We spotted some graffiti knitting when we were walking in Gatineau the other day. Thumbs up!

Newcastle, being similar in population to Malmo, is the home of two universities: Northumbria University and Newcastle University. It’s been almost three weeks since I came here, and I’ve been asking people what was so special about Newcastle in the context of all British cities. Surprisingly (but only when I heard about it for the first time), everyone mentioned the nightlife. People were talking about “girls with almost non-existent skirts”, masses of students occupying the city center, cheap drinks and all this fuss, starting on Friday night and ending on early Monday morning. So, exactly one week ago, I went out to see whether it was true, and to discover it (however it was) myself.
Newcastle University’s Student Union looks like an old red-brick building, but the life inside it could not be better-fitted for what it’s there for. Not only it is the home for over 60 student societies and shops (everything from food, press, clothes to Starbucks and Subway), but also has a student pub and a very modern, big, and recently refurbished bar/nightclub in the basement, which is well-known for its Saturday events.
After visiting that place, the first thing that surprised me was the cultural difference (compared to Sweden) in when the parties start and end. The event only started at 11pm and went on until 3am. Moreover, the theme was also something I have never heard of before (well, I have, but not for parties!) – Stock Market. So, the more popular the drink was, the more expensive it got, and every 20 minutes the market ‘crashed’ and everything started from the beginning, which meant that you never really knew how much you would pay for your drink. Unfair in a way, but how catchy! The club got crowded in only half an hour from the beginning of the event, and everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun, good music playing really loud and the floor getting very sticky from the alcohol. The clothing varied from casual to theme outfits in bigger or smaller groups, the “non-existent skirts” and very fashionable styles we are all used to seeing in fashion journals. Finally, the students seemed to be enjoying themselves and engaging in conversations with us more easily than I have ever imagined people could.
So, long story short, even though Newcastle is always crowded with students who are having a good time, it seems like the city has so much more to give and show when the sun goes down!
Cheers!
Nu har jag varit här i mer än en vecka och det känns som att allting börjar bli en vardag. Man går och köper färsk frukt varenda dag i samma stånd, man äter middag eller lunch på samma ställe och hittar på någon aktivitet på kvällen. Vanemänniska? Japp! Som jag tidigare har nämnt är det stora skillnader emellan Ghana och Sverige och vissa är mer frustrerande än andra. Jag är väl medveten om att jag ibland kan vara en tidspessimist, gillar att vara i tid, komma fram fort och ha kontroll över saker och ting. Det är någonting jag verkligen kommer att få jobba med här nere. Igår skulle vi registrera oss. Jag tog med alla papper och passet. Vi gick upp tidigt på morgonen för att kika runt på vilka kurser som går och vilka dagar. Här nere väljer man själv hur schemat ska se ut. Sedan hade Chris den norska tjejen registrering kl 09.00 och vi gick dit och var kanske fem minuter tidiga (Jag hade gärna varit där tidigare) vi sätter oss ner och ingen annan är där. En kille som jobbar för det internationella kontoret kommer förbi och frågar vad vi gör där så tidigt. Vi berättar att vi är här för att registrera oss och att det börjar kl 09.00. Han förklarar att de kommer att bli lite sena. Efter en stund kommer mer människor vi alla sitter där och väntar. Efter en timme börjar registreringen att komma igång och folk börjar att gå in i registreringsrummet. En man kommer ut och förklarar för oss alla att kvittot från banken måste innehålla student id numret, jag kollar på mina papper det finns inget nummer där. Mannen berättar vidare att de som inte har numret får sitta och vänta tills efter alla andra. Jag sitter kvar efter två timmar är det äntligen min tur jag får gå in i registreringsrummet. De tar kopior på mitt betalningsintyg och berättar att jag måste gå till banken och få dem skriva in mitt student id i transaktionen så att de ser att den är från mig. Med lågt blodsocker, törst och en uns av irritation går vi till banken. Det var fullt med människor och man insåg direkt att det här kommer att ta hela dagen. Jag frågade en kvinna och frågade var jag skulle och hon pekade på en dörr. Där inne satt en tjej från Korea som också är på utbyte och ingen mer i kö. Efter en stund kommer jag in på kontoret berättar läget och att jag behöver få in student id numret i transaktionen för att skolan ska veta att den är från mig. Mannen är väldigt trevlig och vänlig. Berättar att jag ska komma tillbaka imorgon och hämta pappret. Allting gott 🙂 Eftermiddagen spenderade vi vid poolen och sedan bestämde vi oss för att åka äta. Det finns ett område som kallas för Osu där alla nattklubbar och restauranger ligger. Vi bestämde oss för att ta en trutru dit.
Väl där blev vi påhoppade av försäljare direkt. En av försäljarna var en kille som hade teckningar som han målade med barn på gatan. Han uppmärksammade att jag bar ett halsband med en sköldpadda. Han berättade att han var som en sköldpadda tar livet i ett långsamt tempo, då och då kan den gå snabbare. Jag började fundera på om hur det skulle vara att leva som en sköldpadda och att jag nog borde bli mer som en sköldpadda. Under kvällen försökte jag att anamma tempot. Jag insåg att det inte kommer att hända på en dag då jag måste erkänna att jag var irriterad och stressad när jag satt i trutrun och väntade på att den skulle bli full i 45 minuter i 31 graders värme och utan air condition.
De senaste dagarna har jag försökt att leva som en sköldpadda genom att spendera dem vid poolen och stranden och inte oroat mig för registreringen. Det visade sig idag att vi inte behöver oroa oss för det då skolan kommer att fixa allt. Så livet som sköldpadda kanske fungerar? Kanske den perfekta livsstilen? Vi borde stressa mindre i vardagen.
På väg till Osu
Osu
Chris och Sam i Osu.
La Badi
La Badi
La Badi
Hi!
For those of you who might not have read my presentation at the main site (https://blogg.mah.se/studyabroad/who-is-blogging/, you will also find the blogs of other MU-students here), I am a 25 year old student at the bachelor programme of social work at Malmö University. I will start my exchange semester at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne next week and this is my second exchange – last semester I did my internship as a social worker in Genova, Italy, which was a great experience! My current exchange will be a “regular” theoretical semester, beginning in february and ending in june.
I arrived in Melbourne a few days ago and I have already fallen in love with the city! People are friendly and social, the architecture is great (cute looking townhouses everywhere, it’s rare to see tall buildings except for in the Central Business District, CBD), the sushi is cheap and of course, the climate makes it easy not to miss the swedish winter (today it is 38 degrees…). It’s a bit strange to think about the fact that I applied for this exchange semester in march 2013 and now I’m actually here! After I sent my application and found out I was nominated for going on an exchange, several things had to be done. First of all, I had to take the TOEFL, which stands for Test of English as a Foreign Language. The test measures your english level through four sections (reading, writing, listening, reading). The university I wanted to do my exchange at was Australian Catholic University and they had a score limit – therefore it is not possible to “fail” the TOEFL because the test itself doesn’t have a score which means that you haven’t failed. The limit is made by the university.
After doing my TOEFL and getting the scores in accordance with ACUs limit I had to put together an application for my host university, Australian Catholic University, as well. After doing this and accepting my place at ACU I had all of the practical issues left – applying for a student VISA including requesting documents from several swedish authorities that needed to be attached to my VISA application, applying for CSN, renting out my apartment in Malmö while I’m being away, booking the flight, finding accommodation in Melbourne and so on… In the end it all worked out well, even if I was really stressed out several times during this process.
Anyway, the 20 hour flight went well (I flew with Qatar airways which I really can recommend for future MU exchange students going to Melbourne, they had great food during the whole flight) and now I am in Melbourne! I live in a sharehouse in Thornbury with three guys, who are all very friendly and social. They have shown me a great market with organically and locally produced vegetables, a bar on a roof top and a cosy breakfast place in Fitzroy. I found my sharehouse through the website Air BNB where people post ads renting out their own apartments/houses, usually for short term. I am staying in this sharehouse for one month and then I need to find something more permanent, which will be my next mission!
View from the roof top bar.
A part of my street in Thornbury.
CBD.
Nu börjar OS och jag har inhandlat ett par granna “mittens”. Den här modellen är oerhört populär här i Ottawa, ungefär varannan person äger sådana här tumvantar (empirisk undersökning gjord av mig på bussen samt i köpcentrum). Nu är jag lika häftig som alla andra! 10% av försäljningspriset går dessutom till sportutövare.
/Hanna
Oh yes, finally have I found myself some time to do some blogging!
I am studying at Kingston University here in London and have been here for some weeks now, I think it’s even getting closer to a month. Or actually, it’s over a month now when I’m thinking about it. The first two weeks were just ridiculously intense. I came on new years eve to celebrate with my best friends who just happen to live in London. These first couple of weeks were full of uni work (from Sweden since the semester ends in mid-jan) and flat hunting (due to being homeless). But it all worked out fine and I am no longer homeless as me and my boyfriend landed this wicked place in Brixton, I can still not really understand we got it! We share a house with a lovely couple (in their 60s), where they have renovated the middle floor for tenants, i.e., us. Which means that we have our own massive room, our OWN kitchen and our OWN bathroom! It’s so incredibly good. But yeah, if anyone is reading this and thinking about moving to London but is afraid of not being able to find somewhere to stay – don’t worry! You will find something, it’s honestly not so hard. Fair enough we had to up our budget quite drastically, but as long as you’re aware of the prices being much higher here (and the standard generally lower) you’re fine! I am so happy about living in Brixton as well, it takes a bit over an hour door-to-door to uni, so it’s well alright. And Brixton in itself is just too good.
Anyways, I know it’s so boring to read blogs without pictures, I for one anyway can’t seem to find the patience to read blog posts long as novels if there are no pictures attached. However, unfortunately I am so bad with taking photos, there never seems to be a good time to take a photo (even if I’m constantly holding with my phone). I’ve got one from my time in London so far:
As you can see, I’m not only a person who forgets to take pictures, but am also a very bad photographer. However, this is Brick Lane which is an every-sunday-market and fantastic if you’re interested in second hand shopping. And food.
I should probably tell you a bit about my uni as well. Kingston is well alright, there’s not many erasmus students (not in any modules I’m taking anyway) and, also, they have a fairly new system I think where their modules run over an entire year. Hence, I am starting modules that has already been running for one semester, which can to be honest feel a bit confusing (I was extremely confused the first weeks). It’s alright though, since they split the year into teaching bloc 1 and 2, so you don’t have to know anything of what they have done the previous semester (although I think it’s different depending on the tutor, I actually cancelled one module as I thought it seemed too dependent on the previous semester, and added another one – which I’m so happy to have done as I love the new one!). It could however, as well be a bit tricky to get to know the people in your course, as they have all been studying together for a good few months, and since there are not many visiting students. I don’t care about that though, I’m well happy to live in London. My best friends live here and my boyfriend has come with me, so I couldn’t ask for more. Another great thing is as well that it is so close to Sweden, as I know that if it would be that I really want to see my family, it is not too hard to do. And, in either case, Skype is like the best thing ever.
But yeah, I’m taking 4 modules, three of which I love and one which I don’t love, which run parallel, which is one reason of the confusion, but I get more and more used to it and am actually starting to really enjoy it. It’s fun as well to study something different! It has really made me well into reading anyway, since this is not something I would read in Malmö but that I think could be well useful in my degree. To be honest, the more I go to uni here, the more I enjoy it. Which is brilliant!
Alright, a brief introduction to my first month in London! Next time I will have more pictures. See you soon!
(Bild lånad från: http://bugaboopest.com/)
As we are still waiting for our first meeting with a skunk we thought that we could get to know these little fellows a bit better.
Fast facts – The striped skunk
Average weight: 3.25 kg
Average length: 57.5 to 80 cm
Average lifespan: Up to 3 years in the wild and up to 15 years in captivity
With small, short legs, the skunk is very slow. Because they can’t out-run predators, they rely on their scent glands for security. These glands, which are about the size of a grape, secrete a foul-smelling, oily, yellow musk. The spray of a skunk can reach up to six meters and the foul odor is strong enough to be carried almost one kilometre by the wind.
At this time of the year the striped skunk tend to be a sleep most of the time so the likelyhood of meeting one is slim.
And! The skunk seem to be self aware of the repulsiveness of its own odor — it will not spray in confined spaces and or in their own dens.
Information taken from http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/kids – Thank you!
Som vegetarian och student “at the same time” försöker en ju hålla nere på kostnaderna. Jag har upptäckt att vissa varor är mycket billigare i Ottawa än i Malmö. Ett exempel är de härliga mjölkprodukterna ovan, mandel och kokosmjölk för det rimliga priset 12 kronor styck. I Malmö skulle en få betala minst det dubbla.
Tofu är löjligt billigt i Ottawa, förpackningen på bilden kostade cirka 6 kronor. Och så brukar affärerna ha extrapris på spexiga köttsubstitut. Oven ser ni en slags kycklingfärsliknande historia. Blev gott med krossade tomater och champinjoner.
Annat som är billigt: sötpotatis och bananer (helst ekologiska såklart).
/Hanna
Between January 24th and April 4th the group of ‘Central and Eastern European Studies Research’ at the Faculty of Arts hosts a film event to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 150th anniverssry of the Faculty of Arts.
There are 4 themes, After the Wall, After Yoguslavia, Re-visiting the Past and Life after Communism. All films are either from central or eastern Europe. We went to the first two films and are planning on viewing all 11 films! It is free and every film is being presented by someone who knows a bit about the historical context. For the full event schedule, click here!
When: January 24th – April 4th 2014
Location: Simard Hall, room 226
Time: Fridays at 7pm