I am writing this as I'm sitting on my bed in Umea! All of our flights were great. The first flight from Chicago to Stockholm was about 8 hours long, but there were 2 great meals and we each had two seats to ourselves. The second flight from Stockholm to Umea was super quick, only an hour.

It is really sunny and beautiful right now, but cold. There is snow on the ground and everyone is wearing winter coats, hats, gloves, etc.

Our hotel is super cute. Its right down in the main area of everything. The theme of the hotel is modern with lots of bright colors and amazing bathroom. We'll be staying here until Monday November 1st when we move into the international dorms. It's about 2pm Thursday afternoon here. We plan on resting up then doing a little shopping to get a lay of the land and then go out to dinner.