Malmö

Malmö is the neighbouring city, the third biggest in Sweden. "Big" being a relative term - 280 000 people. It's nice though, I really miss living near the ocean. It's weird how claustrophobic I feel when I can't see water. The nearest IKEA is also in Malmo, and it takes a couple of transfers to get there, which is a damn shame.

Copenhagen & Urban Architechture

Copenhagen is close by, closer still because of the handy dandy train. 40 minutes and I'm in a different Scandanvian country (or the same one, if we pretend it's 1660)!

As part of my geography class, I get to go on two (TWO!) field trips. Excursions. Adventures which are free! We focused mainly on urban architecture and it was cool to get off the tourist path. One of the places we visited was Ørestad, a new(ish) building development geared towards the lower to middle class. Fancy subsidized digs! Oh, Scandanvians and your functionalist designer hearts!

Afterwards, we indulged ourselves in coffee and sweet treats. I don't remember what this little cake was, but there was apricots and almonds and magic deliciousness in it.

S'mores party

There's a barbecue pit outside my korridor, so we decided to make use of the dying summer days and had ourselves a BBQ and S'mores party! Hot diggity!

Apparently only North Americans know of the culinary treat that is the S'more! I always assumed it was in the international cultural zeitgeist, like how Americans eat turkey for Thanksgiving, or how Canadians are sorry about Nickelback. Now, I'm no over-zealous S'mores advocate - in fact, the last s'more I remember making was in Gr. 7 - but they are delicious and I say they deserve better international recognition! What better way than to have a party in their honour?

The fire was hard to get started, as it was windy and raining (typical) but we managed eventually, as Swedes from the surrounding corridors watched in befuddlement awe. We had to sub digestive cookies for graham crackers, but we made up for it by upgrading our chocolate to the dark + raspberry variety. Mums! (Swedish for "yum", in case you're wondering!)

Brunch and Brännboll

In Lund, we have nations. Wikipedia tells us that...

The nations are in charge of the kind of social activities which are at other universities normally handled by the student unions, such as bars, clubs, theatre companies, orchestras, sports societies, and also some housing. 

In essence, they are the core of student life. The best part of student life, some would say. Food is cheaper than anywhere in town, because unversity students cook it and they are free labor (or cheap labour, as they get paid in food and alcohol - not a bad deal). The other day my mentor group Sunday brunched at Lunds Nation. Some decided to double up on portions. It wasn't a good idea.

Later, we played a swedish game called brännboll at stadsparken, which has hammocks and a lake. Ruined a pair of shoes, so I played photographer for awhile.

Lund

My new home for the next little while. (The city, not the castle)