As I mentioned in earlier posts I live in a single occupancy room in a corridor shared with 8 other people; I am one of two international students on the floor, everyone else is from Sweden. Everyone is really friendly and usually tries to speak English when I'm in the living room, so that's nice! We all share a kitchen, and its spotless. Always. It's actually quite impressive. They're all also students at Lund, though a mix of masters, undergrad, and law school. Similar to other European countries (so I've heard) students in Sweden go straight from high school into their preferred area of interest, meaning there really is no such thing as undergrad here. If you know you want to study law, you go straight to law school after high school; same thing goes for med school. While I said straight to law/ med school, I guess I should clarify that no additional education is needed, but it is not uncommon for students in Sweden to take time off before coming to a university.
I guess I'll stay on the topic of school while I'm at it. I got pretty lucky with classes only twice a week for the whole semester (Promise, Dad I didn't plan it that way!). But that's not really the norm for student's here. Most have class on average 3 or 4 days a week. The way the scheduling of classes is set up here at Lund is so confusing! From Sept-Dec I have my Evolutionary Psych class; from Sept-Oct 29 I have my Scandinavia Viking class; from Oct-Dec I have my Gastronomy class (which only meets on Tuesdays-score). Not only are my classes scattered throughout the semester, they're also all over the city. And it changes every time. Please, take this time to imagine me...with no coffee...at 7:15 in the morning...on a bike...in the freezing wind...lost looking for my psych class on a paper map filled with a bunch of Swedish street names I cannot pronounce. DUH you have too googlemap (is that a verb?) the location of your lecture before hand, how else do students get to class...
Lectures are pretty interesting here in Lund. Though the Swedes really like their breaks! Every 45 minutes or so every professor gives a 15 minute break when most students run the the nearest coffee location. My professors both seem kind and speak amazing English. My psych professor actually received her undergrad degree from UCLA ( Goooo brubru's we're everywhere!) and her PhD. at Yale before moving back to Sweden a few years ago. I've met a few other international students in both of my classes. I have one obnoxious English student in my Scandinavia class, and I swear I will never be able to hear an English accent again without cringing. Gah. There's the normal amount of assigned reading and only one type of examination at the end of the course. Also Swedes have "retakes" (called Omskrivning). Literally, the lucky ducks get to retake their final if they don't pass the first time!
The way Lund's academic departments function here is really cool. A lot of the times students in a dept meet up together for events put on by the students themselves. They range from educational things to excursions out to the bars in Malmo. A lot of the departments have "mentor" programs for incoming freshmen. Academic departments that care about the well-being of its students?! What a concept; UCLA psych dept should take note (Molly Betts haha). In addition, each department has a lounge on campus where you can refrigerate food for the day, hang out with other psych majors, or make coffee.
Well that's about it for classes so far! For as ridiculous as this sounds, it's taking me some time to adjust to how much I do NOT have to do here. Seriously, I cannot remember a time in my life where I wasn't in a hurry to fit something in my schedule. I considered getting a planner out here, but then I realized I literally have nothing to put into it! AnnMarie and I decided this is just a part of our "go, go, go" American culture. It's nice to get a break and I admit, I spent the first few days binging on granola and episodes of the show "24" (uh... Jack Bauer is a bad ass and whoever has not watched this show should seriously reconsider their life choices).
Here are some other random things that took place in the past two weeks:
- I got my residency permit card!
-I bought a gym pass; hello Swedish spin classes in pitch black
-I watched both of my stud siblings kick butt on the court and field (least some kids in the fam got talent;) )
 |
| Dad and I hold a sophisticated volleyball conversation during the game |
-I booked a flight to Paris!
-I looked up and saved a billion different recipes (none of which I've actually made...)
 |
| My FAVORITE snack. Living off this yoghurt, fruit, granola and the salads below. |
-I went on a couple runs which, to my surprise, landed me in the middle of Swedish countryside!
-And as my 21st birthday gets closer, I've come to the realization that all I really want for my special day is peanut butter, cookie butter, and twizzlers!!!
Missing all my friends and fam back home;; xoxoxoxo from Sweden <3
Until next time,
Xo
No comments:
Post a Comment