Chapter 5

5.   First semester in Uppsala

 

The flight from Athens arrived at Arlanda at lunchtime. It was Friday the 31st of August. I took the Arlanda bus to Uppsala and then a taxi to the student housing headquarters. I had applied for student housing already in April when I lived in Stockholm and had been given a dorm room. The office was open for students to pick up their keys. There was a long queue in front of me and I stood there with my big and heavy bag. About an hour later I got my keys.

My dorm room

The student block-houses were a few kilometers west, in Flogsta, and I went there by bus. My dorm room was on the first floor, in a six-story building. The entire building had just opened and no one else had lived there before. On the notice board on the ground floor, I saw my long last name, among nine Swedes who were going to live in the same corridor.

When I opened the door, I met some students who had just moved in and were tidying up their rooms. We greeted each other and I went to my room. It was a nice, furnished and quite large room, with its own shower and toilet. The large communal kitchen, the telephone booth and TV room were located at the beginning of the corridor.

After I had done some tidying up the room, I went to the grocery store, which was quite close, to buy some food, which I placed in my part of the shelf in the fridge and in the freezer. Everything was planned, I was told by the other students who also shared the double fridge and freezer.

Then we started chatting with each other and they were surprised that I spoke Swedish so well. Most were younger and beginners at university and quite shy. They actually showed respect towards me as I was older and was about to start doctoral studies, just like Evert, a forty-year-old man from Ystad in South Sweden, who was a researcher at the University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU.

Then I called Nikos and my family and told them that everything had gone well. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to talk much because it was a coin phone and I didn't have that many kronor to put in.

Late in the afternoon it was time for cooking. The kitchen was almost filled with students frying and boiling their food. There were actually a number of frying pans and pans that we could use. Afterwards, of course, we had to wash the dishes, dry and get everything ready. Then some of us sat in front of the TV to watch the news or some movie and afterwards I went to bed.

Uppsala sightseeing

On Saturday morning I went to town to orient myself. I took the bus to the center. The bus went past the Humanities Centre (HMC), which is now called Ekonomikum, the well-known Seismological Department, the University Main Building and the Cathedral where I got off. I suspected that there must be Uppsala's center.

I first went to the University Main Building, an elegant and stately building. Unfortunately, it was closed. On the front side there were the names of all the well-known scientists who had studied or worked there. There I figured out that the genius Anders Celcius was a professor in Uppsala and lived a very short life, between 1701 – 1744. In high school we had read about him who invented the temperature scale and I remembered that he died quite young. 

Then I went on to the cathedral and when I arrived, I stretched my head to the sky to judge the height of the very long church tower. Inside the cathedral were many foreign tourists. At the very beginning I noticed the grave of the world-famous botanist and medicine professor Carl von Linnaeus, which I also remembered from my high school days. Behind the altar it was a magnificent tomb where King Gustav Vasa lies, while King Johan III, a grand-child of Gustav Vasa, lies in a less modest grave. 

Then I continued towards Carolina Rediviva, a very huge Library, and the Castle. From the Castle you could look over Uppsala on one side, and the beautiful botanical garden on the other. The castle was closed and I went into the botanical garden. There I walked aside with many tourists along the geometric, symmetrical flower paths. After a long walk, I returned towards Carolina Rediviva and continued on the downhill towards Centrum.

When I arrived at Stora-torget there were a lot of people and then I understood that there must be the city center. Suddenly I heard two young boys speaking Greek. I went up to them and told them that I had just arrived in Uppsala and asked if they lived there. They told me that they were born there by Greek parents and were on their way to the Greek association that was right at the corner of the square. I was welcome there to meet other Greeks, if I wanted, they suggested.

My first football match in Sweden

We came in and there were about ten Greek older men who smoked and played cards. At another table sat some younger people, about my age, who were trying to get players for tomorrow's football match. We introduced ourselves to each other and they asked if I could play football with the team tomorrow, because some players were still on holiday in Greece. I answered immediately, "of course", but I wondered if I could play because I wasn't registered. They laughed and said that they played in division 7 and there were no formal requirements, it was enough with the name and social security number. But since I hadn't received a social security number yet, the first six digits of my birthday and a residence permit were enough. They were also going to fix football boots because I would slip on the lawn if I played with my sneakers.

The next day in the morning, Giannis came to Flogsta and picked me up with his Volvo. It felt great to go to the game in a Volvo. Only the richest Greeks and some top football players could afford a Volvo in Greece and I have never sat in a Volvo before. I had never played on grass before and it felt wonderful to run on the soft green surface compared to the hard gravel pitch we were used to when I played in Greece.

Even though I hadn't trained for a long time, it went pretty well with my technique, but not with my physique. The Swedes had significantly better physique than me anyway. We lost the game, even though everyone liked my game and of course they wanted me to continue. Giannis insisted and would drive me to the trainings a couple of days a week. I didn't promise anything because my studies would start on Monday and at the same time, I thought about the secretary's advice in the Swedish embassy to avoid Greeks.

First day at university

On Monday I woke up very early. I did not sleep much, because I was very excited. Before I left Norway, I wrote to the department's secretary that I would come on Monday, the first day of the semester. I got off the bus just outside HMC and went up to the Department of Economics. There were many students there who were about to start their education and stood in line. I also stood in line.

After about half an hour it was my turn and I went into the secretary's (Karin) room and introduced myself. When she saw me and heard my Swedish, her face lit up. In the same room sat another secretary (Eva) who was responsible for the doctoral education. When Eva heard me talking to Karin, she came to me and welcomed me. Then she went straight to the professor's room (Ragnar Bentzel), informed him that I had arrived and she waved at me to go there. Bentzel welcomed me with great joy and he asked me how on earth did I learn Swedish! Then he asked Eva to call the local newspaper, Uppsala Nya Tidning to interview me, since it was exciting news. But I kindly declined the proposal, as I knew that I would not be able to handle an interview in Swedish.

Bentzel, a member of the Nobell committee, told me that he knew one of my professors at the School of Business and Economics, Drandakis, and the Governor of the Central Bank, Zolotas, and he greatly appreciated both of them. I asked him to speak a little slower to be able to understand and he did. Of course, we talked about my plans and a couple of years later he would become my supervisor.

I remember using "You" in pluralis (which is a different word in Swedish) when I asked him something. He first looked around, Eva had left the room, he turned to me with a small smile and appreciated my "You". Then he said that unlike Germany and France, they use the singular form in Sweden, which I can also use. I replied that I had learned Swedish with an old-fashioned book where the plural form "You" and "Yours" should be used with older people, and I could not use "you" for an older professor! I continued to use the plural form for years to come and I think he accepted and respected it. Sometimes it actually felt a little embarrassing for me when I used "You", while my Swedish fellow students used the singular "you", or even call him with his first name “Ragnar” at our meetings and seminars. 

I also showed him my Linguaphone certificate. He did not think that the university would approve it as a public document, but he urged me to go to the central administration and try to convince the female director there. For the doctoral education, no formal language skills in Swedish were really required, but since I was going to repeat two courses at undergraduate level this semester, I needed to register for real. And to study at the undergraduate level, you had to pass the test in Swedish.

I went to the central administration, which was located at the top of another building, next to the University Main Building. Bentzel had called her and she was waiting for me. I showed her my Linguaphone certificate, she smiled and shook her head. Then she asked me a few questions and she thought I was reasonably good at Swedish, but she couldn't register me unless I had a certificate from a Swedish authority. She then suggested that I should go to the Language Office that was in the center and ask when the national language tests would take place.

It was already 10 o'clock in the morning when I got there and they had a break. I went up to the teacher, showed him my Linguaphone certificate and started talking to him a little. He suggested that I go to class with the others after the break to see how I felt. They had two hours left and I went in.

There were about twenty Iranians in the same class. It was their second semester. After the revolution in Iran in 1979, several thousand Iranians came to Sweden. It felt like they were worse than me. The teacher noticed it too and when the course ended, I had to stay and talk to him a little. He suggested that I go to the economics lectures at the university instead. Prioritizing the Swedish course in his class would hardly help me. Then we went together to the secretary to register for the national test that was to take place in early October. He was absolutely sure that I would succeed. I thanked him for his advice and went back to HMC.

University life continues

The next day we were going to start the semester with the Advanced Microeconomics course. Karin had informed the teacher that I was going to take the course, even though I, so far, had not been formally admitted due to the language formalities. There were about fifteen students who took the course and the teacher (Olle Melander) didn't mind when I went to his lectures. On the contrary, he was happy that I knew some mathematics because it was needed in the course. We had two courses in mathematics at the School of Business and Economics in Athens and I was surprised when I found out that you didn't have to take similar courses in Sweden if you studied economics. On the other hand, microeconomics at this level was more about algebra, calculus with one and two variables, and optimization, and Olle was very good at that.

However, understanding Olle's southern Swedish dialect was much more difficult than all the graphic and mathematical forms he wrote on the board. Reading the English book, we had was just as difficult. It was actually my first textbook in English and my English wasn't really good. At the School of Business and Economics in Athens, all literature was in Greek and I chose French as the language of the subject, instead of English which the majority of the students chose. I was supposed to continue my studies in France, according to my fathers’ wish.

When I look at this book today, I see that there were at twenty words I didn't know on the first page, which I had marked in pencil in both Greek and Swedish. It took so much time to understand most of the sentences. First, I marked the unknown word, then I opened the English-Greek dictionary first, and then the English-Swedish to write its meaning in the text. Of course, it got better for every section I read, but it took so long time. If I were an English or a Swedish student, I would have saved a lot of time, in just understanding the language.

One day when we didn't have lectures, I went to the library to study. Just outside, I met two Greek students who were studying business administration. They told me that there were about fifteen Greeks who studied at the university and the vast majority studied business administration. Kristoffer and Apostolis were the only ones who studied Economics, but at lower levels.

They suggested that we go to the cafeteria, where the Greek students used to sit. Reluctantly, I went there because I wanted to study and had had coffee at home an hour ago. It was the first time I went there. There were probably ten Greeks who had occupied two or three tables and talked football, politics and about their vacations in Greece. Christopher was there, but not Apostolis.

Suddenly a guy named Stavros asked if it was me who played football with the "fascist team" on Sunday. Some laughed when Stavros mentioned the "fascist team" while others looked at me and wondered if I did play there. I was really put off. I explained how it all happened when I was in town and met Giannis, and I think they accepted my answer. I had no idea that there were two Greek football teams in Uppsala in the same division, who hated each other. Giannis didn't tell anything. Then I learned that their team consists only of Greek students who also did not share the other team's political values. Gianni's team, on the other hand, consisted mostly of Greeks who were born in Sweden, or had moved there with their parents during the 1960s. Since I was a student, I was welcomed to change clubs. But the season was supposed to end in a few weeks and I politely replied that I had so much to study and didn't have time for football. Maybe next year I would change, I promised to make them happy.

While we were sitting there, two other Greeks came to the cafeteria. They had just met the lecturer in business administration and were happy that they got to be part of the same study group as the other two Greek students, and could form a larger group. They were not present when the groups were divided and asked the lecturer afterwards to be part of the same group. And then one of the other two guys, Antonis, turns and says to them: "Of course you are welcome to our group, but the question is who will write the essay!". Of course, everyone laughed very loudly.

Then I learned that many Greek students formed groups with each other, or with the Finns, which were far too many during that time in Uppsala, but not with the Swedes. The Swedish students did not want to be in the same group, with neither Finns nor Greeks, because they did not contribute much and their language skills were too poor. That's why Antonis asked "the question is who will write the essay".

Most had been in Sweden for a couple of years and no one mastered the language well enough to write a report, or an essay in Swedish. One of them, Babis, was living with a Swede and everyone wanted to work with him when it was time to write something in Swedish. As you understand, it was not Babis who did it, but his generous girlfriend, who was rewarded with free holidays in Greece in the summers. 

It was nice in the cafeteria, but after a while I decided to go to the library, I was already late. I used to sit in the library for a couple of hours at a time with about 30-minute breaks and often I stayed until it closed, at 9 o'clock in the evening. Then I used to take the bus home and cook some food.

Somehow it was good to cook dinner myself so late and not be crowded with the others who used to eat dinner a couple of hours earlier. At the same time, it was quite quick to cook dinner, often it was spaghetti, canned food or frozen fish that I cooked in the oven. I didn't have much to wash up with such dishes either. On the other hand, there wasn't much conversation, because when I had my dinner, most of the students sat in their rooms and studied. Afterwards, I could watch a little TV, often the news, before I went to my room to continue studying. I used to study until midnight, while the radio in the background played classical or folk music. The routine continued in the same manner. Get up early in the morning, go to HMC and sit there and study until the evening. I had no time for social life.

I often thought about what the secretary at the embassy in Athens had said to me about the old quarrel between the Greeks in Uppsala and wondered if it is still there when they have two football teams in the same division. Furthermore, I was a little skeptical of all the Greek students who sat in the cafeteria for hours and firmly declined their invitation to become a member of the association or go to their parties. And if a player in the student team calls the other team a "fascist team", it was a sufficient proof that I didn't commit myself to anything. I decided to continue with my solitude and with my books, accompanied with Mozart or folk music.

Sometimes, when I had collected a large number of coins, I called Nikos and my mother from the coin phone in the hallway. Calling Stockholm was of course much cheaper. But calling Greece meant that there was not so much talk really, because I had to feed the device on kronor every five seconds. I wrote letters instead and was of course very happy when my mother sent me letters too.

The general election was approaching and the party leaders campaigned around the country. One evening when we were watching the news with some other students, I saw Olof Palme who was in a kindergarten talking to small children. Suddenly I heard a little girl shouting "you Olof". I was both surprised and shocked. I thought I heard wrong and I turned to Evert who was sitting next to me if I heard correctly. Evert replied with his funny pronunciation from southern Sweden, "yes, you heard well!". But "do they have no nurture?" I asked. Evert laughed a little and said that "I understand you, but in Sweden it is completely correct to use singular form to the prime minister as well. But it wasn't like that when I was in elementary school." That was another new lesson I learned. And so, I thought that my Linguaphone book must have been really old that almost always used "You" and "Yours". 

At the beginning of October, I passed the test in Swedish and when I received the diploma I went straight to the administration to show it. I told her, "Here is the diploma but I know about as bad Swedish as I could a month ago". She smiled and replied that "now you have a public document that shows that you can", and then I was registered for real. My studies also went well. A few weeks later, I passed Microeconomics. Immediately after started Macroeconomics, which I also passed after the Christmas holidays. According to the requirements, I was ready to start the doctoral studies in the spring semester of 1980.

In October, when the Swedish Academy nominated the Greek poet Odysseas Elytis for the Nobel Prize in Literature, I was really proud. I remember when I went to HMC the next day, I was met by the secretaries who congratulated me on this award. It felt really nice. It was the first time I saw on TV the Nobel Prize ceremony itself in December, together with some other students in the corridor. To see the King present the Nobel Prize to a Greek was really great. The darkness of December was illuminated. It was the first time in my life that I experienced such dark days. When the ceremony began, it was already dark. But even in the mornings, while I was waiting for the bus, it was dark and really cold of course.

During the autumn, the police arrested an international gang that imported hard drugs to Sweden. One of the league's leaders was Greek and it felt really embarrassing for me when I watched the news on TV. One of the secretaries asked me what I thought about him. Perhaps she expected me to feel sorry for him, since he was my countryman. But she was both surprised and happy when I said that these individuals who deal with drugs do not represent their countries and must be punished severely. And that it was lucky for him that he was arrested in Sweden and not in Greece, because he will receive a much lighter sentence here. And while she looked at me, I ended my answer by saying that perhaps Sweden should be a little tougher on such criminals if they do not want to bring even more criminality here.

A few years later, when I had coffee with other employees in our coffee room, we discussed the growing crime. And Monica, the secretary, remembered what I had said to her when my compatriot was arrested. "We should have been a little tougher as Christos thought," she said, and then I noticed that only some people shared my views, while others did not believe that harsher punishments would solve the problem.

Crime was brought to the fore again twelve years later when the conservative economist Garry Becker received the Nobel Prize. In his Nobel lecture in Uppsala, he argued that criminals are actually very rational individuals and that they have a greater incentive to commit crimes if they expect a lighter sentence, or if the probability of being caught is low. I remember that a few more colleagues changed their minds afterwards, but there were still some who questioned the conservative Garry Beckers views.

First Christmas in Sweden

Around December 20th, all the Swedes in the corridor had gone home and they asked me if I could water their flowers, since I would be the only one left in the corridor. It wasn't a problem for me. They thanked me and I got some candy. Of course, it felt really gloomy to be alone in the entire corridor, but I was looking forward to meeting Barbro and Nikos who had invited me to Christmas Eve.

We had agreed to meet at lunchtime. I planned to take the train to Stockholm at twelve. I remember that it was arctic cold and a lot of snow when I walked to the bus stop. There was no one there and I thought I had missed the bus. The buses used to come every 20 minutes on weekends and I was freezing while I waited. I had been standing there for at least twenty minutes, with no bus in sight. Then I looked at a bus timetable that was almost frozen and saw that the bus would arrive in about 20 minutes, since on Christmas Eve the bus schedule was every hour.

I was going to go home and call Nikos that I missed the bus and would come to Stockholm later, but I didn't dare. I might miss the bus again and I stayed instead. I could hardly feel my feet; they had frozen from the cold. In addition, I had slipped when I went to the bus stop and when I tried to save the flowers and the box of chocolates for Barbro, I lost my balance and fell to the ground. A pointed block of ice hit my right palm when I fell and made a small hole in my gloves that caused me to bleed a little. The blood froze of course after a few minutes. I thought it was very strange that a block of ice could become as pointed and hard as a nail!

Finally, the bus arrived, I boarded and warmed up. There were only three passengers. When I got off at Stora torget, it was already 12.30. I had about a 10-minute walk to the train station and when I arrived, I noticed that the next train to Stockholm would depart at 2 pm. I was already late. I called Nikos while I was waiting for the train and told them what had happened and that I would get to their home at 3.30 pm at the earliest. I noticed that he was sad because he, Barbro and her mother, who was also invited, would miss the traditional "Donald Duck" on the TV! I thought he was joking, even though he had told me about it before. How can a children's program be so important, I thought.

I arrived at about 3.40 pm, handed over the flowers and the box of chocolates to Barbro, wished Barbro a Merry Christmas and apologized for having ruined the Christmas tradition with "Donald Duck". Of course, they forgave me and waited patiently until I came to have Christmas lunch together. According to tradition, you should first have Christmas lunch before watching "Donald Duck"! That year was the opposite, unfortunately.

Then it was time for the Christmas gift delivery and it felt good. They asked me about my life in Uppsala. Towards evening, a taxi came to drive Barbro's mother home. Nikos said that pensioners had the right to take a taxi for free on major holidays to spend time with their loved ones. What a fantastic public service, I thought!

We had planned that I would spend the night at their place to avoid going back to Uppsala late on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day after lunch, I went back, even though they insisted that I could stay a few more days. Just before I left, my parents called to congratulate me on my name day and wish me and them, Merry Christmas. They were of course very happy and grateful that I was with them during Christmas.

It was empty and extremely cold in Uppsala and the buses didn't run very often. I came home early in the evening. Almost all student houses in Flogsta were dark, except for a few Christmas lights and stars hanging at some windows. I was lucky that I got some Christmas food from Barbro, because I only had a small spaghetti package on my shelf. Then I sat alone in front of the TV and watched a movie before I went to bed. What a Christmas, I thought.

On Friday the 28th of December it snowed quite a lot in Uppsala. There was no point in going to the library. I bought some food from the supermarket and since the common laundry room across the other house was empty, I decided to wash my clothes in the evening. Just before I was about to go to bed, I got a terrible toothache. Even though I took a pain killer in the middle of the night, there was hardly any relief. A few hours later I got up and walked out towards the yard where a lot of snow had accumulated. I was in so much pain and suddenly I put my head in the soft snow, just like an ostrich does in the sand! After a few minutes it felt a little better, or rather part of my face was insensate by the snow. I don't think I slept any more that night.

Early on Saturday morning I called my dentist. I had been to him a couple of times earlier in the autumn, because I was suffering from gingivitis. He was kind, good and very helpful. It was he who recommended a new toothpaste for my inflammation, Denivit, which I have been using ever since. I told him what had happened but it was Saturday and he didn't usually work. In addition, he lived in Knivsta about half an hour driving from Uppsala.

He felt sorry for me and he promised he would come in an hour or so. I was already outside his clinic when he arrived. He temporarily fixed my tooth and I would come back a few days later to fix it. I was aware of my dental problems, but the dentist visits were far too expensive for a poor student. And I was actually thinking about the Immigration Board's list of various cost items where dental visits were not included. I happily paid the high price and then he told me that he didn't really earn anything from it, since his marginal tax rate was about 70%. I studied economics but I didn't know that the marginal tax rate in Sweden was at such extremely levels. I thought it was closer to 50%. On the way home, I thought that the Swedes must be the world's most honest and dutiful people, when they accept to work with such taxes!

I celebrated New Year's Eve alone with some spaghetti and canned fish and it felt very sad. I didn't want to bother Nikos and Barbro who had invited me to Stockholm. I lied that I was invited to some acquaintances in Uppsala. I knew that the Greek association had a New Year's dinner, but I was too proud to go there. I had decided to stay away.

I had collected some coins to call my mother and when it was 11 o'clock (12 pm Greek time), I called and congratulated her on both her name day and the new year. The year before in Greece, I nagged my family that I would celebrate New Year's Eve in Sweden with glamour, and my mother asked if we had a party with the other students. Of course, I lied in an almost tearful voice. Thankfully, my sad voice was covered when the crowns fell down in the coin machine.

I think she bought my answer and afterwards I went to my room. Radio Sweden usually plays ABBAs beautiful songs in New Year, but I did not want to listen that. I switched to the second channel instead to listen to classical music and I looked for a long time at my empty bag that was lying in the corner. Then I thought about my girlfriend in Greece who I had left for Sweden's sake and I went to the lockers to pick my clothes, pack my bag and leave Sweden. I couldn't take it anymore. In a couple of days, I would move back to Greece.

I went to bed but it was hard to sleep. I was thinking if it was the right decision to leave Sweden. I would be broken if I returned and everyone would mock me that I moved from my dreamland. And since I was far too proud to admit that Sweden was not the country I dreamed of and I nagged about, I had to continue! I got up and took all my clothes out of my bag again. An hour or so later I fell asleep with the radio on.

This was my worst New Year's Eve experience and I wished that the Christmas misery would end soon to return to the university and meet my fellow students.