exchange #6 Norway

Sometimes I still can't process the fact that I'm in Europe, living in Sweden. How on earth?! A year ago I was only beginning to think about going on exchange, thankfully I toughed out the long application process otherwise I'd be missing out on all of this wonderful Swedishness.

It's March 7th, and the days are already getting much longer and warmer. When I first arrived in January the sun didn't rise till 830am and sunset was at 4pm, now it gets bright nice at early at 7 and doesn't get dark till 6pm.

The last few weeks my class went on a little study trip to Norway, to visit the town of Moss in the Ostfold region. It was such a lovely trip, the buildings are so sweet and quaint. Too bad it was super quiet during the winter, we saw very little people around.

exchange #5

I had some trouble last month staying under budget, but I think that's excusable because the first month did have some start up expenses. Bedsheets, pillows, detergent, bike... etc

So I've discovered a new place to do my grocery shopping! It's a store called Lidl. It's almost exactly the same as Aldi back home. And the best part is that it's cheap. Unfortunately it doesn't have a wide variety of things, but another store called Willy's is good for the rest. It's also quite cheap.

What I'm trying to figure out now is how to cook for one... It's kind of awkward because if I cook too much I have a billion meals but if i cook to little it seems inefficient. Any tips? Lately I've been cooking enough to last me 2 meals, which doesn't feel like enough.

I bought a whole chicken the other day from Lidl, portioned it and froze the pieces for meals later on, thought that was pretty clever of me.

In the meantime, check out some pics from the last week. Oh boy, Scandinavian landscapes- breathtaking.

Copenhagen- Osterport Station

Town protected by a moat! (I think thats what they're called)

Ferry wharf at Oslo

Leaving the Oslo Fjord! 

Just another Oslo Fjord picture because it's so pretty

exchange #4 settling in

Here are a few things you need to know if you're moving to Lund soon.

1. Jojo Card
It's a travel card where you can load money on and use it to catch the buses and trains. Make sure you get a student one if you're a student.

2. Sim card
I'm using Telia. It's okay. I've heard there's a better one with more data, which is really what I need...

3. Bike
Get a bike and save on travel money, cause it ain't cheap on a student budget.

4. Food
Meat is expensive! Shoot. I'll have to cut down on that. There are a few grocery stores in the neighbourhood. I've only been to ICA & COOP Konsum... Not sure which one is cheaper yet. The ICA near Lund C station is expensive so avoid that one if you can.

So I'm still figuring out how to cook for one and make the most of my meals. At the moment I've been buying frozen veggies and frozen fish, and only a tiny bit of meat. Rice and Pasta have been my meals for the last few days. When you're hungry, everything tastes good!!

Have a look at the lovely town below :)

Town Cathedral

Lund Central station

lovely cobble-stone streets