Culture night

The dawn of winter starts with a culture night in Uppsala, probably because people realize that the weather, from now on will only get more unpredictable. Culture night or as the Swedes correctly spell it with a 'K', is a day entirely dedicated to celebration of wordly cultures. Great food, musical gigs and roadblocks are set all around Stora Torget ( the absolute city centre of Uppsala).

An aerial view of Uppsala on that day might only shock some as the not so crowded town seems to be filled with a horde of human populus, only dressed in their vibrant clothing and attires. One like myself, wondered then, how dynamic is Uppsala actually with the play in numbers. Summer, its almost a ghost town, and come fall, its not just students, but, people of varying age groups. All I am saying is one could easily get claustrophobic on that day.

A little trivia on Culture night-  its celebrated on the second saturday of every september since 1989, managed by culltural workers, institutions, amateurs and other organisations. A way of showing how important cultures are, in our lives. Many show of their artistic work handled by the organisation- brass orchestras marching, knights on horses, fire juggling/knights tournament. Its also a chance for Uppsala to flaunt its traditional landmarks to the visitors from all over- the largest cathedral in Scandinavia, oldest botanical garden ( the garden of Linnaeus, founded by Carl von Linne). The university library of Carolina Rediviva with the Silver Bible, Uppsala castle dating right back from the 1500s and the anatomical theatre at Museum Gustavianum from the 1600s. Pretty rich in culture.

For me, it was more like a day to take great pictures, walk with swarm of friends I made recently and just enjoy the lively-ness of my favourite town. A tour of my pictures will show you how versatile the culture shows were.

Right by the lamp post in the dead centre that makes Stora torget was a ring with a "Uncle Sam wants you" like poster only advertising the school of Muay Thai.

A digital timetable for those who hate carrying a printed sheet of the iternarary of the evening.

Some roads were blocked by stages and the supporitng crowd. This one in particular were playing Brazilian music with the drums and tunes from the Brazilian carnival.

Yes, some dancers were in unbelivably revealing two-pieces.

Picture on top is that of a stall selling ice cream and donuts while the one on the left is that of a stall with colourful exotic  cakes.

 Candle stall with perfumed wax.

Capoeira, the Brazilian form of dancing/martial arts. For some reason, it felt like the Uppsalites were really fond of Brazil. Could it be the revealing attire, they stand for/with ;). Makes you wonder many things.

Picture from Knights tournament and fire juggling. Most acts were impressive except when the experts took a break and two amateurs showed on stage with sheils and a fire mace hitting each other. That can only be described as a act of retardation, by many.

There were mini concerts that were set up all over town, waiting for the dark to set in to show off with their beaming conglomerate of lightwork.

Their music however, attracted dedicated crowds. This one on the right was real popular with a crowd of no more than 14 year olds. A music I would call Pop rock. Still better than a stage that was death metal or 'rant-for-song' bands that can only invoke severe headaches. 

There were also a band in the city centre whose music was ok but made better pictures.

In all, a very fantastic saturday that only concluded with a beer binge at Flogsta with mates I met after a long time. All thanks to culture night, I got in touch with my beer drinking culture after a rather long interlude.

Do comment.

Springing back in Fall

The 'Ghost town' sticker is officially off the Uppsala map. Students from all over the globe are back in town. Last week of August was orientation for the newbies. SLU was back on the map as a happening joint. The empty dorms are filling in and life has sprung back in fall.

Funny as it sounds, I was asked by our lovely international students administrator, Stina-Lena Hellgren to offer my insight on my first year experience while in SLU. The presentation was set to be after newspaper reading for the fresh lot. As insipid as it may sound, the students were there, luckily for my presentation. My presentation was about observations that I had covered in my earliest blogs- funny incidents, the Swedish lot and their general temperament, things to do and look out for, the mystery of Systembolaget and messages from ex-SLU exchange students. The title was 'Warm up to Uppsala'.

While many friends moved on, many new have moved in. The nations are booming out with crowds that could induce claustrophobia in some. Pub-crawling is in, again. The new Biocentrum building is all set where you can smell the tantalising smell of new furniture and plastering. Parties in Flogsta are getting louder and louder while the pub in the SLU student union is keeping the local students indulged. For those who like smaller crowds, BBQ just outside the dwellings in Galbovagen is common. Most are making the best of what they can with their bicycles and moody sunlight. The Swedish have some dedicated Schnapps songs which they hum, rather loudly just before downing their shots. The General of the SLU union is dressed up a someone who I will describe as a man when a sailor is fused with a caped crusader. Its all good. Everyone are getting used to what suits them best- be it chilling out with the new friends they made or searching for what will keep them busy in their free time away from books.

Reggae-tastic

Every year the city hosts a Reggae festival right in the city park. The festival starts a day before weekend commences. This year I had planned well in advance to be a volunteer for the same.

The bands were mostly from Jamaica and Sweden, with the odd ones from Croatia  and UK. The event is of a huge magnitude that drew crowd from Stockholm and Norway mostly. There were others from Sweden who treated it like  the great gig that happens at 'T in the park' or Glastonbury festival. There was a  designated campsite for those who had their dwelling in a backpack. That site was located at a 15minute walking distance from the stage and 15 minutes walk from the nearest supermarket. The site was supplied with fresh water, bathing booth and dry portable toilets.

The jobs of us volunteers was broken to shifts for two split teams. Starting early in the morning, one batch would be given grabber sticks to pick trash and litter en route to the stage deposited by legless participants. Recyclable cans/pets were collected in seperate bags, later to be exchanged for cash. Oh yeah, volunteers werent paid but were given a non transferable wrist band that allowed access to the concert for all 3 days.  The best band I thought, was 'The Heptones' with live music. The rest seemed to have a singer speaking with a Rastafarian accent but was backed up by music from a DJs box.

There was zero tolerance policy when it came to the use of narcotics or marijuana. Some artistes pointed out that a reggae festival is incomplete without a 'spliff's justice' but Swedes are known to abide by the legislation, except for the two members in the campsite who were chucked out by the cops after a warning for use of Marijuana.
Some pictures from the gig-

 Mini restaurants that were set inside.

Happy feet

The nights are getting longer than usual. A peek at whats coming soon to Uppsala- fall. A time when nature prepares us for darkness and cold round the corner. Trying to make the best of what they have are the Lindy hop dancers I discovered recently.

One thing that brings people together is this spontaneous art called dancing, a mash up of music and good mood thrown in with energy. Lindy hop dancing is a dance for couples that originated in the USA. A time when jazz music was an indulgence in New York city. Described in colloquial lingo as Jazz dance or Swing dance is this art where couples portray a number of aerial moves to a fast tempo song. A delight to watch in its own. Me, being a man of classical taste was invited by a new friend of mine that I met at a house party. He had taken up Lindy hop dance lessons in Uppsala, sometime last term. He and a bunch of fellow learners decided to put it to use or practise amongst themselves at a particular venue every tuesday of this summer, atleast, till the weather remained inviting.

The venue is a wooden plank platform by the river that runs through the heart of town. Members had decided on an area that is suitable for dancing, while not disturbing the mood. Alongside the city park was the common favourite of the lot. The friend and myself took all the equipment that went with the arrangement. A stereobox with decent decibel output and a collection of American classic jazz music. And off they went. It was a fusion of tap dancing with the usual swirls and twirls.

I am a person who is so scared of dancing that I wouldn't even dance in private. The reason? I ve been told that a brick is more likely to be better looking at it than me. While I was there, I did not attempt to dance but I was enjoying the evening by the river. Dished up some new friends when they took a break from it. Later on when most of them had left and the pavement crowd thinned, I learnt a few steps from a member of the group.

I am going to enjoy it while I still can, cos only Penguins danced in the cold (the movie Happy Feet). Now on, tuesdays are going to as dancing nights.

Remainder

Idle mind is the devils workshop. The Swedes realize this and they expect everyone to be busy in summer. Most college dorms and accommodations are rent free in summer. Found it odd to begin with. Maybe they expect everyone to be free and utilise their finances for more energising activity than staying at home- travelling, visit your native or a time to save. Not all, though, only so many companies keep it rent free for two months- July and August.

It can be hard to find internships or summer jobs if you arent prepared. A lesson learnt by experience. Companies that oblige students during the summer break want the applications sent to them by deadlines usually ending by mid May at the latest. Otherwise you are mostly on  your own.

There are sites like jobrapido, academicwork and adecco that might come in handy afterwards as well. However, most jobs might require basic to intermediate Swedish to apply.

For people who plan to indulge in efficient travelling to rest of EU, hitchiking is a cheaper option. A friend of mine planned it to perfection. After the end of term, the Belgian stayed in Uppsala for a while to bask in the sun with the remainder of the friends lot. Took a train to Gothenber and to Copenhagen from there. Then took a flight to Holland and hitch hiked his way to Belgium, his house. An experience in its own, he said.

Fellow students from my country have done the same, headed home. Airline like Turkish Air had an offer on twin tickets being sold for the price of one. That offer lasted only a day and many managed to get tickets for two for as low as 4000sek, return.

Those who have stayed back worked in the 'Nations' bars till they remained open. Norrlandica was open till 23rd of last month. The last and most popular resort it was during weekends for many. Since then, weekends have lost flavour. The student hub has become a middle aged hub. It is safe to say that the real Uppsalites are in majority here, now. Other popular jobs include helping out in farms, of stawberries, mostly. The luscious juicy, itty bitty berries glow in these farms, waiting to be plucked fresh and then to be sold on streetside counters. The closest thing to 'street food' apart from hot dog vendors.

Summer is fun, no doubt. Has to be planned well with backups in place.

Galapagos

Summer blues do kick in also, so I ve realized. Many have moved back home to avoid the Ghost town it can be- Uppsala. Everything dies, I mean, student nations where many hung out to kill time, meet people and chill out. Not to mention, the jobs are gone- serving, cooking and attending the drunks by the drinks.

For those left back in Uppsala there may not be much to do apart from reading and cycling out on sunny days. They do. It gets boring after a while. Theres only so many places and activities you can do without your friends, that have flown to their original nests for summer. People indulge in Facebooking, if at all there is a word like it. Movies and music become their best friends. The bicycle becomes their getaway vehicle. One such trips led me to a new indulgence- a public library. Its very easy to forget, if there was ever such a beauty. A place where you have a collage of covers, an organised scramble of ideas, articulate works or even a galore of graphic documentation, movies included.

Situated in the city centre is this new discovered sanctuary of mine, the city library or Stadsbibliotek. Got there just before quarter to closing time. Monday to thurdsdays holding it open till 7PM. At the desk a lovely receptionist asked me if I wanted to get a membership card done. Not knowing what documents I would need to pass this test, I said, " Yes, Ma'm!". I got it done in a minute after I leaked my personal details on a piece of paper- Contact number, address and email address. All this done with after a glance on my drivers license. A barcoded plastic card was handed to me with a pin code to borrow out my interests. I saw another helper sort out some music discs. They lent out dvds of  rare concerts by some of my favourite artistes. Considering the seriousness of my reading interests or the lack of time I had to check out the array, I thought I d have barely enough to select a few multimedia disks to check out. And boy, did I find a collection that impressed the Bejesus out of me! From movies to Woodstock concerts, from Natgeo documentaries to 'Teach yourself _____' kind.

One could check out a maximum of 5 dvds at a time for a loan period of a week. Late fee being 2SEK a day past the due date. Termination of membership if the late fee accumulated to 100 SEK. There is no charge otherwise. I quickly was able to check out a David Gilmore performance captured from the Royal Concert Hall from 2002, a Woodstock recording from 50s and a foreign movie from the Oscars selected section.

Next time though, I would love to see if they had a 'Rosetta Stone: Svenska' for my summer assignment. I want to sound like a Nordic god, or a hiccup-ing light haired native. Also, check out the entire catalogue of the multimedia section and see if they had DC comic books in English. That might be a too much to ask. I was like Charles Darwin when he researched in the isle of Galapagos, probably. A library like this is a must use for everyone who is tired of downloading pirated movies/ music or reading on their (max)Ipads. Much love to all readers or it too much of a pun. Intended.

Au revoir

End of term and the end of Uppsala for all the Erasmus students. Wonder why I write so many blogs about Erasmus students?  For one, there were many in my class the last few courses of the term. Two, they were most outspoken and active.

Swedish population in my class was still the majority. Never really got to know many of them except a couple. They are reserved, which was my initial observation. They keep to themselves but are great students, ask questions, proactive in finding something to keep their time productive. Anyway, the last few weeks we had great weather averaging a high of 30Celcius and low in teens. The favourite choice of hanging out was this place near Sunnersta, a retreat for sailboat owners by the lake Malaren. Located 25 minutes away from where I dwell if you cycle there. A beach is what the people call it- grassy or a gravel patch by the water body where people spend time either sunbathing or barbequing. A very popular spot was what we chose. The spot is perfect for a swim also if you found the water cold enough for a dip.

A quick view of where we were. Cloudy day, with a cool lake. Half the people couldnt find it to begin with, cost most were living not very far from the city. We got there finally, after a few calls to the friendlies.

Many were in the mood for a dip and off they ran in thier bikinis and swimsuits.





We started a fire by the place. There were a good few logs at our disposal to make a coal bed for a barbeque.

While many only a selection of wine and beer to make it an evening before leaving to their homes. We had some marinated chicken fillet, marinated Hungarian style, with mustard and spice blend.


Thats when a friend, Manuel Bazan joined us from nowhere. He was camping in the forest nearby for a week. He had his lease ended at the place where he stayed and decided to avoid an entire months rent by camping up in the forest. A very resourceful guy, Manuel. Charged his phone at his friends corridor, checked and replied to his emails during the day when he had to. Showered at the same corridor. In turn, saved some cash and an experience before leaving Sweden, for Spain.

Manuel was more than happy to pose with his multipurpose knife. Dressed in cargos and fleece with walking boots, he told us his story of how he camped with some Swedes who taught him more about landscape and camping skill.

Then it was mosquitoes that were out for their juice, our juice. Everyone got closer to the fireplace to repel the nasty pests.

It was then music time and scrap book exchange. Some had a novel idea of marking this experience- a Swedish flag and marker for friends to write some parting words. Also, make sure that we stayed knit on Facebook.

Many felt that they could ve had more moments of hanging out like that day. But as we all now it, only when you know you are going away will you realise how hard it is to say 'Au revoir' to your friends, your love- Uppsala.