Tuesday, 24 February 2015

Helsinki

12th February at 5pm my classmates and I took the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki. I had never been on a ferry like this before - there was almost everything one needs to have fun and a full tummy. A big shop with food, clothes and loads of alcohol, a bar, disco, karaoke, circus, some strange "dance" show, Laura´s cards against humanity and our funny group!

Helsinki is a nice small and quite a "young" town only ca 300 km away from Peterborough - maybe my next destination?
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12 februára o 5 večer sme sa s mojimi spolužiakmi vybrali trajetkom do Helsiniek. Nikdy predtým som nebola na trajekte ako tento - bolo tam takmer všetko čo človek potrebuje, aby bola sranda a taktiež, aby človek mal plné brucho.
Veľký obchod s jedlom, oblečením, kopou alkoholu, bar, diskotéka, karaoke, cirkus a čudná "tanečná" show, Laurine karty proti ľudskosti.

Helsinky sú pekné, malé a celkom "mladé" mestečko, iba 300 km vzdialené od Petrohradu.

 our ferry/ náš trajerkt
 bye bye Stockholm

bigger part of  our crew/ naša posádka
 playing cards against humanity in the cabin/ hry v kajute

 gambling - I won 80 cent and then I lost them again :( / vyhrala som 80 centov a v zápätí som ich aj znova prehrala :(
 selfie
 disco time
 Finnish version of semla with jam, the swedish one has almond cream inside/ fínska verzia semle, tá švédska má namiesto džemu mandľový krém vo vnútri
 this is nowadays a very nice restaurant and café at the port, but in the past it was a little stand where sailors used to buy milk and around (nowadays is one of the main squares with the town hall) used to be only a grass area with gazing cows/ Dnes pekná reštaurácia a kaviareň  pri prístave, v minulosti tu stál stánok s mliekom veľmi obľúbený medzi moreplavcami. A tam kde je dnes námestie s radnicou, sa v minulosti pásli kravy.


 railway station/ železničná stanica
 a church carved into the rocks/ kostol vytesaný do skál
 chapel of silence on the main square/ kaplnka ticha na hl. námestí
 interior/ interiér
 here used to stand the above mentioned stand with milk/ tu stál hore spomínaný stánok s mliekom
 something like Viennese Nachmarkt but roofed, niečo ako viedenský Nachmarkt


Sunday, 15 February 2015

Weekend in Jönköping

Last weekend we went to Jönköping, Mikael´s hometown to celebrate his mum´s birthday. The whole weekend the weather was wonderful.
Days are finally getting longer and nights shorter. It is interesting to observe what the sun makes with Swedes. Doesn´t matter that it is -5C or even colder, people will go out for a walk or just sit outside enjoying the first sun rays after the long and grey winter. 

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Minulý víkend sme boli v Jönköpingu, Mikaelovom rodisku, aby sme oslávili narodeniny Mikaelovej maminy. Celý víkend bolo krásne počasie.
Dni sa konečne začínajú predlžovať a noci skracovať. Je zaujímavé pozorovať Švédov a ich nadšenie z prvých ľúčov slnka. Hoci je päť stupňov pod nulou, ľudia sa prechádzajú alebo dokonca vysedávajú v záhradkách a užívajú si pekné počasie.


these picturesque houses are just about 5 min walk from our apartment/tieto malebné domčeky sa nachádzajú asi 5 min od nášho bytu 



and here we will swim in the summer/ tu sa budeme v lete chodiť kúpať




notice the couple sitting in the garden enjoying the sun/ všimnite si párik užívajúci si slnko


                          In Jönköping in front of Mikael´s parents house/ pred domom M. rodičov
antique shop- searching for some treasure to our new apartment/hľadáme poklady do nášho nového bytíku


we went cross-country skiing, for me it was the first time but I really enjoyed it/ boli sme bežkovať






Thursday, 5 February 2015

20 days in Sweden

Time is flying, it has been already 20 days since I arrived in Sweden.

"University" is still quite intensive and taking into account that already in one month I have to hand in the course paper I am getting a bit stressed.
I really like the topics we talk about, but I have to admit that I was quite lazy with all my readings. There are so many other things to do and then there is no time for "the real studying time"

On Friday we went to a party organized by a friend of Mikael. The party was at her place - and here I have to say that most of the apartments in Stockholm are around 20m2 big and so was also this. It was quite an experience for me to see that it is possible to organize a party and invite like 15 people to your 20m2 apartment. Even though it a bit of squash but as the old proverb says the more the merrier.

On Sunday we finally went to Ikea to make our cozy apartment even cozier. Today we went skating with me course-mates and we had a lot of fun. It is so nice to find new friends from all over the world. I learn a lot about different cultures, tolerance and more about my own culture every day.

Tomorrow we are going to Jonkoping for a weekend and the next weekend my course-mates and I are going by a cruise ship to Helsinki.
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Čas letí a už je tomu 20 dni čo som sa presťahovala do Švédska.
"Univerzita" je stále celkom intenzívna a ak vezmen do úvahy, že už o mesiac musím odovzdať "course paper" tak začínam byť trochu v strese.
Prednášky a semináre sú super, len to študijné povinné čítanie akosi nestíham popri všetkých tých iných aktivitách.

V piatok sme boli na párty u jednej Mikaelovej kamarátky. Tu musím podotknúť, že väčšina bytov tu v Štockholme má v priemere 20m2 a aj tento byt bol jeden z nich. Celkom zážitok pre mňa vidieť, že je možné zoorganizovať párty a pozvať cca 15 ľudí do 20m2. Bola to celkom tlačenica, ale ako hovorí staré príslovie dobrých ľudí sa všade veľa zmestí.

V nedeľu sme sa konečne vybrali do Ikea aby sme náš útulný bytik ešte viac zútulnili. A dnes sme sa boli korčuľovať. Užívam si tu multikulturalitu mojich nových kamarátov, a každý deň sa dozviem nejakú kultúrnu pikošku.
Zajtra cestujeme s M. do Jonkopingu a ďalší víkend sa chýstame so spolužiakmi do Helsiniek.


Have the best boyfriend - this is what was waiting for me  when I arrived home from the Swedish course//
Mám toho naj frajera - toto ma čakalo, keď som sa vrátila domov zo švédštiny

with home-made scones/ ešte aj pečivo upiekol


uni canteen/ uni jedáleň

skaters

resters


and the above mentioned party/ a už hore spomínaná párty