a wonderful day! :-)

I just had to share the fact that it is the MOST beAUTiful day here in Lund today! I went to a language cafe today at one of the local schools and not only had a thoroughly enjoyable time while there but also had a magical time exploring (aka getting a bit lost!) on the way home. The school was so interesting and so very typically Swedish in it's design. I have noticed that here there jsut aren't the same boundaries as home, for example the palace in Stockholm has no fences or anything, you are free to just wander around the cobbled streets nd courtyards surrounding it...very interesting i thought! (pictures above! Also notice the recylcing lorry outside, even the royals are big on recycling here - awesome!)

So anyway the school was like this too, no real fences (apart from around the playing fields) and no real main entrance. Every building was as important as the other (again this notino of equality being very Swedish). This ideal is a fantastic one but it did mean that i had NO idea where the entrance was or where i was meant to meet everyone! But as ever there was a positive side because i got to practise my (very bad) Svenska and ask for directions, seeing as i wandered into the primary school building and not the high school building! But the teacher was very nice and pointed me in the right direction.

The language cafe is a compulsory aspect of their language learning, so i was given 5 students age 14/15 and they had to talk English to me for an hour, and o my heavens, they were amazing! I am honestly so inspired and in complete awe of them, and really a little embarrased about my shoddy language efforts! But it was good because every so often they would speak in Swedish and i could understand veeeeeeeery small little snippets...SO cool!

So a magic afternoon it was and most informative. As i said i then had a little bit of an explore around the area and finally ended up back in the centre and oooo twas lovely cos everyone was sat in the sun and enjoying life, and there were Capoeira performers in the main square with a band and everything! What more do you need on a spring day than sunshine, music and a bit of dance/martial arts!? twas perfect!

That's it from me this time, will write all about my little trip up North soon, but i need to time to fully explain it to you as it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-D

Peace out x x

blibble, bubble

Ok, so it is truly BEAUtiful here in Lund at the moment, spring is definitively arriving, the crocuses are coming out and the sun has made an appearance everyday this week! Although today just doesn't count because the wind has been RIDICULOUS! (...Ana won't appreciate me saying this (apologies now!) but there was an incident with bike falling off due to wind...it was THAT strong today!) Needless to say there was some classic hair moments on my part, which i know you would have just loved Harry! At one point i couldn't actually see where i was going while riding Olof due to excess hair in the face! But it didn't matter, the sun was shining so naturally everyone was out and about, enjoying it :-)

I definitively think that the Swedes seem to have the same ethos as Mummy Peace, as soon as the sun shines it is an obligation to be outside! Lund has come alive this week, music int he streets, EVERY bench full of people, even the floor was pretty full! The cafe's have tables outside, stalls suddenly appeared in one of the squares and o it's just LOVELY :-D Of course those that were sat at the tables outside (Ana and I included!) were wrapped up in winter coats, scarves and gloves, but that didn't matter...the SUN WAS SHINING!!

It's been a veeeeeeeeeeery busy couple weeks. Activites have included a cartoon party (yes twas MAGIC fun, please note the pictures, the people really were that BLUE!!!) And i know i'm a wrong way round dalmation but i was the runt of the pack! We also found Cruella DeVil that night, however i was convinced he was a mad professor, so i wasn't scared, and just thought he was a dirty perv when he told me he wanted to have my skin!! Someone then pointed out that he was in fact Cruella, and o suddenly everything made sense! Also went to a corridor party, with the theme of pimps of ho's and serisouly ALL the guys at this party were ho's! Any excuse for a guy to put on a dress and they're there!! (The guy who was SO proud of his bauble boobs, has to be my favourite!!)

Aside from partying though, i've also worked at a Sitning ( a joyous experience...i'll explain what it is in a mo!) been learning how to use Archicad (again quite magical, i'm sure all you Interiors can appreciate my thrill here!) desperately revising for min svenska tenta (Swedish exam...eurgh...i'm NOT ready!!!) had another International Dinner (yummmy!) and of course finally preparing to go to the ICE HOTEL tomorrow!!! (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!) :-D

One of the most amazing things about being here are all the traditions. Lund is the second oldest university in Sweden, founded in 1668 and so there are all this fabulous tradtiions that have been around for centuries. For example the Nations began life as a 'home away from away' for the Swedish students who came to live in Lund from each of the different 'Lans' (or counties.) The Nation was the place where you lived with all the other people from that Lan who studied in Lund and were watched over. Nowadays the Nations are the social centre for students, being the place of cheap alchohol and food. (haha whatmore do you need!) The clubs are generally situated in the basements, with tenants living on the floors above. You no longer have to be from the 'Lan' in order to live there. Each Nation is now more or less identified by the type of activies and music it plays. There are mostly the same actvites at each Nation: club/pub nights, cafe during the day, some have sports and choirs etc and of course each of them has a 'sitning.'

The sitnings are just so fun! A 3 course dinner is served and during the dinner there are certain songs that are sung. For example there is a schnapps song, sung when schnapps is drunk. And every person at the dinner has a song book at their place so if they want to start a song, they stand up and tell the number and then everyone joins in! O it's a wonderful type of merriment! :-) the dress code is quite formal, so you get to wear preeeeeeetty clothes! :-) Always nice lets face it! and sometimes they sit you boy girl boy girl, so you get to meet new people and sing the night away!

Honestly thoguh i thinkmy funnet experience of a sitning is the one that Ana and I worked at because it was solely Swedes who attended, and o my! Do they know how to do a sitning!! At the bigninning of the night the guy in charge gave us ear plugs and thought yeah ok, err thanks! But seriosuly by the end of the night the Swedes were singing at the top of their voices, the WHOLE room was talking to each other so of course it was very loud! But it was a nice loud, everyone just seemed joyful, i think that's the only word for it! One of the Swedes asked Ana and I to sing a student song from our Uni, but alas such traditions haven't quite been stared at Brighton yet, what a shame!!

ok so i have officially waffled for more than my fair share of waffling time, so it's over and out from me!

Peace out x x x

Lift trauma!

Just a short one this time to let you all know of my adventure today...

After having a quick inspirational journey back to my project 'site' and being convinced that someone would surely come out and tell me off for loitering around private property for an hour, drawing pictures of the warehouse and closely inspecting the old railway line underneath the cars in the car park, i began to make my way back to town. An interesting, new way home, was in store, as ever mum, never go the same way twice! Well made it back to civilisation again quite fine and was just en route to leave the railway station (Olof and I had to take a lift in order to do this) so in we went, just about to close the door behind us, when we realise that a Swedish guy has just pulled up behind us. After surveying the hiss (the lift) we decide that there's room for two more - the bike and the owner. Buttons were pressed and down the decent we began...


Not for long though! Half way between top floor and ground level we stopped. Stuck completely between two levels.... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Why do these things happen to me! We began to press buttons, push on the doors etc, but nothing! Upon finding the alarm bell, and agreeing that this was definitely a time to use it, many screeching, loud, ringing noises ensued but still nothing! A couple of people turned their heads and saw us through the glass and peered at us for a couple of seconds before continuing on...!! Shocking I tell you! Was seriously beginning to think, we were going to be stuck in there forever!!!

Another frantic frenzy of button pressing and doors pushing but still nothing! However, upon this renewed bout of button pressing I found a small sign saying, in Swedish, what I thought was ‘press button for 10 seconds for the alarm.’ (well I either that that or possibly 10 SEK fine for misuse of alarm pressing! It was a tough call!) But believe it or not the NON- swedish speaker was right!!

So 10 glorious seconds followed of the lovely, screeching, loud ringing, Swedish voices came across the speaker and suddenly we were going back up (wrong way but hey at least we were moving!!) After the little episode of up and down, we finally made it back to solid ground and out into the fresh air! O was such a nice feeling!! :-D

So much for different routes mum! Next time i'm NOT taking the lift!