The Cinque Terre

I have noticed that the leaves have begun to change color in Sweden. Suddenly, I feel like I am in one of the college movies, that take place at Harvard or Yale in the fall, where the old buildings are covered in ivy and all the leaves are dancing colorfully in the brisk autumn breezes ... except the buildings here are a lot older, and the autumn breezes here are breezier and crisper, I'm sure.

So let me recap on my travels, which I have been ignoring in fantastic form since my return from Italy. Seriously, I think that month of traveling really wiped me out and I didn't even want to sit down and think about the mind-boggling experiences that I had -- lest my head explode. So --

After Venezia, Lauren and I headed back west to the fabled Cinque Terre, or Five Lands. On the train ride from Venice back to Florence (en route to C.T.), we ended up sitting with a group of very old nuns, who were very kind and pleasant and offered us their sandwiches (but seriously, who takes food from a poor old nun??). They were really impressed that Lauren speaks some Italian (and thought it was funny that I did not -- after all, I'm the one who looks Italian, not Lauren!). And even though Lauren was at first skeptical about sitting with these beacons of faith (being atheist scum that she is, and partially I am), she had a good time talking to them and I have the sneaking suspicion that they blessed us underneath their breath, because for the next week or so we were amazingly lucky.

Somehow, we found our way onto the right train from Viareggio to Riomaggiore, the first of the five towns that makes up the CT. Once in Riomaggiore, we found that the hostel we were planning on staying in was closed indefinitely. So we were without a place to stay. It was wickedly humid, we had our backpacks strapped on still, and Riomaggiore consists of one main street which is impossibly steep up into the mountain-side. We trecked up this hill, stopping and asking at every door that said they had rooms, but everybody was full. We even tried to convince a hostel owner, who had only one bed open for the night, that we "could snuggle" and share the one bed. But I don't think he was buying it. Finally, we found a place that would rent us a double for the 3-nights we were staying -- for only 50 Euro a night! That's 25 Euro each, for those bad at math (like me), and since most hostels at 20-22 Euro a night, it was a deal to get our own room with bathroom and locking door!

Once in the room we immediately got into our bathing suits and went down to the "beach" in Riomaggiore to wash off our sweat and to celebrate our good fortune (we actually called it "nun-luck"). The "beach" was just a bunch of large rocks, and while it was fun swimming around in the waves, I got pretty cut up trying to get back onto the beach.

At night, we walked the "Via dell' Amore" (Path of Love), that wound around the mountain-side from Riomaggiore to the next town, Manarola. It was here that Lauren took me to a Gelateria which blew my mind. Hands down, this was THE BEST gelato in the world, at this small cafe overlooking the small inlet of ocean. We actually did this every single night we were in the Cinque Terre -- walked the Via dell' Amore to Manarola, where we quietly enjoyed the best cantaloupe gelato and watched the sun set and the waves crash onto the rocky coast. Heaven.

We spent most of our time in the Cinque Terre laying out on the beach and getting fantastic Italian tans. The only town with anything resembling an actual beach (i.e. sand) was in Monterosso, the most touristy of the five towns. We stopped in Vernazza for a little while too, but it was pretty much like the other three towns we had visited, and I thought Manarola was much cuter and less touristy than Vernazza (and with better gelato), and we didn't even stop in Corniglia because it was high up in the mountain and we didn't feel like walking all those stairs or paying for the bus. There wasn't much to see anyway.

Beyond that, there isn't much to report on the Cinque Terre. They were beautiful for a mid-backpacking vacation from vacation. Beautiful views, delicious gelato, and best of all -- no museums, no artwork, no ancient sites. Just pure and heavenly enjoyment.

So from here, I should continue on and tell you about my trip to Rome. Ahh, Rome. This city absolutely blew me away like no other place in Italy or Sweden or Germany had. I think I would have to give Rome it's own lengthy post for all the wonders and surprises it presented to me (including reunification with some old friends). But for now, my fingers are tired from writing papers for my Swedish class, so it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Here is some Italian for you to learn:
camare -- rooms
cinque -- five
spiaggia -- beach
melone -- cantaloupe

Ambassadors

My stay in Sweden is now more than halfway over. Seriously. I've already been abroad for over three months and I've only got less than three months left. It felt like just yesterday that I was sitting on that SAS flight on my way to Copenhagen, just yesterday when Lauren and I were sitting at my house in Rocklin scheming about our Italian vacation, just yesterday that I was turning in my application to study abroad. But here I am -- it's a success story, already, of my ability to not only live on my own but in an entirely different culture than my native one. I've dealt with so many things since I've been in Sweden -- sickness, class scheduling conflicts, and internet troubles. I even helped my friend call a locksmith when her key broke off in her lock at midnight. So I think I've been pretty good these last three months, and I'm not scared of the next three. That said, I'm already dreading coming home.

Yes, of course, I want to see my parents and my brothers. I can't believe that life in America hasn't stood still since I've been gone -- Kenny went to Hawai'i on business (lucky!), and Steve got a brand new job in Boston, MA!! So now my family is spead all over the world, Ken in Ohio, Steve in Massachusetts, and me in Sweden. My poor mom -- now Ken is the closest one to her, and he's over 2,000 miles away! And of course I want to see my dog, Cisco, most of all (miss ya Bobbaloo!), but it's the idea of going back to UCLA that I'm not fond of. I'd much rather come back to Lunds Universitet.

I also realized last night that I actually feel sort of bad for these Swedish people. I mean, don't get me wrong, they are so lucky to be Swedish and live in this wonderful place. But as I've been teaching them the meanings of various English swear words which they've picked up, the Soulja Boy dance, and what it means to be "hyphy", I've realized -- I'm not really the best ambassador for these things. Honestly, half the time I don't even know where swear words and insults come from, and who am I (very white and not ashamed) to be instructing even whiter people on the Soulja Boy dance? I feel sort of sad for them that their access to learning these things from American pop-culture has to come from such a bad representative. But then, maybe they are better off not learning these things altogether.

And now I've realized that I never finished describing my trip through Italy, or my stay in Eastern Germany with Daniela's hilarious family, or even my most recent trip to Bruges. So I'll have to spend the next few days chronicling these adventures. But first, let's focus on Sweden -- I mean, it is the country which I decided to come to, and I have had the bulk of my experiences and learning right here in Scandinavia!!

All in all, I'm surprised by the professors here. Firstly, I don't know any of my professors last names. Seriously. They insist that I call them Jens, Anamaria, and Annika, respectively. And they're so relaxed, it seems. Honestly, Jens once asked our class if we had done our readings for the discussion. He said, "If not, that's okay, in that case I'll have something else for you to do." Seriously! Thankfully no one owned up to not having read the book and we plodded along through the discussion just fine.

Also, there are much more limited resources here in Sweden than back in California. I've grown used to a 24-hour library where I can check out books and do my readings at leisure. But here the libraries are only open from 10 - 18 (that's 10am to 6pm), which is totally ridiculous if I have class until 17 (5pm) and want to get some reading done after class from the library reserves. I realized that this isn't just a complaint of Americans either, as I ran into a Canadian girl who absolutely agreed with me about the ridiculous hours of the library. I mean, the libraries aren't even open on Sundays! What about last minute homework and readings that must be done?

The main library is also the only place where students without printers can print out their papers. At UCLA there was a large computer study room in each building grouping (one for rieber, one for hedric, etc.) that were ALSO open 24-hours. So what's up Sweden? Do Swedish students not really need all that library time? Well, probably not, since their professors don't even mind if they don't do their readings! But I'd at least like to learn SOMETHING while I'm here. If I just wanted a six-month vacation from school, I would have gone to study abroad somewhere like Italy or Spain (sorry Lauren), where there are more disko-clubs than classrooms. But honestly, I really am learning quite a bit, especially since I'm taking classes a bit outside the realm of UCLA anthropology. It's nice to not have to listen to the same things over and over again (anthro classes can get sort of redundant). So far, none of my professors have thrown up a big pictures of Indiana Jones on the powerpoint and said "This is NOT anthropology!" Duh.

But my fellow (Swedish) students are fantastic. I've even gotten to be pretty good friends with my floormates (or corridor-mates as it translates here), though it's taken some time. My friend Fredrika was shocked when I told her that the expensive types of mascara only cost $8 in America (that's 50:- crowns, whereas cheap mascara here is 150:- crowns!!!) She insisted that there must be something that is cheaper in Sweden that in the States. I told her if it exists, I have not found it! And then she told me that my favorite chocolate brand here is sold in IKEA -- so guess where I'm going once I get back to California? :-)

Here's some Swedish for you to learn:
choklad -- chocolate
fantatisk -- fantastic (that's an easy one)
antropologi -- anthropology (ok, there's another easy one)
Social- och- Beendevetenskap Biblioteket -- The Social and Behavior Science Library (that's my home library!)
lärare -- teacher/professor

Swedish Academia

So I've been doing a pretty terrible job of writing updates in this blog (and also in my own personal journal, to be perfectly honest!) The problem is, I think, that so many things are happening and it's all going so fast that my brain can't keep up -- or slow down long enough to thoughtfully represent my experiences abroad to all my dear family and friends.

I've finally started classes at Lund University. I haven't actually attended all of them yet, one doesn't start until Wednesday, and another on Thursday, so I've only had one of my four classes so far. Lund has an odd system of scheduling. My "Gender, Social Change, and Modernity" class, for example, meets mostly on Tuesdays from 2-4 or 2-5pm. But sometimes it meets on Wednesdays, and at least once it's going to meet on Thursday at 9am! And these classes alternate between the Gender Studies Dept. and the "Yellow Villa" -- which is literally a house in the Botanical Gardens which is painted yellow. Thank God, or I would have never found it. Also, most classes don't span the entire semester. "Gender, Social Change ..." began last week and will end in late October. My "New Europe" class begins this Wednesday and ends in December (this one does actually span the semester). "Swedish Social Policy" doesn't begin until early October and will end mid-November! As for my Swedish class, I don't know how long it will be. But I'm guessing that I'll have Swedish 3 for the first half of the semester, and then bump up to Swedish 4 in the second half. It's quite an interesting system.

There is also an ancient and proud tradition of "akademiska kvart" here in Sweden. It's actually only practiced at the older universities, and by that I mean, only Lund and Uppsala do it. It translates to the "academic quarter-hour." Broken down, it pretty much means that if a class is scheduled to begin at 2:00pm, nobody expects you to show up until 2:15pm. That's when the professor will come and if you come earlier (i.e. on time) you're going to be sitting around and waiting. So far I keep forgetting about it. It's an interesting system in a land which is so concerned with timeliness. Honestly, if you invite a Swede over to your house for dinner at 7pm. He will not arrive at 6:59pm nor will he arrive at 7:01pm. He will be there at 7 on the dot, barring catastrophe and even then ... it's questionable as to whether he still might be on time. So this policy of constantly be 15-minutes late is a bit questionable to me, but so far I've experienced it twice (I arrived on time, only to wait for 15 minutes for everyone else). I should explain to my Swedish friends how it works in California -- if a professor is 15 minutes late in California, you just leave -- expect class to be cancelled, the prof. is not showing up. What an interesting difference.

I've also learned the secret to attaining Swedish friends -- drinking. You don't have to get rip-roaring drunk with them and share your darkest secrets to be friends. But I've found that Swedes are very shy and reserved -- until they have a beer in their hands, and then you are instant friends. They don't even have to have drunk any of that beer. But I think the feeling of the glass (or metal can) in their hands that makes them instantly confidant and friendly.

In these same situations, I've learned that Swedes are not very good dancers. Lund has a system of "nations" which are student social groups. The closest thing in comparison in America would be the Greek system of fraternities and sororities. But the nations aren't tied up in homo-erotic paddling and hazing. They're just groups of students, both male and female, who like to get together and organize events. They serve cheap dinners made by student volunteers each night, they have "clubs" where there's good music and cheap beer (and bad Swedish dancers), they have "sittnings" which are 3-course meals where you dress up in a theme and have a lot of fun singing and eating and drinking. (I've also noticed that Swedes sing a LOT!) I haven't joined a nation yet, I'm still weighing my options, but I wish that UCLA would adopt the same system and get rid of fraternities and sororities altogether.

Well, as I continue with my classes and learn new things about Sweden, I will certainly slow down long enough to share what I've learned. Wish me luck!

Here's some Swedish for you to learn:
dansa -- dance
köns -- gender
öl -- beer
klubb -- night club
måndag, tisdag, onsdag, torsdag, fredag, lördag, sonndag -- the days of the week (MTWTFSS)