My first week at Skövde!

Hi followers!

First of all, thank you all for your support. I hope that you get interesting information from the things I'll be posting and also, If you are an international student at the University of Skövde, that you indentify yourself with the things I write. 

Today, I'm going to summarize how it was my first week at Skövde. Let's begin!

I got to Skövde the 21st of August at 23.00. I was picked up by some students from the IC - International Committee (https://www.facebook.com/SkovdeIC); please don't be afraid to fulfill the pick up service formulary on the website, because I didn't, but finally, by talking to different people, I ended up being received by the ones in charge of it. So, it's easier if you ask for it from the beginning! 

THE DAYS BEFORE THE SCHEDULE (Does it sound like something from the Lord of the Rings? xD)
The first you have to do when you get to a new place is to... Go to the supermarket! That time I went to ICA Maxi, because it's closer to my building and I friend of me recommended it. When I got there I was super lost, because it's a very big super market, everything it's in swedish and I had to change my mind from Euro to SEK, something which seems very easy but it isn't at all. If you need to buy household goods, cheap clothes or pet stuff, I suggest you to go there. Food it's cheap too, but I don't know why I feel more comfortable buying it at Willys. Ah! And please, if you need to find something, ask for help to the employers, don't be shy!

That afternoon, I met some Spanish students and they showed me the way to Willys. I prefer this one, because for me it's structure it's easier to follow. That evening I realized some of the mistakes I had committed in my first purchase of the morning, the biggest one was thinking that I wouldn't be able to find olive oil in Sweden, so I bought cooking butter. When I saw the oil at Willys, the fisrt thing that came to my mind was “fuck!”. But well, I’ve to tell you that for frying, cooking with butter or with oils doesn’t make any difference. And keep off your mind that here fruit it's expensive, because it's not! :)

At night, we went to have dinner to a bar next to “Pinchos” (I think it’s called Harry’s) in the city centre. It was very nice, cheap (89 SEK) and they serve plenty of food. 

The next day there was a SUPER BIG PARTY at Xenia. There was beer, food and a lot of international students. I met really nice people that night and after that, we went to a club, in front of the place where we had dinner the previous day. The entrance it’s free and the music they play it’s very very nice! And because of swedish people it’s extremely tall and I don’t reach the 1.60m,  I felt at first like being surrounded by giants! xD But it was a joyful party night.  [Alba’s advice: If you have an Spotify account, listen to the hits list from Sweden, so you will know more songs that will be play in the discos ;) ].

On Sunday I picked up all the stuff I bought from Ikea Sweden, that I'd bought online (^-^). You need to know that the Högskolan organizes trips to Ikea.

And that night we had a building meeting! We had fika and I knew some of my neighbors (and friends!) who are the best! ^-^ Yes you are Wendy, Aida, Pam, Carl and Iman :)

[Dominika, Dorota, Agniezska, Christian, Aljorna, Laura, Rob, Mariza, you're great too but I didn't meet you that day xD] <3

FIRST DAY (following the schedule)

[Checking my schedule...Loading...  xD]


Introduction meeting

We where welcomed by professors from the University and students from the Studentkåren (https://www.facebook.com/StudentkareniSkovde) and the IC. We were given information about Sweden, about the city of Skövde and also some very important tips!

1. Be punctual (If not, swedish people get mad!)
2. Respect the queues

3. Address people by the first name (ALWAYS!). Because here they defend and absolute equality :)
4. If you are being asked for fika it could be for normal fika or for a date ;)

Then I received an e-mail informing me that my things from Valencia had come and I was super happy!

Then, we had “Movie night” and we watched Pacific Rim. I didn’t like it a lot, so… I left.

SECOND DAY

The IC had organized some games for the international students following group dynamics that were very useful, because we had to get to know each other.  We played Bingo, in which the blank squares needed to be filled by the name of a person who did something related to the description there was, like, for example, if there was written “Do you have a cat or a dog?” you had to find someone who does it and put his or her name in the square. Then, the other games were about putting us in order by different categories without speaking and there was another which consisted in drawing in the others backs and try to guess which was the original picture.

Those activities were great and let me met a lot of nice and interesting people!

After that, we watched “21 st jump street”. It was hilarious!! xD

THIRD DAY

Some international students arrange to had a picnic at Boulognerskogen. It’s a beautiful park in the city that has a lake and an artificial lake that it’s called “the beach” because it’s bordered by sand.  A lot of people was there and we had a lot of fun. We were meeting new people, talking about our languages (“qué difícil es hablar el español” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyp7xt-ygy0  )… It was a lovely time!

Our first picnic

Then we went to the activities fair, where we met some members of the University band SMS ( ) and also from the board games club. We spent the afternoon playing and having a good time :) 

Well, I lost my iPhone after the activities and Bill helped me a lot trying to find it, but it had ended up in the backpack of a guy so I had it back!! So the people that was with this boy,  Bill and I went to Xenia and we made a private barbecue and had some Vodzka. It was great!

Private barbecue ^--^

FOURTH DAY

There were outdoor activities and games! The weather was incredibly nice so we enjoyed it as much as we could. 

Outdoor games

At night, we went to a club, I think it’s called “Hasum” and we had some beers and dance and all of that! (Advice! Get used to see Black Jack tables at clubs and bars, because it’s quite normal here). It was a great night!

FIFTH DAY

That Friday we had a lot of things to do!

First of all, the Matfestivalen was set up! Which it’s a great event in Skövde. The restaurants of the city go to the streets and sell their tasty food. But we were going to this in the afternoon.

The second thing was that our friend Iman was presenting his Master’s thesis that day, so we decided to make a surprise for him, because he is a very great and kind guy ^-^ . Also, teaming up with Aida and Wendy was a very nice experience :) 

Team Surprise doing their best!

Then, we were warmly welcomed to Skövde by the Mayor Conny Brännberg, he let us know his Facebook address in order to send him a friend request xD. It was a truly nice experience. Swedish hospitality it’s the best! And Skövde community it’s making a great effort in order to develope as a city and to make people’s life better.  After the reception, we had some fika and after that… Matfestivalen!
The Matfestivalen goes on for two days. There are the restaurants tents, as I’ve already told you, but also other activities are prepared… As concerts! We were in a rock concert and it was pretty awesome, it was almost incredible all the equipment prepared for the event, like a giant screen next to the stage. The band's performance was super!

Here Bill, Lio and me being super Awesome

SIXTH DAY

Saturday. Nothing planned for the morning. It was time for… ME TIME! xD After the whole week participating in different activities I needed to rest, read, relax and those.  Also, because that night we were playing Beer pong at Xenia. Here, this game it’s very popular and it’s also very funny. I had never played before, but I was full of joy when I scored on my second try ^-^

Beer pong professional players

After the pre-party it goes the party, so we went to the Student Union’s club at Boulognerskogen. There I realized why Sweden it’s the capital of house music!  If you want to go to this club you’ll need to get used to flavoured fumes and lots of lights (epileptics… don’t go inside it!).  In my opinion, we perfectly followed Macklemore’s “And we danced” song lyrics

“And we danced, and we cried

And we laughed and had a really really really good time

Take my hand, let's have a blast

And remember this moment for the rest of our lives “

xDDDDDD (check the video, it’s quite fun)

I think that the best moment of all was when the club announced the end of the party because the played the Lion’s King song “I Just Can't Wait to Be King" . It was totally AWESOME!

SEVENTH DAY

Actually, I don’t remember what happened this day xD 

So, after this large post I just would like to say you thank you again for following me and vis ses! (= see you!) ^--^