Celebrate The Smaller Moments In Life...

• I've blogged about working at the nations in Lund multiple times, they're such a great experience and then getting the tackfests after (free dinner and alcohol) doesn't hurt too much after. However, there is an added bonus I have failed to mention. If you work at a nation a certain amount of times (often 3 but sometimes 2) you also are able to get in for FREE, yes, I repeat FREE for the rest of the semester which saves you about $7-$9 when you got out. Trust me, it's worth it and it's amazing. I know have free entry into Lunds Nation and Wermlands Nation for the rest of the semester. I've also worked at Blekingska Nation, Krischan Nation and Sydskånska Nation and I assure you, the Kaliforniens travel in packs and we aren't done yet :).
• I have gotten way more comfortable riding my bike here. I was pretty traumatized when I also got sideswiped by a moving vehicle while riding a bike in the Netherlands, and I must say that it has stuck with me. Riding bikes has become so handy, although Lund isn't large at all..it's a easy way to get from point A to point B. I also wonder if my calves and thighs will ever stop burning from that damn thing. I am proud to report that I am not able to ride with only one hand AND pedal at the same time (trust me, I had to work up to that as well), I can signal (but pretty much only if I'm turning left) and I'm starting to take both hands off the handlebars and it will happen, definitely will.
• I've been able to get away with not speaking English to Swedes..I'm talking in grocery stores, convenient stores, at nations. However this doesn't mean that I speak Swedish to them, I just say nothing at all, simply smile and pretend that I'm Swedish. There's nothing worse than letting a Swede get midway through a sentence before you interject with a "Jag pratar inte Svenska" or the Julia way "I'm sorry, can you speak English?" which then leads into the long conversation and great fascination of, "Where are you from?" "Oh California" "Ohhhhh California!!" I can't really understand for crap because different areas in Sweden have different dialects (not that I can pick up on them but it's a good excuse, at least), and I only can pick up small words here and there. But I'm finding that I can oftentimes read it fairly well, which means that I can sometimes understand Swedes Facebook status updates or wall postings :). I even had a friend say to twice on two separate occasions, "Vad sa du?" which means "What did you say?" and even after that said a whole sentence to me in Swedish, to which I must have looked quite dumbfounded. Is it possible that I'm even fooling that Swedes that know me into believing that I might be able to speak/understand their language? It's too soon to tell but I will certainly report back.
• I'm planning on getting a tattoo rather soon! I feel like I need to get something on my body while I'm here, and if possible I hope to acquire another tattoo again in the spring before I leave. I found this awesome tattoo shop in Copenhagen, Denmark (about an hour away by train from Lund) that reminds me of the Spider Murphy's back in San Rafael. I'm looking to get a pink lilly flower on my right lower calf, it reminds me of home and of my mom. I'm currently in the process of booking an appointment, more news on that later.
• I'M DONE WITH TWO OF MY FOUR CLASSES FOR THE SEMESTER. This has to be the most bizarre feeling to barely have school, less than I already did. Now instead of having maybe 4-6 hours of school a week, I have about 2-4..very bizarre feeling indeed but that just means I get to enjoy the beautiful Lund in autumn!

Well, I suppose that's all I have for the moment. This past weekend was a great success in my mind, filled with tackfests and tons and tons of dancing. Thinking of and missing everyone back home, and anyone who reads this. God natt och tons of love from Sverige.

Reason 84293842 Why I Love The Swedes..

How they dance! It's indescribable, fantastic and unique (or possibly just European). Having grown up in California I'm used to rap music whenever you're dancing and always the slightly too intimate, close up and personal types of dancing. However, here one often dances on their own, and when you dance "with" someone your bodies aren't stuck together like two magnets. Dancing here is far more enjoyable than in the states :)

I keep dancing on my own

The Beautiful, Carefree Life

There I go again, not posting for three weeks and consistently putting it off..thinking I'll do it tomorrow, or starting a blog post and saving it with intentions of finishing it at a later time but not. So here I am, forcing myself to reflect on my life the past three weeks although it feels daunting and overwhelming..but it has been a wonderful life nonetheless.

-Two of my four classes are officially over! Well, I still have a final paper due this coming Saturday for one of them, but other than that, I only have two classes that meet about once a week (sometimes twice) for the rest of the semester. This does seem slightly ridiculous, and don't be fooled because it is completely ridiculous. The SAS (Special Area Studies) courses that I'm taking are geared toward exchange students, and I really have enjoyed the different ways I've been mentally stimulated by the courses, although they aren't academically rigorous or demanding. Because in all honesty, who would come to study abroad only to sit in a library for hours on end and study? Nej, not I...so the relaxed feeling of my classes has really catered and in a way added to my experience here because school isn't something I necessarily have to actively stress and worry about.

-Although we haven't really had rain in about two weeks (yay!) it is definitely getting colder and the days are getting shorter. I've learned how to properly layer my clothing so that I am some degree of warm when the projected high for the day is something around 50 degrees. A couple of weeks ago I was walking with a couple of my friends to a nation in the evening, with gloves, a scarf and two jackets on, being a stupid Kalifornien and saying "It's so cold out!"..you say they get great pleasure out of this, laughing back at me and saying "This is warm, this is pleasant, just you wait" which often times across as some sort of threat..and I can't help but feel that they're waiting to see how I suffer when the weather is absolutely unbearable. Although I find myself following Jen's lead in wearing less clothing now while it's still considered not the worst weather so that I can hope to acclimate to the cold faster (we're crazy, yes). One would be amazed, while I'm wearing a scarf, two jackets and a pair of gloves, I'm walking next to one of my Swedish male friends wearing a leather jacket and jeans, daring to say that the weather isn't bad. Blasphemy.

-My Kalifornien friend from UCSD, Sara deserves her own blog posting in

hopes of conveying her overall amazingness on so many levels. Sara has been vegan for about 6 months and is my absolute idol when it comes to cooking. Jen, Sara and I have cooked together quite a bit (all vegan of course) but I've had so much fun exploring the different ways to substitute dairy and animal products while still having the food be delicious (no offense vegans, I just never really thought it was possible). Jen and Sara are the type of girls to read food blogs late into the night and get overly excited about a recipe and then the next day make it. Our recent triumphs are all in the realm of baking: we make a pie that was 1/4 plums, 1/4 bananas, 1/4 blueberry, 1/4 blueberry banana and it was absolutely delicious! The crust and dough were a little overcooked and harder to eat but regardless, we were very proud considering none of us had ever baked a pie. And yesterday, we made banana bread that was unspeakably amazing, my taste buds must have died at least thirteen times over, it was perfect in every way. Lastly, yesterday was Gaby and Kristen's birthday (Grattis my loves!) and we headed over to Gaby's corridor to make apple pie. Fear not, this time we got it soooo right, we took the pie out of the oven a little early and it was absolutely perfect in every way..needless to say I consumed enough sugar to make a 7 year old bounce off the walls for 6 hours and my tummy is bursting at the seams with deliciousness, but I've never been one to complain about eating a copious amount of dessert!

-I've still been working a decent amount for nations, most recently I worked

at Lunds Nation again last Thursday and Blekingska Nation on Friday. And this week I have three, yes, you read that right, THREE Tackfests at different nations. Wednesday: Sydskanska, Thursday: Lunds, Saturday: Blekingska...and just to reiterate, one doesn't get paid for working at nations, rather you receive tackfests where you often will get a dinner and free alcohol or sometimes just free alcohol. Also, if you work at a nation three times you are able to get into that nation free for the rest of the semester. The people we work with at nations are always so surprised when they realize that there are multiple Kaliforniens working together (there are usually at least 2 of us working at a nation, if not sometimes 4), yes, we travel in packs and are planning for overall nation domination.

-My lovely UCSC friend Ianna, who is studying abroad in the UK for fall term will be visiting in about a month and I'm am so excited for my first visitor :)! My parents are set to visit in March and I'm just getting so excited to share a place like Lund with people that I love and care about, because I do believe it's an extremely special and beautiful place. And surprisingly enough, I've felt very, very minimal homesickness..which is so nice. I haven't had any time where I've thought to myself "God, I just can't wait to go home," I feel so planted here, so rooted and so comfortable that when I think of leaving it does make me sad for the Swedish friends I've made and truly care about. In the same way, when I think of Sara and Jen leaving (which we've deemed an unspeakable topic) I simply can't imagine what the content of my days will look like without them to cook/bake/bicker with.

Cheers from a way chillier place than California!

The Turning Torso

I feel so terrible for my lack of blog posting the last ten days. As I've said before, it was quite easy to consistently post when I first arrived in Sweden, when everything was brand new...and now some (only some) of the novelty of living in Lund has worn off..which leaves me feeling slightly less compelled to blog but I promise not to let that stop me!

Well, to start off..I've been in school for about a month(and officially in Sweden for TWO MONTHS), which isn't really exciting or much to speak of..BUT, I was lucky enough to go on an "excursion" or field trip to Copenhagen and Malmo for my class about economic geography. I went absolutely insane over the architecture: a mixture of traditional Scandinavian buildings and modern architecture. I have a great love for some beautiful buildings so this was just the place for me. Don't get me wrong, Lund is beautiful in it's quaint attributes, quaint buildings...we lack any tall or modern buildings here, and I really love that. Not to mention I almost died when I spent about $30 on a meal at a cafe in Copenhagen, I'm quite sure that the exchange rates are slowly killing me here.

Aside from school, it's been the same ol' same ol' here in good ol' Lund. I

had the great pleasure of working at Wermlands Nation on Wednesday evening and then Krischan Nation on Friday evening. Wermlands is one of the smaller nations in Lund, I love it for its pub and really friendly atmosphere. They ended up closing the dance floor early so I ended up staying at the bar in the pub for most of the evening (we usually do rotations similar to Lunds Nation). A friend of mine, Jens and his friends were at standing at the bar most of the night..and I must say that I greatly enjoyed messing with them, dishing them a little bit of my "American sarcasm" as it has been deemed by various Swedes. Not only did I really enjoy the low-keyed atmosphere of working the pub at Wermlands, but also got to eat delicious french fries and drink cider after clean up. As a side note: I'm pretty sure I'll be coming back to the states with about a dozen cavities from all of the free soda and yummy candies I get while working at nations..it's deadly. Seriously, what red blooded American could turn down unlimited and free soda? That's right..no one. On Friday night, Gaby, myself, Jen and Kristen worked at Krischan Nation which was also enjoyable but the club was experiencing what seemed like an unusually slow night. Another side note: Swedish youth go to university for free, yes, I will repeat that...Swedish college students go to university for free. It's amazing and enviable coming from a university with growing tuition that you could by a nice car with. Anyways, in addition to getting free education, they get some sort of "allowance" from the state, which they also have to pay back a portion of later..but apparently the nations become slow at the end of each month because the Swedes are running out of their allowances from the state. What's ultimately nice about working at nations is getting to meet Swedes as well as other international students; I met a fellow Kalifornien from UC Davis, as well as a guy from Lithuania (I'm endlessly amazed at how most Europeans are able to speak at least three, if not more, languages. Way to go, U.S...we're pretty worldly). I still have issues grasping how amazing it is to sit in a classroom, and work with people who are from all over the world, it's fantastic and unforgettable experience that I need to consistently remind myself of.

And now, I suppose that the reality of being a student is going to set in: I have my first few papers due for a class that only lasted about 4 weeks (which is shorter than a summer school course at home)...so I assume that the library and I will become quite well acquainted in the next four days. Cheers!

Heineken, 15 People Limit, 10 SEK To Check Your Jacket, Please

Up until last night, I had only worked at Wermlands Nation, which technically isn't even the nation I belong to. The Kalifornien girls and I had worked in the kitchen making burgers and fries on a pub night, and then worked an 80 person sittning a few weeks ago. I have to say, it was stressful going around crowded tables, reaching over people, trying to grab any empty bottles/glasses or plates only to have them glare back at you in a manner to communicate "No, I am not finished," or my personal favorite, a sort of hand gesture that has the same effect. Anyways, I had only done these two tasks which have a relatively low level of stress (of course I get stressed out extremely easily and would say that it was very stressful but please, for that reason, don't listen to me)...and when Kristen said that Lunds Nation (the nation I actually belonged to) needed some extra help during their Thursday club night, I was reluctant but said yes in the end. Let me explain, I'm the kind of girl that will let boiling water give her anxiety..so the thought of serving drunk people even more drinks, oy vey, not something that sounded all too appealing. But after I found out that Calle, Norberg along with some of my Kalifornien girls were also working, I decided that it was now or never.

Before the night even begins, we get to eat some yummy food: some sort of white breaded fish, mashed potatoes and some herbed bread..not to mention UNLIMITED soda. Oh yea, my dentist is going to love me. So the way it works when you work at nations is this: you have different rotations, each lasting for an hour throughout the night. My rotation schedule was 1. coat check 2. entrance (which included taking peoples money and stamping their wrist) 3. big bar 4. smoking area. Coat check was pretty slow overall but when there was a large

group of people, I found humor in those few people who asked where Jennifer and I were from, or those couple of guys who refused to speak to me in English and tried to speak me Swedish..at which I tried to repeat, smiled, laughed, and walked away to put their jacket away. I find amusement in the fact that Swedes and I look at each other in the same way, like some sort of rare animal. My next rotation was entrance, which was really nothing to speak of, I sat at the register which I could barely see into and had the same line of "Hej hej, femtio..tack." Seeing some already fairly inebriated people fumble through their wallets looking for their ID's, or money was quite amusing, along with those couple Swedish guys who tried arguing with the security guys for various reasons. And my next rotation was dun dun dun...the big bar. I walked in through the kitchen and to behind the bar, only to stare at a group of people (mostly men), all waiting. I go up to the first person I see and get a mixed drink order, two appletinis I believe. I nod obediently and go to the list of drinks and stare at the ingredients for the drink and I suddenly freeze and have an inner freakout. Fear not, I did make that drink and a variety of other drinks in a calmer manner and somehow managed to survive the bar (and actually really enjoyed it). I have learned from my Swedish counterparts, especially at cafes and other nations, to just take my time. Those who want shots, beers, drinks, will still want them even I take my time..and hell, chances are they're probably a little too drunk to notice anyways, right? Right. Another mess up of mine during the night was about beer on tap. I have never dispensed beer on tap, and pulled down the handle with hesitancy/not all the way down so that all that was put into the cup was foam; "This can't be right," I thought to myself, "I don't even drink beer, but I'm pretty sure you don't have this much foam." By the end of my hour at the bar (which was between midnight and 1 a.m.) my brain was barely functioning, I was struggling with the total of an order of 3 shots, 1 beer and 1 mixed drink..closing one eye and trying to concentrate while the booming music is only 12 feet away from me. My last rotation of the night was the smoking area which is outside on this large patio with a beautiful view of Lund. Although the outside area can undoubtedly accommodate a lot of people, their were complaints on noise from neighbors, and now they only allow 15, yes, 15 people outside at any given time. So here are Jennifer and I, two very petite, Californian girls attempting to regulate a group of drunk Swedes. Not only did I hit my own heels with the back of the door multiple times, but I also had my personal space invaded too many times by very tall Swedish men trying to convince us to let them outside, "But we're very quiet, what's two more people?" Jennifer and I gave no mercy. And after we were done working the smoking area, all that was left to do was walk around and pick up empty glasses/bottles and....DANCE, and oh, did we dance! After the club closed at 2 a.m., we were around cleaning up until 3 a.m. and then set free to bike ride in zee freezing cold.

"Reflection is a flower of the mind"

I have officially been in Lund for six weeks (and ONE day) hoorah! I realize that my last entry sounded partially melancholy, however it was an accurate description of how I have felt since being here. Life has its fluctuations and inconsistencies and it doesn't stop when you hit the dreamworld of Lund. When we first arrived at Lund, everything was fresh, new, stimulating, it feels all like a daze now..now that I've fallen into a routine: wake up, go to school, hang out with friends, come home, sleep. I nag myself constantly even when walking around this beautiful town not to forget its beauty and all that is has given me so far. So I felt this entry would be an appropriate time for an overall reflection..

• In Lund, everything is a lot more leisurely, not anything like the frantic energy I'm conditioned to coming from California. In California, there's always somewhere to be, something to be doing, and efficiency is the goal to be obtained. Take for example, going to class in Santa Cruz, everyone is anxious and crowded around waiting for a bus to get across campus..all plugged into their iPods, texting on their phones. I see very few people college students in Lund "plugged in," you really get the sense that they're enjoying something, whatever the magnitude. This leisure also translates into many other things..say me getting my coffee for example and staring at the girl making my latte at a sloths pace with a line of people out the door. I used to get annoyed by the Swedes tendency to stroll through such critical parts of my day such as the consumption of caffeine, but I've somehow found a way to make do.
• I have yet to really mention all of the lovely people I have met, both Californian, Swedish and everywhere in between. I absolutely adore my "Kalifornien" girls as I call them: Jennifer, Gaby, Kristen, Sara. We all are so different with a lot of different energies to offer to most situations, and I am amazed at how quickly I feel attached to them, how quickly I've become comfortable being my crazy/obnoxious/random self..and for this I feel endlessly grateful. And through Kristen, I have had the great pleasure of meeting and spending time with some fantastic boys..Norberg, Schonke and Calle and then one lovely lady Sofia; with whom I have shared some fantastic nights and laughs. For this reason, I feel increasingly planted in Lund.
• I've looooooved loved looooooved having a bike (that now has TWO, I repeat, TWO functioning brakes, hallelujah!). Lund isn't large by any sense of the word, and walking is plausible to pretty much every place you need to get to..but biking here can be one of the nicest things. My favorite times to bike I've found are either late at night or early in the morning; both times the town feels deserted, very few people and (even less) cars, with air so crisp that it slightly stings your face but feels so refreshing at the same time. It's indescribable.
• To touch on something that my dear Sara addressed in her blog, Lund truly does have lazy Sundays, and do they do it well. Because Lund is such a small town and not a tourist attraction, they have the flexibility to pretty much close everything (and I mean everything) except for a few select cafes, and the grocery stores. It seemed like a hassle and inconvenience in the beginning but it didn't take long to adapt and when making plans for a Sunday afternoon, you grab coffee or just hang out (no H&M shopping, thank god).


• I am endlessly fascinated at how Swedes are given the "benefit of the doubt" here, I'd much rather assume guilty. In my Swedish Social Policy class, my Californian professor was saying how unusually law abiding the Swedes are; that she has seen someone standing at a crosswalk waiting for a the green light..even in the middle of the night. I was talking to one of my Swedish friends, and I was telling him that I didn't want to pay the 10 SEK to take a bus (we quickly found that if you say "ett barn" on the bus which means that you're 19 or under, you can save yourself 7 extra SEK..being the greedy Americans that we are, always say "ett barn" to save those precious SEK). Anyways, I told my friend this and he angrily replied "YOU PAY THE CHILDRENS' PRICE? YOU'RE NOT 19! The reason why Sweden works so well is because people obey the law!" It was worth a good chuckle for me, if there's a way for me to get around spending a little more money, I will do it. Apparently I'm contributing to the downfall of Swedish culture and society as we know it.

I s'pose that is all for now, over and out..and I wish the best to whoever may be reading my mumble jumble.

One Tenth Of The Way There, I Think I Can, I Think I Can...

First and foremost, I've officially been in Lund for five weeks! It's an interesting sensation; initially, time went by rather slowly, and now I can't believe how quickly it's going. Lund truly feels more like home than anytime before. All of us Kalifornien girls seem to have really cemented ourselves in Lund; and through Kristen/her Swedish corridor mates have met some truly fantastic people. I can't deny that during the past couple weeks I've had feelings of regret around staying for the full academic year..especially considering that my California girls leave me in December and not knowing exactly how I'd adjust to the shift in social circle. However, in that time, I've continued to meet more Swedes and felt increasingly more comfortable with the thought of really living here and going all the way through to June. On a side note, I've realized that I have the ability to adapt to new situations and settings really quickly, and I partially fear that I may become disenchanted with Lund and this unforgettable, unfathomable opportunity that I have with studying here. Sometimes I stop what I'm doing and realize that this is a time of my life that is going to leave a great impression on me.

Okay, so now for a general update..it's been quite a week indeed. I've felt reminiscent of the first few weeks of my freshman year at UC Santa Cruz; everyone is excited to get to know each other, you're overloaded with a variety of stimuli, you want to do everything, meet everyone and savor every opportunity. Essentially, the beginning of freshman year of college and the first month in Lund have felt like summer camp. And unfortunately, summer camp has ended..meaning that yes, class has started. This past week was probably one of the most random, flustered, confusing week of my whole life. I'll be taking what are called SAS class (Special Area Studies), they're in English and only for international/exchange students (also known as joke classes because they aren't departmental). It's insane to hear all of the different places that my peers are from(Finland, Switzerland, Singapore, China), my situation feels all too surreal to fully grasp. After quite a hectic first week of classes, it appears that I have my final schedule pinned down: Swedish Social Policy, Governance and Conflict in the Middle East, Global Environmental Justice, and Population Settlement and Economic Geography. So, a difference that I've noticed that irks me slightly about the Lund University system is that 1. no meeting time/day is ever really consistent 2. because of this general inconsistency leads to another issue, classes can have time conflicts! Which absolutely, never ever is allowed to happen at UCSC. Two classes at the same time? Just decide which one's more important. This, I can tell will be a consistent struggle for me. All in all, I'm pleased with my schedule and classes. For a variety of reasons I'm sure (partial homesickness, partial unhappiness with school seriousness starting), I've felt slightly melancholy throughout the week. But with the promise of my mom and Ron visiting sometime in the near future, as well as getting a care package in the mail..I feel like this little raincloud on top of the current rainclouds in Lund will pass.

Last week, we were more or less forced to decide on which nation we would like to join; which for us exchange students only staying for a semester, or year is slightly irrelevant because no matter which nation you join, you can go to any other nation. Nonetheless, I decided on Lunds Nation (mainly because it's close to me, the largest nation, and I didn't really care either way), Gaby, Kristen and Sara joined Krischan Nation, and Jennifer joined Blekingska. Another general highlight of the weekend was working as a server at a sittning (formal dinner) at Wermlands Nation on Saturday..which once again reinforced my general anxiety revolving around doing anything that involves serving, food, and potentially mean people. The

Californian exchange students dominated most of the kitchen: Jennifer, Sara, Gaby, myself and Cyrus all worked with serving the food for the evening. Munching on bacon and delicious french fries all throughout the evening. Besides having fun while working in the kitchen and getting free food, there is an added bonus: the thank you sittning that occurs a few weeks after you work for a nation where they in turn provide free food and drinks. It truly is quite glorious.

Over and out.