Email to Mom

Hola,

Sweden is great! Everything is just like I remembered and I still can't believe how expensive everything is! Like transportation. I've been super careful with my money and it just seems to evaporate. The only things I've bought for myself are two skirts from H&M for $30 each. And bus tickets. A bus ticket from Helsingborg to Göteborg, a trip which takes 2.5 hours, costs $25.00, A bus ticket from Gothenburg to Skövde, 1.5 hours, costs almost $40.00! I'm taking the train tonight, which will cost around $22.00.

City travel is horrendously expensive. Every tram trip costs $3.00 and the night trams cost $5.00. Jenny lives in the subhurbs so we can't easily walk, and besides, the weather has been rainy and cold. Yesterday, I took the tram to the city, met up with Jenny after work and then took the tram home. We took the night tram to her friend's place, so there's $16.00 right there! On Friday, we met some friends for drinks, and two päron ciders cost me $8.00 each!

Makes me realise the cost of living in different countries. Timnisoara's trams and quite old and decrepit, but a single trip only costs $0.45. Göteborg's trams and shiny and new, but I would gladly trade them for 1975-era German trams if you only have to pay $0.45.

Last night, we went to Jenny's friend's place to play Trivial Pursuit. The questions were too Sweden-centric and hard, so we switched to a geography game. It was completely in Swedish, but I won! Sometimes I had to get words translated but all in all, I managed quite well on my own! I kicked ass at the North American and European categories and Jenny rules at South America and Asia.

So tonight I get to see my old host sister. I'm so excited!!!

Love,
/Karla