Wednesday, January 26, 2011
I couldn't come up with much more divergent topics if I tried, I know. But that's what is entailed by a day in Sweden. Today I had four hours of one class, which really was not bad at all. I had class from 10:15 - 11:00, then a 15-minute break, then class until noon, then a 75-minute break, then class until 2:00, another 15-minute break, and class until 3:00. 3 hours of class in total, 180 minutes, but because of the breaks it didn't feel overwhelming, as even 75-minute lectures could at Richmond. And I felt like I really learned something in one day. So yes, you will learn something academically while in Sweden, even if it seems like you have loads of free time.
Then tonight was the International Pub Crawl. I'd seen firsthand how crazy pub crawls could get (see Fika! and, crazy Swedish medical students), so I was a bit apprehensive, as this was clearly an activity that had the potential to end poorly. But I took up the recommended lower apprehension to new events for exchange students, and went anyways, albeit arriving a bit late due to dinner running later than expected and just missing a bus. As it turns out, I was not to be disappointed. In all, I visited seven different nations, and some people visited more. I don't know if anyone made it to all thirteen - thirteen in seven hours is a bit of a stretch.
The first Nation was the familiar Kalmar. Tonight they had a live band playing, and I learned later that the head of the University's International Committee was one of the band members. I tried the final cider available at Kalmar, Strongbow, but it did not best my personal favorite, Magners Paron.
Upon leaving Kalmar I was with a different group than I had entered with, but that probably was for the better, as it was a good group, and primarily European rather than North American/Australian. We proceeded to Goteborgs Nation, which I had not been to since my first day in Sweden. Their pub was better than their fika had been, although that was a pretty low bar to reach.
The next Nation was V-Dala. Unfortunately, seeing as it was the Nation I joined, V-Dala was my least favorite Nation of the evening. They simply didn't seem as friendly as the other Nations. Ah, well - I joined primarily because of their International Committee, not their pub, which I had never been to before tonight. They did have a good pear cider, Birka, but I don't have a particular desire to go back to their pub. Their wardrobe line was atrocious, too. Some of the Nations require you to hang up your coat in the wardrobe before entering the pub, to cut down on clutter I guess. But V-Dala's was terribly inefficient, and we ended up spending 10-15 minutes just collecting our coats before leaving. I'd much rather have to put up with not knocking other people's coats off their chairs, and risking having mine knocked off my chair, than spend so much time in line for the coat rack.
We next went to Varmlands, which was quite enjoyable. I hadn't really known what to expect as they had made basically zero effort to recruit international students. It was not crowded at all, so there was plenty of space to spread out. The atmosphere was pleasant as well, with a disco ball providing quirky lighting patterns, but not at all overwhelming, and many old oil paintings on the wall. It really fit the bill of a place where you could go to converse with someone in an enjoyable, peaceful environment. Their drink selection was good, too, allowing for a Cuba Libre with legitimate Cuban rum. Not to be too political, but it was nice to be able to get around the outdated American embargo, and the drink did not disappoint.
Next on the list was Stockholms, the Nation where the guides for our group were members. Far from abstaining, our tour guides were having quite a good time themselves - for one, almost too good to know the way to her own Nation. Fortunately the other, who is, as it turns out, the sister of Uppsala's International Secretary (the same one who was in the band at Kalmar) was better with directions. I'd heard before that Stockholms was a bit proud, but I enjoyed it. It was more luxurious than most Nations, which could help purvey that image, and unlike Varmlands the luxury wasn't just because it had a lot of nice historical items. It was not particularly crowded either. It was the only Nation at which ID's were checked at the counter, rather than at the door. At least I think it was - my beverage was compliments of one of our tour guides (the one good with directions), so I wasn't ID'ed at all there.
From there we went on to Ostgota Nation. I'd never been there, either, but its environment was pleasant as well, and not too crowded. They had a coat-rack system as well, but it was self-service and much, much quicker than V-Dala's. My group split up as we departed Ostgota. The first to depart went on to Club Norrlandica, at Norrlands Nation. I stayed behind with the Finns, who were finishing the bottle of wine they had bought. We went on to Norland's pub (not the club) five minutes or so later.
Norlands also had a coat-rack system, and it wasn't self-serve, but it was quicker than V-Dala's. Still not sure it was worth it, but at least you didn't spend lots of time waiting for your coat. It was also a fairly large, non-crowded pub. It was quite enjoyable being there with the Finns, who were quite sociable. I asked one of the Finns (earlier) whether there was truth to the reputation that Finns were fairly heavy drinkers, and she confirmed that it was indeed true. And they more or less proved it as well, although I wouldn't be surprised if they really prove it at Valborg (which will be covered in a future post for sure). I'm pretty sure all the Finns I was with had been to all eight Nations our group went to (including the first one, Vastgota, which I missed), and they partook more than everyone else at Ostgota. Still quite interesting to be around, although the effects were noticeable on one by the end. We left at closing time, and went back to our residences, mostly at Flogsta.
So was it worth it? I'd have to say yes. It certainly isn't something that can be done every night, or even every week. The Finn who had an 8 AM class had decided there was no way she was going to be there, and the Finn with a 10 AM class surprised us by being determined to be in attendance. And it wasn't inexpensive, although as we went only to student pubs it certainly did not bankrupt us. Most of all, though, it was an excellent opportunity to meet new people, as well as sample many of the nations in one night. And we did not make fools of ourselves like the Swedish medical students did. Okay, maybe the French students who thought it a good idea to dance on the table at Goteborgs (still fairly early on in the evening, too!) did, but other than them, we didn't.
It was also interesting to learn more about the Finnish education system. It is similar to the Swedish system in that students receive a stipend for studying at university, although there is a limit of seven years of study (not including study abroad) in Finland, so you can't just study philosophy ad naseum because it is interesting. However, in lower education, Swedish is required in at least some parts of Finland, so the Finns were by far the best Swedish speakers of any of the internationals, although they didn't consider themselves fluent. Russian is not required, even near the border with Russia, although one of the Finns I talked with thought it should be in some areas for practical reasons.
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