Orientation Day 6: Söderåsen National Park Hike + Swedish Treasure Hunt Challenge

Ah look! The sun rising!

I woke up today at 05:00 which was a little earlier than expected, but nothing beats lying in bed thinking about the delicious warm breakfast (heated leftovers *salivates*) awaiting! All you need to tackle the day is some soup, a muffin and a hot cup of tea!

Schedule:

Söderåsen National Park Hike (08:45 - 14:45) SEK330

I would highly, highly recommend going to hike in Söderåsen National Park! Whatever season, it won't disappoint. One of my Mentors recommended the hike - you can do it on your own or get a group of friends together, but the the event + ticket sold by the International Desk includes:

• Bus journey from Lund Cathedral to Söderåsen and back 
• Buffet lunch at the Skaralids restaurant 

I think if I were to be a Novisch (new) student all over again, I'd still purchase the ticket even though it looks pricey to begin with, just because you get the comfort of the bus, Mentors as "hiking guides" a and you get to meet new people who are also keen to make friends.

Beginning the hike past the river stream! It was completely frozen over.

Today was a cold (for me at least!) with the temperature hovering steadily at -2 degrees throughout the whole hike. If you're hiking in winter, I recommend layering your clothing like so:

1. Thermals (I only wore a thermal top but others donned leggings too)
2. Regular shirt 
3. Knitted jumper / sweater 
4. Hooded puffer jacket
5. Merino-wool socks
6. Earmuffs (or beanie) 
7. Gloves 

Since the temperature and weather conditions today were so vastly different to any Australian bushwalk (let alone hike) I'd ever encountered, I decided to take the easiest and shortest hiking path - the yellow path. The other path available (given time restrictions) was the red path (7km with slightly more difficult slopes). 

Here are some of the gorgeous paths - 

Word of warning: the wooden plank paths pictured above tend to be quite slippery. When it wasn't absolutely necessary to stay on top of them, most of the group walked on the ground (covered in snow and leaves) which was more steady. The hiking mentor mentioned that even in spring (due to unexpected rains that occur often), these wooden plank paths are still slippery to walk on. 

 Reaching the halfway view-point overlooking the mountains!

 The view - the fog was awesome!

My highlight of the entire hike has got to be seeing a woodpecker bird in real life! My group heard it before we saw it, and I managed to glimpse it hopping around the tree and pecking away! I also learned the names of the common birds in Lund - the western jackdaw and common wood pigeon!

 Reaching civilisation once again - the stairs down to the buffet restaurant (and the beginning of the red hiking path). Beware: these stairs are slippery - it's easier to walk to the side where the snow is, but I still had one of the guiding mentors hold one side while I clung to the railing on my way down.

Okay so this is pretty much the same picture BUT I think it really shows just how majestic the coming out of the forest and surveying the view below really is. And the gorgeous reds of the fallen leaves matching the dwellings bellow - like straight out of movie set AHAHAA

 The entrance to lunch! Skaralids Restaurang ~

 The incredibly aesthetic exterior of Skaralids Restaurang

The buffet part I - a selection of breads, spreads and salad bar (not shown: roast potatoes, roast chicken, scrambled eggs and sausage).

 The buffet lunch part II - ginger shots, falafel, pickled vegetables and selected meat cuts

My lunch! I skipped the scrambled eggs and selection of meat cuts but I did succumb to trying the different kinds of herring available and a tiny sliver of smoked salmon. The falafel here is great. 

My favourite thing from lunch has to be the ginger shots - you can just make out the small glasses on the far left of the buffet part II picture. I had four shots! They are non-alcoholic and although the smell may seem strong, the flavour similar to ginger beer but un-carbonated and less sweet. They act as a palette cleanser but also make a great drink in themselves.

Also! Don't forget to pick up one of the free coasters as a handy souvenir as you leave the restaurant!

Treasure Hunt Challenge 15:00 - 19:00
A typical Swedish "freshers week" activity. In teams, compete challenges at the student organisations in Lund and win nice prizes. The best costumes will be rewarded.

Essentially, the Treasure Hunt Challenge is completed with teams made from the Mentor groups. You go around to each of Lund University's nations (student societies) and two different groups compete against each other for cool prizes at the end. The aim of completing the challenges is to win "points" and receive letters of the alphabet. At the end, you use the letters you've collected to make the longest and most creative word possible to get the most points to bump up their score.

My group started off at Helsingkrona nation - we were lucky enough to see the sun set!

View from the terrace of Helsingkrona nation

Challenges included:

• Guess the title + singer of songs covered by a Finnish band 
• Guess the country that has a connection to a particular song played 
• Pass an orange to each one of your team members holding it by the neck only (no hands!)
• Ball throwing (harder than it sounds...)
• Garbage bag relay race (where members get in and out of garbage bag and jump as fast as they can to win) 
• Cup stacking (highest stack wins!)
• The floor is lava - played with milk crates 

The last activity was about food wastage which I found incredibly interesting - the group presenting collects bread / spreads from bakeries which are "leftovers" from the day and distributes them to people in need or students. We learned about sustainability and food waste through an interactive quiz!

The most wasteful part of the supply food chain in Sweden is households

I learned that the best before date refers to the food's crispiness, vitamin/nutrient levels, overall freshness rather than what I thought: "should be consumed within the week". The presenter said that he had eaten cereal "best before" 2015, and it had tasted exactly as he expected - delicious. Sustainability tips included:

• Bringing a tupperware container everywhere when going out - just in case you eat out unexpectedly and can bring home your own doggy bag
• Make a grocery list - don't overbuy to ensure you use everything you purchase!
• Compost as much food waste as you can - in Sweden there are brown paper bags which "turn food scraps into energy" rather than having the rot produce more methane. 

"Like" the Food Saving Lund Facebook Page for more updates!

LUMES is a university program for International Masters students about sustainability - this picture has no relevance to the Treasure Hunt, I just thought the letters were so cute!

When announcing the winners, from what I could see from my vantage point the prizes given out at the end were:

• Runners up: chocolate bars 
• Winners: huge bag of taco ingredients for the next meet up 
• Best costume: a selection of Swedish biscuits

Fika with Corridor-mates: 

My corridor is planning a "tour de chambre" or TDC, which is essentially an event where we all tour each other's rooms, chat, get to know one another and then host an after-party. These kinds of TDC parties are apparently very common in student accommodation! I met many similar faces at tonight's fika as we decided on a theme and also just had a chat about student life in Lund. 

So many highlights of today! I definitely think starting off the day hiking in the Swedish woods and ending the day having fika with my corridor-mates has really made today one of the best.