I don't really have time to blog right now, but I wanted to put just a few things in here to remind myself to finish it out later. On Friday, I studied and was generally boring. On Saturday, Eric and I took a train to Helsingborg, which is a medieval coastal city half an hour north or so. It's also only a twenty minute ferry ride to Helsingör, Denmark, which was the city of Elsinore in Shakespeare's Hamlet. We climbed up the castle/fortress in Helsingborg first...it was a long spiral staircase to the top, but worth it for the view. Then we bought a ticket for the ferry to Denmark. We ate a kebab on the main street, and walked around a little bit. The city of Helsingör is really nice, because most of the streets are pedestrian streets. It was very quaint. We walked around to Kronborg (Hamlet's Castle), which is just insanely beautiful and baroque. We bought tickets to be able to walk around the Royal Apartments (King & Queens quarters, banquet halls, and lots and lots of 16th century tapestries) and the Casemates, which was essentially the storerooms and dungeon. That was the coolest part, because it was kind of creepy too.
Eric also pointed out that you can rent the castle for events. So when I win the lottery and can afford to fly everyone to Denmark and pay for the castle, I'm so getting married there. The courtyard is just amazing, the perfect atmosphere for a party. It's hard to see in pictures, but I'll put some up soon.
We got back home at like 7:30 or 8 and went out to ög's with Andrew and Christian and Christian and Fabio. I didn't have too much fun, because well, a girl out with a bunch of guys just isn't as cool as a guy out with a bunch of girls. I went home shortly after midnight and woke up early to go meet Kara at Malmö C! I'll post on Malmö and Lund w/ Kara later. Today, I'm studying while she went to Copenhagen. I also have Swedish Film Class later, so I have to keep moving.
And I have the last-minute exam dread feeling about tomorrow...ughhghgh.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Korridorfest
"We can't do it better, but longer." - Simon Winterberg on the people of Switzerland, and no, I'm not sure what he was referring to.
Last night was so fun! We had a Tour des Chambres just the people in the corridor, which was lovely. I made Rum & Coke, Elif bought Guinness, Tobias made White Russians and we listened to the Russian National Anthem, Theresia had wine and French music, Caroline had...I forget, oh wait it was Sangria! Vesna made Jagerbombs, Robin and Jackie made delicious, hand made, fresh mint Mojitos...oh so good. Anders had just a shot of vodka...not so good, but whatever. I think that's all of us that were there. It was so fun just sitting and talking to people in a small setting. Then we had some friends come over after we 'tour'ed all the 'chambres'. Jonas came and brought some friends, but they left for Lunds nation after just a short while. Michelle and Terry came, too, with two other people but they left shortly as well. So it was me and a bunch of Swedes, and Elif (who's Albanian) and Jackie (who is Robin's girlfriend from Australia, but she's been living in Sweden for a year and a half). And I wouldn't have had it any other way. Swedish people are so well-spoken, even if their English isn't perfect, they always have good insightful things to say. Most of the talk was about what I thought about Sweden before I came here, what are Swedish stereotypes, etc. Robin then brought up how when he was in New York with some friends, everyone thought they were gay. So then I went on the whole night trying to describe what makes someone look gay and why Swedish guys fit that profile. Personally, Robin is like the straightest looking Swedish guy I've met. He doesn't do a lot of the tight clothes and his head is shaved. All Swedish guys are just so clean and shiny and bright. It's weird, but that's how I would describe them. Plus some wear really tight jeans and t-shirts and don't have chest hair or shave it all off. Swedish girls are just more subtle about it. They wear a lot of black and grey and white. Unless it's a club or fancy party, I don't really see Swedish girls wearing colors.
Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling a bit. One more thing though. Tobias got really drunk because he kept refilling his White Russian until it was gone. So, as a result, he was talking to me in Swedish and everyone else in English. He was hilarious. I talked to one of his friends for a really long time in the kitchen, and now I don't think I even got his name...but whatever. He'll be back for my birthday party...he promised. Haha.
My package still hasn't arrived, it's been two weeks. But my corridormates reassured me there will be a slip left in my box saying where to pick it up when it arrives. I hope it's soon. And all of you should send me things. Even if it's just a letter, it's so great to get mail that I can actually read! (All of the flyers and newspapers and things are in Swedish of course.) My address is below, just in case. And now, the rest of my day will be spent studying and watching Project Runway. Tomorrow to Helsingborg!
Magistratsvagen 55 B:208
226 44 Lund
Sweden
Last night was so fun! We had a Tour des Chambres just the people in the corridor, which was lovely. I made Rum & Coke, Elif bought Guinness, Tobias made White Russians and we listened to the Russian National Anthem, Theresia had wine and French music, Caroline had...I forget, oh wait it was Sangria! Vesna made Jagerbombs, Robin and Jackie made delicious, hand made, fresh mint Mojitos...oh so good. Anders had just a shot of vodka...not so good, but whatever. I think that's all of us that were there. It was so fun just sitting and talking to people in a small setting. Then we had some friends come over after we 'tour'ed all the 'chambres'. Jonas came and brought some friends, but they left for Lunds nation after just a short while. Michelle and Terry came, too, with two other people but they left shortly as well. So it was me and a bunch of Swedes, and Elif (who's Albanian) and Jackie (who is Robin's girlfriend from Australia, but she's been living in Sweden for a year and a half). And I wouldn't have had it any other way. Swedish people are so well-spoken, even if their English isn't perfect, they always have good insightful things to say. Most of the talk was about what I thought about Sweden before I came here, what are Swedish stereotypes, etc. Robin then brought up how when he was in New York with some friends, everyone thought they were gay. So then I went on the whole night trying to describe what makes someone look gay and why Swedish guys fit that profile. Personally, Robin is like the straightest looking Swedish guy I've met. He doesn't do a lot of the tight clothes and his head is shaved. All Swedish guys are just so clean and shiny and bright. It's weird, but that's how I would describe them. Plus some wear really tight jeans and t-shirts and don't have chest hair or shave it all off. Swedish girls are just more subtle about it. They wear a lot of black and grey and white. Unless it's a club or fancy party, I don't really see Swedish girls wearing colors.
Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling a bit. One more thing though. Tobias got really drunk because he kept refilling his White Russian until it was gone. So, as a result, he was talking to me in Swedish and everyone else in English. He was hilarious. I talked to one of his friends for a really long time in the kitchen, and now I don't think I even got his name...but whatever. He'll be back for my birthday party...he promised. Haha.
My package still hasn't arrived, it's been two weeks. But my corridormates reassured me there will be a slip left in my box saying where to pick it up when it arrives. I hope it's soon. And all of you should send me things. Even if it's just a letter, it's so great to get mail that I can actually read! (All of the flyers and newspapers and things are in Swedish of course.) My address is below, just in case. And now, the rest of my day will be spent studying and watching Project Runway. Tomorrow to Helsingborg!
Magistratsvagen 55 B:208
226 44 Lund
Sweden
Thursday, September 24, 2009
H&M, Postcards, and Neighbor Country Sittning
My class ended lectures on Tuesday, our exam is next Wednesday, and Kara comes on Sunday. I think Eric and I are making plans to go to Helsingborg on Saturday, and tonight is my tour des Chambres with the corridor.
And now stuff that's already happened. I had a sittning with mentorgroup 9 last night, our theme was 'Neighbor Countries', so you had to dress like one of the countries that borders yours. All the Swedes dressed as Danes, but to them, Danes must all dress like the flag, because they all wore red and white and painted their faces like the flag...hilarious. I tried to do Mexico, I wore a flower in my hair and my turquoise necklace, but it's hard to find good costume stuff. The Canadians were all Americans, clearly, they were like hilljack folk and went around talking in an accent all night, etc etc. Lisa was Swiss, she had a little green hat and a hiking stick and was soo cute. Bianka was Polish and wore red and white and leg warmers and this fur scarf thingy she bought at the flea market on Saturday. But Simon's costume was by far the best. By FAR. He's Swiss, so he dressed as an Italian guido, complete with fake chest hair and goatee. I'll put some pictures at the end of this post of everyone.
Anyway, it turns out I couldn't get into the sittning at first because I didn't have a nation stamp on my acceptance letter. That's because Sydskanska girl hadn't replied about my number, etc. So I emailed them again and she replied yesterday, but I couldn't get the stamp until today. So me and another girl went next door to Hallands, and luckily enough someone knew a forman there that could hook us up. So I signed up with Hallands nation. I don't know how it works exactly, maybe I won't pay the bill for them and will pay for Sydskanska, and it'll be ok? who knows. Anyway, the point is, I got in to the sittning. And THEN, we were sitting at the end of the last table, and they ran out of food. We still got food, it was just not as much as everyone else by far. So they gave us double dessert and an extra bottle of wine, which definitely made up for it. Then it was already time for the club to start, but some people went back with Petra to Erik's for the mellanfest (middle party), but the bar in the club was already open, so me and some others just stayed. And Eric and Mathias were there, and eventually everyone else came back too. It was a great time.
Now I must stop putting off my homework and room cleaning/decoration so I can be ready for this corridor party tonight...ack! I do have tomorrow totally free, so maybe I will take the day off. Or maybe not, Nora invited me to a pub night, so we'll see.
Heidi (Lisa) from Switzerland (Germany)
This is Will. He dressed Canadian and then someone was using his props against him.
The SweDanish look. There were probably 7 or 8 Swedes dressed like this.
And finally...
Yes. Simon is a D&G wearing, greasy, smooth talking Italian.
And now stuff that's already happened. I had a sittning with mentorgroup 9 last night, our theme was 'Neighbor Countries', so you had to dress like one of the countries that borders yours. All the Swedes dressed as Danes, but to them, Danes must all dress like the flag, because they all wore red and white and painted their faces like the flag...hilarious. I tried to do Mexico, I wore a flower in my hair and my turquoise necklace, but it's hard to find good costume stuff. The Canadians were all Americans, clearly, they were like hilljack folk and went around talking in an accent all night, etc etc. Lisa was Swiss, she had a little green hat and a hiking stick and was soo cute. Bianka was Polish and wore red and white and leg warmers and this fur scarf thingy she bought at the flea market on Saturday. But Simon's costume was by far the best. By FAR. He's Swiss, so he dressed as an Italian guido, complete with fake chest hair and goatee. I'll put some pictures at the end of this post of everyone.
Anyway, it turns out I couldn't get into the sittning at first because I didn't have a nation stamp on my acceptance letter. That's because Sydskanska girl hadn't replied about my number, etc. So I emailed them again and she replied yesterday, but I couldn't get the stamp until today. So me and another girl went next door to Hallands, and luckily enough someone knew a forman there that could hook us up. So I signed up with Hallands nation. I don't know how it works exactly, maybe I won't pay the bill for them and will pay for Sydskanska, and it'll be ok? who knows. Anyway, the point is, I got in to the sittning. And THEN, we were sitting at the end of the last table, and they ran out of food. We still got food, it was just not as much as everyone else by far. So they gave us double dessert and an extra bottle of wine, which definitely made up for it. Then it was already time for the club to start, but some people went back with Petra to Erik's for the mellanfest (middle party), but the bar in the club was already open, so me and some others just stayed. And Eric and Mathias were there, and eventually everyone else came back too. It was a great time.
Now I must stop putting off my homework and room cleaning/decoration so I can be ready for this corridor party tonight...ack! I do have tomorrow totally free, so maybe I will take the day off. Or maybe not, Nora invited me to a pub night, so we'll see.
Heidi (Lisa) from Switzerland (Germany)
This is Will. He dressed Canadian and then someone was using his props against him.
The SweDanish look. There were probably 7 or 8 Swedes dressed like this.
And finally...
Yes. Simon is a D&G wearing, greasy, smooth talking Italian.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
I found more pictures from Meike!
Pictures of the beach at Lomma! The first is Jonas with the beach, you can see how shallow it is by the people way out behind him. It stays below your knees until like 100 yards out or so. It's awesome. And also, the water is sooo clear and you can see jellyfish everywhere. We played volleyball with some Swedes...me, Bianka and the Swedes on the left team and Jonas, Christoph, Antonia and someone else (Evelyn? maybe Meike?) on the right. The group picture is me, Christoph, Jonas, Bianka, and Antonia.
Michelle's 21st
Last night was pretty awesome. I went to Parentesen (another student housing area) for Michelle's bday party. At first it was pretty chill, we were just sitting around, and I was thinking I would probably cut out and go to Dirty Frank at Sydskånska at 10ish. However, things turned around. Her Swedish korridormates were DJing crazy Swedish house music for most of the night and everyone started dancing and yelling. A bunch of people (including two of Michelle's NZ friends) went outside and made a big 'M' out of bikes in the middle of the grassy area. Then we decided to try to go to the Herkules Bar in Stortorget, which is a real bar that people who aren't students can go to, and apparently is a lot of fun. Well, it turns out you have to be TWENTY-FOUR to get in on Saturday nights, or be the guest of someone who is. And I thought the USA was lame for having all drinking age be 21. Ridiculous. So, at that point, I told everyone I was going home, but really I roamed around Mårtenstorget and Stortorget for a while. It was Kulturnatten (Culture Night) in Lund last night. Apparently the physics department was putting on a laser show somewhere, but I missed that. So in Måretenstorget there was some sort of poppy punk band and a whole bunch of 14 year olds gathered around and all kinds of booths. Some people were dressed up in weird capes and Sherlock Holmes hats and others in traditional scholar-esque gear. In Stortorget, there was another stage and band, but it was like a folky music band. They had a violin, an upright bass, two little-guitar type dealies, and a drummer. It was SO GOOD. I stayed there and listened for like a half hour, wishing I knew the name of this band. I finally got home around 1:30 and went to sleep.
This is Michelle trying to get a good picture of the 'M' bikes. Don't worry, she wasn't actually going to stand up there, it was just a joke. And besides, her corridor is the first floor, so the drop is only like five feet. No big deal.
This is Michelle trying to get a good picture of the 'M' bikes. Don't worry, she wasn't actually going to stand up there, it was just a joke. And besides, her corridor is the first floor, so the drop is only like five feet. No big deal.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
No Penthouse
No penthouse for me tonight, now I am a sad erasmus student. We stayed at Antonia's until after eleven and it was soooo much fun. I made fun of everyone and they made fun of me and I yelled, "speak english! damnit" like fourteen times. And that sounds like I'm really mean, but I was just saving Francesco (italian) and Juan (Venezuelan) from having to do it themselves. But seriously, when I get my camera cord, there will be a series on nations' stamps. Promise.
Banana
I just realized that I have had a banana in my backpack for over a week. It just started leaking banana juice everywhere. Great. Lol.
Making Plans
I've been really lazy because I've been sick (blahh) the last few days. I've watched a lot of How I Met Your Mother. There is some sort of weird European obsession with it (along with the Simpsons, etc.), so I figured I'd better catch up. It's actually a hilarious show. Too bad no one in the US has time for sitcoms.
Anyway, I've decided I need to absolutely plan out every moment in order to avoid this laziness. And I don't mean crazy-tour-guide-Barbie planning, but just having something to do each night and weekend. For example, tonight I am going to Antonia's for martinis before going to Lunds nation's penthouse.
Also, I just paid Petra for a sittning at Västgötas next week. Get this, our theme is 'Neighbor countries'. Which means you have to pick a country that neighbors yours and dress up in that stereotype. So I have two choices: Canada and Mexico. I also considered Texas, but I don't think everyone would get it. There is also the Bahamas, Cuba, etc., I suppose, but that's not REALLY a neighbor. So I'm going on a search for anything Maple Leaves or Maracas/sombrero.
I am thinking about trying to go to Copenhagen or Stockholm this weekend, too, but I need to find a companion first. I'm going to ask all the Germans tonight. I know that Eric is going to Stockholm already, but they might be taking Mathias' car, and I don't really want to drive to Stockholm (it's at least five hours).
Kara is coming from Prague next weekend (!!!!) and then she leaves and I have my exam in this class. I'm super excited to show her around Lund and go to a nation and stuff...maybe we will go to Copenhagen then for a day. Or Göteborg. Who knows.
I also booked my flight to Dublin Oct 22-25 to see Casey and everyone when she's there...should be quite a good time. I paid too much for that airfare, but made up for it because it's only costing me like 44 dollars to go to Prague in November. There's also my ESN trip to Russia at the end of November, which I cannot wait for. Who gets to go to Russia? ME! Chloe, I knew reading your Russian book freshman year would pay off...even if I only remember the alphabet...sort of. I also want to go to Berlin and Holland and Norway. But those plans will come.
My other big plans are having an all-american drinking games party for my birthday, go to the Munich-ers' (Müncheners'? something) Oktoberfest party, complete with pretzels and other Bavarian food.
I'm also definitely going to the flea market/farmers market/etc soon. I'm going to get some decorations for my super-super depressing room. And another towel, one just isn't enough.
The other thing I want to do is start hanging around Anita and Nora more. I've met them both, and always creepily facebook stalk them, and they are always doing cool things that I would love to tagalong on. I need to be pro-active in this endeavor. But anyway, Lunds Penthouse tonight! (They have the coolest stamp of the nations I've been to. I'll start taking pictures of them. You can see the VGs crown on Monika's wrist in the picture below if you look real close).
Anyway, love you all, update me on your lives!
Anyway, I've decided I need to absolutely plan out every moment in order to avoid this laziness. And I don't mean crazy-tour-guide-Barbie planning, but just having something to do each night and weekend. For example, tonight I am going to Antonia's for martinis before going to Lunds nation's penthouse.
Also, I just paid Petra for a sittning at Västgötas next week. Get this, our theme is 'Neighbor countries'. Which means you have to pick a country that neighbors yours and dress up in that stereotype. So I have two choices: Canada and Mexico. I also considered Texas, but I don't think everyone would get it. There is also the Bahamas, Cuba, etc., I suppose, but that's not REALLY a neighbor. So I'm going on a search for anything Maple Leaves or Maracas/sombrero.
I am thinking about trying to go to Copenhagen or Stockholm this weekend, too, but I need to find a companion first. I'm going to ask all the Germans tonight. I know that Eric is going to Stockholm already, but they might be taking Mathias' car, and I don't really want to drive to Stockholm (it's at least five hours).
Kara is coming from Prague next weekend (!!!!) and then she leaves and I have my exam in this class. I'm super excited to show her around Lund and go to a nation and stuff...maybe we will go to Copenhagen then for a day. Or Göteborg. Who knows.
I also booked my flight to Dublin Oct 22-25 to see Casey and everyone when she's there...should be quite a good time. I paid too much for that airfare, but made up for it because it's only costing me like 44 dollars to go to Prague in November. There's also my ESN trip to Russia at the end of November, which I cannot wait for. Who gets to go to Russia? ME! Chloe, I knew reading your Russian book freshman year would pay off...even if I only remember the alphabet...sort of. I also want to go to Berlin and Holland and Norway. But those plans will come.
My other big plans are having an all-american drinking games party for my birthday, go to the Munich-ers' (Müncheners'? something) Oktoberfest party, complete with pretzels and other Bavarian food.
I'm also definitely going to the flea market/farmers market/etc soon. I'm going to get some decorations for my super-super depressing room. And another towel, one just isn't enough.
The other thing I want to do is start hanging around Anita and Nora more. I've met them both, and always creepily facebook stalk them, and they are always doing cool things that I would love to tagalong on. I need to be pro-active in this endeavor. But anyway, Lunds Penthouse tonight! (They have the coolest stamp of the nations I've been to. I'll start taking pictures of them. You can see the VGs crown on Monika's wrist in the picture below if you look real close).
Anyway, love you all, update me on your lives!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Some pictures. I didn't take them.
I thought I'd put up some pictures for those of you who haven't stalked me on facebook. These are what other people have taken, obviously, I'll have mine up next week sometime.
The Welcome Party, L to R: Monika, Sarah, Sirca, Aline, Me.
Monika and I at VGs on Wednesday, after waiting in line foreverrr. .....
This is me with the head of the crawdad I just ate. Or, crayfish, properly.
The Welcome Party, L to R: Monika, Sarah, Sirca, Aline, Me.
Monika and I at VGs on Wednesday, after waiting in line foreverrr. .....
This is me with the head of the crawdad I just ate. Or, crayfish, properly.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Pub at Östgöta
To take a break from the infinite amounts of reading/exercises I have to do for my class, I went with Bianka's mentorgroup to the pub at ÖGs. Nations, as you have probably noticed, dominate pretty much every social event. They have restaurants for lunches on certain days of the week, pubs (which is dinner and drinks) on other days, and sometimes sittnings (you're served at a sittning rather than waiting in line at a pub) in ADDITION to the clubs.
Usually, on a night when a nation has a pub or sittning, they also have a club. If you attend the sittning/pub, most of the time you can stay and dance for free, which is awesome if you have that much time.
So anyway, tonight at Östgöta was pub night. It's traditional in Sweden to pea soup and pancakes on Thursdays (I'm still trying to figure out why). It's a yellow pea soup that's more like a paste and you're supposed to put mustard on it, and have a big thin pancake with butter and jam for dessert. They also had another dinner option of pork filet with vegetables, cheese, and lime sauce. That's what I got. When I hear lime sauce, I think lime juice is what they really meant. But no. It was like whipped cream almost, but lime. SOOOOOO GOOD. Next time I'm going traditional and getting the pea soup though.
I'm going to be going to nations for pubs more often, because the whole thing, plus a beer, only cost 60 kr. That's like $8.50, including the beer, which is 20 kr by itself. So yeah, that's really exciting.
Now, I will stop procrastinating and actually do the protein annotation and hydropathy plots....ugh.
(In completely unrelated news, I am now a grandmother!!!! at AGD of course. I can't wait to get back and meet my offspring's offspring. Hooray!)
Usually, on a night when a nation has a pub or sittning, they also have a club. If you attend the sittning/pub, most of the time you can stay and dance for free, which is awesome if you have that much time.
So anyway, tonight at Östgöta was pub night. It's traditional in Sweden to pea soup and pancakes on Thursdays (I'm still trying to figure out why). It's a yellow pea soup that's more like a paste and you're supposed to put mustard on it, and have a big thin pancake with butter and jam for dessert. They also had another dinner option of pork filet with vegetables, cheese, and lime sauce. That's what I got. When I hear lime sauce, I think lime juice is what they really meant. But no. It was like whipped cream almost, but lime. SOOOOOO GOOD. Next time I'm going traditional and getting the pea soup though.
I'm going to be going to nations for pubs more often, because the whole thing, plus a beer, only cost 60 kr. That's like $8.50, including the beer, which is 20 kr by itself. So yeah, that's really exciting.
Now, I will stop procrastinating and actually do the protein annotation and hydropathy plots....ugh.
(In completely unrelated news, I am now a grandmother!!!! at AGD of course. I can't wait to get back and meet my offspring's offspring. Hooray!)
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Pork Chops for dinner.
I am a master chef. I made pork chops with bread crumbs, milk, cinnamon, oregano, dill, and salt. They will be delicious for the next three days.
Marshmallows in Sweden are all colorful and shaped in different ways, more like candy that marshmallows. So I had to buy 'BBQ marshmallows' for our cookout last week. Now I am snacking on the rest of them with my pretzels (Salta Pinnar).
I'm about to head out to meet Sarah, Antonia, the other Sarah, Monika, and some others, no doubt, at VG. Should be awesome. I just wanted to let you all know that my camera cord is on its way from Indiana, so I really should have pictures up soon(ish).
Until then, I want more comments. I'm that selfish. Comment. Seriously.
Marshmallows in Sweden are all colorful and shaped in different ways, more like candy that marshmallows. So I had to buy 'BBQ marshmallows' for our cookout last week. Now I am snacking on the rest of them with my pretzels (Salta Pinnar).
I'm about to head out to meet Sarah, Antonia, the other Sarah, Monika, and some others, no doubt, at VG. Should be awesome. I just wanted to let you all know that my camera cord is on its way from Indiana, so I really should have pictures up soon(ish).
Until then, I want more comments. I'm that selfish. Comment. Seriously.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Welcome Party Weekend and the Monday that followed.
After the long Friday night of waiting in line with Robin, Pontus, Sarah, and Monika, the Official Welcome Party for International Students was on Saturday night. For me, that meant a sittning (literally means sit-down in Swedish, it's a three-course dinner where people get drunk and sing songs) at Östgöta Nation. But of course it was pouring down rain all day, the first day I was going to get a bit more dressed up, I had to ride my bike in the rain to Hallands to Magnus's corridor. Everyone was just miserably wet. Then we all made it to Östgöta around 7:30 for dinner...even wetter, but also drunker, than before. The food and drinks were quite good, Thibault and I split a bottle of Spanish wine, there was a mint chocolate cake-brownie thing for dessert that was delicious. Then, Sarah, Sırça, Monika, and I rode over to Kårhuset for the Welcome Party, where there was a QUEUE! Are you kidding me Sweden? I know you want to be totally official and honest and double check, but come on. Anyway, we picked the right queue out of the two and got in pretty quickly. We danced alllll night, and I ran into Bianka, Jonas, Antonia, Julia, Christoph, etc on and on with the Germans...lol, and found it was Simon's birthday at midnight! So anyway, the welcome party was a lot of fun, except, truth be told, I remember leaving, but I don't really remember riding home...
Anyway, Sunday was a day of rest and my first corridor meeting. They appointed me list-writer because I'm a native English speaker. We just talked about what we needed for the corridor, when we are going to have a warming party with an around-the-world tour de Chambres theme, and paid 100 kr to get some stuff.
Today, I had class all day, but came home to "make" some pretzels and a banana for lunch. P.S. I love Swedish coffee machines. It's actually good! For 3 kr...that's like, less than 50 cents. The coffee at the cafe costs 20 kr, in comparison. Then Bianka facebooked me and I met up with the Germans, Simon, and Petra to see Inglourious Basterds at the cinema. The movie was crazy, as you would expect, I jumped out of my seat at least twice. And besides that it was about killing Nazis. Creepy. But the funny thing was most of the movie was in German or French, with Swedish subtitles. Some parts were in English, but most of the time I was piecing together the French or German that I could hear and decipher with the Swedish subtitles. I think I got the gist of it. Mom, you don't want to see that movie. It was a good piece of artwork--totally Tarantino style, but wayyyy too violent for me.
So now, my Bioinformatics class again tomorrow...should be a BLAST. Haha. No one gets that except me.
Anyway, Sunday was a day of rest and my first corridor meeting. They appointed me list-writer because I'm a native English speaker. We just talked about what we needed for the corridor, when we are going to have a warming party with an around-the-world tour de Chambres theme, and paid 100 kr to get some stuff.
Today, I had class all day, but came home to "make" some pretzels and a banana for lunch. P.S. I love Swedish coffee machines. It's actually good! For 3 kr...that's like, less than 50 cents. The coffee at the cafe costs 20 kr, in comparison. Then Bianka facebooked me and I met up with the Germans, Simon, and Petra to see Inglourious Basterds at the cinema. The movie was crazy, as you would expect, I jumped out of my seat at least twice. And besides that it was about killing Nazis. Creepy. But the funny thing was most of the movie was in German or French, with Swedish subtitles. Some parts were in English, but most of the time I was piecing together the French or German that I could hear and decipher with the Swedish subtitles. I think I got the gist of it. Mom, you don't want to see that movie. It was a good piece of artwork--totally Tarantino style, but wayyyy too violent for me.
So now, my Bioinformatics class again tomorrow...should be a BLAST. Haha. No one gets that except me.
Friday, September 4, 2009
I waited in line for about three hours total tonight. Two separate lines, and then we didn't get into Hallands...so made our way to Krischansta, where everyone left except Sarah and Monika and I (Simon stayed, but forgot his ID, so couldn't get in). We met the most amazing Swedish guys ever. They were nuts. But fun. Also, I learned that Sarah is very picky about guys. A perfectly cute Swedish guy totally wanted her, I knew, because his friend told me, and she was like, "oh no, he's much too clean." Oh, the English and their rock n roll lifestyles....lol. The music at Krischan was awesome though. In a really bad way: all Michael Jackson and Bob Marley and various other reggae/swing type with some pop rap mixed in. Awesome.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
So, I totally forgot the most important part of Sunday in the last post. I sat next to Bianka on the way home, one of the ten business administration students from Munich. She was really nice, we talked the whole hour and a half back to Lund. So after another lonely day on Monday (no Swedish class), I just shopped and walked around basically, I went to my first BioInformatics course on Tuesday, and then to the beach at Lomma with Bianka and other Germans (at first i accidentally typed Germs, which made me laugh). these included Jonas, who looks pretty much like a younger, shorter, more European version of Isaac Dorau from the Academy. It's actually kind of weird. Also there was Meike, Evelyn, Christoph, and Antonia (yes, from Germany). And of course Bianka and I. It was such a nice beach, we went in the water for a little bit. It was really cold, but the water at Lomma is really shallow. Like, you can walk 100m away from the beach and you're still only up to your knees or maybe a little bit higher. There are jellyfish everywhere too. They are the weirdest things ever. It was a really clear and sunny day on Tuesday, so I got a little sun, and we were able to see the whole Öresundbron (Oresund Bridge) and even little tiny buildings of Copenhagen, or Kopenhamn, in Swedish.
Then we came back and played brännboll with mentor groups 9 and 10 (Bianka, Jonas, Christoph and Evelyn's groups). It was fun I guess, but there was this one Canadian guy who was taking it way to seriously and pissing me off, but whatever. So I can now officially say that one of my biggest pet peeves is when people are so bent on winning that they don't play honestly. He wasn't exactly cheating, but he was finding loopholes in all the rules. I just hated being on the same team as him.
So yeah. That was Tuesday. (Awesome). On Wednesday I had class again, came home, talked to Caroline, one of my corridormates, for a while and made a hot dog. Then I went to Kårhuset around 8 to meet up with the Germans and Simon (who is Austrian or Swiss, I am a terrible person and have forgotten). There was some sort of concert playing, but it cost 50 kronor to get in, so we just sat on the hill behind and heard the music fine, and I'm glad I didn't pay the 50 kronor because the music wasn't that great. It was just covers of American songs by a guy dressed in an Angel costume, or other similarly Swedish things. So we sat and talked and then went to VGs for their Wednesday Club. We waited in line forever and we were really near the front. But once we got in it was soooo much fun. I mean, I love Sweden because the cheapest beer you can get is a Carlsberg for 20 kronor, which is only like...3 dollars, and Jonas bought the first round anyway. So we danced and danced and I met a guy from Toronto named David with dreadlocks and he was sort of strangely flirting with me, even though I told him I have a boyfriend. He also smashed the plastic gun I found on the floor (from someone's cowboy costume) into bits! That was when I really didn't like him. He was like, "Guns are bad, Ellen, you can't shoot people everywhere like you can in America." I was really offended. I have never shot a gun in my life, nor do I plan to. So he smashed my toy gun for political reasons. What a jerk...Anyway, Jonas was the funniest of all though. He kept stealing this one Swedish girl's hat...like four times throughout the night, just thinking it was the best thing ever. I really like him, because he's just a gigantic kid. At about 1 am, a lot of people have left and the ones leftover are either with a big group of people (like I was) or hooking up with someone. Well, Jonas is like the only single one out of the group we were in, and he's super-cute and disappointed he hadn't picked up a girl yet. Luckily, in the next few minutes he started dancing with this girl and kissed her. Then Antonia and I were going to leave, and Jonas was said, "Yeah, I've got it out of my system now. I'm ready to go home." Boys are so weird. So then I rode my bike home, talked to Tom for a while, and went to sleep. It was a good night.
Then we came back and played brännboll with mentor groups 9 and 10 (Bianka, Jonas, Christoph and Evelyn's groups). It was fun I guess, but there was this one Canadian guy who was taking it way to seriously and pissing me off, but whatever. So I can now officially say that one of my biggest pet peeves is when people are so bent on winning that they don't play honestly. He wasn't exactly cheating, but he was finding loopholes in all the rules. I just hated being on the same team as him.
So yeah. That was Tuesday. (Awesome). On Wednesday I had class again, came home, talked to Caroline, one of my corridormates, for a while and made a hot dog. Then I went to Kårhuset around 8 to meet up with the Germans and Simon (who is Austrian or Swiss, I am a terrible person and have forgotten). There was some sort of concert playing, but it cost 50 kronor to get in, so we just sat on the hill behind and heard the music fine, and I'm glad I didn't pay the 50 kronor because the music wasn't that great. It was just covers of American songs by a guy dressed in an Angel costume, or other similarly Swedish things. So we sat and talked and then went to VGs for their Wednesday Club. We waited in line forever and we were really near the front. But once we got in it was soooo much fun. I mean, I love Sweden because the cheapest beer you can get is a Carlsberg for 20 kronor, which is only like...3 dollars, and Jonas bought the first round anyway. So we danced and danced and I met a guy from Toronto named David with dreadlocks and he was sort of strangely flirting with me, even though I told him I have a boyfriend. He also smashed the plastic gun I found on the floor (from someone's cowboy costume) into bits! That was when I really didn't like him. He was like, "Guns are bad, Ellen, you can't shoot people everywhere like you can in America." I was really offended. I have never shot a gun in my life, nor do I plan to. So he smashed my toy gun for political reasons. What a jerk...Anyway, Jonas was the funniest of all though. He kept stealing this one Swedish girl's hat...like four times throughout the night, just thinking it was the best thing ever. I really like him, because he's just a gigantic kid. At about 1 am, a lot of people have left and the ones leftover are either with a big group of people (like I was) or hooking up with someone. Well, Jonas is like the only single one out of the group we were in, and he's super-cute and disappointed he hadn't picked up a girl yet. Luckily, in the next few minutes he started dancing with this girl and kissed her. Then Antonia and I were going to leave, and Jonas was said, "Yeah, I've got it out of my system now. I'm ready to go home." Boys are so weird. So then I rode my bike home, talked to Tom for a while, and went to sleep. It was a good night.
Blogging in Class
It's been SO long. I'm sorry, if there are any loyal readers out there, but the wired internet in my room STILL does not work. Luckily, someone set up an unsecure wireless network that I have been piggybacking on occasionally.
So to catch you all up,
Aug 28. Friday.
Overall, I don't remember Friday being super eventful, except for Swedish class and the corridorparty. In Swedish class, an English woman who married a Swede (and now lives near Malmö) talked about what the Swedish people are like, and why they are like that. It was SUCH a good talk. She was seamless at working in some Swedish history and facts along with descriptions of the people. 54% of Sweden is trees, 16% is mountains, and there are only 9 million people. A hundred years ago trees and lumber were Swedenäs largest exports. Many of the mature trees you see now are in rows, because they were planted to sustain the business and the country. Sweden has been the most ethnically preserved country (people-wise) for a very long time. Which is why all the Swedes are 6 foot tall, blonde, tan, and beautiful. But, about a hundred years ago or so, the Swedes had created too many jobs for only themselves to do. So they invited people in for the first time. Mostly people from southern Europe (Italy, Turkey, Greece, former Yugoslavia, etc.) so now you see several very dark-complected Swedes as well that are 2nd or 3rd generation immigrants. I could go on and on, this lady was soooo good at speaking and really conveying her message.
Friday night, my mentorgroup(19) and our twin group (20) had a corridor party in Delphi C4, which is convenient because I live in Delphi B2 right next door. Johan (mentor for group 20) lives there and had a fog machine and glowsticks and also videotaped the whole thing. It was pretty awesome until I realized I had left my keys in my room, so I couldn't get back in my corridor. Finally, after ringing for a while and thinking I would have to sleep on the hard stone floor, my corridormate Tobias let me in.
Saturday, August 29.
The first day of the internet drought. I stayed in my room all day, hoping the inernet would magically work again every hour or so. I listened to music, cleaned up a bit, and went to bed early to the sounds of the engineers singing...no, screaming, something in Swedish to the tune of 'Grapes of Wrath' (you know...mine eyes have seen the glory do doo do do).
Sunday, August 30.
First contact with the Germans...haha. Actually, I went on the excursion to Österlen (which is the east side of Skåne...öst is east in Swedish, I think). Thibault and Sascha from my mentorgroup were also there. I met a masterstudent from Leeds Uni named Fred on the first bus stint. Our first stop was the city of Ystad, which probably would've been alright except that it was Sunday, and Sweden is closed on Sunday. So we walked for a bit, took pictures of some cool houses, looked at a ferry that was leaving for Poland, etc. Our next stop was better, we went to Kåseberga, the home of Ales Stenar. Ales Stenar is basically the Swedish form of Stonehenge. You'll get more information from Wikipedia or google than I could give you, but it was a really great little seaside location. I took videos there, so they'll be posted later today. The third leg of the journey was the best. Glimmingehus. Again, google it. It's this giant fortress-house thing in the middle of the countryside that has some booby traps and was built by a giant. The funny thing is, actually, they dug up the grave of this nobleman/admiral guy who did build it, and he was nearly 2 meters tall, probably 6'6" or so. Which is tall for us, but for 1499-1520ish, it is giant-like. My favorite part of this was that we got a guided tour and she told us one folk myth that Jans the giant stood there while his wife stood on the island off the coast and threw rocks to him, with which he built the house. But every so often, he would throw one at a church (there was a lot of political unrest in Skåne then, it was Danish at the time and the king and archbishop were always fighting or something) so that is why the terrain has a bunch of big rocks sticking up.
I'll continue with Monday thru today later.
So to catch you all up,
Aug 28. Friday.
Overall, I don't remember Friday being super eventful, except for Swedish class and the corridorparty. In Swedish class, an English woman who married a Swede (and now lives near Malmö) talked about what the Swedish people are like, and why they are like that. It was SUCH a good talk. She was seamless at working in some Swedish history and facts along with descriptions of the people. 54% of Sweden is trees, 16% is mountains, and there are only 9 million people. A hundred years ago trees and lumber were Swedenäs largest exports. Many of the mature trees you see now are in rows, because they were planted to sustain the business and the country. Sweden has been the most ethnically preserved country (people-wise) for a very long time. Which is why all the Swedes are 6 foot tall, blonde, tan, and beautiful. But, about a hundred years ago or so, the Swedes had created too many jobs for only themselves to do. So they invited people in for the first time. Mostly people from southern Europe (Italy, Turkey, Greece, former Yugoslavia, etc.) so now you see several very dark-complected Swedes as well that are 2nd or 3rd generation immigrants. I could go on and on, this lady was soooo good at speaking and really conveying her message.
Friday night, my mentorgroup(19) and our twin group (20) had a corridor party in Delphi C4, which is convenient because I live in Delphi B2 right next door. Johan (mentor for group 20) lives there and had a fog machine and glowsticks and also videotaped the whole thing. It was pretty awesome until I realized I had left my keys in my room, so I couldn't get back in my corridor. Finally, after ringing for a while and thinking I would have to sleep on the hard stone floor, my corridormate Tobias let me in.
Saturday, August 29.
The first day of the internet drought. I stayed in my room all day, hoping the inernet would magically work again every hour or so. I listened to music, cleaned up a bit, and went to bed early to the sounds of the engineers singing...no, screaming, something in Swedish to the tune of 'Grapes of Wrath' (you know...mine eyes have seen the glory do doo do do).
Sunday, August 30.
First contact with the Germans...haha. Actually, I went on the excursion to Österlen (which is the east side of Skåne...öst is east in Swedish, I think). Thibault and Sascha from my mentorgroup were also there. I met a masterstudent from Leeds Uni named Fred on the first bus stint. Our first stop was the city of Ystad, which probably would've been alright except that it was Sunday, and Sweden is closed on Sunday. So we walked for a bit, took pictures of some cool houses, looked at a ferry that was leaving for Poland, etc. Our next stop was better, we went to Kåseberga, the home of Ales Stenar. Ales Stenar is basically the Swedish form of Stonehenge. You'll get more information from Wikipedia or google than I could give you, but it was a really great little seaside location. I took videos there, so they'll be posted later today. The third leg of the journey was the best. Glimmingehus. Again, google it. It's this giant fortress-house thing in the middle of the countryside that has some booby traps and was built by a giant. The funny thing is, actually, they dug up the grave of this nobleman/admiral guy who did build it, and he was nearly 2 meters tall, probably 6'6" or so. Which is tall for us, but for 1499-1520ish, it is giant-like. My favorite part of this was that we got a guided tour and she told us one folk myth that Jans the giant stood there while his wife stood on the island off the coast and threw rocks to him, with which he built the house. But every so often, he would throw one at a church (there was a lot of political unrest in Skåne then, it was Danish at the time and the king and archbishop were always fighting or something) so that is why the terrain has a bunch of big rocks sticking up.
I'll continue with Monday thru today later.
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