Erbjuder talar engelska?

"One thing you'll really enjoy is the free wireless internet ... everywhere," he said. "Sweden is really ahead of us as far as that goes. So bring your computer. Oh, and you'll want to be careful of using the word 'invite'. Over there, if you say invite, it means to pay the entire bill. Oh, and you must be on time. If you are more than five minutes too early or too late, you might not get fed and most likely will not be invited back. Bring flowers for your guests. It's expected. And buy a public transit pass --- it will work for anything that crawls, spins, or floats. Let's see, what else ..."

I scribbled his suggestions down furiously without looking up. The doctor didn't pause for breath.

"Now, as far as the med students go, they're a fun bunch," he laughed. "There was, some time back, a rich benefactor that left this cabin on an archipelago to the medical school, which is now famous for its wild parties involving saunas sans bathing suits, rolling around in the snow, and then jumping in to the lake."

I looked up rather quizzically, and he chuckled at my expression. "Don't worry, Lauren, you'll do just fine!"

Not that long ago, I had the chance to sit down and visit with one of the physicians at the university who spends well over half the year in Stockholm with his wife and serves as one of the coordinators for the Karolinska Institutet exchange program that I will participate in in September. He returned from Sweden a couple weeks ago and invited the other Iowa medical student and me to stop by his office and discuss what to pack, what to see, and what to expect ... and of all the things he mentioned, I'm most worried about being on time!!!

It's exciting to think I'll be packing my Eagle Creek backpack in just a few months' time. I'm ready for a travel adventure! I should have a couple weeks to explore neighbor Norway as well and who knows --- maybe even meet some relatives!!!

But in the meantime, I had better perfect the question, "Erbjuder talar engelska?" Meaning ... do you speak English?!