A Year in Sweden: Lund At Last

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.