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Published: August 29th 2012
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As I adjust to living life in Northern Sweden, I figured I should start a little blog so that people who want to know how I'm doing can keep up to date by reading!
I've now been in Sweden for about a week and a half and am starting to settle in. Luleå has a similiar climate to Northern Saskatchewan and similiar terrain as well. The weather has been steady around 12-15 degrees Celcius the past few days with a lot of rain. There are about 80,000 people that live here. My university is called the Luleå University of Technology, or in Swedish, the Luleå tekniska universitet (LTU). About 16,000 students go to the university, so in a lot of ways the size of the city and university are similiar to Regina and the University of Regina. Campus is quite concentrated with 6 different "houses" - A through F where classes take place. There is about 6 or 7 restaurants on campus to eat at as well, the most popular being STUK, which is also the campus night club. STUK is in a lot of ways similiar to the Owl at the U of R as it is non-profit and
My dorm room
Still waiting for my roommate to arrive! doesn't charge too much for meals and drinks. All of the staff volunteers there when it is a night club, which blew my mind... I can't imagine working at a bar for free? But by doing so they can keep the prices low and a good time for all.
As for student life, it appears that almost every student has a bike and just bikes or walks to get around. If the distance is too far, then they will take the bus. I have been using the bus quite extensively and am finding it kind of expensive but run very efficiently and on time. I live in the student village called Vänortsvägen where there are a variety of different student housing options for affordable prices. My exchange program automatically put me into a shared one room dorm on the first floor of my complex. My roommate has yet to arrive so sharing such a small space with someone else will definitely be interesting and I'm sure challenging at times. My apartment is about a 10-15 minute walk from the university and about a 2 minute walk from the new Facebook off-site data storage location.
Phösare:
Map of the University
6 main houses - A thru F I've been kept pretty busy the last couple weeks with a variety of orientation activities such as a dinner hosted by the Student Unions, a trip to the Archipelago (one of the most Northern islands in Sweden if I am not mistaken), a meal hosted by the mayor of Lulea, a trip to the Coop arena to watch Lulea Hockey, many pre-parties and of course many fun nights at STUK (not to mention a bunch more activities)! There is a student organization called the Phosare that is very popular not only at LTU, but at other Swedish universities as well (in some shape or form). A lot of people back home are confused by my pictures of them so I will attempt to explain them the best I can. During orientation, all freshmen are considered "zeroes" (TOTALLY would be hazing or some stupid thing in North America ha ha ha) and we are at the bottom of the totem pole, if you will. The Phosare all wear different coloured coveralls that represent what they study in university. So, for example, red coveralls is Mechanical Engineering and black is Space Engineering, while there are other colours for a variety of different
Phosare
Stole this from their Facebook album! engineers and social sciences as well. So, for the first two weeks of orientation, the Phosare always wear their coveralls, their hats, and their sunglasses so that you can't recognize them. They also deck out their coveralls however they like with a bunch of badges sewn on, etc. They basically help all incoming students with fun activities and any questions we have (and sell cheap booze at pre parties!). Now, there is also the Generals - apparently you have to apply for these positions and they are very prestigious. They walk really slow and robotic and their attendants (Don't know the exact position name) speak for them in robot voices and have their choice of stuffed animal that sits on their shoulder. Whenever one of the Generals enters a room (I think there is 8 total on campus?) everyone must look at the ground and stand. Anyways, freshmen are supposed to wear these signs around their necks (each are different depending if you are an exchange student, or a Swedish freshmen, etc.) and you get pluses or minuses for various things so that you are not considered a "zero" anymore. All sounds kind of complicating and to be honest I
Phosare
The Generals at the Open Sky Dinner still don't entirely understand it but it is fun and kind of humorous to watch as well. All in all it is traditional at Swedish universities and meant to be a lot of fun.
As for the rest of the semester, I have a bit of travelling planned. There is a student organized trip to St Petersburg Russia at the beginning of October that I plan on going on. I also plan on travelling to Paris and obviously down to Stockholm at some point in the first quarter (semesters are split up into quarters here). My parents are also coming down to visit in November sometime so I hope we go to Italy when they come as well. Then to finish up the trip I will probably head to London a few days before my flight departs and tour the city as well.
So, so far so good! I can't think of anything else enlightening to write about so I will save it for the next blog.
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Phyllis Olynyk
non-member comment
sounds like fun
It sounds like you are enjoying Sweden which is good to hear. I look forward to hearing about future activities.