Student Life and The Nations at Lund University

I had a really great night in Lund yesterday! I went to Hallands Nation, one of the student nations, to register for my Studentlund account. The nations at Lund are compared to sororities and fraternities in the United States, but I really don't think they are good comparisons. The nations are much more organized and function more like nightclubs, with bouncers, tickets, and are open to everyone. The nations also host sports, lunches, dinners and host special events throughout the year. Unfortunately, I was not able to register for Studentlund, but I did meet up with some Swedish friends that I met while working at Hallands last weekend at the Love Bar. (The Love Bar is the smaller bar inside Hallands.) They invited me to join their group for "Novisch Activities". These are fun games and events going on for new students and freshmen at Lund University--sort of like a Welcome Week in the States or Freshers week in England.

We met up with some other students, both graduate and undergrads--including some Americans, and headed over to Västgöta Nation, also known as "VG's". VG was hosting a special deal for students: only 60 Kroner for a meal and entry to Hallands nightclub. We entered the bar and I made a burger and then ordered a beer. I met some other Swedes, which was nice. We talked for awhile and then the games started! There were five games in total. Hallands was pitted against Västgöta Nation to see which nation was the 'best'. Hallands won the first two. I was forced--or coerced, I should say--(haha!) into playing the third round. A group of us had to take shots and then walk across the room on top of cartons. The catch to the game was that there were only a handful of cartons and many people in our group, so we had to pass the cartons one-by-one up a line and not touch the ground in the process, then walk across the line of cartons. If we touched the floor at all, we had to move back to the starting line and do it all over again. Fortunately, nobody fell, and we all made it to the other side really quickly. The other team touched the ground too many times and gave up. We won!

I played another round of musical chairs and made it pretty far in the competition. Hallands won that one, too. After we clearly won the competition (Hallands won like four out of five rounds), everyone dispersed and I joined a game of beer pong. After all the games, I was really happy I joined Hallands. Hallands members clearly outnumbered the Västgöta Nation members that showed up. Hallands also had a lot of team spirit and lots of energy. We sung a Hallands cheer during the games to keep the players pumped. It was pretty cool and reminded me of sports matches in the States. Surprisingly, I actually won the beer pong game! I made the very last shot when it was 1-1 with cups left. I'm usually pretty bad at beer pong. The Swedes joked that my team won because I was American. Apparently, Americans are beer pong masters. But I insisted that in the States, I am not good at beer pong and don't really stand out. I was super happy about the win. After that, I talked some more with my new Swedish friends from beer pong and then called it a night. Can't wait to finally get my Studentlund account and join more nations activities!

A photo from the musical chairs game at Västgöta Nation. Hallands won, of course. 

I am sitting in the first row, fourth from the left, in the grey long-sleeve shirt and tan slip-on shoes.

Photo Credit: Hallands Nation https://www.facebook.com/Hallandsnation