laughed, and told me an ACL in a football (soccer) match, and then wanted to know if I had done one, which led to a conversation about skiing and other athletic activities around Uppsala. He told me it's really too flat around here for skiing, but one thing they do have is long-distance ice skating. Some years, if it's cold enough, the water in the Stockholm archipelago freezes and you can ice skate for miles and miles. Apparently this year it's cold enough, and the ice is in really good condition. On his advice I'm going to try to organize a group of kids to go ice skating in the archipelago. I'm not sure it will happen this weekend, but hopefully week-after-next. (Next week is the second oral exam, and the first draft of the literature overview is due. Turning dreams to plans is well and good, but I should also probably pass my class!)
The other exciting news of the week: this was the first week of my Basic Swedish class, which I have from six to eight every Tuesday and Thursday evening. The first class was mostly administrative matters, but we did get through counting and the alphabet. Swedish has NINE VOWELS, (a, e, i, o, u, y, å, ö, and ä) some of which sound very much the same to me. This will be an adventure in its own right.
Overall I'm really happy with how I've spent the first quarter of my time here, and I can't wait for the next adventure. To make it even better, I keep getting good news from home; my two best ski buddies qualified for USCSA Regionals and Jeff is holding his own at the Steamboat Telemark World Cup Races.
Until the next adventure,
Hej då!
As this is officially Vecka Fem (Week 5) of class, I can officially say I've used up a quarter of my time here in Sweden. What a terrifying thought! At times I feel like I can't imagine what it would be like to not hear more Swedish than English, to not have the cathedral and the castle as part of the skyline, and to not eat Wasa everyday. (After a quick review, I have discovered I have not expounded the joys of Wasa yet. It's a flat bread/cracker type of thing, and I put cream cheese, peanut butter, jam, or Nutella on it. It exists in the US, but it's really popular here.) At the same time, I can't believe time is rushing by so quickly, and I feel like it's only going to go faster.
So it's rather fortunate that this week past week my attention has been turned, by a number of circumstances, to making plans for all of the wild dreams I've had but never really acted on. It began last weekend when Henri invited me to join him on a day in Stockholm.
Stockholm is about forty minutes away by train. I was really excited to travel by train, which is something Henri found rather odd. He's used to taking the metro or the train everywhere, and it wasn't until I showed him a map of Denver's LightRail system (which I do love, but has nothing on European train systems) that he understood. Trains are wonderful. They're fast, smooth, and you don't have to worry about anything but being on time. We arrived in Stockholm at 9am, and proceeded to explore Gamla Stan, which is the island that has the "Old Town" on it. Stockholm is comprised of fourteen different islands, all of which have a slightly different character. Gamla Stan includes the currently used royal palace, the Stockholm Cathedral, and a wondrous maze of tiny, winding, cobbled streets.
This was again something that completely enchanted me that Henri was slightly more used to. After some thought, I decided that perhaps one explanation was that most US cities were built in an era of at least horse-and-buggy transportation, if not car transportation, so all of our streets are wide and straight. While he also enjoyed walking around Gamla Stan, he was rather amused with how awed I was. It was beautiful! The buildings are mostly faded red and yellow, and they're all pressed together around the little streets. The best part about Gamla Stan is that no matter how you turn yourself around, you end up on the edge of the island soon enough, and then it's very easy to figure out where you are from the landmarks across the water or from the towers of the various churches and the cathedral. For a bit we crossed the bridge to Norrmalm, which has the modern downtown.
We also went inside the Stockholm Cathedral, which is very different from the Uppsala Cathedral. The inside is made of brick, unlike the grey stone used in Uppsala, so the whole cathedral has a much warmer and cheerier feel to it. When we were there a group of musicians, mostly string and piano, were warming up for a concert. Someday I would love to hear a concert in a cathedral; the acoustics are really incredible. Even listening to them warm up was quite a treat.
After several hours spent like this, we both decided we were cold and wanted a bit of fika. (Fika, loosely translated, means coffee break; it involves hot drinks, some kind of sweet bread, and time to chat, but it can be at home or at a cafe. It's very casual, and one of my favorite things about Sweden.) On our ramblings, we'd found a triangular courtyard with creeper-vines arching over the streets and a large tree in the middle, and a cafe on one side. We managed (somehow) to make our way back to it and ordered semla (a bun with the top cut off, filled with vanilla custard and whipped cream) and tea, and proceeded to spend the next two and a half hours talking. Our conversations ranged from regional food specialties to history to current politics to our homework. Talking with Henri is a joy.
After our extra-long fika, Henri and I took the ferry to Djurgården, another one of Stockholm's islands. Djurgården is part of Stockholm's Royal City National Park, the largest city park in the world. Our goal was to go to Skansen, which is a living Swedish history museum. I'm guessing it's a bit like colonial Williamsburg, if anyone is familiar with that; a town built to historical standards, populated (at least during the day) with people dressed and acting in accordance with the time period. You'll note I said "I'm guessing," because we never actually made it there. When we got off the ferry, I caught site of a really massive building and I wanted to see what it was.
Turns out it was the Nordika Museet (Nordic Museum) which houses artifacts of all kinds about the history of Swedish culture. Henri and I spent three hours wandering around before we realized it was dark out, and at some point we should probably get back to Uppsala. A ferry, a train, and a bike ride later, I was exhausted but completely content with my adventure. Henri and I have agreed we need to go back to see the Stadshuset, where they give the Nobel prizes (except the Peace Prize, which is awarded in Norway) and to finally make it to Skansen!
On the train ride back, I made a comment about how much I love going places. I've always wanted to travel around Europe. Henri gave me a funny look and asked me why I wasn't doing it. He pointed out that I was much closer to the rest of Europe than I will be for a while, and told me that the bargain airlines have really good deals sometimes. "Just book something and go," he told me. After I thought about it for a while, I decided that Americans see traveling to different countries as a much bigger deal than Europeans, simply because going to another country (that isn't Canada or Mexico) means traveling a very, very long way.
He inspired me to spend a rather unfortunate (for this week's neuro reading, anyway) amount of time on a website called Skyscanner, which searches all of the European airlines for really cheap fares. I can fly to cities all over Europe, like Rome, Prague, Paris, or Geneva for under 100 euros. These are cities I read about in stories that might as well be fantasy because they're normally so far away, but now it's a two to four hour plane ride! While I didn't click the green BOOK button last night, I think I will in the near future, if I can ever decide on where to go. If anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate them!
My last "dream turned plan" is a little closer to home, and was inspired in a completely different type of situation. This week in neuro we covered the somato-motor system (the sensation of touch and the ability to move and balance, which are actually more closely related than most people think). One of the lecturers, Klaus, explained about joint receptors, which measure how much tension we're putting on ligaments and tendons. When you tear something, an ACL for example, you also tear the neurons that feed the joint receptor, and that's part of what you have to regain during physical therapy if you ever want your balance back. When Klaus was explaining this, he was speaking with the air of someone who knew what it was like to tear a ligament, so when I asked him a different question (about stretch receptors) during the break, I also asked him which ligament he'd blown.
He laughed, and told me an ACL in a football (soccer) match, and then wanted to know if I had done one, which led to a conversation about skiing and other athletic activities around Uppsala. He told me it's really too flat around here for skiing, but one thing they do have is long-distance ice skating. Some years, if it's cold enough, the water in the Stockholm archipelago freezes and you can ice skate for miles and miles. Apparently this year it's cold enough, and the ice is in really good condition. On his advice I'm going to try to organize a group of kids to go ice skating in the archipelago. I'm not sure it will happen this weekend, but hopefully week-after-next. (Next week is the second oral exam, and the first draft of the literature overview is due. Turning dreams to plans is well and good, but I should also probably pass my class!)
The other exciting news of the week: this was the first week of my Basic Swedish class, which I have from six to eight every Tuesday and Thursday evening. The first class was mostly administrative matters, but we did get through counting and the alphabet. Swedish has NINE VOWELS, (a, e, i, o, u, y, å, ö, and ä) some of which sound very much the same to me. This will be an adventure in its own right.
Overall I'm really happy with how I've spent the first quarter of my time here, and I can't wait for the next adventure. To make it even better, I keep getting good news from home; my two best ski buddies qualified for USCSA Regionals and Jeff is holding his own at the Steamboat Telemark World Cup Races.
Until the next adventure,
Hej då!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Life as Normal (or as normal as it gets)
Hej everyone!
I will, predictably, start by apologizing for the delay in this post. A variety of circumstances created it, but I promise I will hopefully now be back to posting on Wednesday or Thursday each week. With that out of the way, let me return to telling stories about my time here in Sweden.
Last week in neuroscience was as demanding as ever. We finished our second lab, which was based on a computer simulation of action potentials. I'm really glad we did this one because it really forced us to think through this rather complicated topic. We also did our third lab, which was the only one of the course that required true "lab work" with pipettes and everything. We tested two neuropeptides to determine which one binds more tightly to the receptor. It was an interesting lab, and my partner and I will analyze the results this afternoon.
In lecture we covered the intricacies of the interplay between the nervous and endocrine systems and appetite. There are definitely moments when I throw my mental hands up and I'm just glad that it all works! We also had our first literature analysis session, which is when we read an original research article and discuss questions with one of our professors. This paper was about the neurotransmitter ghrelin, which regulates hunger. I was glad that I'd had experience reading research papers before, because they can be quite daunting if you've never done it. I was once again very happy that English, and not Swedish or German or anything else, is my native language!
This week has been much lighter in terms of classroom time; we had Monday completely free, and a review session yesterday, but all because we had our first oral exam today. For the oral exams, you are given five minutes to look over the questions by yourself, and then you are paired with a classmate and assigned two of the ten questions to answer. You have twenty minutes to work out answers before you present them to the class, along with questions about any details you couldn't remember. The purpose is not to really test the students but to provide us with a check point to see how much we know and how much we need to go back and study. However, it's worthwhile to study because the last thing you want to do is sound like a fool in front of the entire group. I think today's went relatively well, though I will admit I got lucky with my assigned questions; there were a few I definitely did not want to try to answer.
Outside of neuroscience, I've had several good adventures since my last post. On Friday I attempted to ride my bike to IKEA, which is not really all that far from the BMC. For the first time since I arrived here though, I managed to get totally turned around and accidentally went for a two and a half hour bike ride instead! I visited the shores of Lake Mälaren, the third largest lake in Sweden, before turning around and heading back upriver to town. It was quite a beautiful bike ride, but it was a touch too cold, particularly in my jeans and with my school books on my back.
My other good adventure this week was to join in with the rest of the American exchange students in watching the super bowl. I've always liked watching football at home, but most of the evening games there are very late at night (or early in the morning, depending on how you count) here, so I've been following the play offs by looking up the scores the day after. However, a Canadian friend of mine organized one of the Nations to show the Swedish stream of it, and serve American football food, which turned out to be chicken wings, potato wedges, and nachos. I think they got it about right! I have to admit though, Swedes don't really do spicy; the chicken wings weren't hot by any stretch of the imagination and the salsa tasted a little more like tomato and onion sauce than anything else. Henri was just trying to figure out why we would say the salsa had no kick; "what do you mean it can't kick?" It was still great fun, particularly to try to explain football to all the non-American kids.
Football is a complicated sport! Before the game even starts, one needs to know at least a little about how the four downs work, and what a yard is (which automatically leads to a discussion about how much better the metric system is than whatever we use) and what an end zone is. Then you can begin to describe the different types of players (the quarterback stands in the middle and throws to the receivers) and plays (pass versus rush). Of course, Brady and Manning chose to start the scoring off with a safety given for an intentional grounding penalty. That one isn't difficult to explain at all, let alone the rest of the scoring for football. One can then move into the different penalties (false start, holding, personal foul, pass interference, delay of game, illegal formation) and when a play is declared over (fumble, incomplete pass). After one particular blocked pass, a defense man made the referee's signal for incomplete pass. Henri leaned over and asked, "is he supposed to be waving his arms like that? Is he hurt?" I thought I was going to die laughing.
I gave up at halftime; it was two in the morning and I had little interest in watching Madonna instead of football. Henri and I walked home, and I asked him what he thought of American football. He was very impressed by how much strategy was actually involved. "I thought they would just be punching each other for the ball the whole time," he told me. "They look like they're dressed for war!" He then declared football to be more complicated than quantum mechanics. Oh the joys of international sports.
Beyond those adventures I can safely say that I spent most of my time ensconced in my room with my neuro text. Live-timing was a great distraction, as my brother and friends raced in Telluride this weekend. Jeffrey got third and fourth, and my good friend Keeli was second and fifth! I was very proud of both of them. I'll be watching next weekend as Keeli races in Winter Park and Jeffrey competes in Steamboat at a telemark World Cup. Hopefully next time I will be able to say I FINALLY made it to IKEA, and tell you about whatever other adventures I've been wrapped up in. Until then,
Hej då!
I will, predictably, start by apologizing for the delay in this post. A variety of circumstances created it, but I promise I will hopefully now be back to posting on Wednesday or Thursday each week. With that out of the way, let me return to telling stories about my time here in Sweden.
Last week in neuroscience was as demanding as ever. We finished our second lab, which was based on a computer simulation of action potentials. I'm really glad we did this one because it really forced us to think through this rather complicated topic. We also did our third lab, which was the only one of the course that required true "lab work" with pipettes and everything. We tested two neuropeptides to determine which one binds more tightly to the receptor. It was an interesting lab, and my partner and I will analyze the results this afternoon.
In lecture we covered the intricacies of the interplay between the nervous and endocrine systems and appetite. There are definitely moments when I throw my mental hands up and I'm just glad that it all works! We also had our first literature analysis session, which is when we read an original research article and discuss questions with one of our professors. This paper was about the neurotransmitter ghrelin, which regulates hunger. I was glad that I'd had experience reading research papers before, because they can be quite daunting if you've never done it. I was once again very happy that English, and not Swedish or German or anything else, is my native language!
This week has been much lighter in terms of classroom time; we had Monday completely free, and a review session yesterday, but all because we had our first oral exam today. For the oral exams, you are given five minutes to look over the questions by yourself, and then you are paired with a classmate and assigned two of the ten questions to answer. You have twenty minutes to work out answers before you present them to the class, along with questions about any details you couldn't remember. The purpose is not to really test the students but to provide us with a check point to see how much we know and how much we need to go back and study. However, it's worthwhile to study because the last thing you want to do is sound like a fool in front of the entire group. I think today's went relatively well, though I will admit I got lucky with my assigned questions; there were a few I definitely did not want to try to answer.
Outside of neuroscience, I've had several good adventures since my last post. On Friday I attempted to ride my bike to IKEA, which is not really all that far from the BMC. For the first time since I arrived here though, I managed to get totally turned around and accidentally went for a two and a half hour bike ride instead! I visited the shores of Lake Mälaren, the third largest lake in Sweden, before turning around and heading back upriver to town. It was quite a beautiful bike ride, but it was a touch too cold, particularly in my jeans and with my school books on my back.
My other good adventure this week was to join in with the rest of the American exchange students in watching the super bowl. I've always liked watching football at home, but most of the evening games there are very late at night (or early in the morning, depending on how you count) here, so I've been following the play offs by looking up the scores the day after. However, a Canadian friend of mine organized one of the Nations to show the Swedish stream of it, and serve American football food, which turned out to be chicken wings, potato wedges, and nachos. I think they got it about right! I have to admit though, Swedes don't really do spicy; the chicken wings weren't hot by any stretch of the imagination and the salsa tasted a little more like tomato and onion sauce than anything else. Henri was just trying to figure out why we would say the salsa had no kick; "what do you mean it can't kick?" It was still great fun, particularly to try to explain football to all the non-American kids.
Football is a complicated sport! Before the game even starts, one needs to know at least a little about how the four downs work, and what a yard is (which automatically leads to a discussion about how much better the metric system is than whatever we use) and what an end zone is. Then you can begin to describe the different types of players (the quarterback stands in the middle and throws to the receivers) and plays (pass versus rush). Of course, Brady and Manning chose to start the scoring off with a safety given for an intentional grounding penalty. That one isn't difficult to explain at all, let alone the rest of the scoring for football. One can then move into the different penalties (false start, holding, personal foul, pass interference, delay of game, illegal formation) and when a play is declared over (fumble, incomplete pass). After one particular blocked pass, a defense man made the referee's signal for incomplete pass. Henri leaned over and asked, "is he supposed to be waving his arms like that? Is he hurt?" I thought I was going to die laughing.
I gave up at halftime; it was two in the morning and I had little interest in watching Madonna instead of football. Henri and I walked home, and I asked him what he thought of American football. He was very impressed by how much strategy was actually involved. "I thought they would just be punching each other for the ball the whole time," he told me. "They look like they're dressed for war!" He then declared football to be more complicated than quantum mechanics. Oh the joys of international sports.
Beyond those adventures I can safely say that I spent most of my time ensconced in my room with my neuro text. Live-timing was a great distraction, as my brother and friends raced in Telluride this weekend. Jeffrey got third and fourth, and my good friend Keeli was second and fifth! I was very proud of both of them. I'll be watching next weekend as Keeli races in Winter Park and Jeffrey competes in Steamboat at a telemark World Cup. Hopefully next time I will be able to say I FINALLY made it to IKEA, and tell you about whatever other adventures I've been wrapped up in. Until then,
Hej då!
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