A week in...

A week ago this time I was in a plan heading to Sweden ..actually that's a lie...I was in a plane heading for Dubai so that I could catch a plane to Denmark and then make my way to Sweden..but you get the drift. A week ago today, I left South Africa for the unexpected.

I arrived a week late for orientation which means that I was a bit lost and had quite a bit to figure out on my own. And boy was there a lot to do.

First things first I needed to open a bank account and pay my rent...So I walk the half an hour it takes me to get into town and at the last minute realise that I have forgotten my passport. Dope! I try my luck and see if I can open an account without my passport...I am obviously told no and then make the long trek back home. Eventually with all of my documents in hand I confidently walk into a bank and am swiftly told that I can't open one without my tax number ( which I have to apply for and can take anywhere between one to three weeks). URG!! I had just walked an extra hour to get my passport and I couldn't open an account anyway! Oh, the joys!! So I went off to Forex, cheque in hand and paid for my rent.

Then it was off to the Welcome Reception which was for Lund's international students..and man are there a substantial amount of us! Just to list a few, I have met people from Canada, Serbia, Germany, France, Russia, Spain and South Africa. Yip, I managed to bump into a group of other South Africans. High Five!

The Welcome Reception was actually good fun. I had envisioned impassionate speeches and the usual laadieda but it actually quite different. We had performances from Lund's male choir and Lund's comedic Spex which was good for a laugh even though I didn't understand a word they were saying. even the speeches were full of humour and quite enjoyable.

Other highlights this week include finally opening a bank account ( I found out that there is another branch of bank that doesn't require your tax number), buying a bicycle (that is orange has a basket in front and yes it even has one of those annoying..but semi cool bells), doing a treasure hunt (this was a whole day affair with lots of quizzes and activities...we find out next week who won...fingers crossed!) and best of all I bought a blanket (now my scarves are safely packed away and I can snuggle in my new, not so reasonably priced duvet).

My awesome bank card!

So I am slowly getting settled and I am now trying clean out the cobwebs and random shit from my mind and get ready for class next week! What a nerd! I know right! Anyway...I've been doing some reading and hopefully this will better prepare me for the abyss that is a Masters. On top of that I have been studying some Swedish.

I've learnt the basics like hellos, how are you, I am from, my age is, etc and I can count..which is totally sweet! The only downfall is I am too bloody scared to practice it. Everyone here speaks such fantastic English that I feel like a bit of a klutz speaking their language. The best is when I am paying for my groceries. I approach very confidently saying "Hej Hej", I even understand the amount the cashier asks for and then..the cashier says something else (I have no freaking clue what) and my confidence crumbles, I get a coy smile on my face, and leave...what a chop! Anyway..I'm only a week in, I'm sure it will get better...I hope!

Other than that I have just been noticing random things. For example..even though the tempreatures don't get too high here people aren't as translucent as I thought they would be, in fact they aren't translucent at all. Most of the locals I have seen have fantastically tanned skin. The reason I have also noticied this is because girls..or should I say woman (I don't freaking know) all wear very short shorts. I mean their pockets are longer than their shorts. So that's something I didn't expect. Another random thing I've been noticing are squished slugs. Not only are these slugs huge but they litter the pavement with their guts, obviously they met their fate under the tyre of of bicycle...

The hardest thing about this week is getting used to not being around Oliver. We have lived with each other for a good few years now and being apart takes some getting used to. But with messages like this....

...I think we will be just fine :)

I had taken a whole bunch of photos of campus to show you but I pushed a button and now the most of the photos have disappeared into the oblivion of my computer and I can't find them...so here are one or two (pretty crappy ones) but I promise I'll take more this week!

Other than that..not much else to report!!!

Ciao