Being born and brought up in the north of England, Scandinavian words were part of the local dialect which I was familiar with, and town names such as Derby and Grimsby reflected that our Scandinavian neighbours had left their mark, not least on the gene pool. The slowly changing seasons and the quickly changing weather patterns were familiar to me and the language is lovely to hear spoken. I have to admit however that the significantly different variants of Swedish spoken in the Skåne and in the Stockholm are a barrier - it´s never clear how much you should be blowing out when you talk of Sjöbo or Växjö. But these are mysteries to be conquered.
As for Lund it is so human in scale, the height of the buildings, the distance from one side of the town to the other, the winding streets have evolved to allow people to move around rather than internal combustion engines. I am losing the ability to drive a car! And then there´s the AF Student building, the hearty lunches, the students working together but above all the Spex musicals which are a total delight. I´ve been to them all inthe past three years. People ask me which I like best - well I have to admit if you randomly chopped scenes and mixed them up from one Spex to another then I wouldn´t notice! It´s just sheer enjoyment for the cast and the audience alike.
My favourite place? Well I can´t claim to have explored much, but the little art gallery in Mårtenstorget is a jewel, the craft shop Skånekraft in Östra Mårtensgatan is quality, the "alternative" restaurants Clemens and Govinda, the tiny stationery shop LEXIS and the Gleerup & Pocket! bookshops as well as the little gift shop Lilla Boden in S:t Petri Kyrkogata all provide a warm welcome. But pride of place is taken by the Långa Bryggan in Bjärred - the same length as the accelerator for ESS! And as the old guy said at the Spex " I swam all the way from Lomma to Bjärred ...against the tide!"
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