I Blame Coco – Playwright Fate ( Spotify , Youtube )

Like I’ve said in the couple of the last inputs here, time likes to fly by…

Somehow I’ve managed to not write anything here for almost 2 months, this is not that strange… After a period of writing ”a lot” I often become disinterested in this blog and simply do other things instead. Now that more than half of the time I have here has passed my thoughts have started to turn to the future… But well, I suppose it’s time to give some sort of an update on my life ”Stranded in the Jungle”. Oh and it snowed for the first time yesterday… I suppose winter is also coming to Indiana.

During the last months my time here on the western side of the Atlantic I’ve done a plethora of things. Everything from day to day life to out-of-Muncie-trips have been fantastic experiences. A funny thing that I’ve noticed is that since the Chicago trip my urge to take pictures has decreased greatly, feels like I’m getting settled down state-side.

Shortly after the Chicago trip I visited Eric and Jousha’s, my friendship family’s, house in Muncie. It’s like taken out of a fairytale! They renovated it when they bought it 5 years ago and I must say… They did more than a good job! I’ll have to take a picture of the staircase inside sometime and show it here since it’s one of the most beautiful staircases that I have ever seen. The picture before that one is from a neighbourhood-festival I went with them to. Their neighbourhood has a lot of historical buildings and during this festival you could walk inside some of them. That piano was in the oldest building in town, no one lives there though as it is just a museum now.

Another day we made pumpkins to celebrate Halloween. As you can see then I simply let my creativity flow and came up with a great design!

I also bought something great my last time in Indianapolis…

Oh and maybe some did forget… but… I turned 21 last week. There’s nothing special about this day in Sweden but in the states it’s the legal drinking age, so of course I had to throw a party to celebrate the occasion! But that’s not all there is to it! Since Halloween is during the same week, why waste that perfect timing? Always worth it to combine the two!

In short I’ve had a blast here state-side during the last two months. I can only hope that the next two months will be as great before I’ll pack my stuff and go back across the great Atlantic ocean… Back from the Jungle.

Cheers for now…

Tim Buckley – Goodbye and hello ( Spotify , YouTube )

So the last post of the three quick updates is here.

Today it rained in Muncie for the first time since I arrived here (When I say rain I mean stormed). But that is not the reason I chose this song for this post… No! No! No! This artist has something to do with todays topic! Which is… Bloomington!

I went on a trip to Bloomington last weekend. It’s a city of roughly the same size, if not somewhat bigger, than Muncie. It is known though for it’s vibrant culture. The reason we went there was to attend the ”Lotus Festival” which is some kind of multicultural festival.

We walked around the festival for a very short time though. Instead of attending it we checked out local shops where I among other things (no just kidding… it was the only thing I got) bought a DVD with live performances with Tim Buckley! We also went into a store which sold… well… just a bunch of ridiculus (but awesome) things.

After that we walked around a the Indiana University campus. It’s a school with over 40.000 students and it’s ranked as one of the best ”party schools” in the states. I didn’t really see anything going on (well duh) but holy chicken! The campus is HUGE!

After that we sorta just… Well… Went home… With no one else than Albert Einstein!

All in all it was a trip filled with awesome places and rad people…

So untill next time: Hejdå!

Frank Sinatra – My kind of town ( Spotify , YouTube )

That song could have been seen from a mile away… BUT! Chicago is highly worthy of such a great tune!

Now  I wish I could have shared the first image I caught of the city, when the bus rolled into town. A dark evening but oh wow… Seeing the illuminated Chicago skyline was something special. Though I knew when I saw it that no picture could serve it justice so instead of going through the trouble of digging for my camera, I just sat there and enjoyed the sight…

Now… The first night was not worth much besides that since we were so late in town, so we just took a taxi directly to our hostel.

The next day we went early to town though to visit the aquarium free of charge (The first 80 visitors got in for free!). This was the only whole day we would have in the city so we wanted to make as much as we could out of it. Chicago somehow managed to shine despite the relatively foggy and rainy weather. If anything the weather just seemed to add to its charm.

Later on we encountered  ”Cloud Gate”, a big Bean like sculpture with a reflective surface.

In the same park (Millennium Park) we also stopped by ”Crown fountain”

Now it was time to try something ”new”… Try something ”different”… Try something touristy!
It was time to climb the beast!

The tallest building in USA since 1974… (Yes it is and has been since erected, the World Trade Center was not higher). Used to have the name ”Sears Tower” but is now named ”Willis Tower” though I guess most people (including me) still refer to it by its former name.

 Now let’s go fast through some parts:

Best-Store-Ever!

Forrest Gump anyone?

We though that this was a local place at first. But even after finding out that its a national ”chain” our fascination with it remained the same. Live Blues every night!+

”Sue” at the Chicago field museum (the best preserved remains of a T-Rex).

Sad but true fact…

Well that’s it from ”The Windy City”…

Next: Bloomington and Albert Einstein

Metric - Raw Sugar ( Spotify , YouTube )

Been going through two busy weeks (combined with lacking interest) and now wow… The last two weeks have contained: Indianapolis, CHICAGO! and Bloomington. So I’m going to try to cover these three major events in three days. That is… One post, every day, for three days… Starting NOW!

So let us start with Indianapolis!

It was Cameron’s idea that we would go with him to Indianapolis and well… Get a tour of the city by him and his girlfriend Philippa (Both on the left above). I’ll spoil by saying that they are awesome tour guides! So if you ever go to Indianapolis you know now who to contact (ME!). Add the fact that they have awesome ”shoes” and things just get better.

First we got to meet both of their families and get a private mini-concert from Cameron at his Grandparents house. The pictures on the wall behind Cameron are various famous Jazz and Classic pianists that have been at his grandparents place.

First stop after that was the Rib-Fest in downtown Indianapolis. And just as the name states then it’s a festival where you eats… can you guess? Yeah! Ribs! (I have never seen as much white trash packed together at one place  in my whole life!)

The next day we had a fairly normal american breakfast:

After that we went to a local park…

And then downtown…

In conclusion: The trip was great!

And what the hell, it’s still too hot outside…

NEXT: CHICAGO!!!

Do you notice how I start by writing a lot and then as the post goes on, the text slowly becomes shorter and shorter…

Grand Island – Us Annexed ( Spotify , Youtube )

Time sure flies by dear readers! How about a little update from my mildly interesting life!

Last week my schools American Football (Egghand) team met Southeast Missouri State University.

It’s kinda interesting how different the atmosphere is here at matches compared to football. The school band played at the beginning of the match as cheerleaders ran around like crazy.

What I found hilarious was that whenever there was a break, time out or just a short pause, the announcer (yeah they have a dude who says what is happening on field for the spectators) would start to read commercials. And during breaks the sponsors would show off in different ways by donating money or having little competitions for students. It was fun being there and cheering for the team with the rest of the school though the game felt a bit slow-paced at times. Needless to say Ball State won 27 – 10 and thus managed to get a good start for the season.

Two days later I went on a day trip to northern Indiana with a local group from Muncie.

We stopped in another country…

We passed through an area that someone was trying to make airborne.

We saw street signs…

We stopped at a Bison farm…

Naturally we had to try it as well…

The Grande Final of the day-trip was a stop at Indiana Dunes. A National park next to Lake Michigan. It’s awesome when you see it at first since Indiana is mostly flat but these sand dunes are around 37 m high, a bizarre sight. The view is spectacular aaaand it’s so fun to roll down them!

I also took a swim in the not-so-cold water that most of the other people though was cold, I guess we are all just used to different things. The waves were crazy though, after around 1.5 hours in the water I barely managed to stand up as the waves would just crush any feeble attempt I made. Way to go Nature! Show that man where his place is!

Stay tuned for a post about a two-day trip to Indianapolis!

Gogol Bordello – Oh No ( Spotify , Youtube )

So! So! So!

Somehow I managed to plow my way through the first week of school!

Here are two random picture from this week:

This week was ended with an event called Quad Bash. Basically just a bunch of outdoor activities and well… Free pizza/snacks/drinks! It’s crazy how much free pizza they have here…  While we are on ”crazy” talk… It’s crazy how many activities there are here all the time, way more happens at the school here than I’m used to back in Sweden. At first I though that ”okay… this is just happening because we are starting the semester” but noooooo! apparently it will be like this the whole semester. Not that I’m going to complain about it, I’d rather have more than less to do.

 So here are some more pictures from this week:

Breakfast for champions! (I didn’t even manage to stomach half of that)

So now I’m bracing for the next week, the week where school truly starts. But I have something to look forward to… Next weekend I’m going to a place in northern Indiana named ”Indiana Dunes” and the weekend after that it will be time for CHICAGO!

Did you hear that? CHICAGO!

Tom Waits – Fumblin’ with the Blues ( Spotify , Youtube )

Just a quick one here… School is going steady (that is ”Syllabus” steady).

Something awesome happened two days ago though and I just haven’t been able to post since then, since I have been so busy with it.

I’ll let the pictures explain everything (Yeah I know… the first picture is blurry as hell):

And then a quick look at what my part of the room looks like (a e-cookie for the person who can identify both posters!):

Out!

The Velvet Underground – Who loves the Sun ( Spotify , YouTube )

So I suppose life somehow goes on, sometimes faster than you think. I for example have a hard time understanding that it has already been three days since I wrote anything.  This weekend was just more of the same ol’… That is, getting to know more of student life here in the states. Last saturday I attended a so-called ”activity fair”, a place where different student organizations showcase themselves. I ended up signing my name on around 10 lists but I know already that I won’t be able to attend them all so for starters I’ll just try the different things and then make up my mind.

Later that night there was a party organized by the school. It’s called ”Late Nite” and its supposed to be there to encourage student to party without drinking. While I didn’t dance at all I did take a fair share of the FREE pizza they offered (my favorite word is ”FREE”!) and watched the movie ”Hook” with some friends before failing miserably at Guitar Hero Drums. Later during that ”Nite” the dj managed to set one of his speakers on fire by running it too high (I guess non-alcohol parties can be quite wild) and the funniest alarm went off. Something like ”WAAAAAAOOOOOOOOO!!!…. This is a fire alarm, please evacuate at the nearest exit”, it was hard not to laugh at the silliness of it all.

The day after that was extremely hot so I and my two friends (Vanessa & Nina) though it would be a perfect opportunity to grill ourselves in the sun by taking a 30-40 min walk to Wal-Mart (no buses on Sundays). I had already done it the last sunday… but not that it helped in any way, I still got fried. After we finished at Wal-Mart we jay-walked the highway and took a milkshake at ”Steak and Shake”. It was probably the sweetest shake I have ever had in my whole… Well you get the picture.

It was crazy.

Now… Today I had the first day of school. The only real observation I have regarding it is that it is way more strict than back in Sweden when it comes to attendance and such. You are actually required to attend class! Not that I wouldn’t, I didn’t come to USA to slack around my dorm room.

Apart from that the most exiting thing that happened today was my first Swing Dancing practice! One of the groups I joined at the activity fair and oh boy! oh boy! I’m definitely going to continue!

That’s all from the state this time folks, have a good one.

Ray Charles – What’d I Say ( Spotify , Youtube )

Woah! Now this has been one hell of a week.

Now I must say… Ball State way more than I expected it to be (except the sidewalks, they are still bugging me). It is amazing that a town this small has so much to offer, especially when you compare it to my hometown Karlstad which is a tad bigger. Though one thing is hilarious. You know stereotypes? Well it’s always fun to see just how true they are. The jockeys, cheerleaders, nerds and hippidi-hoppers just to name some are all found here and this is just something I’ve noticed after one week.

Another thing… I don’t quite understand just how the town is organized. When travelling with a cab or the bus you are either a) On a road with a bunch of residential houses or b) on a street with a shit-ton of fast-food restaurants. The different parts of town don’t seem to have any common centres. I was expecting america to be a car nation but this is not what I was expecting.

I was downtown with a friend this week (forgot to bring the camera though so pictures will have to wait) and WOW… Downtown here is… ehm… a bunch of parking lots? Aaand one street with shops on. The shops were rad though so I’ll excuse all the parking lots for the moment. During that trip I bought some stuff to decorate my walls and ehm… well… Haha… I bought some LP’s

It did not take me long to fall into the consumer trap, that combined with my accordion is making me ”bankrupt” right now. Well I only have to buy school literature and then I’m set.

Untill next time…

John Williams – Welcome to Jurassic Park* ( Spotify , Youtube )

So today was pretty epic (you’ll learn in time that I love that word).

Orientation! Which is… well… just walk around and get to know people and the place. It was mostly your normal introduction stuff like getting an ID card and fighting dragons (blood tests). We also got some information on where stuff is and how the hell we are supposed to get to the different places. This is knowledge that is very important to have, especially here in the States as Americans quite clearly don’t know what this is:

The only sidewalks I’ve seen so far are around the Campus area. I walked to the pinnacle of american society (Wal-mart) the other day and only around 1/5 of the road to there had sidewalks. The rest I either had to walk on the grass next to the road or jay-walk like crazy.

Otherwise I’m getting quite settled so far. My walls still are as white as Eyjafjallajökull (Bam-Tish! But only if you get the lame joke) but apart from that I got most of the stuff I need to get by from day-to-day. At least… all the stuff I know that I need so far. Like this:

A must to survive the extreme humidity.

Well, there’s not much else that has happened here that I want to bother writing about so I guess I’m off to… somewhere?

Cheers

*Started humming this song today with some new friends and needless to say it stuck