Aaaand back to reality!

A new semester has begun and the usual yearly stresses settle in. Courses? Accommodation? Winter? For help in finding accommodation, I recommend a blog post I just came across: http://studyingatuppsala.blogspot.se/2009/09/how-to-get-roof-over-your-head-in.html. It's just a list of different housing companies and sites to check out if you're stuck for somewhere to stay. Have hope! You will find something, and "something" is always good enough for now :) It is really frustrating so I recommend to anyone who either is here or is even thinking of coming here, to create accounts with all the housing companies to collect queue points (köpoäng). Even if you never use them, they're good to have just in case. And scan www.blocket.se a lot. But enough about that, there is plenty of information on accommodation online (you need more perseverance than information), unfortunately.

But about some Physics! This year I should say for anyone who doesn't know (I didn't until recently) is that Uppsala University has changed their timetabling software system. You used to have to go to http://www.schema.uu.se/ but it seems okay now. Anyway, if something goes wrong, that site should have all your timetable provided you input the courses (it's important anyway if you intend to do courses you aren't currently registered for).

A funny thing about that, actually.

According to antagning.se (or universityadmissions.se), I apparently don't meet the requirements for Analytical Mechanics & Special Relativity (Linear Algebra II, Calculus II, etc) and Space Physics (Mechanics III, I think). So, formally, I didn't get accepted to those courses. But I do  meet the requirements for String Theory and Hadron & Quark Physics (courses which you would expect to be more demanding)!

But it's usually not an issue, at least for Physics courses, which don't really fill up. I just have to go to the first lecture and sign up there and it's not a problem. Though there may be some scheduling conflicts because of this but again, those can usually be resolved relatively easily. It was pretty funny though... My guess is that the whole process is automated and is meant to "translate" the requirements from other universities into the Swedish equivalent, but since the naming of courses rests on the whims of the one teaching it, the system can become easily confused.

Before I forget, I finally discovered the lake (Lake Mälaren, the 3rd largest in Sweden) this summer everyone keeps talking about! It's really easy to get there. Go south on Dag Hammarskjöldsväg until you see a bridge over a river - take a right just before that bridge and left at the bustop Mälarvägen. You can also take the no.20 bus there directly from Uppsala centre. It will take 20-30 minutes. Why is it so reveled, you ask?? Well, during summer (or "summer", as my Italian friends like to joke...), it's a great place to swim, sun bathe, hike and cycle around. Then during winter, it freezes over so you can go ice skating on it (which I have never done but definitely doing this winter). So if you're reading this, the forecast is rain this weekend, which pretty much guarantees sun (always do the opposite of the Swedish forecast).

Lastly, I should mention that I will be giving a 20-minute talk on a student's perspective of the Master's programme sometime in September. So if anyone reading this wants to come along (and ask really awkward, mentally challenging and morally ambiguous questions), feel free! I will leave details here when I know more :)