When I moved from Växjö (a small town in the south of Sweden) to Stockholm life was full of surprises. And then I thought that I’ve seen it all. This doesn’t make sense really; you can’t have experienced all life has to offer when you’re 21 right?
Now life is full of surprises again! It feels as if I was born yesterday. You probably wonder what’s my point here (and unless I don’t present it in a nice summary you’ll stop reading).
The point is that things happen, new things. And they surprise me. Like yesterday when our neighbours jumped over the 4 meter fence between our flats and brought a big barrel of beer to our flat. You can imagine the end of that story.
I’ll give you more examples. People here are really nice, actually I’ve never been in a more friendly country. Kiwis will help you find whatever you are looking for, or solve whatever problem you have at any time of the day. That’s not enough. They are cool and funny too! Sometimes they seem a bit confusing though. When I’m wearing a jacket and it’s 4⁰ C outside, some of them wear t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops. When they invite you for tea you actually get dinner.
There are some unpleasant surprises as well. Today is Monday, and the weekend was a wild one, as you may have guessed by now. There is crushed glass everywhere, both in our kitchen and out on the streets. Internet is never working in the evenings, hot water is running out if all of us decide to take a shower and so on. Dunedin is a funny place to live in, but I’m beginning to like it a wee bit.
Now I have to study, I’m going to do a lot of that wonderful activity. That’s the way things are, just as good as they could be different.
(In the picture you can see a demonstration of how helpful kiwis are. Becky is helping the guy to drink beer by holding the barrel. Somebody is holding him aloft and John, a potential kiwi, just like me is holding the tube. What a team! That guy got reeeaally drunk.)
I don’t know the best way to describe the place where I live to you, but I’ll try.
It’s cold inside that I don’t have to put my milk in the fridge. I’m constantly wearing my down jacket both indoors and outdoors. I only get up from my bed and from underneath of my three blankets if I really have to. I sleep with hotties = hot water bottles under my feet. I think it is as cold inside as outside, sometimes colder inside.
We are five students sharing a flat = big house with two toilets, a shower, a kitchen and a small garden. The house is just a few blocks away from the University of Otago. Two guys, Conor and John are from the US and two girls, Becky and Eilidh are from New Zealand. They are our Kiwi hosts.
Becky and Eilith don’t seem to feel the cold that much, and especially not John. He’s out hiking all the time and he also took a swim in an ice cold river. As if it isn’t cold enough inside.
School starts tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it. They’ve got heating there.
