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