Embedded Files
March 9, 2020
As you may have noticed, I got really busy. I promise I haven't forgotten about this blog! I'm going to add extra text boxes in here as though I was typing while I was there, so that you can live the experience,too. After that, I'll mark where I had left off originally so that you know what was written when. Thank you to everyone for your patience! I'm so sorry it has taken so long! I'm going to add some extra pages of tips and advice for travelling in Sweden, useful words to know, and extra reflections of my time there, in thanks for waiting so long for this conclusion to my website. I hope you decide to travel to Sweden in the future! It's an amazing country with equally amazing people, and I would go back in a heartbeat if I ever got the chance.
Tack för att du läste! (Thanks for reading!)
December 21, 2019
I have been able to spend three days substitute teaching between graduation and winter break, and the difference between Sweden and the United States is staggering to me.
One of the first things I noticed is that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE is sick. That's not even relatively normal in Sweden. If you are sick in Sweden, you stay home and/or go to the doctor. In the States, I came back to teachers still teaching with very little voice, students coughing all the time, and tons of hand sanitizer. After being in a mostly sickness free zone for a month, I have to admit, I was terrified. It felt to me as though the germs were just creeping in, trying to get me. I'd never noticed it before. Never even phased me. Now I can't help but see it everywhere.
One cool thing I noticed, to counteract the bad sick germs, was that the first graders of one of the elementary schools was doing a "Christmas Around the World" unit, and one of their lessons was about Lucia Day in Sweden. Unfortunately, Lucia Day was Dec 13th, the day after we left, so Brittany and I missed seeing the full day celebrations by one day. I still thought it was cool that the students were learning about Sweden.
It feels weird. I feel like a stranger in my homeland. I've been reassured by friends that this feeling will pass, and I'll get reacquainted with Kentucky again in a week or two, but it still feels really weird.
12 Dec 2019
Hej då, Sverige. Men jag kommer snart hem.
I very nearly got sick when we touched down in Amsterdam. There are so many people here that I will likely never see again, and the thought makes me sad. Sweden has forever changed me, for the better, I think. I graduate in 2 days. I can't even fathom that at the moment. Everything is going so fast right now. I suppose there's nothing to do now but just let life take me where it will.
Tack så mycket. För allt.
11 Dec 2019
We leave tomorrow. We don't have school today, but there is still a lot to do to get ready to go back. We have to pack, give away or toss what we can't take with us, and say our goodbyes. I still don't want to leave.
Brittany came with me to Vallastaden on Monday. The students were able to ask her many questions, and we got her to go down the slide, too! Monday night we went out to eat with a few people from IR and the Tigers. Our third and final trip to Hörnens for the best burgers in Linköping (in our opinion), followed by the Christmas service at the cathedral. The service was amazing. There were several Christmas carols that I recognized, some I didn't, and some that I thought I recognized, but are sung differently in Sweden.
Tuesday the students had swimming class at the downtown pool. It was a really great distraction for me from the fact that it was my last day there. We had to take the city bus downtown from the school. The schools have a deal with the bus company where they are charged a "per class" rate, and have cards that they beep when a class gets on the bus. I thought that was really interesting. We had to bring lunch from the cafeteria with us, as we were going to be there over the eating period. We met the PE teacher there, and he was testing all of the students from the school on their swimming skills that day. Apparently, in all of Sweden, the students must be able to swim a certain distance by themselves at, I think, 6th Year? I thought that was really interesting that swimming is a required PE subject.
After we got back, Amanda had brought a very Swedish candy called salted licorice for me to try. Now, I'm one of the weird people that likes the flavor of black licorice, so I thought I'd be fine. Salted licorice is a completely different story, though. She also had me try it in front of the entire class, so they'd get to see the reaction. Apparently, it's hilarious. It's bitter and salty, and that's really not doing the intensity of the flavor any justice. I had to buy some earlier today at the market so that I can share the pain with people back home. The students all gave me hugs and wished me well. They also shared with me a video called "Swedish Fika" on YouTube that we all found amazingly hilarious. Dancing around to Swedish Fika is going to be one of my favorite memories for a good long time.
Tuesday night, Brittany and I hosted a thank you party for IR and the Teaching Tigers as our, "So long and thanks for all the fish," goodbye. Three of them baked me a gluten free cheesecake. It was delicious. Brittany and I went through our cupboards and gave away most of our extra food to one of the guys, which ended up being extremely amusing. I'm going to miss these wonderful people as much as I'm going to miss my class. I can't believe we have less than 24 hours left...
Tonight, Amanda has invited me over to her house for dinner, and then I'm having one last night out with some Tigers. I don't want the night to end.
10 Dec 2019
Today was my last day at Vallastadenskola. I cried after the students left. I don't want to leave. At all.
8 Dec 2019
Saturday morning, Brittany and I met with Lena, our faculty contact person from the University, for fika. It was great to be able to sit with her and learn about different things around the University. We also had to, sadly, make plans for our departure from Sweden. She took us to a great little bakery, and I was surprised at how many gluten free options they had!
After fika, we went to the Christmas Market in Gamla Linköping (the historic part of town). We met up with one of the exchange students from Switzerland while we were there and the three of us wandered around for a couple hours. We got souvenirs for our friends and family back home, sampled different foods, and even listened to a children's group sing, dressed in traditional Swedish clothing! It was laid back and really fun.
Later that night, we were invited to hang out with the Teaching Tigers again in the corridor of the exchange student from the Czech Republic. We played some games, listened to music, and had a lot of fun. Between Friday and Saturday, I started getting a lot closer to a few of the Tigers. I'm going to be really sad when I have to leave them on Thursday. I wish we had more time here.
Tomorrow, IR invited us to an English Christmas service in the big Linköping Cathedral! I'm really excited to see the inside!
6 Dec 2019
Brittany and I visited the high school today and talked about the differences between America and Sweden. It was a lot more similar to Folkungaskolan than Vallastadenskola. The students were all eager to hear about the United States. They had a lot of questions about politics and President Trump as well as Kentucky Fried Chicken.
After we got back from school, Brittany and I were planning on attending a game night on campus. Enter, bike incident #2. Long story short (details on the funny stories page), Brittany had a small accident on the bike and ended up not wanting to go, so I went by myself. I ended up playing Ticket to Ride and Cards Against Humanity with IR and some Teaching Tigers (the other education exchange students, whom we met at the Christmas Market a couple weekends ago). I was able to buy a couple IR patches for Brittany and myself while I was there, and invited them to the Christmas Market at Gamla Linköping the next day.
After games, we moved to the other side of the building, where one of their friends was playing piano and doing magic tricks. We sat around the piano talking, showing magic card tricks, and fiddling around on the piano for another hour or so before departing for home. On the way home, I was able to get a really pretty picture of Valla, the section of Linköping where my school is located.
Tomorrow's going to be a big day! So many things happening!
Vi ses!
5 Dec 2019
Tuesday was a Jul smörgåsbord with many of the exchange students! IR teamed up with another exchange organization on campus to show us all different traditional Swedish foods. We were also challenged to bring Christmas food from our own countries to share. Brittany and I spent Monday night making Oreo balls, and she made macaroni and cheese, too. Maybe it's not really Christmas food, but they tell me it was still delicious.
(This was the night of the first bike incident, if you're keeping track in the funny stories page.)
I ate lots of new things for the first time at the smörgåsbord! I tried 2 kinds of pickled herring, which were better with potatoes than by themselves, and caviar, which I absolutely couldn't stand. I have been told that I just tried the wrong kind of caviar, so I might be willing to try it again in the future. We also had many foods that I'd already been introduced to, like meatballs, Swedish Christmas candy, and glögg. It was all quite yummy, and I had a lot of fun.
At school, I had been asked on Wednesday if I could be the substitute Music teacher today for my 4th and 5th year class, since I am a Music minor, and I jumped at the chance. Wednesday night found me asking multiple corridor mates if I was translating the music terminology into Swedish properly, since I knew there was much that the students would not be able to understand in English. I wrote the Music slideshow for the students while trying a new Swedish food: blood pudding! It was a lot sweeter than I had expected! I was so taken aback by the sweetness, but it was really good.
The lesson went pretty well today. I was happy with it. The students also really seemed to get engaged as we were listening to different songs from around the world and stating which instrument families they heard playing. They also enjoyed having instruments in front of them to touch and try to play. I had brought a tin whistle and bamboo flute to Sweden with me from home, I borrowed a cajon and an ukulele from the music room, and even liberated a pair of spoons from my corridor. The only type of instrument I didn't have access to was a brass instrument, and so I showed them how to buzz a mouthpiece using their hand as the instrument. It was really fun.
Tomorrow, Brittany and I visit the high school!
Hej då! Vi ses!
2 Dec 2019
Today, everyone walked into the classroom to find a note on the board from Henke, one of the teacher aides, saying how much he is going to miss our class. I just realized I forgot to talk about his party! How dare I!?!
So Friday, 30 Nov was Henke's last day at Vallastaden. I was so sad because I was going to miss it because I was visiting Folkungaskolan. Thankfully for me, the Friday schedule has many other teachers than just Amanda with the class, so we threw him a party that Thursday, 29 Nov. I thought adult Swedes had long and involved parties, but the children do as well! It started with all the students at rast (recess) begging Amanda to go over to a nearby playground and stay out longer (it was all part of the plan). We stayed out there, playing hide and seek, for at least an hour. Amanda had 5 students at a time return every 15 min, so they could "do their presentations." Henke started getting suspicious when he noticed that none of them ever came back out afterwards, but by then we were down to 6 students. They led him around on a "treasure hunt" (skattjakt) that really just ended up with him doing a bunch of exercises at random places. Being out at the playground without students there gave me a chance to take pictures without the risk of having any of the students in the pictures, so I can show you Vallastadenskola's playgrounds!
At the end of the skattjakt, we had Henke pull his hat down to cover his eyes, led him back to the classroom, and surprised him! The rooms were all decorated, there was music, snacks, and pictures everywhere. We played musical chairs, had a dance party, asked Henke a bunch of trivia questions about the class, and the students had even laminated a picture of Henke with the nose cut out and we played "Pin the Nose on the Henke." They even covered Amanda's teacher chair with a blanket and pinned a note to it that said, "Henkes Tron" (Henke's Throne).
One interesting detail that I found the same as in the schools I've worked in, was that there was a school rule that students were not allowed to eat anything at school before lunch. So the snacks weren't opened until after we had all eaten at lunch first. The entire rest of the school day (rast was supposed to end at 10:10, mind you) was spent celebrating Henke's final days with us. The students made cards for him, and we just enjoyed each other's company.
So we walked into the classroom on Monday morning to a note on the board that read, "Ni är världens bästa klass! Ta hand om Amanda åt mig! Jag kommer sakna er så mycket!" (You are the world's best class! Take care of Amanda for me! I will miss you so much!) He had also written personalized notes on post its and placed one at each student's seat. There were many tears and laughter Monday morning as the students read their notes.
Tack så mycket, Henke! Du är bast! (Thank you so much, Henke. You are the best!)
1 Dec 2019
So London was amazing, even if the trip to get there was not. It started with Friday, 30 Nov, the first day of snow we experienced in Sweden! I got to visit Folkungaskolan that morning, where Brittany has been teaching! It was quite a new experience. The ages of the students at Folkunga are from Year 4 through Gymnasium (until they graduate), whereas my school is Year 0 to Year 6. We switched between many classes, rather than staying mostly in one room like at Vallastaden.
Since there were many classes with many different teachers, I got to observe many different teaching styles. One that impacted me the most was a Math teacher who was asking students to describe the method they used to get an answer to the problem on the board. By the end, they had perhaps 10 different, but equally effective methods, showing that there are many ways to get the right answer.
After school, Brittany and I hightailed it to the train station! This is where our day started getting difficult. Click the "Funny Stories" tab for all the details. The short story is that we ended up missing our original train to Stockholm, and all the other trains were delayed about 3 hours or more. We ended up hopping on the next train that arrived (3 hours later) and praying they wouldn't kick us off. This meant that we missed our flight to London, which happened to be the last flight of the night, and had to reschedule for the first flight of the morning. Brittany's mom was awesome and paid for a hotel room for us, so we didn't have to sleep on the benches at the airport, and we made it to London to explore with some of my friends who live just outside the city.
We started at the British Museum, which was simply amazing. We could have stayed the entire day in there and not seen it all. We spent a couple hours seeing such notable things as astrolabes, clockwork solar systems, and the one and only Rosetta Stone! It was simply amazing. After we left the museum, we walked through some fun looking parts of London and had lunch at a delicious eatery called The Barbary, which specializes in food around the Israeli and Jordanian regions of the world. It was well worth it. After lunch, we got to walk around near some famous landmarks, like Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye. We even took pictures with our towels and graduation stoles in Trafalgar Square! (Those are still forthcoming, sorry!)
We went back to my friends' flat to rest a bit, and the toll of travel caught up with Brittany. She ended up going to sleep early while my friends and I visited 3 of their favorite pubs. Brittany may have been smarter than I, since I only got about half an hour of sleep before it was time to hire a car to take us back to the airport. I'm still glad I was able to experience all of the things I did in London before we had to leave.
The trip back was mostly uneventful. In Stockholm, however, we found out that Veronica and Ellen were returning to that same airport, that same day, and only 45 minutes after we got to Arlanda Airport! So Brittany and I found their gate and waited to welcome them back home. They offered us a ride back to Linköping, and we were so glad for it.
When I returned to my corridor, it was a complete crazy (but fun!) cleaning day! I was so exhausted by that point that I didn't realize how tired I was and delved in to help the cleaning. We deep cleaned all the shared living areas, then decorated for Advent, Lucia Day, and Christmas. Fika this time was more a celebration of finishing cleaning. It started as soon as we were done decorating, and we played Christmas songs, hung out, and discussed differences of traditions between Sweden, the United States, Germany, and Spain. This was probably my favorite of the corridor fikas that I attended.
Needless to say, I crashed after fika. Crashed hard. Whew! That was a lot to talk about!
Vi ses! (See you later!)
9 Mar 2020
This is where the posts I wrote while in Sweden begin! Thank you again for your patience with my busy self!
1 Dec 2019
Really short update. More details later. So much has happened this past week! Brittany and I had more shopping excursions We made an almost authentic Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday, we had a comedy of errors kind of adventure Friday night trying to get to London, and finally made it to London on Saturday morning! Now that we had less than 24 hours in England, we took a whirlwind tour of some fantastic parts of the London. Brittany chose to sleep early Saturday night while I went out on the town with a couple of my Londoner friends (who were letting us stay in their flat during this short trip). We left really, really, really early Sunday morning, and made it back to Linköping at around 5:00 at night! Whew!
Stories and pictures of calamity and mayhem to follow. Mayhaps after corridor fika tonight.
24 Nov 2019
Today, Brittany and I wandered around downtown Linköping, got only slightly lost, and did a lot of shopping. I got a new shirt and some cold medicine, as I have developed a small cold over here, and we both bought candies and groceries. No wonder the kids over here are restricted to having candy only on Saturdays...it's so yummy! I've gone a little crazy over the sweets, I think. Brittany paid me in chocolates and macrons to carry her groceries home. ;) Before buying sweets and groceries, we stopped at the little pub we ate at on Tuesday and got burgers again. They were just as amazing as I remembered.
Tonight is fika with my corridor, and I am bound and determined to figure out how to reserve a time space for doing laundry. I could only fit so many clothes on the plane!
Hej då!
23 Nov 2019
Last night was very fun. Tova (an International Relations member) gave Brittany and I both REAL Kinder Eggs. They were very good. Much better than the ones in America. I'm so sad that they're banned, but if a small child got a hold of the parts to the toy inside, I guess I can understand the hazard. We watched a couple movies before returning home and had a great time hanging out.
This afternoon, IR took us out to see the Christmas Market. It was AMAZING!! They even had gluten free saffron buns that I could eat! I feel like I spent so much money on sweets while I was there. I also got to try Moose sausage and Sheep cheese! They were delicious! When I got home, I tried another Swedish food: leverpastej with pickles. It wasn't bad. It was just like a meat spread that I put on flatbread and ate with pickles on top. A quick google search tells me it's made of pork liver and lard. Well, it was good. Not my favorite food, and I think I like the beet root salad better, but it's not bad at all!
This evening I had a grand adventure! I learned that you can pretty much get anywhere in Linköping on bike. It's a very freeing feeling. I rode my bike all the way (about 1.8 km) to IKEA! My zipper to my coat broke last Tuesday, and it's very cold in Sweden without a coat that will close all the way. So I went to the shopping mall out by IKEA, got lost in IKEA, and found a new coat at the mall! My new coat doesn't have pockets, so I had to get a small bag to go with it, but that's ok. I have a fancy looking coat now that keeps me pretty warm!
I'm about to put a ton of pictures in the photo gallery, I think. I have time for once! Sorry about the picture delay!
Vi ses senare! (See you later!)
22 Nov 2019
So my first week has been very busy! Tuesday was my last time walking to and from school, as I was able to borrow a bike from one of my friends here. It is still a long trip. I am very tired every day after riding to and from school.
Tuesday night, the International Relations committe took Brittany and I downtown for burgers and fries. I was so happy to find that I can eat most Swedish food without worrying about being allergic, so I have been eating a lot while I've been here. We explored downtown, saw some really cool buildings, a boat, and a bridge with many locks on it. Supposedly, if you and the person you love put your names and date on a lock and lock it on the bridge, you will never be separated as long as the lock stays there. It's a cool myth.
Wednesday, I taught my first couple English classes. Teaching the 6th graders was pretty easy on this day. I introduced myself in English and they asked me questions about where I'm from. They were particularly interested in tornadoes. Then they showed me around their school and described everything in English for practice. Later that day I taught English to the 4th and 5th graders. I taught them the difference in the sounds /ch/ and /sh/, as /ch/ is hard for Swedish people to hear. I challenged them to learn, "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" They aren't doing too horribly. In return, they say I have to learn to say, "Sex laxar i en lax ask," which means, "Six salmon in a salmon box." Wednesday after school, the IR committee took us to a nearby pub for food and board games. We played Ticket to Ride, which is a game I have at home that I love playing. I lost horribly, but I still had fun. We even got ice cream!
Yesterday, I taught a full English lesson to the 4th and 5th graders. We started with a review of the woodchuck tongue twister, then moved on to Peter Piper. We focused on making a difference between short i, short e, and long e sounds. They had fun with the tongue twisters. They are also teaching me a lot of Swedish words. I can now say meatballs, mashed potatoes, and salmon. I suppose I learn food fastest. :)
Speaking of food, their school lunches are amazing! I can't believe I didn't mention this last time! It's food that is cooked and prepared right there in the school. They are served buffet style, and if they want more food, they go back for seconds. All kids, regardless of their income status, get free lunch in Sweden. They have three entree choices, something like 6 sides, bread, milk, and water. The choices change every day, but today they were meatballs (kötbullar), pasta, these amazing Grecian meat cakes with Tzatziki sauce, ratatouille, peas, vegetable mix, fresh cabbage, lemons, and some other things. I've also seen oranges, broccoli, green beans, chickpeas, olives, carrots, potatoes, and more. The students are amazed when I tell them that their lunches are so delicious. They think American lunches must be the best because we get hamburgers (they adore hamburgers), tacos, and pizza for lunch. I suppose it's because that's normal food to us and extra special food for them.
Today, I learned that kids have a short day at school on Fridays. We got done teaching at 1:15, instead of 3. They also have Friday morning exercises in the schoolyard before class on Fridays. It looked like a lot of fun. Some of the kids were complaining because they didn't want to go outside in the cold, but they went anyway. Weather in Sweden in November is only slightly chilly, but very wet. The constant rain and mist make it feel even colder. Regardless, kids still go outside for rast (recess). Even if it's raining or snowing! Since the weather is often cold, wet, or snowy (or all three) during the wintertime here, the Swedish people think it's better to teach the children how to properly prepare for the weather, rather than just keep them indoors. Otherwise, they'd never get to play outside.
Tonight is going to be movie night with the IR committee, so I'm going to sign off. I should be doing a huge photo dump in the near future! Hej då!
18 Nov 2019
Sorry that I did not update yesterday. It was a crazy busy, long, and tiring day. So was today, but the evening is still young! I think I will go to bed early today. I am so very tired! The jet lag is real!
Yesterday started before it felt like a new day. We left Detroit around 6:30pm and flew all night until 8:00am in Amsterdam. We tried to sleep, but there was just so much going on between drinks and food and everything that we only got about 3 hours. Our flight was also delayed by about 20 minutes, which was not a good thing since we only had an hour and a half originally at Schiphol Airport. It's HUGE! Like, bigger than O'Hare HUGE! We had to go what felt like all the way across the whole thing. I'm really glad we have 5 hours there on the way back. So after being allowed to jump forward in the Passport line because our flight was leaving soon, we speed walked our way to the furthest gate ever, got on a shuttle, and were taxied out to the plane. It was called a "Cityhopper," so it was really small. The winds tossed the plane around quite a bit, which made for a slightly bumpy ride. Due to overcast skies, we were unable to see much of the landscape on our way to Sweden, but as soon as we dipped below the cloud line we got our first view of the countryside.
Linköping (Leen-shuh-peeng) Airport is very small. There are not many flights, and only 2 gates. When we arrived, we were dismayed to discover that our luggage had been broken at some point during flight. Thankfully, we didn't lose anything inside of it, and our breakables were in our carry on bags, but it's not salvageable and we ended up having to replace both of our big bags. We were able to find replacements on sale later that day.
We were met at the airport by Lois (Loh-ees) and Oskar (Oh-skahr) from the International Relations Committee. They are extremely nice people. They helped us get our luggage to our rooms, then Lois showed us around town a little bit. We went to IKEA and had a very Swedish meal. Have you guessed what it was yet? Meatballs! (köttbullar - shet-boo-lar) Did you know in Sweden you can eat at IKEA? I didn't know. It was pretty cool, and very crowded! I also got to drink lingon (leeng-ehn) drink (a berry drink) and Julmust (Yule-moost), which is a drink only sold around Christmas and Easter. It's really hard to explain. You just have to come to Sweden and try it yourself. It's really good.
After eating at IKEA, we were able to go to the really big supermarket, ICA Maxi. By "really big" I'm talking you take a Walmart, take out half of the clothes, then put food in that spot. But ICA had luggage, so we were able to replace our bags and get groceries. I bought so much food, but Lois kept telling us all the different Swedish things, and I just had to try all the ones that I wasn't allergic to.
We came back and had a couple hours to relax and get our bearings before both of our corridors held fika. Brittany and I are not in the same corridor (hallway). There's a flight of stairs in between us, so we had different fikas. Now, fika is, if I understand correctly, a very important Swedish tradition. If you have fika, that is all you do. No working, no answering phone calls, nothing. Apparently, you don't even grab your lasagna out of the oven during fika. (This is a joke! One of my flat mates (neighbors) accidentally left her meal in the oven during fika. When we started smelling it she remembered to get it out.) But fika is all important. It is a time for people to get together over hot beverages and desserts. Kind of like a British tea, maybe? But much less formal and more coffee. I stuck with tea and wasn't able to eat any of the desserts, but I had a lot of fun anyway. Our corridor uses fika time to connect, talk about the corridor, figure out who is cleaning the kitchen for the next week (everyone takes turns) and just hang out. It started out in English, but quickly diverged to Swedish. I was having fun listening to the rise and fall of the Swedish language, though, so I really did enjoy myself. Everyone in the corridor speaks English, so I don't usually have to worry about being able to be understood, which is nice. They made sure I had refrigerator and cabinet space in the kitchen.
After fika, I watched some YouTube videos with one of my flat mates, then off to bed! I had what felt like a VERY early start, since we are 6 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time right now. My school, Vallastadens Skola (Vah-lah-stah-dehns skoh-lah) is about 40 minutes by bus or walking, so one of the people who work in the Education Department at Linköping University gave me a ride there for my first day. She also made sure I knew how to get to the main campus from the school (It was a short 8 minute walk.) since I had to sign some paperwork, and gave me maps for bus routes, walking routes, and bicycle routes, so I was given much of the information I needed upon arrival. Tomorrow, I will be walking to and from school, but after that there is a bicycle that I can borrow and my commute time will be drastically reduced. The IR Committee and the Education Department here expect that if you don't know something, you will ask, otherwise they don't think you need help. There is absolutely no hand holding here. Everyone is pretty independent, and I think they wouldn't know what to do with someone who needed to rely on other people.
Walking everywhere takes a while, but there are plenty of people walking around or riding bicycles, even in the rain. I will have to remember to take my umbrella tomorrow. I thought about it as I was waiting for my ride, and by then it was too late to turn around. In order to reach my room, I have to go through the wooden corridor hall, and that is a shoes off zone. We wear socks here all the time, even at school! I taught in my socks today! Tomorrow I will wear indoor shoes (which is just regular shoes or sandals that are clean and dry. Many teachers here wear Birkenstocks and socks.), but just socks is fine, too.
School in Sweden is different, but very fun still. Even though it was wet and muddy, we went outside for rast (rahst) which is recess. They have a really big slide that is about a story tall! It went from the first floor of the school down to the bottom floor. They said I had to go down the slide, so down I went! Then Amanda, the teacher I work with, followed down right after me! They call their teachers by their first names here, so that is an adjustment, but I'm getting used to it. Just like the socks thing. The students go out for rast several times a day, which I know my students back home would love! They also have many classes that we don't have in elementary schools back home, such as wood shop, sewing, religion, and nature science.
My main class is a 4/5 split class (10-11 years old), so we have some fourth graders and some fifth graders. They are considered to be in middle school. They are just like any other students. They are curious, love asking questions, and like to have fun. They are very curious about Kentucky Fried Chicken and what life is like in the United States. They speak English pretty well at this stage, much better than I speak Swedish, that's for sure! Students in Sweden begin learning English in Grade 2, which is about 8 years old, so they have had 2-3 years of practicing. I also help with a Grade 6 (12 years old) English class, and they are even further along. I think Amanda is excited to have me help them practice, especially because they have a big standardized test coming up in English next week. One thing I learned is that Swedish people have a very hard time distinguishing between the /ch/ and /sh/ sounds. Chip and cheap end up sounding like sheep, which has confused me a few times already. I can't say one of their consonants properly (sj), so all is fair, right?
After school I got to explore the town a little bit on my own as I walked first to Linköping University campus, then back home to my corridor. It was about an hour's walk, all together. I think I have a blister on my foot from all that walking! After that I just relaxed for a bit. I got a cup of tea and tried reading a picture book about Alfons Åberg (Ahl-fohns Oh-uh-berg). Thanks to Google Translation App, I was mildly successful! So right now is mostly just relaxing and making this really big long post. I may try to post a video later tonight showing my corridor, but my flat mates are playing ping pong right now and I think I'm going to join them.
Hej då! (goodbye!)
11/16/19 Part II
Brittany and I have already had many adventures! We learned how to get through an airport and how to board all by ourselves! Neither of us are very experienced with airports. I tend to drive everywhere, but this 1 hour trip from Nashville to Detroit has some merit to it. It went by very quickly!
Upon arriving in Detroit, we were HUNGRY. Brittany had her first experience with chopsticks, miso soup, and raw salmon. I was so proud of her for trying new foods! Afterwards, we wandered around the airport shops for a little bit, admired the water fountain, and bought some snacks. We also decided to ride around on the Detroit Airport Tram for a little bit, even though it meant a slightly longer walk. It is almost time to board our next flight. We will be arriving early in the morning in Amsterdam, so this is my last update on this website for today.
Next stop, Europe!
11/16/19
It has been a whirlwind of the past few weeks, that's for sure! Where to start? Brittany and I have been sharing packing lists back and forth, researching everything we can, and getting last minute supplies for our flight.
One thing that helped immensely is that our director, Stephanie Martin, arranged for us and Ashley (another classmate, hoping to go to Sweden in the spring) to meet the students that are exchanging with us from Sweden. We met Ellen from Linköping and Veronica from Stockholm on Tuesday night, as well as Carol, a high school exchange student from Madrid who is staying with Dr. Hines, too. We met them at Dr. Hines' house, and they cooked traditional Swedish Meatballs for us. If all the food in Sweden is that good, I won't be able to fit on the plane for the return trip!
Yesterday was my last day at New Highland Elementary. I will be ever grateful to all the teachers, administration, support staff, and students for their guidance through this last bit of my formal schooling process. You all have made such a huge impact on my life, and I will never forget it! I'm very glad that I was able to go visit the students of my first placement during Fun Friday. When I returned to 5th grade, they even had a surprise for me, singing a spoof of "Cups" by Anna Kendrick. "We're gonna miss you when you're gone!" I have definitely found a second home here at New Highland, and I'm sad to leave.
However, I can't learn from the people in Sweden if I don't go, so after school I drove down to Brittany's house (because it's much closer to the airport than mine) for a flurry of last minute packing, pre-travel jitters, and not nearly enough sleep. My advice for anyone getting prepared to fly out internationally: make sure you have a method to weigh and measure your bags as you pack! Brittany and I had to leave behind all of our books, binders, and the like just to keep under the weight requirements. Thankfully, we have electronic books for the plane!
As I type, I am sitting in Brittany's parents' truck, on my way to the Nashville Airport. Just a few short hours, and I will be in the air! We have already been in touch with Linköping University's International Relations Committee, and they have assured us that they will be meeting us at the airport tomorrow morning.
It hasn't really hit Brittany and me yet that we're leaving. For a month. To Sweden. I feel like I will be going back to teaching at New Highland on Monday. I wonder when reality will sink in. At the Nashville Airport? When we land? When we go through customs? Or is it going to feel like an amazing dream for a while? Only time will tell. Until then, tack så mycket och hey då!
From left to right: Ashley, Veronica, Ellen, Dr. Hines, Brittany, me, and Stephanie at dinner with the students from Sweden
Brittany and me attempting to get some sleep the night before the flight. It didn't work very well, however.
Goofing off in the truck on our way to the airport. Don't worry, neither of us were driving!
10/25/19
Today marked a really big milestone for me. I turned in my Teacher Work Sample today in all of its 104 page glory. This is a milestone because that was the last really big assignment I had to make sure to complete before I go to Sweden. There aren't many more assignments left, so I really feel like I topped this hill! Today was also the WKU Educator's Job Fair. I was glad to see Mr. Lawson from Hardin County Schools and Mrs. Hurt from Bullitt County Schools again.
On a bittersweet note, this was the last time my classmates from the Elizabethtown Regional Campus and I would all be in the same room together before graduation. We had to take a picture together one last time as students.
However, looking toward the future, the next time Brittany and I see each other, we will be preparing to board a plane to Sweden! Look how excited we are! Her red towel is ready to top this next hill, and so are we!
10/20/19
I have finally taken the time to make this website! More adjustments will be made in the coming days, but it's here for now! I also finalized the airfare for Brittany and I to get to Linköping! We will be leaving on November 16th and returning to the States on December 12th. Currently, I have been preparing by making sure all of my paperwork is in order, trying to learn Swedish on Duolingo, and reading everything I can about Sweden, as well as making sure I can keep up on all of my regular coursework, too. It's a lot, but I can do it! Thank you to all of my friends and family who are supporting me and making this dream come true! I couldn't have done it without you!
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