Upplands Nation!!

I am officially a member of the Upplands Nation!

Now, what is a nation?
According to Uppsala University’s website:
“The thirteen Student Nations are clubs dating back to the 17th century. Each nation bears the name of a certain region in Sweden and historically it was a club for students from that region.”

It used to be a rule that everyone who was a student at UU had to join a nation. It wasn’t until very recently that they no longer made it mandatory. However, I don’t know why you would not join one. Each Nation has a huge house that has a pub, a club, a restaurant, a library...pretty much anything you could ask for. They also have really great prices on the Big Three: food, coffee and alcohol.
Not every nation offers the same quality of things. Some are known for their weekend clubs, some for their delicious food and some boast a large selection of beer or boast a friendly fika atmosphere. Each nation also has groups of their own. Upplands, for example, has a brass band, a monthly magazine, a sports club and a theater group. Every Nation is different.

And no, a Nation is nothing like a fraternity or a sorority. Besides the fact that anyone can join any Nation they want, you can also participate in any Nation’s activities. Almost none of the activities are exclusive to “member’s only.” Even if a Nation has a Formal, called a Gasque in Sweden, anyone can go, members just get priority on the tickets.

Since we arrived to Uppsala, Taylor, Ryan and I have been trying to go to a different nation each time for lunch, fika, dancing or drinking in a pub. We tried to get a feel for each Nation. We waited until the last possible day to sign up for a nation because it was so hard to choose! Every time I would ask a Swede for advice they would say, “Don’t join this one because of this, this Nation is cool, this Nation isn’t....but it doesn’t really matter which one you choose.”

It’s true that it doesn’t “really” matter which nation you join. You should join the nation you plan to visit the most because members get discounts on cover to the clubs or maybe even food.

It really came down to same problem I had when choosing a sorority. Each one was the practically the same, only the people in them are different.

So we chose Upplands Nation because we knew the most people there. Every one is really friendly and we actually made Swedish friends there. (Texas and Sofia (the only two Swedish people I’ve mentioned so far) are in Upplands Nation).

So far, I love it and I’m really happy with my decision. Taylor and Ryan also joined Upplands Nation for the same reasons. I even got a free dinner and a free cup of coffee for joining!