Gott nytt år

This is the time of year when most of us move from one orgy of food and drink to the next. Just as my stomach was recovering from Christmas, it’s already time for New Year.

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year!

Arrrrggggghhhhh!

Public transport is the same eeeeverywhere. Today, there I was, on an almost empty bus (one of those long, double buses, there were four other passengers...so it was basically empty)...and a man gets on, and decides that the best possible seat was beside me. I was on a regular seat...not on the one reserved for elderly people, not on the one for people with wheelchairs or prams...regular seat. Nothing special. Then the guy gets angry when two stops later he has to move so I can get out!!

Seriously buster, if you didn’t want to have to pack up your newspaper, pick up your man-purse and get up to let me out, you should have chosen to sit next to one of the dozens of empty seats. Arrgghh!

Cultural differences

No matter where you travel you’ll always be faced with some differences. I found this site: http://satwcomic.com/  a while ago and it has some great comics about how the Scandinavians behave and relate to each other. There are some helpful explanations under each comic for all us non-locals!

Some quick things I noticed when I first got here:

- Doors, in general, open the other way (outwards from a room). This still gets to me as I’m always trying to push or pull the door the wrong way. One theory I’ve heard is that this is a fire safety measure – when panicked it’s easier to push things open than to pull. Obviously other countries don’t mind as much if their citizens are trapped in burning buildings.

- People just don’t use umbrellas. I’ve been out in pouring rain and only seen about four other people in umbrellas. I assume they were all foreigners.

- The queuing system – take a number from the machine, wait your turn. Whatever you do, don’t cut in line, even if you’re dying, I’ve seen murderous looks thrown at people who do.

- Stockholm is a dark city. A classmate pointed this out, the buildings aren’t lit from the outside. Even the palace is dark.

God jul

Well I'm watching Christmas afternoon cartoons and eagerly awaiting tonight's visit from Santa Claus...
Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas!

Ice Hotel

I’m back from the frozen north and already itching to go back again. It was a completely amazing weekend, and I had very high expectations to begin with.

I arrived in the early afternoon and straight away borrowed all the clothing they could give me. They provide overalls, mittens, boots and balaclavas, which is great as you almost don’t need to have any heavy winter clothes of your own when you go there.

I had some time to look around the hotel and explore all the rooms which were open. During the day the hotel functions almost as an art exhibition so anyone can go in, it’s only at night that the hotel is only open to guests. Since it’s now the beginning of the season, it’s not completely finished, so not all the rooms have been finished and the ice church was still being built.

That evening I went snowmobiling, the trail led over the frozen lake and into the forest. About halfway through we stopped in a little hut and our guide built a fire and cooked us dinner (moose goulash) (I think it’s appropriate to give a shout-out to my Hungarian follower at this point...though not sure how the Hungarians would feel about goulash made with moose).

Going to bed that night required some preparation, but after getting my sleeping bag from the staff I made my way outside and into the hotel, found my room, crawled into the bag and settled in for the night. Took me a while to get comfortable and warm, but it was actually a comfortable night considering where I was. At the delightful time of 7:30 I was awakened by a very chirpy man offering me some hot lingonberry juice and it was then time to get out of the warmth of the sleeping bag and walk back out of the ice hotel.

Saturday morning I went dog sledding, and happened to get lucky as I was on a sled with the kennels’ racing team (which apparently they don’t take out very often). Halfway through the ride we stopped on a little island in the middle of the frozen lake and sat inside a hut with a fire for some coffee and cinnamon buns.

During the afternoon I went about 40 minutes away to take a ride on some Icelandic horses. This was nice as it was the complete opposite of the snowmobile, complete silence and the kind of darkness where you can still see everything around you. Once again at the end of the ride there was a warm fire and dinner waiting for me.

Getting back to the hotel I spent some time at the ice bar before getting ready for my next night in the cold. My second night at the ice hotel was much better as I’d learned from what I went through on the first night. I slept really well and was once again awoken by a chirpy man next to my bed with hot lingonberry juice (at 7:45...woohoooo...sleep in!)

All up I had a really great weekend and I would recommend the experience to anyone. Unfortunately I missed out on seeing the northern lights as it snowed the eeeentire weekend..but I guess that just means I have to go back!

Pros:

-          They have almost all you need: take your socks, thermal underwear and hat, and they basically have everything else

-          Warm: once you figure out what to do, the sleeping bags are actually really warm

-          Quiet: it’s really quiet, though I did hear someone crunching around in the hallway one night

-          Activities: lots to do, so not much of a chance to be bored if you don’t mind being active

Cons:

-          Privacy: if you like privacy, this isn’t the place for you. No doors to the rooms, and change-rooms, showers and toilets are communal

-          Having to forgo liquids after a certain hour: you reeeeaaaaallly don’t want to have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom

Tips:

-          Take more clothes to bed than you think you’ll need: easier to take things off than to have to go get more clothes

-          Don’t leave empty room in your sleeping bag: climb in, push your feet all the way to the bottom and lave the bag scrunched up around you. I learned that after about 45 minutes of being frozen on my first night

-          Balaclava: live in this if you’re doing any kind of activity. Frostbitten noses are neither sexy nor comfortable

-          Get out of bed straight after the hot drink, before the effects wear off: if you get back to sleep after that, you’ll never get up, and you’ll probably wake up again once all the visitors start walking into your room



Entrance to the Ice Hotel



Main hall






Ice furniture






Dog sledding across the lake



Absolut Ice Bar



Going north

Well I’ve decided that Uppsala isn’t cold enough for me! So I’ve packed my bag and I’m heading north to Jukkasjärvi and the Ice Hotel for the weekend. I promise to post photos next week!

If you want some more information, have a look at their website:

http://www.icehotel.com/

Stay warm and trevlig helg!

That Christmas feeling

I was talking yesterday with some of my classmates about how Christmas just feels different here, and I have to admit I’m quite...enamoured...with how it is here. With the darkness and the cold outside it’s all much more cosy, the advent candles on almost every window give this warm glow, and the smell of mulled wine, ginger snap cookies and saffron buns seems to fill the air (or maybe that's just my imagination after eating so many...). It just feels like the way Christmas should feel.

There also seems to be much more of an emphasis on being together with your family and doing things together. My classmates were describing going home and making their own gingerbread houses as well as going out to the forest to pick out their own Christmas trees. I get the feeling that it’s not only a cultural thing, but maybe being away from a large city also helps in making this time of year be much more about being together rather than running around buying gifts.

Outdoor fun

I’m not much of a sportswoman, so the thought of doing any kind of sporting activity is usually really far out of my mind. Add to that water and below freezing temperatures and you’ll find me running (in a very non-sporty way, of course) the other way.

What follows is a picture of the sports...enthusiasts...I saw in Stockholm over the weekend. And yes, the white part at the bottom of the picture is snow.

Winter water-sports

Nicest farmer ever!

Another day and another study visit (on the coldest day of the week, again!). This time we were greeted by the farmer and his wife, who welcomed us into their home and served us afternoon tea. They kindly gave us all coffee, tea, pepparkakor (ginger biscuits) and the delicious lussebullar (little S-shaped saffron buns with raisins, typical of this time of the year). Nicest farmer ever!

End of the afternoon on the farm

Gravad lax

So my very loyal official follower has asked for some more information (critical appraisal and photographic evidence) on my gravad lax experiment.

One tough thing about cooking for yourself is that you have no one to help you eat the disasters you make, so I was reeeeeeaaaaally hoping this would work. Also, I think it would make me feel like at least some Swedish culture had managed to seep in if I got this dish right.

So for lunch I made some roasted potatoes with dill, bought some of the mustard and dill sauce that is served with gravad lax (now that I think about it, maybe I was a little over-enthusiastic with the dill today...), and pulled my cured salmon out of the fridge, all the while praying for the best. I’m pretty proud to report that it was a success (insert big smiley happy face here). Yummy salmon taste, subtle pepper and dill taste, and actually quite delicious when paired with the hot roasted potatoes. I highly recommend you attempt this yourself.

Sorry if the picture isn’t exactly the best, but after having to wait for the potatoes to roast...I was far more interested in eating my lunch than photographing it!

Gravad lax, mustard sauce and roasted potatoes

Swedish food

This is an issue close to my heart, and considering that I can feel my pants slowly getting tighter, it’s obviously an issue for the rest of my body too.

I’ve tried some of the traditional dishes like meatballs (delicious) and picked herring (more of an acquired taste) while out, but I’ve also been trying to make Swedish dishes at home. So far I’ve eaten more cinnamon buns than I care to admit, and I think I’m now quite competent at making them, which is probably not such a good thing. There’s nothing like eating them warm out of the oven on a cold day, and for some reason I find them even yummier when smothered in strawberry jam. I’ve also made raggmunk, a kind of potato pancake which is then served with salted pork (I hear bacon is an acceptable alternative). Yesterday I was feeling inspired and so I began my attempt at making gravad lax, a sugar and salt cured salmon flavoured with lots of dill and white pepper. I won’t know until tomorrow if it turned out good, but with a mix of instructions from the fishmonger at the Uppsala food hall as well as a Swedish cookbook I can only hope that it will work.

What I’ve been liking about food in Sweden is the availability of ingredients, especially if you like baking. I remember going to the supermarket during my first week here and staring at the twenty different types of flour available and feeling completely lost. In the end I had to ask a passer-by for a translation as to what they all were.

A good place to start if you want to try some Swedish recipes yourself is:

http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Lifestyle/Food-drink/Swedish-culinary-classics/

This site has a nice range of typical foods to start experimenting with.

Dairy and beef farm study visit

After yesterday, I say that there should be a ban on study visits during winter. Or at least on days where it’s as cold as yesterday. Unfortunately there was no opportunity for practical work with the animals, so yesterday’s visit ended up being exactly like a lecture, but in a frozen barn (and partly outside) instead of in a semi-warm classroom. Not comfortable at all.

One of the farms we visited, from what I understand, was donated to the state on the condition that it would be leased to a prince of the royal family, and it is currently leased by the king of Sweden. On the way there I couldn’t help but make fun: “Oh yeah, I’m sure the king is at his farm aaaaaaaall the time...”. It seems like I spoke too soon, for when we arrived at the barn the man himself was there, as was his son. At least we know what the ‘royal treatment’ was like at that farm: instead of being in the frozen barn, you get to be in the warm office looking into the barn.

Coming to SLU

I’ve had some comments recently asking about how to apply for the master’s program at SLU.

Since I’ve come as an exchange student, my home university helped out with quite a few things, so the first thing I suggest you look at is if your university has a partnership with SLU. If not, don’t fear, for you can still apply. You need to have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university and have good spoken and written knowledge of English or Swedish. Each specific master’s program can also have extra admission requirements.

You can find more information on the master’s program at:

http://www.slu.se/en/education/masters-studies/

This page has information on which programs SLU offers, entry requirements, application process and tuition fees.

Depending on which country you come from, you’ll also need a visa to live and study in Sweden. The Swedish migration board has information about which documents you need to send:

http://www.migrationsverket.se/info/151_en.html

Another useful link:

http://www.studyinsweden.se/

Has information about studying in Sweden.

Winter really has arrived

This morning I woke up to a beautiful, cloudless, sunny day (picture below)...one tiny detail: it was -15°C. After more than a week of temperatures below freezing, I can now safely say that I’m cold. Yes, it does look beautiful outside, but no, feeling the inside of your nose freeze is not so nice. Getting dressed now takes at least 10 minutes, and the multiple layers of clothing make you walk in a funny way, with your arms sticking out an angle beside your body. At least all my Swedish classmates are equally frozen so I don’t feel so much like the silly foreigner who can’t handle winter.

There is always frozen fun to be had though. The other morning I was thrilled at the sight of a young man running to catch the bus, taking a corner too fast, slipping, doing a small trying-to-stay-upright dance...which failed...falling, sliding at least a meter along the sidewalk before finally coming to rest near the bus. It was the most perfect fall I’ve seen in a long time. Since it’s usually me who is falling over all the time it’s nice when someone else does it too.

Tomorrow my classmates and I have an all day visit to some cattle farms, and it seems like it will be colder than today. At least dairy cows produce a large amount of heat, so cuddling up next to them in the barn may be a viable option if it gets too cold. Hopefully we also get extra credit if we end up frost-bitten while on a school trip.

Sunny, but freezing, day at SLU

Tour guide report

Well my friend has made it back to her home in Milan and it seems like she survived the somewhat chilly weekend in Stockholm. In the end I played tour guide to just her and her boyfriend, which is slightly easier than trying to coordinate a larger group of people. After some flight delays (for them) and some cancelled trains (for me) we managed to meet up and I got a chance to show them around.

Thankfully these two people are just like me, and we all agreed that there is no way you can say you truly experienced a country without having experienced its food. Somehow on their first night here they ended up eating something like kebabs, which although perfectly fine, can hardly be called Swedish. Understandably they were keen to try some local food, so I took them to a cosy place in Gamla Stan which serves very good food and equally good drinks (I’ve added a link to their website below), and between us we managed to eat meatballs, salmon and reindeer. Reasonably Swedish I think.

After lunch we walked around Gamla Stan and visited the Christmas market that is set up in Stortorget (a square near the royal palace). If visiting the market, or if you come across it anywhere else, I strongly suggest trying the Glögg, a hot, spiced wine drink (mulled wine I think it is called in English). Being sliiiiightly cold outside, we parked ourselves next to the Glögg stand and ordered a few to get warm. My only complaint is the tiny cups it’s served in....seriously, it’s -5°C outside, those cups should be at least five times bigger than they are.

We then walked past the palace and over the bridge to Kungsträdgården where we watched the ice-skaters in the ice-skating rink set up there and walked though another Christmas market. This one, unfortunately, had Christmas music playing on an endless loop...only so many times one can hear “Walking in a winter wonderland”  before it starts making you homicidal.

The following day it was a little harder to get around, with slightly lower temperatures and snow. Although I’m glad my friends got to see Stockholm on such a perfect winter day, they weren’t exactly prepared for the cold and snow, and although I did warn them that it was cold and to come in warm clothes, I probably should have been a little more specific as to just how cold it was. So in the morning while they saw the royal palace, I went to a little bakery to get some Kanelbullar (Cinnamon buns) and Saffransbullar (Saffron bunns) for them to try.

They wanted to see the Stadshuset (Town Hall) but unfortunately it was closed.Thankfully they managed to see the Vasa museum, which really is something you can’t miss when visiting Stockholm. I’ve added a photo below, but my amateur camera doesn’t do it justice.

All in all, it was a great weekend. Traipsing through Stockholm was always going to be fun, but in the end it’s the company you keep that makes all the difference, and showing these two around (not that I did much) was a total pleasure.

Some (hopefully) helpful links:

Food in Gamla Stan:

http://www.glenfiddichwarehouse.se/

Bakery:

http://www.fabrique.se/

Vasa museum:

http://www.vasamuseet.se/

Christmas market, Stortorget

Ice-skating rink, Kungsträdgården

Snowy Stockholm

Vasa

Tour guide duties

Firstly, let me apologise for my previous post. Pointless early morning wake-up calls leave me in a bad mood and completely uninspired for writing.

I am now thankfully back to my overly cheerful self, especially after learning that a friend of mine will be in Stockholm over the weekend. We’ve known each other since I was born, and she’s like my sister from another mother. She’s the kind of friend that no matter how much time has passed, it always seems like we’ve never been apart.

She’ll be visiting Stockholm with some friends, so I guess I get to play tour guide. I don’t know how good I'll be, but at least I don’t charge for tours...and ultimately you get what you pay for. I’m not sure where to take them yet, I don’t know if they’re the type of group who prefer museums and cultural sights, or outdoor activities (maybe a little hard given the snow outside...) or shopping and bar hopping. I guess I’ll meet them tomorrow and see.

Some things are always the same

Seems like maintenance men are exactly the same here as they are everywhere else in the world. I was nicely informed yesterday that in order to repair the ventilation system, access to my apartment would be needed between 7:30 and 15:00 (yup, nice narrow time frame there...). This was also timed with a day I have no class, so my hopes of a cosy sleep-in while the snow fell outside were quickly shattered.

So this morning I sleepily answered the door to a very cheerful man who came in, turned the ventilation above the stove on, said “We’ll be back in twenty minutes”, and left...it has now been 3 hours and 20 minutes.

Farm visit

A good thing about being at SLU is that we get to have some practical view of what we’re learning by making study visits/field trips/excursions/whatever you call them in English. It’s always nice to have some animal contact and also to hear from the producers who work with these animals every day.

Today we had an exercise with some dairy cows in a herd near Uppsala which was somewhat interesting. The only thing is that the smell on the way home is not so pleasant for the others around us, especially when on some kind of public transport. On the positive side, the bad smell usually means that no one sits next to you, so there’s often extra room.

Weirdly enough after spending all morning with cows, all I can think about is having steak. Evil right?

An ode to Swedish hot dogs

Best. Hot dogs. In. The. World. Seriously. No joke.

I will be eternally grateful to my Swedish friend for introducing me to these when I was first here (also grateful for the many years of wonderful friendship, but mostly for the hot dogs...). Now, I love food, so I’ve eaten a lot of things in a lot of places, but Swedish hot dogs have no equivalent.

I don’t know what makes them so good, the bread and sausage look innocent enough, and there’s nothing outrageous about the mustard or ketchup that go on top. So maybe it’s something in the Swedish air that makes them so delicious.

When it comes to hot dogs I’m traditional, bread + sausage + ketchup + mustard = perfection. No fancy breads or sauces needed (as a side note, do those ketchup and mustard dispensers remind anyone else of cow teats or is it just my animal science brain at work?).

Quality doesn’t seem to vary thaaaaat much, so when in places like Stockholm my tip is to pick a hot dog stand with a good view. If the issue is price, then go to Ikea, there they’re about one third the usual price and just as good.

Over the weekend I spent some time roaming around Stockholm (one great thing about being in Uppsala is that Stockholm is an easy 40 minutes away on the train), so what follows is a photo of my very yummy afternoon hot dog break.



Hot dog and a view



Getting lucky

The mighty gods of group projects have smiled upon me and placed me with another nice group! It seems like one can indeed get lucky twice. Coincidentally, one of the people who was in my great project group in my last course is my group again. At least I know that this part of the course will be easy to get through.

One thing that is hard is when you find teachers who just can’t...teach. Ask them questions or engage them in a discussion and they are amazing. They know what they’re talking about, they somehow manage to hold an obscene amount of information in their heads and they’re passionate about the subject. Unfortunately, when giving lectures they’re difficult to listen to. I had one of these types of teacher in a lecture last week, but so far most of the others have been good.

Comments...yay!

It’s great to see people slowly starting to comment! It’s a good feeling to know that someone is reading, especially other students at SLU.

To the old-school blogger who commented on my first post, maybe I should follow your lead: today I had beef curry for lunch (taken with my very nice classmates), the fridge is well stocked and laundry was done last night so everything is clean. Unfortunately I have no husband who can fix what I wrote...so I’ll just have to hope this is okay.

Thanks and keep the comments coming!

Why Sweden...Take 2

Well, it seems like some offense has been taken by me not mentioning the other Swedish influence in my life. As well as my very lovely aunt, one of my closest friends also happens to be Swedish.

Coming to Sweden with my aunt didn’t work out, but my friend served as an equally wonderful tour guide and translator when I made my first visit here a couple of years ago.

We took in some typical cultural sites such as the Vasa museum, some childishly cultural sights such as Skansen, as well as a great mix of pubs and hot dog stands.

Those two perfect weeks in Stockholm only added to how much I wanted to be here. Also, this meant that for a long time I really liked all the Swedes I knew (hey, 100% success rate is pretty good, no matter how small the sample size...).

The photos are from that first visit and show a little of Stockholm as well as a random reindeer from Skansen (as an animal science student I thought I should make an effort to include at least one animal photo).

 

Gamla Stan seen from Södermalm

 

Nordiska Museet, just next to the Vasa Museet



Some ice-skaters, seen from Skansen



Gamla Stan

  

Reindeer, friendliness unknown



So...how do you like it?

No no, thankfully that’s not some bad pick-up line I’ve heard recently. After “Why Sweden?” this is the next question I get from most people.

Well...so far, I’ve been loving it. Uppsala now feels like...home. I can find my way around town (mostly) and slowly but surely I’m picking up words and phrases in Swedish.

Also, to those who told me that Swedes are cold, I’m sorry, but you’ve been to a different Sweden than I have. All the Swedes I’ve met until now have been warm, very friendly and welcoming. The one exception being the psycho who almost ran over me (and five other people) with her way-too-large suitcase at Stockholm Central Station...but I can somewhat forgive her since it was Friday afternoon and she probably had somewhere reeeaaaally important to be. Not to mention that in most countries that’s the kind of behaviour you can expect at a major train station during peak hour.

I can’t believe that I’m already past the halfway point of my time here, and right now...I really don’t want to have to leave.

Snow!

Okay, so technically it snowed a few weeks ago, but that doesn’t count since it snowed everywhere except here.

Those who know me know that I’m a complete snow bunny, so I’ve been outside enjoying the snow. It seems like all the normal people preferred to stay inside.

To me there’s something quite...magical...about how still and quiet everything goes when it snows, and how it makes everything shimmer on even the darkest night.

So to all the freaks like me who are out there and who currently have their noses pressed to their windows and are staring outside with wide-eyed wonder as frozen water falls from the sky...enjoy!!!

New week, new class

Now that the thrill and delight of exam week has passed, it’s time to begin a new course at SLU.

Some of my classmates from my previous course are taking this one as well, so it’s nice to have some lecture-buddies around for general company, pointless chat when the lecture is too boring and for picking up a copy of the lecture notes when bed is just too good to get out of in the morning...whoops, I mean for picking up a copy of the lecture notes when some debilitating illness prevents you from getting out of bed and going to the class you really wanted to go to in the morning...

The first day of new class typically also involves two of the words I dislike the most: group project. I don’t know why teachers love these so much. Maybe it’s because they then have less work to grade...or because they enjoy seeing students squirm at the thought of having to meet outside of class for hours to put together a project. I suspect that ultimately they derive some form of sadistic pleasure from it, but that’s just a theory.

The thing is, in my last course we also had a group project to do, and I got supremely lucky with the group I was placed with. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer, more fun group. I met some nice people and actually didn’t mind meeting with them to do the project. Somehow I just don’t think I can get that lucky twice.

Hopefully this new course goes well and I won’t be sitting in class for the next ten weeks wishing I had picked something else!

So...why Sweden?

This is the question I get asked the most, and it is usually coupled with a puzzled face and some statement relating to how cold it is here (Yes, I was born in Brazil. No, that doesn’t automatically mean that I enjoy tropical weather...).

So why Sweden? Well...my answer is always that my love affair with this country began long ago.

Once upon a time there was a Swedish girl and a Brazilian boy, they both travelled far away from their home countries on exchange, they met, fell in love, and have been together ever since (all together now: naaawwwww!). That is the extremely short version of how I ended up with a very lovely, and very Swedish, aunt.

In a family of Brazilians where brown hair and brown eyes reign, this blonde and blue eyed “creature” fascinated me. As a child, hearing stories of a far-away land so different to my own thrilled me, and I couldn’t wait for the day when she would take me for a visit. Unfortunately having her as a free tour-guide and translator never quite worked out, but the desire to be here was always in the back of my mind.

A few years ago my home university was promoting studying abroad, and I had the opportunity to meet a representative from SLU. By being so sweet, so charming, so nice and providing me with Swedish candy to take home (take note people, that is marketing at its best!), this person easily convinced me that this was the place to be. It took me a while to get myself together, but here I am. Finally!

First post

Hello there!

I am one of SLU’s new international student bloggers and I’ll be writing here about my life in Sweden while I study at SLU in Uppsala.

I guess it would be good to begin with a little about me: I am Brazilian by birth, but have been living in Australia for the past 15 years. I came to SLU as an exchange student and will be completing the final semester of my master’s degree in Animal Science here in Sweden. A stylish way to finish, I think.

This is my first attempt at blogging, so please be patient with me! Comments, suggestions, questions and critiques are very welcome, and guidance from any master bloggers wanting to pass on the secrets of their art will also be much appreciated...

Unfortunately it is final exam week at SLU, so I’ll be keeping this debut post short.

I’ll be back with more soon...