Hej hej fran Sverige!

Hey everyone!

I've been having some major internet malfunctions in my apartment so I'm posted at one of the many cafes with free wifi. Its my 5th day in Sweden and its already flown by. If this is any indication of how the rest of my semester will go I'll be home before I even know it :/ Here's a recap of what I've been up to!

July 31^st consisted of me doing what I do best…sleeping. So since that is relatively boring I’m skipping ahead to ARRIVAL DAY! I flew SAS into Copenhagen, Denmark August 1^st at 1:30 PM.  The country is so small I swore we were going to descend right into the water.  I managed to find my way through the airport to baggage claim where I picked up my over packed luggage, which felt like just about 10,000 lbs. I literally broke a sweat dragging all of it to the train station one level below. Please, take a second to picture me with one rolling suitcase, one huge duffle bag, one hiking 50 liter backpack, and one normal backpack, juggling dollars, krona, euro, trying not to leave my phone and remember which bag I last put my passport in…needless to say I was a hot mess.

At the train station I met my friend Rebecca (also a UCLA student)! Together, we figured out the tickets (biljet); it really helps that she knows a bit of Swedish and is familiar with a lot of the culture and people here! The money is a little disorientating here; the conversion rate is about .67 so the trip from Copenhagen to Lund was 107:- which is equivalent of about $16. So its not as bad as it looks, but don’t be fooled Sweden is definitely going to make a dent in my wallet.

With a little help from the locals Rebecca and I got off at Lund Central where we asked for directions to Lund Accommodations office to get our keys to our apartment/dorms. I thought the treck from baggage claim to the train station was painstaking…I definitely had another thing coming with this walk. Although it was supposed to take 5 minutes, Rebecca and I literally had to stop and rest every ½ block. Once we got there we ditched the cobblestoned street walking for a nice expensive taxi to our respective dorms.

The way the dorms are set up is similar to residence halls at UCLA. Except, each corridor only has 10 rooms each single occupancy and instead of a communal lounge there is a communal patio, kitchen, and eating area. Only two people are currently living on my floor (Delphi F11). 

Anyway I spent the rest of the day walking around the quaint town with Rebecca. 

Lund is very much so a college town so its in “hibernation” until about August 20^th. Its relatively small so we allowed ourselves to just get lost going in circles and familiarizing ourself with the area. From my dorm its about a 30 minute (flat—thank god!) walk to the city center and about an additional 10 to the central train station. 

In the city there are countless hole in the wall boutiques and cafés. The center part of the university has a beautiful fountain and shadey lawn, which will most definitely become my new “Janss Steps”. Shout out to Anya, I’m going to miss nap time “at grass” with you!

August 2

RISE N SHINE…Good thing I brought more than practically 3x my weight in sweaters and scarves becauseeeee, it was 82 degrees today!! 

Today, I ventured around the outskirts of town; Rebecca and I found ourselves at a mall called Nova. To get bus fare you have to purchase a “JoJo” (pronounced yo-yo..all the j’s sound like y’s in Swedish) card which you reload with krona. 

We walked through a parking lot full of Volvos (cliché, but im not even kidding) and got a feel for Swedish fashion, food, and prices (ouch). We purchased some essentials such as hangers, sheets, and of course the world's largest post it pad.

We came back for orientation where we met about 60 other UC students. As for classes I’m taking Evolutionary Psychology, Viking Scandinavia and Gastronomy: Sustainable Eating. Class schedules here are strange; most are rotating meaning they don’t meet at the same times, days, or even places every week. So that should be interesting…lets see how many I will actually find! Also the UC system is very structured with classes all beginning and ending on one day. Not so much at Lund. My Viking Scandinavia class starts Sep 4 and ends Oct 29^th. Others start as late as Novmeber and run until Dec 22 and some take the entire duration. Pretty strange but I’m hoping this works out to my advantage with my travel plans!