I left for Göteborg with six other people, Nick, Jakob, Brit, Max, Arpad and Doug. We left by coach on Saturday afternoon. On arrival we could see the city was a lot bigger than Jönköping. Tall buildings everywhere. We got off the bus and tried to find our way to our accommodation for the night. Once settled in Max called his friend who was on exchange to Göteborg University, he was able to show us around the city. We went to the city centre, the Mayor’s office, to the theme park with the biggest wooden rollercoaster within Europe. Also here we saw people walking round with giant Toblorone, Daim bars and other sorts of chocolate bars. Sadly not for sale, you had to gamble to win them. Yes that´s how bad the fat tax is here people will gable for a huge three kilo bar of chocolate.
The city is Sweden´s second city and is a harbour city. It was incredibly windy in the city and a lot colder than Jönköping. That night we went out on the town after a few pre drinks we went to try and find a ´pink bar´ sadly we couldn´t find them so we ended up in a student bar where the drinks were cheaper than the bars in Jönköping.
The next day the group split into two half of us went shopping and the other half decided to go round a few sites. My group went down to the harbour front where there was a naval ship to look round and a submarine (sadly no chance to look round that though). Walking along the harbour we came to the Göteborg Wheel, (Their version of the London eye). You get a great view of the city and the harbour however after the fourth rotation you run out of things to look at, with the London eye it goes round slowly so you can take in everything at a nice pace, however the Göteborg Wheel went round quickly so we had about ten rotations in fifteen minutes, Kind of got boring after a while.
In the city´s shopping centre we found the polling station for the general election. A massive area with three huge circles where people went to vote and at the other end were representatives from all the party’s last minute campaigning. (More on the election in another blog). It´s quite hard to find a Swedish flag in Göteborg, the only one we could find was a two foot one for a flagpole for a house.
One night in Göteborg wasn´t enough to get around all the tourist sites. We didn´t have time to visit the Islands off Göteborg or the museums etc but the good news is I am here for the whole year, I don’t have to rush things, I can always go back with other people during the second semester.
Great weekend with a great bunch of people, what more could you ask for?
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Letter responses
Well folks, I have received some letters and cards from family back home So Thank you for them, I shall now reply to some of the points made.
In response to where is Jönköping located, It is to the south of Lake Vättan. Jönköping isn’t near any sea so the water shown in the blog pictures are that of the lake. Jönköping has got canals flowing through also (one of which I jumped in during kick off week) I will post a picture of a map for you. Sadly now there aren´t really any reduced things in the supermarkets, not to bottom price like back in the UK but I intend to cover this matter in a blog at a later date. Yes the newly married royal couple are constantly on the front of the glossy mags here too. The merchandise has been quick to come out and there is plenty of it, especially in Stockholm. Banners were still up in Stockholm. Yes now a month has passed and I have settled in more and have most of my admin out of the way now I will start to look for a job, however there is a government funded service here to help you set up and run a business and I have a few ideas if I choose to go down that route, which is a possibility. The Mitchell Empire could start in Sweden! The trip to the artic circle and to the Northern lights I think is about six days. Still waiting for details to be published, I think I may have to queue early morning for this one though. People were queuing for the Norway trip as early as 6am. With regards to my room, yes my room mates bed is across the room from me however we have put up a sheet to give each other privacy and now it feels like a single room. Yes we are all getting along in the house really well. We have had ´cultural evenings´ Where food has been cooked from our home nations, two weeks ago we had Chinese and last week Austrian. When everyone gets back from Norway I will be doing a full English for the house and some others I have invited to join in.
I hope this answers your letters and cards, thanks again.
In response to where is Jönköping located, It is to the south of Lake Vättan. Jönköping isn’t near any sea so the water shown in the blog pictures are that of the lake. Jönköping has got canals flowing through also (one of which I jumped in during kick off week) I will post a picture of a map for you. Sadly now there aren´t really any reduced things in the supermarkets, not to bottom price like back in the UK but I intend to cover this matter in a blog at a later date. Yes the newly married royal couple are constantly on the front of the glossy mags here too. The merchandise has been quick to come out and there is plenty of it, especially in Stockholm. Banners were still up in Stockholm. Yes now a month has passed and I have settled in more and have most of my admin out of the way now I will start to look for a job, however there is a government funded service here to help you set up and run a business and I have a few ideas if I choose to go down that route, which is a possibility. The Mitchell Empire could start in Sweden! The trip to the artic circle and to the Northern lights I think is about six days. Still waiting for details to be published, I think I may have to queue early morning for this one though. People were queuing for the Norway trip as early as 6am. With regards to my room, yes my room mates bed is across the room from me however we have put up a sheet to give each other privacy and now it feels like a single room. Yes we are all getting along in the house really well. We have had ´cultural evenings´ Where food has been cooked from our home nations, two weeks ago we had Chinese and last week Austrian. When everyone gets back from Norway I will be doing a full English for the house and some others I have invited to join in.
I hope this answers your letters and cards, thanks again.
Forest Party
Forest Party:
This was the highlight of the week and a great experience. Under Swedish law we have the right to roam round the countryside etc, so a party was organised in the forest near Råslätt. We got together and headed in, stupidly I left my Nokia (with a good torch on it) at home. We found an area where we could set up a campfire, wood was gathered, the issue was that it had been raining (well Mizzle) so the surrounding wood was dam and impossible to light. Ironically in the city where matches are made, matches can’t be found in shops, we had to rely on a smoker for a lighter. After a while trying to set fire to wet branches, someone had thought to go back and get some wooden pallets. One was thrown on and the fire was going, then another and another. At this point I questioned the legality of the fire. The fire was burning, people were cooking sausages and marshmallows, others were drinking, only one log to sit on so most were standing but the banter was great. Sadly guitars were left at home so no campfire songs. Definitely a great experience, note to self bring marshmallows next time.
Now obviously I’m here to ‘study’ This week we had a ‘webcam’ lecture. We went to a lecture room and on the screen was a webcam link form the lecturer in his office, he was delivering the lecture to four Universities across Sweden. JIBS is apparently the number two business school in Sweden. In Swedish we learnt how to tell the time, and started on some verbs. Tried texting a Swedish friend in Swedish about evening plans, made a few mistakes but it’s the only way I will learn.
A downside of University here is that you have to pay Student Union fees, here it’s over £20 for the year. Failure to pay means you can’t take your exams. However the university is still amazing.
A note about the accommodation here. The ones that I have visited have a certain character. Match House is accommodation that houses 25 students, walking down the corridor puts me in mind of the corridor of a mental hospital (as did the hostel I stayed in come to think of it, even more so with people randomly walking round, some with mops not cleaning I might add, put me in mind of One flew over the cuckoo’s nest) Long hospital styled flooring in the corridor, so homely. Luckily home is what you make of it. Anyway onto Råslätt. This is based in what can only be described as a huge council estate. Also known as ‘the project’ These estates apparently appear in most of the big cities but recently they have all been renovated except Råslätt. However they do offer a communal building with pool table etc, there are sports facilities and the residents get a discount on the monthly bus passes, something which my landlord refused to comment on when I brought up this issue. Now onto Delta. This is probably the nicest of the two city residencies. Clearly they used to be offices and one assumes they were offices for the school attached because some of the windows in the rooms look into the schools canteen. Sadly these rooms won’t be available next semester so my chances of getting city centre accommodation are based on match house.
This was the highlight of the week and a great experience. Under Swedish law we have the right to roam round the countryside etc, so a party was organised in the forest near Råslätt. We got together and headed in, stupidly I left my Nokia (with a good torch on it) at home. We found an area where we could set up a campfire, wood was gathered, the issue was that it had been raining (well Mizzle) so the surrounding wood was dam and impossible to light. Ironically in the city where matches are made, matches can’t be found in shops, we had to rely on a smoker for a lighter. After a while trying to set fire to wet branches, someone had thought to go back and get some wooden pallets. One was thrown on and the fire was going, then another and another. At this point I questioned the legality of the fire. The fire was burning, people were cooking sausages and marshmallows, others were drinking, only one log to sit on so most were standing but the banter was great. Sadly guitars were left at home so no campfire songs. Definitely a great experience, note to self bring marshmallows next time.
Now obviously I’m here to ‘study’ This week we had a ‘webcam’ lecture. We went to a lecture room and on the screen was a webcam link form the lecturer in his office, he was delivering the lecture to four Universities across Sweden. JIBS is apparently the number two business school in Sweden. In Swedish we learnt how to tell the time, and started on some verbs. Tried texting a Swedish friend in Swedish about evening plans, made a few mistakes but it’s the only way I will learn.
A downside of University here is that you have to pay Student Union fees, here it’s over £20 for the year. Failure to pay means you can’t take your exams. However the university is still amazing.
A note about the accommodation here. The ones that I have visited have a certain character. Match House is accommodation that houses 25 students, walking down the corridor puts me in mind of the corridor of a mental hospital (as did the hostel I stayed in come to think of it, even more so with people randomly walking round, some with mops not cleaning I might add, put me in mind of One flew over the cuckoo’s nest) Long hospital styled flooring in the corridor, so homely. Luckily home is what you make of it. Anyway onto Råslätt. This is based in what can only be described as a huge council estate. Also known as ‘the project’ These estates apparently appear in most of the big cities but recently they have all been renovated except Råslätt. However they do offer a communal building with pool table etc, there are sports facilities and the residents get a discount on the monthly bus passes, something which my landlord refused to comment on when I brought up this issue. Now onto Delta. This is probably the nicest of the two city residencies. Clearly they used to be offices and one assumes they were offices for the school attached because some of the windows in the rooms look into the schools canteen. Sadly these rooms won’t be available next semester so my chances of getting city centre accommodation are based on match house.
Monday, 6 September 2010
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
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
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Arrival in Jönköping & Kick off week
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
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
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)