Dairy Bar Daydream

Happy Friday the 13th! I have had quite a few adventures in my bee class this week and hopefully I’ll be able to write soon! But for now, here’s 5 Question Friday!

1. Tube socks, calf socks, crew, ankle, none?

Honestly, it depends on my footwear! During the summer, I hate wearing anything that resembles a sock! If I could, I would wear sandals every moment of every day! However, if I’m wearing sneakers, boots, or any footwear that fully surrounds my foot, I have to wear socks! I prefer no-show or ankle socks; that way, I can still wear shorts or capris and not feel like I look ridiculous!

2. Was your child’s (children’s) name a mutual decision or was it a debate? If you don’t have children, do you plan on giving your spouse a say, or do you have a name you MUST have, regardless if your other half likes it or not?!

I would like to once again say, that I do not have any children-unless you count my dog-Titan- who often requires just as much attention as any child I have ever met! When I have children, I want to make the decision together with my spouse.  Although, I am partial to less-common names and often I like names from characters in some of my favorite novels.  Since I possessed one of those “less-common” names growing up, I know the dangers that come with that: constant mispronunciations and questions of where your name comes from, but I think that’s why I like the idea.  The first time I met someone who shared my name was when I was 13 years-old at summer camp; and until the ABC Family TV Show “Make it or Break it” came out, I had yet to meet anyone who spelled it the same way as I do! However if there was a serious objection I would respect my spouse’s opinion.

3. What is your favorite type of weather?

Any weather you can swim in! Now I must say, that I’ve swam in some pretty cold weather! My freshman year, my cousin and I did a Polar Plunge in a lake up near Buffalo, NY.  We did the plunge the weekend before Thanksgiving in November; there was snow on the ground and it couldn’t have been more than 40 degrees Fahrenheit out! It was for a great cause (we were raising money for the Special Olympics) however-if given the choice- I think I’d prefer for it to be sunny and at least 60 degrees out! And I still love rain storms as long as I’m near a field or lawn so I can dance and then go slip-and-sliding!

4. If left to your own devices, what time would you wake up every day?

Around 8:30 a.m.-9 a.m.  I tend to go to bed fairly early so I like waking up early.  As I’m beginning to learn from my time in Sweden, if the sun is out, I feel like I need to be up and doing stuff! Here in Sweden, that would mean I’d only get about 6 hours of sleep right now; fortunately in New York, I’m able to get 8 hours of sleep a night and not feel guilty about wasting daylight!

5. Have you bought your cemetery plot yet?

This is a very odd question! I have not bought a cemetery plot yet! I’m not even old enough to buy alcohol in the United States so before I read this question, buying a cemetery plot was the furthest thing from my mind! After all, I’m still a college student; let me pay off my student loans and then I might have time to think about such serious topics as cemetery plots!

1. Have you ever had roommates?

As a college student, I have had plenty of roommates! All of whom have been great (fortunately for me)! I guess I should say I have had plenty of housemates; after living in apartments with four other girls for the past two years, I have had 8 different housemates and 2 roommates!

My freshman year, I lived at 632 Donlon Hall.  After learning my roommates name and e-mail address, we got in touch and hashed out all of the typical details; who’d bring the fridge, printer, etc; what we were studying, where we were from, and the really important information of when we would get to our new home! When Amanda finally walked into our room on the first day, we introduced ourselves again and I asked her how the day was going.  She said it had been okay except for the fact that all of her stuff was lost somewhere in storage! Fortunately Amanda’s stuff was located and the rest of our year as roommates was not nearly as eventful; we got along great and while we didn’t leave as best friends, we did respect each other and learned some new things along the way.

My sophomore year I walked into my roommate situation nearly as blind as I had my freshman year.  I had agreed to live at 113 Heights Court with four of my sorority sisters; three of whom had been abroad and I had never met, or only met briefly! Over the summer, we decided that Ally and I would share a room.  Once again, I could not have had better luck! Ally was the only other true roommate I have ever had.  She was the ying to my yang; my side of the room consisted of rigid order—her side was best described as “organized chaos.”  Ally taught me to accept others as they are; she accepted my OCD-like tendencies, and I accepted her chaos.  113 Heights Court was the greatest housing situation I have ever experienced (so far)! Here’s hoping my next roommate is just as great!

The girls of Heights Ct

2. How many names do you or your children have (i.e.- Prince Charming William Phillip Arthur Louis John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt)?

Since I don’t have any children, I’m going to answer this question for myself! I was born as Kaylie Catherine Ackerley.  However, I was raised Catholic and in the Catholic faith, when a person is sure that they want to continue being part of this faith, they take part in Confirmation.  Confirmation is one of the 7 sacraments and the 3rd sacrament of Initiation into the Catholic Faith.  After taking part in Reconciliation and First Communion, I had decided that I wanted to become a full member of the Catholic Church.  In order to do this, I had to learn more about the Bible, take an exam, and write an essay on one of the Saints-preferably, the saint whose name I would take; my Confirmation name.  I had always planned on taking the name “Francis” for the patron saint Francis de Assisi; the patron saint of animals and animal lovers.  That was until I came across Saint Sebastian; the patron saint of athletes.  Having always been an avid athlete, I decided on this name (plus, I thought Sebastian was a really cool name)! So, in the Catholic church, I know have four names: Kaylie Catherine Sebastian Ackerley.

3. Did you watch the Royal Wedding?

No, but I was told I had to see pictures of the dress.  It was pretty but looks like it would have been a pain to walk around in!

4. What is the messiest room in your house?

Seeing how I currently live in a one-room corridor in Sweden, I guess I would have to say my room; although as I stated in Question 1, I have OCD-like tendencies, so it’s still not that messy! I’m a visual learner, so any sort of mess really distracts me from studying and getting work done so I can’t afford to have my room a mess!

5. What is your ideal mothers’ day?

I’m not sure I have given this enough thought.  I think, that I would really enjoy a mothers day spent just hanging out with my mom and my grandma doing some sort of craft project.  I remember growing up, that we used to do crafts all the time on my grandma’s kitchen table.  Whether it was the “Ugliest Easter Egg” competition (which my grandma almost always won) or painting plaster Christmas ornaments, we all really enjoyed those days.  If we couldn’t do crafts, I think I’d enjoy going to our favorite campground for a barbecue and a day full of swimming and beach volleyball!

If I were at Cornell, everyone would be getting excited for the end of classes celebration known as Slope Day.  Slope Day offers one day between classes and finals for students to celebrate the end of the year with alcohol and live music; this year, Nellie will be performing.  Student groups often design a specific “Slope Day T-shirt” and wear it with pride to all of the events they take part in on Slope Day.

Before I came to Sweden, I thought Cornell had a very unique concept with Slope Day.  I also thought that the idea of partying from sunup to sundown was quite extensive.  However, here in Uppsala Sweden, the students go a little bit further than that.  The last weekend in April brings a three day celebration known as Kvalborg, Valborg, and Majmiddag.  I will try to accurately explain my understanding of these three days!

Kvalborg: Pre-gaming Day
The Friday before Valborg is known as Kvalborg.  Students often still have classes in the morning and even the early afternoon, however, once they are over, the pre-gaming begins.  Most students will sit outside and barbeque with a huge group of friends and enjoy a couple of drinks.  As one of my Swedish housemates, Anders explained, “Today is basically all about making sure you get drunk and stay that way for the whole weekend!”

Valborg: Traditions Galore
After partying the night away on Kvalborg, it’s important to start Valborg with a quality breakfast.  Traditionally, groups of friends meet at someone’s house and enjoy a “champagne breakfast” of oatmeal and champagne! After breakfast is finished, students pack a picnic basket so that they will not have to miss out on any of the events throughout the day.  At 10 a.m. in the center of Uppsala there is a boat race down the Uppsala River.  This event is highly competitive and sign ups take place months before the big day.  Teams of 2-4 people sign up and buy supplies to construct a boat out of wood and styrofoam.  The boat “engineers” can design the boat however they want but the objective is simple: all members of the team must be on the boat; have your boat go the fastest; AND survive going down a small “waterfall” a little ways before the finish line.  The boat “themes” differ in so many ways: from sports to animals and companies to make-believe monsters every boat was very different! As you’ll be able to tell from the pictures that follow, it was extremely crowded; if you wanted to get a good visual you should probably get there at least an hour earlier than the race starts!

After the excitement of the boat race, some friends and I went up to a park behind the Ekonomikum building.  This is where many of the students will sit and picnic most of the day.  There are plenty of food vendors, some live music, and portapotties; oh and a lot of alcohol.  We saw everything: from students wearing regular clothes to students in neon colored jumpsuits to a few people dressed up in a Spiderman and an Easter Bunny costume! I was amazed by how many thousands of people there had to be in this one park.  If you had asked me back in January if this many people lived in Uppsala I would have definitely said it wasn’t possible! Look at how wrong I would have been (see above pictures)!

At 1500 the party begins to split up.  Some students will choose to take part in the more traditional event, and the reason Valborg was started.  Students meet at Carolina Rediviva-the oldest university library in all of Sweden- to celebrate “graduation”.  In Sweden, when students graduate high school, they receive these white hats that remind me of a sailors hat.  On Valborg, students can bring their hats to Rediviva and after a short ceremony, everyone puts their hats on and runs down the main road heading into the city center, cheering and yelling! Over the years, this tradition has grown smaller as other activities have taken hold.

These  ”other activities” I refer to are champagne wars! Each year, a few of the student nations will open up and for the price of 100 Swedish kronas you get a bottle of champagne and entrance to a very memorable experience.  Don’t wear clothes you care about or white clothes and leave electronics out of it because this champagne isn’t for drinking! You shake it up and spray it at everyone else! Having to bike home, I decided that I would pass on this experience!

The rest of the night is spent with friends, either at home playing drinking games, or in the nations’ clubs.  Either way, the party continues!

Majmiddag: Peace and Recovery
May Day is much more relaxed and a much more sober experience!  Some nations, like Snerikes, hold a less formal gasque so students can continue enjoying each other’s company and recover from the rest of the weekend’s activities.  Out in Ultuna, where I live, I was woken up by two firetrucks full of people cheering: I’m not sure if that’s tradition or normal for Majmiddag however it was an effective wake-up call to say the least!