A Year in Sweden

Christmas in Norway

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:28:00 +0000

I was lucky enough to be invited to Norway to spend Christmas with my Norwegian relatives. I spent two weeks in Norway, so I was able to experience a real Norwegian Christmas and New Years. I spent the first couple of days in Trondheim with my distant cousin Ingrid and her boyfriend Karl. We then all went to Leksvik, just across the fjord, to meet up with the rest of the relatives and celebrate the holiday. I am really thankful to have the experience of celebrating the holiday season in a culture different than my own and getting to know my distant relatives better.

I arrived at the airport in Trondheim in the evening and caught a bus to an area where I met Ingrid and Karl. We then went to their apartment, which was a modern building in a nice area. We ate a nice pizza meal for dinner. Karl works at a restaurant so I was fortunate enough to have some tasty meals prepared for me.

In the morning, I was given a tour of Trondheim by Ingrid and Karl. It is a very beautiful city. I saw some old buildings such as Nidelva and crossed the Old Town Bridge. We went inside Nidaros Cathedral, which dates back to 1070. Next we went to the city's central plaza where the statue of statue of Olav Tryggvason lies. In this square, I was able to try some brown cheese, which comes from goat milk. There were some sort of Christmas festivities going on in this square. After all this walking, we decided to take a break and warm up by having some coffee at a nearby coffee place. It seems that having coffee several times a day is quite popular in Norway. It did not surprise me so much because the swedes have coffee several times a day as well. I guess it helps to keep the Scandinavians warm and happy during such cold, dark and rainy seasons.

Lund Update

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 04:05:00 +0000

I thought it was time for me to give a little flashback or update about Lund. These pictures are from October, November and December of 2007. The pictures include one of my favorite pubs in Lund (Rauhrackel), the Lund Cathedral (Lunds Domkyrka), a picture of Lund taken near the cathedral, a picture of me and some friends at a potluck in Delphi in Lund, and pictures of Lund in December. The Rauhrackel pub serves a variety of German beers such as Hefeweizen, and there was even a mini Oktoberfest celebration in the pub. You can tell it is Bavarian themed by the large pretzels and the beer selection. On one occasion, I was lucky enough to hear a German choir sing some German drinking songs at Rauhrackel. The Lund Cathedral dates back to 1085 and is one of the most famous landmarks in the town. At the potluck in Delphi, I took a Swedish girl named Fia as my date, and the other two people in the picture are an American girl named Cheryl who attends UC Berkeley and her German boyfriend named Thomas. Lund looks very nice around Christmas time, as you can see from the pictures.

Rauhrackel

Me inside Rauhrackel

Rauhrackel

Lunds Domkyrka

Lunds Domkyrka

Lunds Domkyrka

Lunds Domkyrka

The astronomical clock in Lunds Domkyrka

The crypt in Lunds Domkyrka

The crypt in Lunds Domkyrka

The crypt in Lunds Domkyrka

The crypt in Lunds Domkyrka

Lunds Domkyrka

Lund

Fia, Me, Cheryl, and Thomas at a potluck in Delphi

Lund in December

Lund in December

Lund in December

Lund in December

Lund in December

Lund in December

Lund in December

Oslo in November

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 02:55:00 +0000

Hey everyone. Well, it has been a long time since I last posted, and I have many trips and experiences to tell you all about. I am presently home in California after spending 10 months in Europe. I think that now is the best time to catch up on documenting my experiences abroad. I am certain that many details have simply been lost to the sands of time and my memory, but I will do my best to document what I do remember of it all and all the important stuff. Enjoy!

I took a trip to Oslo in November 2007. One of my friends, Antti, had told me that he and some of his friends were planning on going to a weekend cruise from Copenhagen to Oslo and back. It seemed like a good experience, so I decided to join. I had not been to Norway for a while so I was happy to go back. We only had part of the day to spend in Oslo, since we arrived in the morning and left for home the evening of that same day. Antti and I decided to visit the Royal Palace and Vigeland Sculpture Park. We also went to downtown Oslo before we boarded the ship to have a pizza and a beer, which was something like $30. Oslo is an expensive city. After our meals, we boarded the ship and cruised back home. It was a fun time indeed. =)

Arriving in Oslo

Royal Palace in Oslo

Vigeland Sculpture Park

Vigeland Sculpture Park

Vigeland Sculpture Park

Oslo University

Oslo

The Parliament

Oslo

Me enjoying some Norwegian brew

Stockholm

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:57:00 +0000

Sorry that this post is really late, I have been busy with school. It is now Winter break, so hopefully I can update my blog for once. I will begin with my trip to Stockholm, which is the next noteworthy European experience following my Oktoberfest experience.

Well, it all began in Lund when I bought some train tickets to Stockholm. I sensed a small break in my studies in which I could fit in some traveling. A Swedish friend, Emma, who I met in California because she was studying abroad in Davis last year, where I go to school, has been in contact with me, and we agreed that I should go to Stockholm before it got any colder up there, so this seemed like a great opportunity to do so. I had not been there in over three years, so I was excited. I bought return trip tickets to Stockholm, and thus my journey was set in stone.

This was the first of my European voyages so far where I have been able to take a sleep-train to my destination. The Germany trip was a little less comfortable since I had to attempt to sleep on the train while only occupying a seat. The Stockholm arrangement worked out much better, and I was able to wake up in Stockholm Central Station, ready to take on the city. It was refreshing to walk into a city fresh for me to explore. Although I had been to the city before, I had not paid much attention to where everything was, since I did not have the foresight to know that I would venture to the city again in the future. So I had to rely on my sense of familiar landmarks, an intuition for direction, and a touristy handout map of the city. I explored the square where the central metro station is, then ventured forth to Gamla Stan, the historical part of town.

Gamla Stan is without a doubt my favorite part of Stockholm. Once one crosses the water via a bridge, passing the Royal Theater along the way, one enters into a nostalgic district that invokes feelings of something like 16th century London. The streets are all cobblestone, and it is rare to find a street that is just for cars. There is a maze of pedestrian streets to explore, and after circling around the small island, I attempted to voyage through as many as I could, until I was contacted by Emma who instructed me to meet her in an entirely differently part of the city. My destination was where she goes to school: Hersby Gymnasium. Even though it is called a gymnasium, it translates into a school in Swedish. So I traveled to a metro station, and traveled across one of the main shopping streets in the city along the way there.

Eventually I met up with Emma in an entirely different part of town. I sat in on one of her classes, which was a cool experience, because I was able to see what a typical school day was for a Swede. There was no English to help me understand anything, of course. I doubt that many tourists get an opportunity to sit in on a class in Sweden, so I really appreciated the experience. One interested thing that I noted about this school was that apparently guys who had motorbikes were supposedly cool. Very few people drive in Sweden, most take the bus, the metro, or a bike, so a motorbike is supposedly classy. In Lund it is pretty similar except there is no metro and there is not as much emphasis on motorbikes. After Emma got out of school, we went to downtown Stockholm, where she showed me some of the highlights of the city, including Konserthuset, the building where the Nobel Prize is awarded (I actually recognized this square from 3 years before, I think my family saw a movie at the theater located there), as well as the mall where their late foreign minister, Anna Lindh, was stabbed. Things like that never happen in Sweden, so it was quite a traumatic experience for the Swedes. There were many other places to see in Stockholm, so Emma and I went to a coffee shop and she was kind enough to map out some places that I should see. Emma had to leave after giving me this advice, and I decided to check in to my hotel. I rested for a little bit, then went out to an area that Emma recommended to see what the Stockholm nightlife had to offer.

The next day, I decided to check out some of the touristy sites that Emma had recommended. After a full day of venturing into various parts of the city, I had another night out on the town. The next day, I decided to go to Gamla Stan once again. I bought a mocha and a piece of white chocolate cheesecake at Kaffekoppen and Chokladkoppen. These bulidings are vary famous and historic, and are located at a very famous square in Stockholm where the
Stockholm Bloodbath occured in which about 82 people were beheaded in 1520. Interestingly enough, it is also the same square where the Nobel Prize museum is located. After the refreshing food from the historic builidngs, I went on to the Royal Palace to witness the changing of the guard. After this ceremony, I went to the Stadshuset, or the city hall of Stockholm. It was here that I met another tourist, hailing from Australia, although presiding in London. She was a keen photographer, and made a good companion to check out the other tourist sites. We went to a great church called Storkyrkan located in Gamla Stan next. It has an impressive statue of St. George and the Dragon, a depiction of St. George slaying the dragon, which I believe symbolizes Sweden breaking free of Denmark's rule, but could just be a purely religious monument dedication to St. George for bringing Christianity to Scandinavia. Perhaps it is a mixture of the two. There is also a magnificent replica of the statue located along one of the many cobblestone streets in Gamla Stan. After scouring around Gamla Stan, we managed to find the narrowest street in the city, which is less than a meter wide. Apparently many of the streets in Gamla Stan are designed to be just wide enough to allow a single horse and carriage to pass through. That makes sense, since I doubt that engineers are planning current road designs to be suitable for transportation 500 years from now. We also met and chatted with an American tourist and her Swedish host while checking out this alleyway or street. Eventually we continued our tourist excursions, and I went my own way to have another night out on the town.

The next day, I decided to take a tour of Stadshuset. I was unable to the previous day because the tours offered in English were already complete for the day. It was well worth the wait, and I was very impressed by the building, especially by the room where the Nobel Prize banquet is held (it is amazing how so many people can fit into a relatively small room) and by the golden room, which glitters with Swedish symbolism. As if the tour wasn't impressive enough, we were also blessed with an intelligent and beautiful blond-haired, blue-eyed Swedish woman as our tour guide. It seems that this is the norm in Scandinavia, however. After touring the Stadshuset, I rushed to a different district of Stockholm to meet with a girl a know from Lund who is a native of a suburb of Stockholm. We met up and had lunch at Kaffekoppen. After lunch, we went out separate ways and I explored more of the tourist sites that Emma had recommended. One of the areas that I decided to visit was an island (Stockholm is basically composed of several islands, there is water everywhere, and it is very beautiful) where famous museums such as the Vasa Museum (featuring a ship that sunk as it left harbor, and which I saw 3 years prior), an open-air museum featuring historic buildings, and more. Most of the museums were closed, as it was getting late, so I decided to head to a relatively near-by radio tower where a great view of the city was supposedly visible. Along the walk to the tower, I passed the United States Embassy, which was a heart-warming experience, since I had not seen American soil for quite a long time. Eventually I reached the tower, after taking a bus, and I was able to see a great view of Stockholm. It was amazing, and there is even a restaurant at the top so one can wine and dine and have a great view of the city. After a breathtaking view, I traveled back to the center of Stockholm to meet up with the Australian tourist I had met previously at Stadshuset. We had dinner at TGIF, which is one of Emma's favorite spots to meet up with her friends before going out. After a good steak dinner, we headed to the Absolut Icebar Stockholm, a bar that is kept at something like -5 degrees Celsius, and which is constructed completely out of ice. It is based on the Icehotel in the northern part of Sweden, or Lapland. The people who construct the Icebar (onc every 6 moths or so) are the same who bulid the famous Swedish Icehotel every year. There are several Absolut Icebars scattered throughout the planet, and they are a very fun place to have an ice-cold drink. In order to enter, you have to wear a big parka which looks like something from a sci-fi movie. The glasses are even hollowed out blocks of ice, and it is just a very unique experience in every imaginable way. After experiencing the Icebar, my Stockholm trip was essentially complete. After the Icebar, I gathered my luggage, and got on the train which would take me back to Lund. I had an awesome time in Stockholm, and it is definitely one of my favorite cities in the world. If I was given the opportunity to go to Stockholm again, I would drop whatever I was doing and head back. At any rate, I went to bed on the sleep-train, and woke up when it was approaching Lund. Once I got back to Lund, I had to continue my regular non-tourist lifestyle, but at least I was still in Sweden, and that is something to be thankful for =).

Stockholm Central Station

A typical street in Gamla Stan

Me in front of the St. George and the Dragon statue in Gamla Stan

One of the major shopping streets in Stockholm

A church in central Stockholm

Emma showing me around Stockholm

One of the main squares in Stockholm

White chocolate cheesecake and mocha from Chokladkoppen and Kaffekoppen

Me in front of Kaffekoppen and Chokladkoppen

Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace in Stockholm

Me in front of Stadshuset

Me on the narrowest street in Stockholm in Gamla Stan (Old Town)

The Golden Room inside the Stadshuset

The Blue Room inside Stadshuset, so named because the architect planned to paint the room blue, but changed his mind once he saw the nice looking red brickwork. The Nobel Prize banquet is held here every year.

Stockholm at dusk, as seen from the radio tower

Absolut Icebar Stockholm

Absolut Icebar Stockholm

Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace at Gamla Stan in Stockholm, Sweden

A view of Stockholm from the radio tower at dusk

Oktoberfest 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 21:09:00 +0000

Well, I have officially survived Oktoberfest 2007 in Munich, Germany. It was a lot of fun, and the city of Munich is absolutely beautiful. I left on a train from Lund to Copenhagen, Denmark. I then took a train which crossed the water between Denmark and Germany on a fairy and ended up in Hamburg, Germany. I had two hours there to explore the city before I caught my connecting train to Munich. I arrived in Munich on Friday morning, and took a train to my campground, a place called Thalkirchen. I set up my tent in the rain, which was a little miserable, but once I finished I had a satisfying sense of relief because I knew that at least I now had a place to stay in Munich. I then ventured out into the unknown city of Munich. I arrived back in the central train station and walked towards Oktoberfest, which is held in a huge square in Munich. There are two parallel streets in the square; one with all the beer tents and one with all of the carnival rides. When I arrived at the square, the place looked pretty desolate because of the rainy weather. I decided to go into a beer tent that one of my German friends recommended; Hacker tent.

I got into Hacker pretty easily because I was traveling alone at this point. I was able to get a table quickly because I was alone, and I was fortunate to sit next to some Californians as well as some Germans. Hacker tent is very beautiful, with a painted blue sky and painted mural of an old styled Bavaria. It was pretty crazy how many people were crammed into each beer tent. I have never seen so many people drinking in one place before. And the beer is served by the liter in large German beer steins. One has to pace himself at Oktoberfest because beer is served in such large volumes, and it is important to stay in the tent all day, because that is where all of the action is. There were also very large pretzels served in the tents, about the size of your head. People were eating sausages, chicken, and other types of Bavarian food. The food was really good but the beer was amazing. There were many people dressed in lederhosen and traditional Bavarian clothing. I spent the entire day in Hacker, along with all of my new friends. It is amazing how fast time goes when you are having fun. I made my way back to the campground to prepare for another fun day of Oktoberfest.

When I woke up the next day and emerged form my tent, I looked just across the street and saw some of my California friends who are in my Swedish class. I was very fortunate to have found them, and it was a random occasion to find them even though I knew that the would be at the same camping place as me. The camping ground looked more like a refugee camp than a camping ground because there were so many people there for Oktoberfest. I left for Oktoberfest with my friends and we tried to get into the Hofbräu tent but we were to late and it was already full. There were many more people outside this time because it was Saturday and the weather was beautiful. The beer tents fill up quick and one should really get to the tent by 8 am if one is trying to get a table with a group of friends. My friends and I decided to explore the city of Munich instead and see the actual Hofbräuhaus, which is a very famous building in Munich. We had some good Bavarian food and beer at a nearby restaurant, and soaked in the nostalgic atmosphere of this historic city. By the time we finished our meal, the streets were buzzing with people, and it seemed that people from all over the world were in Munich. I do not see how Munich could function with so many people the whole year, but they someone manage to handle it for Oktoberfest. We went to some other beer houses and then went to the top of a church tower where we had a wonderful panoramic view of Munich. The city was enormous, and much flatter than I had expected. The mountains were much farther away than I thought they would be. After the church, we tried to get into Hofbräuhaus, but it was full. We went back to the Oktoberfest festival and managed to get a table on the outside of the Paulaner tent. We had more good Bavarian food and beer there, and spent the rest of the day there. I met many more Germans as well as other international people. It was Italian weekend at Oktoberfest, and it was not hard to tell, because the Italians are a very rowdy crowd. Security guards had to frequently attempt to calm down the crowd. It was a fun night to say the least. After the Paulaner tent, I decided to go to the nightclub area in Munich called Kunstpark Ost. It is where everyone my age seems to go once the beer tents close down. It is a very exciting area with many clubs to chose from. They were packed because of the occasion, so I still had to wait in line to get into many of the places. I had a good time there, then took a taxi back to my campground.

On the third day of Oktoberfest, I packed up my gear, left the campground, and I decided to explore the city of Munich before I went to the festival. I saw most of the important buildings, and Munich is really pretty. I could definitely live there. There is a nice blend of historic architecture, and the city is so big that I do not think I would ever get bored. It was easy to spend most of the day walking around and discovering this great city. There is nothing that even comes close to comparison in America to Munich. One interesting thing I noted is that all of the taxis are Mercedes, and all of the police cars are BMWs. That is just one example that illustrates the luxury of this city, which is one of the wealthiest in Germany. Words do not really do the beauty of the city justice and pictures hardly capture the real experience of witnessing it for yourself. After my eyes were satisfied by all of the sites, I decided to go to a restaurant and have a square Bavarian meal with some good Bavarian beer. I went to Donisl, which is affiliated with Hacker, the beer tent I where I spent my first day of Oktoberfest. I had some Bavarian sausages there along with a wonderful Bavarian Hefeweizen, which is a German wheat beer. I am truly a fan of Bavarian Hefeweizen now, and I feel spoiled. I do not think that any beer even compares in the United States. It has a fruity aroma and a sweet taste. After thoroughly enjoying my meal, I headed back to the festival.

On my way back to Oktoberfest, I ran into a German and a couple of Swedes. The were heading in the same way I was going, so we traveled together. We walk around the festival and attempted to ride one of the carnival rides, but the lines were too long because it was another beautiful day at Oktoberfest. We scoured the tents for some open space and finally found a place to sit outside of the Löwenbräu tent. There were many people here, naturally, and it was a great time. I talked to the two Swedish girl about my stay in Lund, and they were happy to hear about Califorina. The German guy was fun to talk to as well, and his family met up with us at the tent for even more company. As the day went on, I was forced to finally leave Oktoberfest to catch my train back home. I said goodbye to my new friends and ventured out to the train station, satisfied with my Oktoberfest experience.

I took the same route to get back home, with my train stopping in Hamburg, then heading to Copenhagen by crossing the water on a ferry, and finally back home to Lund. It was nice to be back and finally get a good nights rest on my bed. It was a lot of fun to go to Oktoberfest. I have survived it once, and I am sure that I could survive it again if I am ever fortunate enough to return. Munich is a great city, and I hope that I can visit it again. Even if I do not, I now have memories of Oktoberfest that I will cherish forever.

My home for Oktoberfest 2007

Munich Hauptbahnhof (main station)

Hacker beet tent

inside Hacker

a German and me in Hacker

Hofbräuhaus

Californians at Ayingers

Bavarian food and beer at Ayingers

Munich

Me at the Paulaner beer tent

Kunstpark Ost

Munich

typical police car in Bavaria... BMW

typical taxi in Bavaria... Mercedes

Munich

Munich

Munich

Munich

Munich

Munich

Munich

Donisl

Bavarian sausage and beer in Donisl

Me enjoying a real Bavarian Hefeweizen inside Donisl

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest

inside Löwenbräu

A German, 2 Swedes, and Me

Crossing the water from Germany to Denmark

Ich bin ein Münchener

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 10:22:00 +0000

Wow, I have not updated my blog in a while but I have been rather busy! There is much to do and see in Lund, and I am well adapted to Swedish life now. I am taking classes that keep me pretty busy, plus there are logistical issues that I have been resolving as time goes on, such as setting up a bank account, fixing my bike, and paying bills. People here in Sweden have to deal with the same hassles that we have to deal with in the United States. On top of that, I have been trying to get my classes in order for next semster and I am trying to start the process of extending for the year because I love it here in Sweden. I have already learned a lot of Swedish, and at this rate, I should be able to have a normal conversation in Swedish at the end of the year.

As far as my spending rate, it has been pretty wild this past month because of bills, items for school, a couple items of clothing to fight the cold weather, and miscellaneous items that I have to buy or things I have to pay for. I also had to pay for train tickets to Germany and I think that Oktoberfest will be somewhat expensive, although I am camping there so I should save some money that way. I will have a more normal spending rate in October since I should have finished with all of my initial expenses by then. I will have a Swedish bank account (hopefully with money in it), I am now cooking for myself, I am walking or taking my bike to class, and I am learning how to be more frugal as time goes on, so I think October will be a much cheaper month, and from then on as well.

One of my friends said she uses a program called Quicken to manage her budget back home at UC Berkely, so perhaps I could start using that here. She is also staying for the year and is also going to Oktoberfest, so maybe I can get some tips from her about how she is planning on saving money.

I am planning on doing some travelling while here in Europe, so I will want to save money for those trips. One of my friends is from Helsinki, Finland, and he is planning on taking a fairy there some time and invited me to come. I'm sure I could stay at his house to save some money. I also have friends in Helsingborg, Stockholm, and miscellaneous countries around Europe such as Spain and the Netherlands, so I think travelling around Europe will not be too expensive. I can also go in a group and split any necesssary group expenses like hotel rooms if we need one. I found out that flights in Europe can be very cheap if you do some research online... there are many airlines similar to Jetblu that offer low quality but cheap flights. That is how many of my friends have travelled. I may go to some cheaper countries like in Eastern Europe. Although it is not the cheapest, I think I will visit Prague some time, and I have a friend from there so perhaps I can stay with him if he goes back home some time. Oktoberfest should be one of the most expensive trips I take, but I think it will be worth it.

In other news, I have chosen some prospective classes for next semester and they are basically all engineering courses, so I do not think I will get too far behind for my degree. I may take a class on Nanoelectronics, which I am pretty sure is not offered at Davis. There is also a class where I could be involved with research groups at MAX-lab... I think it is one of the largest particle accelerators in Europe and the largest in Scandinavia. I am trying to choose classes that I would be taking right now back at Davis, but many of them may only be taught in Swedish so I am trying to pick a lot of different options for courses so I will really cover my bases.

I am hagning out with a lot of Swedish people now and have many Swedish friends. I spend more time with Swedish people that American people theses days, which is good for my cultural immersion. I know my Swedish corridor mates really well now, and I am even friends with some of their friends, so I am really starting to feel like a Swede. It is good to be an exchange student though, aparrently Swedish girls like guys from California, and many of them dream of going to California since a lot of the movies and music they have is from there. I thought it would be wise to remain single while I am in Sweden, at least initially, since I will posssibly be here for a year. It would not make that much sense to start a relationship so early, but we will see what happens. By the way, in case there are some of you who do not know, the women in Sweden are incredibly beautiful.

Any way, I am loving life here in Sweden, and look forward to staying for the year. I am committed to taking financial responsibility for myself so I can have this experience, and I will try my best to conserve money. I am learning more and more strategies over time. I can't really talk about all that I have done since my last blog entry because I am leaving for Germany in about an hour. In less that 24 hours I should be celebrating at Oktoberfest with people from all over the world. It will be a cool cultural experience, and I studied German for 4 years in highschool, so I am very excited to finally get to visit the country. I will try to take lots of pictures and post some of them so that you can see what it was like, and I will also post some more recent pictures taken here in Sweden.

Hej då! (goodbye)

Downtown Lund

Lund University Library

My room in Delphi H
Swedish crayfish dinner in my corridor
Me and some Swedish friends

Adjusting to Sweden

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 21:01:00 +0000

This last week, I completed my Swedish language course. I feel like I have a better understanding of the language, but still not enough to have a good conversation or understand what people are saying around me. I am going to take a normal Swedish language course this semester and hopefully I will know Swedish well after the end of it. I have a certificate to prove that I completed the 2 week crash course in Swedish, which is pretty cool. Now I have something to put on my barren walls.

Last week was a little hectic because I had to figure out what course I am actually going to take. Things are not so easy here because you have to figure out what courses conflict with other courses by yourself. At UC Davis, things are a little more automated and it is impossible to sign up for a class that conflicts because it is an electronic process. In addition to this, I had to go around and have each teacher sign a piece of paper that allows me to take a class because I am an exchange student. Right now, I am signed up to take 2 engineering courses, 2 humanities classes, and 2 language classes (each of which lasts half the semester). My engineering classes are in the E building, or the Elektroteknik Datateknik building, because I am an electrical engineering major. I have about 50% more units than I am required to have so I am almost certainly going to drop some of these courses. I am just happy to have a finalized course list, and dropping a class should be much easier than trying to find one that doesn’t conflict.

Last week I finally bought a bike and a few more items to help me get settled here in Lund. I am getting more used to this country every day. Soon I will be following a regular course schedule and everything should be streamline. I know about the bus system now and where many important buildings are in town. It seems like I meet new people every day, and now that the school year is about to start, I should be meeting a lot of Swedes.

I have mostly been meeting international people. I started going to the nations, which are like fraternities but coed and much less exclusive. It seems that almost everyone joins a nation. I am trying to go to each of them at least once before a decide to join one, although it does not really matter because you can go to all of the nations just by joining one, but I think I will mostly be hanging out with the people in my own nation. So far I have been to Västgöta, Krischansta, and Lunds. Västgöta is my favorite one so far because they play music that I mostly like and it is not too crowded. I met a cool German girl there named Anna who is from Munich and who I have been hanging out with recently.

I have discovered some cool places like the LTH Studiecentrum which is like a library and café where engineering students can study. It is right next to where my engineering classes will be so it will be really convenient to study there in the future, especially on rainy days. I also saw the Lund Observatory, which stands out because it is a tower in the engineering area. There is a bronze bust of Tycho Brahe in front of the observatory, which I thought was pretty cool. Everything in Lund seems to have some sort of historical vibe to it, and I feel like I am discovering an old culture by finding out more about the town. But Lund is also very high tech, with start of the art research being conducted and modern corporations in a business park. So it is like a clash between the past and the present. I like technology but I also like the rustic feeling of the town, so Lund is a good place for me to be.

Yesterday was one of the nicest days since I have been in Scandinavia. I brought a sweatshirt with me to go downtown, but never needed it because it was so warm. There were a lot of live bands playing in downtown, and the streets were swarming with people. It was really a fun environment to be in. I walked down some of the streets and then decided to walk back to walk back to my dorm because the weather was so nice. I did my laundry for the first time in Sweden once I got back. You use a RF chip to gain access into a dorm building where the laundry machines are located in the basement. You have to book an appointment with a terminal on the wall, and you can choose what machines you want to use and at what time. Then you have to use the RF chip on your keychain to get into the hallway to get to the machines. It seems very high tech and high security for a laundry room. It is free to use the machines, and they are just as high tech as the booking system. Lund is a high tech town, but it surprised me to hear that wireless internet is not available for free in cafes, which is a luxury enjoyed in the United States. After I finished my laundry I met up with some American friends of mine for a BBQ in the courtyard in Delphi. Everyone is trying to use the good weather while it lasts for these sorts of events. The BBQs have been a great chance for me to meet people, most of which have been international. I have met several Germans, a Swiss guy, an Irishman named Mark, A Finnish guy named Antti, a Scottsman named Robert, and several others. It is comical how Mark acts like a stereotypical Irishman, and his accent is hilarious at times. He keeps asking me to join his rugby team comprised of exchange students but I am probably not going to at this point. He has already messed up his knee playing the sport here. It is ironic that I know four different people who have suffered knee injuries here in Lund. I am trying not to get injured here in Lund, because I already know some people who have been. I am also trying to shy away from my American friends because I feel like they always just hang out with each other rather than Europeans. Antti is becoming one of my better European friends here because we have similar interests and tastes in music. I feel as though I have connected better with the Europeans here, even though most of my Californian friends have been in Lund for the whole semester.

Tonight I met some more people on my corridor and we had a meeting to talk about some procedures for the semester or year. Most of the people on my corridor are Swedish and they always talk in Swedish unless they want you to know what they are saying. They like hanging out with each other so it can be a little hard to get to know them as well as I would like to, but they are otherwise very friendly, and we are going to have a corridor party soon, which should help everyone get to know each other better. We spent about an hour cleaning up the kitchen after the meeting, with everyone working at once. The Swedes seem to be crazy about cleaning; it was like they were trying to turn the kitchen into one of the model kitchens you would see on display at IKEA. I am used to living in a fraternity house, which is basically always dirty. Here, people were taking handles off of cabinets to clean them and move furniture out of the way to vacuum. They even have a recycling system with a bin for each type of recyclable material. This is a procedure that I wish my fraternity would adopt. I like living in such a clean environment, and making the adjustment to the communal expectation of cleanliness was not hard after the initial astonishment. I am starting to feel more like a Swede as I change my lifestyle and habits, and now I can even find most of what I am looking for in a grocery store, although there are some products I just do not recognize. With any luck I will become Swedish to the point where I will be a little shocked when I get back to the United States and am reintroduced to that lifestyle. Tomorrow is the first day of the real semester, and I am looking forward to the journey that awaits me this semester.

E building, where I have my engineering classes

LTH Studiecentrum

inside LTH Studiecentrum

Lund Observatory

Anna and me at Krischansta Nation

Lund At Last

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 19:31:00 +0000

I have arrived in Lund. I have been here for about a week now. It is a short train ride from Copenhagen to Lund, although when one doesn’t speak Danish or Swedish, it can be necessary to ask for help or directions to get here. I was able to figure out how to get to train station with my entire luggage by metro and walking, but getting a train to Lund was a little confusing because the train split into two different groups of cars. After asking for help a few times, I made it to my final destination. The people in Scandinavia are friendly and have no trouble answering questions in English.

From Lund Central Station, I was met by a mentor from Lund University who guided us out of the station to an area where shuttles were en route to pick us up. I waited there with several other exchange students from various parts of the world. We were picked up and taken to the AF building, where we were able to leave our luggage and check in with the university. The lines were long, but eventually I received all of my forms, bought my introductory Swedish language course materials, got my room key, and paid and signed up for a welcoming party on Friday and an excursion on Saturday. I met some friends while checking in, even people from California.

After checking in with the university, I had to check in with the UC Study Center. This was much quicker and only required a few minutes. I was able to meet a few Californians at the same time. From there, I was picked up by another shuttle and taken to Delphi, where I was to live for the semester. I walked to my building (H), and used the key to get in. After dropping off my luggage in my room, I met a few Swedes on my floor. They were happy to converse in English, and I was glad to know that I had friendly people living on my floor. They gave me some information like where I could buy groceries. I left to find some dinner (I had not eaten all day!) and found a familiar American place… McDonalds. Next I went to a grocery store and bought a few items to survive the next few days. On the walk back, I ran into a UC Davis student who is also studying abroad that I met before. She gave me more advice like where to buy a bike.

The next day (Tuesday), I had a general information meeting and my first Swedish class. There are several international people in the class, and even a few Americans. The class is very long, about 3 and a half hours a day. The Swedes use “military time” here, and the class runs from 13.15 – 16.45. But on the bright side, that gives me plenty of time to get to know the people in my class. There are people from Germany, Czech Republic, Spain, Netherlands, America, and other countries. I have gotten to know a German girl named Karin and a Spanish girl named Maria as well as the Americans the best in my class. We get break during the class, and I have met a lot of international people then as well. Among these people are two girls named Lindsey from Georgia, plenty of Californians (I think we have the largest foreign exchange program on this campus), and various other international people. Lund is lacking some Swedish people right now, but that will change once the semester really starts, and I am looking forward to meeting Swedes.

It was a little disorienting to find my way around Lund, but after exploring a little bit, I have a fairly good sense of direction in this town. I have been kept busy with going to Swedish class, going to information meetings, buying things to set up my stay in Lund, meeting new people, and exploring the city. People seem to party almost every night in this town because classes have not started yet. If I am lucky, hopefully this fun atmosphere won’t diminish much once classes do start. On Wednesday night, I got my first taste of the Lund party scene by going to a party in Kårhuset, the engineering student union area, with some people I had met earlier. I saw some UC Davis exchange students at the general information meeting, and they introduced me to some of their friends and told me about the party that evening. So we went back to Delphi, hung out a little bit, and then left to go to the party. I had no idea how to get there, but luckily I was with a UC Berkeley exchange student named Cheryl who knows a lot about the town since she has been here all summer. The party was better than I expected, with lots of props like laser lights and fog machines, as well as a stocked bar. I had somewhat of a culture shock when I found out that the Swedes dance differently than people in America do. It felt almost like a middle school dance, with people dancing awkwardly and far apart. I am glad to be in a country where no once can dance very well though, because I am not a very good dancer either. After the party, we went to a student pub and partied a little bit more. I met a very interesting and drunk Swede that I talked to about an hour; although I doubt that he will remember the conversation. One thing I noticed is that the Swedes listen to some old American music, even from the 80’s. At the pub, I heard some American music from the 90’s. It seems that the Swedes love American music, but they have a different about what is good music compared to what most American college students think. I think that because this was an engineering party, it may be a bit different than the mainstream in Lund though. The night made for a fun experience though, with a different style of dancing and different taste in music than my own for the most part. The sky was getting light again on our way back to Delphi, and it did not help that I had a registration meeting for LTH (the engineering school in Lund) the next day.

My alarm never went off the next day, so I woke up a little late and missed the first part of the meeting, but I was able to make it to the important part of the meeting where I got information about the engineering classes that I would be taking. I am a little upset that I was assigned so many engineering classes, because I planned on taking none while I was here and just enjoying and getting immersed in the Swedish culture. On my way to my Swedish class, I chatted with a girl from Australia who knows the brother of the drummer from Linking Park. I just saw them in concert less than a month ago, what a small world! The day was long, but the night was worth the wait. I met up with Matt, an American from UC Davis and who grew up in Livermore and went to my high school. We pre-partied with some other California people, and then headed off to the party. Alcohol is extremely expensive in Sweden so it makes a lot more sense to drink for cheap at home before heading off to a party where it is sold. As if this was not inconvenient enough, hard alcohol and beer with a concentration higher than 3.5% must be bought from a government store that often closes very early. So there basically has to be a plan for each night, rather than just throwing together a pre-party at the last minute. This along with the price is another cultural difference that is a little frustrating, but I am already starting to adapt to the system. A Swede on my floor goes to Germany every now and then to load up a car with beer and drive it back to Sweden to save money on beer. This would be a good option if I had a car. At any rate, we arrived at the party that night with a decent beer buzz. Matt bought us a round and I bought us a round a little later. It takes a very nice person to buy you a beer at these prices. And since a Krona is worth about 7 times less than a dollar, the prices even look very expensive. I met many international people that night, and it was fun to party at a pub.

The next day (Thursday), I had my Swedish class as usual. I explored the town some more, and bought a buss pass. It takes about a half an hour to walk from campus to Delphi, so taking the bus is often necessary. I am still searching for a 2^nd hand bike, but they are hard to come by in this town because they are in such high demand. I was lucky to have one of the Lindsey’s from Georgia walk with me and show me where some of the bike places were, but all of the bikes had already been bought. I am still looking for a bike but I think that I may be able to get one on Monday or Tuesday. I spent Thursday night doing some chores like paper work and reading. I have a Swedish SIM card now, which should save me a lot of money. I had to plan out my classes so I could talk about them with the coordinator on Friday.

On Friday, I talked with Nancy, my coordinator, and we discovered that I may not be qualified or even registered for at least one of my Engineering classes. In spite of this, she is reluctant to sign me up for SAS (Swedish culture, history, etc.) classes and wants me to keep my engineering courses. Now I have to talk with the teachers of my classes and figure out what it going on. I think that if I am going to be taking engineering classes, I may as well stay in Lund for a year because I will not be getting behind in my progress towards my degree. I may have contact with people who would want to accept me to go to grad school in Lund. This option is just speculative at this point, but I would rather spend a year in Lund because I may never be able to live in Europe again, so I might as well make the most of it.

There was a welcome party on Friday night. I pre-partied in Delphi with some American friends, and headed to the party, which was in Kårhuset. This time there were many more people there. I met a lot of international people, including a hot German girl and an interesting Norwegian with whom I had a great discussion about politics, global warming, and science (a rare and appreciated occasion for me). The music was a little better that night, probably because the party was not being thrown by engineers. There were still some engineers at the party though. They are quite visible in Lund because they all wear jump suits, with a different color for each type of major for engineering. The electrical engineers wear white. This seems very strange to me, and I am glad that we do not do this back at UC Davis, but it makes me appreciate the uniqueness of Lund a little bit more. When the party ended, we went back to Delphi, where there was supposed to be an after-party. I just decided to go to sleep because I had to wake up for an excursion the next day.

I woke up a little late once again, but this time I made it to where I was supposed to go, the Lund Domkirke (cathedral), on time. I talked with a German girl from my Swedish class on my way there, and learned a little bit about Oktoberfest, which I plan on going to in late September. I took a bus with a group to our first tourist point of the excursion. Today we were exploring Österlen, specifically Ales Stenar, which is like a Scandinavian version of Stonehenge, and Glimmingehus, which is a well preserved castle that was owned by a pirate. This took up most of the day, but it was nice to learn some Scandinavian history. While at Ales Stenar, I was able to try some Scandinavian fish for the first time on this trip. It was served with some veggies in a shish kabob style and was good. I talked with a Ukrainian girl named Natalya on the way back to Lund. We got coffee once we got back and she introduced me to some French people that are friends of hers. Natalya and I met up later that night to party, but instead we just walked around and explored more of Lund. There was a crayfish party at one of the nations that night which I missed because I did not buy a ticket for it, but I was content just walking around Lund. There nations here is Lund are like fraternities or sororities in America, except they are co-ed and nonexclusive. It seems like everyone at Lund University joins a nation, and you can go to all of the other nations’ parties just by joining one nation. While walking around Lund, I discovered where two different liquor stores are, and that is important knowledge here in Lund. I also learned a lot about Ukraine from Natalya, so yesterday was basically a huge culture and history lesson, but that seems to be a common experience as a foreigner here in Europe, and I am content with that.

Today I took care of more logistical issues and had an easy, lazy day. I cleaned up my room a little and went shopping at a supermarket I had not been to before called Willey’s, which is supposed to be the cheapest place to go around here. It was a little difficult to shop because almost everything is in Swedish, but I managed to buy what I wanted. I like the different selection of food items here in Sweden. And I also like when people mistake me for a Swede, as the cashier lady did at the supermarket today. It gives me encouragement that I am adapting to Swedish culture and that I can continue to adapt, even though my Swedish language skills are horrible.

My meals are still sporadic at this point, but I am discovering more of Lund each day as I search for places to eat and as I accomplish small tasks to set myself up for the semester. It is almost magical to walk down the cobblestone streets in Lund and see all of the old buildings. Lund University is older than the United States, and can feel a little bit like Hogwarts at times. The cathedral here is around 900 years old, and it is nostalgic to imagine the generations that have passed on the same medieval streets that I walk on in Lund. I feel very lucky to get the opportunity to live in this town. I drank some coffee at a couple of the Cafés here, and I am pleasantly surprised at the quality of both the place and the coffee. I think cafes are much better here than in America, and they seem to be much more popular. My only complaint is that they close rather early… around 6 pm (or 18:00 på Svenska). It looks like a lot of people go out to a pub or restaurant at this time. Now that I have groceries, I am going to start cooking for myself so I can save money. This will allow me to have some money for cafes and other expenses. Tomorrow I am going to look for a bike and find out where my prospective classes will be.

Lund University main building

AF building
UC Study Center
Delphi H building
one of many cobblestone streets in Lund
Lund Domkirke
Kårhuset

Party in Kårhuset

Party in Kårhuset

Crazy in Copenhagen

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 21:55:00 +0000

I am now starting to feel more adjusted to Scandinavia. I spent all of yesterday and much of today exploring Copenhagen, seeing the touristy sites, etc. The city is truly beautiful, and is a marvel both by day and by night. At night, Copenhagen is a party city with many pubs, bars, and clubs to go to. The city is beautifully lit up at night, and there is a strange mix of old architecture with modern neon lights. The Danes like to party late into the night. Many of them stay up partying and see the sun rise. During the day, there are many museums to see, streets to walk, and countless cafes to sit down at and watch the world pass by while drinking a coffee and having a fine Danish pastry. I started out my morning yesterday in just that sort of way. From my hotel, I headed towards Christianshavn and a café caught my eye. The barista was friendly and willing to answer my questions regarding the area. I had a light European breakfast, and then continued my exploration of the city by walking down the canals. These are a sight pleasing to the eye, and I envisioned myself one day owning a boat in Copenhagen, such as the many that were docked there. I found a great view of Nyhavn just across the inlet from Christianshavn. From there, I walked towards a spiraling church tower. For 25 Kroner, I was able to go to the top of the tower and get a spectacular panoramic view of Copenhagen. After setting foot back on the street, I went to Christiania, a partially self-governing neighborhood inside of Copenhagen. One is not allowed to take pictures inside Christiania, but it is a very free –spirited area, with many artsy and “hippie” types of people. It reminded me of Berkeley in a way. Next I went to the Black Diamond, which is the Danish Royal Library. It is an impressive modern structure amidst the historical buildings beside it. Just behind the library is an equally impressive garden. Then just beyond that lies a square which gave excellent opportunities to take pictures of some of the classical building, of which one of my favorites was the Old Stock Exchange, with a dragon spire on the roof. From there, it is a short walk to the inner city, which is buzzing with people. The inner city is intersected by Stroget, a pedestrian street lined with shops that stretched for quite a while. I walked towards Tivoli, an amusement park which Denmark is well known for, and explored the Central Station, where I will be leaving this great city tomorrow morning. I headed north and saw the Tycho Brahe Planetarium. Continuing north, I explored a park, and then the Botanical Gardens. These perfectly masked the feeling of being in an urban environment, but Copenhagen has not been a sore for my eye thus far, but it was nice to have a change of scenery. It was a short walk to Rosenborg Castle from the gardens. This place was very ornate, and there was even a wedding reception taking place in the park where the castle lies. Walking east, I ran into Amalienborg Palace and Frederik’s Church. A little further east was the Opera House, which could be seen across the water.

I had to start getting back to my hotel, because earlier in the day I had met a Colombian tourist named Louis. He had invited me to go pub crawling with him and some Spanish girls he met on his flight. I rushed back to my hotel, and then headed towards the Danhostel, where he was trying to get a room. On my way there, I took note of a rap concert going on in the city square by City Hall. There were a lot of people in my age group so I considered going back there once I found Louis and the girls, and it was close to many pubs. Louis had not gotten a room by the time I arrived, so I decided to order a pizza and drink some beer while I waited for him to get one and we waited for the Spanish girls to arrive. While I was having my meal, I talked with some girls from England and New Zealand. I ended up talking to the New Zealand girl for about an hour, until she had to leave to meet her friends. Louis had not returned yet, so I decided to try and find some night life by myself. After walking down many streets and asking some locals if they knew of any good places, I heard some noise and followed my instinct. It brought me to a group of people about my age, all partying in the middle of a street. After talking to a Swedish girl, I found that it was a pre-party for a rave that was going on that night. Great, that is just the sort of thing that I was looking for! So I followed the crowd to a square by the Old Stock Exchange where we waited for a bus to pick us up and take us to the rave. I talked with some Swedes and Danes, and we even got into politics at one point. It is frustrating not being able to understand what people are saying around you, but luckily Scandinavians speak fluent English, at least the younger generations. After a while, the bus arrived and took us to the rave. The bus driving started pumping up the crowd by getting them to sing Danish drinking songs. When we got to the rave there was a long line, but the time passed by pretty quickly by talking to some people. I discovered that the place was huge when I got inside. There were two different stories and 4 different areas playing different typed of music with different DJs. Each place had its own bar. The loud music made it even harder to understand to locals, but I just tried to blend in a little. Being alone was the worst part, because there were some awkward times when I had no one to talk to or dance with, but with such a big crowd, it was easy to change scenes and explore different opportunities. I think I started to head home around 4 am, but the rave was still very much happening when I left. It took me about an hour and a half to walk back to my hotel, but the scenery of the city at night was well worth it. I feel like I really lived my life that day, which immense historical, cultural, and social experiences. It was the perfect night and day to kick off my adventure in Europe, and I feel very lucky that everything worked out as it did.

The next morning, I decided to see the last of the important tourist sites. The best known of these is the Little Mermaid statue. I headed north and checked out this statue, the nearby fortress, and a small gothic styled church or cathedral. The mermaid statue had many people around trying to take pictures. I decided to get a picture of the statue instead of myself with the statue, because of the crowd and the delay it would have caused. After seeing what is commonly regarded as the most important landmark in Copenhagen, I decided to go back to my hotel and rest, because my feet were aching from all the walking I had done even the day before. After resting a little, I went out for a light dinner at a café along Stroget. The coffee here is great, but I had some strange goat cheese and banana sandwich that I am not quite used to. I guess it will take me awhile to adjust to European food. Still, I would love to try a more authentic Danish pastry some time. I was unable to get one today because it is Sunday and many of the bakeries are closed. I will probably return some time to get myself one if I do not manage to do so tomorrow.

The plan for tomorrow is to leave for Lund by around noon so I can register for my program and get settled in to my apartment. I am looking forward to exploring Lund in the future and getting used to what will be my new home for the next 4 to 5 months. I can say for sure that it is great to be in Scandinavia.

Copenhagen City Hall

coffee and a pastry

a canal in Christianshavn

Vor Freslers Kirke

Christiania

Black Diamond (Royal Library)

Old Stock Market

Rosenborg Castle

Opera House

Rave

The Little Mermaid

Hopping the Pond

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:31:00 +0000

I have arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was a long journey. International flights take forever, but it was interesting to hear all of the different accents and languages being spoken. I was given an aisle seat next to a British family, which I talked to and gained some insight about how they live. I also had a great view of the city of London, including the downtown center, as my flight was approaching London Heathrow Airport. It was in this airport that I had my first pint of ale for this journey abroad. It's fun to be able to drink legally.
The flight to Copenhagen was much shorter, and I was able to take advantage of some of the scenery because I had a window seat. I was able to recognize a lot of what I saw because I have been exploring the region using Google Earth. It was crazy to see these things in real life. After landing, I navigated myself to an area where I was able to buy a train ticket, which was pretty hard because the machine did not use English. I managed to get to the train stop that I wanted, and searched for a nearby bus stop. I had no Danish Kronor at this time, and was able to play dumb and get a ride for free on the bus. I had to walk a few blocks after being dropped off by the bus, but I finally reached the Copenhagen Strand Hotel, where I will be staying for the next three nights.
After getting settled in, I began to explore the city and take pictures. The architecture here is beautiful, in a traditional Danish style. It makes me ashamed and disappointed of the ugly architecture and lack of interest for aesthetic design back home. I visited Nyhaven, King's Square, a big long street that functions as a huge outdoor mall, Tivoli Gardens, and other places. I finally took some Danish currency out of an ATM, and am more or less set up for my stay in Copenhagen. For the rest of the evening, I am going to go to a pub that I found nearby to have a good meal and a pint of Copenhagens finest, either Tuborg or Carlsberg. I will also explore a little more as I head back to my hotel. I have major jet lag, but I will sleep well tonight.

The first pint of my trip, in London

Nyhavn

Strøget

Getting Close to Departure

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 01:09:00 +0000

Here is an image of the region where I will be.

I am getting close to my Departure to Europe. Today I booked a hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark. I will arrive in Copenhagen on August 17th, and will stay at the Copenhagen Strand Hotel for 3 nights. On the morning of the 20th I am going to take a train to Lund to begin my program there. I originally planned to go to Stockholm, Sweden for the first few days, but I realized that I would spend most of my free time traveling to Stockholm rather than visiting it. This has made Copenhagen a much more viable option. There are some sites I want to see there, such has Nyhavn and Christiania. The day that I arrive in Copenhagen, there will be a Mew (Danish band that I recently discovered) concert that I might check out. Other than these plans, I am going to do my best to enjoy European life and try to assimilate into the European culture.

Duration

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 20:39:00 +0000

BTW, I will be in Sweden / Europe August 17, 2007 ~ January 3, 2008 to study abroad at Lund University in southern Sweden.

High Expectations

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 19:17:00 +0000

This is my first post as a Blogger. I can't wait to go to Sweden! I leave August 16th, and arrive on August 17th. I will probably then take a train to Stockholm (it takes about a day?), and spend the next day there (Aug. 18th), then leave on the 19th. My program begins August 20th in Lund, so I have to be there then to check in. I want to visit Stockholm while it is still warm and while I have some free time.