{"id":62,"date":"2008-08-27T23:59:44","date_gmt":"2008-08-28T03:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=62"},"modified":"2008-08-27T23:59:44","modified_gmt":"2008-08-28T03:59:44","slug":"nollning-already","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/nollning-already\/","title":{"rendered":"Nollning Already?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this week I was sitting in my bedroom, reading a book and trying very hard to ignore the party going on outside. My apartment building is surrounded by student housing (or “corridors” as they’re called here), and if you want to keep your sanity, you learn very quickly to ignore whatever is going on outside during the university year, or you move elsewhere.<\/p>\n

And I was doing just fine with this ignoring bit that night until someone outside started screaming as if he was being skinned alive. And kept screaming. THAT I had to check out. I stuck my head outside and saw a butt naked man running in circles in front of my building shrieking like a banshee. Sadly, it was too dark to take a photo. Other banshees were doing a mosh pit dance some distance away.<\/p>\n

My neighbor also stuck her head out. She nodded at me, mumbled \u201cnollning<\/strong>\u201d and retreated to her apartment.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Nollning<\/strong>? Already? Dang, where did the time go! I\u2019m so out of it this year. A sure sign I must be getting old.<\/p>\n

But yes, apparently it’s nollning<\/strong> time again. In various places around the world it\u2019s known under different names (hazing, orientation week, student initiation, etc) but the basic principles are the same \u2013 to humiliate new uni students by making them perform a series of ridiculous tasks while consuming copious amounts of alcohol.<\/p>\n

In Sweden nollning<\/strong> seems very well organized however, probably due to the fact that the activity is managed by the many student unions in conjunction with university personnel. And membership in a student union (studentk\u00e5r<\/strong>) is mandatory by law.<\/p>\n

As all unions in Sweden, student unions hold a great deal of power. In addition to organizing goofy initiation rituals, they also represent the student body in the decision making process within the universities, provide all sorts of services for its members (such as counseling for example), publish their own magazines and newspapers, and run shops, cafes and nightclubs on campuses.<\/p>\n

The Swedish National Union of Students (Sveriges F\u00f6renade Studentk\u00e5rer, SFS<\/strong>), is the main umbrella organization of most students’ unions in Sweden and here\u2019s their website<\/a>, sadly only in Swedish.<\/p>\n