For comparison: 2:30 am

Night and Day

Midnight

So it's coming up to midsummer, and the sun doesn't quite go down properly at night. It is still well and truly light until about 11:00pm, and not totally dark at midnight. The problem with this is that it is also basically fully light by about 3am. And after the long, dark winters the Luleans seem to want all the sunlight possible, even in their sleep, so the blinds and curtains on the windows are more for decoration than function. So it isn't really as dark as it should be, and is not so easy to sleep-in in. Probably a good thing, but not at 5am when you wake up and can't get back to sleep.

I also went to my first BBQ with some guys and gals from the spex. It was a bit chilly (+8) , but sometimes sunny. We then played brännboll, which is kinda like a cross between up-ball and baseball. There's no pitcher - you toss the ball up yourself and hit it. You also don't get out if it is caught (the other team gets points), and you don't have to run, so you can wait on a base until you think you'll make it, so sometimes there are 4 or 5 people running. Beers are often used at the bases, just to make the game more... interesting, though with the complex scoring system (1-handed catches worth more than 2 etc) there is too much to concentrate on.

Johan, Maria, and Mats. Mats wears traditional uni overalls, which you get at 1st year and keep wearing until you're finished, collecting badges and dirt along the way. By tradition they aren't meant to be washed. At least, unless you are wearing them. A couple of the spexares wore them on the tour we went on. 4 years of grime in a cramped bus in 28degree weather....great.

Bränboll action

The swedes really are also a bunch of slackers. They don't stake sickies in the way we do. Rather, they just accept that a) before a public holiday (Thursday was Ascencion Day) people are only expected to work a half day. So offices close at 1pm on the Wed. Then b) Friday is a 'klämdag' which means 'squeezed day' and you can probably guess that since they have a special word for a work day in between two non-work days, that it probably gets treated differently... ie. becomes a holiday too. So they don't take sickies, they all just admit to themselves there's no point working. Cool eh?

An offering of pickles to the Wreckasaurus...
(left in the forest near the car wreckers)

Not so much to report

Heya,

As said, not so much going on. Lots of work. Spex is over - we went on a 4 day tour to Vasa in Finland and Linkoping in the south of Sweden. The final performance was on Friday, and the orchestra and backstage gets to play little jokes on the cast, and each other. Garlic on the trombone mouthpiece. The wrong sound effects (pigs sqealing instead of horses, etc), cups glued to the bar. Bit'o fun.

Spring is here, which means sun-snowfalls, which are the equivalent of sunshowers. Most of the accumulated snow is gone though, the grass is back and the birch trees are starting to bud. Soon summer will be here. Actually a week ago was a week full of summer weather - 21 degrees at 9pm, the sun out, perfect weather for a bike ride. Summer is definitely something to look forward to.

Ciao for now

Valborg

Yesterday (Sunday 30th April) was the celebration of St. Valborg's day (pron. "Val-borrie"). The origins lie shrouded in mystery (not really, but I'm not going into it here). Basically it is celebrating by lighting big bonfires to scare the scary animals back into the forest and burn any witches that are still loitering around. Swedes wear their graduation caps, which can either look like white sailors hats or here seem to be red velvet jobbies with curtain cord tassles hanging off them.



At the University, the bonfire was ingited on Tue, so they had to make a new one for yesterday. Often all sorts of miscellaneous goods end up on the fire (it is the weekend for spring cleaning after all), so there are smaller fires set up around the bonfire for grilling sausages or marshmallows without having broken glass or rubber fumes coating the food. Prior to the fire there was some singing of traditional Spring-is-coming songs, and fireworks afterwards.

Until the fire was lit it was pretty cold, so several snaps, and a few beers were had to keep up the warmth. It is time for temperature denial in Sweden, after all Spring is here! Although the sun is out (for 17hours a day), and the shorts and t-shirts are starting to make an appearance, it is still only 5-12 degrees during the day. I must say after being at -15 for a while, +5 does seem unreasonably warm and I've also been sucked into dressing down for a mild spring day with not much on and going outside, wearing much less than I would on a similarly 'cold winter's day in Melbourne'. Some pics:

The heap

Some pre-entertainment. ACDC covers - Accadacca is absolutely everywhere here in Sweden. I don't think I've been to any kind of public event without hearing some 'Thunderstruck', or 'TNT' over the loudspeakers. Hell's Bells makes also makes a good Christmas carol...

Due to the ground being too soggy, the cooking fires were in the carpark

The view outstide now. Sun, a little snow on the ground, and the picnic tables and bbq sets are coming out of the cupboards

On the way home, sunrise, 4am.