Lidl - Little Germany

This rainy, gray day me and two friends had decided to go to the market together and shop some vegetables and check out the Lidl store just next to it. We couldn't have a worse timing with the weather! I left my bike at school because it was simply pouring down, and the wind made it really cold. But, as true vikings, we went there anyway, and I bought a looooot of vegetables just as last time, but this time I made an amazing Moroccan stew of it. However, I made enough for a whole army but it's always good to have food in the freezer!

When we were at Lidl, my German friend started shouting out "oooh, this feels like Germany! It's so German in here!". I guess going to Lidl for them is like going to IKEA for me!

okay, I realize now that it might not look as good in the photo as it does in real life...

Score

Tuesdays are project days, and today we presented our findings so far in front of class. We were quite nervous at first, since we usually receive a lot of "constructive" criticism. I just can't help to have a feeling that they deliberately give us vague instructions so that we will try, fail, and then do it the right way just to learn. Anyway, today went great. We argued for our idea and I think our project is really on the right path right now! It's a very, very nice feeling when you've spent the last 5 weeks in constant stress and anxiety over whether you are doing what is expected of you or not.

Overall it's been a very good day. I love my project group, and we always have a great time together so it doesn't feel like that hard work.

Exhausting Monday

Today me and a friend had a debate together about euthanasia in our speaking class. We had prepared a bit, but apparently I sounded like a news cast presenter, although I had some good arguments. Anyway, it was only a practice debate, so it doesn't really matter. I'll work on the intonation for the exam debate. Mondays are really long with the schedule we have this term. I went to school at 11 and ended at 19. The Dutch class is the worst, 2 ½ hours of constant focus. Sometimes I think my attention span is about 1 hour, then it just shuts down. Good thing I had my laptop with me. 

Tired...

Bye bye Sweden

I'm now at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, waiting for my flight to start the boarding. I've had such a lovely time in Sweden, it's only too bad that it went by so quickly. Next time will be in May together with two of my German friends, that will be a lot of fun! Before I went to the airport today, I went shopping with my sister and her boyfriend, and I impulse shopped two pair of Hilfiger shoes that will be good for the spring. Overall, I have a lot of spring clothes with me, and I left many winter items here. Feels good that it starts getting warmer outside!

Wat toevallig, he!

Last night I went out with my brother and sister in Stockholm. We went to a restaurant called Sushi Devil, and they had the most amazing sushi there. Later on, me and my sister went to the recently opened Scandic Grand Central hotel bar to get a drink. It was really so strange, because the guys next to us by the bar turned out to be Dutch - from The Hague! They even came from the same city area as I live in, and we started talking about the neighborhood and about Dutch things in general. They were in Stockholm for a city weekend, and it was such a coincidence that we bumped in to them there. The world is so small sometimes.

At Sushi Devil

Quality time

Yesterday my grandfather showed me a birch-tree he had cut down some time ago. He's been talking about this for a while, saying that the diameter was over 1 meter. My grandfather has a habbit of exaggerating things, and since I've never seen a birch-tree that big in my whole life, I simply didn't believe him. But he was right, it's huge. Here's some proof too.

I had such an awesome day which I spent with my best friend at her place. We baked doughnuts, talked and just spent time together. It's sad that the good-byes have started already, I really hate that part of coming home. It feels like I just got here, and soon I have to leave again. But we've started making up plans for the summer when she might come and visit me in The Hague. That would be so much fun!

I'm such a farm girl when I'm in Sweden...

oven-baked cinnamon doughnuts

Crème Brûlée

Coincidence

How disappointing, I walked around from shop to shop yesterday and didn't find anything. I did, however, find my sister in the big shopping mall! I still hadn't seen her since I came back from Holland, and it was quite a surprise to bump into her in one of Stockholm's biggest malls. The dinner at my dad's place was amazing, he'd made crispy duck - by himself! Pretty cool, and it tasted delicious. Today I'm going to drive out to my friend's place and hang out there the whole day. Life here is so relaxed, I don't feel like going back!

Waiting for the subway

A photo of downtown Stockholm, taken from the car.