Life in Lund

(photo of Maria and Sarah)
So far, I’ve mostly written about adventures I’ve had, and I have neglected to share the biggest adventure of all, my daily life here. I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather, so I haven’t been going out at night very much this week. My classes are only in the afternoon, so I have been able to sleep in the mornings. And for those of you who know me well, you know that I feel very unproductive when I sleep late, and I feel like I’ve been wasting my time. This has been a bit frustrating, but I just tell myself that I am doing it for health reasons. Because of my afternoon classes, I don’t get out of my dorm until one o’clock sometimes, and that limits my exploring time, since it is usually late by the time I get out of class. I will have to go exploring earlier in the day once I feel better. The city of Lund has a great gym called Gerdahallen. Everyone goes there, and I mean EVERYONE. There are young college kids working out next to 90 year-old women. Everyone here is very fit and cares deeply about their personal health. It is very motivating to be surrounded by these people. There are about 200 different work-out classes offered each week, and they are all packed. They have everything from spinning, to step, to yoga. They basically have every class imaginable, and also have a regular gym with machines and stuff and one just for women. I signed up for a membership there and I have gone there a few times so far. My first experience there was a little distressing though. I ran into my german friend on my way there to sign up for my membership. She said that she was going to a step class and that I should join here. I tried to tell her that I am really bad at things that are choreographed, and I have never done a step class before, but she wouldn’t accept my excuses. Somehow she convinced me to go with her to this Step class, which I actually think might have been an advanced class, and it was a complete disaster. I think that even if it had been in English I would have felt like the idiot in the room, but of course it was in Swedish, so I was just following the people around me. We were standing near the front of the room, of course, so everyone was surely thinking, what the hell is she doing here? The class lasted for over an hour, and I stuck with it. I kept laughing out loud, which luckily no one could hear because the music was so loud. It was a very funny experience, but I think I will avoid Step classes from now on. Yoga on the other hand, I can do in any language, and I have really enjoyed their classes so far. I will hopefully get to the yoga classes on a regular basis.
Right now I am taking Swedish Language and Population, Settlement, and Economic Geography (of Sweden). Both classes are going well. The Economic Geography class is my favorite. We will go on three field trips for it, which is very exciting! Classes here seem to be pretty disorganized and sometimes there are conflicts in my schedule and I just have to be late to the other class. My Economic Geography class meets at different times each week and in different rooms sometimes, very strange. Swedish Language is going alright. Hopefully I will be able to hold a simple conversation in a few weeks. I don’t have class on Friday, so I will try to do some traveling on my three-day weekends.

I live in a Swedish corridor, so most of the students are gone for the most part. I hang out with them sometimes at meals, when we are cooking in the kitchen. It is hard having to make all of my meals here. In Santa Cruz it was nicer because there were only a few of us sharing a kitchen, and Sophie and I really liked cooking together, but here it gets a little repetitive just making food for myself. I find that it is easiest just to make a sandwich or pasta. I have to learn to be more creative, but I am a little scared to try making their famous meatballs. I guess maybe I just have to make plans to cook with other people on a regular basis. The kitchen is also a little gross, so I am always a little hesitant to spend a lot of time there.
Sometimes I hang out with the guys in my corridor at night and watch a movie with them. It seems like they are a couple years behind us in terms of popular movies and TV shows. The show Heroes, which my housemates watched last year, is just starting to air here. It’s pretty funny to watch American shows with Swedish subtitles. According to my corridor mates, though, the translations don’t quite catch the humor most of the time. Good thing they all speak perfect English!
This is my mailbox, if anyone wants to send me a postcard or something.
My address is:
Magistratsvägen 55 C:419
226 44 Lund, Sweden