Hej allihoppa!

The month of April started out with two Finns, a German, a Quebeqouis, a Dutch valley girl and Aminieli (who couldn’t tell me in short what his nationality is) on a quick city break in Gothenburg. Between the cancelled trains and the dodgy budget hostel, the beautiful weather and the good company made for a lovely golden afternoon spent in Haga and other parts of Gothenburg’s city center. We grabbed Korean-style street food for dinner and tried to go bar hopping, but unfortunately we weren’t able to find the cool spots on that random weeknight. We decided to in the park for a while before finally heading back to our hostel and actually finding the perfect little spot along the way, so then enjoyed a couple drinks before going to get some sleep. We woke the next morning to catch the ferry with our breakfast to go (fresh juice and the best kanelbulle I’ve ever had, it healed me) to the archipelago of Gothenburg. It was cool but sunny, and some of us had gathered up the courage to wear our bathing suits to take a cold dip at the beach. While the cold swim was very much refreshing, for me it didn’t end so well.

Did you know there are sharks in Gothenburg? Just kidding, there aren’t. However, what Gothenburg does have is sharp rocks. After jumping in the deep bit for an icy dip (not a good idea to start with), my friend had to help pull me out of the water. Freezing, I stood up with a big grin on my face and… with legs covered in dozens of bloody barnacle scratches. I didn’t feel it since the water was so cold, but it looked pretty nasty. Luckily the situation was managed with what he had–water bottles, random tissues, sanitary pads and hand sanitizer–before we all composed ourselves to continue on exploring the rest of the island and to grab some nice seafood. After a late lunch in the sun we headed back to mainland Gothenburg to get the train back home to Lund. Ultimately, it was loads of fun to visit the city and the islands, and I got to go home with a special souvenir!

The weekend after, my brother, sister-in-law and baby niece came to visit Lund, and we galavanted around sunny Lund and Malmö. I showed them the highlights in Lund town–the cathedral, Lundagård, the university buildings, the famous university library, Skissernas museum, the botanical gardens and of course: Kalmar Nation <3. Speaking of Kalmar Nation, guess what’s coming closer and closer? That’s right! The Kalmar Spex shows! The tickets are up now for our show on May 15th, 17th and 18th and you need to reserve yours ASAP! The rehearsals are going great–we’re nearly off-book for the whole show, the songs are ready to go, we’ve fitted for our costumes and even got to watch another Nation’s Spex grand rehearsal to get a taste for things. (They did have background dancers though. So they may or may not be completely outshining us. Whatever. The joy is in the journey right?) I think I have somewhat of a love-hate relationship with Spex at this point since showbiz is taking over so much of my life right now, but on the other hand it’s lots of fun to participate in this Swedish tradition and I never thought I’d enjoy acting in theater this much.

The rest of April was spent going back to the same falafel guy three times a week (Side note: The last time I ordered, my falafel guy said to me ‘as usual?’. This was a huge personal victory for me.) I also found an incredible weekly underground jazz event, and had a couple weekends where I promised myself I would take rest and somehow still found myself getting pizza at some random location at 3am (post-karaoke) or putting together a makeshift costume for yet another themed party. At one point I found myself attending an impromptu barbecue in 10 degree cloudy weather which was intended as a pregame for Midnight Mass, after which the most unlikely band of kids (the six of us) actually attended Midnight Mass (and really enjoyed it). Easter Sunday was spent with a picnic on my kitchen floor (poor weather conditions wouldn’t allow for a real picnic), and then a Life of Brian watchparty back at–you guessed it!–Kalmar Nation again!

As the month is coming to a close, my family are on their way to come visit me for a few days and I am mentally preparing for Valborg immediately after. Valborg (or ‘Walpurgis’ in English) is a Swedish Holiday that takes place on the last day of April and celebrates the coming of spring (bloody finally!). The day is spent, especially in student cities, getting absolutely sloshed in the park by 9am and keeping that up until the nighttime, when the town holds a big bonfire and Nation clubs open up to eager-to-dance students. Some Nations also throw events in the days leading up to Valborg and the days after, virtually making this a five-day event. Safe to say I’ll be out of office, I’ll tell you more about how it all went in the next blog entry :P

For now, vi ses!