Monty

My first post since I arrived to Greensboro. Seriously, I can’t describe in any way how many impressions that have passed through my mind these two weeks that I have been here. I have been active like a Duracell rabbit on Speed. The first couple of days were just spent to information meetings and breaking the ice between people. I truly love the group dynamic between the international students. We’re like a big family, taking care of each other, having fun together, and making sure every moment counts.

Last weekend was spent in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The drive took about 5-6 hours and the weather there was purely amazing. Below a picture of Vania (a student from Mexiko), myself, and my roommate Jeremy from USA light (i.e., Canada) before we took off to Myrtle Beach.

The first thing we did once we got to Myrtle Beach was, yes you guessed it, going to the beach and swim for a little while. The water was so warm, but too salty. I had a lot of fun. Later that evening we went to Broadway which is a big adventure/shopping/attraction mixed park.

It was action every second we were there and fortunately for us it was labour day on Monday so they arranged a lot of extra events. Below is a picture of my roommate, Drury (coordinator for incoming exchange students), and myself.

Below, The Fantastic 4!

After dinner at Hard Rock Café which by the way was REALLY good, we went around the park. Next up, myself outside the aquarium.

The night ended by going to a KISS concert who happened to be there.

Just kidding, this picture was from a coffee store at the park. The night actually ended by watching fireworks and having a couple of drinks.

Next day, Sunday, we started off pretty late. I wish I got up earlier, but I woke up at 11 am and after some time we went to Hard Rock Park, which is an attraction park. The first thing I wanted to take the biggest roller coaster called Led Zeppelin - The Ride. I really started to like the music which you will hear in the video of the ride. View the ride at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMeZDCFeWlA

After that we went and took a couple of pictures.

The international UNCG surfing team!

And finally the robot scene!

Before the day continued I couldn’t stop myself from mountain climbing.

I love it, especially since I feel I have the magical eye and technique for it. Most people climb systematically and organized, I climb creatively and dynamically. Like a string that flows into the sea!

Before the highlight of the evening, we finished our trip to the park by going to medieval times which was such a crazy adventure and experience. I have only seen it on Cable Guy with Jim Carey but now I got to experience it.

Finally, the highlight of the evening. Yours truly, deejaying for the international students at club Myst. It took me about 5-10 minutes to convince the deejay to let me flip the cds. Before I put my electronic/house music it was all about hiphop/rap. As soon I started to play the music people where jumping, screaming, being happy and any other positive word you can come up with. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of myself when I did it but I know other people have.

Last but not least, the trip back to Greensboro.

It’s been amazing days and something tells me that the adventures will continue once I get to North Carolina (NC) which will be next Monday. On Saturday I am leaving with my former roommate Dave to Milwaukee for a day or two and then back to Chicago to fly to Greensboro in NC.

Last weekend was just a blast. Usually Sundays are boring but we, myself and three crazy guys, turn it to a great time. We started off by hiking the bluff and the view over La Crosse was incredibly once we reached the top. This is something I definitely should have done during Spring 2008. Better late than never.

Then it was time for more fun, Go-kart and mini golf.

And during the racing I managed to slam right into Bryan, the guy in the green t-shirt.

Once this was done, we went for mini golfing which I really enjoyed.

Loved the weather and the sunset.

Finally, we ended up in McDonald’s where most of the fun occurred. When we wanted to order, everyone was polite and said things like “Hi, I would like to have a …” but Bader, the guy with the hat on the picture above, went to the cashier and said in a funny aggressive voice “CHEESEBURGER!!!!”. Damn, I laughed so much I almost cried. But I guess he was just a little bit nervous because of his language proficiency limitations.

Before I went to sleep I couldn’t resist to order a cologne I sampled at Valley View Mall earlier that day. So I put an order on Calvin Klein - Man, which smells like candy. Love it!

We ended the night by hanging out and playing xbox. Did someone say that Sundays are boring?

It’s been amazing days, without a doubt. The adventure started in my hometown Växjö when I was heading towards Copenhagen, Denmark. I managed to get a first class ticket on SJ (Swedish railway) for 50% off the price on a second class ticket. Usually first class tickets cost about 450 kr (70-80 dollars) but in some strange way there was a ticket for 110 kr (20 dollars) the day I wanted to travel. It was also a perfect time. You just have to love the Swedish railway system. Most people in Sweden do, right? Free internet, coffee, juice, fruit, and newspapers. That’s how a trip should start.

Once in Copenhagen, I barely managed to step out of the train until I saw an alcoholic stand in front of me, pulling his pants down, and well; you figure out the rest. It wasn’t a pleasant first impression of Copenhagen. Maybe I should have asked him if he wanted some toilet paper? But things got better once I met up with lovely Beth. I met her roommates and we went out to eat some oriental food. Later, we went out and hit some night clubs until 3 am. Then it was time for me to get to the airport since check-in started at 04:30 am. Unfortunately, things got a bit rough since I missed the last bus to the airport. But somehow I enjoy when things get hard and tough; makes me become creative and flexible. So I took a taxi to Copenhagen union station and from there I managed to get a free ride on the train to the airport with a little bit of sweet talk with the conductor. Thank you Beth.

Off we went to Brussels in Belgium, 6 am in the morning. I managed to get 1-2 hours of sleep before I had to switch terminal in Brussels. I was really surprised how much faster everything went compared to my experience at Heathrow, London during my flight to La Crosse, Wisconsin in January 2008. At 11 am we managed to depart to Chicago and as expected everything went smoothly, great entertainment and food on the airplane. However, the arrival was less pleasant since the captain made the landing sound like a crash. I thought it was my time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Surprisingly it took me only 12 minutes (I timed it) from getting out of the airplane to getting out of the airport. Unlike my last experience to USA, which took about 50-60 minutes with a load of questions and interrogations. Thank you USA for putting trust in me. Big mistake!

Outside, I waited a couple of minutes until Grant finally managed to spot me. I was sitting, looking at him while he passed by me and thought “have I changed that much?”. Finally, after 230 years he managed to spot me and we were on our way. As soon as we started to drive to Lombard in Chicago, it began to rain. I think I’m cursed. Wherever I go, rain follows me. Same thing happened in Berlin the first couple of days. Beth can confirm it!

In other news, I bought a new Ben Sherman zip-up jacket (the one on the photo) from Sweden before I left. Think I am becoming in love with Ben Sherman clothing. Yesterday I ordered the new cologne Adventure from Davidoff. Purely amazing. Today we are leaving for Madison, and then a couple of days in La Crosse before I head down to Greensboro, North Carolina on the 18th of August.