My Tuesdays

Every other Tuesday I have a meeting with the editorial staff at my nation newspaper, while the other Tuesdays I have a meeting with the Environmental Branch at Blekingska Nation. Yesterday was environment day and last nights discussion centered about clothing and consumerism. What differs good consumerism from bad? How should one shop clothes in an environmental way? Of course, there are many ways to go green when comes to clothing, the most famous is probably second hand. But what if second hand clothes isn't your thing? There are still more environmentally friendly ways to shop, like taking in consideration where and how the garment was made, or simply consume less.

After the discussion we had a so called "clothing swap". Everyone had brought a bunch of stuff we felt we didn't need and traded with each other. Or more like, put it all on the table and grab whatever you like. So I came home a few T-shirts poorer, but one really pretty dress and a red scarf richer. And it didn't cost  me a penny. 

A trip to Malmö

Today was the first day since I arrived in Lund I actually left town. Me and my friend took an early train into Malmö, the third to largest city in Sweden, to do some shopping and simply have a good time. And I can tell you, it felt good to leave the Lund-bubble, as we call it. Its easy to get caught up into a life of routine and then a trip like this is truly needed. Spending some time at H&M, Weekday, Monki and several second hand stores I spent more money than I'd like to admit. But if you don't shop often you can spoil yourself when you actually do. Is my philosophy. I could pretend to be a fashion blogger and take pictures of myself in all my new clothes, but I'm too lazy. Maybe later. My problem have been that I don't have any clothes for the fall and winter season but now I'd like to think I am better prepared.  At least a little.
The problem with shopping is that once you buy a piece of clothing you immediately start to think out new outfits and then realize you're missing a crucial part of that outfit. Like how well my new sweater would go with a denim shirt. So you buy another piece of clothing and the circle is complete. Or in my case, left surfing the web for good bargains on denim shirts. Or good looking denim shirt I can't afford.

Or is that only me?

Alone Again

Its a new week and the family is long gone. And I started off the week brilliantly by going to the gym. Having played football all my life I have never been much of a gym-person, but its never to late to start something new, eh? Yesterday's challenge was Step, a form of aerobics which I personally have never tried but heard much about. Being the first time ever, yesterday did not suck. Actually, I think I did pretty well. At least decent. I'm not sore today but it is not because I'm in shape, more likely that I was too lost in the movements to actually get a real work out. Hopefully next time I'll know the moves and steps better so I'll not feel like a lost puppy.


Today's dinner tips, the Student Budget: Traditional Black Pudding with bacon topped with jam.
Pudding: 7 kr/$1
Bacon: 7 kr/$1
Lingon Berry Jam: 29 kr a can. Maybe 2-3kr/serving.

Family and steak. Two of my favorite things.

At the moment life is quite good. My mom and family just arrived, I had a giant steak for dinner today and at the moment I'm researching the eighties in preparation for Saturday night while listening to Madonna and Alphaville. Also, tomorrow I can finally do laundry which means I'll have clothes soon. Since I'm pretty much on my last pair of socks.

But honestly, I'm so glad mu mom is here. It feels really strange and quite normal at the same time. Since I moved I pretty much started my own, new life and here she is being a part of it. Feels like I'm getting all sentimental all over here, changing topic.

Halloween is all around us. Yesterday was the true Halloween, but people are celebrating and dressing up whenever they have the opportunity. Sadly my last two Halloweens are hard to beat. Two years ago I threw a huge party at my house which was awesome, last year was spent in Hanoi, Vietnam, first at an expat party and then at a shady nightclub somewhere in the city. So this year is kinda a letdown, luckily there is plenty of other stuff going so its not like I will be bored.

Fall has found its way

So it seems like fall has found its way to Lund. Despite the rain we had earlier, it was never really cold. As soon as the sun showed up one could almost walk around without a jacket. But not any more. Now when I look though the window I see a lovely, sunny day but when I go outside my fingers tend to freeze if I forget to wear gloves. Which means summer is officially over. The thought of fall is depressing for many as one are well aware that five months of darkness is ahead. I am no different. Fall is a heavy thing but like all the seasons even fall has some charms. The trees turn from green into yellow and red and orange. And in Lund the leaves even stay on the trees! Staying in watching a movie with a cup of hot tea while rain fall outside. And fall fashion is of course the most exciting of all the seasons, jackets, hats, gloves, scarves, knitted sweaters and black leather boots, what more can one wish for?

The best thing with Lund is that snow is quite unusual which means one can ride the bike all year round. I may not look forward to dark days and freezing weather, but I think it will be alright.

First Exam of the Year

So, Saturday I had my first exam at Uni. I think (mostly hope) that it went OK. At the moment I'll be more than grateful for a passing grade. My plan at the moment is to pass this exam, and then rock the next one. To get a good average. We then celebrated with beer, which my head this morning thought was a very bad idea.

Sunday evening was spent at a "spex" which is a kind of amateur theatre by university students, often involving musical numbers and some interaction with the audience. This production was called "Buffalo Bill" and was of course set in the Wild West featuring indians (or native Americans), cowboys and missionaries. I am extremely impressed with the quality and wonder at how much work they must have put into it. You can tell they're having lots of fun performing, and I'm more than tempted to join. Not as a performer of course, but they'll need people behind the curtain as well.

Progress!

Basil and chili.

Wickham/Willoughby

Major Spoilers for Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility

Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility are probably Jane Austen's most famous work, especially P&P. They both center around a couple of lovable sisters who have nothing but their charm to make their way in this world. They both have a villain in the form of a handsome young man. At first glance George Wickham and John Willoughby are the same. Charming and handsome and greedy. They make the heroine fall for him, while having a terrible secret. But, there are some major differences between these two men that I'd like to discuss. First of all, yes, Wickham is as terrible as he seems but the same cannot be said about Willoughby. It is clear quite early in the novel that Wickham is not to be trusted, as he leaves poor Lizzy in a heartbeat for the chance of having some of Mary King's large fortune. His true nature is then revealed when we hear about the Miss Darcy/Wickham story and finally we as readers are certain of his true colors after the Lydia-incident. One could say Wickham acts only to further his own interests and pleasures. He comes off cold and calculating and it seems he cares for none of the ladies he actually seeks the attention of. Georgiana Darcy because of her wealth, Lizzy and Lydia probably because of simple base pleasures, since it seems he had no intention of marrying Lydia. But he has no emotional connections to any of them it would seem. He also shows no remorse or guilt and show no sign of embarrassment when visiting Longbourn as a brother and son-in-law.
However, I feel that not the same could be said of Willoughby. Yes, he truly treats Marianne ill and leaving Brandon's ward with a child was not the best move on his side. But we see a passionate side of him, a side we do not see of Wickham. Despite his terrible decisions in life he does love Marianne, she is his true love and he gives it up for worldly possessions and riches. A choice he will live to regret as he marries a woman he despises. If anything, Willoughby should be pitied instead of disliked.

Friday!

Friday, lovely Friday. The feeling you get when you get out of school Friday afternoon and you realize you have an entire weekend in front of you is truly hard to beat. I would say near impossible. Friday was spent at my friend's house making cupcakes, eating cupcakes, drinking beer and having a good time. Later we went to my nation's night club, Heartbeats, at which we spent the entire night dancing. Met some new faces and some familiar and instead of the regular McDonald's run in the middle of the night we ended up at my place making pasta and discussing the moomins. A pretty solid night I would say.

Two very busy days

Monday was first day at work. Even though it is basically the same job I had in Stockholm, it is still different. New people, new place, new routines. I think it went fine though. I worked the evening shift together with another girl, who sort of became my mentor. Tomorrow I'm working the morning shift, nervous! But I think it will be fine.

Today was spent watching Community, followed by school, tea time with a friend and then a meeting with my "nation". I am now (by accident) a member of the environment group of my nation so today we had an introduction meeting which we spent drinking coffee and planting basil and chili plants in little cups. It was fun though so I'll definitely go to the next meeting. Now I'm doing laundry and still haven't had any dinner. Tomorrow I have to be at work at 7.15 am so I should go to bed real soon, but I'm all hyped up so it'll have to wait.

My lovely plants

Recipe 2

Cauliflower Soup, or Blomkålssoppa. You'll need cauliflower, cream, water, one veggie stock cube, salt and cayenne pepper. Start with cutting up the cauliflower and boil it until soft. Use just enough water to cover the vegetables, you can add more afterwards. When done, remove the cauliflower but save the water. With a mixer make the cauliflower until it takes a puree-shape and put it back in the put together with the water. Add the stock cube, cream, spices and some more water if necessary and let it boil. Done. Serve with some homemade bread.

Yesterday I made enough food for myself, my room mate and his girlfriend, plus leftovers in the freezer. Use the veggies you have left for your lunch omelet the following day.

A semi-productive weekend

The weekend started with an ending. Friday evening the novisches of HTS all gathered for a "sittning",    or a dinner dedicated to fun, singing and eating all finished with a party. In real True Blood spirit all the groups dressed up according to their themes. Wolf pack of course went as the biker werewolves, and we looked awesome. During the dinner the winner of the novisch-competition was announced, and we did not win. We came in second, so close!

Saturday I got myself a bedside table and did some grocery shopping. We found this amazing little shop with super cheap vegetables the other day and decided to go shopping every weekend together, sharing ideas and recipes.

Sunday was IKEA-day! My relative who live just outside of town and I went to the famous warehouse and did some shopping. After the fastest IKEA-run ever I was home, 600 kr poorer. Definitely worth it though, got a wok-pan in which I made pad thai for dinner. Speaking of pad thai, it turned out great. Even though I lacked several of the ingredients. Like meat and tofu and tamarind and banana leaves. Substituted tamarind with white vinegar and added bell peppers instead of tofu. 

The Roller Coaster Tuesday

This day has truly had its up and downs. I started the day doing laundry, waking up at 7 o'clock. This was soon followed by embarrassing myself in front of the landlord by not removing my stuff until fifteen minutes after my pre-booked time had ended. You see, I only had some stuff that needed to dry a little bit more and me thinking that no one really start doing laundry with drying their clothes I thought I could remove them a little bit later. I know we are not allowed to do that, but it was at least worth a try. I thought the one after me would be someone like myself, a young student and would be understanding. I was wrong. Of course the landlord was the one after me and I awkwardly tried to explain my plan, excused myself and hurried up to my apartment, trying to hide from the world. The afternoon followed and with it four hours of japanese lecture. The first three, with I-sensei, flew by. I-sensei is our only young teacher among all the older ladies. Watching her face is like looking into the sun, all bright and shiny. The 45 minutes with M-sensei felt like forever. I do not think it was her fault though, your brain feel a little bit lick mush after three hours of Japanese grammar.

My evening was all fun and pleasure though. First I made myself dinner after my father's chicken pasta recipe. With a few changes though. Instead of chicken filet, I used chicken heart (a great and cheap substitution) and put in more sambal oelek than normal since I didn't have any chili peppers. It tasted just like at home. Yum! The rest of the night was dedicated to True Blood. My novisch group came over to my place and we watched some episodes in preparation for Friday when we together with the other novisches are all dressing up in costumes inspired by the show. Wolf pack is obviously going as werewolves. Awesome!

Recipe 1

My first challenge as a part of the new project: baking, in this case rolls or rosenbullar The last time I made bread by myself was probably in middle or early high school during Home Ed. However, it went surprisingly well. It took me forever of course since I had to scrutinize the recipe and learn it by heart. Well, I not really had to but when you are insecure of your abilities one is better safe than sorry.

Since it went as well as it did I figured I can continue bake my own bread in the future. With the main ingredients being butter and flour it is an incredibly cheap option to the bread you buy in the store. And a hundred times more delicious.

Aside from the recipes from my book I found several recipes on the internet I really want to try, such as Pad Thai, Laotian Laap and Texas Chili. We'll see when I can get around making these.

A busy weekend

My second weekend in Lund more than made up for my first one when it comes to pretty much everything. Friday was spent hanging out at my friend's place, drinking tea and discussing Harry Potter and other important things. Saturday morning was dedicated to studies. We are expected to have learned and mastered Hiragana in a few weeks, and I am not planning to be left behind by the others. At two a'clock I met up with my group of "novisches"(we're called Wolf Pack by the way) together with the rest of the groups, both from our institution and institution of natural science, this event often referred to as the HTS vs LUNA battle. We were to compete against each other, and you would not only compete to honor your group but your institution as well. Second only to alcohol, competition might be the best way to get people to open up and become friends. Hours later, when we had carried each other around on our backs, failed to answer who played Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek and truly put our creativity to the test we ended it all with small BBQ.

Speaking of alcohol, later that night we had a few beers at my place and then went to the celebration party of the HTS vs LUNA battle and had a good time. The victor of today's battle was announced at the celebration, Wolf Pack did not win but at least our institution did.

Sunday was spent cleaning, taking care of everything in the kitchen that needed to be recycled, shopping, did some baking (and now my freezer is full of delicious homemade bread) and some studying of course. To wrap it all up I cooked a wonderful curry for dinner and I have enough leftovers to keep me covered for the rest of the week. Then, quite satisfied with myself, I bunkered up in front of the TV and enjoyed the complete series of BBC's Sense and Sensibility. Which is a really good adaption. I am quite overwhelmed by it, always on the verge on crying. But then again, I am always too emotional when I watch movies by myself. 

The New Project

I was just hit by an idea. Since it's incredibly hard to figure out what to have for dinner I will work my way through my cook book, the traditional Swedish "Vår Kokbok", Julie Powell-style. Or, as it is named in English, "Our Cook Book". This book can be found in any Swedish home and the perfect gift to a high school graduate or a house-warming present. I will not do all the recipes, since I'm living on a student budget and some might be a little over-prized for someone like, but I will try to do as many as possible. I have already found several recipes I want to try (and eat). Soups, quiches, salads and anything with potatoes. The book has an entire chapter dedicated to potatoes, and because it costs next to nothing it is perfect for me to experiment with.

Maybe I'll write about my progress and post it on the blog. But if its a complete failure I might skip the writing part.

Friends!

I have been making friends! Yesterday was the "Novisch-BBQ" where we meet in our groups, hang out and just talked while the elders made us food. After several hours of hanging out on the lawn outside school, the chilly night made us look for the closest bar. Here the groups dissolved and we all had a good time over a beer or two. Even though I left early (I had class coming up the following morning) I did have a good time.

Today was the first full day of classes when we actually had both a lecture in the morning and the afternoon and when I actually staid in school and had lunch. The Japanese students occupied the lunch room and I managed to talk to most people of my group. The awkwardness has finally disappeared and people now talk to each other without any reservation and shyness at all. This might be thanks to our teachers, since some of the activities we do in class forces us to talk to each other. Thank you, sensei!

I even had some coffee with a fellow student afterwards! Awesome! Even though that mocha latte might be the last one for a long while, I have to start being more thoughtful of what I spend money on. Beer and coffee are not priorities when you live on a student budget.

Sorry for the boring and very bland post. 

Tuesday, September 4th.

First real day of classes today. One in the morning and one at 5pm. This left me with a 4 hour gap to kill. One could have spent it having lunch at the lunchroom making new friends, but when you forget your lunchbox that doesn't really work. So I biked home, had lunch, watched some Pride and Prejudice and made a chocolate mud cake. Definitely not a waste of time.

First day of school

Today was the first day of school. Not a real school day maybe since there were no lectures but only an introduction meeting and roll call but today I met the teachers and many of my future classmates. They even managed to give us homework. Those bastards. No, but jokes aside, all of the teachers are older japanese ladies, and super adorable. I just want to hug them. And I believe we will call them Sensei, awesome!

Later I attended what we call a Novisch-meeting. A novisch, (alternative spelling for novice) is a freshman who just started uni and needs some introductions into the student life. This meeting was held by the Institution for the humanities and theology, my institution. Met some great people, dishing on Twilight can never go wrong.

September 1st

My gap year is now officially over. At least almost. I start school on Monday, so pretty much over. The year spent drinking fruit shakes in the Lao sun and making lattes to successful european scientists has past. Yesterday me and my dad drove 6 hours south to the city of Lund, one of the two major university cities in Sweden where I am to spend the next 6 months and probably more. Japanese will be my main focus for the rest of the year, then move on to Media and Communication if I don’t change my mind until then. I live in a three-room apartment with my flat-mate and so far my room is not very different from a prison cell with its only furniture being a bed and a book shelf. Except for my flowery sheets and “Keep Calm and Read Jane Austen” poster I guess. My wardrobe look lovely though.

Today I biked round town, got some student supplies, networked and went nuts at the local tea store. Well, at least I get to use my lovely tea pot my mother got me. As long as there is tea there’s hope.

First homemade dinner in the new apartment: Pasta Gratin with bacon and spinach. Like a boss. 

Chapters

A new chapter of my life has begun. More than a month has passed since I wrote my last post and since then my life has taken an entirely new turn. My journey from Luang Prabang too Stockholm included a three day stop in Bangkok hanging out with an old classmate. It was awesome. Then Christmas and New Years passed with no special surprises, except me maybe having the Salmonella disease, without not really being sick but only being a carrier. Working at a restaurant, I was forced to stay at home for two weeks having nothing to do except watching TV and playing Skyrim.

What has changed however, is that I no longer live at home but instead have my own place. A two-room apartment a 20 minutes walk from my mom's place. Not bad. I do not at home home at least once a week (Sarcasm).

I work full time, saving up some money and learning how to live and survive without mommy and daddy.  

My 20th birthday is coming up. Well, its still more than a month left but I think its worth bringing up. When one turns 20 you are no longer a teen, but a real adult. Who can buy booze. And no longer travel on the reduced fare on the metro.

From now on I plan to write about how to survive without the supervision and service of my parents, maybe give some tips on how to live as cheaply as possible and brag about the shenanigans me and my friends are up to when we are not hanging out on my sofa drinking... Tea.