Yoga and Why it is a Practice for Students.

When moving into a new home, it is important to embrace old routines in order to retain mental clarity and help establish a stress free environment. However, old routines carry over with difficulty from a spring filled with dissertations, political campaigning, graduation ceremonies and packing. It's much more useful to begin your autumn of reorientation, culture shock and inflated supermarket prices by introducing yourself to something new. I found my new hobby thanks to my room's hardwood floor, the local sports shop's fall sales and Youtube's free lessons. Alternatively, maybe I had already somewhere in the back of my mind decided to start doing yoga.

Figure 8. A rather angelic looking roll of feel-goodness and self-improvement.

For people who have given up on going routinely to the gym, have a hard time finding mates for a particular (obscure) sport or just are looking to do something after a long period of inactivity, yoga is definitely one way to challenge your body. Students especially should try it out as it can complement a busy schedule very well. I have made a habit of starting the day with it, taking a break from essay writing for a routine or doing a quick one before going to bed. Like said earlier, all you need is your dorm room, a mat, yourself and a friendly Youtube celebrity to help you get started.

Having done this for about a month now, I can definitely vouch for the effectiveness of the practice. Being a tall guy who spends his working hours and inexplicably too much of his free time hunched up against a desk staring into the World Wide Web, short and long term issues with ones back are all too familiar. After practicing daily (save for two hangover days) for the past month, all minor back pains have almost completely disappeared. I find I can sit down at a desk and stand up tall for longer times than before, not to mention how much faster I fall asleep at night too. Flexibility itself is still waiting to kick in properly. My legs still feel like they are welded together at the joints when trying some of the more advanced poses. Yet it all feels like I am making progress. After building up some confidence for yoga by myself, I figure yoga lessons at the gym and sessions with other enthusiast will be that much more enjoyable and rewarding.

I never used to understand people who enjoy running marathons, trying to lift 2.5 times their body weight all at once, and why they felt they had to talk about these activities every single waking moment. I dismissed is as part of their workout routine. That being said, even after a short period of time, I find I have to contain myself when discussing hobbies with people. I have a disarming urge to share my new found happiness with everyone without anyone asking for it. So here is my long overdue apology to all you cross-fit onanists, triathlon preachers and Instagram body builders. I had no idea your devotion to your pass time was genuine or even logical. And even though you probably don't consider an amateur yogi anywhere close to your level, as the only thing I lift is my skinny frame into a pose named after a puppy, I want you to know I have seen the light in daily training and respecting ones own body.

For those of you wondering how to get started yourself, below is a video link to a beginner's yoga routine I found particularly helpful. The channel owner Adriene is a professional yoga instructor and posts entire routines along with shorter tutorials for specific poses and sequences. For those of you saying my interest in the practice can't be genuine because I watch videos alone every day in my dimly lit room of a fit woman showing off her flexibility, you can all return to the 50's where your prejudiced gutter-minds have come from.

Figure 9. 21st century. Gender equality: get with the times!

The Freshers "Sittning" a.k.a. Novischfesten

Initially, I meant to write about the Sittning tradition weeks ago. After my first one (the Helsingkrona crayfish party) I was convinced I had a complete picture of what goes on at one of them. However, the first few minutes of the Novichfesten was enough to convince me what a presupposing idiot I was. Dozens of guests, while being great company all the same, hardly compare to what a couple hundred can do. Furthermore, the entire night was loaded with entertainment designed to help you forget the greater world around you as your personal sittning wonderland enclosed around your sense of reality. Like Alice without the white rabbit or... anything else that's iconic of that story.

The Sittning (Finnish: sitsit, English [literal]: sitting) combines the formality of dinner parties with the informality of student life in order to create a common standard for a weekend social gathering in the form of a large meal, drinks, and good company. Sittnings are commonplace in both Finland and Sweden, the former having adopted it from the latter.

Figure 6. Presentation and layout is important for any sittning.

The Novisch sittning itself was an entire carnival consolidated into a few hours. As we sat down, a marching drummer band entered and graced us with a 10min performance that tingled our primal foot tapping instincts enough to set the table rocking. From there, the toastmasters took over giving a multilingual welcoming speech, along with roasting the nations who were not represented at the event. When the food serving started, representatives from each nation took to the stage giving speeches attesting to the greatness of their own nation, the university, and the guests themselves. We cruised through three courses, two intermissions, a beat-boxing stand up comedian, and several sing-along songs which elevated the musical term "cacophony" to its own sub-genre. Not that we aspired to be an angelic choir nor had the chance to with me piping up.

Figure 7. A sittning song book compiled by the great Helsingkrona Nation.

After the last tune, we were ushered out of the ballroom to enjoy live music and drinks in the northern wing of our party venue. Finally, we were brought back in for the grand finale, namely two resident DJs living their Swedish House Mafia fantasy for us to enjoy. There was absolutely nothing missing from this event. You got your share of food, drinks, dancing, singing, banter and bonding to last you at least until the next morning. Might not sound like much, but don't underestimate how much partying Sweden expects to get out of you.

For those of you pondering the connection between a Nordic Sittning and a British University Ball, you've probably got a good idea already but believe me when I say the two events are not exactly comparable. At a ball, you usually enjoy a 3 course meal too. Wine and photos are abundant, mingling among the tables is necessary in between toasts, and the Highlanders always have a traditional Céilidh at the end. They are a great way to spend an evening too. However, with the lack of official toastmasters and schnapps songs, there is a loss of continuity and community; a reality that usually culminates into bread rolls flying, wine glasses tipping and vomit spewing. Though that could be an exclusive trait of the Aberdeen University Sports Union Annual Ball; the only one I attended regularly.

The Swedish Cray-Crayfish Party

Before the mid-19th century, lobster was considered to be a bottom feeder of North American gastronomy. Fishermen used it as bait, the poor had no choice but to eat it, and prisoners were forced to eat it as punishment (I carefully researched this on Wikipedia). It was the rat of the ocean floor. However, somewhere along the way the wealthier New Englanders started developing a taste for it and now lobster sells for almost $50 per pound. I don't know how the crayfish ended up on the dinner table (Wikipedia really let me down here), but something tells me this mini-lobster might have had a similar rise to fame in the Northern social democratic havens of Europe. I have also come to the conclusion that Sweden might love the cray and the party it entails more than yours truly, as I had the pleasure of attending two crayfish parties this past month.

Figure 3. Cruel and unusual punishment turned into middle class excuse for alcohol consumption?

The first party was at my chosen student organization: Helsingkrona Nation. They arranged the evening specifically to introduce this treasured Swedish custom to foreigners. We sat down to a meal of the red shellfish, along with cheese pie, knackebröd, and steamed beans. All things considered, the occasion was formal and laid back. The newbies were taught how to pry the main course open. Many discovered the disappointingly small amounts of meat within the critters and figured the sliced fingertips were not worth the effort (maybe this is a reason lobsters were given to prisoners). While drinking schnapps and other liquid inebriants plays an important role in both Finnish and Swedish crayfish cultures, Helsingkrona was required by law to sell us our drinks i.e. BYOB not OK. Naturally, this took the party out of the designated ballroom before 10pm.

Figure 4. Observing customs with traditional ceiling decorations.

The crayfish party held in our corridor was another story. We had barely sat down when the schnapps flow out-grossed all freshwater in the kingdom and the songbook had been consulted more than the Magna Carta. One by one, people were called to stand on their chairs to down their drink and sing a solo celebrating this achievement. Pie was once again served, yet this time with a delicious Greek inspired salad and garlic bread on the side. Furthermore, the evening turned into a musical showcase of Swedish pop hits the Swedes of the corridor were more than eager to present to us.

All in all, the crayfish party proved to be a great format for flatmate bonding. Not everyone out of our 19 person corridor were present but the ones who came certainly got their time's worth. Thinking back to Scotland, I cannot name a corresponding dinner tradition with an equal notoriety and fixed time of year. Freshers in Scotland were taken to whisky distilleries and a dinner featuring haggis, so there is a clear difference in how the food culture was introduced too. Though it should be noted that the crayfish party is a social custom and a culinary tradition that cannot be uncoupled. This is not to say there isn't a social side to Scottish gastronomic culture, but there is no denying that Sweden knows where the priority lies when a good first impression is required. Like I concluded in my previous post, it is all about the branding.

Figure 5. Kräftskiva™

Study in Sweden Digital Ambassador Application: Three Tips for Apartment Hunting in Sweden

Words that come to mind  during apartment hunting include stress, anxiety, hurry… a medley of negative vocabulary. If I am grateful for one thing, it is for the help of a friend in the process of tracking down my new apartment. So I will now pass on the favor; I present to you a small list of the simple things easily forgotten when commencing this seemingly baffling ordeal.

Firstly- read the emails sent to you. Upon receiving my conditional offer, I was immediately approached by the accommodation services telling me of their and third party services available for students to help their search. Ignore this, and you will surely be worrying about which bridge will provide the best shelter during the first week after arrival.

Secondly, don’t panic. Resorting to desperate rushed decisions can cause you to forget that Sweden is a developed socialist utopia, which in the face of adversity will not abandon the people needing help. Desperation can also end up in you losing a security deposit to a scammer. The evildoers always pray on the fearful.

Finally, and most importantly, don’t blame the system for your woes. When beginning my search, I entered a queue for apartments provided by a housing company. Their website was disorganized to the point of causing irrational anger. It was easy to rage against the system to vent your anxiety. Yet the system allowed me to sign my contract online, gave me the keys immediately when they were available, and continue to remind me of their unwavering support. There is no such thing as a perfect system, but remember the people are there to help you.

Following these points you are already off to a good start to a new life in Sweden. Housing is the worst aspect to deal with. Once you have sorted that, let the good times roll!

What We Finns Do Better. Part 1: "Fika"

This series is dedicated to deconstructing and ridiculing aspects of Swedish culture that strike the writer as odd, scary, or something attention worthy. If you find the ramblings of a Finnish boy with an inferiority complex manifested around an old colonial power offensive or not amusing, do navigate away and vote for the Sverigedemokraterna in the next election to prevent scum like me from moving in and criticizing this socialist utopia us Finns have managed to bastardize with Russian influence.

Upon attending the first introductory seminars organized by the University's International Desk, a concept previously foreign to me began to dominate the presentation when Swedish cultural customs were introduced in an almost sacred manner. It is called "Fika" and it is a wholesome authentic Swedish cultural institution, apparently designed in the 1970's with the combined effort of the Volvo, Ikea, and Absolut Vodka marketing departments to function as a mode of engagement for people living in Sweden. The brilliance of it is its ridiculous simplicity: an interchangeable form of meeting people for coffee, food, a romantic date, or just a conversation in any public setting. As the reality of it dawned on me during my first week here, I was puzzled and aggravated by the idea that this deserved its own PowerPoint slides. Furthermore, it was presented as a suggestion to us foreigners as a way to get to know new people in a new environment. I should probably be grateful, because without the paternal oversight of the mighty Swedish kingdom, it would have never in a hundred years occurred to me that I should go out and meet people for drinks in order to get to know them. But it doesn't cover mere drinks! It encompasses all kinds of meetups, which actually do exist in other European and world cultures too. I'll give you a hypothetical example of how a typical conversation about the basics of Fika would go with a full blooded Swedish person:

Me: "So what exactly is Fika?"
A New Swedish Aquaintance: "Fika is our word for a coffee date or a get together where we just talk and have a good time together."
M: "So its is just a coffee date? Nothing unique or more to it?"
ANSA: "No no! Fika can be anything! You can meet for lunch, for a beer, at a night club, anywhere! It's uniqueness is that it can be anything you want to do with someone!"
M: "Wait, so it is an all encompassing non-specific social gathering for people with any kind of relationship for any self-serving purpose at any time of the day? I think most cultures just call this a get together or date to prevent confusion."
ANSA: "Yes! However, we have a word for it which sets us apart! Isn't post-modernist thinking wonderful?!"

For those of you offended, please log off and go outside for a moment. ANSA is a fictional entity not meant to represent a stereotype or pejorative image of a Swedish person. I'll fill my repertoire with a wider array of characters in the future for the sake of equality.

Anyway, I usually do not inquire further for the sake of amicable conversation during the remainder of our Fika. It is better to surrender to the absurdity of the terminology rather than try to uproot an entire culture to impose your own reality upon millions of people. After all, how much can you criticize something you are participating in at that very moment? Yet I can deconstruct it for my own amusement and be smug about being the "only" one who has discovered the inconsistency in this kind of normative behavior. For the readers who have never studied social sciences, this is the kind of stuff sociologists get off on.
So why does this word exist? You have to remember that Sweden is a nation that has mastered branding. Many world famous concepts have been derived from Swedish innovation such as Ikea which is synonymous to cheap furniture and addictive cocaine infused meatballs. Again, concepts which exist in many cultures, yet have become a symbol of Swedish cultural exports.

Figure 2. I did not even feel bad having to pay 100,000 SEK for this box of pencils. The-run-of-the-mill Swedish hardware&stationary store was branded and laid out to perfection, like a PR-crowbar wedging the customers' wallets open.

Conversely, when thinking about branded yet interchangeable social constructions, the first one and only one that comes to mind from Finland is "Darra". Like Fika, it is a particular social habit and mode of interaction within the parameters of commonly held social values. One could even go as far as to say that Darra is a state of mind more than it is a social convention. The problem here though is that Darra refers to a severe hangover when one does not step out of ones home until the dues of last night have been ritually paid for at the porcelain altar. Conclusively, we arrive at a series of answers as to why Finnish branding has a hard time taking off and why we should probably stop trying in the first place. In fact, the same sample dialogue from above can retain its original culture clashing essence yet adopt a more depressing tone by just changing the topic:

ANSA: "So what is the idea of a Finnish Darra?"
M: "It denotes a state of mind a Finnish person has the morning after a night of heavy drinking and partying. Or not, it can also follow up on a night of drinking by oneself contemplating life's mysteries as Finnish folk singers often do!"
ANSA: "Isn't that just a hangover? We experience hangovers in Sweden too and [as far as this writer is aware at this point] don't have another word for it."
M: "No see, a Darra is not just a hangover! It also refers to the state of despair and futility and loneliness one has in the final stages of minor alcohol poisoning."
ANSA: "Yeah, that's just biology. Everyone gets depressed when they are feeling poorly. You are aware that Finns do not have a monopoly on melancholy and the themes of late 19th century realist literature?"
M: "No but you're missing the point! We plan our Darra and schedule other social events according to how much we plan on drinking the night before!"
ANSA: "And you're proud of this not just as an individual but as an entire nation? Our culture has unsavory aspects too but we save the specific terminology for the most positive ones that can be related to people from other cultures. Is this what you have to show for over 4,000 years of Fenno-Ugric cultural development?"
M: "Say, is that the sound of Finland dominating Sweden in hockey? I have to go now, maybe someone's singing "Den Glider In" somewhere..."