Studies commence

Well folks the studying has begun here in Jönköping. The academic year consist of 2 semesters each split into 2 quarters each, (A1 & A2, S1 & S2) So normally you pick to modules to take per quarter, (However I have 3 due to taking Swedish as an extra). One thing I have noticed here in Sweden is organisation is not at its best, I’m going to sound terribly British and say these people don’t know how to queue unless there is a numbered ticket system which in quite a few places there are, but not at the uni. You will be in huddles making your way to the front, the Swedes don’t like you pushing in front we were told however in practice you do get the odd few pushing in. Anyway rant over) I say it’s not organised because at Uni at home we are given an individual timetable for lectures and seminars which requires big organisation to avoid clashes, in Jönköping you are told when the lectures are and if you have any clashes you have to prioritise which lecture to go to. Seems a bit strange to me.

Anyway this quarter I am Studying Macroeconomic theory, Developing electronic capabilities for commerce (E-Commerce) and Swedish 1. What dry subjects you probably think, well I enjoy economics and I want to learn Swedish, I’m doing the E-Commerce module because of the law section but when lectures can last up to 4 hours it can become very dull, for example my second economics lecture was 3 hours of what was called ‘Mathematics for economics’ 3 hours of Algebra etc only to be told it was unlikely we would need it for the exam. Yes it was bad. E-Commerce was just an intro lecture but we already have our assignment. Yes these courses appear to be very quick, finishing in mid October.

Swedish 1: Now this subject I do enjoy, only had one lesson due to a clash with another module. The only downside to this module is you learn new stuff in class and then you go out into the big world of Sweden and then you hear people or someone asks you something and you don’t understand it. Now for me I have a fear of not being able to understand/be understood, it is why I have obsessed with learning languages, just the basics even if it’s hello and numbers. Lack of Swedish I can find to be quite isolating. You may call me nosey but when I sit on a bus at home the background noise of chatter is almost calming because you recognise if someone is going to kick off etc. On a Swedish bus people will ask you something, you can guess at what they are saying, is anyone sitting there? Etc etc but I just get this sense of isolation. You rely on your own company more. However I do listen hard to try and pick up any vocabulary.
Sweden week 3

What can I say it’s week 3 and I’m falling in love with the place. Of course there are downsides such as living so far away from campus, however the upside is Huskvarna is in a beautiful location, I just have to walk to the top of my road to see the lake and the hills, When there is a train running in the morning it only takes 8 minutes to get into the city, otherwise it’s a 20 min bus ride. Jönköping is a lovely city. The University is top quality and the central location is brilliant for after morning lectures you can just go to the city etc.
This week saw the end of the kick off week parties with our captain Ronnie Cau winning Fadder of the year, so congrats to him. With all the activity stopping it’s nice to get back to a normal routine. However Wednesdays are the big nights out here, We went to the first one this week. The dress code is the overalls we got during kick off week, so they will get some use out of them this year. Akademia is the Student Bar open every Wednesday, it’s a good night out, however restricted by bus times because taxis are incredibly expensive!!!! I have to say I miss Newcastle for it’s cheap drinks and it’s cheap taxis home.

The International Association has launched its first few trips, it’s big one going to the Fjords in Norway, people were queuing as early as 6am to get onto the trip. I however will save this one for Semester 2 if I chose to go. I am saving my money for the trip to the Northern Lights and the Ice hotel in late December. So whilst half my group of friends go to Norway I plan to go with the other half for a weekend in another Swedish city, either Göthenberg or Malmo, (details to follow)
Friday I watched a game of Australian Football with my new found Aussie friends, Can’t for the life of me remember the two teams, both from Melbourne but apparently most of them are! Later that night It was Sweden vs Hungry in the European Qualifier, Sweden winning 2-0, National allegiance changing slowly. It has been recommended to me to go to a Finland vs Sweden Ice Hockey game, this however is in the next few weeks and thus will be incredibly expensive, however the local team of HV71 will be starting their season soon as the reigning champions. With the stadium about 5 minutes away from me a game is a must whilst I’m here, it even has a curling ring so maybe I shall sign up for that. Look at me, watching Sports! Who knew it!
Anyway after a rather quiet week (In comparison to the other 2) I have run out of things to fill you in on. So I shall sign out for tonight

P.S Can’t for the life of me find Blue tack in this place!!!!

Cheerio