Well I arrived into Jönköping and made my way to Student house to get my accommodation. Upon arrival I was told that they had no accommodation for me, even though I had an email saying they had some for me. (Hint make sure you apply in time) At around 8.30pm I was taken to a hostel in Huskvarna where I would spend from Saturday to Wednesday. It was a cramped room with two bunk beds. Three of us in there with our luggage you can imagine the lack of space. This was a very anxious moment for me. I have never been in this situation before. When I went up to the room I was with a guy from Indonesia, who had limited English skills. Later on I would meet an Aussie who was staying in my room also. He introduced me to a chap from Spain and a lass from Canada. I started to settle in better from this point. Sunday we went to a friend of the Aussie in the city centre.
Monday morning and we had to be in Uni first thing and I mean 8am. We had a meeting with some lecturers to go through some formalities. Then we had the Kick off teams come in. Now these people scared me. They were so enthusiastic, like a group of motivational therapists. We were split into our groups and went to meet the rest of our fadders. It was really good that the academic side communicated with the SU side and organised events during the day and not just at bight between academic introductions. We then got to know the other people in our group sober as well as drunk! One thing to note the Swedes have a stereotype of being quite shy and reserved. This maybe so generally but like us Brits get a few drinks down and you’ll make friends for life. Also the Swedish students are incredibly outgoing. They are up for anything it seems, whether its swimming in the canal naked or stripping down to your undies to go run in a fountain. However if you see a person smiling in the street at people they are probably tourists! Monday night was a pre party at one of the fadders house then onto the JIBS (business school) Bar. On this note of alcohol. Sweden is an expensive night out. I certainly miss the cheap prices of Newcastle. Outside of student clubs and bars the average cost of an alcoholic drink is around £5. Student bars are around half this. There is only one store in Sweden which has the right to sell alcohol. The times are restricted. Not normally open past 6 or 7pm only open for a few hours on Sat. Honestly this system would not work in the UK. Supermarkets only sell what has been termed ‘emergency beer’ (less than 3.5% even as low as 0.5%) After the Business bar where I continued to meet new people, mainly Aussies and other commonwealth nations. We went onto a club in town. It was rammed. Probably spent over an hour there before I went home with my Aussie room mate and the Canadian. The busses don’t run so late here.
Tuesday during the day was filled with course confirmation and then a talk from the President of the University and the Business school Deane. It appears they like their tradition here so as we went into the theatre for the talk, flag bearers were standing in a semi-circle leading into the theatre. When it was time to start we were told to rise for the flag. The Swedish flag came in first being marched down the steps towards the stage followed by the flags of the university and business school then the local council I imagine. It was not marched however to the soundtrack of the Swedish National anthem. The speeches were made, (may I point out a lot of stuff is repeated throughout the week, so you do get fed up, but what’s new) Once all speeches were over we were then asked to rise again for the flags exit. The ceremony began again marching up the steps and out of the theatre. Quite different to how we were addressed in our freshers week by the Deane. Tuesday night was another pre party at a fadders house moving onto Akademia the SU club. This club is the place to be on a Wednesday normally and I can see why it’s incredible. Two rooms with different music in each. I prefer the one with ‘cheesy’ Swedish music. First time I’ve heard Carola in a club before! Loved it.
Wednesday was the day of the ‘Academic introduction’ For this we were all taken by coach to the Local Ice Hockey Stadium, home to HV71 (Sounds like a virus but never mind) We started off with a brief chat about studying in Sweden followed by a quick phrase lesson. Then after Fyka (Coffee break) We went into the main Arena where we were welcomed by all our fadders and then had a quick lesson on differences in Swedish culture. To be honest I can see alot of British in the Swedish culture, or maybe it’s the other way round. The evening was another pre party followed by a beach party at Centrum.
Thursday was a student tour around the city. At different locations we had different challenges to do within our group to earn our team points. Club Caj we had to create a 1 minute dance to a Michael Jackson song to perform for Mr Caj. City square we had a fasion show to perform for 2 members of Sexkreation (SexKreation where the judges of events and the organisers. The name stems from the old Swedish use of the word sex, meaning fun, translated it means fun creator) Swimming in the canal was another challenge.
Thursday was the day I finally moved into my permanent residence. A house in the neighbouring town of Huskvarna, 4 students sharing, 2 guys and 2 girls. There are a few of these student houses. It’s a mezzanine house with us students owning the ground and the 1st floor. I’m sharing my room with a guy from Austria. My other housemates come from China and Italy.
Thursday night was the traditional toga party. Each year JSA (JIBS Student Association) have this toga party which ends the night with a swim in the canal. I decided to go with tradition and take the plunge (pardon the pun). It was 2am, remember this is Sweden so I was expecting it to be freezing; however to my surprise it wasn’t too bad. Just made sure I reached the surface.
Friday. Nearly the end of the week by now we are all sleep deprived, hungry and our livers now take their revenge on us however we still plod along, no stranger to this being a student in Newcastle! Today’s event was rained off at the last minute, we were supposed to go to the beach on the lake and play some games but instead we did what all students do and that is to play drinking games before the Swe event. The Event of the week; this is a huge Pool party with around 1600 people attending. It starts of with a relay race between the 4 schools, this year the communication school won. The event was started with the Swedish National anthem. (Yet another song to learn) The pool party commenced with everyone jumping into the Olympic sized pool and swimming the width of it then going onto the other pool outside! Yes outside, in Sweden. They like to do that. It was this night that the Fadders had chosen me to be Zero captain of space jam because I was the Zero that showed the most enthusiasm etc towards/for the team in the previous 24 hours. The rest of the team had to swear an oath of allegiance towards me and I swore an allegiance to the team and the Fadders. I felt proud to receive this but also guilty. Proud because I had assumed the captaincy from an Aussie and with 5 Aussies in the team this was a heck of a lot of fun after 24 hours of being goaded. Guilty because It was a close call between me and another lad who I thought had more passion. For me I am quite reserved in introductions and team events however this change appears to have come upon me, where I am not afraid to get involved and support the team and take part whilst making new friends along the way. I would say the key to this week was to keep an open mind and go with the flow. Was it hard? Yes. But totally worth it. You enjoy yourself more if you go with the flow and don’t resist. The pool party went on till 11, could’ve gone on longer I think was the general feeling. We managed to break a record by getting 43 people into the Jacuzzi.
Saturday during the day was all about finally sleeping. Sleeping in until I was woken up by a certain someone calling me. Saturday night was all about using that new found energy to go out again. The lad who I beat to the captaincy the night before had succeeded me in this vote. The guilt had now gone away as I knew that he deserved it. Sunday of course is the day of rest so we all enjoyed a quiet brunch in the city (free of charge) This was just a nice time to unwind and chat to people without music or drunken antics. The rest of the day I used to just chill, sleep and write this entry.
To sum up this week.
AMAZING
Tuesday 31 August 2010
Saturday 21 August 2010
Välkommen till Sverige! - En natt i Stockholm (Welcome to Sweden!- 1 Night in Stockholm.
The flight: My first time in Terminal 5 Heathrow. It was incredibly quiet considering it’s the summer holidays & a Friday. You’d expect it to be filled with Holiday makers/ Weekend tripers (I know not a real word!) Maybe it’s down to all the strike action of BA and the pending strike by BAA (who operate Heathrow). One thing can be said; it’s a very smooth flow through check in & security. Hardly any waiting and you don’t have to queue at specific desks for your flight etc. My flight was called and after having a look round & browsing duty free I made my way to the gate.
The flight felt like it only took half an hour. In no time we were on our decent into Arlanda, Stockholm. The route took us over Norwich the North sea flying over the top of Denmark, over Göthenburg & towards Stockholm. We arrived 5 minutes early, the sun had almost disappeared behind the forest of trees surrounding the airport. The airport was supprisingly quiet for the nations’ capital. The next step was to get to Stockholm Central. Using the Arlanda express (1/2 Price if you have your international NUS card Worth the extra £) 20 minutes and it gave me the chance to see some locals. Of course announcements are made out in Swedish first. A good test to see if anything has gone in from the small bit of self study I have done. A sense of joy as I recognise words like welcome, ticket, left (all in Swedish of course) Made me think maybe I will be ok language wise. What a false sense of security I got myself into. I get a taxi, show him the address of where my hotel for the evening is. Uh oh!! He doesn’t know where it is???? Asks the guy controlling the taxis’. I have no idea what he’s saying. I give the taxi driver a map I printed off. Still doesn’t help him. He has a vague idea. Driving towards the water (where you’d expect to find a yacht hotel really!) I spot the yacht first. Vänster I point out (left to you non-Swedish speakers) The taxi pulls up to this Yacht, he doesn’t believe it’s a hotel but the sign above the entrance clearly states it is. Tak to the taxi driver (thanks) and I go to check in.
Room 306, up some narrow stairs, with my heavy suitcase (which by the way reader is 31.2k) O well good work out for the arms!! A single bed cabin with a desk wardrobe wetroom/toilet and 2 windows looking out over Stockholm. I had a view of the Beautiful City Hall. It’s about 9.30 (local time) pitch black and unlike other European capital cities that I’ve visited, (or any city in fact) Stockholm isn’t lit up at night as much as others are. (Showing the countries green credentials already) I ventured out within a small area of the hotel. Passing a beautiful church and what I thought to be the royal palace, (turns out It was the ministry of justice)
Morning dawns. I get up at 6 to make sure I’m ready for a mad dash around Stockholm to go sightseeing. Breakfast spread included; smoked bacon & sausages, smoked ham & cheese, bread rolls, cereal, cucumber, peppers, Swedish bread (which is more like crackers but due to the cold climate out In Sweden they need bread that can be preserved for longer, during winter Fresh bread used to be a luxury) 8 and I get my map and head towards the royal palace, (Home to King Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife Queen Silvia) On the point of the Monarchy, unlike Britain where we don’t tend to show pride in our Monarchy, Sweden seem to prefer theirs. They show pride and they like their tradition over here. People have raised the argument about becoming a republic but the people have turned it down many times. There are still banners up from the recent royal wedding of Princess Victoria and her personal trainer Daniel Westling. Yes postcards are available of the happy couple already!!!. Anyway I deviate!
My walk around Stockholm was very pleasant, you’d expect a capital city to be busy even as early as 8am however this was not the case. Hardly any cars or people out. You could tell who the tourists were because we were the ones awake and about so early. Shops didn’t start opening till around 9.30, in a capital city!! In London it would be hard to shut the shops. Anyway I started of walking round old government buildings, still in use today. Finding my way I walked up towards the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) you walk through and at the other side of the Riksdag is the Royal Palace, about twice the size of the Riksdag if not more. The Palace is a huge building in the landscape of Stockholm. The same style of architecture is used around this area of Stockholm (the Palace the Riksdag and the Royal Opera House) However this is where the similarity of building style ends in Stockholm. Each building has it’s character but I suppose that would be called the Scandinavian style of Architecture). I had enough time to go round a few of the churches and on my way back to my hotel I watched the changing of the guards ceremony at the palace. Quite different to that of Buckingham Palace. No big Marching parade or anything like that. The Barracks are within the palace grounds. Only a handful of soldiers will march with one leading. They walk round the Palace relieving each soldier on duty one by one. Continuing the circuit until all the new soldiers are in place. It’s a quiet affair apart from the commands being called. (which don’t sound as vicious as they do at Buckingham palace, yet I don’t understand that much Swedish so he could’ve been really harsh I suppose!) At this point the city was getting busy with the locals & tourist groups. The Museums at the palace were opening. The Tourist shops started to appear down old cobbled streets from where there was nothing earlier in the morning. The shops rest subtly in the city, not imposing in old town. However if you get to a high street like I did, you will find all the modern shops there including car dealerships. I counted to H&Ms within feet of eachother! Where would the world be without Mcdonalds, however Maxs is a rival to this. Surprisingly fast food seems to be cheap over here (just an observation) Adverts in the windows for £1.50 if you convert it. However Stockholm is expensive on other things. Postcards seem to retail between 40p-£1.10 each, unless you’re lucky and find that one shop that offers 10 for £1. Sorry folks but if postcards cost that much normally I won’t be sending many home!
Now I am currently making my way by coach to Jönköping. 4 hours compared to 2 by train. However the coach cost be almost 1/5 compared to the train. Surly the coach must be uncomfortable for someone as tall as you I hear you cry. Well you’d think but after a recommendation by a Swede I booked with ‘Bus 4 you’ rather than Swebus express like the University recommends. B4Y has comfy leather seats, which recline. People aren’t crowded in I’m sat on a seat on my own with 2 seats the other side of the Isle. Plenty of leg room. My knees touch nothing!!!!
Anyway I think you’re now up to date with everything so far. Till I next write
Farväl för nu
The flight: My first time in Terminal 5 Heathrow. It was incredibly quiet considering it’s the summer holidays & a Friday. You’d expect it to be filled with Holiday makers/ Weekend tripers (I know not a real word!) Maybe it’s down to all the strike action of BA and the pending strike by BAA (who operate Heathrow). One thing can be said; it’s a very smooth flow through check in & security. Hardly any waiting and you don’t have to queue at specific desks for your flight etc. My flight was called and after having a look round & browsing duty free I made my way to the gate.
The flight felt like it only took half an hour. In no time we were on our decent into Arlanda, Stockholm. The route took us over Norwich the North sea flying over the top of Denmark, over Göthenburg & towards Stockholm. We arrived 5 minutes early, the sun had almost disappeared behind the forest of trees surrounding the airport. The airport was supprisingly quiet for the nations’ capital. The next step was to get to Stockholm Central. Using the Arlanda express (1/2 Price if you have your international NUS card Worth the extra £) 20 minutes and it gave me the chance to see some locals. Of course announcements are made out in Swedish first. A good test to see if anything has gone in from the small bit of self study I have done. A sense of joy as I recognise words like welcome, ticket, left (all in Swedish of course) Made me think maybe I will be ok language wise. What a false sense of security I got myself into. I get a taxi, show him the address of where my hotel for the evening is. Uh oh!! He doesn’t know where it is???? Asks the guy controlling the taxis’. I have no idea what he’s saying. I give the taxi driver a map I printed off. Still doesn’t help him. He has a vague idea. Driving towards the water (where you’d expect to find a yacht hotel really!) I spot the yacht first. Vänster I point out (left to you non-Swedish speakers) The taxi pulls up to this Yacht, he doesn’t believe it’s a hotel but the sign above the entrance clearly states it is. Tak to the taxi driver (thanks) and I go to check in.
Room 306, up some narrow stairs, with my heavy suitcase (which by the way reader is 31.2k) O well good work out for the arms!! A single bed cabin with a desk wardrobe wetroom/toilet and 2 windows looking out over Stockholm. I had a view of the Beautiful City Hall. It’s about 9.30 (local time) pitch black and unlike other European capital cities that I’ve visited, (or any city in fact) Stockholm isn’t lit up at night as much as others are. (Showing the countries green credentials already) I ventured out within a small area of the hotel. Passing a beautiful church and what I thought to be the royal palace, (turns out It was the ministry of justice)
Morning dawns. I get up at 6 to make sure I’m ready for a mad dash around Stockholm to go sightseeing. Breakfast spread included; smoked bacon & sausages, smoked ham & cheese, bread rolls, cereal, cucumber, peppers, Swedish bread (which is more like crackers but due to the cold climate out In Sweden they need bread that can be preserved for longer, during winter Fresh bread used to be a luxury) 8 and I get my map and head towards the royal palace, (Home to King Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife Queen Silvia) On the point of the Monarchy, unlike Britain where we don’t tend to show pride in our Monarchy, Sweden seem to prefer theirs. They show pride and they like their tradition over here. People have raised the argument about becoming a republic but the people have turned it down many times. There are still banners up from the recent royal wedding of Princess Victoria and her personal trainer Daniel Westling. Yes postcards are available of the happy couple already!!!. Anyway I deviate!
My walk around Stockholm was very pleasant, you’d expect a capital city to be busy even as early as 8am however this was not the case. Hardly any cars or people out. You could tell who the tourists were because we were the ones awake and about so early. Shops didn’t start opening till around 9.30, in a capital city!! In London it would be hard to shut the shops. Anyway I started of walking round old government buildings, still in use today. Finding my way I walked up towards the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) you walk through and at the other side of the Riksdag is the Royal Palace, about twice the size of the Riksdag if not more. The Palace is a huge building in the landscape of Stockholm. The same style of architecture is used around this area of Stockholm (the Palace the Riksdag and the Royal Opera House) However this is where the similarity of building style ends in Stockholm. Each building has it’s character but I suppose that would be called the Scandinavian style of Architecture). I had enough time to go round a few of the churches and on my way back to my hotel I watched the changing of the guards ceremony at the palace. Quite different to that of Buckingham Palace. No big Marching parade or anything like that. The Barracks are within the palace grounds. Only a handful of soldiers will march with one leading. They walk round the Palace relieving each soldier on duty one by one. Continuing the circuit until all the new soldiers are in place. It’s a quiet affair apart from the commands being called. (which don’t sound as vicious as they do at Buckingham palace, yet I don’t understand that much Swedish so he could’ve been really harsh I suppose!) At this point the city was getting busy with the locals & tourist groups. The Museums at the palace were opening. The Tourist shops started to appear down old cobbled streets from where there was nothing earlier in the morning. The shops rest subtly in the city, not imposing in old town. However if you get to a high street like I did, you will find all the modern shops there including car dealerships. I counted to H&Ms within feet of eachother! Where would the world be without Mcdonalds, however Maxs is a rival to this. Surprisingly fast food seems to be cheap over here (just an observation) Adverts in the windows for £1.50 if you convert it. However Stockholm is expensive on other things. Postcards seem to retail between 40p-£1.10 each, unless you’re lucky and find that one shop that offers 10 for £1. Sorry folks but if postcards cost that much normally I won’t be sending many home!
Now I am currently making my way by coach to Jönköping. 4 hours compared to 2 by train. However the coach cost be almost 1/5 compared to the train. Surly the coach must be uncomfortable for someone as tall as you I hear you cry. Well you’d think but after a recommendation by a Swede I booked with ‘Bus 4 you’ rather than Swebus express like the University recommends. B4Y has comfy leather seats, which recline. People aren’t crowded in I’m sat on a seat on my own with 2 seats the other side of the Isle. Plenty of leg room. My knees touch nothing!!!!
Anyway I think you’re now up to date with everything so far. Till I next write
Farväl för nu
Thursday 19 August 2010
The Night Before The Beginning
It’s 9:40pm on the 19th August 2010; I have my bags packed (bar my laptop) I am feeling incredibly excited about my adventure however at the same time incredibly anxious and nervous. I keep telling myself it’s another year at Uni, no different, however in reality it is completely different. I’m not going just a few hours up the train line. I’m going over the Northern Sea to a country I’ve never been to before with a language I have never studied in school before and have only really learnt a few phrases during my summer holiday. The Swedes may well speak English but I intend to learn Swedish and become semi fluent out of respect mainly. This is probably the biggest event in my life to date, bigger than going to uni which was a huge event, but going to live abroad is so much bigger in my eyes.
Tomorrow I get the train from Leeds Central to London Kings Cross first thing in the morning, then make my way towards Heathrow for my flight. I will land in Stockholm in the evening (Sweden time) I’m spending the night in Stockholm staying at the Mälardrottningen Hotel which is a Yacht converted into a hotel right in the centre of the city. This should give me some time either in the evening or early next morning to have a quick walk around Stockholm before catching a bus for a 4 hour journey to Jönköping. I’m not sure what accommodation I am going to get until I get there it seems, thankfully I know I have some though! Sunday will probably be a day to explore my new home for the year & get to know my new flatmates before the shenanigans of welcome week.
Well I shall call it a night now internet and try and get some sleep but the excitement will probably keep me awake.
Adjö´ så lä´nge!
Tomorrow I get the train from Leeds Central to London Kings Cross first thing in the morning, then make my way towards Heathrow for my flight. I will land in Stockholm in the evening (Sweden time) I’m spending the night in Stockholm staying at the Mälardrottningen Hotel which is a Yacht converted into a hotel right in the centre of the city. This should give me some time either in the evening or early next morning to have a quick walk around Stockholm before catching a bus for a 4 hour journey to Jönköping. I’m not sure what accommodation I am going to get until I get there it seems, thankfully I know I have some though! Sunday will probably be a day to explore my new home for the year & get to know my new flatmates before the shenanigans of welcome week.
Well I shall call it a night now internet and try and get some sleep but the excitement will probably keep me awake.
Adjö´ så lä´nge!
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