Paola Tosca Art: The glorious Malmö Introduction Programme! DAY 1

This one and a half introduction week has been nothing short of intense, crazy, exciting and definitely very informative! I have a lot to tell (and show!) you, so I figured I'd sort everything by day, just like it actually happened!

Monday: Library tour & Computer Introduction + Ice skating

Tuesday: Malmö after school + Dairy Product Sample tasting

Wednesday: A political history of Sweden + Visit to my faculty - Arts & Communication

Thursday: Introduction to the Swedish academic system + Sauna Visit

Friday: Malmö city bus tour + Welcome Reception

Not to forget we had three hours of Swedish class in the morning every day!

DAY 1: SWEDISH CLASS + THE LIBRARY + ICE SKATING

Alright, before I shout, scream and yell at you to explain just how fantastic the University library is, I should probably explain that the school consists of different Buildings. The library is located at the building called Orkanen - the Hurricane, whereas I'll be studying at Kranen - the Crane, which is a bit further away. Whilst this is unfortunate, the sheer size and beauty of the library completely make up for this - at this point - minor inconvenience. Gäddan – the Pike - is the culture & society building where we have Swedish class. The Ubåtshallen – the Submarine Halls - are located right next to Kranen as the faculty of Technology, if I’m not mistaken, and then there are two other buildings located in the city where one can study to be a sjuksköterska (nurse) or a tandläkare (dentist).

Since we had Swedish class every morning last week I’ll just touch the subject quickly. It’s fantastic to learn a new language, and I feel very lucky to have a fantastic teacher. She is very relaxed, always asks whether there is anything specific we want to know in Swedish, and gives a lot of group-related exercises to practice pronounciation. I really enjoy her lessons, and I feel like I’ve really learned a lot in the last week language-wise. To introduce yourself, to ask questions, to count in Swedish and to describe what you do on a given day. Now Swedish is very similar to Dutch, which makes studying Swedish a whole lot easier in turn. Here are a couple of photos of the building Gäddan and its classrooms!

Our Monday-afternoon tour began with a short lecture in library classrooms. Yes, you got that right, the library has classrooms too. Since there are about 120 exchange students we were divided in four groups: red, yellow, blue, and green. I was part of the latter.

The Malmö University Library System consists of three buildings – Orkanen Library, Odontology Library, Health & Society Library - but like I said earlier I’ll be staying at Orkanen. These libraries are also available to the public. The most surprising thing to me must’ve been that you can freely talk anywhere in the library, except for the areas which are indicated to be QUIET ZONES. Logically.

There is a glass room, surrounded by curtains which serves as an area to pray and meditate. As you enter to take off your coat and shoes and take the time to find yourself. I LOVE it, especially since I had a hard time finding a place where you could sit down comfortably to meditate without being disturbed by others at ArtEZ.

Besides being able to talk in the largest part of the library, you are also allowed to drink anywhere. Food is prohibited everywhere but the library cafe area, where you can eat cold food. There are a lot of microwaves (heck yes) on the second and third floor of the building where you can warm your pasta or noodles instead. So no warm food in the library.

On the internet you have access to over 30.000 electronic databases & journals. If you are uncertain about anything, you can always “book a librarian”, to receive a free 60 minute individual session on how to use the information resources offered.

Another awesome factoid would be the free earplugs which you can borrow at the library welcome desk. Plus, there’s a STUDENT ART GALLERY there. Love, love, LOVE! One hallway of the library is used for art exhibitions three times a year, and any student can apply. Did I mention there are also language workshops here? This is one room filled with dictionaries, computers and people dedicated to help students with either english or swedish so they can properly write their essays. This reminds me of students with dyslexia: here at Malmö University these students ALWAYS receive more time for their written assignments, plus they have the right to technical help.

Other things to mention would be a graffiti wall where they post interesting folders and notes, and additional study rooms for two students or more. These rooms can be reserved.

Library opening times: 8:00 to 20:00 on weekdays, 11:00-16:00 on Saturdays, closed on Sundays. How thorough am I with my information? :P

Fabulous chairs, I love sitting here - it's also right next to the comic section!

The Library Cafe Area with magazines and newspapers.

This is a silent room where you can work specifically without laptops or computers.

This area is used for lectures and other presentations. Very beautiful place.

Well, this isn't in the library (this is the second floor), but these are the fantastic students I've been having lunch with!

To finish the day we went ice skating - I think it was at Folketspark - around 17:00 to 18:00. It was an outside skating area, which means that it was dark, snow was falling, disco lights were on, music was playing, and we had a fantastic time! There weren't enough skates for everyone, so I thought it was the perfect excuse -not- to skate. I might just visit a skating ring some other time. We'll see!