Well one Semester is over, and what a semester, it has been incredible. Coming to a country I have never visited before with a language I had no prior knowledge of, the thought of socialising with people who are stereotyped as shy and reserved (Sorry Swedes but it’s true) and then studying in a different education system. Yet here I am, I survived it.
Let’s start with a big thank you to the Fadders who looked after us for the first 2 weeks and beyond. You really showed us a great time during the kick of week doing all you could to make us feel part of the University community, even speaking in English all the time so we could join in with conversations! It must have been annoying especially the more drunk you got, (Ronnie I’m in particular talking about you asking me several times when you were drunk for a cigarette in Swedish!, That was day 2!) You took us under your wings and we formed our own little group of friends within the Kick Off week group, (we even had some defect to our group!)
Highlights of Kick off week were; going on a continued nights out with you guys, the Swe Party (The biggest pool party in Scandinavia with over 1400 people!) To that day I had never had a beer in a pool. The traditional jump into the canal at 2.30 am after the Toga party. The Pre parties you Fadders layed on for us, and of course to finish of a long fortnight of drinking Sunday Brunch!
Bad things about Kick off week; the cost and realising how much alcohol would cost
Another thank you coming up. To my Group of mates, (strangely it was manly kept within the commonwealth!), (In no particular order) Nick, Stuart, Christian, Kieran, Jo, Jakob In particular with other great people who I also met and spent a lot of time with (Yet again no particular order) Fabian, Giacomo, Anna, Thomas, Max and so many more from all over the world. You made the experience that much better and I do one day hope to come and visit you in your home nations and likewise if you come to visit Britain. We definitely shared some good times, laughter (Mainly at Christian’s expense, but if you do silly things...!) Many a drunken night together. Memories I shall treasure until the day I die (Or the day I get Alzheimers, whichever comes first!)
To my housemates, Bernhard, Fedder and Peyton. My family for the semester. Aka will not be the same without you Fedder. It was a pleasure living with you and our extended family in the other houses across the playground!
The University has also been good to us! Yep I said it, though they gave us much more work in a shorter space of time than we or I am normally used to and giving us exams at 8 in the morning on a Sunday and 4 hour long lectures. But yeah it has been a fun place, the academic side communicating with the social side to assist us with our easing in. The Student Union and IA organising trips and running Aka on a Wednesday night with volunteer work. So credit where credit is due.
Cheers guys
Xxx
Friday, 7 January 2011
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
Tis the season to say farewell!
Well with the current issues with transport from and to the UK, my flight has been delayed by an hour and a half, so I shall use this time to write another blog entry and fill you guys in.
Well the last few weeks have been quite sad as the time has been drawing to a close. People have been slowly disappearing one by one. The rush round to say goodbye to all my new friends has been quite something and sadly I have not been totally successful. Sp for all those I couldn’t say goodbye to, forgive me. I wish all my new friends every bit of luck in the world. It has been an amazing adventure this past semester. Making friends from all over the world is great but sadly I won’t see you as much as I’m used to anymore. I feel like a family is being broken up. I hope to one day visit you all in your home countries and I hope to come visit you in yours. I already have plans to go to the Netherlands to meet up with my Austrian friend Max for Queens Day, (A royal holiday, cheeky!) Also I have an invite to go to a beer fest in Germany in Fabians home town. My leaving book is filled with offers of a place to stay should I come out. It has been valuable experience but luckily for me I get to do it all again in January.
January is a bit daunting with most of my Fadders going on their exchanges around the world I wont have as many people around however I am leaving suburban life behind and moving to a flat in the city. Plenty of new people to be met and of course I still have Jake, Anna and Thomas plus the locals around.
I’m currently waiting on one exam result in particular. Swedish 1. I need to pass this to continue my Swedish studies next semester. The grammar is quite tough but I have a feeling it has gone better than the first time round just need to get 60% to pass! 60%!
I am looking forward to going home, sad it may be to leave this time behind, but I gather my family are missing me and I them. Plus it is the Xmas break and I love spending it with family.
Well that’s all I shall write for now as I’m hoping the plane taking me to Gatwick will be here in a few minutes, (Delayed take off from Gatwick!) I then have a flight from Gatwick to LeedsBradford, last minute booking as the snow has caused rail problems.
I shall give a full update and summary of this semester in my next blog once I get home.
God Jul & Gott Nytt År
(Especially my Nordic friends who celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve)
Well the last few weeks have been quite sad as the time has been drawing to a close. People have been slowly disappearing one by one. The rush round to say goodbye to all my new friends has been quite something and sadly I have not been totally successful. Sp for all those I couldn’t say goodbye to, forgive me. I wish all my new friends every bit of luck in the world. It has been an amazing adventure this past semester. Making friends from all over the world is great but sadly I won’t see you as much as I’m used to anymore. I feel like a family is being broken up. I hope to one day visit you all in your home countries and I hope to come visit you in yours. I already have plans to go to the Netherlands to meet up with my Austrian friend Max for Queens Day, (A royal holiday, cheeky!) Also I have an invite to go to a beer fest in Germany in Fabians home town. My leaving book is filled with offers of a place to stay should I come out. It has been valuable experience but luckily for me I get to do it all again in January.
January is a bit daunting with most of my Fadders going on their exchanges around the world I wont have as many people around however I am leaving suburban life behind and moving to a flat in the city. Plenty of new people to be met and of course I still have Jake, Anna and Thomas plus the locals around.
I’m currently waiting on one exam result in particular. Swedish 1. I need to pass this to continue my Swedish studies next semester. The grammar is quite tough but I have a feeling it has gone better than the first time round just need to get 60% to pass! 60%!
I am looking forward to going home, sad it may be to leave this time behind, but I gather my family are missing me and I them. Plus it is the Xmas break and I love spending it with family.
Well that’s all I shall write for now as I’m hoping the plane taking me to Gatwick will be here in a few minutes, (Delayed take off from Gatwick!) I then have a flight from Gatwick to LeedsBradford, last minute booking as the snow has caused rail problems.
I shall give a full update and summary of this semester in my next blog once I get home.
God Jul & Gott Nytt År
(Especially my Nordic friends who celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve)
Monday, 29 November 2010
Update, Reunion, Culture, Elections & an annoying street entertainer
Well it’s been a while and sadly no more travels to report on. The money is running out for this semester so I shall spend the rest of the time in Jönköping. Sucks I know but I look forward to the budget airline January sales. I still want to get to Iceland at some point but the prices are quite high atm.
Start off with the bad news. I didn’t make it back in time for the trip to Kiruna in North Sweden, which is where the Ice hotel is and is spot for the Northern Lights, however I have been told it is better to go in January/Feb time as that is when the Northern Lights are more commonly seen (plus the ice hotel hasn’t been constructed yet!) I’m not paying £500 for that lol. Anyway people have been organising their own trips up there, flying instead of the 24hr train ride up north! So I shall hear back from them when they return and take on advice from them.
Yes Christmas season is finally upon us here in Sweden. I loved the fact they didn’t do the British thing of stocking Christmas stock until after Halloween. The city streets have their lights up and the City’s Christmas tree has also been put up. The university also has one on campus.
As I write this we are on day 7 of snowfall, not continuous though but it snows at least once a day, if not all day. I absolutely love the weather atm. I’m glad I managed to find some snow boots in my size otherwise my trainers would be ruined. We constantly have snow plows out and about clearing the roads and sometimes pavements, this does lead to some places being covered with more snow than others. I have had snow to the top of my boots! Yes the temperature has been falling. 2 weeks ago the temperature didn’t rise above 5C and got as low as -3C Now however it is constantly in the negative numbers I’ve seen a high of -1C to a low of -11C. Now when the wind isn’t blowing this is fine however the wind chill burns the face.
Cultural Days:
Now I haven’t mentioned these before so I shall fill you in. Every Wednesday a group of international students make some food, posters, facts and powerpoint presentations representing their home Nation. We’ve had Iran day, Russia Day, Canada day and this week it was the turn of the Australians. (I know ironic Australia and culture! Joke) So I went along found out I still don’t like Vegimite, question a few of their Aussie slang words (because I’m pretty sure some they had in the list are British) but never mind. Then of course was the most un Australian thing, Aussie football in the snow!
Space Jam Reunion:
This was a really good night I co-organised. If you remember we were split into groups in kick off week and our groups theme was space jam. So the majority of the group was reunited for a big night out with drinking games and banter. It was really good to see everyone again especially the Swedes, as we only see them briefly in between lectures. It is probably the last time we will all be together as exchanges are coming to an end and the senior Swedish students are about to start their exchanges.
JIBS Student Association (JSA) Elections:
It was the time of the year to vote for a new board of JSA. As stated in a previous blog I got a seat on the election committee (EC). So this last week I have been busy with this. The ECs role was to go through the applications from the candidates, interview them and then make the recommendations at the conference. Some recommendation decisions were straight forward, others not so straight forward. We only refused to nominate on one position due to the belief that the only candidate standing was not suited to the role. Luckily however a challenger put themselves forward at the meeting, and so the position was filled. No one had applied for Vice President of the board and I had considered it however on advice I did not stand due to the role needing a knowledge/ability of reading Swedish law. That position was also filled at the meeting, by a chap who was born in Plymouth but his family relocated to Sweden when he was 6. The EC had a 75% success rate in getting our nominated candidates elected. A lot higher than previous years I am told (particularly last year where no candidates nominated by the EC were approved)
This coming week:
Well the main event of this week is the goodbye dinner. This will be a gathering of exchange students for a meal before heading on to Aka. I imagine it will be quite a moving night as we come to terms with the fact that we only have weeks rather than months left together. I know of a few exchange students who are staying on for the 2nd semester, Jake in particular who I have gotten to know really well and then of course the Programme students who have to stay here, so I won’t be totally alone, however it is annoying that we have to go through the whole process again of meeting people. It will feel like the family is being broken up.
Swedish re-sit:
Well as this is the only exam that poses any value this year I am determined to pass it. I have been working on the grammar, trying to read the newspapers and of course this gives me an excuse to listen to the Swedish music of Carola.
Broken phone:
I am absolutely furious at that street entertainer. Let me fill you in. Walking through Stockholm we passed a statue street entertainer, and as I was walking past him I was texting someone back, he then chooses this point to move and he makes me jump, my phone goes flying out of my hand and lands in a puddle! It worked for 2 mins and then died. I sent it off to be fixed and there is nothing they can do but they were going to charge me £47 to have the broken phone returned. So I just decided to get another cheap phone, luckily I found one for £20 as the phone i had originaly had gone up to £70. Not a happy bunny bout that.
Well I do believe you are now up to date, I shall write next after goodbye dinner I imagine
Cheerio
Start off with the bad news. I didn’t make it back in time for the trip to Kiruna in North Sweden, which is where the Ice hotel is and is spot for the Northern Lights, however I have been told it is better to go in January/Feb time as that is when the Northern Lights are more commonly seen (plus the ice hotel hasn’t been constructed yet!) I’m not paying £500 for that lol. Anyway people have been organising their own trips up there, flying instead of the 24hr train ride up north! So I shall hear back from them when they return and take on advice from them.
Yes Christmas season is finally upon us here in Sweden. I loved the fact they didn’t do the British thing of stocking Christmas stock until after Halloween. The city streets have their lights up and the City’s Christmas tree has also been put up. The university also has one on campus.
As I write this we are on day 7 of snowfall, not continuous though but it snows at least once a day, if not all day. I absolutely love the weather atm. I’m glad I managed to find some snow boots in my size otherwise my trainers would be ruined. We constantly have snow plows out and about clearing the roads and sometimes pavements, this does lead to some places being covered with more snow than others. I have had snow to the top of my boots! Yes the temperature has been falling. 2 weeks ago the temperature didn’t rise above 5C and got as low as -3C Now however it is constantly in the negative numbers I’ve seen a high of -1C to a low of -11C. Now when the wind isn’t blowing this is fine however the wind chill burns the face.
Cultural Days:
Now I haven’t mentioned these before so I shall fill you in. Every Wednesday a group of international students make some food, posters, facts and powerpoint presentations representing their home Nation. We’ve had Iran day, Russia Day, Canada day and this week it was the turn of the Australians. (I know ironic Australia and culture! Joke) So I went along found out I still don’t like Vegimite, question a few of their Aussie slang words (because I’m pretty sure some they had in the list are British) but never mind. Then of course was the most un Australian thing, Aussie football in the snow!
Space Jam Reunion:
This was a really good night I co-organised. If you remember we were split into groups in kick off week and our groups theme was space jam. So the majority of the group was reunited for a big night out with drinking games and banter. It was really good to see everyone again especially the Swedes, as we only see them briefly in between lectures. It is probably the last time we will all be together as exchanges are coming to an end and the senior Swedish students are about to start their exchanges.
JIBS Student Association (JSA) Elections:
It was the time of the year to vote for a new board of JSA. As stated in a previous blog I got a seat on the election committee (EC). So this last week I have been busy with this. The ECs role was to go through the applications from the candidates, interview them and then make the recommendations at the conference. Some recommendation decisions were straight forward, others not so straight forward. We only refused to nominate on one position due to the belief that the only candidate standing was not suited to the role. Luckily however a challenger put themselves forward at the meeting, and so the position was filled. No one had applied for Vice President of the board and I had considered it however on advice I did not stand due to the role needing a knowledge/ability of reading Swedish law. That position was also filled at the meeting, by a chap who was born in Plymouth but his family relocated to Sweden when he was 6. The EC had a 75% success rate in getting our nominated candidates elected. A lot higher than previous years I am told (particularly last year where no candidates nominated by the EC were approved)
This coming week:
Well the main event of this week is the goodbye dinner. This will be a gathering of exchange students for a meal before heading on to Aka. I imagine it will be quite a moving night as we come to terms with the fact that we only have weeks rather than months left together. I know of a few exchange students who are staying on for the 2nd semester, Jake in particular who I have gotten to know really well and then of course the Programme students who have to stay here, so I won’t be totally alone, however it is annoying that we have to go through the whole process again of meeting people. It will feel like the family is being broken up.
Swedish re-sit:
Well as this is the only exam that poses any value this year I am determined to pass it. I have been working on the grammar, trying to read the newspapers and of course this gives me an excuse to listen to the Swedish music of Carola.
Broken phone:
I am absolutely furious at that street entertainer. Let me fill you in. Walking through Stockholm we passed a statue street entertainer, and as I was walking past him I was texting someone back, he then chooses this point to move and he makes me jump, my phone goes flying out of my hand and lands in a puddle! It worked for 2 mins and then died. I sent it off to be fixed and there is nothing they can do but they were going to charge me £47 to have the broken phone returned. So I just decided to get another cheap phone, luckily I found one for £20 as the phone i had originaly had gone up to £70. Not a happy bunny bout that.
Well I do believe you are now up to date, I shall write next after goodbye dinner I imagine
Cheerio
Friday, 12 November 2010
First Snowfall
It has finally happened. The first proper snowfall, incredibly exciting to open my blinds and see the big blanket of snow. Proper snow not the powdery stuff we get in the UK. I had to put my winter boots & snow jacket on. I was however saddened when as I went into Uni in the centre there was no snow, too warm in the centre. After uni we had a snowball fight between the students here in Huskvarna. Sadly only two members of the alliance here with the majority of students being from Austria-Germany. Friendly fire from my roommate.
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3 Capitals 6 Days
Stockholm
Only spent one night here however taking the 6.20am bus to Stockholm meant we had the best part of the day to go round the city. With the rest of our party joining us at around 7 that evening the rest of us went sightseeing. I have of course spent one night in Stockholm before however it was nice to see it again. This time I went to City Hall which gave us a wonderful view back on Old Town with the sunset making it picture perfect. We’d checked into the Hostel which was just around the corner from the Bus station, handy for an early morning start! The room was rather nice, 4 bunk beds 2 on either side of the room. Once the others had arrived we went to an all you can eat Thai buffet, (typical Swedish food I know) Once we’d stocked up on food we decided to go to the famous Ice Bar. This is owned by the same company that owns the Ice Hotel in the North of Sweden. For around £15 you get your entry and your first drink included, (all other drinks after cost around £9!) Your first enter a room where you put on your coat as the Ice Bar is about -5C. The sessions are limited to half an hour (and the staff rotates every 2 hours) Walking through the door into the bar, it felt like being back in the freezers at Sainsburys, just with better use of Ice! The room had a few ice sculptures standing around the room; a Jelly fish carved into a block of ice took the centre alongside a carving of an old diving suit. An octopus was carved into a table next to a seating area. The bar also made completely out of ice took up one side of the room. We had a choice of cocktails to choose from. The glasses were pretty cool (pardon the pun) being made out of ice also. You had to have your gloves on to hold it. I then took on the challenge of eating the glass after finishing my drink. I always eat the Ice when it comes in my other drinks why not this one. They only get melted down and re-sculptured. It is defiantly something worth doing, and it gives you an insight into the Ice Hotel up north which I hope to visit.
Prague
Getting up fairly early In the morning to make our way to the airport that Ryanair use. It’s apparently a Stockholm airport but is an 82 minute coach ride away in a town called Nyköping! Gotta love Ryanair. The airport is shared with the Swedish Coastguard. Anyway, first flight with this low cost airline, so let’s keep an open mind. It is only costing £10 anyway. One thing that was questionable; whilst stating the flight was non smoking they did offer an alternative, smokeless cigarettes, cigarettes you could smoke in places you weren’t allowed to smoke, clever I admit however the line “& if you don’t smoke maybe you can start with smokeless” was a bit of a legal concern! The landing on this Ryanair flight was interesting to say the least. I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to slow the plain down before you land and not just slam on the breaks when you touch the ground!
The architecture in Prague is quite unique it feels just like a stereotypical Eastern European city. There is a big emphasis on their communist past. You will find communist poster dotted around, especially ones advertising the communism museum (sadly we didn’t have time to visit it) No mention of the German occupation. The hostel was just around the corner from an old bell tower which towered up over the street. Opposite a 200 store shopping centre it was clash of old and new. The old town Square is a beautiful place to stand. The Cathedral towers over the square with the clock tower opposite. Every hour on the hour a crowd gathers at the clock tower to watch it chime. It’s quite like a giant Swiss clock with little figures signing the hour, followed by a guard in the clock tower who then plays a tune from his trumpet at all four sides of the viewing platform of the tower. You can get horse and cart rides from the old town centre which just adds to the character of the old square in the background. Prague is called the most atheist city yet it has plenty of churches. It is true in Prague beer is cheaper than water! Around £1 a pint with a bottle of water costing £2. One thing to note is the great customer service you receive in Prague! They say a smile costs nothing yet apparently that’s too expensive for some people in Prague! I should point out, English is spoken here especially in the tourist zones, with regards to eating out you can ask for a menu in English to save you working out what on earth it is you are ordering. For our first meal in Prague we went to a traditional Czech restaurant. I ordered a Goulash with a side order of dumplings (all you can eat!) Popular Czech dishes will include beef, pork & chicken. Another favourite is fried cheese.
The tourist attractions are within walking distance. The fees associated with the attractions are around £1 each, so great value. One thing I recommend as a must visit is the Castle grounds. Up at the top of a hill with an amazing view over the city is the Royal Palace. The castle itself surrounds the centre piece of the site which is a huge cathedral towering over the palace and the city. This is a wonderful piece of architecture. The front has similarities with Notre Dame.
The food stands around the tourist areas are of good quality selling things such as belly pork which was heavenly (but can be pricey). If you make it 30 Czech Crown to the pound you have a good margin of era, it’s on average about 27.4 to the pound but 30 is easier to work out. It is cheap in Prague however if you go to the shopping centre with well known stores such as Topshop, M&S etc (The Aussies wanted to go!) you will find the exchange rates a bit odd as the big stores will put their prices on the tags in many currencies. In M&S in particular the price in Swedish Krona is almost double the value when converted to Euros. So be careful.
The Old Charles Bridge is well worth a walk over, pedestrians only so you can take your time and stop at the stands selling jewellery, paintings or even get a portrait/characture done, there are plenty of them! There are plenty of tourist shops around with the majority of them selling Czech glass, ranging from affordable to expensive (as you’d expect) finding a Czech flag was quite hard but got it and it now hangs in my room along with the others I have gained.
For a night out I would recommend one of the bar crawls (plenty of them). For around £10 you can have an all you can drink pre party followed by a few bars. The pre party was in the basement of a converted church. (Interesting, see how many sins you can commit in a church!) The unlimited drinks were limited to Beer, nasty wine and watered down shots. So good thing it was all you can drink because the drinks in the bars afterwards were around £3. O not to self never have cider in Prague unless it is the Swedish one. It was really bitter, just like the wine.
Note the Czech Rep doesn’t have a smoking ban, when you are used to this in Britain and other European countries it can take a bit of getting used to again, in restaurants it can be coped with however smoking in clubs at night caused me a few breathing problems, I have no idea how the asthmatics among our party coped! Be prepared for your clothes to sting of cigarettes when you get home, so pack extra clothes is my advice.
Berlin
Our time is up in Prague and we now move on to Berlin, a city we were all excited to go & see due to its history. Having only been to Germany once for 24 hours in the north of the country I wasn’t sure what to expect. We got the train from Prague Central and were on our way. It was around a 4 hour trip. You could tell when you entered Germany because the accents on the signs suddenly changed, and then you had a changeover of train guards from Czech to German. We arrived in Berlin to a wave of confusion about how we should get to the hostel. We decided that instead of faffing about with the underground we would just get a taxi. Just under 10 Euro a bargain compared to Sweden. Although the Euro £ exchange rate wasn’t in our favour as it was about 87p to the Euro, compared to the days when it was about 70p it turns out we had two different addresses for the hostel due to a mix up with the name. Our Hostel was just around the corner from the TV tower which I fell in love with, (the tallest building in the EU, surly upsetting the French!) and also just about a 5 min walk from the Main cathedral in Berlin (Berliner Dom)
Our first night was a fairly quiet one, One of our party went off to watch a play in German by a play write who she had studied before whilst we all went off to find something to eat. We ended up in an Asian restaurant! The Aussies & Canadian were excited by the fact you can drink in the streets here. A novelty that didn’t fade over time. This was clearly man time with conversation over dinner and beyond of a masculine nature! Berlin I have to say is quite, well strange is a way of saying it, maybe different is probably more applicable. Prostitutes walk around touting for business, and there are a lot of them. Bless though Christian I have to say came up with a quote that will stick with me for a while, “Was that a Prostitute? I’ve never seen one before” O dear! After moving on from them we ended up walking down an ally (As you do in an unknown city at night!) to find open fires and drinking in a square behind some buildings, quite tense I have to say, but the others seemed to be enjoying themselves. Something I would not do normally, chat to prostitutes and go down an ally!!!! Anyway Jo saved my life and texted to say her play had finished, so I was a happy boy.
The next day we returned to more normal things of sightseeing. We started off at the Berliner Dom which is quite a grand church; the restoration of it was only finished in 1993 after it was destroyed during the final days of the War. They did a good job it looks as if it was undamaged and had stood tall throughout history, about £2.50 to enter, but worth it. Especially for the views you can get from the roof. It is very grand inside, we’d stumbled on the beginning of a service, which of course we didn’t stay for! We went on the hike to the top to get the views. After that we ended up in the well I’m sure it’s not called this but basement. Where German royalty is buried alongside one unknown. The coffins had their crowns placed on top of them.
We continued our walk towards the Brandenburg Gate. Now a game we have played throughout our trip was to spot the embassies. Russia has the grandest one in Berlin I have to say however the embassies are on the ‘Eastern side’ of Berlin. The Brandenburg gate is quite something, creating quite a buzz. You have for the tourists people dressed up in the old military uniforms of the soviets and the East Berliner and on the other side the American and West Berliner, and where the hell would you be without Star War’s very own Darth Vader at a historical sight such as this!
We then moved onto the Reichstag, fun quote from the guide book “Why is the Reichstag called the Reichstag? It is not! It is called the Bundestag” Fancy being told off by a leaflet! Also the leaflet states “The Bundestag is not built on a foundation of sand” They really struggled for things to write about this place! No mention of it being burnt down. In fact you will find a lack of history between 1933-45 here. They focus strongly on the oppression under the Berlin wall! It is a long wait at the Parliament building and you only get to go to the dome on the top to get an audio guided tour of the view of Berlin. No Signe of Chancellor Merkel sadly.
That night we went out on a bar crawl, £11 again with one free drink and free shots at the bars. Pretty good night has to be said. Anyway next day woke up at 12, all tired from the night before with still a fair few things to see.
We made our way towards Checkpoint Charlie, on our way we walked past a motorcade parked up at the University, one car had the coat of arms for Germany on a flag attached to the front. I asked a Police officer who was there. He said that the President of Germany was inside the building. So we waited around for 5 minutes and sure enough the President of Germany came out. Being a more figure head position I had no idea which of the men walking out of the building was the President. All I knew was that Merkel had trouble getting him elected. I soon worked out who was the President, and he said Gudentag to me, so I replied. We reached Checkpoint Charlie which being American was next to a McDonalds! We visited the Berlin Wall Museum which though interesting was filled with information, it will take the best part of the day to read it all. It is filled with stories of escape from East Berlin to the West. What is also interesting is they had files with the names of people who were killed or died trying to escape from the East. There were at least 8 files filled with names. We then went on in search of the remains of the Berlin Wall that was still standing. It stands next to the grounds where the Gestapo building stood, which is now an open air museum. Tired as we were we made our way to the Jewish museum. Set up as a reminder of the Holocaust. The garden set as a memorial was quite interesting. It was pillars set in a slanted ground. The Holocaust tower was a room that high ceiling with one slit in it for daylight, however when we went it was dark so no light entered the room, it was quite moving. The section on the Holocaust was very interesting. It had memos from the Gestapo & SS with regards to the ‘Jewish solution’ as the Nazis called it. It showed footage from The Hague with relation to the War trials. Letters from the camps. I have to say the rest of the Museum wasn’t interesting at all, in my opinion.
Only spent one night here however taking the 6.20am bus to Stockholm meant we had the best part of the day to go round the city. With the rest of our party joining us at around 7 that evening the rest of us went sightseeing. I have of course spent one night in Stockholm before however it was nice to see it again. This time I went to City Hall which gave us a wonderful view back on Old Town with the sunset making it picture perfect. We’d checked into the Hostel which was just around the corner from the Bus station, handy for an early morning start! The room was rather nice, 4 bunk beds 2 on either side of the room. Once the others had arrived we went to an all you can eat Thai buffet, (typical Swedish food I know) Once we’d stocked up on food we decided to go to the famous Ice Bar. This is owned by the same company that owns the Ice Hotel in the North of Sweden. For around £15 you get your entry and your first drink included, (all other drinks after cost around £9!) Your first enter a room where you put on your coat as the Ice Bar is about -5C. The sessions are limited to half an hour (and the staff rotates every 2 hours) Walking through the door into the bar, it felt like being back in the freezers at Sainsburys, just with better use of Ice! The room had a few ice sculptures standing around the room; a Jelly fish carved into a block of ice took the centre alongside a carving of an old diving suit. An octopus was carved into a table next to a seating area. The bar also made completely out of ice took up one side of the room. We had a choice of cocktails to choose from. The glasses were pretty cool (pardon the pun) being made out of ice also. You had to have your gloves on to hold it. I then took on the challenge of eating the glass after finishing my drink. I always eat the Ice when it comes in my other drinks why not this one. They only get melted down and re-sculptured. It is defiantly something worth doing, and it gives you an insight into the Ice Hotel up north which I hope to visit.
Prague
Getting up fairly early In the morning to make our way to the airport that Ryanair use. It’s apparently a Stockholm airport but is an 82 minute coach ride away in a town called Nyköping! Gotta love Ryanair. The airport is shared with the Swedish Coastguard. Anyway, first flight with this low cost airline, so let’s keep an open mind. It is only costing £10 anyway. One thing that was questionable; whilst stating the flight was non smoking they did offer an alternative, smokeless cigarettes, cigarettes you could smoke in places you weren’t allowed to smoke, clever I admit however the line “& if you don’t smoke maybe you can start with smokeless” was a bit of a legal concern! The landing on this Ryanair flight was interesting to say the least. I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to slow the plain down before you land and not just slam on the breaks when you touch the ground!
The architecture in Prague is quite unique it feels just like a stereotypical Eastern European city. There is a big emphasis on their communist past. You will find communist poster dotted around, especially ones advertising the communism museum (sadly we didn’t have time to visit it) No mention of the German occupation. The hostel was just around the corner from an old bell tower which towered up over the street. Opposite a 200 store shopping centre it was clash of old and new. The old town Square is a beautiful place to stand. The Cathedral towers over the square with the clock tower opposite. Every hour on the hour a crowd gathers at the clock tower to watch it chime. It’s quite like a giant Swiss clock with little figures signing the hour, followed by a guard in the clock tower who then plays a tune from his trumpet at all four sides of the viewing platform of the tower. You can get horse and cart rides from the old town centre which just adds to the character of the old square in the background. Prague is called the most atheist city yet it has plenty of churches. It is true in Prague beer is cheaper than water! Around £1 a pint with a bottle of water costing £2. One thing to note is the great customer service you receive in Prague! They say a smile costs nothing yet apparently that’s too expensive for some people in Prague! I should point out, English is spoken here especially in the tourist zones, with regards to eating out you can ask for a menu in English to save you working out what on earth it is you are ordering. For our first meal in Prague we went to a traditional Czech restaurant. I ordered a Goulash with a side order of dumplings (all you can eat!) Popular Czech dishes will include beef, pork & chicken. Another favourite is fried cheese.
The tourist attractions are within walking distance. The fees associated with the attractions are around £1 each, so great value. One thing I recommend as a must visit is the Castle grounds. Up at the top of a hill with an amazing view over the city is the Royal Palace. The castle itself surrounds the centre piece of the site which is a huge cathedral towering over the palace and the city. This is a wonderful piece of architecture. The front has similarities with Notre Dame.
The food stands around the tourist areas are of good quality selling things such as belly pork which was heavenly (but can be pricey). If you make it 30 Czech Crown to the pound you have a good margin of era, it’s on average about 27.4 to the pound but 30 is easier to work out. It is cheap in Prague however if you go to the shopping centre with well known stores such as Topshop, M&S etc (The Aussies wanted to go!) you will find the exchange rates a bit odd as the big stores will put their prices on the tags in many currencies. In M&S in particular the price in Swedish Krona is almost double the value when converted to Euros. So be careful.
The Old Charles Bridge is well worth a walk over, pedestrians only so you can take your time and stop at the stands selling jewellery, paintings or even get a portrait/characture done, there are plenty of them! There are plenty of tourist shops around with the majority of them selling Czech glass, ranging from affordable to expensive (as you’d expect) finding a Czech flag was quite hard but got it and it now hangs in my room along with the others I have gained.
For a night out I would recommend one of the bar crawls (plenty of them). For around £10 you can have an all you can drink pre party followed by a few bars. The pre party was in the basement of a converted church. (Interesting, see how many sins you can commit in a church!) The unlimited drinks were limited to Beer, nasty wine and watered down shots. So good thing it was all you can drink because the drinks in the bars afterwards were around £3. O not to self never have cider in Prague unless it is the Swedish one. It was really bitter, just like the wine.
Note the Czech Rep doesn’t have a smoking ban, when you are used to this in Britain and other European countries it can take a bit of getting used to again, in restaurants it can be coped with however smoking in clubs at night caused me a few breathing problems, I have no idea how the asthmatics among our party coped! Be prepared for your clothes to sting of cigarettes when you get home, so pack extra clothes is my advice.
Berlin
Our time is up in Prague and we now move on to Berlin, a city we were all excited to go & see due to its history. Having only been to Germany once for 24 hours in the north of the country I wasn’t sure what to expect. We got the train from Prague Central and were on our way. It was around a 4 hour trip. You could tell when you entered Germany because the accents on the signs suddenly changed, and then you had a changeover of train guards from Czech to German. We arrived in Berlin to a wave of confusion about how we should get to the hostel. We decided that instead of faffing about with the underground we would just get a taxi. Just under 10 Euro a bargain compared to Sweden. Although the Euro £ exchange rate wasn’t in our favour as it was about 87p to the Euro, compared to the days when it was about 70p it turns out we had two different addresses for the hostel due to a mix up with the name. Our Hostel was just around the corner from the TV tower which I fell in love with, (the tallest building in the EU, surly upsetting the French!) and also just about a 5 min walk from the Main cathedral in Berlin (Berliner Dom)
Our first night was a fairly quiet one, One of our party went off to watch a play in German by a play write who she had studied before whilst we all went off to find something to eat. We ended up in an Asian restaurant! The Aussies & Canadian were excited by the fact you can drink in the streets here. A novelty that didn’t fade over time. This was clearly man time with conversation over dinner and beyond of a masculine nature! Berlin I have to say is quite, well strange is a way of saying it, maybe different is probably more applicable. Prostitutes walk around touting for business, and there are a lot of them. Bless though Christian I have to say came up with a quote that will stick with me for a while, “Was that a Prostitute? I’ve never seen one before” O dear! After moving on from them we ended up walking down an ally (As you do in an unknown city at night!) to find open fires and drinking in a square behind some buildings, quite tense I have to say, but the others seemed to be enjoying themselves. Something I would not do normally, chat to prostitutes and go down an ally!!!! Anyway Jo saved my life and texted to say her play had finished, so I was a happy boy.
The next day we returned to more normal things of sightseeing. We started off at the Berliner Dom which is quite a grand church; the restoration of it was only finished in 1993 after it was destroyed during the final days of the War. They did a good job it looks as if it was undamaged and had stood tall throughout history, about £2.50 to enter, but worth it. Especially for the views you can get from the roof. It is very grand inside, we’d stumbled on the beginning of a service, which of course we didn’t stay for! We went on the hike to the top to get the views. After that we ended up in the well I’m sure it’s not called this but basement. Where German royalty is buried alongside one unknown. The coffins had their crowns placed on top of them.
We continued our walk towards the Brandenburg Gate. Now a game we have played throughout our trip was to spot the embassies. Russia has the grandest one in Berlin I have to say however the embassies are on the ‘Eastern side’ of Berlin. The Brandenburg gate is quite something, creating quite a buzz. You have for the tourists people dressed up in the old military uniforms of the soviets and the East Berliner and on the other side the American and West Berliner, and where the hell would you be without Star War’s very own Darth Vader at a historical sight such as this!
We then moved onto the Reichstag, fun quote from the guide book “Why is the Reichstag called the Reichstag? It is not! It is called the Bundestag” Fancy being told off by a leaflet! Also the leaflet states “The Bundestag is not built on a foundation of sand” They really struggled for things to write about this place! No mention of it being burnt down. In fact you will find a lack of history between 1933-45 here. They focus strongly on the oppression under the Berlin wall! It is a long wait at the Parliament building and you only get to go to the dome on the top to get an audio guided tour of the view of Berlin. No Signe of Chancellor Merkel sadly.
That night we went out on a bar crawl, £11 again with one free drink and free shots at the bars. Pretty good night has to be said. Anyway next day woke up at 12, all tired from the night before with still a fair few things to see.
We made our way towards Checkpoint Charlie, on our way we walked past a motorcade parked up at the University, one car had the coat of arms for Germany on a flag attached to the front. I asked a Police officer who was there. He said that the President of Germany was inside the building. So we waited around for 5 minutes and sure enough the President of Germany came out. Being a more figure head position I had no idea which of the men walking out of the building was the President. All I knew was that Merkel had trouble getting him elected. I soon worked out who was the President, and he said Gudentag to me, so I replied. We reached Checkpoint Charlie which being American was next to a McDonalds! We visited the Berlin Wall Museum which though interesting was filled with information, it will take the best part of the day to read it all. It is filled with stories of escape from East Berlin to the West. What is also interesting is they had files with the names of people who were killed or died trying to escape from the East. There were at least 8 files filled with names. We then went on in search of the remains of the Berlin Wall that was still standing. It stands next to the grounds where the Gestapo building stood, which is now an open air museum. Tired as we were we made our way to the Jewish museum. Set up as a reminder of the Holocaust. The garden set as a memorial was quite interesting. It was pillars set in a slanted ground. The Holocaust tower was a room that high ceiling with one slit in it for daylight, however when we went it was dark so no light entered the room, it was quite moving. The section on the Holocaust was very interesting. It had memos from the Gestapo & SS with regards to the ‘Jewish solution’ as the Nazis called it. It showed footage from The Hague with relation to the War trials. Letters from the camps. I have to say the rest of the Museum wasn’t interesting at all, in my opinion.
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Winter Chills & Exams (Month 2)
Well I have now been here in Sweden for 2 months. I have to say in comparison to the last month it’s not been as hectic and active. The weather is changing quickly now. We are in what the Swedes have called ‘British Winter’ It feels like a December morning. The frost is coming and with that Ice is also appearing. (Being surrounded by hills makes walking around the risky part to my day!) It has snowed a little now, not as much here in Huskvarna, I keep getting texts from friends in Råslätt (The other side of jönköping) saying they have snow. It just rains over this side.
The A1 quarter is over and I´ve just had the exams. What a contrast in exam procedures. In the UK once you enter the room you aren’t allowed to talk, you have to sit quietly and wait to be told the exam has started. In Sweden you can chat away and once you receive the exam paper away you go. Also they offer you way too much time for the exam. Apparently they don’t want students to be pressured for time in their exam. You will be given 5 hours for an exam that realistically 2-3 hours suffices. Also in the UK if you need to use the toilet during an exam, an invigilator has to follow you to ensure you don’t cheat, here in Sweden all you do is sign when you go to the loo and that’s it the amount of people that go in looking worried and stressed and come out looking happy is amazing. Such a contrast.
For a post exam break myself and a few friends are heading to Prague then Berlin, having never been to either of these cities it’s quite an exciting prospect. We leave in a few days spend 1 night in Stockholm 2 nights in Prague then 3 nights in Berlin. Not much else to report sadly, due to the exams. Much more to write about once I get back my travels.
The A1 quarter is over and I´ve just had the exams. What a contrast in exam procedures. In the UK once you enter the room you aren’t allowed to talk, you have to sit quietly and wait to be told the exam has started. In Sweden you can chat away and once you receive the exam paper away you go. Also they offer you way too much time for the exam. Apparently they don’t want students to be pressured for time in their exam. You will be given 5 hours for an exam that realistically 2-3 hours suffices. Also in the UK if you need to use the toilet during an exam, an invigilator has to follow you to ensure you don’t cheat, here in Sweden all you do is sign when you go to the loo and that’s it the amount of people that go in looking worried and stressed and come out looking happy is amazing. Such a contrast.
For a post exam break myself and a few friends are heading to Prague then Berlin, having never been to either of these cities it’s quite an exciting prospect. We leave in a few days spend 1 night in Stockholm 2 nights in Prague then 3 nights in Berlin. Not much else to report sadly, due to the exams. Much more to write about once I get back my travels.
Monday, 11 October 2010
Autumn Leaves
As a stereotypical Brit I shall start by talking about the weather. It is getting colder, the Aussies are complaining and so are some of the Europeans, the Swedes are starting to wear coats and gloves, however I am still walking round with just my hoodie for warmth. I must have really good circulation. The temperature ranges from about 10C during the day to 3C at night, the other night it was supposed to have reached 0C. To me it just feels like the end of November for me, the cars start to mist up at night and in the early morning. The trees are either losing their leaves or they’re changing colour, living out here in Huskvarna surrounded by forests is actually quite beautiful and with the lake in the distance it makes for a wonderful view. I don’t think I could ever get sick of that view on my way to the bus/train stop especially on a day like today where it was clear blue sky, ice blue lake and the golden tree covered hills with the houses dotted about. If it weren’t so autumnal it would look like a Greek Island or something to that effect.
Any who as I haven’t written in a while I have a lot to fill you in on. I say a lot probably isn’t actually that much. Let’s think back:
Tallin Cruise
Well I woke up at probably half past 5 to get the train in to go and queue for tickets on this Scandinavian University’s cruise to Estonia. It was the first time I had used my Skiing coat and winter boots. Standing for over three hours in what can only be described as a free for all huddle rather than a queue (Moaning again!) by the time our part of the queue had actually managed to get into the warmth of Student House we were informed the tickets had all gone, I have to say that due to the lack of order in the queue some people who were behind us ended up getting tickets by pushing their way through, we weren’t happy. So that little trip is out of the window, lucky for me they repeat it again next semester!
Diploma in Trading
I took a two day crash course in Financial Trading, from GCMS in association with Copenhagen Business School. It was a 9-4 course for the two days covering the important parts of financial trading such as foreign exchanges and EFDs on shares etc. This was quite good as I do get a qualification out of it. During the second day we were set to work on the simulation, with a budget of 1,000,000 I made 70,000 in one day! Pretty good, When it came to the group trading this is where it went wrong. My team mates seemed to forget that the value can go up as well as down, due to some bad moves made by team mates were were down on luck, however I stepped in and made a few risky trades which managed to reduce our losses by a significant amount. We then came 2nd out of 5 groups and only lost by $30, had the group listened to me and kept our other trades for longer we would have won by $160. So there is a future in trading for me!
JSA Election Committee
Well this email looks interesting ‘Click’ “Apply now to become a member of the JSA Election Committee. You will be responsible for interviewing potential candidates to face the vote.” Now before I go further I shall explain what JSA is. Jönköping University has the main Student Union then each individual school has its own union. JSA stands for JIBS Student Association and is for the Business school. Anyway I submitted my application and have been successful in gaining a seat on the committee so looks like I will be involved in Swedish Student Politics.
Sport
Nope that isn’t a typo. I have finally joined the Student Sport Association (Its quite big here in Sweden to belong to an association) anyway I have played some badminton though there weren’t many people there. However I do intend to go back. Anyway the big news is I have finally managed to track down the Rowing squad and shall be returning to the water almost one year after my knee injury which ruled me out of last season. I can’t wait to get back into it, all be it my knee will be strapped up, I’m not risking anything this time. Lake Vättern will be really nice to row in. It goes right passed the uni.
Health and Immigration
Two areas I have recently had experience with so I thought I’d blog it. Firstly Health: Although Swedes are taxed up to their eyeballs here Healthcare still isn’t free. You have to pay the first £100 to see a Dr so that is 10 trips at £10, after that your Dr Visits are free. Prescriptions are also not cheap. You have to pay the first £9 then if you have a Swedish Identity number you pay half the remaining cost of the drugs, up to a certain level. As I am waiting on my Swedish number I had to pay full wack, not fun at all. With regards to immigration I am now registered as an EU student living in Sweden. I had to go to the immigration office across town and into the office. The set up was really weird. You got out of the lift into the office where the forms were on the wall to fill in and then a waiting area. You take a ticket and wait for your number. When your number is called this what looked like a bomb proof door opens electronically then gets shut behind you and locks itself. Interesting if that weren’t enough the office workers are behind glass screens also. Now to register as a student living here (Which you must do if you are in the country for more than 3 months) then you need your Passport, University acceptance letter and proof that you have medical insurance (in my case the EU medical card) then you need your address and to sign forms saying you can support yourself financially. I am currently waiting on my Swedish personal number to be sent through to me.
Dodgeball
Right firstly I should explain how this came about. One of the many modules here is based on Enterprise, and the students taking this course are split into groups and given 200Kr (£20) they then have to come up with an idea that will make them profit. Ideas such as jewellery, patches for overalls, Iphone covers, plenty of thermos flasks for coffees, Swedish to English shopping guide etc etc. One of the groups came up with the idea of a dogdeball tournament. 16 teams of 6 at 120Kr (£12) per team to partake. Fancy dress obviously. This was great fun to watch with all sorts of costumes, the biggest looser (which is apparently quite big here) Old Grannies, Tiger Woods and his mistresses etc. Great laugh to watch, sadly the team I threw my support behind (Team Aussie) didn’t make it through the first round. My god there was a lot of cheating going on luckily the audience wasn’t having any of it.
Exams
Yes exam season is upon us I’ve already had my first one which was Swedish and it was on a Saturday morning at 9am!!! Honestly, outrageous. Anyway I’m not sure how it went I think I did well in the reading section and the word order etc, but as per usual the grammar section threw me. I find it hard to learn grammar in this sort of scientific way, I don’t even know what some of the words are grouped into in English let alone Swedish. We shall see when the results come in. I have however had my Creative Writing test for Swedish, which is where we were given a picture and had to write about it. I was given a picture of people in a bar, so I created a dialogue between two of the characters. This got me 90% which I was chuffed to bits with.
Well I think you’re all up to date now.
Cheerio for now
Any who as I haven’t written in a while I have a lot to fill you in on. I say a lot probably isn’t actually that much. Let’s think back:
Tallin Cruise
Well I woke up at probably half past 5 to get the train in to go and queue for tickets on this Scandinavian University’s cruise to Estonia. It was the first time I had used my Skiing coat and winter boots. Standing for over three hours in what can only be described as a free for all huddle rather than a queue (Moaning again!) by the time our part of the queue had actually managed to get into the warmth of Student House we were informed the tickets had all gone, I have to say that due to the lack of order in the queue some people who were behind us ended up getting tickets by pushing their way through, we weren’t happy. So that little trip is out of the window, lucky for me they repeat it again next semester!
Diploma in Trading
I took a two day crash course in Financial Trading, from GCMS in association with Copenhagen Business School. It was a 9-4 course for the two days covering the important parts of financial trading such as foreign exchanges and EFDs on shares etc. This was quite good as I do get a qualification out of it. During the second day we were set to work on the simulation, with a budget of 1,000,000 I made 70,000 in one day! Pretty good, When it came to the group trading this is where it went wrong. My team mates seemed to forget that the value can go up as well as down, due to some bad moves made by team mates were were down on luck, however I stepped in and made a few risky trades which managed to reduce our losses by a significant amount. We then came 2nd out of 5 groups and only lost by $30, had the group listened to me and kept our other trades for longer we would have won by $160. So there is a future in trading for me!
JSA Election Committee
Well this email looks interesting ‘Click’ “Apply now to become a member of the JSA Election Committee. You will be responsible for interviewing potential candidates to face the vote.” Now before I go further I shall explain what JSA is. Jönköping University has the main Student Union then each individual school has its own union. JSA stands for JIBS Student Association and is for the Business school. Anyway I submitted my application and have been successful in gaining a seat on the committee so looks like I will be involved in Swedish Student Politics.
Sport
Nope that isn’t a typo. I have finally joined the Student Sport Association (Its quite big here in Sweden to belong to an association) anyway I have played some badminton though there weren’t many people there. However I do intend to go back. Anyway the big news is I have finally managed to track down the Rowing squad and shall be returning to the water almost one year after my knee injury which ruled me out of last season. I can’t wait to get back into it, all be it my knee will be strapped up, I’m not risking anything this time. Lake Vättern will be really nice to row in. It goes right passed the uni.
Health and Immigration
Two areas I have recently had experience with so I thought I’d blog it. Firstly Health: Although Swedes are taxed up to their eyeballs here Healthcare still isn’t free. You have to pay the first £100 to see a Dr so that is 10 trips at £10, after that your Dr Visits are free. Prescriptions are also not cheap. You have to pay the first £9 then if you have a Swedish Identity number you pay half the remaining cost of the drugs, up to a certain level. As I am waiting on my Swedish number I had to pay full wack, not fun at all. With regards to immigration I am now registered as an EU student living in Sweden. I had to go to the immigration office across town and into the office. The set up was really weird. You got out of the lift into the office where the forms were on the wall to fill in and then a waiting area. You take a ticket and wait for your number. When your number is called this what looked like a bomb proof door opens electronically then gets shut behind you and locks itself. Interesting if that weren’t enough the office workers are behind glass screens also. Now to register as a student living here (Which you must do if you are in the country for more than 3 months) then you need your Passport, University acceptance letter and proof that you have medical insurance (in my case the EU medical card) then you need your address and to sign forms saying you can support yourself financially. I am currently waiting on my Swedish personal number to be sent through to me.
Dodgeball
Right firstly I should explain how this came about. One of the many modules here is based on Enterprise, and the students taking this course are split into groups and given 200Kr (£20) they then have to come up with an idea that will make them profit. Ideas such as jewellery, patches for overalls, Iphone covers, plenty of thermos flasks for coffees, Swedish to English shopping guide etc etc. One of the groups came up with the idea of a dogdeball tournament. 16 teams of 6 at 120Kr (£12) per team to partake. Fancy dress obviously. This was great fun to watch with all sorts of costumes, the biggest looser (which is apparently quite big here) Old Grannies, Tiger Woods and his mistresses etc. Great laugh to watch, sadly the team I threw my support behind (Team Aussie) didn’t make it through the first round. My god there was a lot of cheating going on luckily the audience wasn’t having any of it.
Exams
Yes exam season is upon us I’ve already had my first one which was Swedish and it was on a Saturday morning at 9am!!! Honestly, outrageous. Anyway I’m not sure how it went I think I did well in the reading section and the word order etc, but as per usual the grammar section threw me. I find it hard to learn grammar in this sort of scientific way, I don’t even know what some of the words are grouped into in English let alone Swedish. We shall see when the results come in. I have however had my Creative Writing test for Swedish, which is where we were given a picture and had to write about it. I was given a picture of people in a bar, so I created a dialogue between two of the characters. This got me 90% which I was chuffed to bits with.
Well I think you’re all up to date now.
Cheerio for now
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