Linnea in Lund

2007-12-14T17:00:00.000+01:00

Last two weeks in Lund, Pt. 1

It was a busy time! Here's the re-cap.

December 3rd: Today we said “Tack” to our Swedish teacher, Annika, and thanked her for being such a wonderful friend and instructor to the die-hard intermediate Swedish learners (only 7 of us left by the end of December!). We gave her a group photo and brought a treat from Mormor's bakery.

Then I decked the halls the traditional Swedish (and American) way, with an amaryllis and a wreath from the local grocery store:

December 5th: I captured a picture of what southern Sweden would look like if I were to stay for the next four months: foggy and gray.

December 6th-11th: Exams. I was holed up in my room for quite a while. I wrote a 30-page paper (on religion in U.S. public schools) over three frantic days and turned in a take home exam comparing Swedish and Canadian social systems. (I did well in both, but wouldn’t receive my final grades, converted from the Swedish system to the UC system, until March.) You can look at one of my final table of contents for one of my papers on the right. No fair critiquing now -- I got an A.

December 12th: I hosted a taco night for my korridor as a farewell gesture. Not my best cooked meal ever, but they seemed to enjoy it and I got a group picture with most of my Swedish familj.

December 13th: St. Lucia Day and exam day.

I woke up early to join two of my other korridor mates, LH and Lovisa, in watching the nationally televised St. Lucia procession. It's a beautiful tradition. In towns and cities across Sweden, a sort-of-pageant is held and a young woman (between 15-23ish) is elected to be the St. Lucia. The others serve as her “handmaidens” and accompany her in singing and processing.

Sweden’s winters are so long and dark that it's no surprise that most of their holidays revolve around the wonder of the light amidst the dark, the warm moments during the cold winter. Traditionally St. Lucia was celebrated on the darkest day of the year. The Lucia group sings a beautiful song (you can hear it in the video from my Lucia day blog post) and the lyrics translate to this:

The night treads heavily
around yards and dwellings
In places unreached by sun,
the shadows brood
Into our dark house she comes,
bearing lighted candles,
Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia.

Swedes also replicate the tradition at home, and the eldest daughter is often Lucia. (When I was younger, we did celebrated with my godmother's family here in the states.) She comes to greet her family in morning, wearing a long white gown, with St. Lucia rolls (lussekatter) on a tray and a crown of candles on her head. You can read more about the holiday here.

At 8am, I arrived at Lund University’s Centrum för teologi och religionsvetenskap (Center for Theology and Religious Studies) for my final Religion, Violence, and Politics class, which involved a public critique of our term papers. Our professor was late, and we heard people down the hall. Eva and I, wondering if we’d gone to the wrong classroom, wandered towards the voices and poked our heads into a room. There was assembled the entire Lund University Religion department staff, rehearsing their Santa Lucia procession and songs, to be performed in the religion library that morning. When our professor arrived, we begged him to let us (mostly foreigners, who had never been in Sweden for Lucia) go downstairs and watch. We did, and that was the second Lucia I saw that day.

For the exam, my class of ten students sat around a table and our peers (all of whom had read each others papers) would offer suggestions and critiques of our papers. At thrity-pages a pop, this was no small feat for anyone, yet this is standard in Swedish universities. As 90 percent of my grade was based on this paper, I was a little freaked out, but it went smoothly (and I got top marks).

Later that day, I met up with Cheryl, Eva, and Kalela to go to the Allhelgonakyrkan (All Saints Church) to see Lund’s newly elected Lucia process down the church aisle. There was already a crowd gathered outside the church waiting for the doors to open, and when they did we rushed inside to grab a good seat in the pews. We sang Christmas songs in Swedish and watched a children’s choir perform, and then they dimmed all the lights in the sanctuary so only the candles lit the room. St. Lucia and her handmaidens entered the room, glided slowly down the aisle, singing a cappella. It was breathtaking. That was the third Lucia I saw. Quite a day.

2007-12-13T21:37:00.000+01:00

Happy St. Lucia Day!

2007-12-02T18:28:00.000+01:00

Kulturens Julstök

Tonight was the Julstök at Lund’s culture and history museum, the Kulturen. It seemed like the whole city showed up to wander through the open-air part of the museum, where historical Swedish buildings create a cozy little village.

The entrance was a bargain – only 20 kronor for students (3 dollars) – and we got a glimpse at some authentic (and local) Swedish Christmas traditions, which is probably why both our Swedish professor and our UC advisor urged us to check it out.

I drank some delicious glögg, listened to the Östgöta Nation choir sing carols, watched Swedes pig out on hot dogs, including the local skånsk knake sausage, and ooh-ed and aah-ed for some talented performers including some jugglers who tossed flaming torches back and forth.

The museum was all lit up, and with darkness falling well before 4PM, it was a really wonderful holiday atmosphere. I thought the highlight of the night was buying a pig-shaped pepparkakor cookie which was then personalized with MY name.

My mom’s favorite stop would have been the herring buffet. You could try all kinds of pickled herring or “sill” for only 20 kronor. I headed for the lussekatter (saffron lucia buns) instead.

With only two weeks left it’s going to be hard to find the right balance between enjoying the little time I have left in Sweden and getting all of my school work done. Speaking of which, I have a paper to write!

Have a great week,
Linnea

2007-11-30T11:42:00.000+01:00

Think Swedish.

It’s funny how the closer I get to coming home, the more I want to stay in Sweden (even though there were times during the last six months when I would have given anything to be back in California). It almost always works that way, though, doesn’t it?

There is a group on Facebook titled, “You know you’ve been in Sweden too long when…” and it points out some of the more interesting cultural quirks associated with Swedish culture. It turns out that I’ve adapted to quite a few of these norms, and I laughed out loud when I read some of them. A good reminder of how different things really are here.

Here are some of the best ones…

You know you’ve been in Sweden to long when…

…you rummage through your plastic bag collection to see which ones you should keep to take to the store and which can be sacrificed to garbage.

Here’s the deal: not only are Swedish grocery stores devoid of bagboys, but you are also required to pay for your shopping bags (about 15 cents each). They are made of much thicker plastic than the typical U.S. grocery bag and this leads to the stockpiling of bags, which you then reuse: either by bringing them with you on your next shopping trip, or using them to line your trash can.

…you associate Friday afternoon with a trip to System Bolaget and think nothing of paying $50 for a bottle of 'cheap' spirits.

The Swedish government has a monopoly on alcohol sales in Sweden. If you want any drink with stronger than 3.5 percent alcohol, you must go to the System Bolaget. They are only open Monday through Saturday, close by 5PM, and the prices are steep! All of this is an attempt to encourage Swedes to drink "responsibly." Procrastinators line up on Friday to buy booze for the weekend, and the more ambitious and price conscious head to Germany, Finland, or Denmark to buy it for cheap.

…your front door step is beginning to resemble a shoe shop.

Self explanatory. Everyone takes off their shoes when entering a home. Even the computer repairman who came by my dorm several weeks took his shoes off automatically, without any request. Primary reason? Long, snowy winters = wet, muddy shoes. And year-round cleanliness, I suppose.

…you associate pea soup with Thursday.
It's a Swedish tradition: pea soup and pancakes on Thursday. Even for the royal family.

…the first thing you do on entering a bank/post office/pharmacy/bakery etc. is look for the queue number machine.

Swedes don’t wait in lines, except at the grocery store. Almost everywhere, you take a number. Banks, bakeries, the doctors office, wherever. Take a number. Then sit. And wait.

…an outside temperature of 8 degrees Celsius (45 F) is mild.
Even a wimpy Californian like me is getting used to the cold!

...you think that an unripe wedge of tomato on a limp leaf of iceberg lettuce can be called a salad.
Swedish food is very good for the most part, but I haven’t had a really good salad since I left California. While in Sweden, I’ll take what I can get. But one of the first stops when I’m back? Café Intermezzo!

...you assume that anyone who apologizes after bumping into you is a tourist.
This is a bit of a generalization, but Swedes do treat their personal space a little differently.

...paying $5 for a cup of coffee seems reasonable.
Actually, $3.50 is a little more accurate, but a café latte doesn’t come cheap. Neither does a lot of other stuff (clothes, food). The dollar is weak and there are no Target stores here. Suck it up and pay.

...you get offended if, at a dinner party, someone fails to look you in the eyes after raising their glass for a toast.
When you toast, you say “skål!” but you don’t clink glasses. Instead, you look every person at the table in the eye. Always.

...seeing a young woman with lit candles stuck to her head no longer disturbs you.
Sankt Lucia day: December 13th. This is a tradition that my mom brought into our home when I was younger, so the candles-on-head thing has never actually been disturbing, but I suppose it's a bit strange to those who are unfamiliar with the Nordic Christmas! Read more.

..."candles" are a permanent fixture on your weekly shopping list.
When I got out of my class yesterday (at 4PM) it was already pitch black outside. Swedish winters are dark! And cold! Candles are an easy way to make everything warmer and brighter.

...you believe that when you finally win your Nobel Prize, it is best to be modest and say "Oh really, it was nothing!"
Ah, the Swedish concept of “jante.” It’s humility – the idea that no Swede is better than any other Swede. It’s a really refreshing perspective that affects the way one thinks and behaves. (And it is dramatically different from America’s individualistic ethos!)

So, when I come home in December and you discover that I’ve become a plastic-bag-collecting, winter sunbathing, Sankt Lucia girl who takes off my shoes while indoors and walks around saying “California is so warm!!”, don’t be surprised.

Linnea

2007-11-28T22:36:00.000+01:00

Parting Shots

Sunday through Tuesday went something like this:

We shopped til we dropped. We ate ourselves silly at restaurants everyday for lunch, but cooked our own dinner (with salad!) almost every night. We laughed (at ourselves and at the Swedes). We braved the cold weather, bundled in our scarves and hats and gloves. We visited museums full of art and Swedish culture. We spent hours walking around town on skyltsöndag, marveling at the beautiful city of Lund.

We spoke Swedish.... well, a little. My mom spoke a lot, to everyone from cashiers to my korridor mates. I stuck to English for the most part, and used my Swedish skills as usual: only when necessary. For example, I yelled at a taxi driver – at 4:45AM on Tuesday morning – who refused to believe that I had previous experience with fitting large cardboard bike boxes into not-so-large station wagons. (And I have to say, between the two of us, our Swedish is pretty darn good).

And, of course, we had a lot of fun.

Then my mom was back to the States. Vi ses snart, mamma!

Gotta go... I have some schoolwork to catch up on!

Linnea

2007-11-25T10:56:00.000+01:00

Sally and Linnea's Mini-Blog

Sorry for the lack of new blogs! It’s a good sign that my mom and I are having fun. Here’s my effort to recap the last three days in as little space as possible…

Thursday: A Lund Thanksgiving
Our mission to go downtown to find a bowl of pea soup at Gloria’s was fruitless, but we ended up having a delicious dagens rätt (the daily special) at Café Finn anyway. Lunch was followed by some essential Thanksgiving day errands: we took a trip to the Systembolaget for some Swedish jul öl, wine, and other beverages, picked up some potatoes and whipped cream at ICA, and bought some some yummy turkey from Ingelsta Kalkon.

We also did some shopping and found some fun gifts and treats, including some “Super Tomten” themed items. And we couldn't forget to make an essential stop, at Mormors (my favorite bakery!), for a classic Swedish kanelsnäcka.

Our evening consisted of pie making, potato mashing, and StoveTop mixing, and we threw together a very tasty Thanksgiving meal. The Swedes didn’t know why exactly there were seasoned chunks of bread on our plates, but we filled them in on the significance of the American family holiday. To top it all off, I wore the adorable Thanksgiving socks that my dad sent me (thanks, Dad!).

Friday: A Malmö Shopping Expedition
We bundled up and headed for Malmö to visit a Swedish IKEA and doing a little shopping downtown. We spent a few hours marveling at the Swedishness of IKEA (where the people shopping there are Swedes and all the displays are in Swedish). We enjoyed some lax in the restaurant, purchased some candles (now essential given the 3:45PM sunsets) and then headed back into the center of Malmö to wander the shopping streets.

Malmö is really the big city. My mom and I were comparing the Lund-Malmö area to the Davis-Sacramento area (where the former are smaller university towns with a lot of character and the latter are the economic centers with good shopping, lots of people, and more things to do). In both Lund and Malmö right now they are setting up for Christmas, which means that there are trees, lights, and other decorations adorning every street lamp, intersection, and square in the cities. It is a beautiful sight. We also stopped at Gray’s American store just to take a peek (I’m not feeling quite as homesick with my mom here, and I realized how desperate I must have been last time to find this store so appealing).

Friday night was a repeat of Thanksgiving leftovers (mmmm) and some Swedish TV, followed by a good night’s sleep!

Saturday: The Thanksgiving Three-peat
Sun! Saturday morning was sunny! The skies were free of the usual gray, so my mom and I headed out for a quick walk to the nearby lookout (Klosterängshöjd). I often jog over to and up this hill because on clear days the view is fantastic: you can see all the way down to Malmö and the Öresund bridge, all the way up north to Landskrona (and beyond) and even across to Denmark, not to mention all of the rolling Skåne landscape in between.

You’d think that after two meals of Thanksgiving goodies we’d be all turkey-ed out. Not the case. At 11AM, we met up with a group of about 50 UC students (40 studying in Lund, the other 10 in Copenhagen, which is right across the water in Denmark). As per tradition, the two groups meet up on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, first for the Lund students to give the Copenhagen students a walking tour of Lund, and then to join together in a Thanksgiving feast catered by an American chef!

Some pictures of the walking tour through Lund:

The Thanksgiving lunch took place in Falsterbo, a little town just south of Malmö. A restaurant was set up and reserved just for us. We ate delicious salad, stuffing, mashed potatoes, ~~cranberry~~ lingonberry sauce, sweet potatoes, turkey, bread, and later an enormous Swedish-style apple pie and pumpkin pies as well! We all ate A LOT. My mom got to meet all of my good UC friends and I was able to share Thanksgiving with my “other” Swedish family. After we got back (around 4:30), my mom and I walked back to my dorm, under a big full moon (yes, at 4:30!)

Then we accomplished the impossible. It was bike box time… which meant disassembling my racing bike and fitting it into an impossibly small cardboard shipping box so that my mom can take it back to the states with her on Tuesday morning (it is too cold and icy to ride here anymore). I bubble wrapped the frame and all of the more fragile parts, and then tried getting the frame, the two wheels, and the handlebars into the box. We tried one arrangement. And then another. And another. After four international calls (to wonderful Max in California), oodles of packing tape, and lots of frustration, my bike was IN THE BOX. Thank goodness. Here is the before shot. And here is the after:

Whew.

Today we have more planned, and hopefully I will get a blog up about it soon!

Love,
Linnea (and Sally).

2007-11-20T23:10:00.001+01:00

And now, the details...

Our weekend, in sum, was quite a whirlwind. From Friday morning through Sunday night, we were on the move! We visited good friends, ate amazing food, and were treated to a fantastic weekend by our wonderful hosts.

My mom also demonstrated an unprecedented prowess for kicking some jet lag butt. (In order words, she was happy and alert, despite some travel fatigue… unlike me, last June, when I sank into a jet lag coma for five days.)

Friday: My mom’s plane was on time. I was not. My train was over 30 minutes getting to the Copenhagen airport (sorry!) but my mom took it in stride, and when I finally showed up at the arrivals gate we grabbed her bags and headed back to Lund.

After some post-transatlantic-recovery (shower, food, tour of my place), we headed downtown for lunch. We ate at my favorite Thai restaurant, browsed through a bookstore, bought about 200 kronor worth of imported and Swedish magazines at Pressbyrån, printed our tickets, and hopped on the train to Kungsbacka, a small town just south of Gothenburg (about 2 ½ hours north of Lund).

The Kungsbacka area is beautiful. Our hosts, Gunvor and Christer, live in an amazing, modern Swedish house that sits right next to the North Sea. We witnessed a stunning sunset and ate a delicious salmon dinner (Gunvor is a fantastic cook).

On Saturday morning, we were treated to some more breath-taking views of the sea.

Then it was into downtown Göteborg for some shopping and sightseeing. We bought some cold weather gear, including a new pair of boots for me, which Lina thought to immediately waterproof!

Afterwards we headed to a performance at the konserthus: the Göteborg Symphonic Band and Triple & Touch (famous Swedish performers). It was a blast. The repertoire ranged from John Williams and ABBA to Miriam Mabeka and the Beatles. We even sang Pomp and Circumstance at the end (while waving Swedish and British flags). As my mom said, “who knew there were actual words to that song?!”

After the concert, we walked to Liseberg, an amusement park in the middle of the city. It’s all decked out for Christmas, and filled with booths selling traditional Swedish crafts and food. We strolled around the park and I went on a few smaller rides (still open for the winter) with Maja, who, like me, is a roller coaster connoisseur. Maja also seems to have very good luck – last time she visited Liseberg she won a giant Toblerone bar. This time it was a giant Kex bar! 2 kilos of chocolate! Mmm…

For dinner, Magnus cooked an amazing spread which left us all feeling very satisfied. It was a fun, social, and late night, and my mom and I fell soundly asleep some time after midnight. The next day, of course, was just as busy. A tasty Swedish breakfast (cereal with filmjölk or muesli, eggs, cheese, bread, coffee, juice), was followed by a coffee break with Daniel and Viktoria, where we got to meet their kids and see their house.

Finally, it was back to Christer and Gunvor’s for lunch. I won’t bother explaining the family tree, but there were 14 of us! (Christer and Gunvor, Lina and Magnus, Daniel and Viktoria, Johan, Axel, Elin, Ida, Maja, Adam, my mom, and me!) To both me and my mom, these people are our Swedish “family” and it was such a treat to be around all of them at once!

That was the weekend! My mom is enjoying some time in Uppsala and Stockholm while I study and go to class for the first part of the week. I’m sure there will be more pictures and stories to tell soon!

Linnea

P.S.

We are SO ready for Thursday!

See?

Gobble.

:-)

2007-11-18T22:07:00.001+01:00

Sally in Sweden, Part I

Sally arrives in Lund!

A view of the North Sea, near Gothenburg.

Sunset over the sea.

Mom and daughter at a concert in Gothenburg.

Night time at Liseberg amusement park, in Gothenburg.
More to come!

2007-11-15T17:30:00.000+01:00

Linnea's Weather Advisory.

Wear a hat.
And some gloves.

Some long underwear might be good, too.

I would not recommend wearing sandals or flip-flops of any sort outside of the house.

Socks? Essential.

The weather in Northern California was around 65°F today.

In Lund?

Ha.

The high today was 37°.

That was the low.

Yep. Winter just smacked Sweden in the face. Big time. And as magical as it is to wake up to snowflakes falling from the sky, I've discovered that I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to this cold, frosty, icy, snowy sort of weather.

I've stopped riding my bike... both of them, actually. If it is snowing outside, my commuter bike stays locked up, and I take a trip on the public bus. And I've replaced training rides on my road bike with jogging sessions on the outskirts of Lund.

Meanwhile, Swedes just bundle up and continue to ride their bikes over cold, salted cobbles and through frozen puddles and frost. Hardcore.

Hmmm. Maybe it's a good thing that I'll be back in California in January, after all...

2007-11-10T13:08:00.000+01:00

Snow (really!) and the post-party report

I woke up this morning around 11AM and heard what sounded like raindrops hitting my window... except different. I got up, opened the blinds, and saw huge white flakes spiraling down from the clouds.

I ran outside in my sweats and caught this video. Can you tell I'm excited? When I went into the kitchen to grab breakfast, I asked my Swedish korridor-mates, "Did you see the snow???" and they just laughed, nodded, and went back to watching TV. (I'm a silly Californian, I know.)

Last night, a UC friend hosted a "Date Dinner Party Potluck" in her korridor. According to the Facebook invite, there were a few rules:

1. You MUST bring a date (girls can ask guys- no biggy there)
2. You MUST bring a dish to share
3. You must treat the occasion like a DATE dinner, even if it is strictly platonic.
4. Must wear something nice
5. Must bring your own booze
6. You MUST come with a smiling face :)

I asked my awesome friend Steve from UCLA if he would be my date -- no problem! We decided to bring homemade pizza -- yummy. I was armed and ready with a black, the-price-was-right dress from H&M. And since I really wanted to get some studying done the next day, I brought a Kivik's apple cider and called it good.

And, per number 6, of course I was smiling! Most of my good UC friends were there. Here I am with my "date" Steve:

Our four, homemade pizzas were devoured almost instantly:

Lots of wonderful people were there...

Time to write my paper (before my mom arrives next week!)

Have a wonderful weekend,
Linnea

2007-11-09T14:15:00.000+01:00

The Best of Both Worlds

Last night was girls' night. I met up with five of my closest UC friends and we spent hours and hours laughing, talking, and eating delicious treats.

Drawing on the best of Swedish and American culture, we...

...munched on pepparkakor, äppelkaka with vaniljsås, chokladkaka with hallonsås, and some grapes and chocolate chip cookies, too.

...read Swedish Cosmopolitan, British Glamour, and American mags Jane and Oprah (best articles: "is your handbag killing you?" and "kärlek på distans").

...talked in Swenglish about our lives. (“usch!” “vad sa du?” “toppen!”)

...we watched the Little Mermaid in Swedish!! (Hilarious.)

And we tried not to mention the fact that we will all be going home in just 7 weeks. I’m going to miss Sweden -- the culture and the people -- a lot.

2007-11-07T19:42:00.000+01:00

Snow?

Maybe. Tomorrow's forecast calls for some of the white stuff across all of Sweden... except Skåne, of course. See that southern tip of Sweden? Yep. Rain.

Not that I would be prepared for the snow if it did come. I have flip-flops, rain boots, and some grubby tennis shoes for footwear, and I'd have to scrounge up change for the bus -- I don't think I am brave enough to ride my bike to class in the snow!

Still, I can't wait for the excitement of our first snowy day, though it's difficult to anticipate given the wonderful weather we've had over the last few weeks. Swedes have warned me that this is not typical. Between the wet and rainy summer and the warmer-than-average fall, the weather has been very unusual. So I will just wait and see.

This, by the way, is what my the area near my dorm looks like when it does snow (so pretty!):

Snow or no snow, the Swedes are already combatting the cold and the darkness. Since late October, stores have had Christmas ornaments, dishes, decorations, and Santa (tomten?) hats up in their window displays. Same goes for the groceries stores -- I spotted Christmas items in the checkout lane over a week ago. And my Swedish friend told me that her mom has already baked her first batch of gingerbread cookies. Lights... candles... Christmas is coming. I love it.

In the meantime, I am snuggling up in my blankets inside my cozy little room. I turned on the overhead light in my room today and *POP* -- there went the bulb. So, at around 4:50PM, I plugged in the lights on my Golden Gate bridge... homemade decorations left over from a korridor party we had in September.

I've been thinking about how wonderful and warm the weather in California must be right now. And imagine... Americans still have Thanksgiving to think about before they dive into boxes and start untangling strands of lights.

I've got a wintry playlist going on iTunes, and now if I can just motivate myself to get some reading done, it will be a pretty good evening.

Much love,
Linnea

2007-11-04T22:12:00.000+01:00

The Weekend Update: darkness, computers, and what’s coming next…

Here’s a quiz for you non-Swedes. In June, I posted a picture of the view out of my window at 11PM. It looked something like this:

Now it’s November. We set our clocks back an hour, and the sun is setting a bit earlier. When was the picture below taken?

A. 3:45PM
B. 4:45PM
C. 5:45PM
D. 6:45PM

Yup, it’s B, 4:45PM. The official sunset today was 4:22PM, and I am beginning to fully appreciate why many Swedes ditch the country in December and head to warmer, brighter places like Greece and Thailand. If you guessed A, you just need to be patient! In late December, when I leave for home, the sun will be rising at 8:30AM and setting at 3:30PM. (By comparison, during the same period in the Bay Area, the sun rises at 7:20AM and sets at 4:50PM.)

This makes life a bit challenging… if I sleep in til 1PM, for example, I’m left with only 3 hours of light to ride my bike, run errands, and bask in the 45 degree weather before it becomes dark and very chilly. The skies are getting much grayer, too. The solution? One word: CANDLES. (Time for another IKEA trip, I think!)

In other news:
On Tuesday, my less-than-a-year-old laptop decided to go berserk. The screen began to flicker so violently that I almost couldn’t read the display. Bad, really bad. Every international student knows that their computer (and the internet) is their essential connection to the world outside Sweden: I need my email, instant messenger, and Facebook!

I wasted no time google-ing Dell tech support in Sweden. I called up their Stockholm office, navigated a Swedish-language phone menu, and was eventually connected to an office based in Ireland. It took only 40 minutes for the Irish support rep to access the American records on my warranty, help me run several diagnostic tests, and arrange for a Lund-based computer repair man to come replace my screen the next day. Something I never thought I would say: I love tech support. GO DELL! You rock.

Coming soon to the blog, in anticipation of my mom’s visit to Sweden: Linnea’s Guide to Lund (my take on the best sights, food, and night life in town!)

Happy soon-to-be-winter,
Linnea

2007-11-02T16:45:00.001+01:00

Happy Birthday Dad!

See you in six weeks!

Love,
Linnea

2007-10-27T16:14:00.000+02:00

Pumpkin Carving!

I can't remember the last time I didn't carve a pumpkin for Halloween. It's a yearly ritual: finding the perfect pumpkin, choosing a fun design, roasting the seeds...

Well, this year was no different, but it was the first time anyone has ever looked at me strangely for scooping the innards from a squash and cutting holes in it. We set up shop in Karen's dorm and got curious looks from several Swedes who wanted to know what we were doing. "Do Americans carve pumpkins for Christmas?" one of them asked. (We assured him this was not the case.) Halloween barely exists in Sweden, and if people celebrate, it is usually by dressing up, and not by trick-or-treating or making jack-o-lanterns.

Spooky, huh?

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-25T19:48:00.000+02:00

Kan du föreställa sig hur det känna?

I can't imagine what it looks like, smells like, or feels like. But I am thinking about everyone in Southern California and hoping that they are safe.

2007-10-20T13:37:00.000+02:00

De Vackra Pumporna i Bjärred!

This morning I visited Holländarehusgård, a pumpkin patch in Bjärred, with some UC friends.

Halloween isn't a big holiday in Sweden, but stores and farms still sell lots of pumpkins.

The farm we visited, Holländarehusgård, is in the town of Bjärred, and it sells pumpkins as well as "färsk potatis" (new potatoes) and other veggies.

So many pumpkins, so little time. Which ones should we choose?

Big pumpkins.

Small pumpkins.

Everyone had a different preference.

Våra svenska pumpor!

I bought two big pumpkins (one for me, one for a friend) and three small ones (for my windowsill). It added up to about 75 kronor ($12) for 12.5 kilos (27.5 pounds!) of pumpkins.

Happy Halloween!
-Linnea

2007-10-19T14:39:00.000+02:00

I Have The Best Mom Ever!

Thank you so much for the care package!! (It made my day!)

Love, Linnea

2007-10-18T20:50:00.000+02:00

Höstlöv.

I went for a long walk after class today. Fall has definitely arrived in Lund and while it is very chilly, the city is looking absolutely beautiful.

I've been waking up to foggy windows and frosted roofs. Every morning it becomes a little bit harder to get out of bed and leave behind my warm blankets, so I usually bundle up before I wander down to the kitchen for a cup coffee.

Tomorrow's temperature will top out at about 3 degrees celsius (37° F)! Brrrrrrr... It might be time to put away the flip-flops for good.

2007-10-13T23:02:00.000+02:00

Field trip to Denmark: déjà vu?

This morning, all of the UC kids bundled up (it was 35 degrees!) and hopped on a bus at 8:15AM. We zipped up the coast, drove onto a giant ferry, and sailed (bus and all) from Helsingborg, Sweden to Helsingor, Denmark.

Our first stop was the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art - definitely worth the trip. Not only does the museum sits on a dynamite spot, with a beautiful view of Sweden across the Öresund, but one of their current exhibitions, on the work of photographer Richard Avedon, was stunning. Over two hundred portraits from his career’s work, of all kinds of people: his father, vagrants, and coal miners, the Beatles, Henry Kissinger, Twiggy, Bjork, Marilyn Monroe, and Hilary Clinton. Avedon also did some glam shots for fashion magazines like Harper’s Bazaar. But perhaps my personal favorite – just because it was such a time warp – were fifty portraits of prominent figures in the 1970s, including some very young, yet familiar faces: Bush Sr., Rumsfeld, Jerry Brown, and Ralph Nader.

Afterwards we drove up the coast to have lunch and then take a tour of Kronborg Castle, famously known as “Hamlet’s Castle.”

Yep, if you’ve been following closely, I’ve done this field trip before. It was a spur-of-the-moment weekend trip back in July. Lots of fun, and you can see some pictures if you click the link.

Still, it is a fun castle, and this time, camera-free, I was able to enjoy an official tour of the grounds, where we learned oodles about the warring nations of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden back in the 1600s, clever taxing gimmicks for trading ships passing through the Öresund, and exactly why the dark and creepy casemates are there (prisons and soldiers’ quarters, apparently).

Also, one of my fellow UC students, the very brave and sassy Izzy, had a go at some sword fighting against a Danish "knight" in the ballroom of the castle: who ever hits the other first wins… go Izzy!

Then it was back on the ferry! And back to Lund. Time for some studying!

Linnea

2007-10-06T22:36:00.000+02:00

(Not so) cheap thrills.

This morning's shopping trip to Malmö included a stop at Gray's American Store. Behold! A store full of some of the products Americans love best, at extremely high prices (though not so high that I was unwilling to splurge).

You can choose from a wide selection of sugary, processed, and plain-old-American food products, including Bisquick, Aunt Jemima's syrup, Goldfish, Tabasco sauce, Captain Crunch, Pop Tarts, canned pumpkin, condensed milk, chocolate chips, Arm and Hammer baking soda, cranberry sauce, tortilla chips, and so many other tantalizingly appealing things.

My purchases:

A box of Annie's Mac n Cheese: 38 kronor ($5.85)

A bottle of McCormick Vanilla extract: 52 kronor ($8.00)

A box of Betty Crocker brownie mix: 60 kronor ($10.50)

Yikes. In my defense, these were well worth the splurge. Vanilla extract does not exist in Swedish grocery stores (I have looked! I have asked!) and Annie's just sounded darn good. The brownie mix cost was split three ways -- between me and two friends -- along with a large can of refried beans, both of which we will be cooking up next week for shared dinner of burritos and dessert.

I was a bit embarrassed about how sentimental we became over bottles of Snapple, packages of Goldfish, and Reese's Peanut Butter cups, but just seeing the products reminded me of how much I love my home. Sweden is great... but I really do love America the best.

Linnea

2007-10-05T22:04:00.000+02:00

A Weekend in Germany!

Last weekend, I watched Max race in the UCI Road World Championships... an amazing opportunity. Once a year, all of the world's best cyclists gather to compete for the world title, and this year it was in Stuttgart, Germany -- conveniently not too far from Lund, Sweden.

So, I flew down to Germany on a Friday afternoon and got ready for an exciting weekend. It was my first trip to Germany, and I would not only be seeing Max, but staying in a hotel with America's top cyclists -- the ones whom I admire and idolize as some of the best in the world. Amazing. (The first time I ran into George Hincapie in the hall, I tried very hard not to squeal loudly/hug him/pass out. I just calmly walked past him -- and, for the record, he didn't even notice me.)

Saturday was the women's elite road race and Max's race: the under 23 category. I took the S-Bahn from my hotel in Möhringen to the start/finish line at Killesberg Messa. I wandered along the course, caught the end of the women's race, and then waited for the U23 race to begin. Here's Max, zipping by on his way to the U.S.A. tent to get ready.

I figured out very quickly that it would have been well worth my money to buy a ticket for the race. The race planners strategically covered all the fences and barriers around the start/finish area with opaque cloth, so enterprising fans wouldn't be able to peer through the chain link and watch the show for free. I was irked. But I didn't have 20 Euros so I settled for walking around the course and finding some good places to watch.

After the start -- blink and you'll miss 'em! -- I surveyed the beginning of the course. The peloton was in for a challenge: 9 laps of a hilly course, adding up to 170 kilometers.

I spent the first several laps taking pictures of all of the people who had gathered to watch the race. Lots of fans had camped out in RVs and had clearly staked out their spot well in advance. This race was my first ever glimpse of REAL cycling fans. Europeans take their cycling (and their soccer) seriously. I hate to say it, but American cycling fans have nothing on the people I saw. Flags, banners, campers, tables and chairs, TVs, satelite dishes, weird hats... a couple of families were even running cafes out of their RVs (cappuccino and a sandwich, anyone?).

It was a windy day and the barricades kept falling over. The fans, while enthusiastic and a bit crazy, were also fierce supporters of their riders, and quickly helped the race organizers right the fences. Luckily, the U23 peloton was nowhere near when this happened, but earlier in the day, the elite women were not so lucky: about 10 girls got taken out by a falling barrier.

The only mystery: the napping man (see picture). Why on earth would you come to the World Cycling Championships and then TAKE A NAP?? Clearly not a true cycling fan.

WHOOSH... after half an hour, the peloton flew past again. I did, rather fortuitously, get a shot of Max (going at least 30 mph).

The countries most well-represented by their fans seemed to be Italy, Norway, and (duh) Germany. Um... sprechen sie schwedisch? It's been a while since I've traveled to a place where my language skills -- Spanish, English, and Swedish -- haven't done me any good. Towards the end of the day, I had an amusing conversation with an old Italian man where I garbled away in a mix of all three of the languages.

Several kilometers into the course was the steepest climb of the race: about 400 meters long and at a 13 percent grade. (Try doing that 9 times...)

There were some beautiful views of Stuttgart, a city built over hills and valleys.

The laps were long, so it was a bit of a wait to see the peloton pass by again. A glimpse of the TV helicopter was a good sign that the riders were on their way.

The whole world was represented: Britian, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, South Africa, Iran, Malaysia, Venezuela, Belarus, Moldova, Austrailia -- and the winner was from Slovakia!

Max finished the race towards the back, but the important thing was that he finished his first race of this scale. About one-third of the racers who started didn't finish at all! It was exciting to see him do so well, and he hopes to be back next year.

That evening, after running around and figuring out schedules for departing the next morning, we decided to go downtown to relax and eat some dinner. We had just left the hotel to walk to the train station when Max realized he had forgotten his wallet. He ran back in while I waited outside. A minute later, Max came outside leaning over and holding his head in his hands. He said he had hit his head... and when he pulled his hand away, it was covered in blood.

Long story short, Max cut his head on a wall (don't ask), but it was very superficial and the team doctor had him fixed up in no time.

Ouch.

Sooooo, let's try that again. Off to dinner!

We got off at the main station, Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, and I spotted one of those model train displays where I gladly paid 50 euro cents to "drive" the models -- you know how I love trains.

We enjoyed our beer, pizza, and pasta in Schlossplatz at a little outdoor restaurant.

Flying home out of Stuttgart, my flight was canceled! I was really bummed at first, but when I was rebooked on Lufthansa, things got a lot better. Not only did my new flight back to Copenhagen arrive two hours earlier than my previously scheduled flight, but I was upgraded to economy plus! The front of the plane (dedicated to business and economy plus) was very empty: I counted only two other people besides me in the surrounding thirty seats. I had a row to myself and I was served a meal on an hour and half long flight! I was pretty happy.

Auf Wiedersehen!
Linnea

2007-10-01T10:52:00.000+02:00

UCI Road World Championships 2007: Stuttgart, Germany.

I will blog about my trip as soon as I have some extra time! Gotta catch up on my homework first. :-)

2007-09-22T23:03:00.000+02:00

Touring Sweden on two wheels.

Saturdays and Sundays are the best days for riding my bike -- I have time! When it’s A) not raining, and B) not too windy, it’s very easy to talk myself into a spin out in the Skåne countryside.

Last weekend, I rode with the local bike club, CK Lunedi. As always, I showed up at Clemenstorget, and found a group of 15 Swedish men on bikes. Many of them are a little bit shy. About half of them don't speak English very well. And for some reason, they don’t talk to me until we are least 10 kilometers into the ride. But they are all VERY kind. Once we do start talking, it is hard to stop.

Last Sunday, for example, I met Per, who is probably in his 50s. He asked me what I'm studying and mentioned that his wife teaches a course on Swedish culture at the University (a class I almost took!). Stefan, another rider, is in his 20s, and just moved to Lund to study Spanish. He encouraged me to speak in Swedish while we were riding. Not on the bike, I panted, as we hustled up another hill. (It’s hard enough when I’m breathing normally!) Gudmundur, or Gummi for short, is Icelandic, in his 30s, and lives in the same neighborhood as I do! He mentioned that he's learning Swedish, too.

ALL of them dropped me going up the climbs. And I mean all of them. But they waited for me, which was nice.

Today, I retraced part of the 75 mile route that we rode last weekend. Instead of my usual route, which goes southeast, I went due north. I took my camera with me and, since I have a cold, I took it easy and enjoyed the countryside.

I left town and passed through Stångby and Håstad before I arrived in Örtofta. The town is made up of only a few little streets, a sugar factory, and a train station. Also: streets named after fruits (I saw apple and pear…)

Leaving Örtofta, there was another factory…

Then I crossed Highway 104 and rode along the outskirts of Eslöv. Rum och frukost, anyone? (Bed and breakfast, that is…)

Into Remarlöv and towards Trollenäs. Out to Österby, and then it was time to turn around.

On the way back, I caught of glimpse of my future home here in Sweden. Nice digs, huh?

I also saw a milestone, with distances to all the nearby cities. The date carved in the stone said 1927, and it reminded me of the big stone street markers we have in the some parts of Berkeley… or that Mille Bornes card game!

Coming back into Örtofta, I got a different perspective of the sugar factory:

Back under the railroad tracks…

In Örtofta, I took a break to do some train watching. (Something I actually enjoy... I've got a thing for trains.) The route that runs north to south in Skåne is the perfect line to enjoy some train watching because it's the main corridor in Southern Sweden.

Sitting on a bridge, I watched no more than six trains pass by in just 15 minutes (three freight trains, two Pågatåg commuter trains, and one big SJ train due for Stockholm or Göteborg.) See?

It was a good ride. And a good day. I think my cold is already a little bit better. :-)

Linnea

2007-09-20T17:29:00.001+02:00

I ♥ IKEA

(Note: Sorry for the blogging delay! Classes have started, and with the fall semester in full swing, other things have been keeping me busy. But now, here’s the latest!)

Last Saturday, bright and early, we caught the bus to Älmhult, a city located a few hours north in the province of Småland. According to an IKEA postcard, “Forests, furniture, and stone fences. That’s Älmhult in a nutshell.” Actually, that sounds about right. It’s not a very big town – only 8,000 residents – and IKEA is a huge part of its culture. The first IKEA store was opened there in 1958! As the founder of the company, Mr. Ingvar Kamprad, once said, “Älmhult is, and always will be, the heart of IKEA.”

Fun fact: Did you know that the company’s name is actually an abbreviation for Ingvar Kamprad Emltaryd Agunnaryd? (Emltaryd is the farm where Ingvar was born, and it was located near the town of Agunnaryd.)

As you may or may not know, I LOVE IKEA. I had been waiting for this field trip since June (when the rumors of this trip began), and when we pulled up in front of the store, I couldn’t hide my excitement. I pulled out my camera and, along with a bunch of others, started taking photos of the store and the parking lot.

Our coordinators arranged for a tour of IKEA by one of the managers of the Älmhult store, who showed us around, explained her job, and pointed out some of the strategies they use in the store to encourage customers to spend money! For example, they always arrange a display at the beginning of the showroom walkway to grab a customer's attention – the “first buy.” IKEA also designs all those cool rooms with a specific customer demographic in mind, whether it is starving students, retirees, or families with children. Also, are your familiar with those huge wire bins in IKEA filled with pillows, towels, slippers, dish brushes, wrapping paper, and just about anything else? Well, IKEA has discovered that they can sell up to 500% more of an item if it’s in a giant bin than when it is stocked on a shelf. (Now you know!)

IKEA by the numbers…
Year the company was founded: 1943
Stores located in Sweden: 14
Stores located worldwide: 260
Stores opened in the last year: 12 (in Cyprus, Portugal, Romania, and Italy, among other countries. Eastern Europe is their newest market.)
Year the first IKEA was opened in the USA: 1985 (in Philadephia)
Year the first IKEA was opened in California: 1990 (in Burbank)
Items available through IKEA: over 8,000
Visitors to IKEA stores, worldwide, in 2007: over 500 million

Well, it looks like IKEA just might take over the world, and I think that would be OK with me!

Here we are in front of the store with our purchases:

After shopping, we headed over to the IKEA Inn, where we enjoyed a tasty buffet lunch. Then it was off to the IKEA museum, where we took a walk through IKEA’s history and decades of different IKEA furniture. My personal favorites? The 1970s and 1980s rooms.

After we'd had our fill of IKEA-awesomness, we were off to Wanås. As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been to Wanås before, but it is SUCH a cool place that I was more than happy to return. Essentially, Wanås is a giant, outdoor art museum set in a beautiful forest. You’ll be wandering around and suddenly you might stumble upon a giant glass enclosure that looks like a mirage, or ten swings hanging from a giant tree, or recliners made out of logs and bamboo mats, where if you lie down, you hear a voice telling a quiet story. Or, you might happen upon a giant stone outhouse, with room for quite a few people (see pic!). There’s a modern little bridge, a house with no doors, a house with no walls, an enormous metal spider, and a stone pyramid. Each art piece is separated from the others, so you have to make your way up and down meandering dirt paths to find the next one.

I got to be the tour guide, since I sort of knew my way around, and we ran around for two hours seeing as much as we could. Our favorite part, though, was the giant swing tree:

We got back to Lund in the evening, and later I went out on the town with Karen for Lund’s Culture Night. We met up with Emma and wandered around the Stortorget and Mårtenstorget enjoying the music, free coffee and kanelbulle, and watching an acrobatic group perform. Lots of fun, even though it was COLD!!

Next time: an update on life in Lund (academically, socially, and otherwise!)

Hej då!
Linnea

2007-09-14T21:10:00.001+02:00

Le Tour de Sweden, the Final Stage: Säffle!

On August 17th, Max and I hopped on yet another train and headed north to Säffle, the town where my mom lived (when she was 17) with her host family. Our destination? Talludden, her host family's summer house.

It was like taking a peek into the past – the kind of Sweden my mom lived in for an entire year. The house at Talludden was one of the places my mom encouraged me to try to visit, and now I know why. It's beautiful! Talludden sits on Sweden's biggest lake, Lake Vänern. The main house was built by my "morfar," my mom's host father, and is a pleasant mix of old and new. The wallpaper, the furniture, and the kitchen give it an old feel. So does the black and white photo of morfar and mormor. But it hangs right beside a newer photo: Lina's kids with their grandma. There's a new indoor shower, but there's a rustic outhouse next to the toolshed. The rest of the place -- the swingset, the flagpole, the two other cabins, the bench facing the lake – made me feel very much at home.

On Friday, we took a tour of Säffle – through the small downtown area where morfar used to own a shoe store, and past one of the landmarks that I remember best in Säffle (from my visit in 2nd grade): the happy face stoplight!

We also took a walk to the old family house in Säffle, where my mom spent her year with her host sister Christina (siblings Christer, and Göran were already out of the house with young families of their own). (Christer is pictured here on the left!). I also remember the house from my visit 13 years ago – but the property was sold a few years ago (after mormor's death), so we didn't get to go inside.

Then, while Max rode his bike, I hiked through the woods and picked blueberries, chanterelle mushrooms, and lingonberries with Lina and Magnus.

We ate delicious food (fresh shrimp, barbeque, potatoes, homemade lingonberry jam) and took a quick dip in the chilly lake.

On Sunday, I didn't really want to go back to Lund! Säffle and Talludden were so peaceful and relaxing…

But now I'm back. Updates on what's been happening lately very soon (really!!) Stay tuned for a blog entry that I hope to post this weekend: we're going on a joint field trip tomorrow with the UC students from Copenhagen! We'll travel first to Älmhult to see the original IKEA store and visit the IKEA museum (I'm so excited!), and then we'll travel to Wanås Castle in Knislinge. I've seen Wanås before, but it was REALLY cool, so I'm excited to return.

And that's my Tour de Sweden.

Til later,
Linnea

P.S. Happy 24th Birthday, Carl!!

2007-08-31T20:59:00.000+02:00

Le Tour de Sweden, Stage 4: Good Times in Gothenburg

On August 16th, we arrived in Gothenburg (or in Swedish, Göteborg), the third major city on our agenda!

I felt a rush of relief when our train pulled into the Central Station – finally, a familiar sight!! I stayed in Gothenburg during my first five days in Sweden, so apart from Lund it is the city that I know best. It is also home to several of our family friends, including Lina and her family. (Lina is one of the grandchildren of my mom's Swedish host mom.)

It took a little while to meet up with Lina (“I’m between the Central Station sign and the Pressbyrån!” — turns out there were several Central Station signs, and at least three Pressbyråns in the station) – but we finally dropped off the bike box at Lina’s office and spent an afternoon downtown with her and the kids.

We had lunch at the Saluhallen in Kungstorget square, where festivities for the Gothenburg Culture Festival were in full force. We ate our food at a picnic table amidst food stands selling every kind of food imaginable, a big music stage, a craft market, and a cooking demo.

Then Lina suggested we take a fun tour through the Gothenburg’s canals and harbor. Not only did traveling by boat provide a beautiful view of the city, but the high water levels provided an extra thrill – the clearance between the bridges and the water was so low that we were asked to get out of our seats and crouch on the floor.

For most of the bridges, we just ducked our heads…

But this one was really a tight squeeze!!

Afterwards, we walked through the city to a new park next the harbor, hosting more Gothenburg Festival activities. It was fun watching Maja scramble up the rocking climbing wall and bounce around on a giant trampoline while we listened to live music.

Our next stop was the Swedish ship Ostindiefararen Götheborg (East Indian Götheborg), a replica of a trading ship from the 18th century. In 2003, the Götheborg took a special voyage, retracing its traditional trading voyage to Africa, India, and China! A beautiful ship, and one of the largest full-rigged wooden sailing ships in the world!

That night, after a delicious dinner, Max and I took a walk to the beach near Magnus and Lina’s house to see the sunset:

And then it was time for bed! We were anticipating another busy day.

Our plan for the next morning? Liseberg! A great theme park right in the middle of Gothenburg. We rode Balder (a terrifying wooden roller coaster) and Kanonen (“the canon” – an appropriate name, it turns out), got soaked on the Flume Ride and Kållerado, went in circles on the Wave Swinger, danced around in the House of Mirrors, screamed with terror (truly) on the Uppswinget, and took several spins on the Lisebergbanan ("Liseberg Railroad"), my favorite coaster there. We even took a ride through the Fairy Tale Castle, which was a very low-budget version of Disneyland's Peter Pan ride (but Maja loved it!).

At 5PM, we left Liseberg and headed straight for the train station for a trip to Säffle. Hej då Göteborg!

Our visit to Gothenburg, by the numbers:
Length of train ride from Uppsala to Gothenburg: 4 hours (450 km!)
Bridges to duck under: at least 4
Loads of laundry on Thursday night (thanks Lina!): 2
Rides on Lisebergbanan: 4
Random 10-minute rain showers: too many
Weight of the giant Toblerone bar that Maja won at Liseberg: 2 kilos

The next installment: last but not least, Säffle!

Love,
Linnea

2007-08-29T23:30:00.000+02:00

Day Tripper

We interrupt this reminiscent broadcast for an important update: my first trip to Copenhagen! (No, going to the airport to pick up Max didn’t count.)

Lucky me – today I got to hang out with my mom’s cousin Conni and her husband, Charlie, who currently has a guest professor gig in Denmark. They also lived in Denmark in 2003, so they used some of their insider knowledge to show me the city. We had lunch at a great café (an old favorite of theirs) and then Conni and I took a walking tour (Charlie had to go to a conference, sadly).

Talk about great first impressions – what a wonderful city! As Charlie said today, “Lots of bikes, good beer, beautiful sights – what’s there to complain about?” Certainly all of those things work in the city’s favor, but there is something else that made this visit special – my favorite childhood book, Number the Stars, took place in Copenhagen!

I have probably read this wonderful book over 30 times. The author, Lois Lowry, tells the story of Annemarie, a 10-year-old girl who is growing up during World War II, in Nazi-occupied Denmark. I realized that the majority of my knowledge about Copenhagen comes from that book, and walking around Copenhagen, I saw Annemarie’s hometown and story come to life before my eyes: the Amalienborg palace and stories of King Christian X, Tivoli, the Østerbrogade…

And by chance, I spotted an advertisement on our tourist map for The Museum of Danish Resistance – and we made that our next stop. No other sight in Copenhagen is more connected to Number the Stars than this museum. There, I found more bits and pieces of the book's story on display: the Danish Resistance, young people with immense courage; the story of 7,000 Danish Jews who escaped the Nazis, many of whom fled to Sweden by boat; the complex political decisions made by the Danish government and King to protect their people from the Nazis. It was a very powerful museum.

Afterwards, we made our way towards the famous Little Mermaid Statue, but first we stopped to admire an enormous, imposing fountain (the largest monument in Copenhagen) called Gefionspringvandet, or in English, the Gefion Fountain. It features the legend of the Norse goddess, Gefion, who was promised by the Swedish King Glyfi all the land she could plow in a day and a night. She turned her sons into oxen and went to work. As legend has it, all that earth was then thrown into the sea to become the island, Zealand, on which Copenhagen is located.

After snapping a shot of Den Lille Havfrue sitting on her rock, we walked through the Kastellet, a fort from the 17th century, and then back through the city to the train station to meet Charlie.

We had a delicious Carlsberg beer and called it a day! I'm already looking forward to going back.

Oh, and I also picked up a small souvenir:

More on the final stages of my Tour de Sweden coming soon.
Linnea

2007-08-27T23:58:00.000+02:00

Le Tour de Sweden, Stage 3: Undeniably Uppsala

Stockholm, while amazing, was a bit of a whirlwind tour, so I was happy to take an hour-long train ride north to Uppsala for a few relaxing days. This time around, our oh-so-gracious hosts were my mom’s Swedish “host sister,” Christina, and her daughter Matilda, who is living at home for the summer.

Matilda served as a fantastic tour guide for our first day in Uppsala (August 14th) and helped us plan out our second day as well. It was so fun to see Matilda again -- the last time was when she was 13 year old (and I was 10) and she stayed with my family in California for the summer.

Day One:

The Domkyrkan! Our first stop in Uppsala was the giant domkyrkan, or cathedral. It seems that almost every city in Sweden has an ancient church in the middle of downtown. Uppsala is no exception. The Uppsala Domkyrkan, however, has earned some bragging rights – it is the largest and tallest church in Scandinavia. The building’s construction began waaaay back in 1245 and it absolutely towers above everything else in the city. It’s also home to the relics of Saint Erik and Carl Linnaeus’ grave.

Everything Linnaeus. Every town, city, and state in Sweden is celebrating the 300th birthday of Carl Linnaeus, the world famous Swedish scientist and botanist. Uppsala, dubbed “the city of Linnaeus,” has really pulled out the stops because it was this city that Linneaus called home for much of his life. There is even a special Linnaeus Bus to take you from one Linneaus attraction to another!

We visited the Linnéträdgarden, and I got my first glimpse ever of a REAL Linnea flower, linnaea borealis.

It was dried, not alive, but I have only ever seen the tiny, pink bellflower in pictures, so it was a bit of a thrill to see it in person and not just on paper. The garden was beautiful, as was Linneaus’ house. It’s the oldest botanical garden in Sweden, with about 1300 species. Not bad. I love that my name is connected to such an interesting and famous scientist.

Christina took Max, Matilda, and me out to dinner on Lake Mälaren. The food and the view were fantastic, and we had a brief celebrity sighting: Thomas Fogdö, a very successful Swedish downhill skier who, in a training accident in 1995, became paralyzed from the waist down. He’s still in great shape and uses his fame to motivate others and economically support the rehabilitation of injured athletes – pretty cool.

Day Two:

Uppsala’s History and Culture.We spent the morning walking to Uppsala Castle and meandering through Uppsala University’s Botanical Gardens – magnificent. Over 9000 species, several fountains, and, you guessed it, more exhibits on Linnaeus.

We also went to University of Uppsala’s Museum Gustavianum which was full of interesting things, including objects created (or belonging to) famous Swedes like Carl Linneaus and Anders Celsius, as well as Egyptian artifacts and an anatomical theater (where medical students and the general public could observe the dissection of corpses – mostly executed criminals – until the late 1700s!).

Later in the day, we went to the Museum of Uppland. The price was right (free) and they had some great exhibits on indigo, the history of Uppsala from the Viking Age until today, and a children’s corner where I introduced Max to some of my favorite Swedish books: Sven Nordqvist’s Festus and Mercury, the adventures of a funny old farmer and his cat.

We wrapped up our day in Gamla Uppsala (“Old Uppsala”), where the history of the city really begins. There are three huge 6th-century burial mounds, and the Old Uppsala church, which was built on top of the ruins from a pagan temple.

A few other fun snapshots from Uppsala:

The sign is supposed to say, Turistbussar (“tourist busses”) but someone has edited it so it now reads turistpussar (“tourist kisses”). :-)

At the botanical garden there was a huge bench -- definitely an opportunity for silly pictures. Even Max's legs were dangling (he's 6'1"!) .

Last but not least…

Our visit to Uppsala, by the numbers:
Pictures taken: over 200
Designated “Sightseeing in Uppsala” landmarks visited: 9 out of 13
Delicious dinners: two (thanks Christina!)
Liters of ice cream consumed: several
"Fun" rating (out of 10): 11

The next installment: Gothenburg!

‘Til next time,
Linnea

2007-08-24T14:27:00.001+02:00

Le Tour de Sweden, Stage 2: Sightseeing in Stockholm

We only stayed in the archipelago for a night (easily too short of a stay), but our agenda called for us to return to Stockholm to explore the city.

We were able to visit two other family friends, Jacob and Lovisa (siblings, and the grandchildren of mom’s my Swedish host mother), who both live in Stockholm. Jacob housed Max’s bike for a night and then cooked us a wonderful dinner when we returned. Lovisa graciously lent us her apartment so we had a place to stay in the city, free of charge! What a deal.

Stockholm is a gorgeous city. It’s sometimes called “the Venice of the North” because the city is built on 14 islands and surrounded by waterways. Wherever you live in the city, it is easy to find a canal or a lake where you can fish, boat, or swim (the water tends to be very clean.) The subways are breathtakingly cool (click on this link to see what I mean) and make getting around the city a breeze. People were friendly, and the weather was amazing, which definitely contributed to how much we enjoyed our visit.

August 13th was the day we dedicated to exploring Stockholm. The day before, we had purchased the Stockholm Card – for about $40, we got 24-hours of unlimited public transit trips, free admission to “over 75 attractions!” and the convenience of carrying around a simple piece of paper rather than kronor of all denominations. It all added up to a pretty good deal, considering the admission to many museums was between $9 and $15 and each Tunnelbana (subway) ride was $3!

The obvious strategy was to spend all day trying to visit as many attractions as reasonably possible. It was an exhausting day, to say the least!

Highlights:

The Vasa Museum! Anyone who goes to Stockholm but doesn’t visit this museum is crazy! The Vasa was a huge Swedish warship constructed in the 17th century. Only a mile into her maiden voyage, due to insufficient ballast and poor design, the boat capsized in the Stockholm harbor. In 1961, after more than 300 years, the boat was discovered, salvaged, and reconstructed. The boat now sits inside the museum and it is massive! Since I last visited the museum (when I was eight years old), they have remodeled the museum and the history component is fantastic. Well worth the visit! (Picture snagged from Stockholm Visitors Board.)

Skansen. Have you ever visited Colonial Williamsburg? Sturbridge Village? Well, Skansen is Sweden’s outdoor “living history” museum, and it outshines all of the places like it that I’ve seen – probably because it was the first of its kind in the world. (And it’s huge! Check out its map!). My guidebook hit the nail on the head when it said, “Partly because of the attention paid to accuracy, and partly due to the admirable lack of commercialization, Skansen manages to avoid the tackiness associated with similar ventures in other countries.” It was very enjoyable.

The boats. Our Stockholm Card allowed us to take the ferries from island to island for free, so we took a nice ride from Norrmalm (the city’s modern, commercial center) to Djurgården, a beautiful green island that is home to the Vasa Museum, Skansen, and Gröna Lund. (Aerial picture also snagged from Stockholm Visitors Board). We also took a canal boat tour around Djurgården and learned a little bit about the history of the area. It was a nice tour and it was equally pleasant to have the opportunity to sit down for an hour!

The History. Take Gamla Stan, for example. The “old town” section of Stockholm has been around since the 13th century, and has plenty of tiny alleys, walkways, and restaurants to explore. Stockholm has royal palaces, a medieval museum, an ancient cathedral… and what other city has a 340-year-old reconstructed warship sitting in a museum? You tell me.

Getting lost. It’s really easy to get lost in old cities. The streets are never set in a nice, even grid, so part of the fun is wandering around with almost no idea where you area. Thankfully, the city really isn’t that big, so you’ll inevitably run into a bridge, canal, or building to reorient yourself.

Craziest moments:

Repacking the bike box in the middle of Västra Skogen. We thought we might be able to take the bike (sans box) on the subway. The station agent on duty sternly told us otherwise. Mr. Station Agent then watched in amazement as, in less than 10 minutes, we disassembled Max’s bike in the plaza just outside the station’s entrance and fit it inside the box. Poof! Bike? What bike? We were let through the subway entrance gate with a smile of wonder.

The Muffin Café. AMAZING GOURMET MUFFINS. Wow. And wow again. (Highly recommended. I think it’s on Drottningsgatan).

Vilda Musen! The “Wild Mouse” ride at Gröna Lund amusement park. You had to pay per ride (we had free admission to the park), so we chose one ride, and we chose right! A wild little roller coaster. Such a blast.

And finally…

Our Stockholm visit, by the numbers:
Boat rides: 3
Subway rides: at least 10
Bike box toting stints: 2 (could have been worse)
Hours spent looking for a restaurant we couldn’t find: 1 ½
Hours spent ~~trying to repair camera~~ buying a new camera: 3 ½
New cameras: 1! (Didn't get to use it til Uppsala, though.)
Soccer fans spotted on the subway on their way to the big game (Djurgarden IF vs. Hammarby IF): hundreds and hundreds!
Drunken soccer fans we saw get arrested: 1
Hours of fun: lots and lots!

The new camera:

The next installment: off to Uppsala!

Keep reading, keep commenting, love,
Linnea

2007-08-23T23:48:00.001+02:00

Le Tour de Sweden, Stage 1: The Stunning Stockholm Archipelago

My mom’s been nagging me to get on with the blogging, so here I am! I’m back. Let’s get started:

Max and I left Lund on the 11th with an agenda: visit lots of family friends and explore Sweden! Our first stop? Stockholm.

The four-hour train ride was a breeze. Unfortunately, we ran into some trouble once we arrived at Central Station in Stockholm, where navigating through the station, the subway, and the city with Max’s bicycle became a major hassle. When I originally envisioned this tour of Sweden, I had not anticipated that we (er… Max) would be toting a giant plastic box with us (see previous post to get an idea of the scale of this thing).

But there was no other option! Max was invited to a big five-day bicycle race in Switzerland (which started after our tour of Sweden ended), which meant he needed to ride. So, along came the bicycle. Just imagine the challenge of negotiating escalators, train aisles, tiny elevators, stairs, stairs, and more stairs with this box! In short, it was a difficult addition to our vacation, but Max handled it very well, and it all turned out okay.

We dropped the box off at Jacob’s apartment in Stockholm and then we took a nice hour long walk along one of the city’s many canals. All the Swedes were out and about, enjoying the beautiful weather, and we got our first glimpses of downtown Stockholm and Gamla Stan (old town) before we arrived at Slussen to hop on a bus out to the island of Värmdö, in the Stockholm archipelago.

In the archipelago, we met Tomas, an old family friend. Tomas and his family (Anna, Britt, and Elin) were very welcoming, and Max and I had our own little cabin at their summer house. After we arrived, we went blueberry picking with Tomas and Anna (Tomas’s wife). I couldn't help but think of one of my favorite childhood stories, Blueberries for Sal, when we found a great patch of bushes where the berries were so plentiful you could stand in one place for five minutes and just pick, pick, pick.

We gathered two huge buckets full of berries and enjoyed eating them for breakfast the next morning. We finished our day with a swim in a lake that is only a five minute walk from the house and Tomas’s mother, Britt, cooked us an amazing salmon dinner. We enjoyed the summer light and talked late into the evening.

The next day, after a morning swim, we took a hike along the small peninsula to see the Baltic Sea. It was fun to explore the woods and we picked more wild blueberries, cherries, and raspberries (which we enjoyed on the spot). When we neared the shore, Tomas stopped to show us some amazing rock pools that were formed thousands and thousands of years ago when the area was covered with glaciers.

The holes are massive, and Tomas suggested that I take a picture with a person in the frame in order to show the scale. I got a not-so-great shot of Max, and decided to move to a better place to take another picture. I made to step down one of the smooth, damp rocks when I slipped and fell BAM! down the rock.

I slid down the rock on my forearms and back, which left some nice scrapes on my arms and attractive dirt smudges on my clothes. I recovered fairly quickly from the shock and felt very lucky that I had escaped injury free (the only real blemish was my embarrassment at falling after Tomas had warned us about 20 times to be careful on the slippery rocks). But then I looked down at my camera, which I had been holding in my hand when I fell.

It was broken. Smushed. Toast. Well, crap, I thought. That was really dumb. That’s when I really started feeling shaken, stupid, embarrassed, and massively disappointed. I had broken my camera (my mom’s camera, actually) on day TWO of my vacation, without so much as taking a picture of the Baltic Sea.

But such is life. You move on. The day got better once we returned to the house – another swim in the lake, a delicious smörgåsbord for lunch, and a pleasant bus ride back to Stockholm.

So, forgive me for the lack of pictures! I was unable to take any more pictures of Värmdö. Or too many more of Stockholm. The next day, I tried to get a same day repair but failed, so my parents just said, “buy a new one.” And I did.

In sum...

Our Värmdö visit, by the numbers:
Broken cameras: 1
Mosquito bites: 23 (really, I counted).
Beautiful sunsets: 2
Buckets of blueberries: 2
Swims in the lake: 3
Delicious meals: 3
Bike boxes to tote: zero!

The next installment: life in the big city of Stockholm.

Keep reading!
Linnea

2007-08-14T11:30:00.000+02:00

A brief intermission.

I'm on vacation. And I have almost no reliable access to internet.

So, you're going to have to wait a week or so to hear about my adventures in Stockholm (it was awesome), Uppsala (where I am right now!), Göteborg, and Säffle.

It's been great so far! Pictures and stories to come.

Kram (hug),
Linnea

2007-08-10T12:53:00.000+02:00

Three days late...

...his bike arrives!! (and in one piece, too!)

2007-08-08T18:38:00.001+02:00

Another beautiful day, another trip to the beach.

And why not? Max arrived last night. I zoomed over to Copenhagen on the train to pick him up and after an hour and half, we zoomed back across the Oresund and up to Lund.

We've been a little stressed out because while he made it here safe and sound, his $6000 racing bicycle did not. It's officially "delayed baggage," but in truth KLM has no idea where it is. In a few weeks, he's traveling to Switzerland to compete in a race there, so he kind of needs it... but no word from KLM yet. So, a trip to the beach was definitely in order.

This afternoon it hit 80 degrees in Lund, perfect weather for a seaside picnic in Lomma.

The water there is cold! (Not as cold as the Pacific, but still chilly.) It's also very, very shallow. Look closely in the pictures... you can see that the people who are a hundred feet out into the water are still only waist deep. There must be a drop off somewhere, but we didn't swim out far enough to find out.

There was also a huge rain cloud that was thundering over Malmö, about 15 km south of where the beach is. It looked (and sounded) pretty threatening, but luckily it never rained, and it provided some convenient shade and thinned out the beach a bit (I think some people packed it in early).

Tonight we're going to visit the Museum of Sketches, which I visited a few weeks ago but is worth another trip. Check out their website for more info.

On Saturday we will leave for Stockholm. I'm very excited!

Linnea

2007-08-07T12:45:00.001+02:00

Jag är på semester! (I’m on vacation!)

Seven weeks ago, I had just finished my final exams at UC Davis. I spent five frantic days packing (and panicking), and then took off for Sweden, where I was surrounded by new people and new things, overwhelmed by culture shock, and thrown into Swedish classes (with lots of homework), pretty much from the get go.

Now, with my classes finished, I finally get to enjoy my summer vacation! I am absolutely relishing the beautiful sunny weather (no rain, finally!) and waiting for Max to arrive so we can travel around Sweden.

Lund’s downtown was bustling with people on Saturday. As we walked through one of the main squares, Stortorget, we saw a group of Swedish musicians playing traditional tunes (that is city hall in the background). Several couples were dancing and onlookers clapped with the rhythm of the music. We stopped for a minute to take it all in. What a great city – this is one of the first times I’ve been in town on a weekend with nice weather, and everybody was out enjoying the sunshine, standing in line for glass (ice cream), and strolling through the city.

While downtown was nice, this is what was on my agenda: Lomma, a nice beach about 30 minutes west of Lund. Everyone in southern Sweden is thrilled to see some sunshine, and the beach was packed with bathing suit clad babies, frisbee and beer-toting youth, and vuxna (adults) too.

Melissa is one of the students who is only here for the summer, and we agreed that a trip to the beach was exactly what we needed to relax after stuffing our brains with Swedish grammar and verb conjugations.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. From the beach you could see Malmö and the Öresundsbron (the Oresund Bridge, which connects Sweden and Denmark). Sailing boats were gliding out of the small harbor out into the sea… I wish I knew someone with a boat!

Max arrives very, very soon, and then we are off to Stockholm, Uppsala, Göteborg, and Säffle (the town where my mom lived for a year!) by train. Should be fun!

More soon,
Linnea

2007-08-02T08:31:00.000+02:00

Last day of Swedish class!

And then no more classes til September. Our big exam is tomorrow -- wish me luck!

Linnea

2007-07-29T21:28:00.000+02:00

Panorama-rama: Excursion #5
Helsingborg and Kullen

My fifth week of classes looked something like this:

20 hours of Swedish class.
5 hours (at least) of homework.
1 lecture (about Swedish film!)
3 field trips (first to the Museum of Sketches for Public Art, second to the Botanical Gardens in Lund, and third to the Folketspark for a night of Swedish folk music and traditional dance).

A fun week, no doubt, but add Thursday night’s cocktail party to the list, and by Friday evening, I was feeling pretty tired. The idea of getting up at 7AM on a Saturday morning to travel with 80 other people to Helsingborg and Kullen didn’t sound too appealing.

Nevertheless, I dragged myself out of bed in the morning, took the bus into town, bought a sandwich at Mormor’s (the best bakery ever, with the exception of Berkeley’s Cheeseboard), and boarded the bus.

First stop: Dunkers Kulturhus in Helsingborg.

As the Swedish name probably suggests, the “kulturhus” is quite literally a “culture house,” containing a concert hall, theaters, Helsingborg’s local school of music and the arts, a café, a recording studio, an exhibit on the history of Helsingborg from the Ice Age until today, and modern art exhibitions (hence the banner with the giant mole in the picture).

“Dunkers” refers to Henry Dunker, dubbed “the Galoshes King.” Dunker ran a large rubber factory in Helsingborg in the 1880s, Helsingborgs Gummifabrik. He became the richest man in Sweden by producing a huge variety of rubber products, including tires, balls, shoes, rubber bands, weather stripping, and, of course, rubber boots (indispensable gear here in Sweden!). He was know both as an industrialist and a philanthropist, and when he died in 1962 he donated his fortune to the city. Thanks to Dunker, Helsingborg now has created Dunkers Kulturhus, Kultusmagasinet (museum), the Helsingborg campus of Lund University, and new seating in the Helsingborg stadium.

As we left Helsingborg, the skies looked rather threatening, and I worried that we might get rained on later in the day. Our next stop was Kullen, home to Kullaberg Nature Reserve. Luckily, as we drove up the coast, the weather stayed clear. We had some spectacular views of the water and we could see Denmark across the sea.

Sweden is gorgeous. I know I’ve said this before, but I am blown away every time I go to another part of the country (and to think I’ve only really seen Skåne!) You can tell Swedes really love their nature, and rightly so. Kullaberg offered yet another stellar opportunity to witness Swedish nature at its best. Bring on the panoramic shots:

The unique thing about Kullaberg is that it’s very much unlike the typical landscape of Skåne. The town of Kullen lies on a peninsula and Kullaberg is on a mountain that rises above it. The slopes are extremely steep and end in sheer cliff drop offs, which makes it all the more gorgeous and equally treacherous. Fortunately, if you stick the marked paths and/or paved roads, it’s very safe and the views were breathtaking. This was the first coordinated excursion I’ve made where it wasn’t raining (finally!) and the beautiful weather was a great bonus.

Kullaberg was very windy (as you can see in the pictures), but we managed to find a more sheltered spot to each lunch, and enjoy the view. There is a lighthouse at the highest point of the “mountain” (it’s really more of a very large hill) that is Scandnavia’s strongest light. It makes sense, as this peninsula juts out into the Öresund between Sweden and Denmark, a passage for many ships —- you wouldn’t want to run ashore. In the picture above, we're looking down to the shore below -- it's hard to get a feel for the scale, but we're about 175 meters up (about 575 feet).

Definitely worth the trip!
Linnea

2007-07-29T21:20:00.000+02:00

I love to ride my bicycle.

Did I ever mention that I eventually did find my way out of town on my bike?

The very first bike ride I went on in Sweden was with the local bicycle club – a bunch of guys, most of them over 30 and several of them in their 50s (or older). We took a twisting, turning route out of town and rode 45 miles at a blistering pace that was a bit of a challenge for my haven’t-ridden-a-bike-in-a-month, out-of-shape self. (I was a bit humbled by the 65 year old who easily rode me off his wheel!) By the time we got back, I was sweating profusely and could barely see straight, and I figured I would never again successfully retrace that route.

On my not-so-great bike ride a week ago, I got lost. I never made it out of Lund. That meant it was time to re-strategize.

I choose a different side of town for my attempt to "escape" from Lund. After making 20 wrong turns and backtracking down Lund’s winding, cobbled streets, I finally rode beneath the freeway overpass and made it out of town! How liberating!

The scenery is a bit like riding on the outskirts of Davis. Very agricultural (and hence, lots of bugs), not too many cars, beautiful fields, cows… except that I think it’s even more beautiful here. The landscape in Lund is also a bit hillier; instead of the pancake flat California central valley, the roads are rolling, with small humps here and there. The roads are also not set out in a giant grid, they curve around and through the small towns. All in all, it’s beautiful!

I rode ten miles out of town before I decided I would continue to retrace the group ride route another time (since I was going “out and back”). A 20-miler: not too shabby, but also not up to my usual standards.

So, I enjoyed the beautiful Swedish countryside while cruising through tiny towns just outside of Lund: St. Råby, Bjällerup, Kyrkheddinge, and Dalby. I stopped to take pictures about every 3 minutes on the way out, and then relished the scenery on the way back. It was a great ride and beautiful weather, given that we’ve been getting a LOT of rain! Too much, in fact. And I’ve heard that massive storm front that has been causing damage in England is on it’s way to Sweden this week! Oh dear…

Linnea

2007-07-27T23:32:00.000+02:00

Fest i Sverige: Party in Sweden!

Last night, one of the student korridors hosted a cocktail party that we dubbed “Sverige’s Finest.” About 30 of us (Swedes and Americans) spent the evening dancing and having a grand ol’ time.

We’ve all agreed that we feel very lucky to have ended up with such great peers in this study abroad program. We’ve only known each other for five weeks and we come from seven different University of California campuses, and yet we all share one thing: we want to be in Sweden. We all have a reason for choosing this country, whether it be the presence of family or friends, ambitions to live abroad after college (one girl wants to move here at some point in the future), and the general idea that Sweden is a “cool” country. And of course, everyone is interested in learning a new language.

Some of the UC students are only here for the summer, which means they will be done next week! Yikes. Where did those six weeks go? All the people staying for the year and the fall are sad to see them go. We’re already making plans to meet up once we’re back in California.

Admittedly, one of my greatest fears about studying abroad was that I wouldn’t like my peers – or they wouldn’t like me. This has not been the case at all! We’ve all found people we like to hang out with and we’re quite a cohesive group (which may be one reason why I’ve been speaking so much more English than Swedish).

Tomorrow is the last organized excursion of the summer: a trip to Helsingborg. Looking forward to sharing that adventure as well!

Linnea

2007-07-25T20:37:00.000+02:00

Thrill of the week:

A little feta cheese, some tomatoes... voila! Linnea's Salad!

2007-07-24T21:16:00.000+02:00

Excursion #4: Glimmingehus and Ales Stenar, “The Viking Stonehenge”

This past weekend, we traveled to the southern area of Skåne to explore some of the most famous tourist attractions in the area and in Sweden.

First, we went to Hammenhög and toured Glimmingehus, a very large stone house that dates back to the Middle Ages. It’s the best preserved building of its kind in Scandinavia and was home to rich noblemen who constructed the building to stand up to attacks from peasants and looters. It is, of course, surrounded by a moat, but there are other features of the house to protect its former residents and their riches.

For example, the individual stairsteps in the building are very tall. Our tour guide told us that this was a way to prevent soldiers (weighed down by very heavy armor) from successfully scaling the stairs and stealing the valuables on the floors above. On the third floor of the building, there are several holes in the floor that, in the past, were manned by the nobleman’s soldiers, ready to pour boiling hot oil or water down on enemies who had entered the building. The inhabitants of Glimmingehus could also keep an eye out for unwelcome visitors from the top of the roof, where, on a clear day, you can see all the way to Germany.

That said, the building has never actually come under attack. Apparently rumors spread far and wide that it would be a BAD plan to attack this house (and so I guess their defense systems worked!).

After Glimmingehus, we got back on the bus and headed for Kåseberga, on the southern coast of Skåne. Our first stop in town was to walk down to the harbor and eat some smoked fish! Our program coordinators had arranged for a taste test at one of the local smokehouses. I was a little nervous – while I do like fish, I was wary after my pickled herring adventures during midsummer.

We were served two kinds of smoked mackerel (“makrill”) and one kind of herring (“sill”). They were delicious!! It’s definitely worth a trip back to the Kåseberga/Ystad area of Sweden just to get my hands on some more of that fish and to enjoy the beautiful shoreline.

After lunch, we hiked up a huge hill to see “the Viking Stonehenge”: Ales Stenar (or “Ale’s Stones), a 1500 year old set of stones in the outline of a ship. It’s over 200 feet long and is made up of 59 stones. Like Stonehenge, there is a lot of speculation as to how and why the stones got there. Theories range from burial monuments to sun clocks or calendars. It’s pretty cool looking and it sits on a top of a hill with a stunning view! Though I’ve found it’s pretty hard to find a view here in Sweden that isn’t stunning…

Still more to come, but I can only crank out these blogs so fast. I need to go study some Swedish!

Vi ses!
Linnea

2007-07-24T16:57:00.000+02:00

Malmö, Malmö, Malmö, MFF! Malmooooooooö!

Looks like I need to back track a little bit, so let’s go back in time to last Tuesday:

At the brilliant suggestion of one of my classmates, a group of us went to see a soccer game in Malmö. I eagerly forked over 165 kronor to see Malmö FF play against Djurgården IF, a team from Stockholm and Malmö FF’s archrival.

Utilizing my 8-kronor-per-ride Sommarkortet, we took a bus from right in front of our dorm to Malmö (Swedish public transportation, how I adore thee) and then walked five blocks to Malmö Stadion, which seats about 27,000 people and was built for the World Cup in 1958.

We stocked up on Malmö t-shirts and scarves (surprisingly inexpensive compared to what you’d pay in the U.S.) and grabbed hot dogs, beer, and chocolate (also VERY cheap as far as sporting events go) before heading to our seats.

Then the fun began. We learned some cheers (see title of this post), the word “goal” (Mål!!!) and how much Swedes love their soccer.

Djurgården IF scored the first goal, but Malmö countered with another goal in the second half of the game. This is how they celebrated:

(This would NOT go over well in the United States… it was pretty exciting!)

The game ended in a tie, which is a shame because Malmö FF’s offense missed a few very key opportunities… however, it was a lot of fun and I got a few really great Swedish souvenirs.

Heja Malmö FF!
Linnea

P.S. Thanks to Karen and Mia for letting me swipe some photos!

2007-07-23T20:23:00.000+02:00

The end of an era.
(*spoiler free*)

I couldn't have been more excited for the last installment in the Harry Potter series. I have been reading these books since I was 11 or 12 years old, and now, 10 years later, we've arrived at the end.

Fortunately, there is at least one other person in Lund right now who is equally obsessed with Harry Potter and this final book. On Saturday, after we returned from our field trip to Glimmingehus and Ales Stenar and the rest of our classmates went back to the dorms, Melissa and I went on a mission. We were desperate to get our copies of the final Harry Potter book before it was too late.

Unfortunately, Lund being the small city that it is, EVERYTHING closes at 4PM on the weekend. The only thing open past 4PM, as far as I can tell, is Pressbyrån (a chain of convenience stores) and the falafel stand (falafel and kebabs are as popular in Sweden as burritos are in California -- a store on every corner).

That meant we had to go to the mall. It took us an hour to catch the bus and get across town to Academibokhandeln, the only bookstore in Lund that we knew was open, and we arrived 10 minutes before closing. We ran through the mall like we were being chased by Death Eaters and magically (ha, sorry) we arrived just in time to buy our books!

I finished my copy last night, and it was GREAT. I won't say any more, because I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't finished, but it was my favorite book so far, really härlig.

More on the weekend soon.

Your Harry Potter fanatic,
Linnea

2007-07-22T23:16:00.000+02:00

Busy, busy, busy...

...hunting down and reading Harry Potter #7, doing laundry, buying groceries, riding my bicycle, writing essays in Swedish, taking field trips, and sleeping in.

I have pictures to post and stories to tell from my latest adventures, so please stay tuned -- I will be back shortly.

In the meantime, enjoy the last Harry Potter book! Oh my, it's a good one.

Trevlig vecka!
Linnea

2007-07-16T20:03:00.000+02:00

Bicycling blunders.
or: "How to Go On a Bicycle Ride in Lund," by Linnea.

Step #1: Gear up in spandex, grab your bicycle, leave your dorm, and proceed to nearest bicycle path.

Obstacle: A finicky derailleur and yucky noises when you shift gears. A trip to the bike shop reveals a bent derailleur hanger. (Non-cycling folks: there's no need to Google bike mechanics. Just know that this was a bad way to start my bicycle ride.) Solution? A $25 fix at the bike shop.

Step #2:Proceed, once again, to the nearest bike path and look for a nice road on the outskirts of Lund.

Obstacle: Get lost in random neighborhood. Solution? Take a picture of the Harry Potter movie poster in Swedish (this one is for you, Aunt Barbie!) and keep riding. You'll get there somehow.

Step #3: Find a gosh darn street that gets you OUT of the city and into the beautiful countryside and endless open road.

Obstacle: Bike path dead ends into a four-lane highway.

And yet another obstacle: Bike path dead ends into a random street.

Step #4: Abandon the concept of riding your bike for real exercise. Instead, toodle around Lund and enjoy the nice weather, take pictures of slides, the Swedish countryside, and bike paths, all while attempting to take silly self-portraits.

Obstacle: The self-timer function is really hard to use, especially when you don't have a good tripod.

Step #5: Return home. Decide that tomorrow's ride will be much better (and include the use of a map).

Obstacle: Treacherous mechanical discovery -- faulty chain ring bolts (one is missing and one is loose.)

Step #6: Shove bike in the corner and wait until Max gets to Sweden in August (or until I have the energy to go to the bike shop again... whichever comes first). :-(

2007-07-15T22:36:00.000+02:00

I love the weekend!
(Harry Potter, sleeping in, and a trip to Denmark.)

Friday morning: the LONG anticipated end to a three week, whirlwind initiation to the Swedish language and culture. Most of us were very nervous about our Swedish exam, which involved eight pages of grammar and a page long essay! We studied, studied, studied, and I think it paid off for most of us in the end. We celebrated with a huge party on Friday night.

Saturday also marked the arrival of a long anticipated event: the fifth Harry Potter movie! (Definitely worth our 100 kronor or $15). Saturday was also the first day in a while that we have seen some sun and temperatures over 70 degrees! A wonderful lazy day…

Today, we went to Kronborg (aka Hamlet’s Castle) in Denmark. (A brief interlude praising the public transportation here: it’s easy, cheap, and amazing. I recently bought a “Sommarkortet” summer pass which allows me to travel any distance, anywhere in Skåne, by bus or by train, for only 8 kronor or $1.25! What a deal!) So, for $1.25, I got a forty minute train ride to Helsingborg and then paid another $3.25 for a 20 minute ferry ride to Helsingør, Denmark.

Wow, what a STUNNING trip.

First of all, I have never in my life been on a ferry that HUGE. The boarding ramp was like getting on an airplane – elevated so that we could enter the ferry on what was probably equivalent to the fifth or sixth story above the water. Huge big rig trucks and cars drove up three different entrance ramps to load onto the bottom levels of the boat. And inside? Three different levels for passengers, including several restaurants and cafes, a grocery store (!), and a big viewing deck. We were all wowed.

Once we docked in Helsingør, we were truly blown away. My two friends, Melissa and Karen, and I kept looking around at the amazingly beautiful buildings, exclaiming, “ooh!” and “wow!” We also, quite a few times, couldn’t help but say, “Can you believe we’re in Denmark??” I get this feeling that in Lund we’ve been so busy getting settled in and learning Swedish that we sometimes almost forget that we are living in a foreign country. We were all struck by the beauty of Denmark – and I think it shocked us back to reality. (“Look where we are! Isn’t this amazing??”) It was a nice reminder: I do need to step back once and a while to truly appreciate the opportunities and experiences that I’ve been blessed with while studying abroad.

Anyway, the Kronborg Castle belonged to Fredrik II and is from the Renaissance. It’s most commonly known as “Hamlet’s Castle” because the castle was the setting for Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In 2000, it was also named as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. It’s a major tourist attraction and we were among people of many nationalities (including Danes) who chose this beautiful Sunday to explore the castle.

For $12, we toured the King and Queens bedchambers, a beautiful ballroom, the casemates beneath the castle, and a chapel, which was the only part of the building left in tact when it was ravaged by a fire in 1629. The whole castle was VERY cool.

It was a great trip and a wonderful way to finish off the weekend.

Upcoming plans: Tomorrow, I start another three week round of Swedish classes and I’m going to reserve a Harry Potter book, and on Tuesday many of us will be attending a soccer match in Malmö. I’ll do my best to keep the blogs coming your way!

Take care!
Linnea

2007-07-14T22:08:00.000+02:00

Excursion #3: Malmöhus castle.

The excursions hosted by the Folk Universitetet are great. They’re:

1. Free (they take care of transportation and entry fees).
2. Fun (a nice break from the classroom and time to socialize with my peers).
3. Almost all located in Skåne (which has given me a much better sense of the local culture and history).

This past Wednesday, we went to Malmöhus Castle in Malmö (about 20 minutes south of Lund.) Apparently, Malmöhus Castle is the oldest remaining Renaissance castle in Scandinavia. Since it was built in 1434, it has housed royalty, prisoners, the Danish mint, and today, the city of Malmö’s Art Museum, the City Museum and the Natural History Museum.

We went on a tour through the original buildings and some of the museum’s exhibits, including one that tells the story of Malmö as a city. My favorite exhibit was one called “Kaffe,” which, of course, recognizes coffee’s hugely significant role in Swedish culture. In my pictures you can see some of the exhibit: old coffee advertisements, a huge tower of coffee (I drink Zoega, the green package, every morning), a breakdown of coffee's magic in symbol form (the text says "coffee = friendship"), and, finally, Melissa and me drinking coffee in the café downstairs. Mmm!

The museum also had some cool natural history exhibits with a dinosaur cave, taxidermied Swedish animals (Moose!! Wild boars! Foxes!), and some live fish and reptiles as well.

Our plans for the weekend brewed while we sipped kaffe and explored the museum. The most popular ideas involved sleeping in and visiting Denmark on Sunday. Friday was the END of the first round of our Swedish classes so people were eager to use the weekend to relax!

I’ve decided to go to Denmark on Sunday to visit Hamlet’s castle with some of my Californian friends. It’s nice to really feel settled in a bit in terms of getting to know people. I’ve faced dual pressures, both from Swedes and from my American peers, to be accepted and to make friends. While I desperately want to be able to speak Swedish well and feel comfortable in Lund, I also want to connect with other Americans, who are (currently) my social circle.

The summer time is making it a little difficult to figure out where I belong. I am surrounding by awesome, English-speaking college students, and the dorms are a little quiet because many Swedes are home for the summer. I’m enjoying myself right now, but I think the fall term will be a nice change, when I will be able to get to know more Swedish students.

Lastly: thanks to everyone who has sent me a message so far. I am very appreciative of the comments left on my blog and the email messages I’ve received. My apologies if I am slow to respond – even in my third week here I am still busy getting settled and studying Swedish!

Hope everyone is well!
Linnea

2007-07-12T22:58:00.000+02:00

Resisting the desire to blog...

I have a BIG Swedish test tomorrow, which means I don't have time to write about what I've been up to! I have some great stories and pictures that I'm ready to post, but it will have to wait until the weekend, after I've finished my exam. I want to blog, I really do, but studying must come first.

However, I got some BIG news from the U.S. today, which is why I am writing a quick blog post. Max won the under 23 National Men's Road Race! This is big! He beat other talented cyclists from around the U.S. and is now a NATIONAL champion! I'm so excited!!

Click on the picture -- it will link you to the article on his victory.

More on Sweden soon,
Linnea

2007-07-06T21:46:00.000+02:00

The Island of Ven!
Usually, a summertime trip to this tiny island is a popular idea for an excursion, but as we stood in the rain at the bus stop this morning, everyone was grumbling. “I hope they cancel it,” said my friend without a waterproof coat. “I am really not looking forward to this,” said another girl wearing flip-flops. I grinned and said nothing, as I was feeling very happy in my new rubber boots, wool socks, and rain shell.

Good news: they did not cancel the trip, and I’m almost positive everyone had a great time, despite the weather.

The Island of Ven is a quick, hour-long trip from Lund. We took a bus ride up the coast to Landskrona and then rode a ferry across the Öresund. Before we docked on the island, people debated the feasibility of the day’s plan – to rent bicycles and ride around the island, which is only 4.5 km long and 2.4 km wide. Were we willing to do it in the rain? Most people decided that whether they walked or rode a bike they were going to get wet, so they might as well do it in style, on one of Ven's yellow, one-speed rental cruisers.

We literally dove in and were wet within minutes (my jeans got soaked, but my feet were dry!) as we sped along the main road which bisects the island. I don’t know who was leading the group, but we ended up arriving at the opposite end of the island (where there is another ferry that can take you to Denmark), climbing up a steep dirt path on foot, and then off-roading it along cliffs bordering the sea. It was a blast.

We toodled back onto the main road and found a café for lunch. I brought my own sandwich but dropped an astounding 40 kronor ($6!!) on a latte, though it was worth it.

After lunch was a tour of the Tycho Brahe Museum, and here is where the history begins.

Tycho Brahe lived in the latter half of the 16th century and was one of the best astronomers of his time. It was Tycho who made the Island of Ven famous – it was given to him as a gift by King Fredrik II for Tycho to do his research. We toured Tycho’s underground observatory and saw the site where the Uraniborg castle used to stand In Tycho’s time, Ven became the center of Europe’s advanced astronomical research..

Our tour guide was very good, and he asked us to remember three things about Tycho:

1. He was an incredibly skilled instrument-maker. He designed various instruments that allowed him and his students to make extremely accurate measurements of the astronomical movements.

2. He was a leader in introducing the concept of empirical research techniques. Tycho insisted on seeking out the facts, rather than theorizing. It was his research philosophy that helped spur the use empirical research techniques in Europe.

3. His research led to some of today’s most important theories. His most talented student, Johannes Kepler, used the data collected by Tycho to establish the laws of planetary motion (and served as the foundations for Newton’s theory of gravity). Basically, Tycho helped shape the modern view of the world – major stuff.

Anyway, enough history – but that’s what we learned! Very informative, especially since I’ve never been the science type…

It was still raining when we got back to Lund, but now it’s FINALLY stopped. I’m hoping it stays dry for at least a day! I would like to see some sun!

Trevlig helg! (Have a good weekend!)
Linnea

2007-07-05T21:46:00.000+02:00

By the way...
Feel free to comment on my blog postings, even if it's just to say hello! It's nice to know who's reading my blog. :-) Just click the "comments" link at the end of each post.

We're getting lots of rain in southern Sweden. It's causing problems in areas like Småland, where dams are bursting, and generally making everyone in Sweden grumble -- you call this summer? Where's the sun??

The 4th of July was a bit rainy but cleared up just in time for an 8PM BBQ on the lawn outside my dorm, complete with beer, meat, apple crisp, and thirty rowdy American and Swedish students. Lots of fun! Today, it poured, and when I walked past yesterday's BBQ spot, it was flooded with five inches of water! (I keep telling the rain to move along to somewhere it's needed, like California, but it's not listening to me so far.)

Tomorrow: Island of Ven. In the rain. :-) I'll keep you posted!
Linnea

2007-07-04T23:48:00.001+02:00

“Keep on truckin’”
Culture shock is something that I have experienced before. I've done a lot of traveling and Malawi, Mexico, and Thailand all have people, food, languages and customs that are overwhelmingly different from those I am used to in America.

When I chose to study in Sweden, I honestly didn’t expect it to be that much of a change from living at home. Usually when I travel my appearance gives away my foreign status. But here in Sweden, where red-haired Caucasians are not a rarity, the differences are a little more subtle. I can actually blend in most of the time (unless I open my mouth).

Now, I’m not kidding myself here. I know that the clothes I wear (flip-flops, boot cut jeans, sunglasses on overcast days) can be a dead giveaway that I am not a Swede. But for some reason, I did not rush to label my recent insecurities and struggles as culture shock.

But that’s what it is. My mom literally sent me a list of the “symptoms”: sadness, loneliness; feeling vulnerable or powerless; unwillingness to interact with others; trying too hard to absorb everything in the new culture or country; lack of confidence; feelings of being lost or overlooked…

Sounds about right. I hate to be a downer, but this is truly one of the most difficult experiences I’ve EVER endured. Every day is physically and mentally draining. The miserable and embarrassing moments in my day often outweigh the fun ones. I have to make new friends, try new foods, get settled in my dorm, and go to classes every day. As my friend put it, “it's like you're doing freshman year [of college] all over again, only in a different language and country.”

I’m lucky that three of my very good friends recently returned home from study abroad trips. I desperately wrote them last night, saying something along the lines of, “Help! This isn’t fun anymore!! I want to come home!” and they replied with some great nuggets of wisdom like the one above. Here are some more pieces of advice for surviving the transition (hope you girls don’t mind if I share these… ):

“Try not to give yourself time to sit around and think about all the things you miss about home or shun off the Swedish world for the comfort of the internet.”

“Keep working on the things that you need to do to feel settled and connected bit by bit, keep doing the things you need to for school, and make some time for yourself to reflect and do happy things, and eventually without you're even noticing it will feel like home to you.”

“It might help you to know that a) it’s REALLY REALLY hard at the beginning, b) I went through it too, and c) you don't have to feel horrible if this isn't the most amazing experience of your life. If you aren't absolutely in love with everything you do all the time there, don't beat yourself up about it.”

“Read Harry Potter, drink tea, listen to happy music.”

“Also I'm thinking there is tons of chocolate... I would eat that.”

I have some really brilliant friends. I wish they were here.

P.S. Happy 4th!!

2007-07-04T23:27:00.000+02:00

Family Reunion!
Okay, so they aren’t really my family. But they are amazing people!

More than 30 years ago, when my mom was a teenager, she came to Sweden and lived here for a year. She lucked out and lived with a great host family, people with whom we are still connected today. Lina and Magnus, whom I mentioned earlier, are part of this family and have been amazingly supportive since the day I arrived in Sweden (thank you, thank you, and thank you again!). They have housed me, fed me, taken me shopping, given me hugs, and answered millions of questions. They also took me along to Midsummer celebrations and, most recently, a family reunion!

Last time I was in Sweden, I was only eight years old. Needless to say, I remember very silly things from my first stay in Sweden (paper-wrapped sugar cubes were exciting, as was the snow and the lingonberry jam). But I also vaguely remember the people – my mom’s wonderful host family whom I was reacquainted with this past weekend.

On Friday night, we drove out to Ekestad, a small town about 20 minutes outside of the Kristianstad area. Our hosts, Tomas and Elisabeth, live in a beautiful Swedish house (very traditional) on a small lake. Unlike our Midsummer celebrations, the weather was mostly sunny and beautiful. About 30 people were there, and we took a ride in a replica Viking boat and ate in a replica Viking lodge that our host built 15 years ago (Elisabeth is a historian, can you tell?).

I was a little bit skeptical about eating dinner in a lodge with 30 people, but we built a fire, sat on handmade benches at handmade tables, and had a delicious meal! Lina and Magnus kept saying, “I’m so glad you came – this is so Swedish!!” It was a lot of fun and I got to meet a lot of wonderful people.

On Sunday, we left the house and drove to Wanås, an outdoor art exhibition. I couldn’t really picture it until we arrived and then I realized the sheer scale and beauty of this park. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s been around for 20 years and there are sculptures and art pieces throughout the forest, lawns, and buildings surrounding a medieval castle. The landscape was stunning and, for me, easily bested the wonderful nature areas we have in the Bay Area (sorry, California… Sweden’s got you on this one!).

Some of the cool art included a giant metal spider, a mod little bridge over a creek, eight swings hanging from a tree, a crazy see-through glass mirror (hard to explain), and a four story building with a portion of the art piece on each level (including a part of the floor that spun... see pictures!)

That was the weekend. More soon on my first bike ride in Sweden and a trip to the Island of Ven on Friday!

Linnea

2007-06-29T17:38:00.000+02:00

Excursion #1: The Zoo!

But first, here’s a quiz for you:
What time was the picture below taken?

a) 7PM
b) 9PM
c) 11PM

Yes, that would be: 11 PM!! Even here in southern Sweden, we are VERY far north.

Today our Swedish language program (the Folk Universitetet of Lund, kind of like UC Extension) took us to the zoo!

It’s called Skånes Djurpark and is full of animals native to Sweden. It was, hands down, the most beautiful zoo I have ever seen – no hulking concrete structures or anything like that, but lots of beautiful fenced enclosures with some awesome animals. We also lucked out with the weather. It was a beautiful day!

Right before we explored the animal park, we went to see some replicas of some Stone Age villages and buildings, located right next to the Djurpark.

Here is our group, checking out a hunter-gatherer hut.

This picture is from inside a larger house, a replica of where Swedish farmers in the late stone age would have lived.

Some of my new friends in the program, who also go to UC campuses: Eva (from UCD), Karen (from UCLA), me, and Melissa (from UCI).

Walking down a hill towards the farmhouse.

Group picture! The group includes about 30 UC students as well as various other people from around the world who have chosen the Lund Folk Universitetet to learn Swedish (I'm on the left edge.)

Now on to the zoo! A bunch of animals, including one of the many species of birds they had in the park, an ox, a lake in the middle of the park, a lynx mama and cub, little wild piglets (napping in their trough?), a moose, and deer. Not pictured: the bears, wolves, and reindeer!

I’m leaving in a few hours for the weekend and will report more on Monday!
Til then, hej då!
Linnea

2007-06-28T19:04:00.000+02:00

Sweden to phase out Å, Ä and Ö
Published: 1st April 2007 00:12 CET

A parliamentary working group has proposed scrapping Sweden's 'complex letters' Å, Ä and Ö, citing globalization and technological competitiveness as the main factors.

The Swedish government will now launch an inquiry into the matter, with a full recommendation anticipated in the autumn.

"Language is constantly changing and we must be prepared to meet the linguistic challenges of the modern world," said the Centre Party's Åsa Bäckström, who chaired the working group.

"Communication barriers are a hindrance to competitiveness, so we should do whatever we can - within reason - to eliminate them," said Bäckström in a press statement.

The change will not be addressed by legislation, but the government is expected to attempt to phase out the use of the three letters over a period of five years with a series of economic incentives.

These will target the technology, media and publishing industries with reduced VAT for computer hardware and software, newspapers and books which stop using Å, Ä and Ö.

Instead, advised the working group, Å should be replaced by AA, Ä by AE and Ö by OE. Many international media already use these letter combinations when reporting on Swedish affairs, Bäckström pointed out.

The plan is supported by the Swedish Association of Technology Employers.

"When you look at the cost to Sweden of keeping these letters, you can see the benefit of scrapping them," said the association's chairman, Torbjörn Nilsson.

"To a large extent this process has already begun for individuals or companies that use the internet in their communication. Email addresses and web site addresses simply ignore these letters - and people simply just that."

However, the move has not been welcomed by all. The Swedish Institute for Language and Learning in Ystad noted that other countries seem to be more inclined to stand up for their cultural and linguistic heritage.

"What we see in Germany and France, for example, is the complete opposite of this. Like them, we should be guarding our language, not giving it up," said press officer Göran Åklund.

Båstad council was also quick to reject the move.

"We already have enough trouble with English-speakers who think the name of our town is amusing. If the Å becomes a regular A it will just make things worse," said Social Democrat councillor Pär Öberg.

"We might as well go the whole hog and include an R."

The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

2007-06-27T22:03:00.000+02:00

My first week.

Hej! I’m back! The internet in my dorm room does not work, which is why the blogging suddenly came to a halt! (I’m paying for a $3/day for a WiFi service right now.)

I’ve now been here for exactly one week. (One week? It feels like a MONTH.) I have endured a thousand different moments since I arrived – many of them full of elation, excitement and adventure, but also beset with frustration, shyness, and loneliness. I thought suffering through the jet lag was painful, but it was when I arrived in Lund that the truly upsetting experiences began; I have never felt more stranded and alone.

The train ride from Göteborg (Gothenburg) to Lund was a piece of cake, as was the taxi ride to my dorm. But that’s when the trouble started.

First, I had to carry my 50 pound duffel bag three flights up a spiral staircase. Then I paid over $30 in taxi fare to get to the local mall half an hour before it closed to ensure that I had sheets, a pillow, toilet paper, and towels for my room. Then I found out my internet connection did not work. Then my cell phone stopped working, and my connection to the world was severed for a terrifying four hours, and by the evening I realized I had gone for 10 hours without eating anything (couldn’t find any food to buy!). On top of that, just the fact that there were so many new and different things was overwhelming! Really tough.

Honestly, it is probably good that I have been internet deprived since Sunday. It has allowed me to digest all of the things that have happened so far. Things have improved considerably since my arrival on Sunday and I am feeling pretty optimistic about my six month stay here. Here are a few “snapshots” of what I’ve been doing so far:

Learning Swedish
I just finished my third day of Swedish lessons! While I can still hardly understand what my teacher is saying, I have already learned lots of vocabulary. I can count (ett, två, tre…), say the days of the week (måndag, tisdag, onsdag…), months of the year (januari, februari, mars), recite the alphabet, and so on. I can introduce myself, name different modes of transportation, and today we started conjugating verbs into five different tenses!! All this in THREE days! I think I covered most of those items in ONE YEAR of middle school Spanish.

Shopping…
…is a challenge in a different language and currency. This goes for food (ten different kinds of milk) and clothes (sizing and figuring out what is cool). Today I found “Tiger,” the Swedish equivalent of the Dollar Tree – it’s amazing. CDs, housewares, books, toiletries, clothes, baskets, office supplies and more for 10 kronor each! ($1.50). I wish that I had found it days ago! And the currency, of course: 7 kronor to the dollar. Try coverting that in your head! (I’m actually getting very good at it.)

Laundry
I had to throw in a couple of pictures of the amazing dryers they have here. They are, essentially, closets/giant blow dryers. You hang your clothes on the bars, close the doors, and presto -- in an hour they're dry.

There is also an immensely complicated laundry booking system involving electronic key chain tags, where you reserve a time using a digitized Swedish-language menu and then you must “activate” the laundry machines before you can access the laundry room… a long story short: I now have clean clothes. Hooray!

Lund!
A gorgeous city! Lund is home to over 100,000 people. Lund University is the largest university in Scandinavia and has over 40,000 students (about 10,000 bigger than UC Davis). The weirdest part of Lund is that, unlike the UC campuses, the university’s buildings are spread out through the city rather than being contained in one specific area. The city was founded in the year 990 (!) and the University has been around since 1668, so given the city’s loooooong history, I guess that’s just how things ended up.

More later… on the bus system (it rocks), my peers (lots of UC students), and a Swedish “family” reunion!

I’ll leave you with some pictures.

On Tuesday, we took a tour of the Lundgården, an area in the middle of Lund with gorgeous gardens, a giant cathedral (domkyrkan) that was built 1,000 years ago, and several university buildings. (Click the pictures to enlarge!)

Clockwise from upper left: Our very entertaining tour guide, Lars, telling us all about Lund's history; a traffic sign; a mini maypole in the window of a small museum/store; a poster -- sorry for the profanity -- reading "Femton Fuckin' Hundra." We all got excited because we just learned to count (the first word is fifteen, and the last is hundred).

Clockwise from upper left: The domkyrka from the outside; the crypts in the basement -- lots of dead bishops; a candlestick inside the sanctuary; our tour guide Lars.

Lastly, below, is the Universitetshuset, where Lund University's chancellor lives. Nice digs, huh?

P.S. I now have a Swedish mailing address! (and I love getting mail!) Contact me or my mom and we will email it to you.

2007-06-26T21:37:00.000+02:00

No internet!

I'm currently without internet service in my dorm. Lame!

I will post a new blog as soon as I have a reliable connection again! (Hopefully that will be SOON.)

More soon, I promise!
Linnea

2007-06-23T17:45:00.000+02:00

Midsummer!

The skies in Sweden have just been itching to rain. Magnus and I watched the clouds very closely on Thursday and we were waiting for the rain to begin falling any minute. Well, the weather held out – until Midsummer, of course. Apparently, Swedish midsummers are often blemished by the rain, but it did not stop us from celebrating!

We celebrated with friends of Lina and Magnus, outside of Gothenburg at a house on Aspen Lake. The morning of the celebrations, I was attacked by jet lag once again: I woke up at 4:30AM and could not fall back asleep. It’s exhausting enough to function with only four hours of sleep, but doing it in a foreign country where you cannot understand anyone or anything is even more difficult.

Lunch was my first taste of PICKLED HERRING. I honestly did not know what to expect, but I am proud to say that I tried three kinds of pickled herring. The first one was your standard pickled herring: bitter, cold, and squishy. You spear the fish and a piece of potato, dip it in sour cream, sprinkle it with chives, and stick it in your mouth. It’s like I said: cold, squishy, and pickled, and that about sums it up. I also tried another type – sweeter, and pickled with onions – which was somewhat similar, as well as herring in a crayfish marinade, which was a lot smoother, softer, and creamier going down. It was not bad, just not my thing.

After lunch, we (eight adults and seven little kiddos) trundled 20 minutes down the road, in the rain, to the community midsummer celebration. A beautiful giant maypole stood in the middle of a grassy clearing and many other families stood around in raincoats, armed with umbrellas.

The rain wasn’t too bad, and as soon as the music started Lina, Maja, and I danced around the maypole to music, singing songs in Swedish about dancing like frogs and pigs, ladies going to town, and crazy old drivers. I think there is a reason that people drink schnapps at lunch.

By the end, it was truly pouring. Many of the Swedes – the smart, weather conscious people that they are – were clothed in rain pants, raincoats, and Gortex. I was in my sneakers and jeans, which steadily became wetter and muddier. Everyone got very wet. When we returned, everyone remarked that it was probably the rainiest midsummer they had ever spent outdoors. Lucky me! Instead of picnicking at the maypole, we enjoyed fresh strawberries and whipped cream back in the warm and dry shelter of the host’s house.

By this point, the lack of sleep was catching up to me and I was not feeling good: I felt stupid because I didn’t know any Swedish. I felt like I was exuding awkwardness. There was no one my age at the party (everyone was either over 35 or under 6 years of age). I was feeling so tired and so overwhelmed! Lina keenly noticed that I looked dead on my feet and I was SO grateful when she suggested that I take a nap. I went downstairs and took some time out to rest. It was a hard moment -- and I've realized that living abroad is already proving to be a huge challenge. I miss home and my family and friends a lot…

ANYWAY, I felt much better after a few hours of rest. Our hosts were great and prepared generous servings of ribs, potatoes, corn, relishes, compotes, and wine for dinner. The midsummer celebration centers around spending time with family and friends, singing, dancing, drinking, and eating – and doing a lot of it!

Last night I had my first interrupted night of rest! 8 blissful hours! I’m starting to overcome the jetlag. I am also ready to venture down to Lund and get started learning Swedish. It is incredibly frustrating not to be able to speak Swedish, even to 3-year-old Adam!!

Thanks to Magnus for the midsummer pictures.
Hej då!
Linnea

2007-06-21T23:43:00.000+02:00

Blogging while still jet lagged is hard work…

…but here is another day in Sweden.

My plan was to get up at 8AM or so to go with Magnus to their kids’ daycare. I did wake up, but my head was swimming with fatigue, so I fell back asleep for another SIX hours. I was stunned to awake at 1:30PM.

Magnus was kind enough to drive me into downtown Gothenburg, and while he was in a meeting, I wandered through the city’s Kungsgatan shopping district.

Thoughts for the day:

1. Swedes speak English, but Sweden is not an English-speaking country. At all. I can’t wait to begin learning the language. Everyone can understand me when I speak English, but I can’t understand Swedish at all. Lina and Magnus’s little son, Adam, loves asking me questions (who painted your toes? When are you coming back?) but I can’t understand unless someone translates. A bookstore called “Akademibokhandlen” is straight forward enough, but who would have known that a cucumber is called a “gurka?”

2. Swedes are very fashionable. (See Mom? I told you so.)

3. Flip-flops are not fashionable. (Woe is me!!) Flats and trainers are. Magnus informs me that flip-flops are common in Sweden, but I guess it was not the right weather or location to be the dominant shoe of choice.

4. H&M is not terribly fashionable in this part of the world. I think it’s the equivalent to “Old Navy” or something similar. Magnus says it’s on the “cheap” side of things. I tell him it’s all the rage in America. I remember H&M being an extremely coveted brand in high school, especially before they opened stores in the U.S., and before its introduction on the west coast as well. Here in Sweden it’s just ho-hum. Probably because H&M is one of many fashion stores for young people (see pictures).

That said, I saw five H&M stores within eight blocks of each other, along with six McDonald’s, a chain which seems to be more popular than H&M, especially among young people.

5. Unlike spring in California, a 75+ degree day is no excuse to bring out your cutest skirt (and flip flops). It was a warm, muggy day, and most people walking around still had long sleeves or jackets on.

6. I packed way too many clothes. Why didn’t I listen to my mom?? There are a billion places to shop, and my clothes are all very “California.” Before I left, someone at church told me, “Why pack? Just buy everything there!!” I like that idea. Mom – can I somehow send home my 44-lb. bag for a redo?

After exploring for a bit and after dinner, Magnus and I headed to the grocery store. We drove through Gothenburg, which is a beautiful city, and Magnus pointed out lots of neat places, including a big pharmaceutical company (one of the big industries in Sweden), a theme park, and the fishing docks.

The day before Midsummer’s Eve is a big food shopping day. It’s kind of like rushing out to the store on the day before Thanksgiving to buy a can of cranberry sauce. We went to the larger ICA store, which is the size of a small K-Mart and wasn’t quite as busy, to get some food.

ICA has a BRILLIANT system for shopping. With an ICA card, you can self-scan and bag your groceries as you shop. After swiping your ICA card, you are automatically issued a scanner (see picture of Magnus), which you use to scan each product as you put it into your cart. It also automatically subtotals your groceries as you go. You also weigh all of your produce on scales and print out price tags to stick on your food and scan as well. When you’re done, you head up to the counter, hand the clerk your scanner, pay, and you’re on your way.

They also have wheels attached to their small grocery baskets, which I found amusing (and dually brilliant). Here I am pulling the basket on wheels:

Tomorrow are the big Midsummer celebrations (get the lowdown here). After shopping we picked up FIVE (!) kinds of pickled herring from Magnus’s friend who sells fish. I will give you the reviews tomorrow. ;-)

Glad Midsommar!
Linnea

2007-06-20T21:33:00.000+02:00

I'M ZONKED.

The transatlantic slog is never much fun.

I left my house in Berkeley at 4AM on Tuesday. It took three planes and over 24 hours of traveling to end up where I am now:
Fiskebäck (Gothenburg), Sweden.

The second leg of my trip (New Jersey to Stockholm) involved a lovely one and half hour interlude on the tarmac, first while we waited for the crew to re-secure the airplane’s cargo door (it was ajar… very confidence inspiring), and then to wait alongside other Continental flights (click on photos to enlarge) for other planes to land, thanks to the thunderstorms holding up the air traffic flying into NJ.

It’s nice to finally sit down in a chair that isn’t 30,000 feet above the ground nor sandwiched in between a plastic wall, a seatback, and other people’s knees. Though the midnight sun was beautiful. As we flew north it never got completely dark.

I’m staying with Swedish friends for several days – and my very gracious hosts, Lina and Magnus, are bringing me along to Midsummer celebrations on Friday.

Rumor has it that there will be SIX different kinds of pickled herring to sample on Friday (I promise to try at least one) along with lots of other Swedish food. Apparently, Midsummer is as big in Sweden as Thanksgiving is in America – lots of food, family, partying. Can’t wait.

On Sunday, I head to Lund by train for check-in and orientation for my program.

**three hours later**

I literally almost fell asleep onto my keyboard while writing this, but I somehow managed to move my laptop to the table before I crashed on the couch. I’ve been fighting the jet lag as hard as I can but I could not keep my eyes open. The nine hour time difference is brutal!

So you know: even at 9PM the sun is still way up there in the sky. By 11PM it will still only look like it's dusk.

Well, everything has gone well so far, but I can tell this is going to be an enormous adjustment. More later!

2007-06-19T09:15:00.000+02:00

HERE I GOOOOOO!!!!

Six and half hours til my plane leaves
and I'm still using my laptop...

Just a few quick snapshots of my last day in America:

Bear reading my new webcam instructions and munching on my plane food: HobNobs cookies.

Max eating my HobNobs.

Last ride in sunny California!!
(Note my good ol' bike, Felty, recently built up and ready to fly to Lund! I'm leaving my newer bike behind for safe keeping...)

2007-06-09T21:04:00.000+02:00

Countin' down...

Ten days til I leave and I can't stop thinking (worrying?) about it. I get that nervous-excited-adrenaline-pumped feeling every time it crosses my mind.

Plus, with school almost over, everybody is asking what I'll be up to this summer.

Um, living abroad?
Learning a new language?
Learning a new culture?
Gaining a new perspective?
Riding over cobblestones?
Celebrating midsummer?
Eating pickled herring?
Visiting Malmö? Stockholm? Mölle? Helsingborg? Skåne?

Yup.

Just gotta pack first!

2007-06-04T06:27:00.000+02:00

Racing in Lund!

Thanks to my mom's Swedish-Google skills, I found some great info on the local bike club, CK Lunedi, in Lund! They race, they train, they ride -- I am so stoked. It's the DBC of Sweden! (Actually, not quite, as there are only 100 members, but still...)

Link to CK Lunedi here.

2007-06-02T02:11:00.001+02:00

Pre-Trip Syndrome

Let's begin freaking out, shall we?

In the next 18 days, I need to:

Write two 15-page research papers (one on rural development, the other on spacial-economic development).
Write two 10-page papers (one on health sociology, the other on urban and regional planning).
Take three final exams.
Pack up my entire room and move my stuff back to Berkeley.
Decide which stuff I will need in Sweden for six months and cram it all into two smallish bags.
Figure out how I am going to get my financial aid/loan money while I'm abroad.
Get a new ATM card.
Figure out my new international cell phone.
Haircut. I need a haircut.

Then there's the stuff I don't have to do, but in my pre-trip panic (in which I realize there is a minuscule, foreboding possibility that I might never return) feel that I must do anyway. This list includes:

Return that shirt to Shoshi that I've been hoarding in my closet though haven't really worn, but she's in Australia so CRAP, how on earth should I get it to her?
Clean my room. Not pack, just CLEAN. And the bathroom and the kitchen, too! Don't the batteries in the smoke detector need to be replaced? And the stairs really need a good vacuum, too.
Are all my tour guiding pay stubs in one place? Did I get my tax return yet? Where did it go? My bank charged me another one of those silly one dollar fees, I should really call them about that.
Write an email to that person who I've been meaning to email about meeting up for lunch, because I haven't seen them in FOREVER.
Buy new dish towels.
Sell some of my books online.

And the list continues to grow...

Sure, I could do this all when I return. IF I return.

Darn PTS. It's going to be a crazy 18 days...

2007-05-29T18:52:00.001+02:00

How to tell a good travel story.

Jon Carroll writes a great column. I really liked today's...

Bad things happen in good travel stories. A good trip makes a bad story. "Oh, we had a wonderful time and we ate and we slept and we enjoyed the tropical breezes and saw big blue birds." Not a great tale, although the elaboration would be even worse: "We went to a luau one night that was sort of touristy, but we had a great time. They roasted a whole pig in the sand, and we met this great couple from New Jersey, Andrew and Ann, and it turned out ..."

You ought to read the rest. Bad things happened, and it's a great story.

I'm hoping not TOO many bad things happen while I'm in Sweden. This blog is partially for my benefit (being able to look back and think "wow, that was awesome") and also for the benefit of people who know me and want to know what it's like.

John Flinn, who writes a travel column in the Chronicle says, "Spare your friends the description of the Taj Mahal. Yes, it’s beautiful. And, yes, of course, the Great Barrier Reef is awesome. Everybody knows this. And we don’t need to hear about the seventh hole at Pebble Beach. What we want to hear are stories.”

Well, people who read my blog may have to put up with my occasional description of a castle or a natural Swedish wonder. I'll try to keep it brief. Or post pictures.

"Travelers should be able to tell a good bus story, bathroom story, airplane story, animal story, hotel story, food story and guide story." Got it. So the key is that travel isn't about WHERE you went as much as it is about what you EXPERIENCE along the way.

Here are some travel stories you can read, in case mine start to get uninteresting, though I hope some of my stories over the next six months will be good reads.

21 days til takeoff! Ha en trevlig resa!

2007-05-03T05:58:00.000+02:00

The View from 40,000 Feet...

I used to love flying. Back in the day, I was a spunky little kid who flew, by myself, ALL OVER the country to visit family and friends.

I loved everything about airports:

the security machine (to this day, I have never set off the walk-through metal detector. This was a huge bragging point when I was 9 or 10)
the little airport stores where you could buy a pack of pre-flight gum to keep your ears from popping
the roaring rush of the jet engines on takeoff

And once you're in the air:

the unlimited soda and OJ
Super Mario Gameboy sessions
turbulence! woohoo!

I don’t know when I crossed over to the “I don't like flying” side of things. I started getting nervous way before Mr. Shoe Bomber and 9/11 – it has nothing to do with that. I just can’t escape the possibility of my plane plummeting out of the sky and crash landing into the ground.

Not that it's stopped me. I fly all the time. I just don't like it.

Maybe five years ago, my godfather was taking a transpacific flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco. Almost halfway through the flight, he heard a huge CLUNK – not really the kind of sound you want to hear while you’re cruising at 35,000 feet. He rang the call button and told the flight attendant what he’d heard. She assured him she’d let the captain know.

Meanwhile, my godfather flipped through the channels in the on flight TV system. The plane he was on had those little TV screens installed in the back of every headrest, and he ended up on the channel with the flight map: a little airplane symbol soaring over a big ‘ol blue ocean, steadily heading towards the west coast.

While he was watching, the little plane symbol starting turning, and kept turning. As the plane did a 180, the captain informed the passengers over the PA system that they had lost an engine. I’m not sure whether I would be more upset that after 10 hours of flying I’d be right back where I'd started or that my crappy plane had LOST an engine. I think I would have stayed in Asia a little while longer.

Max’s parents once recounted a miserable story about a flight to New Orleans where their plane got struck by lightning, the turbulence was out of control, and the cabin got unpressurized, so people actually had to use those masks that pop out of the ceiling! I would have fainted, I think.

Anyway, I came across an SFgate blog the other day that addresses this flying anxiety. Apparently, I’m not alone. While my main strategy is to sleep through as much of the flight as possible, here are two ideas that I really like:

"Sometimes statistics help: Your odds of being in a plane that crashes is 1 in 1.5 million. And even then, you might be one of the survivors. If you live to be 80, that's about 26,000 days. If you got on a plane every day for four thousand years, that's about 1.5 million flights. And even then, on the day of your 1.5 millionth flight in the year 6007, you know what your odds would be of getting into a crash that day? 1 in 1.5 million."

I knew your odds of surviving a plane flight were very good, but THIS good? Heck yeah.

"Sometimes ideas help. For example, stop thinking you should do it because it's safe. Tell yourself the opposite. Tell yourself you're doing it BECAUSE it's dangerous, that you're going to do something dangerous for once, that you owe it to yourself."

That’s right. Linnea the risk taker!!! Here I come, Sweden, here I come.

2007-03-13T03:18:00.000+01:00

It just hit me...

...like Thor Hushovd sprinting at 40mph.

I am going to be on the European continent for the Tour de France!!! And the Vuelta! And a bunch of other UCI races!! Frickin sweet.

Any tips for navigating from Sweden to France inexpensively are greatly appreciated.

2007-03-11T02:04:00.000+01:00

Linnea's Packing List of Awesome

For all you world travelers out there, here's the list I use whenever I hop on a plane. Pretty comprehensive -- it's never failed me.

Security Pouch/Wallet thingy

ATM card, credit card
phone card
driver’s license/ picture ID
health insurance card, permission to treat
cash (in all denominations)/ traveler’s cheques
passport and COPIES of passport
plane tickets and Visas

Toiletries and Cosmetics

band aids
body wash
bug repellent
comb
decongestant/antihistamine
deodorant
earrings, jewelry
eye cream
eye drops
eye liner
eye shadows
eyelash curler
face wash
floss
glasses, contacts, contact solution
hair products
hair ties
lipstick, lip gloss, chapstick
lotion
makeup remover
mascara
nail clippers
nail file
nail polish, remover
pads/tampons
q tips
razor
shampoo and conditioner
sunscreen
toothbrush
toothpaste
tweezers
wash cloth

Carry-On Bag/Backpack

brush
camera and film, memory cards
extra camera batteries, charger, and any cables you might need
cell phone and charger
Mp3 player and charger
change of clothes (in case your checked bag is lost)
chapstick
food
gum
laptop and charger
magazine, book
mirror
notebook
pen and pencil
sunglasses
Ziploc bag with:
* prescription medications
* Tylenol
* cough drops
* Pepto Bismol tablets and anti-diarrheals
* liquid hand sanitizer
* decongestant

Suitcase/ Clothes

boxers, pajamas
belts
bras
capris
dress
hat
jacket, sweatshirt
jeans
long sleeve shirts
shoes, flip flops/sandals
shorts
skirts
sleep shirts
socks/peds/tights/leggings
swim suits
t-shirts, tank tops
underwear
formal outfit/ for going out

Other Stuff

maps, guide books
playing cards
plug/power adaptors
safety pins
ear plugs
pillow
towel
addresses
sharpie
packing list (so you know what you’ve brought with you)
Ziploc bags
luggage locks
photographs of family, friends
small first aid kit
alarm clock/ watch
flashlight
sleeping bag/sheets
laundry bag
Photocopies of passport

2007-03-09T23:37:00.000+01:00

Note to self:

Bike shop in Lund! Follow up upon arrival...

Cykelcity Lund
Clemenstorget 6
S-22221 Lund
phone: +46-46-15 73 00
fax: +46-46-131711
Litespeed, Cannondale, Dave Lloyd, Pinarello, Merlin, Serotta, Concorde.
Spare parts and equipment for road racing and MTB (almost everything).

P.S. I got into the EAP program! Now I just get the final confirmation and I buy those plane tickets...

2006-11-30T06:31:00.001+01:00

Jag talar inte svenska... (I don't speak Swedish)

I've decided that I'm going to
study abroad in Lund, Sweden!

Next June I will be off.

Stay tuned for more...