First Impressions

The country-

My first impression of Sweden is in Stockholm, where my family and I spent five days before traveling to Linköping. Gamla Stan, or Old Town, is beautifully colorful and easily walkable. There are very few cars driving through the cobblestone roads but it is easy to get transportation if you need to go somewhere out of walking distance.  After a few days of enjoying some mild Swedish sunshine, a snow storm blew in and in one day, the entire city was covered in a blanket of at least four inches of powdery snow. Stockholm is made up of about 30,000 archipelagos so we spent one of these snowy days on a boat sailing around the many islands and marvelling at the castles and vacation homes that are built on them.  

Linköping is similar to Stockholm in that it also has an Old Town that is more residential and a more bustling city centre where many restaurants and businesses are located. I am living in Gamla Linköping and I enjoy the slower paced, small-town feel here. My initial impression of Sweden was that it is a very safe country and everywhere I have been so far has felt that way. It is not intimidating to walk or travel alone and as a foreign exchange student, this has been very comforting.

The people-

Perhaps the biggest thing I have noticed about Swedes is how quiet they are. If you are to walk through the streets, in old town or new, you will quickly notice how serenely quiet it is compared to cities in the United States. You won't hear muffled loud music coming from inside a building or groups of people talking or laughing with each other noisily. Since I am very used to Southern Hospitality, I experienced a bit of culture shock when I tried waving at people when I passed them on the sidewalk and they stared blankly back at me. 

I have noticed that the general reserved nature of the people in Sweden is a common personality trait. There may be a student in a couple of classes that is outgoing and makes loud jokes, but for the most part, even during class or in the hallways during class change students keep conversations to a minimum. 

The school- 

My placement is at a school called Birgittaskolan. It is similar to what we would call a high school, but they know it as Gymnasium.  It is a very large building, about 6 floors, and actually contains 3 schools within its walls, a "high school," a special education program, and a program for adults or returning students similar to what we call a GED.  One thing I notice right off the bat is the lack of security at the school. The doors are unlocked and open automatically when you approach them. There is no front office that guests or visitors need to check in at and students come and go freely. 

Additionally, the classrooms look quite different from the typical American school. Since no teacher has their own classroom and changes location for each lesson, the rooms have plain, cream-colored walls and are not decorated with any posters or murals. I think this contributes to the seriousness and tone of the lecture-style instruction that is similar to what classes at a University are like.