Everyone is gone!

Once summer school ended and the trip was over, pretty much everyone left. It's been a quiet couple of weeks, but it doesn't mean I haven't been busy. I finally got a bank account set up and I'm working on my work permit now.

I moved into a new place closer to the University of Technology. The housing office was closed when I arrived, but they had left the key to my room at the academic hostel next door. I ask for my key, and a woman at the desk reached into a drawer and handed me one. There was no other information, just a key. I had never been told what room I had or anything, just the building. So I figured I'd just try my luck, and went there, but I couldn't get into the building. I went back to the hostel and they let me check my e-mail to see if maybe they had sent me information, but nothing. Eventually I noticed a number on the key and asked some guys I saw if the number was a room in the building. They said no and told me to check another building, which I couldn't get into either. I went back to the hostel, where there was now another woman at the desk. In a last ditch effort to find more information I asked if they still had the envelope that my key came in. The woman reached into the drawer and pulled out on envelope that still had a key inside. The previous woman had just given me a random key. In the envelope was the information I needed and got into my room without further problems.

Unfortunately, I did not get my own room as I had been hoping. They had too many international students apply for housing this semester. However, I haven't had a roommate yet, he should arrive next week. The room is part of a suite, so I share a kitchen and bathroom with another double. There is currently a Spanish engineering student, David, living in the other room. He has been very nice and helpful. He is here for an internship, designing small RC helicopters for research purposes.

I'm a 20 minute bus ride from the city center, and since it's summer, it's pretty quiet here. There's really not much around either other than some small grocers. After some wandering I found a pizza place, but it's a pretty good walk to get there.


I am close to the university library/Borg Cube. The building is really nice inside, but it's easy to tell that it's fairly new because the selection is pretty limited.


On the other side of my building there's another spaceship. This is just an art piece. I'm not really sure why it's there.


I'm also seemingly surrounded by parks, although some of these parks come across less as parks and more as well-tended forests. Just south of me is a wooded area that is nice to walk through, but I imagine its easy to get lost as there are many criss-crossing trails. I walked around them one day and found what appeared to be an abandoned ski jump.

The professor who is overseeing my work is Dr. Rainer Kattel. I met with him last week. We didn't talk about my research too much, just introductions really. He said that there are some other international grad students coming over to do research, so he plans for us to get together once we're all here.


I was in the grocery store the other day, and came across mushrooms flavored chips. At first I didn't even considered them until I realized that I probably won't come across these anywhere else, so I should try them at least once. They actually weren't too bad. Mushrooms really don't have that strong of a flavor, but you can definitely taste them. I ended up finishing bag fairly quickly, but more out of the idea that I didn't want to find out was stale mushroom chips tasted like. Food goes stale here really quickly. I miss living in Denver.