Hej Hej

Published at 1 September, 2007 in All. 7 Comments

So everyone who was previously reading this blog has possibly forgotten about me because I’ve slacked off and been having too much fun for the past three weeks.

So lots and lots to talk about!

So I’d like to think I’ve settled in really well here, but it’s not like it’s been very hard. What with the kebab and hot dog caravans all over the city and the clothing stores it’s probably been a little too easy. Also the fact that I’m constantly surrounded with people from France, Spain, Australia, Tasmania(I know Tasmania is part of Australia but everyone knows those crazy Tasmanians are ‘different’.) not the mention a handful of Swedes who live in the building. I also met a guy from my uni who I emailed before I came over. He decided to stay on for the year, leave Sydney Uni and live here as an international student. I don’t blame him.

Over the past three weeks, for the majority I’ve been attending a Swedish for beginners language class. They have been on every day from 9-12. We had our diploma/graduation ceremony last night which was fun and it’s good to finally be done with the class, not that didn’t enjoy the class, but waking up at 9am every day for 3 weeks killed me. I don’t know what’s more surprising, the fact that I now understand basic swedish or that I woke up at 9am. Prior to these classes I had no idea a 9am even existed. I stand corrected.

The classes were really good; our teacher was really helpful and she trained us more to live in Malmö rather than for the end of course exam which was great. She even recommended places for us to eat/drink/get a cheap haircut/visit in Sweden. I’m considering applying for the continuers course too, depending on my timetable. Which by the way right now remains very vague; a tad worrying seeing as though classes start next week. I think I’ve got it worked out though!

So amongst all the studying, there has of course been a lot of partying. Alex and I have become the resident DJ’s of our building(read: noise polluters). The worst part about us having parties on our floor is that when you visit the kitchen in the morning it just looks like a bomb hit. My timing was perfect on a day after a party when I saw the cleaner walk into the kitchen and collapse on his knees and scream NOOOOOO or Nejjj!!(because he’s Swedish). OK not really but you could so tell he was thinking it.

We’ve had a few birthdays already which have been fun, and the student pub opened the other night so it was good to get out of student housing and hang with the locals(despite most of the people there being international students)…yeah, locals.

INSERT QUIRKY SEGUE

I’ve found that it’s really easy to get caught up in the exchange student crowd. It’s kind of like a security bubble that most people have crawled back into after weeks of independent traveling. I think most people just crave the company. On the flip side I really do enjoy living in student housing and I wouldn’t have it any other way because I’ve met so many nice people who without, meant this trip would have been at least 64% less fun. In saying that I didn’t come to Sweden to hang out with Aussies and such. What keeps ringing in my head is the comments of past people who have travelled to Malmö from Sydney and a lot kept saying the same thing “I wish I met more Swedish people”.

Meanwhile, we’ve also done some road trips just around the Skåne area. We’ve visited neighbouring Lund which is a university city where the students make up 1/3 of the population. The university is really old and famous and the city is really nice a cosy, I liked it. Have also visited Ystad, another neighbouring town which was also really interesting to check out, though I recollect walking into an H&M there(Don’t look at me like that. They may have had different clothes.[They didn’t]).

Which brings me to my next point, people here dress really really well. It’s like they agreed on having good taste. I think my favourite thing about Swedish fashion is that transcends age and they don’t feel that they have to be a certain age to wear something. A lot of the middle aged women dress like the young girls and I’ve lost count of the number of middle aged men I’ve seen with skinny Cheap Monday jeans. The craziest part is that they pull it off too, everyone here is really fit; everyone having a bike probably has something to do with it. I know I’m feeling the burn because I bought a bike too! It’s so cool and a lot of fun, I’m surprised that other countries don’t embrace it, though I can’t imagine riding a bike in Sydney.

So to something that everyone always asks me, even my aunt, everytime she talks to me; are the Swedish blondes as pretty as everyone says. Yes, yes they are. People, especially the girls really take pride in their appearance, double edged sword but hey it’s their thing. Also, in the first couple of weeks, we had a lecture about Sweden and the Swedes and there was something about them being really quiet and reserved but still very nice. I really think that’s half true, they are kind of quiet but I think no more than anybody else. The only really weird thing is they don’t have a word for ‘please’ and everyone is kind of taken back when I apologise for bumping into them. Not to say they’re rude but they’re not fussed about that kind of thing. Oh and everytime I’ve said no to a plastic bag, the person serving me freaks out; No Bag?!!!!!!!!!

Back to the point, I’ll back that they’re really nice. The other day I bought some new shoes, I wore them out that night and the right sole busted up a bit. People told me I was dancing like a maniac but I’ve danced like a maniac plenty of times and my shoes have never broken. Anyway, I took it back to the store and the guy offered me a more expensive pair which I liked and bought, but he ended up giving me the semi-busted ones for free. Score. I don’t know if that justifies that they are nice but it was a nice story.

So it’s Saturday morning, and it’s sunny! The weather in incredibly unpredictable here so I think I’m going to go capitalise on it!
Hope everyone is well!
I have photos up too! Just hit the photos button in the banner!

Hej Då,
Karan

Tired.

Published at 12 August, 2007 in All. 4 Comments

So I’m late as usual but better late than never!

Budapest is a really beautiful city and I highly recommend it to anyone considering Europe. It reminds me lots of Rome and Vienna mainly because of the classic architecture which is virtually inescapable. Really lucky that we went during the summer too because it’s famous for its baths. We went to 3 baths there and they were all pretty decent; a really big mix of people but no shortage of old fatty beer gut people. We went sightseeing and whatnot and I’ve got heaps of pictures to show! Press the photos button in the top banner.

The food was interesting. I’m happy that I’ve left Hungary after trying their many authentic things hmmm. Some of the more interesting; chocolate with a cheese centre, Polinka; don’t think I spelt that right but it’s pear schnapps, there was more schnapps than pear. Unicum, this nasty shot drink they’re so proud of here which is a mix of herbs and cloves and ugh burning. Meanwhile, went paprika (aka capsicum) crazy. They put it in everything, chips, soup, cereal, everything. Also, I don’t really grasp their love of sparkling water, not just Hungary, but Europe. They love it, don’t know, water with bubbles just doesn’t work for me. The Hungarians are also really good at pickling things too, paprika of course but they do this really nice cucumber salad with sour cream. The worst thing I’ve had on this trip to date is chicken liver; we ordered blindly thinking it was chicken until the guy said “chicken liver” and we just nodded like dumbasses. It’s so mushy and has the taste of something you know you shouldn’t be eating, kind of organy ughhhh.

Two nights into our stay in Budapest we changed hostels, the newer one was sooo much better, kind of like a shared apartment. There are only about 10 people staying at a time which makes it really easy to meet other travellers which I thought was much better than the sterile one we were staying at before. They even gave us dinner some nights (paprika always made an appearance, even for breakfast).

Overall, I really enjoyed Budapest. It was a real holiday because we spent most of it at the baths just bumming enjoying the sun; I’m thinking about coming back in the winter for a brief stint but who knows.

Our flight to Malmö on the other hand, less fun. It was supposed to leave at 1035am yesterday but when we arrived checked in and hopped on those busses to take you to the plane, we were informed that there were technical problems with the plane and it would be delayed. They ended up driving us to arrivals, returning our bags and immigration checking our passports even though we had gone nowhere. We got back to the departures and discovered the flight had been delayed until midnight, a fun 14 hour delay.
We were pretty upset/angry because yesterday was the official day of arrival for exchange students and we were really looking forward to settling in, but nooooooooooooooooooooo. We sat with another girl who was on our flight and her boyfriend who happened to be catching a plane later that day who’s flight was also delayed; the consequences of flying with “W!zz Air”(Yes, the exclamation is actually in their name and their planes are pink and purple). We were given 4 x €4 worth of food vouchers which we had to ration over that time. I ended up getting AUD$10 changed because it wasn’t enough, stupid.

So everything was in shambles because now we were to get into Malm\’9a at 230am which means we can’t get into our dorm. I called the international office lady who couldn’t really do much apart from suggest staying the night at the airport or hostel and then come in for the 9am seminar thing and then sort stuff out.

So I write this in Malmö  airport at 4am, plenty of flies surrounding me, waiting for 7am so we can head into town for the information session.

 OK, So I pick this up on the 12th of August, I am now in a net cafe.

So at 715 we caught the bus into Malmö Central Station, found a locker there and stored our bags there until we had access to our room, which would only be after the information session. We quickly grabbed some food and headed the uni which is on a little island/lagoon thing, its only a tiny bridge but the novelty is there.

So the information session was cool, we met lots of other exchange students and also discovered that there were heaps of aussies on exchange, we’re like the plague. We did some dairy tasting as Sweden has about3613 types of milk. Sour milk or Filmjölk was a gross as anticipated, but I liked the caviar with cheese in a tube. Yeah, I know, crazy. Those crazy swedes.

After the info session we got all our info packages which we missed on the day before as we were late, bought our pillows and dooners and headed back to the train station where we got our bags and took a taxi to our home for 6 months. We were soo freakin tired, we slept for 14 hours.

We did some city safariing yestrday with the uni, spotted the first of many H&M’s which was good, what can I say, Iv’e been craving it.

We don’t have internet in the room so for now I’m going to be reporting from net cafes but that should be sorted soon.

Anyway, this is was long.

How’s everyone else doing?

Hej Da
Karan

We’re like in Germania

Published at 4 August, 2007 in All. 7 Comments

Just a quick post!
So I finally have access to decent internet. I’m sitting in a hostel in Köln, Germany with Alex my maid.
Yesterday was pretty hectic travel wise; caught the flight from Delhi to Munich which was about 8 hours; so Lufthanasa doesn’t have screen in their seats so the flight was really fun. REALLY REALLY FUN. The food was kind of weird; you know it’s weird when you ask yourself if that thing in the tray is potato or banana.
Was really good that we got to München on time, especially seeing as though we left from Delhi. Then caught a connecting to Frankfurt where I met Alex and we caught up while we waited for the ICE train to Köln. The train was über fast.

So we were both pretty zonked by the time we got in. We walked around for a bit in the night and had a Kebap which was pretty awesome and some Becks. The bottles here are huge, not complaining.

So it’s 830am and we’re going to go out now! We leave for Budapest later today!
Will make a nice post there. Still working on the images.

=)
Karan

Delhi 101

Published at 4 August, 2007 in All. 0 Comments

So this was supposed to be up by Thursday, but it poured in Delhi and there was no internet. Good times.

Hey!

I’ve been eating lots, I can hear Amar(my brother) scream FATASS! It’s been great having both north and south Indian as a well as the sweets, most of which I haven’t had in ages, food has been really nice here!

I thought I should make the most of it while I’m here; not just the food but the fact that everything is done for you! It’s common for people to have maids/servants and we have one. She’s been with my grandparents for about 20 years so she’s practically part of the family. You’d think that me, being the epitome of lazy that I am would have relished it, but no, I felt kind of guilty, despite that’s what she’s paid for. Come, Sweden, I’ll have to do it all myself….pfft just get Alex(that guy I’m travelling with) to do it.

Meanwhile, my Hindi is not as bad as I thought it was….. ok it’s bad. I can understand it, but it takes me about 2 minutes to dive down into the memory banks and then formulate a sorry excuse for a sentence. I’m happy that I do remember it though =). Relatives often stop half way in a Hindi or Punjabi to ask me if I understand it, that and also to ask me who Mohammad Haneef is.

Delhi is growing like crazy, due to the huge economic boooom(*cough call centres cough*), big time, malls everywhere, there’s one in our fridge. But seriously, it’s hard to drive anywhere without seeing development and construction; in saying that, it’s also hard to drive anywhere without seeing the poverty. The contrast is so stark and it, without doubt, displays that the issue of poverty has taken a backseat to development.(Was is ever in the front?).

Tomorrow, morning I leave for Germany. I fly Delhi-Munich and then change and get on a flight to Frankfurt where I meet my maid Alex, 2 hours later, we catch a train to Cologne and stay there for the night; then the next day a flight to Budapest where we stay for 5 days.

I’m excited.
Very nice.

Hope you’re all well!
Karan

Beep beep Delhi

Published at 27 July, 2007 in All. 11 Comments

Yo!
So I’ve made it to Delhi finally. It’s my second day here and most of my time has been spent doing absolutely nothing, which is good for a change. I’m sitting in an internet cafe which has a lingering waft of urine.

The flight from Sydney to Singapore was decent, had a nice big plane which was pretty empty. I was right at the end of the plane and had two seats to myself. The in-flight entertainment is heaps better in comparison to last time. The movies are on demand rather than starting all at the same time etc. etc. The downside was the dodgy earphones that were handed out. Either way, I watched 300 again(THIS IS SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAA!)

Arrived at Singapore a couple of minutes early and found that my connecting flight was in the terminal on the other side of the airport. Good times. It would have been quicker had I walked on those travelators which I only noticed when I arrived at my gate, stupid. All good, made it in time though I still fail to grasp the ‘Liquid Restrictions’ that are in place. You can’t take more than 100g of liquid on. In Singapore they made me throw out some cream I had in a tube. Lame because I had a litre of whisky too which they let pass.

There’s a certain something that assures you you’re on a plane to India, apart from that fact that you’re travelling with a large crowd of Indians. Maybe it’s the atmosphere on the plane, kind of dank and bordeline depressing. I was seated with a retired couple at the very first row right next to the emergency door. Legroom central but nowhere to store stuff. The highlights where the 10-20 mins of constant turbulence, the man next to me burping consecutively after eating, the man next to me trying to work out how to pull the screen out from under the seat and the man next to me asking to see my copy of Harry Potter. After he inspected the book I restrained the urge to ask him if all was in order and continued reading.

We were really early as the E.T.A. on the plane said we would make it by 9:20pm when we were scheduled to arrive at 10pm, so the pilot did a couple of happy laps. The line for immigration was huge and oh so depressing. The immigration guy looked part tired part extremely pissed off. He asked me how I got my passport(The passport vending machine in the toilets), yet again I restrained a sarcastic retort and told him I’ve lived in Sydney for 11 years and applied for citizenship. He let me pass. I got my bags, and over the 14 hours of travel, had forgotten exactly how heavy my big backpack was. Good times.

Picked up by my aunt and cousin and the humidity and heat hit the second we stepped out. I was wearing a sweater, long sleeve shirt and a vest. Not good times. Being in India was in full swing when I got into the car and reached for the seat belt and a found nothing. The drive home included many things that made me say “oh yeah, thats right”; cows, horns, overpacked carts, cows. Ahh India, *sniff*.

Hope you’re all well!
<3
Karan

PS. I’ve been trying to upload an image but it doesn’t wanna! Will post it when I get to a better net cafe.

The 11th Hour

Published at 25 July, 2007 in All. 6 Comments

So this first post is a little later than I expected. It’s 2am and I’ve been getting my stuff together last minute style.
Packing is a nightmare. See, normally I’d get excited about the idea of packing because in saying ‘it’s time to pack’ means that your departure is somewhat imminent. It’s been well hectic; so hectic that it’s kind of crept up on me and so much so that I can’t fathom the fact that I leave tomorrow. Meanwhile what’s the deal with packing; I did it the good way and everything, emptied out my closet and crammed it into my bag, professional style but it just wasn’t working. During this highly skillful process it occurred to me that I was packing for 6 months (cue sad music) and the idea of packing my life into a couple of bags interested me. On the flip side of course is the question of how much of the crap I’ve packed I actually need, hell yes I need my slinky(thanks Dom).

So for those are kind of just tuning in, I’m travelling to Malmö in Sweden on international exchange for 6 months. My flight is in 9 or so hours and I’m travelling to India first and then into Europe. This collective of ramblings will my travel blog! Please stay in touch regardless of who you are, this is open to anyone, deviant art, depthcore, family, uni, high school everyoneeee! keep it G rated though (I feel like I need to clarify for some that the G means general and not “gangsta” hollaaaaaaaa)

And close.
-K

PS. I know my banner is lame. I know it’s also ironic that I’m a graphic arteest and that’s the best banner I could come up with.