Yes I have been super busy this week and
have had no time to post on my blog however no need to fear I have jotted down
everything to fill you all in! So to begin, I have excellent news I do believe
that this jetlag thing has come to an end and thank goodness for that! However
I did fall asleep in a lecture this morning, oops but that could not be helped.
WEDNESDAY
Today was the day we got to visit our
faculty we will be based at for the semester, and of course the nursing faculty
is in the complete opposite direction to the faculty I have been at all week,
so excited to get lost! The faculty itself is in the nicest location and our
coordinator informed us that during winter it is possible to skate on the late
directly out the front!
Anyway you don’t really need to know much
else about my faculty but what you do need to know is that tonight was the
night we made the traditional Swedish cinnamon bun, otherwise known as
Kannellbuller and it was obviously evident that our cooking group were
channeling Nigela or Jamie Oliver because our cinnamon buns were the definition
of perfection. Here are a few photos that capture the processes involved.
After we had finished making our amazing
cinnamon buns it was of course time to eat them whilst having a family movie
night and what better movie than Harry Potter. We have officially decided that
tonight would be the first official night of our Harry Potter marathon! WINNING!
THURSDAY
Well well well, today was the day I would
skip the bus and ride my precious new bike Milly in the snow to uni (I
unfortunately haven’t been able to get a photo of her precious soul yet, but
will and upload ASAP). This was yes a very entertaining, hilarious and death
defying experience! In Sweden as you may or may not know everyone rides bikes
and yes without helmets and on the roads with traffic! I was now included in
this exclusive group and I think made it to school with only falling off once,
nearly running into a car, forgetting to give way to pedestrians and spinning
my back and yep front wheels out in the snow (I got the shakes).
Seriously riding a bicycle in snow is one
of the most challenging tasks ever (like riding on soft sand). I guess it didn’t
make it any easier considering I cannot touch the ground when sitting on my bike
especially when stopping at traffic lights. I guess another factor contributing
to my difficulties was the fact that I had not ridden a bicycle in over a year.
Oh well I’ll get there eventually, the only downfall about having to ride a
bicycle everywhere is the fact that it is so god damn cold here, you literally
are riding with no feeling in your fingers, face and feet, goooooood.
After boring Swedish class and another
introductory lecture it was time to meet our main coordinator of the nursing
course at a cute little café for fika! Yay I’m starting to love this whole fika
business in Sweden but my waistline is not! Hence us Australian girls have come
up with ‘Project not get fat’, this involves healthy family meals, running up
and down escalator stairs when given the opportunity etc really just fitting
anything in whenever we can!
After fika it was sauna time! For those of
you wondering Sauna’s in Sweden are a very traditional thing and yes everyone
saunas naked and then paddles in the freezing Baltic Ocean. The student union
had arranged this trip however due to their lack of organizational skills we
decided to go earlier and make our own way on our bikes J. We arrive at the beach and are informed that the sauna is at the
end of the pier, so in the ocean, it was beautiful with amazing views of the
Oresund bridge to Denmark.
What a great way to bond and get to know
the other international students (girls) by sharing a sauna in your birthday
suit, not awkward AT ALL. The sauna was a little overwhelming and I guess it’s
true what they say about European women if you all know what I mean hahahahaha. We were
all nice and hot and decided to brave it and do the traditional thing yes it
was time to walk outside in nothing and dip in the freezing Baltic ocean (and
by freezing I mean literally sections frozen over).
HOLY MOTHER OF SHEEP this was the most
amazing experience but so so so so cold, I honestly cannot explain to you how
cold it was. But let me tell you the sauna again after dipping in the frozen ocean
was like heaven! Sauna evening was complete so it was now time for round 2 of
our Harry Potter marathon, YES!
FRIDAY
Friday friday gotta get down on friday!
YAY only one more Swedish lesson for the
week and such a perfect time to plan for Emily’s 21st birthday that
I was co-hosting Saturday night. This involved becoming a spy and doing
everything on the sly, running away from Emily, lying to Emily about our
whereabouts and why she couldn’t come, so much fun Lindsay and myself totally
in our elements!
Spy kids mission, successful! It was now
time for the 2 hour bus tour of Malmo which was part of the introductory
programme, and of course we were the back seat bandits learning all about JoJo
cards and that bus drivers love love love it when you buy tickets on the bus
with cash.
Bus tour O.V.A.H and pub crawling time!
This pub-crawl yes was organized by the student union and commenced after a
dinner hosted by the university. The pub-crawl proved to be somewhat
entertaining resulting in me teaching Lars (from Holland) how to speak with an
Australian accent.
By the time the pub-crawl was finished he
had almost perfected;
‘Gday mate, I’m from Tassie and ride a
kangaroo to school.’
When arriving home we noticed that there
was a floor party on level 6! I really am starting to love this whole college
thing, so much fun!
SATURDAY
Spy kids mission #2:
- Successfully purchase and bake cupcakes
Easy peasey japanesie! However cooking in a
shared college kitchen interesting! I am pretty sure we used a cooking pot for
a mixing bowl. An added challenge to baking these cakes, translating the
directions on the back of the packaging, which I must say, is very very very
time consuming.
21 cupcakes for a 21st birthday.
Spy kids mission #3:
- Purchase and make punch
Lindsay and I were getting way to good at
this game and I am certain Em had no idea what we were doing I directly quote
her saying after we told her that ‘I thought you guys didn’t want to hang out
with me’.
It was time to don our masks and party. I
must say an early highlight was giving Em her ‘homemade’ card filled with the
creative and beautifully crafted illustrations by yours truly. The night was filled with drinking
games, boat races the length of the corridor and my amazing DJing skills.
The turn out was actually amazing and I
personally had such a great night! Here are some photos of the night’s events…
Upon returning to the ninth floor Bibi and
I had the munchies and made what some would call a feast! Eggs on toast +
Nachos = so much better than McDonalds. After this we decided that it would be an excellent idea to
conduct a census of our generally quiet floor and see how many people actually
lived on our floor.
SUNDAY
A lovely wake up phone call from mother and
my day of absolutely nothing had begun! So my day of absolutely nothing
consisted of hanging some god-awful curtains that I had purchased the night
before off somebody leaving (awful as in poo brown with roses), cleaning my
room/bathroom and the third sitting of Harry Potter.
But for now that is all I can think to
write and sleepy land is calling my name.
So I’ll love you all and leave you from
Sweden with love,
Hol xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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