We're going $HOPPING in Växjö !!!

Friday night, we got a text message from Daniel, our coach, asking if Jo and I would be interested in going into Vaxjo for a day of shopping. Always eager to visit new towns, we agreed. 10:30 the next day, we began a 45-minute drive from Ljungby to Vaxjo down a 2, sometimes 3-lane, highway with the speed limit ranging from 100kph to 70kph. While on the drive, Daniel pointed out an area where a girl on our team, Jazz, hit a moose. Despite the fences surrounding the roadway, the moose sometimes still manage to break free and challenge cars on the road, typically resulting in Moose: 1, driver + car: 0. Jazz was fine; her car on the other hand was not. After parking near the movie theater, we walked to the main street to begin our day of shopping. Jo and I followed Daniel and his friend, David, into the first shop. Not sure of what this day would bring, we approached each store with an open mind. After the first shop, Daniel released us on the town with a warning: stay on this street, or you will get lost. He already knows us too well. Each store had the same fall-fashion with summer clothes for sale. I’m not sure if we were really awake or not, because we wandered in and out of practically every retail store on the street. Jo and I finally tired of going in and out of the stores, and sat to observe the locals. We noticed how well dressed everyone seemed, despite just wearing jeans, a jacket, and converse shoes. It was then we realized that most people here wear skinny jeans or leggings. Together, we decided that the American fashion of somewhat flared or boot cut jeans made us look sloppy compared to the Europeans. Jazz finally texted us to meet up for lunch. She took us to an Italian restaurant, where the food was delicious! We explained to her, Daniel, and David, our new revelation about fashion. Jazz took it upon herself to help us with our fashion-crisis. After trying on about 9 different articles of clothing each, and being eyed up and down by each other and then Jazz, we moved from H&M to another store in the mall. Yet another round of dress up, and it was on to the final store, Cubis. At the end of it all, Jo and I were satisfied with our choices: Jo got a pair of black skinny jeans, a shirt, and a dress; I got a shirt and a pair of light colored skinny jeans. Hopefully this can help ease our transition from unglamorous Americans to chic Swedes.