Sweden Q&A

Thanks to all of you who wrote in in re. my last post; now I have some questions to answer.
Markus writes:

Hey Will!

I have been reading your Swedish blog. I think you're doing a great job with it and it is very entertaining to read. One thing I would like to know more about is what your school is like- what are your teachers/friends/classes/activites like? Also, what do you guys do when you're not in school?

Keep in touch,

-Markus

So, my school is…well, the most notable thing about it is that it's huge. There are six floors, and sometimes it's almost an effort to get to class. That aside, my classes are, in general, pretty easy, for the reason that it being an IB program, is largely centered around exams I don't have to take and papers I don't have to write. Convenient, eh?
Most of the people in my classes are incredibly disruptive; this seems to be partly out of the fact that the kids are crazy, but also from the fact that the bar is set a lot lower; there are no real disciplinary measures the teachers can impose on the stuents, so they lose some authority.
As for my friends, I've told a lot of you this, but most of them aren't actually Swedish, which strikes me as odd, it being Sweden and all…In any case, I know an Sustralian, an Pakistani, a Phillipino, an Indian, a Chinese, some Greeks, and a whole lot of others. Humorously, the two Swedes I do know, look very similar, to the point of my confusion when the person who had introduced me to the first asked the name of the second. Of course, this was easily sorted out, but is funny in retrospect…
Outside of class, I usually either sit outside and do nothing or go to the library and play chess, depending on how sociable I feel at the moment (and on who I can find). The best things about the school though, are that I get out at 1200 on Thursdays, and that lunch is free (and edible too...most of the time. To date, they've only served fish once…that I know of; not that that restricts it…)

No one else had any questions, but if you do, you know where to email me: smithw12321@gmail.com
PLaATJ,
--Gazebo

Who's reading this?

So...
Just out of curiosity, I'd like to know who's following this -- send me an email with questions or comments or just to tell me that you're reading this -- I'll probably answer questions on the blog, and I'll write back to you too. As always, my email is smithw12321@gmail.com

PLaATJ,
--Gazebo

Famous Acts

It is very disconcerting here, sometimes, to be in a place where people whom one would actually pay to see play. People who are actually famous! It's crazy!

List of bands/acts I've seen posters for or know are going to play here sometime in the near future:

Metallica
Bob Dylan
Abba
Slayer
Mastadon (opening for Slayer)
My Chemical Romance
Ozzie Osbourne
Korn
ZZ Top
The Who
Good Charlotte
The Police

I'll add more as I see more posters.

First Day Of School

Normally you'd see something with that heading in September. In terrible handwriting on the top of a first-grader's first homework assignment. Ahh, well, such is life...

As you may have surmised, today was my first day of attendance at my new school, Kungsholmens gymnasium. It was...umm...wildly exciting. Yeah.

Actually, it was surprisingly bland, for all the hype. I met some pretty cool kids, with whom I hung out (read as: ate lunch, played chess, went to class with), but nothing exciting really happened. Probalbly the most interesting, or at least, notable thing I did was to participate in an english class trying to read Shakespeare's Othello, when for most of the class, english was a second language. It's still an amazing play, but that's aside the point. Whatever the point is. Ho-hum...

Probalbly the most exciting thing that happened to me today happened out of school, about half an hour ago. That being that I finally got over my writer's block of the past week and a half or so. I wrote a poem inspired by a pile of orange peels sitting on the desk next to me. This may not seem like much, but I'm very proud of myself. You can see it on my Facebook notes page, those of you who have Facebook. The rest of you...feh. If you don't have Facebook, you probalbly haven't seen my earlier stuff, which is better, so if you ask, I'll send you some of that.

PLaATJ
--Gazebo

Stockholm-away-from-home

Well, after much travel, I am finally here. In Stockholm. Actually, I arrived several hours ago (1200 local time, which = 500 am NH time), but I've been off doing important things, such as...rearranging the furniture, wandering around the city -- it's really nice, we went over to the old section and had lunch/dinner. The prices of things are kind of disconcerting, though, becuase they're all in SEK, which is Swedish Kroner, of which there are about seven to a dollar, so you get things like the 200 SEK train ticket...but I digress; I haven't really been doing anything important, just getting setteled.

Robin's asleep right now, most of us could be; you get on an 800 pm flight from Boston to London, it lasts for six hours, and you get there at 400 in the morning. Jet lag, for those who don't know, sucks. I haven't slept for more than an hour and a half at a stretch in the last 30 or so, but if I go to sleep now, I'll wake up in the middle of the night, and have my sleep schedule completely screwed up. Alas...

The appartment's really nice; almost as big as the house at Teagan ave. (which, admittadly, is not saying much -- for those of you who don't remember or never saw it, it was about as big as, well, um, this appartment. Ask someone like Nick, Ari, or Markus).

If I (a) get around to taking any, and (b) figure out how to add them, then I'll put some picures up here for you guys to...erm...do whatever you do with photos (if you know what I mean!!! -- inside joke...if you don't get it, ignore it)

Send me comments, questions, messages, love notes, death threats, etc. at smithw12321@gmail.com
See you all* in September!
--Gazebo

*you all = those of you that live in and around the upper valley.

D - 1; THANK YOU ALL!!!

So I'm leaving tomorrow. Most of you know this already, but I just thought I'd mention it, it being quite relevant. Fool that I am, I have yet to begin packing, probalbly becuase I've spent the last way-too-many hours doing schoolwork. Things may be sorted out at this point, but I wouldn't count on it....

On a happier note, in the past few days, I have been innundated with goodbyes, hugs, gifts, food...reconciliation, and other forms of you guys all being awesome. I mean it. You guys, and you know who you are, are AWESOME PEOPLE. Remind me, come August, to buy a zillion little oddments, t-shirts, and the likes to give to you guys when I get back.

Peace, love, and all that jazz to all of you, and I'll see you in September!

--Gazebo

Braces, NCCT, and a new logic puzzle

Alrighty -- big news of the week is that, if things go well, and I figure out when my appointment is, I'm getting my braces off before I go to Sweden! Which would be awesome.
Of course, the only problem is that I don't know when the appointment is, and have no practical way of finding out...I suppose it'll work out somehow.

On another note, congratulations to all the NCCT kids in and involved with High School Musical! It was really good. I, not being a conneseur of theater, however, have really nothing more to say about it other than that I enjoyed it.

**Logic Puzzle of the Week**
(I couldn't find it in What is the Name of This Book?, but that doesn't mean it's not there)
On the same island of knights and knaves, you are told that up ahead you will come to a fork in the road. One way leads to a village of knights, whereas the other leads to a village of knaves. You are also told that the crossroads is always attended by an inhabitant of one of the two villages, but are not told from which.
Your challenge (part a.): Ask the guardian one question, from the answer of which you can determine which way leads to which village.
If you work that one out, try to wrap your head around this (part b.) Ask the guardian one question from which you can determine a, which way leads to which village, and b, whether he is a knight or a knave.
I have yet to work out an answer to part b, or even if it's doable, so try to beat me.

As always, you can post answers as comments (although you should wait a couple of days to give people a chance), or you can email them to me at smithw12321@gmail.com