On the wall is a quote:

En känsla infinner sig,
en tanke uppstår,
en idé föds.

After reading this, the first weekend here in Sweden, I knew the last sentence and thus the rest a little bit. “En idé föds” is about an idea being born. So, maybe something with chance (känsla) and thought (tanke)? Almost, as känsla is ‘feeling’, not chance. Google translate thought is was like this:

A feeling arises,
a thought occurs,
an idea is born.

Sometimes you’ll hear a piano in the background. In the corridors, next to the filharmonin, there is a piano. Just like now, sometimes somebody comes by and plays it. Just some notes, to practice. But everytime I paused my own music if I was listening, I paused my work, and just watched the trees or the rain through the window next to me. An anonymous piano player and me. The only ones in this place at the moment.

The last few weeks I’ve noticed that I look differently at the trip to school, at doing shopping, at walking in the city. I finally start to see this as normal. Before it was still my study abroad. Now this way to school has become my way to school, this city became my city. I feel at home, I think.

On the right is a part of that life. On my way to school the air was on fire. Oh, btw, another fire that was part of the life here, was Valborg. The Swedish helgdagar (holiday) on the 30th of April.

From one of the first books about intercultural interactions:

Strangeness is no longer a temporary condition to be overcome, but a way of life.
Harman

The portraits of the international students we’re going to make end up in the Mälardalens högskola first. But after that they will travel through several locations in Västerås and Eskilstuna, like the city hall, museums, science parks and other public places. Some nice small rooms, so the visitor can enter the room with just one portrait in it and fully experience it, like having a intimate fika with the person. Some interesting walls in which you have more space to walk around the portraits. Or some places with interesting light effects where we can play with the light on the paintings.

We also want to attach some physical things to it. Not only a printed portrait but adding drawers, music, booklets, etc. By digging deeper in the persons life, looking into their cd-rack, opening their drawers, listinging to their music, opening their cupboards, you’ll get to know the person more, see more photos of the persons life, etc.

More to come :)

* Another post not about school.. Indeed, no lectures this week. Last week they were not that interesting I thought, and now comes Easter, so no lectures until next Wednesday..

To I met St. Eskil, see him on the right. This saint founded the tuna (a Swedish name for a village).

First I would pronounce Eskilstuna without much emphasis. But now I know to lay the emphasis on the E and the a. And to in someway pronounce it as Eskil’s tuna, which is hard :)

And I need more pictures! Yesterday I was at the Eskilstuna’s campus of the university and found this place with the nice lights.

Mälardalen university, Eskilstuna's campus

Eskilstuna is a nice small city, the same size as Alkmaar, but with two third of the people. Lots of parks.You see litter (the bedding material for cats) on the streets everywhere, to stop you from slipping away on the ice. Oh, and they love red neon lights here.

I’ve joined Nikki in his apartment as the appointment I had with the rental unit didn’t work out, so I’ll have to wait until Monday (måndag) untill I have access to my apartment (Jong MenS: I drew Lady Lobelie afterwards). The apartment looks pretty good – from the outside anyway. We’ve done some shopping, I still have to find a good place for ecological and vegetarian food.

Saturday (Lördag) we went to Västerås, somewhat larger than Eskilstuna. More something like Nijmegen, again, with about two third of its population. First to the IKEA of course :) Afterwards we went to the student reception at Mälardalen in Västerås. The school building is very nice, with a lot of wood and nice lanterns, also made of wood. A show of their image as a environmentally consciousness university?

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This Sunday (söndag) was an easy day, we’re planing to go to the university (with a card from another student) to do some internet work (Jong MenS: I drew Lazuli for this day).

I did some shopping and had another walk through the city. I tried to get a bike. But although almost every shop is open on Sunday, the bike shop wasn’t. We’ll try it next week.

Then we got a household from Nikki to get us inside the university. I did some online IKEA shopping, checked my school scheme, and got to blog my first posts from Sweden.