Hej! So, it saddens me to say that as I will be leaving Sweden soon, this will be my last blog post from Uppsala. That said, to not bring the mood down too much, my subject for today is Uppsala’s biggest yearly party, Valborg (also known as Sista April, or ‘last of April’), the anticipation
Hej där! Well, the snow has melted…which means, combined with a lot of rain, the Fyrisån (Fyris River which runs through Uppsala) has started flooding quite dramatically! There were people kayaking down it the other day, which certainly didn’t look like it was for the faint-hearted. That said, throwing yourself down the river in unsuitable
Hej där! Well, this week the big excitement in Uppsala (and in other places too) was over some amazing sightings of the Norrsken, or Northern Lights, which lit up the sky with ribbons of amazing electric green – the photo is courtesy of my friend and very talented photographer James, who kindly let me use
Tja! Well, the past weekend it was, as promised, practically summer in Sweden. OK, that might be a slight exaggeration – but I’m pretty sure at some point over the weekend thermometers were definitely reaching that ultimate high of 6°C! Definitely shorts and t-shirt weather, I think you’ll agree. My best friend was returning from
Hej! Hur är läget? (“How’s it going?”) With March coming in now, we are finally starting to hope for a bit of snow melt and the return of some sunshine here in Uppsala, although I think it will still be a few weeks before we see much real improvement. I am assured that Sweden in
Hej! I have to admit that this week I have left writing this article a little late – something which Swedes, with their sense of punctuality which could rival the Swiss or Germans, would seriously frown upon! Several Swedish friends told me separately that they grew up with the motto from their parents, that if
Hej allihopa! Och välkommen tillbaka! I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year, and have entered 2013 feel refreshed, revitalised and (hopefully!) with a resolution to learn some more Swedish! To ease back into January I thought it could be interesting to look at some Swedish stereotypes and phrases associated with them,
Hej! So, a few weeks back I promised more on Lussebullar (Lucia saffron buns, baked in the shape of an 8… or a curled up cat, depending on your baking skills), so here it is, my Lucia article (because I am sure you are all getting slightly tired of hearing about the snow!). Lucia is
Tja! Well, I am not sure about what it is like with my fellow On Location bloggers, but here in Uppsala just about all anyone can talk about is the snow – I know I mentioned this last week, but there really is a lot! I thought it would be quite appropriate this week therefore
Hej! Well, it’s officially the run-up to Christmas now, and as a result suddenly huge Christmas trees are being placed all around Uppsala, lights are going up, shop windows have become explosions of red, gold and green, and everywhere you see offers on glögg (traditional Swedish mulled wine) and lussekatter (Lucia buns… more on that
Hej! This weekend a friend and I decided to take a day trip away from Uppsala and Stockholm, and head over west, to Karlstad in the Värmland region (you may remember me saying I am a member of Värmlands nation, and so felt it would be appropriate to go and see the region I associate
Hej allihopa! It’s been quite an eventful week up here in the North – I had a friend visiting during his October break from his teaching post in France, with the results being that we got frozen walking around an Uppsala shrouded in freezing fog, seeing ‘Skyfall’ (reading the Swedish subtitles and marking the differences
Hejsan! It’s Ailie here and I’m delighted to be back with another On Location Swedish blog post. We’re into November now and things are getting pretty chilly up here – my flatmate tells me to expect our first proper snowfall this weekend! This first weekend in November still remains quite important here in Sweden, as
Hello! It’s Ailie here in Uppsala and this week’s post is inspired by a conversation I had with a Swedish friend who actually lives on the other side of Sweden, in Gothenburg, whilst he was helping me go over some work for my Swedish classes. He was telling me that it is sometimes quite easy
Hej allihopa! (“Hello everyone”!) Uppsala finally had some lovely autumn sunshine this weekend, which resulted in some lovely walks around the city, and hours spent exploring the Botanical Gardens in all their autumnal glory with some friends. When it’s so lovely outside you can really understand why spending time outdoors is such a big part
Hej! This first On Location Swedish post comes to you from the beautiful university town of Uppsala, a little north of Stockholm, where I’ve been living and studying as an Erasmus student for about a month now. Over these past few weeks I’ve met a huge range of people, from my three Swedish flatmates who
Hej! My name’s Ailie and I’m from the northeast of Scotland, although I’ve been living in Edinburgh, the capital city, for the past two years where I study Swedish, Italian and EU Studies. My absolute favourite film of all time is Roman Holiday, with Audrey Hepburn – although I do enjoy anything which features The
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