30 minutes in the rain

Tuesday 26 August 2014

Waking up from last night, i checked out if i was at the right place or the right bed. I expected to be in a worse shape but i picked up my pieces quite fast. I'm impressed with my self. I would regain my composure and be a good boy tonight.

Yea right.

But let cut to the chase and start over. New day, new plans, new party.

So. It's like 11pm and i need to be at the Geocentrum. I take my trusty number 7 bus and stop at the Blasenhus, which is pretty much the Uppsala University main science/engineering campus. I see a map sign that shows the location of the centrum, trying to decode it because i'm slow in the morning.

Oh wait, two people are coming my way. Let's stop them because it's raining and i like to get wet.

"Do you know where the geocentrum is?"

"No! Do you know where is the department for nordic languages?"

"No, bye!"

So i keep moving and i ask some worker with a bald head like a globe, he points me to the wrong direction. Tack. I then see and older man that tells me where the correct building is but sends me to the wrong entrance. Tack. So i do a 200 meter walk around until i finally get to the correct way.

Oh wait! I see someone. He is with 2 others. He wears a checkered shirt, jeans and has a beard. He is Greek so i say "Geia sou!" and i met Yannis, a PhD student that takes me to the entrance.

Speechless.

So i enter the premises with some automatic doors opening while i walk. I felt like David Coperfield. I enter the room Norrlands 1 and meet my new colleagues. We are two greeks, spreading like a virus. I met the program helper Aby and the program coordinator Susanne. We did the basic stuff, i registered for my program, asked all the questions i had and received my welcome package.

I ate a nice sandwich with something that resembled greek feta. We were briefed on the campus's training facilities 1477 and the student mental support group. There was also a brief intro about Grus and Unt.

Then we divided in 4 groups or so and we had a short tour of the facilities, which are frankly, amazing. Massive library, clean places, microwaves and kitchen, study rooms that you can book to study quietly, 3 computer room and a biology lab, as well as 5-6 lecture rooms.

We have some students from Sweden following up from their batchelor's, one with a scholarship from Ethiopia, Ezre, Kate from the Netherlands, Kostas and Yannis from Greece, Lena from Germany, Stephanie from the USA, etc.

During our first meet.

We set up a meeting in Thursday @ 8:50 outside the faculty building for a bus tour/excursion and we went to the printing shop to get our student access. It was me, Alex and one more from Iceland. He got is access and then i went home like a sad panda because i am stupid and i did not have my driver's license with me so we could not complete, more or less start the register. Tack.

So i'm going back home, it's raining slightly and i am listening to some soothing drums and bass. I get on the bus with a weird granpa holding eggs like it's the precious one ring.

Oh i am so relaxed on my bed, talking to my buddy Kelly from Stockholm. I tell her dirty and stupid jokes and she laughs maniacally.

I get a message from Vita, my russian angel. The time is 5:44 and we set up a meeting at 6:15. The bus is leaving at 5:50 and i want to be there fast so i see her more...I forgot my umbrella, my ipad, my phone, my mind. I was not even sure of the nation i had to be at...So i found the Gotlands Nation where they had a crash course about sweden. It sucked because it lasted 10 minutes and they only asked 5 questions. I am outside speaking to some random dude and Maria from Ukraine.

She is nowhere to be seen. The time is 6:35. I see Roland and Anoud (A-nude. muahahaha). He sends a message for me to Vita in hope she sees it. I am off to the Gotlands pub which has a massive queue and i talk to James, a tall dude that works in the nation. And then Vita enters with Jose from Spain/USA. Everytime i look at her my heart stands still and so does time and space. I greet her warmly. She smells so nice and is so sweet. I play the sad panda face because she is late and we pretty much met by luck there.

Time to go to Norrlands pub. We sit there inside and we see Dimitris with his buddy program. We have some fun and i keep teasing Vita because i love her laugh and beaming smile. She makes me want to smile too. So we need some action and we talk to two random guys next to us. One is called Henrick (me thinks) and his half-swedish, half-greek (!) friend Andreas. We had the best of times, they actually bought us beers and we stayed there for 3-4 hours. It was amazing. I loved the part where they said that we make a nice couple ("blush mode on").

Dimitris, Jose, Henrich, Andreas and Vita.

So that was it, a fairly quieter night that the previous one, but get ready, because the storm is coming. Tomorrow is the Welcome Ceremony!

Welcome in Uppsala.

Pleb me I'm famous - Adventures in Uppsala

Monday 25 August 2014

 

You know when you have those really amazing days when everything goes great, then something occurs and you know it is going to end up in misery pain and agony yet you still do it only to regret it in the end?

Tipsy, slightly dizzy, with vomit leftovers in my mouth from my old friend Captain Morgan i just sat there in the freezing cold of the abyss in Stora Torget in Uppsala waiting for the first bus at 04:17 sharp.

Vomiting on the plants behind the bus station was not my proudest moment, but i promised to share all the moments with you, good and bad, so maybe you will get a lesson from this too.

But let's start from the beginning.

So i woke up casually, took my medicines and contacted Jim, a Greek friend from Thessaloniki. We went in one of the nations that had a pancake breakfast with coffee for 39 Kronor. You stood in the line, you got a ticket and they called your number. There i was eyeballing a cute German woman and we started socializing around. We met Raymon from Canada, Elizabeth from Germany (taking a master's and having two children with her, wow), Alice from Wonderland (well Australia), Esmee from Holland, Celine from Austria and well i made my move and asked the German girl her name, she was Anne from Berlin. Good times.

Alice, Raymon, Celine, Esmee.

So my number was 68 and the line was on 15. That meant i would eat in 512 hours so we went outside, sat on the wooden floor because all the tables were taken and talked a bit. I focused more on teasing Esmee and then with Anne a bit too.

Is Paok going to sign anyone new??

So Jim got us a table and we ninja'd some chairs (like 10) from the other tables and we sat down there, where more unknown people joined us! Harmeet from Hong Kong, a guy that was introduced as Bastian Schweinsteiger (Gregor), and two other people that kept talking about Mr. and Dr. Falafel. I guess the difference is just a PhD (derp xD).

Harmeet is half Indian too and he was pretty big and loud for an Asian, so i instantly liked him, he reminds me of Greece a lot. Good guy and we also shared a passion for football. He was amazed that i am a friend of Sokratis Papastathopoulos. We will play Fifa and real football soon. 

Finally the pancakes arrived and they were delicious, mine had pancake syrup but most preferred berries and ice cream.

We exchanged with most people Facebook pages, Jim left for Stockholm to pick up a packet that was sent from Greece and i went home with my trusty Gottsunda bus (number 7).

Back at home i just chatted a bit randomly and watched another episode of Psych (i find it hilarious) before i got dressed to go to the V-Dala Nation pub quiz about Sweden.

This town never ceases to amaze me.

I found it after asking around, got in the Nation and saw everyone sitting on a big long table with red covers. Most of the people i knew were there, so i took a seat at the end and we divided into groups of 4. I was with 3 people from Jordan, one woman and two men. The woman was incredibly beautiful and her name in Greek was Chara, but in her language that translates into sh$t.

10 questions, crap non-alcoholic reward.

The quiz spanned 15 minutes with 10 really hard questions about Sweden and Uppsala, like how many faculties does the university have or at what point water boils (spoiler, it's not 100 Celsius).

We got 3/10 like most of the teams so we left for Upplands Nation right at the corner in a big garden party. It was nice, we sat down and we went for beers with Kevin from Canada and Alice. She got some cherry beer, i got a local Uppsala lager and Kevin got one, then another, then a jug of beer.

We met more people, like Teresa from London, Amy from Canada, Ridhima from India/Australia and another loud Kevin :D I went with Kevin across the street and he got some Falafel and it was hilarious.

Let the Fallafel hit the floor.

Ridhima and the crazy cat dude!

Having fun at the table.

Attack of the zogglers.

Oh my god, what am i doing in Sweden?

 And this was Pleb. You can follow him in his own instagram page! He is so awesome and you can witness all of his greatness!

Nick Fury was outside.

So coming back in i saw a blonde angel next to the welcome desk, she started laughing at my ID photo. Her name is Vitalina from Russia and she is so funny and sweet. I invited her over to our table and we had a blast. We all stayed there until like 10pm and then two more girls i met and were about to adventurously shape my night dragged me to their house and then to Flogsta for a party in block 6, floor 4, apartment 4. Good stuff.

Oh don't we look extra cute together?

Here enters Nette from Finland and Lovisa from Sweden. Oh and their friend Leyla that works in a Greek restaurant that nobody speaks greek.

So we get bus 2, we go to Flogsta and we try to GPS our way to block 6. We got to number 15, we went through a fence, climber over some wood and a playground, Lovisa fell down, i powerlifted her up the fence, we made a circle and found our way with 2 asian people in the elevator. We pee'd in some unknown guy's toilet and we played a game i still don't get called "in my pants". We drunk crap and Cap Morgans, i lost the last bus and i was semi dizzy.

Amy's tongue win the day.

Raymon Nette and Lovisa.

So here i am dizzy with vomit coming through my throat, walking like a headless chicken down the road from Flogsta. It must have been like a 1 hour walk. The girls left me near the center and i went to the bus station. I just died there for a bit until i wanted to puke. Taxi's in front of me, the sound of their tired petrol engines echoing in my head like drums. So i went behind in the flowers and gave my best self. Don't go there.

I felt so heavy, my legs like a steel trap ready to swallow me in the endless abyss of the swedish night. It was so cold, i was tucked in my coat trying to breath heavily to exploit any inch of warmth i could get. I was hovering between a state of sleep and insomnia, trying to keep my eyes closed and waking up every 5 minutes watching the clock on my digital camera because i don't have a phone yet. Then an Indian dude came around at 3:30 and started playing Texas Hold'em.

I started to lose hope when i saw the time. The clock said 4:14. The bus was about to come. I felt a burning desire to get home. I knew i would make it. I felt the warmth of the bus penetrating my bones and my entire body. It was so good.

And then i overslept and lost the bus stop that i had to take. Cry me a river. But i told the driver and he was so kind that he let me get down in the middle of the street. Thank you strange guy. Tack.

When i walked through the door of my house, almost running with my last breath, i just crawled my way up the stairs in my cozy bed. And i died. The time was 5:02.

Learn from me. Don't lose your buses. Have a home. Have a bike. Have a phone.

Welcome in Uppsala.

Mythbusting and Swedish reflections

Walking alone from Gamla Uppsala to the city centre with my trusty iPad mini and one broken headset listening to the same kind of music i have immersed my self into, i reflected upon what i did and see in my first day in Uppsala.

I was staggered by the sheer beauty of the city. Me and my friend Vasilis had a long walk as i accompanied him home at Gamla Uppsala next to a football field. He stayed in a corridor room. Everyone was swedish. Oh there was another Greek too that felt relieved that heard us. He is in the biomedicine school me thinks.

The day started casually, i felt integrated with the society here like i spent my entire life. I woke up at around 11am, cleaned up, took my pills, brushed my teeth and went outside for my walk to the supermarket. I saw an ICA sign on the left so i kept going until i got to the Gottsund mall, with no ICA sign, partly because i am blind and partly because it was hidden behind another building. So i went to Lidl accross the street.

"Everything is so expensive how will you survive there?", said one ignorant baboon before i arrived here.

I was amazed by how cheep things were. I sell the best yogurt in Greece and it costs 4.11 euros per kg. Here i bough greek yogurt (good quality it turned out) for 2. So i spent 197 SKE and filled up my fridge. My worst buy was mineral water. It sucked, it was fizzy and the tap water here is amazing.

I came home and as a good old fashioned greek peasant i ate a whole chiapata bread with gouda cheese. Pounding them fats.

I spoke with relatives on skype, because my mom is a badass surfer, with friends, i found an apartment for a Ilektra and organized a beer meeting with Vasilis. It was Sunday and i forgot buses have longer intervals between them so i was late for 15 minutes. Good first impression Kostas. Very swedish of you. Keeping the greek flag high.

Vasilis is greek too so he didn't care, he was zombiefied by the mysterious flesh-eating creature known as facebook. On the bus stop i was laughing like a maniac for no apparent reason, i listened to some music and waiting in the line like a good Swede. Oh and another mythbust. An old lady came and started looking in the trash can, and found 2 cooking books! She left very happy.

So i meet Vasilis and go in O'Connor's, a very nice place to drink different kinds of beer or eat. I went for a Czech one and he got a classic Guiness. We paid 69 and 67 kronor respectively. Not bad since he didn't have a temporary id card to go to Norrlands (20-30 kronor per beer).

We chatted, saw some more blonde people walking by and went out for a walk in town and to get Vasilis back home. Oh did you know they actually still have Who wants to become a millionaire playing???

Beautiful Uppsala.

We walked towards home in roads unknown, we saw the amazing catholic church, we were confounded and surprised positively that every car stopped for us to cross the road. They also have buttons to turn the lights green for us and make a beeping noise showing the time you have to cross. Light years away.

I returned home in my trusty nr. 7 bus, walked into the forests before mordor with no lights and got home. I ate half a kg of yogurt with honey, washed the dishes, washed my self, wrote this entry and i will hit the sack like there is no tomorrow. Tomorrow is fika at the nations day. Yay. More cholesterol parties!

So majestic, like it was built today.

So keep the energy and a beaming smile, because i am coming with more irony and stories!

Take care!

Destination Uppsala - The journey begins

Pack your things and move here.

Like seriously.

The weather is crap. I admit. But i expected it to be worse actually. It's the 23rd of August and i'm sitting here in my cozy new house preparing for a beer in the Norrlands Nation. And i am reflecting on what i saw so far today. Let's make a recap of what to expect.

I sat there on the single-gate terminal of Kalamata, waiting for flight 438 to commence boarding. Around me there were mostly swedish people, exactly what i expected of them too. Polite, low-profile but very loving with their children. There was also a guy that looked like the last samurai making changes in a 3d house in some sort of program. Blondes, blue eyes, generally skinny and tall.

I chatted a bit with some greek people i met there and i did not even think that the moment i stepped my foot outside i was an immigrant, that there was the point of no return.

The aircraft was an Airbus 319 with around 138 passengers and was like 99% full. Pretty impressive for a town of 60000 people like Kalamata.

I sat next to a swedish couple that were cuddling during the whole flight while i was watching outside the window, watching half of the Avengers movie, eating some half-baked wannabe bread with strawberry, listening to some music.

When i heard about the upcoming landing i dropped everything i was doing and was staggered from what i witnessed from the window.

Breathtaking landscapes, vast forests with tall trees, a lung of fresh air and escape from normality, so wild yet so tamed and peaceful. There were no wolves in this picture, apart from a few ravaged pieces of land attacked by mankind.

Then we landed at Arlanda Airport. It reminded me of an older version of Eleutherios Venizelos airport of Greece. I saw a big Ethiopian airliner and thought i would be scared to fly with it. Our aircraft actually made a very annoying noise from the left engine, but the flight was one of the smoothest i have been in. Thanks Cap.

I went at terminal 5 to pick up my luggage, they arrived around 10 minutes in and i was the only one left since i had to exchange my money into SEK from Euros. The old lady in the cashier seemed annoyed and confounded that i had only an ID card and not a passport.

I took the wrong turn, fired up my trusty tablet, sent a few messages and went outside to the welcome committee. Two girls, one swedish and one German, joined later by an Australian one. I took the necessary info, got to the cafe next and picked up my first Swedish filter coffee for 35 SEK. Quite cheap for an airport compared to our prices if you want my opinion.

My first fika!

So i met two exchange students, Phillip from Singapore and Maddie from Midlands in England. We had some friendly banter and then proceeded to the van that would take us to one of the nations to get started. They call the vans shuttles actually.

We got in and there we were, like 10 greeks, waiting in line for an internet account (which i did not need), a temporary ID student card, some information, a welcome package and a telephone sim card.

I signed up for the shuttle to take me home, then went a small walk into town to pick up a bus refillable card. You cant buy tickets here, nor pay with cash. So buy a ticket!

The town was staggering, the architecture of the buildings, giving a medieval look to the town. The streets were clean, bike lanes in both ways, a couple of beggars a stark contrast to the misery of Athens.

The whole town is like this. Breathtaking.

I bought my ticket, went back to the nation, and got in with some people into the shuttle to drive us home. All but me disembarked in Flogsta. I only remember one Bulgarian woman and one from Australia, Perth, where my favorite band, Pendulum resides. A dude called Alexander was driving us around, he is originated from a small swedish town of 5000 people, but he also has greek roots, from his uncles side methinks.

He told me some stories about the Flogsta scream and how it was used to relieve stress from the exams every Wednesday at 10 pm, but now they do it every night, while he also made fun of the stress factor since everything is way too "xalara" here.

So he dropped me at my new house, where an old lady with memory issues opened the door and had no recollection of my impending arrival. She was polite and nice, i showed her an email that confirmed my room and started unpacking. A nice room, a clean house.

Now i m all set, about to go for a beer. Because i can.

Laters! Welcome to Uppsala!

Welcome to the future, today

“Welcome to the future, today.”

He had just landed on the big stage, flying on his Exo-Suit, in front of a thousand people. They all had gathered around to watch the invention that would “redefine humanity”. The tech that would change the lives of many, improve, sustain, develop.

Yet he casually flew down. It was like riding his bike to school or just walking subconsciously towards home sweet home. As he walked down the wooden floor, the suit started to retract, while the thrusters and the mechanical palms fumed from the tantalizing heat.

First the arms, retracting behind his back, showing off his skinny hands and glimpses of an expensive tailor made black suit. Then the legs and the waist support, looking so fluid as they turned into a solid mass of metal behind his back, resembling a metallic suitcase that glowed bright red.

He looked at the audience with eyes wide open, a strong glare and determination that could pierce through the strongest of spirits. Project Hercules was born.

“Today we are showing off Project Hercules, a device that will change the shape of humanity.”

“Made from carbon fiber, enriched with crystal titanium and carbon carbon, it has immense potential.”

“Actions speak louder than words, so let me demonstrate instead, rather than showing you a interesting presentation that satisfies only lust and fantasy.”

His words echoed like a grenade in the room. He was brimming with confidence and they could tell.

He was holding 3 small silver balls in his hands, in the shape of a small nut. He played with them for a few seconds, then threw them to the ground.

They stuck on each other, and then the suit started to power on again. It looked like a robot, with legs firmly rooted on the ground and arms streched open, with a gaping hole in the middle. It was big enough for a human to get inside and be engulfed from steel and thunder.

He got inside. The arms closed. The legs too. The chest was barely visible after the pieces were bolted automatically, while a light blue glass covered his eyes. The disk on his back glowed green, it looked like a spinal cord made of bright green liquid.

“Maximum strength!”, he said with a booming voice.

The disk on his back spinned to the right, turning into dark passion red. He looked bulked up, like the god of war ready to unleash fury on his opponents. The screws and the metallic ropes tightened when he turned his attention to a small car that was hiding in the scene. Just a little everyday car from the 70’s, with sticky plastic seats, no air-conditioning, a coughing engine and a windshield battered from the air and rain.

He grabs the car from beneath. Then, to the amazement of everyone in the room he just picks it up like a toy and lifts it up above his head.

“Titanic Strength. Similar to how Atlas of the Greek Mythology was holding the world on his shoulders, you can have immense strength with Project Hercules, making the hardest of tasks a simple everyday deed.”

Whispers amongst the shadows, small talk and discussion between the audience. Amazement and fear in the atmosphere, you could smell it in the air, like the scent that’s left after the storm.

Everything is going according to plan. He is there, in front of all those people, feeling confident, with a car hovering above his head, light as a balloon.

What is going on? The scenery is fading. The walls crumble like paper, being blown away by the wind like ashes, the clear faces of the people around being turned into faceless voids, his feet trembling beneath the burden of reality, his hands shaking from the problems of humanity. He looks up and knows this is the time. It’s his harajuku moment. 

He falls on his knees. There is no strength here. He is losing the signal. The car starts to drop down on his head, sulking him into the abyss.

He wakes up sweaty, with a shiver sent up his spine, hearing a horrible noise, like a ticking bomb. There’s no suit to protect him, nothing to cure him off the headache and the pain that will follow up. He is no hero, no mastermind, no evil genius to take the world by storm. Yet…

The sound is the alarm clock, the headache is his father’s voice calling him for work, his sheets on the floor, leaving him vulnerable.

Reluctantly he picks up his glasses. He slams the clock. He wears a beat down white shirt with holes that used to be yellow, a pair of jeans and his trusty old destroyed sneakers. He coughs and leaves a breath, equal to the sounds of a thousand dead whispering their problems through the air. He stands up and heads to the exit door.

Snap back to reality Kostas. It’s time to go to work.

Welcome to Greece Kostas. 5 more days.

6 days, Interviews, new friends and ungrateful people

Welcome to Greece.

Where corruption and ungrateful people prosper and grow like weed in your garden.

I have been relatively busy in the past few weeks because of my work. That's 4 am - 20:00 pm. 5-6 days a week. Enjoying summer like a boss. It's been a whirlwind too. Where to start from? From my boss/co-owner? From the miserable heat that plagues this country? The humidity or the never ending coughing from going in and out of fridges?

I hate trucks. I really do. You know, those pesky 7.5t ones that drive like an old Zastava Yugo Gt? Oh and the horn. I'd rather gouge my own eyes with a fork than to hear it again. But with 6 days left until my dream move to Sweden, i can handle everything.

You know what's the difference between a Yugo and a Yugo Gt?

............

The lighter works in the Gt version.

A typical day with the driver.

"Look at that crazy stupid mal@ka trying to drive". while he overtakes 2 vehicles smashes the side mirror on an olive tree.

"This woman is crazy, most likely pchyzophrenic". Fast forward 2 minutes.

"You ignorant baboon get off the road, no wash the dishes without noise. If you want to hear music loudly go to the mountain. You are a f@$k a mal$#a and my f#$@g mother that was being f@$ed, and the f#$@#g universities and the professors they can all s@#k my d#$k.

My usual response is always being calm throwing the occasional irritating phrase, such as the war is over, we won, you can come home, or who put you up? Gorbachev?

Welcome to hot Greece.

The heat. The humidity. We had like 42 Celcius for the past week. I have a low tolerance for heat. Thank you Sweden. Please have my babies and i will change my surname to Svensson.

Oh i did swim a few times at the beach. I overtook many vehicles and drove like a Greek asshole. Thank you Sweden for not letting me have a car. Instead i can be careful with my bike. No that was not irony.

I went to Foinikounda to see a friend and swim for 7 hours doing nothing at the beach. I look like a roasted chicken now. Oh one of his friends was an asshole. I told her that. If you find yourself in Greece or the Peloponnese check that place out, or Voidokoilia. You will remember it for a lifetime.

But it's not all bad. It's been fun and games. I actually thrive in these situations because they help me overcome my obstacles. I have been making a few friends lately. They live far away in space and time, but i will meet them.

One lives in Stockholm. Let's just call her Kelly for now. She is pretty emotional and can laugh for one second then cry in the next. Exactly like my grandma. I like her. She likes me too. I make her laugh and tell her sexual jokes about a goat named Stella. She's been through a lot like me, and i just want to take her under my wing and give her care and proderm.

No more tears.

She is probably going to be my first and best friend when i move here and i will care for her like she's my bloodline. But enough showering with compliments because she will call me a player "rollseyes". I am glad i met you.

I also met a finnish girl. We'll call her Jasmine. No she is not a pornstar. She has the softest blonde hair i have seen, sparkling blue eyes and cheekbones to die for. I promised her i will kidnap her for at least a week in Uppsala. She excites me.

I also have 2 more informational interviews in the works. One with a very warm woman i stumbled upon in EngineerGirl. She is a nuclear engineer. The other one is also in the water business. It will be fantastic and a great experience for anyone that reads it. Visit the website, it's fantastic and a great proof that women can be strong, intellectual and independent.

I also tried to interview a Norwegian man and he told me "I am interested, what's in for me?".

Suck cock.

I am packing my last stuff into two huge bags and buying anything useful. Like socks. Underwear. Umbrellas. A lamp. Thanks mom...

I also saw my house in google street view. It's nice. Classic little swedish house. With a nice garden and all. Thank you Francesca. I will buy you some pastelia when i get there.

That's it for now. I am going to make some pasta with 4 kinds of cheese and loads of creme du lait and just purr like a kitten on my bed watching some worthless greek television.

I will write a lote more frequently from next Saturday. And probably expect more pictures. A lot of them.

So Welcome in Greece. And welcome in Sweden too soon.

The Swedish Crayfish Attack

In August things are about to get messy in Sweden. We are talking about a 500 year old tradition that will make you drool if you like parties and remind you how it was when you left a birthday party when you were ten with birthday cake all over your face and clothes.

Does this ring any bells?

I am talking about the crayfish summer festival, a tradition so old in Sweden, that dates back to the 1500s. A delicacy saved for the aristocrats, the gobbling crayfish is still very popular and enjoyed by people of all classes. The imports of crayfish from other countries such as Turkey led to a price drop and made the Kräftskivor (crayfish parties) a more affordable tradition that marks the end of the summer. People gather to eat, drink, have a great time. I'm hoping to experience it soon enough.

That's a lot of crayfish.

There have been restrictions that prevent the overfishing of crayfish in Sweden, for a couple of months starting from August and while you can import them from another country the local crayfish of Sweden always wins.

The very few who have private access, of course, catch their own crayfish. The little creatures are night animals, so fishing has to be done after dark. They are caught in wire traps and the bait is often rotten or raw fish. Crayfish must be alive when placed in the saucepan of boiling liquor (source).

There is also a nice little song that goes with it, but i will not spoil the meaning:

Helan går
Sjung hopp faderallan lallan lej
Helan går
Sjung hopp faderallan lej
Och den som inte helan tar
Han heller inte halvan får
Helan går
Sjung hopp faderallan lej

Lastly, according to thelocal.se don’t start the party hungry. It takes about 5 minutes to dig out the eqivalent of about a meatball’s worth of meat.

So this was a short intro to the  Kräftskivor, one of the many interesting traditions of sweden. In two weeks i am going to experience it first hand, while i also plant to visit Turku in Finland and Copenhagen in Denmark. Bursting with excitement! So for now take care, see you soon Uppsala!

UPDATE: Well, according to an anonymous user with apparent experience in crayfish parties..."Hey man you got the *don't come start hungry" part wrong, you're supposed to get there hungry, that way you'll get more drunk, and you will be eating for hours, You will get fed eventually ;) + there is often more food at the table than only the crayfishes :)"

So, go out there and have fun your way! Get those bellies full of beer and tiny little crayfish meatballs! Thank you stranger!