'Comment' setting changes

I have now changed the settings so that anyone may comment, not only blogger members. Hopefully this won't leave me open to comment spammers, but I can always change the settings back if this happens.

the adventures continue

Don't have a great deal of interest to report but the weather is still not the best so I figure it best to stay inside and do some more typing.

Slept much better last night, though goodness knows how I did it given the scene that awaited me when I got up. Having breakfast with some of my corridor mates, we were puzzled at the numerous glasses (including many shot glasses) on the sink, given that they weren't there last night. Even stranger that they had been washed. After eating breakfast and having a chat, one of the guys from the next corridor over came and asked if we knew about the mess that our corridor was responsible for. Intrigued, I followed him to our balcony only to be met by the corpses of a number of chairs and other random objects which had been obviously thrown from balconies. What a mess. Hope I'm not around when the shit hits the fan. I was woken at around 5am with lots of yelling and merriment so perhaps thats when this happened. Who knows? At least I didn't have to feign ignorance.

The pub crawl the other night was lots of fun. We were meant to make it to the pubs of the 13 different nations but only made it to about 9 or 10. I have now tried a selection of beverages! One was particularly funny. I ordered a Hoegaarden, which gained me amazed looks from others at the bar. Upon looking at the barman, I realised why. The glass he was holding could only be described as huge. Or perhaps enormous. I must have looked startled because he explained that although it looked like you could bath a small child in it, it was actually only a pint. So I took it back to my table, much to the amusement of my friends.

A lot of the bars have Australian beers, but I certainly wasn't going to spend more on a stubby of VB than it cost for a pint of something nicer.

The bars varied greatly in both size and style. One of the nations is known to Preethi and myself as the New Zealand of the nations. Its symbol is a sheep, and they have a 'sheep-head gasque' every year where they serve you half a sheep head to eat (don't click on this link if you are feeling queasy). Mmmm offal. They didn't redeem themselves with their bar, where they were playing Robbie Williams' greatest hits and the toilet had no toilet paper. We didn't stay long.

The funniest nation was the one where we ended the crawl - Stockholm Nation. It was just like an enormous nightclub, with various rooms playing different styles of music. Full of people who had obviously put a lot of effort into their appearance, and needed to return to the toilet at regular intervals to maintain it. Preethi and I likened it to first years at steves or club bay view or something similar. Passing through a few of the rooms, we made our way down to the room that was playing Swedish pop music. Quite funny. They even played a Swedish version of 'hey mickey'. Not sure how often I will be returning to this nation, but it was certainly good for a laugh and a dance. A great place for people watching, that's for sure.

We left in time to catch the last bus home, but of course walked off in the wrong direction and by the time we got to the bus stop we had just missed the bus. Luckily some more friends were walking by coincidently and so we all walked home together in the rain. On the path home we saw the biggest snails I have ever seen, and also a few frogs which were quite cute. No cane toads here!

We also saw a posse of police, whose uniforms make them look ready for war at any second. They were stopping students riding home to check they had lights on their bikes. The fine is quite high if you don't, and apparently the fine for riding drunk is very expensive too.

I paid my rent for the first time the other day. We aren't able to use internet banking as our swedish isn't nearly good enough so we have to pay it at the kassaservice for a fee of 45 kroner. What a ripoff but it can't be helped.

Not sure what today holds. Am thinking of making it down to the systembolaget to buy some alcohol. Still haven't ventured in yet but have heard that you can't buy cartons or six packs but only single cans/stubbies. Well you can buy a carton but you need to select 24 single cans/stubbies at no discount so there doesn't seem much point. At any rate I wouldn't be able to cycle/walk home carrying a carton so I guess it doesn't really matter!

Well I wrote a lot for someone who didn't have much to say, I think I shall sign off now. Until next time..

Conor
xx

Ah the joys of student life

God I'm tired. Is it because I've been partying into the wee hours, I hear you ask. Oh no, it's because everyone else has been partying into the wee hours. Very loudly. And then this morning, I can only assume that someone was demolishing one of the rooms in my corridor. Very slowly and noisily. And the lawns seem to get mown here everyday. In the morning. Well I took some happiness from the knowledge that those who kept me up all night must be nursing big hangovers today. I can only hope.

Am meant to be going on a university organised pub crawl tonight...hopefully I can stay awake until then!

The perfect weather here has finally come to an end...it is now overcast and raining. Seems to fit my mood today quite nicely.

The last few days have been filled with trying to sort out my unit selection, which is pretty urgent seein as uni starts next week. We went to go see the administrator for our computing unit on monday, only to be told that although we applied to do the unit months ago and they accepted it, and the information on the net says it is taught in english, it is actually only taught in swedish. Not very useful for two people who know how to say hello and thanks and milk and chicken etc. Not sure how many programmes regularly use such words for commands.

So I found a replacement unit which seems very interesting but I don't think I'm knowledgable enough in biology. Hmm. This morning however I think my problems have been solved. After speaking to our contact for the hydrology unit we are doing in the second half of the semester, he suggested a "climate and soils" unit which I have now had approved by UWA! Hoorah! Preethi is still however trying to get her units sorted out...hopefully she will be able to do some commerce units.

What a nightmare this whole unit fiasco has been. We heard about people having such dramas before we left, but as we had put so much work into selecting our units we thought it wouldn't happen to us. God knows how we would be able to organise things from this end without the wonders of email and the internet. I assume a lot more walking would be involved.

Preethi and I have to meet one of our uni contacts on Monday in a room called "Luftrummet" which means "Air room". I couldn't help but think of "99 luft balloons" by Nena. It's funny the different ways you come up with to remember words in other languages. Of course having said that I can't think of any other good examples but I'll just assume you know what I mean. I have found myself wishing for one of those creatures from the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy that goes in your ear so you understand other languages.

We're heading off to the city again today, this time to pay our rent for the first time. Perhaps I shall enquire as to whether our rent includes free earplugs, or a course in electronics with an emphasis on sabotaging peoples' stereos.

Also plan on going to ikea again if the weather isn't too bad this afternoon. My 'forecastfox' tells me it will be a breezy day with periods of rain, so hopefully those periods happen this morning while I'm sitting here in my nice dry room. I do have to go to the shop though to buy a few things. I was looking through one of the sheets they gave us in our welcome pack yesterday and saw this:
Note: "Hamburger kött" which can be found in the cold meat section is horse meat.
Sheesh you wouldn't want to read that too late!

Think I'll stick to soy burgers...

Conor
xx

Success at IKEA

Yesterday was another successful day, spent having a look in the city and then shopping at IKEA! The city of Uppsala is really very beautiful, and Preethi and I have been likening it to what we would imagine Paris to look like. Strange to make that comparison I guess, but we only heard of Uppsala for the first time a few months ago! Many streets are cobblestones, and the road curbs are made of stone. A river runs through the city, I think it is called Fyrisan. The 'a' should have an o above it, but I haven't figured out how to do that on this keyboard yet. I've sussed out the dots though! ö ä, see! I now know what all these dots and os mean, and am getting the hang of pronouncing words. I am sure however that I will continue to make a fool of myself in this regard but oh well, I can only keep trying.

Preethi and I went into the city with a Swedish girl Sahar who lives in Preethi's corridor. She is very nice and offered to show us around. We ventured into a few shops, one of which had lots of cool stuff and I think we will both be going back there to buy some presents later on. We now know that "rea"means sale, while "slut rea" means final sale. Preethi and I had a bit of a giggle at that one, but you actually pronounce it "sloot rea". How immature of us :)

Had a look at some posters to decorate our rooms, but apparently I have expensive taste as all the ones I liked were between 300 and 400 kroner, which is roughly $50 - $70. So all I have up at the moment is a free map of the city that we were given when we arrived. If anyone wants to send me some cool posters...please feel free!!! Oh and blu tak, as I only brought a rediculously small amount with me.

After a disappointing pasta lunch we caught the bus to IKEA, which was pretty easy as the bus says IKEA on the front. It's not too far out of town, similar I guess to the one in Perth in Osborne Park. It was also in an area with car yards! Preethi and I had our photo taken out the front, and I'll upload that soon to my photos page.

IKEA was quite funny as it was just like the one in Perth but bigger and full of Swedes. We saw a lot of things that we have in our own houses back home, having been bought from IKEA. The restaurant here was much bigger, though we didn't stop to eat. You also walk through the warehouse area yourself, unlike in Perth where you get the shop assistants to bring the large items out for you. However, just like when you shop at IKEA in Perth, we emerged clutching enormous bags overflowing with goodies, and didn't spend too much! I didn't get anything too exciting, but it is very nice to be able to hang my clothes, and use a bathmat etc.

After our shopping spree we were all very tired and so came back to our rooms to put our new purchases to use, and have a little rest. Then Preethi and I did some more grocery shopping (which is getting easier) and had lebanese pizzas for dinner.

I met a couple more girls in my corridor yesterday too. I think it is almost full if not full now.

Well I better go have a shower, get dressed and have my breakfast as Preethi and I are going into the city for a university organised tour of the city. Hopefully this will be a good opportunity to meet some more international students, and also get a better feel for where everything is. The layout of the university is very different to UWA, as the buildings are littered throughout the city and its outskirts. Similar I guess to Notre Dame in Fremantle but more spread out. I definitely need to buy a bike! Perhaps I'll try and do that this week.

Okay then, will report more later!

Conor xx

You call this a beach?

I type this as I sit here sipping my 3.5% alcohol beer, bought at my local supermarket. Apparently you can only buy up to 3.5% alcohol at the supermarket, and anything stronger must be bought at a government store. I've yet to venture into one, but I am imagining a gestapo type establishment, where they question you extensively to ensure you won't be using the alcohol irresponsibly. I'll let you know how it goes when that happens...

Today we went to a 'beach'. Hmm. Another comedy of errors, which seems to be a recurring theme here so far! We needed to catch a bus in the city to get to the beach, and instead of catching a bus to the city we decided to walk. After walking for about 10 minutes it was realised that if we had any chance of making it we really needed to run. So through the city centre we ran...and ran. Past beautifully dressed people enjoying civilised street music, past people trying to pass us flyers (yes you can't escape those people in any country) we ran in our boardies and thongs. We ran until we thought we could run no more, and of course we missed the bus by *this much*. Dóh!

So...we caught another bus to go to a different beach. But no, of course it couldn't be so easy. It was the wrong bus and we had to walk (not run) another 2km to get to this beach. It was another very warm day and so by the time we got there we were ready for a swim. However, it appears that our idea of a beach, and the Swedes idea of a beach are two very different things. This was a vast green lawn surrounded by trees, leading down to a gravel beach and then to green, algae filled water which looked to be part of a river or lake. There were others swimming tho, and we were told the water was safe, so after relaxing on the grass we went for a wee dip. Needless to say however I did not put my head under. Apart from the fact that my hair takes forever to dry, I also didn't think that green algal dreads are a terribly good look. Although my rant may suggest otherwise however, we had a good time in the sunshine and I'm glad we went.

After we dried off, we played an old viking game, which I think is called kubb. It involves opposing teams trying to knock over each others wooden blocks with other wooden blocks, and was quite fun. I'd like to show it off when I get home..perhaps I can make a set myself. It consists of quite a number of wooden blocks so I think it wouldn't be the most practical souvenir to bring home. Hopefully I'll get to play it some more while I am here.

Well the rest of my day wasn't too noteworthy, consisting of getting home and eating dinner. I won't go into the details :) I will however make mention of a strange custom that goes on every night here in our housing. At 10pm every single night, and particularly so on the weekends, peoples open their windows and yell. We've heard that it may come from a student years ago who was so frustrated whilst studying that they yelled out their window, and it has continued on, but whether this is true or not I don't know. I'm yet to participate but I'm sure I'll be getting frustrated with my studies soon enough!

Tomorrow Preethi and I plan on going into IKEA to buy all the little odds and ends we need to make our rooms more liveable. Will let you know just what the IKEA mothership is like.

Conor xx

I'm here! Finally...

Well I've made it safe and sound! My stomach is still recovering from eating far too much airplane food, but apart from that I'm pretty good. Now for a recap of what we've been up to so far...

My first drama was encountered at Perth airport, where I was told my suitcase was so heavy that occupational health and safety laws meant that they couldn't handle it! So out came two pairs of shoes and some hair wax, and although I was well over the 20kg limit they allowed it through without paying any extra. The man wasn't too nice about it though, giving me a lecture about it before having a go at us for being environmental students. He said something along the lines of "oh yes, you're studying now but then you'll marry a rich man and spend all his money on pot". What a weirdo. Our theory is that he is bitter and twisted as he has never ventured beyond the airport himself.

Saying our goodbyes was pretty difficult but then it was go go go getting through customs and onto the plane. We had 2 seats on our own, so no fatties spilling into our seats which was nice. Dinner was some sort of curry type dish which wasn't too bad. I watched most of Madagascar which was pretty amusing, and spent the rest of the time reading and playing the crappy games. Pong can only keep you amused for so long...

Arriving at Kuala Lumpur very tired, the airport succeeded in confusing us somewhat! We had to get on a train to get to the other part of the airport and through to customs. Thanks to me however we had a couple of extra train journeys. I thought we needed to get back on it to get to the next part, but it just went back to where we were. Anyway we got there in the end, and got a bus to our airport. Our bus driver was practicing to be a rally driver but at least we got there quickly. After too short a sleep we got up for breakfast which included wedges! Strange.. though not as strange as the breakfast we were offered on the plane ...

After another bus trip to the airport we made our way to the plane, and noone checked our bags at any stage. You could either go through the metal detectors or just walk past them so we just walked past them and noone stopped us. Great security!

Anway, the breakfast on the plane must be seen to be believed. The non-vegetarian meal looked very nice (on the menu) but we were served purple-grey gelatinous cubes in a runny soupy egg mix with peas. I don't get airsick but almost spewed just looking at this crap. I ate the peas and the mushrooms which were on the side but needless to say I didn't touch the grey cubes of death. Preethi was more adventurous and said they tasted like tasteless jelly. Yum.

I got to watch 'the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy' which was good, and played some more crapola games.

Arriving in Stockholm we were greeted by very warm weather! And hordes of very tall, thin, tanned blonde women and similar men.

What followed was a painful journey into Uppsala, with our heavy bags and more rediculously heavy suitcases. Luckily an Aussie girl Kate met us at the train station with our room keys, and showed us to our rooms. We would have been very confused without her!

The last couple of days have been a bit of a blur really. We've settled into our rooms, set up our internet accounts (thank god) and done some grocery shopping. As everything is in Swedish, this is a difficult task. For example, the sour cream carton is just like a mini milk carton so you have to be careful what you buy. Last night it was cup-a-soup and toast for tea, but I will be getting more adventurous soon! I can't survive on cup-a-soup for 6 months.

My room is nice, and I have my own bathroom. I share a lounge and kitchen with the other 11 people in my corridor, and although I've only met a few of them, they seem very nice and helpful.

Well I guess that's it for now. It's very warm here and I'm sitting here writing this is a singlet and shorts. I hear it's nice and cold in WA at the moment. Don't worry tho, I am sure I'll be whinging about the cold soon enough!

Hope everyone is well. Will write more once I've done more! It's orientation week this week so I'll get introduced to student life here. SHould be interesting, I think!

love conor
xx