Discovering Swedish University Traditions While Studying Abroad
Lund University
“Hej!” – or hi in Swedish. I’m spending my spring semester abroad at Lund University in Lund, Sweden. Located in southern Sweden, it is a quick one-hour train ride from Copenhagen, Denmark. Lund is a student town. There are bikes everywhere, cobblestone streets, long lines for ice cream, and a big cathedral in the center of town.
With my Swedish roots, I was excited to learn more about my heritage. After researching Lund’s good engineering program and fun student life, I knew it was the place to spend my semester abroad! Here are some of the Swedish student traditions I’ve gotten to try.
Student Nations
Blekingska, Göteborgs, Hallands, Helsingkrona, Kalmar, Kristianstads, Lunds Malmö, Smålands, Sydskånska, Västgöta, Wermlands, Östgöta – these are the names of Lund’s student nations. There are a lot of them!
A lot of student life in Lund happens through the nations. Each one has its own events and a slightly different vibe. Named after regions in Sweden, these nations once exclusively welcomed students from their respective areas. Now, any student can join! They run soup lunches, volleyball tournaments, club nights, balls, and even American brunches. It’s all organized and run by students.
I especially liked volunteering in Västgöta nation’s kitchen. I helped make 200 pancakes and bake kladdkaka, a Swedish chocolate cake. The other volunteers were really friendly, and cooking together was a nice way to meet people.
You can only be a member of one nation, but you can go to other nations’ events too. That was great as an exchange student.
Sittnings
A sittning is a student dinner with a lot of singing. Some of the ones I went to were in big halls with candles and everyone dressed up.
Departments and student nations host them for different occasions. Some have casual themes, like pajamas, while others call for dresses and heels.
There’s usually a three-course meal. At the fancier sittnings, you’re only supposed to leave your seat between courses, so you have to wait for the green light.
“Skål!” There are lots of toasts and songs throughout dinner. Students bring songbooks and pass them around for friends to sign. I’ve gotten plenty of practice singing “Helan går” and “Jesus lever”!
I’ve been to a few sittnings here, each a little different. Whether it was Göteborgs nation’s new student finsittning, Västgöta’s tacksittning for volunteers, or Östgöta’s engineering student sittning, each one gave me some great memories and helped me feel more at home in Lund.
Valborg
Valborg is like the Super Bowl of Lund, marking the beginning of spring in Sweden. For context, Lund is freezing cold in the winter, so when the sun finally emerges, Swedes become sun worshipers.
Kvalborg, the day before Valborg, kicks things off with a bang. Student nations hold events to amp up excitement for Valborg. My friends and I camped out to score tickets to Västgöta nation’s event, and it was one of the best festivals I have attended. There were Swedish artists performing on a huge stage and sponsors handing out gifts. We stayed through the evening.
Valborg itself happens on the last day of April and is the most important day of the week-long celebration. Every student flocks to Stadsparken, Lund’s main city park, for a day of hanging out and celebrating. We arrived bright and early, armed with blankets, snacks, and a portable grill. The park filled up quickly as everyone found a spot. We made sure to arrive at 6 am to snag a prime spot away from the porta-potties, and we stayed out all day. Around 4 pm, the city cleared out students to prepare for a massive bonfire—a tradition that occurs in towns throughout Sweden.
As for May 1st, it’s all about the aftermath and celebration of Valborg. We headed to the botanical gardens and spent a relaxed day recovering in the sunshine.
Tandem
Have you ever heard of a tandem relay race? I definitely hadn’t until I got to Lund and discovered it was one of the biggest traditions on campus! Essentially, teams of students decide to race from Gothenburg back to Lund, all on tandem bikes.
So, my friend and I decided to jump in on the action with the Västgöta nation team. We decided to go all out and dressed up as Tiger Kings (thanks Netflix), and off we went on this epic adventure of biking, bussing, and partying our way back to Lund!
We left at 11 am on a Friday. We were playing games, cracking jokes, and just soaking in the vibes with our new Swedish friends on the bus ride up to Gothenburg. When we finally reached Gothenburg, everywhere you looked, there were teams in their crazy costumes, all pumped up and ready to race. Ready…set…go! The tandem kicked off in the center of Gothenburg, bikes zooming to pass each other. Somewhere along the way, we made a pit stop for a rave in Varberg at 2 am. We danced in the middle of the night with a bunch of exhausted but hyped-up students. By the time our turn to cycle came at 3 am, we were pumped and ready to go. We hopped on the tandem bike and pedaled our hearts out to the tune of Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter, covering a solid 13 km stretch from Varberg. It wasn’t easy, I’ll admit, but having other teams cheering us on kept us going. Eventually, we met up with our teammates, passed the bike to the next two racers, and continued our journey back to Lund.
When we finally rolled back into Lund the next day, we were singing our new favorite Swedish song, “Tigerjakt.” To top it all off, our team received the prize for being the closest to the target finish time!
Fika
And then there’s fika: taking a break for coffee and something sweet, usually with friends. I’ve eaten a lot of good kanelbullar (cinnamon buns) here. One cafe even asked me to put my laptop away because they had a no-laptop policy!
Takeaways
I’m really glad I chose Lund. I got to learn more about my Swedish roots, meet new friends, and try things I hadn’t even heard of before coming here. If you’re thinking about studying abroad in Sweden, I’d definitely recommend it. Tack för allt, Lund! (Thanks for everything, Lund!)