Galen Studerande (Crazy Students)

Hejsan!

I know its been awhile since my last post and I apologize. We are about to head off to Italy so I thought I better write something before we left. Last Thursday was graduation day in Uppsala. Not graduation from university but graduation day from high school (a.k.a. gymnasium). Students select the gymnasium they will attend based on the skills they want to learn. If you plan on going to university then you go to a gymnasium that will give you the classes you need, if you plan on doing something more hands-on, ditto. Graduation day started early last Thursday, as I was walking to the train station at 7:20am, the students were already lined up getting their graduation photos taken on the banks of the river. High school students also wear the traditional white student hat that I mentioned in my previous post. The girls typically wear a white dress, and the boys wear a suit. So far, nothing crazy....but....

I got off the train around 2pm that afternoon, met up with my friend Julie, and we headed into town. We had barely left the train station before a cacophony of horns and music met our ears. Apparently the graduation students either rent big trucks or big trailers that are pulled by tractors, or just have their parents drive them around in a convertible or other car, with the music blasting and the drinks a flowin'. Please see pictures for clarification! This continued for pretty much the entire afternoon, so traffic was somewhat chaotic in downtown Uppsala on Thursday.



Well, we are off to Siena and Montalcino this week. The weather forecast does not look great for Italy which is too bad. We have been having amazing weather here. Plus 25-29 all week!
We went for a bike ride on Saturday evening and saw a hedgehog! Pretty cool (we also saw some sheep but that was somewhat less exciting). Last night we watched the Germany-Poland (Tyskland-Polska) match, but it was not as exciting as I had hoped and I found myself doozing off in the pub (no, I had not had too much to drink, only one glass of wine).

Anyways, I'll write once we get back on Sat. and tell you how the trip went!
Ciao
E.

Sångerska om natten

B. and I talked to a few of you this past weekend, and we told you the strange story of the "Men's choral music in the night" but for those who I didn't get to tell the story to, here's a brief recap. Friday night, 3:30 am, B. and I are fast asleep, when I awake to quite a few people talking in our street. Next thing we know, 15 men are singing choral music. Needless to say we were quite confused as to why approx. 15 men were singing choral music in the dead of the night! I have to thank my students this morning for filling me in on the reason.

Apparently, the spring ball was on Saturday night (read: tuxedos and ballgowns). The custom is that the men's choirs from the various Nations (Nations are like frats but for both sexes and based on different regions of Sweden), go around to their dates' houses, and the dates of men who hire them (think sing-a-gram), and serenade them with three songs. The first is a wake-up song, then a love song, and then a farewell song. The girl to whom they are singing is supposed to light a candle in her window to let them know that she has heard them, without letting them see her. Then when they have finished serenading her, she lowers a bottle of punsch, a sweet alcoholic beverage out her window to the singers. So the "mystery of the men's choral group in the night" has been solved. Apparently, the women of the Nations also get their chance (this is Sweden after all), but they sing on St. Lucia day which is Dec.12, generally early in the morning, say 6am (women tend to be more sane). And since this festival falls during the winter, they generally enter the buildings, so you are not as likely to hear them.

A little bit of strange Swedish trivia for you!
E.

Cyklar Överallt (Bikes everywhere!)

When you first arrive at the Uppsala train station. You would think you had arrived in Amsterdam. There are bikes everywhere. Literally, 1000 people must park their bikes there at a time. I have yet to ride my bike to the train station because I worry about finding a parking spot for my bike :) It no wonder that bikes are so prevalent in Sweden, they provide awesome bike paths throughout the city and the countryside so its easy to bike around town without having to compete with cars.

It is an interesting culture - the bike culture - in Uppsala. First of all, since a lot of people living here are students, a bike is very useful because its a cheap form of transportation. You'll see girls riding their bikes to university in the shortest of skirts/shirts. You'll see a mob of cyclists travelling to the pub/bar together (although technically its illegal to ride your bike while drunk). But its not students alone who ride bikes. Older people are peddling along. People ride their bikes to work and people ride with their kids strapped to the back seat.

Uppsala is not very hilly, so most people ride a city bike. What's a city bike you might ask? Well, I happen to have recently purchased my very own city bike, so I will include some pictures (are you happy Dad?). The main features of a city bike, are a low cross bar, handles that curve towards you (so you don't end up with a sore back), a light on the front usually powered by friction from the front wheel, foot brakes - sometimes one hand brake, and only three gears.

Here are a few shots of my new bike!


Just to fill you in on what's been going on in our lives...we finally found an apartment. We are able to rent it until the end of December, its no longer in the city centre so we'll have to ride our bikes or take the bus to town now, but its closer for B. to go to work so that's good!

We are heading to Italy, specifically the Chianti region, in just under a month to meet up with some friends from SK. We will be touring around with them to Montalcino and Siena and we're super excited to soak up some Tuscan rays!

Ciao E.

Sista april

Hi All!

Well, we celebrated our first sista april, and I thought I would put up a few photos of the day (and maybe a video). We were slightly disappointed by the hat waving as there was no throwing of the hats, and it was in complete silence. There were also no speeches, I guess they scrapped that a few years ago. So if you hadn't been looking at the hill, you might have missed the event entirely. We did manage to get over to the Academic building a catch a bit of the men's choir on outdoor speakers though....Enjoy! E.