Home with Mia and Zazu

During one of the warmest days in May we visited Chabo, one of Gothenburg’s largest student housing complexes situated close to Chalmers and the centre of Gothenburg. On the 12th floor we met Mia and her dog Zazu who live in a one-room apartment. The door was opened by a cheerful and welcoming Mia and a slightly more skeptical Zazu who gave an occasional bark.

Mia moved from Uppsala in the autumn of 2012 to do a technical preparatory year at Chalmers and she is currently studying third year technical mathematics. Although Uppsala offered great opportunities for studies and a career as a pilot and traffic controller were open to her, she chose a change of environment and Chalmers.

Mia describes Gothenburg as an open and friendly city with easy access to nature and people.
It is easy to interact with the people here and to combine student live with city live. Living at Chabo provides the best of the both worlds. She doesn’t see a problem with Chabo being located so close to the University. In fact, she values the closeness as it means that she can get home to her beloved Zazu during breaks.

Mia has always loved dogs and when she got the opportunity to have Zazu it was an obvious choice. Although the offer came suddenly and at the time she lived in a smaller apartment she didn’t hesitate. Combining life as a dog owner with student live hasn’t been a problem and there are a greater number of dog owners in the building that she expected. She has got to know people in the area who have similar interests and discovered the parks in the vicinity thanks to Zazu. Mia warmly recommends Näckrosdammen which is only 500 meters away and also Slottsskogen with its tame and wild animals.

We asked whether Zazu had a favourite place in the apartment and Mia began counting until she came to the realization that “ Well, Zazu is actually the mistress of the house”. Mia then showed us around the apartment and explained how she created space for a sofa, dining table, bed and office space without the apartment feeling cramped. She also explained how she built her own sleeping area using closets to make the apartment feel more like a two room apartment. It is obvious that Mia and Zazu are happy and contented in the apartment.

During the time we spent with Mia we got the feeling that she has no problem getting to know new people and conversation and laughter come easily to her. This of course makes moving to a new City alone much easier. Apart from her studies and Zazu, Mia leads a full life with friends and Zazu is of course a natural part of that group of friends. We thank both Mia and Zazu for taking the time to meet us and we hope that they continue to thrive both in Gothenburg and at Chabo.

Writer: Patrik Forsberg
Images: Christoffer Rutström