Stockholm Is Where My Heart Is (Part 2)

Continuing on from the last post (like I had promised), here is a recount of some of my favourite places I had the pleasure to visit whilst staying in the lovely Stockholm.

SHOPPING, SHOPPING, SHOPPING

As I had previously mentioned, one of the best shopping streets (in my opinion) is Götgaten, but this is purely for a fix of high street clothing.
Yes, definitely check out the high street, but Stockholm has some amazing vintage stores which I highly recommend anyone who is a vintage lover to rummage through them.

Emmaus: This is more akin to Salvation Army or Save the Children stores whereby all the clothes, entertainment, household stuff, etc, are donated by the public and the money profit goes to helping the children and struggling communities in Africa. There are two stores next to each other, one is just called Emmaus and is more like an op shop (for those back in Australia think similarly to Good Sammies), and the other store is called Emmaus Vintage – and here it is more clothes that are of a better quality, and most of them are designer brands (but for a seriously good cheaper price). Emmaus is found in a street just off the main Götgaten, and it’s not easy to miss as it is a big yellow building with EMMAUS written in giant black letters. It’s a place worth checking out, both stores are good, but go to Emmaus Vintage to score yourself an original designer coat/jumper/dress for a ridiculously cheap price – most of them are in that good quality shape that they look as if they may have only ever been worn once.

Grandpa: Now this place is not cheap…. However it is a really interesting store to just have a browse through (and dream about one day owning all that you desire). There are two parts to this store – upstairs it displays clothing and accessories, and little knick knacks or quirky books; whereas downstairs it is called Grandpa Vintage, but it’s not clothes, actually it is a range of old school furniture such as chairs, desks, wardrobes, old desk globes, and lots and lots of old maps. It’s sort of fun in a way to just come here and look at this tea-coloured maps from long ago which show the world or parts of the world different to what they are now. I absolutely adore old maps, especially for their sepia colour, but also I feel there is more character and love about them – I think it’s similar to my love of old towns, it’s the history of it that makes me smile. I just find the maps today all in bright colours are so boring and there is no magic to them, whereas you can look at an old map and immediately think of the first explorers who were discovering all these new foreign places around the world, and they dared to travel the unknown.
Back to Grandpa though – even though the clothes are not vintage, they are very good designer brands, so as I said, it is nice just to float around the store occasionally putting on a coat and thinking maybe one day you will have this exact one… or something similar to it for half the price.
Have a look through yourself, here’s the website link: http://www.grandpa.se/en

POP Stockholm: This is just around the corner from Grandpa. My friend and I didn’t plan on visiting here (unlike the other shops which we had previously read about) but we just stumbled across it as we were passing by. Although stumble is the incorrect word, you basically bump into it as the sign outside grabs your attention through its big orange writing against a purple background (those colours definitely work so well contrasting against each other to make an eye-catching design). It feels like quite a small shop, but that’s only because there is so much stuff inside! You are surrounded by clothes, but in a good way – not in any way overbearing as you can just get lost flicking through the different racks. I’d say the store is more retro than vintage, most of it’s inspiration comes from the 60s and 70s – this was not only reflected in the clothing and accessories but also by the music the store owner was playing and through the decorations (my eyes scoped across the walls and found a poster of The Who which made me a very happy chappy, and I felt very at home in the store). I could of spent more time in the store, but sadly time was against me – although the good news is that there is a website to help console me, and for you to have a peek through too: http://www.popstockholm.com/

NOT CARPE DIEM, BUT CARPE NOCTEM

Unfortunately, my friend and I didn’t get to experience too much of what Stockholm’s nightlife had to offer, but we did get to have a little exposure to it on our Saturday night there.

We chose to go to Marie Laveau – after discovering the club we were originally looking for was only opened on Thursday and Friday nights – however it was a blessing, because Marie Laveau was a very cool/chic/intriguing/lively/classy/grungy/rocking bar and club; and it definitely made a great start to our few days in the city.

What I liked most about Marie Laveau was the fact there was a different atmosphere in each of the different rooms – there was something for everybody, and there were different crowds of people occupying each of the rooms. On the first floor, as you walk in there is a white room with chairs and tables on either side, and hanging on the wall some different photographs or artwork – there was no bar, although you could still drink in here. The people that occupied this room looked like your stereotypical indie/hipster/student type who were enjoying their conversations to each other in a more quieter and intimate space. The next room was a diner/café (I think during the day one can eat here possibly?), it was a darker room, but again more intimate and there was one bar – there were few people here, mainly couples who probably wanted a little more privacy to converse and ‘get to know each more’ if they previously hadn’t. The room next to this was bustling and the busiest on the first floor – it was the main bar, and actually a cocktail bar (you could order any drink you wanted but most – the females at least – were all ordering cocktails); everyone here was dressed a lot more classy, they all seemed smart and sophisticated and were older than the group from the first room. As far as cocktail bars go, is was maybe a tad small, but very stylish, and this trendy vibe made up for the size of cocktail menu list.
Downstairs (which was underground) was the club, COMPLETELY DIFFERENT atmosphere to what I had experienced on the first floor – it was as if we had walked into a completely new place and we were no longer in the sophisticated Marie Laveau. As you walk into the club downstairs, all the walls are covered in graffiti paint, there are retro pinball machines, a bar where most of the orders were for beers, and the floors were much more stickier and the people were much more sweatier. It was very enjoyable though – my friend and I danced a lot to the DJ set, which on this particular night they were playing mostly older tunes, majority of the songs were from the new romantics and new wave era, and it was great! So nice to have a change, especially back in Perth were most of the clubs will play pop/dance/dj music which is all good and fun, but a little variation never hurt anybody.

In conclusion, I’ll never forget Marie Laveau. 

FIKA!

Before I went to Stockholm I had read that it is often described as coffee capital of Scandinavia, and I was hoping I wouldn’t be let down in my expectations.

I wasn’t.

There were cafes EVERYWHERE! I loved it, I felt like I was in café heaven. Every corner I turned, every street I walked down there would always be at least one café, maybe an independent café, otherwise it would have been Expresso House (which I think must be the Starbucks for Sweden).

I soon discovered that the café culture is in the Swedes’ blood as they have this ‘tradition’ called “fika”. Fika basically means to meet up for a friend for coffee and a piece of cake or pastry. Well, well, this was my kind of place. There is nothing more I love than having a coffee with a cheeky slice of cake on the side – I mean you seriously can’t just have coffee on it’s own, it will be lonely, it needs a friend, an accompaniment. I never let my coffee down, and I never will, I choose to always provide it with a companion!

Getting back to the “fika”… generally it is taken in the afternoon, around 14.00 or thereabouts – but I think most Swedes break this ‘guideline’ and take it any time during the day. My friend and I, however, we mostly took our ‘fika’ in the afternoon – it was always brunch in the midday, then fika in the afternoon, then drinking in the evening (but sometimes we also had our fika in the evening after dinner too, we just couldn’t resist!).
As a result, we drank a lot of coffee and ate a lot of cake/sweets and visited many cafes (mostly Expresso House because it was right by our hostel) – but my favourite café we visited was Café String. It’s like walking into a retro 50s diner when you see the red walls and black and white checkered linen floors – yet it’s so much more interesting and alluring than that. Once you enter the doors and look around, you begin to notice that all the furniture is not the same – there are many different sofas, chairs, coffee tables; and some are arranged in peculiar ways – for example they had chairs sitting right by the window, literally on top of the windowsill, so to even get up to sit on these particular chairs you had to climb onto the chairs or sofas which were situated right by the windowsill. It was an adventure in a sense, and I was completely in awe and excited about it.
Whilst we were sitting in there, as I looked around I noticed nearly all the people sitting and enjoying their fika were either groups students having meetings or study sessions, students on their own catching up with readings, middle aged men writing or working away on their laptops – I was in love with it all, and I decided there and then that when I arrive back home I will find my own unique café which will become my new additional study/work space (and place for fika of course!).

So now I’m back in Bergen, and while I was incredibly sad sitting at the airport in Stockholm, contemplating whether I should miss my flight and stay forever in Sweden, I knew I had to come back to Bergen and I have accepted that even though I’m not staying in Stockholm anymore (nor am I going back there before heading home – due to money and time), I’ll always have these amazing memories from this short but sweet trip; and I will continue to reminisce about them whenever I am enjoying a coffee and cake, or I’m visiting a new vintage store I’ve read about, or I see someone wearing a Monki/Weekday design piece of clothing, or I see a Helmut Newton photograph. I loved everything about Stockholm, and hopefully one day soon I can revisit again – whether it’s in another year or when I’m old and grey – but for now at least, I know that there is a part of my heart that’s been left in Stockholm and will always be there for Stockholm to keep...

Stockholm Is Where My Heart Is (Part 1)

Before I left for my exchange, one of my aims was to visit different parts of Scandinavia because I didn’t last time I was in Europe and was pretty devastated that I had missed out on seeing these beautiful countries. So after starting my course and realising I had in fact a vast amount of free time (studying hasn’t really gotten too hectic as yet, so I am curious as to when it will hit me, but for now I’ve managed to keep my head well above the water that is my university work), I decided to book tickets to the countries I really wanted to see so as to make sure I WOULD NOT miss out on seeing them again. I booked Sweden, Denmark and Finland; with also plans to see a little more of Norway too of course.
The weekend just passed was my trip to Sweden, with myself staying in Stockholm for four days. I had originally booked the trip on my own, but a friend I had met whilst on exchange really wanted to come and of course I was more than happy to have the company, so she booked her ticket last minute and joined me on the new voyage.

I have so much to share about the trip, and so I have decided to divide it into two parts (which you will notice in the title) - the first part is about the different districts, and the second part (which I will upload soon) includes more about the different shops to see, the 'coffee culture' and nightlife. This is still quite a long post though, so I have included photos to make it a bit more enjoyable, or at the very least bearable!

THE CITY CENTRE DISTRICTS

Stockholm is quite a big city – in fact it is dubbed “the capital of Scandinavia” - and like any big city it has many areas/districts within the city centre (as well as the greater city outskirts, but I stayed within the city centre whilst visiting). My favourite areas I visited were the following: Norrmalm, Gamla Stan, Djurgärden (but more specifically Skansen), and Södermalm. They each offered something different and were unique in their own way, which made them all the more alluring for me. Here’s a bit of a ‘rundown’ of each of them – what they offered and why I loved them.

Norrmalm: This was ‘central Stockholm’, the central station is located in this area and majority of the hotels and hostels. The hostel we stayed at was also located here which made it extremely convenient for walking around the town (free transport is always the best). In this area one can find the Kulturhuset and Gallerian – Kulturhuset is a cool place to sit around and wait to see what will happen, because within moments SOMETHING will be happening there whether it’s a lecture, dancers or musicians – the first time I was there I got to see a band play, then when I visited on another day with my friend we saw a small group of people dancing. Gallerian, which is right next to Kulturhuset, is the main shopping centre. It is huge, and offers everything you desire, therefore one could easily spend a whole day in there just shopping and looking around in awe at all the different stores.
Not far from the shopping streets is a beautiful park, Kungsträd garden, it has artificial grass which makes it a little less authentic but in the middle there is a cool fountain and on the sides the pathways are lined with trees which is something I absolutely love (sadly because it hasn’t hit peak autumn yet the leaves hadn’t started to completely brown and fall, but it was still pretty nonetheless)

HOWEVER, not far from this area is an even better park. It is much more beautiful and I loved it much more for it’s historical value (plus it wasn’t as dodgy as the other park – at one point during the day, my friend and I were followed by some youths that had nothing better to do with their day but hassle us). It’s called Strömparterren, and it is Stockholm’s first public park. Back in the day it was one of the only places where there was no class divide, it wasn’t specifically for the rich or the poor, but everyone who was anyone was welcome to enjoy their days in the park. It is very beautiful and there is a naked man called the “Sun Singer” who looks above everyone in the park. The Sun Singer is a monument to Esaias Tegnér, who is a much-loved Swedish poet, writer, bishop and professor of Greek language (although I think he was mainly loved for his writings and poetry). I liked this park more than the others because you could sit on the steps by the water and look over the city; plus if you turned around in a full 360 degrees you would be able to see the National museum, the Opera, and the many Royal buildings including the Royal Palace and the Royal Apartments.

 Above: That statue overlooking the water is the Sun Singer ^

Gamla Stan: Or the “Old Town” as it is referred to in English. This place got a little bit crowded due to the many visitors, but you don’t really care about how busy it is because its prettiness will evaporate anything that annoys you. Every place I go, if there is an ‘old town’ it is always one of my favourite places. I think the reason is that it always has such beautiful architecture, and many different laneways that act as a fun labyrinth to discover, and moreover it’s more historic. Who say’s history is dull eh? In fact one of my favourite places in Perth is Fremantle because it is the oldest city in Western Australia and it still has the original buildings and architecture, which yes may be old, but are beautiful and full of character. I feel you can relate the beauty of history with red wine – as the saying goes, the more you let red wine age, the better it will taste – and this, in my opinion, is also true for the buildings and streets in old towns that are well preserved. While there were the usual stores that reel in tourists, there were also some unique stores too such as record shops, clothing, and even comic book stores. There was even a store completely devoted to everything science fiction which I thought was very cute for it’s quirkiness.
It’s nice just to wander around this area and get lost in the different laneways, furthermore a visit to Stockholm would definitely not be complete until you had visited Gamla Stan.

Djurgärden (main area inside is Skansen): When I read about this place prior to visiting it was described as “Sweden in miniature” as it has majority of Sweden’s culture and history showcased in the museums here. For example, there is the open air (the world’s first open air museum), the Nordiska museet (which includes loads of Nordic history), the Nordic zoo (including animals like reindeer, musk ox, artic fox, etc), the Vasamuseet (which the Swedes are really proud of, the museum displays the Vasa, a Swedish warship that sank on it’s maiden voyage, however the ship is almost fully intact and is the only 17^th century ship that has ever been saved and preserved), Junibacken (a play park for children, has all the great Swedish children stories and you can dress up as Pippi Longstocking), and lastly but by far not the least the ABBA museum. Even if you’re not an ABBA fan, it is really a fun place to go, the museum is completely interactive meaning you can get up and dance on stage, record yourself singing the songs, and many other things although those two were among the best. Yet it isn’t solely ABBA, there are other exhibitions on the Swedish music industry and it’s “Hall of Fame” with many of its famous Swedish exports from the 1920s right up until present day.

Södermalm: The hostel had a map of the town glued to the reception desk which had different note markings – this area was noted as “the hipster area”. It’s actually very bohemian, but you know what it’s like these days, everyone uses terms like ‘hipster’ to stereotype/label things. However I think back in the day, maybe not that long ago, but a decade perhaps, this would have been labelled the ‘bohemian’/’’student’ district. It’s actually one of the bigger districts of central city Stockholm – so I just that just goes to show that ‘hipsters’ rule the town ;) Anyways, getting off the subject of hipsters, and more into what the place really has to offer. Majority of the clubs/bars and shopping outlets are found in this area – Götgaten is the best street to walk down if you fancy a lot of shopping, it’s like the high street of Stockholm. My favourite shops that I got my fix from were Monki and Weekday, which offered very cool clothes for mid-range price (plus in Weekday they had a whole section dedicated to Cheap Monday which was awesome, but not good for my budget), but there was also one store that I loved for its edginess; it was called The T-Shirt Store and had loads of different t-shirts with artwork designs printed on them, and what I liked was majority of the artwork was designed by Swedish artists. I was tempted to buy some but I thought I’d save my kroner and just hope for the possibility of going back one day (or there is always online shipping!)
I stumbled across this t-shirt which reminded me of a friend back home who absolutely loves puns, and this would of given her a giggle:

(link: http://www.tshirtstoreonline.com/us/product/category-t_shirts/taco-bout-it)

I admit it is a little dorky, but hey that’s what puns are for.

NB: I will talk about more about shopping later – more so in relation to the vintage stores which are found all around this area, but most around the streets Södermannagatan, Bondeg and Nytorgsgatan.

Another impressive place to check while in this district is the Fotografiska, which is located along the riverside. It is a photography exhibition museum, and the exhibitions are temporary so there is always something new showcased all year round (although there are a few permanent photographs displayed on the walls as you walk up the stairs). While my friend and I were in Stockholm, the exhibition they were currently displaying was Helmut Newton. They had displayed the exhibition so well – there was little lighting except directly above the individual photographs making them stand out in the spotlight even more. It was an awesome effect because your attention would get lost in the photographs, not in the crowds.

There is also a café inside which offers panoramic views over the waterfront and the city…

… yet if you are wanting to fill your stomach with delicious goods, the best place to go nearby is Herman’s. You literally have to cross the road and walk up the stairs from Fotografiska and you’re on the doorstep. Herman’s is a vegetarian restaurant that offers an all you can eat buffet costing around $25 – and believe me you get your money’s worth. Plus the best thing is that because it is vegetarian you don’t feel the “bloated full” you get from all you can buffets which include meat. Now if you’re a bit anti vegetables, you’re probably thinking that it just included salads – BUT YOU ARE WRONG. Yes there were a range of different salads, but there were rice dishes, lasagne, vegetable curries, vegetable stews, anything you can think of really but made with only vegetables. The restaurant also had many cakes and fruit smoothies which were all organic, but sadly they aren’t included in the buffet so you have to pay extra. (I paid extra to get a fruit smoothie and I didn’t regret the decision, it was delicious! And also very good for my health!!)

Above: And as you can see, you’re not compromising the views you would have had at the café in Fotografiska, you can still get them here. ^

So there you have just some of the districts/areas of the central city that Stockholm has to offer. I could talk about more of the others, but these ones were by far my favourite and in my opinion they are the most worthy to spend your time and money when/if you visit Stockholm.

REMEMBER! "Stockholm Is Where My Heart Is (Part 2)" will be up hopefully not too long after this post, so check that one out too if you're interested in Stockholm :)

Stockholm... coming soon

Decided it was time for a change of scenery, especially from rainy Bergen, so this over this coming weekend and into early next week I will be in Stockholm!

Keep watching this space next week for all the photos and stories from this upcoming 'mini' adventure...

Phono Festivalen

Over the last few days (the 12th-14th September) it was the Phono Festivalen in Bergen. The festival is organised by the Bergen Student Radio, and while it does include some culture events, the highlight of the festival are the various bands and artists from all over the world who come to play for a not-for-profit festival.

I volunteered during the festival (just helping out with selling tickets and bar work) and while I was there I was able to check out the bands/artists and discover some new music to take with me back home. Here are some of my favourites from Norway:

Cold Mailman - This group originally comes from Bodø, but now they currently reside in Oslo. On their Facebook page they describe their genre as 'postapocalyptic-surf-emo-pop' - this means in other, more simple words they fall into the broad indie pop category. Their songs are very catchy, and not in the annoying "Gangnam style" sense, but in a beautiful mesmerising way. The songs are soft, but they won't make you fall asleep. One of their tracks, "Pull Yourself Together And Fall In Love With Me" sounds very similar to a song by Death Cab For Cutie, except the lead singer's voice is more like Stuart Murdoch from Belle and Sebastian. They are definitely a band to keep a look-out for, and I recommend to start listening to them - especially if you are a fan of Death Cab For Cutie or Belle and Sebastian, or are just a lover of indie pop like me :)

Here's one of their music clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtRh_o5hvdY

Kaja Gunnufsen - I think the best way to perhaps describe Kaja to an Australian is that she is like the a Norwegian version of Julia Stone. Kaja, who is a 25 year old from Oslo, has a whimsical lullaby voice which fits perfectly to the backdrop of her folk-pop genre. Supposedly her lyrics are "unfiltered, ironic, and occasionally sad and melancholic" (quoted from her Facebook biography) - yet I can't tell since all her songs are in Norwegian, but they doesn't make them less entertaining and great songs to listen and chill out to. After watching her show (and also watching in awe how well received she is by the students of Bergen), it's easy to say she has a new fan from Australia.

I decided to put two songs of Kaja here, one which is much more upbeat, and the other a much more slower tune:
The upbeat one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTDZtQOYOvY
The slower one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhsHlPGHFCs

Rytmeklubben - oh boy, were these guys good to watch play live! They sort of arrange themselves in a semi-circle around each other, each with their own synthesisers and the result is they just have an incredibly fun time creating their electronic beats - which is what the band is known as. The "Rytmeklubben" literally translates to "the rhythm club", but they also have the tagline as "the electronic beat collective" or the "Norwegian beat collective". These guys originally come from Trondheim, but I think since their building success they have also now called Oslo their new residence. What I love about these guys is that no track is the same, you can listen through and never know what to expect - plus I absolutely LOVE synthesisers, so that's another drawing point for me.

They haven't really got any clips on YouTube, but they have plenty on Soundcloud, so check them out here: https://soundcloud.com/rytmeklubben

It was a great pleasure for me to be able to not only volunteer for the Phono Festival, but also to have the opportunity to see so many great Norwegian bands and artists (and not forgetting, the other international bands who played too, and were also very talented musicians). I think when we live so far from a country or place that isn't globally known for music - or in other words, it isn't broadcasted on global television or radios, unlike the huge surplus of music we get in Australia from the UK, US and Canada, plus then our own local talents - we don't always think to discover what the country has to offer in regards to its music. I'll be honest, before coming to Norway, the only Norwegian bands I had heard of were A-ha (I mean who hasn't? Actually I didn't realise until years later where they were actually from), and Young Dreams, whom I only found out about because my university magazine I write for asked me to write a review of their latest album. I mean sure there are probably songs or bands/artists who I have listened to over the years that actually are from Norway but I just haven't realised, because let's be honest, most of us when we listen to a new song or album our first impression is not to think "Oh where do they come from?" - but what I mean is, most of us never actually specifically go searching for music from a particular country (well at least I don't anyways), yet I think after residing here in Norway I have the desire to discover and find more Norwegian bands to listen to and to love and to immerse my ears in...

Above: This is Mark Fry playing at Phono Festival. I didn't speak about him because my focus was solely on my discovery of Norwegian artists, and this fellow is British. However his set was amazing, it was very intimate and extremely beautiful - I was sick the day of this festival but I went anyways, and I could feel sickness being cured from his soft voice and hush pickings of the guitar strings. Plus I wanted to share him because he should be an inspiration to all musicians in the fact that you are never too old to start playing music - there is no such thing as an expiry date on music or musical talent.

To volunteer, or not to volunteer

      This was a thought that crossed many exchange students' minds when we were offered a wealth of different student organisations to not just join, but to also give our free time to.

For me however, it was not something I had to question or think about. After previously volunteering at RTRFM radio station back in Perth before leaving for Bergen, I couldn't wait to have access to more volunteering opportunities.

Since my orientation, there are two student organisations who I am volunteering my time to: Kvarteret and Hulen.

Here I've included a little description of each:

Kvarteret: The full name is actually Det Akademiske Kvarter, but everyone calls it Kvarteret (pronounced like Quartereh or at least that's how I've been pronouncing it and no one has corrected me yet...). It means in English "The Academic Quarter", and it really is because it's a students hang out place, in my last post ("It's a student's life") I wrote about how I wished Perth had it's own place similar to this. During the day you won't find many activities on at Kvarteret, but you'll still see loads of students studying solo or in groups, or just talking over food and drinks. Then come the evening, the place turns into a playground of different happenings - there are concerts, debates, films, quizzes, just to name a few. It's been running since 1995 and it hosts around 2200 events every year, and what's amazing is that it is completely run by students who volunteer their time. There are different volunteer positions including bartenders, security, pr, lighting and sound equipment tech, djs among the main groups, but there are many other positions available too.

I've been volunteering in the "skjenkegruppen" (literal meaning "to pour") which is the bartender group, but it is not just solely bar work, it includes working as a barista too. I've been working only for a few weeks but so far I am loving it - it can be quite stressful at times when it gets busy because not only am I having to learn something new but I am also having to learn something in a foreign environment as most people order in Norwegian and all the options on the register are in Norwegian too, but this makes it a great opportunity for me to learn some new skills as a barista/bartender AND learn some Norwegian too. Even though it is unpaid work, Kvarteret provides valuable experience to the students who volunteer their time - this is not solely through the shifts we work, but they also offer courses for free which we are able to attend, for example, coffee courses and beer courses. The aim of offering these courses is not just to give workers the opportunity to learn something new, but Kvarteret wants to try and help students get practical experience in skills that will help them with applying for a part-time/vacation job whilst completely their studies.

To be honest, I am actually just excited to learn more about coffee and beer so I can impress my family and friends with my wealth of knowledge and skills in those areas!

Hulen: This club is much older than Kvarteret, and it is quite different in comparison. Hulen first opened in 1969 and it's name in English means "The Cave", this is because it is actually an old bomb shelter underneath the Nygårdshøyden park. When inside, you actually feel like you are in a cave, with the natural rock walls and damp feel (but it's a dampness in a good way), and you lose mobile reception so it gives you this feeling like you've left the world, gone to some new lost place and just immerse yourself solely in the music and atmosphere, so when you walk outside again it's as if you have stepped back into reality and out of your dream. Since being converted to a student rock club, Hulen has continued to host many concerts and music events. Whereas Kvarteret is dubbed the "culture hub", Hulen definitely takes the title of the "music hub". It prides itself on promoting the new local bands of Bergen trying to make it in the music industry, and many Norwegian bands (particularly those from Bergen) who have now gained success globally, most likely played their first gigs at Hulen. One band in particular was Young Dreams, who are from Bergen originally, and who have now become known in other parts of the world, including Australia, one of their first shows was hosted at Hulen. Again, the student club is solely run by volunteers and has similar positions to Kvarteret (except Hulen isn't opened during the day so there is no cafe, but many bars).

I am in the plakatopphenger group at Hulen, which means my job is to tape posters all over the city to promote the upcoming gigs at the club. This may sound boring, but it actually is a lot of fun, because not only am I first to know about the upcoming concerts for the week/month but I also get to visit other cafes/bars in Bergen which are associated with Hulen. I feel like through putting up the posters at these different places I am becoming known to the staff as a local and so if I go there on my days off they will remember who I am and welcome me with open arms (well that's my illusion anyways). Plus since these places are associated with Hulen, volunteers who dedicate their time are usually offered discount at these various cafes and bars, so there are many perks to the job.


I had thought about volunteering at more places, but with my university courses and travelling, these two are plenty to keep me busy and occupied. 

Yet it is not just me who loves to volunteer, there are many exchange students who are dedicating their free time to these organisations too, but the majority of volunteers are the Norwegians students - both the locals from Bergen and the others who have moved from various places in the country. They love to dedicate their time to at least one thing, and it's incredible to see so many of them actually want to give their time and volunteer.

The University of Bergen actually did a video on many of the student organisations (which are all run by volunteers), so feel free to check it out: http://vimeo.com/59572942

The students who volunteer in Perth are few in comparison to the students here, and the attitude is completely different. In fact, back home, some of my friends think it's bizarre how much I want to volunteer, there opinion is generally "why would you give you're time to something that you're not getting paid for" (and I have heard that attitude from some of the exchange students here too), but I don't think about the fact I'm not getting paid. I volunteer because I love the experience I gain from it and all the great people I get to meet, and that to me is something I don't need to be paid for, it's priceless love :)

It's a student's life

I have been meaning to write this post for some time now so some of the following events that I will recount actually happened a few weeks ago.

Anyways, a few weeks ago it was the mentor week for the new University of Bergen students - both the internationals on exchange and the Norwegian freshmen. Now mentor week back at my home university is really boring compared to here: we have a day at orientation where the new students are showed around the campus and get to know some of the other students in their faculty - there aren't really any parties (at least hosted by the mentors) because majority of the new students are still only 17 years old. However, in Norway most students begin university at 19 or 20 years old (or at the very earliest 18 years old) so they are legally allowed to drink, which makes the mentor week COMPLETELY different. The whole week was literally one big party, there was some event on every night and it always included a pub crawl. Every faculty had similar events but they made them more unique to that specific faculty. I was in the faculty of humanities, and this was my program for the week: Monday - quiz and concert (with a pre-party before the quiz), Tuesday - a sort of scavenger hunt around the campus followed by more drinking at the student club Kvarteret, Wednesday - "Olympics" and concert at other student club Hulen, Thursday - Pub crawl across the town and then clubbing at Luux, Friday - costume party at Bryggen nightclub.
I couldn't handle drinking every single night of the week (not because my liver couldn't take it - although I had ruined it on my Contiki tour when I was 18 - but more so because my budget wouldn't allow for it). If alcohol was cheap here, perhaps I would of gone a bit more crazy, but I just saved myself and my kroners for the pub crawl, and the other nights I didn't drink or maybe just had one Hansa (Norwegian beer). Even though I held back a little bit in the mentor (as did many of the international students I have spoken to about it), the Norwegians did not. In fact, a lot of the international students left around midnight whereas the Norwegians stayed and partied until the wee hours of the morning.

This was another culture shock as I had no idea the Norwegians drank so much, especially compared to the Europeans who have super cheap alcohol unlike in Norway where it costs about 200NOK (roughly $40) for a six pack of cider. I swear once I get back home, if any of my friends ever complain about the price of alcohol I will just glare at them and say "You don't know what expensive alcohol is".

Anyways, getting off that tangent and back to mentor week. When I asked some of the Norwegian students if they always drink this much and during the week, they told me it does not happen all the time but on specific occasions like mentor week or "russ/russetiden/russefeiring" which is a little similar to Australia's "leavers" except the Norway's is a lot more intense. Instead of celebrating their graduation after their exams (unlike us back in OZ), the Norwegians graduating from high school celebrate their graduation party BEFORE their exams, and it's not just for one week like leavers, no, theirs is for three weeks nonstop. When I was first told about this, I sat there in a state of shock "Are you crazy?!" - I would be unbelievably stressed out if I was partying and having the best time for three weeks only to be reminded I still had to do my exams which would determine whether I could go to university. I was to continue being shocked hearing more stories of this celebration as some of my Norwegian friends explained to me that some students save so much money just to fund their alcohol consumption of the three weeks, one friend in particular told me that she knew someone who spent 10,000NOK for the russefeiring... that's about $2000! Another friend told me that they have to do particular tasks so they can get ribbons (or badges?) to put on their hats - some of these tasks were quite easy and tame for instance skulling a pint of beer, but others were more extreme, for example I was told one task was to have sex in a tree. What didn't strike me as insanely shocking was the fact a task was to have sex in a tree, but the fact you had to have someone watching you do it - in order to get a ribbon for the task, you need to have a witness or witnesses who can vouch for you that you actually completed it. Crazy insane, that's all I can say. Yet I do not think badly at all of the Norwegians, in fact I find it incredibly interesting they have these events because it is not broadcasted to the world - so for us international students, especially me coming from the other side of the world, this is not what you expect when you meet the students of Norway.
My friends often reminisce about leavers and how it was the best time of their lives (I actually didn't go because I saved my money for my gap year trip around Europe, which the Contiki tour I did was the best time of MY life), yet I think if they had seen or known what the leavers was like in Norway they would be gutted about living in Australia and wished that we were more similar to here (except maybe not having the celebrations before the exams, but after) - I know when I was told about russefeiring and participated in the mentor I did think that Australian students are missing out on the crazy student life that we all idealise but just accept what we have available and tell ourselves that's good enough.

See this video for a peek at the russefeiring: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UlrImMgb9s

However the Norwegian students don't just party all the time, they are still studious as well. What amazed me the most was how at first (during mentor week) they seemed like they just wanted to party before the semester started, but when the offer was presented of something academic, all the Norwegian students rushed to participate/attend (unlike the exchange students). For example, during one of the nights during mentor week there was a presentation by Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard, who is a very well known Norwegian scientist. I think his presentation was called “The Universe” or something along those lines, but more to the point once this was announced to all us students drinking in Kvarteret, literally all the Norwegian students rushed down stairs to go watch it. I went as well, even though it was in Norwegian, but I could read the text and my friends helped translate it to me as well. It was really interesting, there were some facts I had known already about the universe but lots that I had no clue about or I hadn’t heard of before. What I loved the most though was how passionate the scientist, Knut, was when presenting his lecture. There’s nothing more I love than seeing people who are absolutely in love with their job/study and are so happy to share it with everyone else – that’s what I want to have in my future career. I also loved how in awe the students were, they listened to the whole lecture without moving/fidgeting/using their phones and when Knut asked if there were any questions, the students were more than willing to raise their hand. Furthermore these students I was with were not science students, in fact they were all from the faculty of humanities. If I was back home and there was a presentation organised similar to this, students of the same age studying in the faculty of humanities (or other faculties not associated with science) would not be willing to go unless it was something that really interested them. Yet these students really wanted to go and wanted to learn about something other than what they were studying. It was lovely to witness and to be a part of especially since I don’t get to experience this all that much back home.

The students here care so much about culture, politics and science; and this is shown by their vast amount of student organisations catering for it plus one of their main student clubs, Kvarteret, hosting lectures every week on one of these topics with well known lecturers/presenters/academics in the Norwegian society.

Of course I am going to miss the friends I have made here on my exchange, but I am also going to really miss their student club Kvarteret. It has been one of my favourite places to hang out, it has everything for students – a café with very good food at student prices, bars/pubs, concerts, films, lectures – everything that would interest a student; and it’s not exclusive to the University of Bergen students but ALL the university and college students who reside in Bergen. I wish there was something like this back home in Perth, but unfortunately at the moment there universities are individual in what they offer and do not have one place like this where all university and tafe students could come to hang out – just their own individual taverns at their campuses. Maybe one day soon there will be a place just like Kvarteret in Perth… if not at least I always had my experience of it here on exchange. 

One month has passed...

I've been living in Bergen for exactly a month now and my life here still feels very surreal. In all honesty I am rarely at university, nor at this present moment do I have much uni work to do, so it's all been parties, going out to dinner and lunch, and many other social activities - but it all seems a bit much when it's been that way for a month and there isn't really any structure to my usual routine back home. While I'm not complaining about the social life - it has been incredibly fun here and Bergen really has the ideal "student life" - but the problem that's itching at my neck is the fact that I don't really feel like I'm here for university, and it's like I have to remind myself that I am still meant to be studying at this moment but it really feels like I'm on a holiday.

Maybe I'm sounding really odd because most people would be crying with happiness of having this life whilst on exchange, but to help you understand the reason why I'm feeling the way I am I shall draw a comparison between my student life back in Perth and my student life in Bergen:

Perth: well I don't really have the "student life" until the semester holidays, in fact most students will go into hibernation when they are back for their semesters at university and it's generally the student who will bail on a night out with friends. I even have the "lazy student life" supposedly because I am a Bachelor of Arts student, and this is assumed because I don't have to go to as many classes as the other Bachelor students - but I don't really feel like I have a lazy life. Generally I go to university three days a week - one of those days is a full 9-5 day (actually starts even earlier because I get stuck in traffic so I'm awake at 6am and have to leave my house at 7am), the other two days I'm there for a sort of half day, until the afternoon around either 2 or 3pm. Then on my days off from university I work a full day during the week, one late night shift and one weekend shift; and the remaining spare day I have off from work or university during the week I used to volunteer for the full day. So my only day off from university, work or volunteering would either be Saturday or Sunday (depending on which weekend shift I'd have to work). Don't get me wrong, I do still make time for my social life - so usually I would go out for dinner with friend/s one night during the week and then would go out on the weekend most of the time - except when I had a mammoth load of assignments to do, then I would hibernate. However most other people my age who are not at university have the ideal good life too, and I think even better than me because they go out EVERY weekend no matter what and they can go out during the weekday as well. I used to get annoyed when people said to me that student's have it so good because we don't really have the "best life" - my other friends who work full-time, they work their 8-5/6 day and come home and can relax and do whatever they want, whereas for me I come home after doing a full day as well of either work or study and I still have work to do once I get inside aka all the readings, assignments, etc, etc. Sometimes I think I would prefer to have the full time job than the study. Yet I do love my life as a student nonetheless.

Bergen: Now I don't have a part time job here so I will take that into consideration with my comparisons, however many students here seem to work more during the semester break than maybe do a couple of shifts a week once they are back at university - or some don't even work at all but use the money they earnt during their holidays. Here I only have to do two courses (whereas back home I have to do four) and again I am at university three days a week BUT I am only there for two hours on those days. Two hours! That's nothing! So I am currently at university Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for two hours each of those days. I decided to volunteer because I love it and would be amazing experience, and also because I have so much free time I need to do something to keep busy. I volunteer at Hulen one shift a week and it's only for one hour, maybe two hours at most; I also volunteer at Kvarteret one shift a week as well between four to six hours; and finally I volunteer at the Student Radio and that's asked to give 10 hours a week, but I don't think it's expected just as long as you come in once a week for some time. So of course with so much free time I am always seeing somebody or doing something because otherwise I'd be in my room watching movies or being on Facebook for way too long which is the wrong thing to do whilst in another country on exchange - you need to experience as much as you can!

It is nice to have more time for the social life here since I don't get to have that much back home, and I am using this opportunity as much as I can instead of ignoring it - but as I said, it just gives me the feeling that I'm living in such a surreal life, it doesn't really feel like "reality" or "the real world" at all. Yet it is great that I have been given this opportunity because next year I'll have finished my degree and it will really be me starting the 'real world' and I would have to get more serious, I'm sure I'd still be able to have some fun but not as much as I would here.

So my first month has felt like a bit of a whirlwind, and I am curious to discover what my next four months here will bring...