student i lund

I love australian to Europe adapters! I borrowed one from a fellow aussie down the hall and I'll be dammned if he gets it back before sundown...

I left for Lund from Malmo on Wednesday morning. I did find some students at the Malmo Youth Hostel just like I had hoped, an Irishman and an American. They became my travelling buddies. Eight hours, a handful of kroners and five ghastly queues later, I have officially become an International Student. I have my own room in a Soviet housing commission inspired student mega-dorm 'Sparta' next to a carpark and a supermarket. I walk around everywhere with a map.

As expected, I have met some amazingly cool peeps from the world over. Everyone is so friendly and warm. It's so easy to make friends but then again, it's hard to tell now who I'm going to stay in touch with as the semester goes on and we all go our different ways. It's also naturally easier to make friends with native-English speakers. Most people speak english extremely well (some actually came to Lund to learn to speak english better).

I am living in an international studentkorridor - its like a little global village with Singaporeans in the bathroom and Spanish in the hall! There have been parties every night at the Nations (more on them later, when I actually get my head around what they are) Last night we had the official welcoming party for the international students. Tickets were sold out but I managed to wrangle one from an American. Suffice to say it went off - in the way that only 800 international students, thousands of miles from home, drunk on cider, dancing to ABBA like it was their last night on earth - could. Lund is quiet as a ghost today, everyone nursing hangovers.

One of the reasons I decided Lund University above all the rest in the world is because of a photo in their promotional booklet. It was of a woman riding a bike down one of Lund's many cobblestone lanes. The evening light was falling softly, she had some books in her basket, her hair streaming out behind. I can be very susceptible to nice photos.

Now I have too become that person. On Friday I bought a bike for 700 krona (about AU$140). It's a heap of crap, and no, one, not even the bloke who sold it for me, pretends otherwise. But bikes are hot property in a mostly student town, and massively inflated prices are the norm for psuedo-cycles held together in some parts with duct tape. When it isn't thudding along it sails like a dream. Helmets aren't mandatory, and no-one wears them. It feels illicit (sorry Dad, maybe i'm still going though that teenage rebellion stage).

Swedish is going well, if a little shakily. I'm keeping to my goal to use swedish as much as I can, even if the residual Australian accent mangles it. For the next week and a half the only commitment we international students have is language class, 3 hours a day. I'm in the intermediate class. The first day I received a dressing down, completely in Swedish, IN FRONT of a whole class of smirking Germans, for turning up late. Things have been looking up though. It makes my head hurt but its good to be studying again.

so that's it for the time being, from now on I will be a bit more regular with my rambling posts. The next time it's sunny i'll pull out the ole digital camera and go for a saunter around Lund so you can see what a fully beautiful place it is.

over and out!