The Most Politically Incorrect Weekend in Sweden

And what a weekend it was indeed...some of our Swedish friends planned a White Trash sittning (which is retrospect is of course a recipe for disaster in one form or another). On Friday we went to a friends corridor to have a pre-party, and were pleasantly surprised to see how seriously our Swedish friend took the theme, you certainly don't want to be the only one looking ridiculous at such as white trash. Flannel, cutoff shorts, wigs, mustaches, fake pregnant bellies, teased hair, bright eye make up, bare midriffs, fake tattoos, and Confederate flags, yes, Confederate flags. It was a memorable moment turning around to see our friends Norberg, Kristoffer and Calle walk up from across the parking lot donned with camouflage and carrying a large Confederate flags; Calle even had a flag stitched on the back of his denim vest. The whole time the Kaliforniens and I would look at each other in disbelief, "This would never happen in the states, you would get shot for this." But this isn't California, and we rejoiced in the humor. We moved on to the Hallands nation where the sittning was scheduled, and the flag managed to find its way as well, being hung next to our three tables. The kicker of the sittning? There were four tables in the room, three for the white trash sittning and one table of only men, I believe Hallands "alumni" all wearing suits and looking quite dapper..talk about some sort of contrast. Jen and I bumped in to two of the men in the elevator, where I suddenly felt it necessary to cover up my picnic table cloth patterned bra as I said how bad I felt that they had to be in the same room as us while they looked so nice, "Oh no worries, we've been there before." Phew. The sittning itself was probably one of the best I've been to, singing traditional songs is a crucial part of sittnings, while pounding the table with your fist and often standing on top chairs causing many glasses of wine, cider, and champagne to be knocked over. My main goal of the evening was to get nothing on the overalls I was wearing (apparently they're coming back into style because I found them at H&M) because I had spent $60 on an article of clothing I hadn't worn since probably 2nd or 3rd grade and surely wouldn't wear after that night; rest assured, I was able to return them with no problem :).

The next evening Jen, Cyrus and myself had a Halloween themed tackfest at Wermlands nation (which we have determined through experiencing different nations tackfests that it is by far our favorite.) Desperate and overwhelmed by having another theme to dress to, I settled for a Native American, with war paint, a headdress and a tomahawk..while Jen was a "baker of love" wearing a red dress with white polka dress, an apron with a heart on it and a rolling pin, a true Betty Crocker. Of course the Swedes either wanted to call me Pocahontas or an Indian (to which I shutter at). As I mentioned before with the White Trash sittning, songs are a huge part of any Swedish dinner, however there's one in particular I refuse to sing that's about 9/11 (like I said, the Swedes are something different), however there is a song that I do quite enjoy:

If the ocean were whiskey and I were a duck

I'd swim to the bottom and drink my way up

But the ocean's not whiskey and I'm aint no duck

So let's go to Germany and have a good f...

In more news, I've officially booked a plane flight home for two weeks back to California from December 21st-January 4th! I came here with the idea that I wouldn't go home the whole time, I would be here consistently for ten months. However, as time has worn on I've felt increasingly more compelled to touch back with home base for a brief moment in time comparatively to how long I'll be in Sweden. I absolutely love Lund, I love the people that I've met, there isn't one moment I would take back from my experience so far, and I'm so excited to come back and continue my time. I feel like I have three homes now: San Rafael, Santa Cruz, and Lund..I'm so comfortable here and so incredibly happy, and I wouldn't call going home trying to escape..more like taking a breath for a second. After being in California for two weeks, I'll come back to Lund and hopefully in the next couple following days head to Utrecht in the Netherlands to visit Maura and come back with a few days to settle before school starts around January 17-19. With the end of the semester seeming to be fast approaching, it's hard to fathom Lund without Jen and Sara..two girls who have seriously made my experience here (they will kill me for my high corniness factor and even bringing up their departure), but I treasure them far beyond belief and I find it amazing the ability we have to connect to people on such a level in such a short period of time. And we have also officially been here for three months!!

Hej då

That Night We Ruled The World..

So tonight was a night that I feel I need to blog about in order to remember, not that it was especially different from most others but it had some lovely highlights that should be recorded. Leo, Jen, Kristen and I wanted to go out tonight to Östogöta Nation, also known as ÖG's..we biked there only to find that they weren't open (...but they should have been). Flustered, we went to Göteborgs..to find that they had two locations, and we weren't at the right one; finally we get to the right location and find an extremely long queue which of course we wait in. In line, this rather drunk tall blonde Swedish man begins a conversation with us in Swedish, kind Leo explains to him that we don't speak Swedish, and aren't from Sweden..but oh this man thought he had us completely figured out and was convinced that we were lying. After about ten minutes of his drunken ramble we show him our passports, clearly pointing to the "California, USA" line. We get inside to find that the TWO coatrooms that they have are both full, not only that but we also could barely move the place was so packed..especially when you're about a foot shorter than any Swedish male or female, you end up feeling like cattle being herded. We finally decided to leave and head to the last option: Lunds. We somehow are able to talk to the guys at the register and get our 50 kr. (about $8) back that we paid for entrance. Finally we arrive at Lunds with hopes of being in a nation where you could move your arms if you so desired, only to find that ohhh fantastic, they were full as well. Feeling hopeless, our friend Leo devised a plan telling Jennifer to go to the security guard and say that she was visiting a friend in the building (the nations also are corridor buildings housing students). Jennifer gets in successfully, next I go, saying the same thing.. "You aren't going to the club are you?" He asks me, "Nej" I reply and continue to make my way up the 6 flights of stairs feeling ever so triumphant. Having worked a couple of times, we knew the main security guard at the top of the stairs before the club entrance checking ID's, he looks at us and says "Oh I know who you are I don't even need to see your ID." Crisis averted! We go in to dance along with Swedes acting more like they were in a mosh pit than anything else, so much so that Leo was bumped leading to some of her cider flying through the air and conveniently landing on my hair and down my shirt. All and all, I feel like the Kalifornien girls and the Swede worked the system tonight, and does it feel so good! :) Good night all!

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.