On the move part 2

In Sweden! Snow and tasty water (first thing I do when coming home - drink Swedish water). On the bus to Linköping now. Slept for a while on the plane and then had a chat with the guy sitting next to me. He was shocked by the snow, heading for Stockholm over New Years and realised he might not have pacjed warm enough clothes. :P

Nothing else to report really.

On the move part 1

I didn't sleep last night so hopefully I'll be tired enough to sleep on the plane which leaves in 2 hours. I think Stansted must be the airport I've been to the most times - it feels a tad like home. A very busy, cramped and boring home... 😜

Mum!

Maybe a strange way to communicate with my parents but I figured it makes sense.

Dear mum, I think you ought to be able to comment on each individual posting I make here, either by clicking on the "no comments" that stands out like a sore thumb at the bottom of every entry (does no-one read this or is it super super tricky? Or is it somehow disabled and I'm being a bit dim?) or by clicking on the actual entry, like the heading of it and thus opening it so you only see that one entry and then there's a small box at the very bottom where you can write your comment.

So anyone who reads this - please comment so I know it works. You should be able to do so without having to sign in. And it's quite nice for me to know if anyone is out there, so to say ;) And please ask questions if you have any, makes my life easier as I wouldn't have to think of anything original to write about.

Well, as I addressed this to my mother, I'll finish it like that too. Love you mum, you're the best. Tied with dad of course, give him my love :D lots of love from eran lilla Arta.

Last day in England

Good evening!
I've spent the last few days just relaxing, went for a few drinks with a friend Sunday and the rest of the time has been mainly in the house. Such a strange feeling having bo studying to do and nothing else either really. I have thought about writing some posts about the paperwork and such involved in studying abroad but then I always found something more fun to do ;)

Tonight me and my husband went for a lovely meal at Jamie Oliver's restaurant, my parents gave us some money for Christmas so that we could do something nice together. But weird that we will be apart for the coming six months but it's such an opportunity for me and my hubby is extremely supportive :)

So the travelling begins in 3 hours and I will arrive in Hong Kong around 5 pm on the 2/1. So around 12 hours in Linköping and something like 15 hours in Istanbul. Car-plane-bus-bus-car-plane and then probably buses or taxis around Istanbul - then plane and then I believe a minibus will pick us up and take us to campus.

Might be bored tomorrow during my stay in Sweden so might post some more then. For now you get the first pic I took with my camera - haven't transferred any others to my phobe yet and it's packed...

Night night

Merry Christmas!

Woke up to the jingle of bells, Santa had left us stockings filled with sweets. Whole family got up early and gathered in the front room to open gifts :)

Everyone had, as always, gone a bit bonkers with buying gifts, it feels nice getting someone something that they will really like. I got some really fantastic gifts, really thoughtful. Elaine and Richie, my in-laws, gave me a fantastic camera which will be great in HK. Gareth, my brother-in-law, gave me a wonderful set of spa-things, including a "sleep mist", super fancy! :)
Matthew, my husband, gave me a beautiful old edition of "The Professor" by Charlotte Brontë. And lots of other things.

So now everyone is playing with the gifts and smiling and we're about to start getting the food ready. So in short - it's very much Christmas here.

Merry Christmas everyone! My new camera is charging but soon you can look forward to some high quality pictures!

Dipping day

More Swedish Christmas traditions, seeing as it is Christmas today! The strange Brits don't celebrate until tomorrow which means that I get two Christmases in a row ;) today we have done some cleaning, some shopping, cooking and now I'm  watching what most be the most viewed program in Sweden: From All of Us to all of You. Disney special from the 50s which is, somehow, essential for a Swedish Christmas.

So God Jul to everyone celebrating today!

Day before dipping day

Day before dipping day - during Christmas many Swedes heats up the stock from cooking the Christmas ham, spiced, and dips hard bread into it to and then eats the bread with ham, apple sauce and mustard. It is bloody delicious and one of the things I really miss when I celebrate in England. So dipping day = Christmas Eve.

So today is, to me, the day before Christmas. Even though we don't celebrate until Christmas Day here. And back home it's minus and snow. Here we have had a lovely warm day. Bit windy but warm winds. So during my shoppingtrip into town and walk home I was basically dressed in a skirt and a jumper. Something very wrong about that, so close to Christmas.

At the moment I'm watching Armageddon, an old tradition me and a good friend started years and years ago. Not very Christmas-y but to me it feels like Christmas as I refuse to watch it any other day...

Adding some pics from street musicians brightening up what must be one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Swedish culture summed up

Treating my in-laws to Swedish meatballs. Sweden on a plate. 😊

Byebye!

Been a while now. Not too surprising to be honest, we had quite a bit of exams and so on in November/December. But it's all done now! I went to England Thursday evening so am now at my in-laws' place, seeing my husband who went here in early November.

I have packed up the flat and given keys to my tenant. Last few days were a bit strange; hectic and depressing at the same time as it was fun and exciting - I had put away all of our personal belonings, leaving only furniture and kitchen stuff really so it was really rather empty. I also had 5 different bags on the go at the same time: 3 for HK (check-in 20 kg, carry-on 8 kg and a handbag.) And a carry-on plus handbag for England. Thought I had it all under controll but when I arrived in England Thursday I realised that I'd left the adapter in my HK bag.... oh well...

So besides packing and exams I tried to meet up with some friends, lots of Christmas meetups: Swedish mulled wine in lots of variations basically!

Here's a group of my friends from Linköping, giving me a lovely send-off :D

And some of my classmates just after our last exam, having a fika :) (essential  Swedish word similar to afternoon tea but a lot more frequent, at any time of the day and consisting of anything from coffee and sandwish to coffee and something sweet. Or just coffee... we like coffee.)

My travel friend!

This is my friend Jenny, we're just having a bit of a meeting, discussing the last things to think about before we head out! :)

Packing up the flat

Ok so if I didn't say last time - at the moment I'm studying English, term 2. To anyone who doesn't know - it is most likely the very best subject there is, at the same time as it is just insanely intense. So I have a seemingly endless amount of examinations over the next few weeks and as a reaction to this I feel that I really ought to study. So I do anything but study, because that's logical.....

At the moment I am packing up our flat which I will be subletting to another student. He seems cool, even promised to look after my plants for me. But still, poor guy needs to have some space for his stuff so the idea is to leave furniture and kitchen stuff and put away clothes and books etc. I cannot believe the amount of books I have... Think the hubbie was right when saying I really shouldn't buy any more..

So getting back to that now, flat is in a complete mess. Just thought I had to post something, get in the habit and whatnot. Also first time using the blogger app, seems decent.

Ciao!

Yet another first post

I am unsure how many blogs I have tried to commit to writing but this one, I hope, will prove to be different and actually survive more than 10 posts. So, here we go again: Let me introduce myself.

My name is Sofia and I live and study in Linköping, Sweden. I'm studying to become a teacher and as a part of my education I have been given the opportunity to go to Hong Kong for a whole term to study Social Science. This blog will serve as a way for my friends and family to keep track of me (I am notoriously bad at staying in touch) and, hopefully, for other students at Liu to get some inspiration in case they are considering going abroad.

Most of all I think it will be used as a random mix of diary, a way of remembering these six months of amazing (I hope) experiences and also a place for me to vent if need be. I write in English so that my English friends and family can understand it but also for my own sake - I am studying to be a teacher in both Social Science and English and I think that writing in English is easier for me, I don't use Swedish all that often now whilst I'm in Sweden - I assume it will be even less used in Hong Kong.. If for some reason any of my English teachers finds this blog - please don't point out my fuck-ups or lack of formality... ;-P I do swear (sorry) and I'm not making the biggest effort in the world, mistakes will appear! :-D

So I think that's all that is needed at the moment. I will try, in the next few days or so, to write a few posts regarding various aspects of application, visa, tickets and so on. All the practical and terrifying parts of this process. And then you will have the pleasure of following me first to the UK for a bit of Christmas and family (one of them at least, sorry Mum and Dad for not coming home!) and then on the very first day of the new year me and my friend Jenny takes off towards HK!

So, no matter how much fun this is, I have a very important grammar lesson tomorrow and I won't even begin to write about all of the examinations and scary stuff we have these next few weeks when all I want to do is prepare for my trip... Good night!