Reflections

I'm in a semester long course called Culture, Identity and Transitions in Sweden. The course is split into 3 separate modules and then a final project. Each module lasts about a month and is followed by an exam.

Module 1- The Swedish Landscape
Module 2- History + Religion
Module 3- Music + Art

Back home I was use to taking five classes at a time and having a full on schedule during the week. Over here, however, I have class two days a week from 10-3. At first, it took me some time to get adjusted to my open schedule and all the idle time I have during the week. I have learned to love open days with few things planned.

Two things that have shaped my lifestyle here are: my bike and my kitchen. Preparing my own food is something relatively new to me, but its something I have enjoyed doing for myself. There is something very satisfying about riding my bike to the shop, picking up some groceries, going home to prepare it and then sitting down and thoroughly enjoying all the effort I put into making my meal. I'm sure when the weather switches I won't love my bike rides as much, but as for now I'm so thankful to have a bike and am happy riding it into town and into campus.

Free time has also brought time alone and opportunities to feel homesick. Learning to embrace times of loneliness is sometimes hard, but a crucial part of life and transitioning into adulthood I think. Appreciating every moment and every feeling is something I'm trying to encompass. I'm learning so much about myself through the little everyday obstacles I face and through the conversations of new friends from all over the globe.

Although living in a new country presents so many differences, I'm starting to see how connected everything actually is. The world really is a small town and its fascinating to discover how you relate to the different people placed in your life.

Have a great week,
hanna

Birthdays n' Stuff

Never in a million years would I  have guessed that my twentieth birthday would be spent in Sweden. I was a little sad not to be celebrating it with my boyfriend, friends and family back home, but everyone here made my day so special. Chloe surprised me with this sign, flowers and balloons when I got back from my field trip. It was so sweet! We joked about how I'm finally in the same age bracket  as her (yay for no longer being considered a teenager). Later that night I had a little birthday celebration at Kafé de Luxe with Amy, Elin, Chloe and Christine. I'm so lucky they wanted to help  me celebrate...I'm so blessed to know such great ladies! I loved the cozy, homey feeling of the restaurant, it was so relaxed and right up my alley.

I met another student who was also celebrating her birthday. Birthday buddies :)

I went to the Systembolaget on Friday and made my first (legal) alcohol purchase. Unlike the US, the beer is sold individually so you can mix and match different brands. When it was time to check out I was a little nervous I had my ID all ready to go AND she never even asked for it! 

Even got sung to by my parents! 

After I got back from my birthday dinner, Aki surprised me with the best birthday back message. It felt soooooo good! He is the cutest.

bikes n' beer

The welcome dinner was a formal event for students to have some great food, watch performances and share a lot of laughs! As we were standing in line to get into the building, it started to rain. Everyone was wet and had frizzy hair... well wait maybe thats just me! I had to buy high heels earlier in the day and the only ones I could find were two sizes too big, but I bought them anyway. After dancing and a few drinks, I quickly regretted the purchase. My sweaty feet were sliding around and my pinky toes kept on coming out of the sides of my shoes. Its a miracle I didn't break an ankle. 

dancedancedancedance

kebab pizza. 

I met My local friend family for the first time last week. They are the BEST! They even got me the sweetest birthday gift. I'm excited to spend more time with them and learn swedish culture. 

My class was on an all day excursion exploring the countryside and learning about the Swedish landscape.  I wish field trips happened everyday!

 Every time the bus stopped for more than half an hour, the bus driver had to take a breathalyzer before he could turn on the bus to make sure he hadn't been drinking... I found this very interesting!

For part of the excursion we stopped by a local farm and learned about a typical swedish farm. The smells and sights were really similar to home and reminded me of my grandparents. This farmer had 200 cattle and a bunch of land. I learned that all McDonalds in Sweden use 50% local beef...I'm not sure about the other 50% haha.

Falafel for lunch! Also, first french fries since being here. Man were they good :)

the beautiful plants don't stand a chance for much longer.

 I've been doing a lot of reflecting and journaling of how scared/anxious/nervous I was this summer to study abroad. I compared it to the year I moved to Sioux Falls in third grade and how I cried and cried for the first few months because of the rough transition. I really thought I would have an awful first couple weeks here adjusting to a new environment, and although its had its moments, overall these first 3 weeks have been wonderful. Figuring out how to pay my rent, do my laundry, communicate with non native english speakers etc...has been a little challenging but I'm slowly figuring it all out. I think in a broader scope that this is a good life lesson. You can worry and drive yourself crazy with all the little details, but no matter what everything will work out the way it is suppose to. I'm really trying to embrace this lesson and live in the present each and every moment. I feel my time here is already going by so quickly and I don't want to waste any of it by worrying about the future. Following through with my dreams of studying abroad was the best decision I made. I doubted myself a lot and feared I wasn't ready... but if I ever truly felt ready for it, I probably wouldn't have ever gone. Taking a leap of faith and having a little optimize can really go a long way... you can figure all the little details out later! Thank for reading.

hanna

THE PAST TWO WEEKS ABROAD

I had good intentions to start this blog weeks before I left America with the purpose of documenting feelings, thoughts and the overall transitions that come along with studying abroad. But here I am weeks into my Swedish experience finally starting the blog! Better late than never right? I have a lot of catching up to do... so here goes...

My day of airport people watching and connecting to shitty wifi was long, but I can't complain too much because I was lucky enough to fly first class. Thank you to the Delta employee who heard about my study abroad plans and wanted to bump me up to have a more 'enjoyable flight'. Let me tell ya... first class rules! I was nervous I was going to sit next to someone famous and not know who they were, but it turned out I had a window sit to myself. A flight attendant came around and served me champagne and a menu. Of course I ordered the ribs! Everything was so, so good, after my huge meal I reclined my seat flat watched some HBO and fell asleep. I arrived in Amsterdam and met a girl from North Dakota traveling to Italy to work for a family as an au pair... the world really is a small town. When I arrived in Copenhagen my bag was one of the firsts on the belt, I was SO happy! 

I took a taxi to Woodah hostel in the Vesterbro district, the driver didn't speak english very well but kept telling me in broken english that I was in a dangerous area and shouldn't be staying here... I had a mini meltdown while the meter was on as we continued to pass junkies coming out of run down buildings. It turned out that he was lost and when he finally got me to the right place I was safe. I barley managed to get my 69 pound bag over all the cobblestone and into the hostel. I sure got a lot of pointing and laughing from all the by passers... Im sure they were saying something about me being a dumb American! 

This was my first hostel experience and it was great! The interior was so cozy and very homey, not usually what you think of when you think of hostel, but this place had style. They offered yoga classes in the morning, but I was always too sleepy to join. Woodah was also the meeting grounds of Chloe and I. Awhile back Chloe messaged me via Facebook when she saw that I was also studying at LNU this fall. We took a chance and decided to meet in Copenhagen and then travel to Växjö together. Its crazy how much we have in common and how we 'clicked' right off the bat. I recently just found out the only reason she messaged me was because my name is Hanna and she has a cat back in Australia named Hannah. We spent the day in Copenhagen exploring the city and getting to know one another. Connecting with Chloe was serendipitous and I feel so blessed to be able to have a friend like her here!

Copenhagen was absolutely beautiful. I throughly enjoyed the little time I spent there and am already trying to go back! We left Thursday morning and took the train to Växjö. Being the well experienced traveler Chloe is, she had already purchased her ticket online. Me being as I am, I waited until we got to the station to get a ticket and in doing so spared us about 5 minuted to find out track and catch the train. I lost a wheel to my bag after sprinting down a flight of stairs... but hey we caught the train! I observed the ticket man and how he would always say "supa-tack" after scanning a ticket. I knew that "tack" is thanks in swedish, so I figured "supa-tack" must mean thank you very much. I continued on that day saying "supa-tack" whenever I got the chance... because it was fun to say! I later learned that this was a not a thing and the ticket taker made it up. Ha! 

These are some of the first pictures I took while here in Växjö. It's beautiful right now and I don't want it to get any colder! The school sets up each exchange student up with a "Swedish buddy" to help you get acquainted. I lucked out with my buddy, Amy! We've only met once so far, but she is so sweet! We had a Fika at her apartment with Chloe and Christine. For those of you who don't know what a Fika is it's essentially a break accompanied with coffee and a sweet treat. I LOVE FIKA! We need to implement this in the states. Amy also set me up with a bike! The bike ride from my apartment to campus is about 20 minutes and its the most beautiful bike ride ever. Lakes, forests and cute mushrooms everywhere! There is a supermarket on my way home from university that I stop by a few times a week to buy food. I've never done a whole lot of cooking but since I've been here I've learned I really love preparing my own food and coming up with new food combinations. 

I have since rearranged my room, but this gives you an idea of what my living space looks like! I have my own bedroom and bathroom and share a kitchen with like 10 other people who live on my floor. My building houses all exchange students outside of Europe, so there are a lot of Japanese, American and Canadian students living in my building. We all get along very well and I've enjoyed getting to know everyone in my building. Instead of sharing one big fridge, we each get our own little cubby to store food. Cute, huh?

Classes started last week and I'm loving only having it two days a week. The semester long course I'm in is called, Culture, Identity and Transitions in Sweden. I'll talk more about what I'm learning in a later blog post, but it is very interesting so far! 

This past weekend I biked, went to a swedish farmers market, journaled, shopped at the first IKEA, had too many fikas, biked to Kronoberg Slott, spent time with other exchange students and dreamed about owning a swedish lake house. I'm so happy here. 

Things I'm looking forward to this week:

- Buddy Mingle with Amy on Tuesday

-Wednesday I get to meet my local friend family! 

-Thursday is my 20th birthday. Trip(s) to the Systembolaget.

- Field trip with my class to the countryside 

- Saturday is the Welcome Dinner!

 I'm going to spend the rest of today planning out the rest of my travels for the semester. 

hanna