Bike joy!

Monday, January 29, 2007


Bike joy!

Ana and I finally bought a bike today...a tremendously joyous affair!!

The process of actually buying the bike was a looooooooooong one due mostly to sheer comedy from Ana (whoever knew someone was possible of bartering that much!) After much questioning, querying and visiting of different shops we finally settled on a little red number with a red lock for Ana and a little pink beast for myself, with white handles and a pink lock (most handsome!) Now comes not only the joy of learning to brake by peddling backwards and to cycle on the right (quite something i can tell you!) but also the difficult task of naming my little beauty! (possibles at the moment are Pascuale and Gustavo, would you guess that i've been talking to my Italian flatmate!) Girls names are still being thought about, so will keep you updated on the naming process, whatever sex the bike turns out to be!

The cycle home from the shop was a most amusing one, again mostly due to Ana in all her fabulousness of re-learning how to ride a bike! A task made even more exciting by the fact that it's on a completely different side of the road with completely different road signs and marks! O what fun!

The snow has now melted (it was a VERY sad day yesterday!) but it's still freeeeeeeeeeeezing cold...i'm ever hopeful that the snow will fall again cos it's SO pretty!

Ok only a short one from me this time, will try and upload some pics somewhere of the International dinner we had on Saturday (another joyous occasion!)

Caio for now

SNOW!!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007


the first snow!

so as the title suggestes, we had our first snow yesterday and o my it's BEAUtiful! Everyone was rather excited in the morn, especially the girls from Singapore! Ooooo Ana and I found out that SNOWFLAKES, i repeat SNOWFLAKES are REAL!!!!! tiny, tiny snowflakes were faling from the sky!! I'm still amazed at this! Mother nature is offically a legend and i love her!

Also had a very amusing evening Tuesday when the boys began their cleaning rota with a 'boys bathroom' clean. Watching Ilias (the Greek guy) wander around with onyl ONE rubber glove in a somewhat dazed and confused manner, as if cleaning is something new and rather alien to him, is something i shall never forget! Johannes (from Germany) seemed to handle the situation a little better, i think this is the reason the boys decided they needed to clean in pairs - for moral support! Us girls decided we could manage just fine with only one of us but apparently the boys couldnt'! Bless them!

All this joyous cleaning fun was discussed at our 'Cleaning meetin.' Yes we actually had a whole meeting dedicated solely to discussing cleanig issues...! You would NOT believe how long it took to decide how many people should clean the kitchen and what each cleaning duty included! It was a magical experience! O my! In the end, (just so you know!) 2 people are cleaning the kitchen, which includes sweeping the hall, one girl is cleaning the girls bathroom and 2 boys are cleaning the boys bathroom on a weekly rota! Riviting stuff!!

And so apart from cleaning entertainment AND snow joy, the week has been pretty eventful with our first review also being on Tuesday (it was a busy day!) It went ok, there's an amazing Swedish guy in my group who did most of the talking and i'm ashamed to say i didn't say a word....!! I felt he covered everything just fine! :-)

Ana's also had a rather exciting week!! Well, i use the word exciting here when really i should probably use traumatic! Not only did she fall over Monday and hurt her knee, she also fell down yesterday TWICE due to ice! Now this is all happening on top of the fact that her glands have swelled up and she's moved halls 3 times!! She is possibly THE clumsiest person i have EVER known! After coming home from shopping on Mon she dropped ALL my apples on the floor because, according to her, "o no! there's a hole in the bag!"....when in fact they'd dropped out of the hole at the top of the bag, where the handles are! O and i haven't even mentioned yesterday when she spilt her hot chocolate ALL over herslef and our Swedish Language classroom!!

Heheeeee she is SO funny to travel with, i have not laughed so much, since well, ever!! Think i may have reached the point where i just can't laugh any more! ehehehehehehehe!

Ok so i think that's the end of this mammouth blog! Hello to everyone, missing you all greatly, wish you were here to play in the snow!

Big huggles all around but especially for Storms (haha you got a mention!)

Number 2

Wednesday, January 17, 2007


1 week since arrival!!

Hello! So here goes 2nd ever blog!

Crikey, i can't believe i've only been away a week!! Feels like i've lived a lifetime, and literally been around the wordl!

Well, tonight has been magic fun- i can safely say being an International student is like nothing else...it's FANTASTIC!! Met up with the Swedish mentors tonight and o my! The group is SO cool!! Had some wonderful (almost) conversations with the 3 guys from Spain (hehe thought of you Anna!) and also met 2 people from Italy, a girl from Austria, a Kiwi (thought of you Vix!) :-) and that was only at the start of the evening!!

We went to Kalmer Nation tonight (a Nation is something that you have to belong to as a student here in Lund and its almost like comparing it to being a regular at an English student pub in the sense that it is cheap (for Sweden!) drinks and food, is full of students and only students! and that you go there regularly on certain nights as there are different things going on each nights. The only real difference being is that you can live above/in your Nation building as they are big buildings not just a bar and a dacne floor...Awesome!

Saw a guy who looked exactly like Stefano tonight (slightly worrying!!) and also someone who reminded me tremendously of Zoli, although no one tell him that or his ego will get even bigger!!! (haha!!) :-D

Began our course properly yesterday, which is just mean cosidering that everyone else at Lund University doesn't start until next week!!! Why is it that the Architecture department is ALWAYS different and more work!! Grrrrrrr!!

Had a magical exploration around Lund yesterday, with today being more group work, which is cool considering that the group consists of, me, James (a Swede, who knows everything there is to know about Lund seeing as he's lived in Malmo all his life!) and Martina (a Czech.) Urban planning seems like great fun, but o my it's scaring me at the moment!! Next week we're moving onto smaller projects but this week is, well, a learning curve i guess is the only way to explain it!

On a lighter note, i now have a plug adaptor (well a loaned one from the flatmates!) Duong (Singapore flatmate) went in search of plug adaptors today and found out that there is a law, yes i repeat a law that states only plugs from Swedish to International may be bought NOT internatinoal to Swedish - meaning we're screwed!! They did have one though, (whcih i don't quite understand) but it was 290Kr which is roughly about £26....FOR A PLUG!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are times being here that i wish i'd taken more care when packing, but hey, it's an exciting adventure!

Ok, definately sleep time now, have studio again tomorrow and of course more socialising, so i need my beauty sleep.

Hope all you lovely munchkins reading this are doing grand, of course i miss you home peeps too (i felt very bad not saying hey to you too, i meant to but i forgot, so sorry!!)
Missing you all mucho, wich you were here to experience everything too, Lund is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BEAuTiuful (well the centre at least!)

Ciao for now, (and just for you Miss Brizzles) Peace out! :-D x x

Number 1

Monday, January 15, 2007


I'm here!!

Well, the adventure really has begun, i'm sat here in my new room in Lund (finally found an internet cable!!) Once the minor hiccup of money had been sorted (who knew that SWISS FRANCS and SWEDISH KRONER sound so similar to the post office!!) i'm feeling more settled. However still missing a plug adaptor seeing as i brought one for South and Central America, Asia and Australia, NOT one for Central Europe and Scandinavia! (whoopsie!) so having to charge Audrey (the computer) and Cohen (the phone) in short sharp bursts with my Singaporean flatmates adaptor! (who knew they have the same plugs!!) The corridor is fantastic, well it is fantastic now after an initial shock from the communal bathroom that has 2, yes i repeat 2 showers for the 16 people that live on the corridor and only one shower curtain!! Things have improved!!

There's a fabulous mix of people, 'I'm feeling very Olympic today' in fact (hope you get the quote Lawrence!) 2girls from Singapore, one Greek guy, 2 Germans, a Belgian girl, a girl from Hong Kong, 2 guys from Poland, a French guy, an Italian girl, a Hungarian girl, a guy from Canada and a couple of others haven't really met yet! It's an exciting place!

Oooooo and how can i not have mention the Swedish language classes yet!! They're AWESOME!! I never thought my mouth could make sounds like it! Can only say hello, my name is jacqui and i'm from England but i live in Lund and i walk to uni! (i can also say fly, run, go by boat and my ultimate favoutrite in terms of sounding greate in Swedish: take the bus! Sounds a bit like Walkie Talkie!) However give me time and i'm sure i can conquer it a little more!

Missing all you Brighton people heaps! Hope you have a magical time in Paris (still jealous!) (And of course everyone at home too!)

ooo and this is the end of my first blog ever - ha!