Umbrella...

The theme song of my life over the past week has become "Umbrella" by Rihanna.  It has been raining every day for the past week.  Here in Gothenburg it doesn't rain for the whole day, but it will downpour for 5 minutes and then be sunny and then hail and then drizzle a bit.  You can't dress for the weather because it changes every five minutes.  The umbrella that I brought from home is already rusted and broken because I use it so often :)  Crazy, crazy weather!

Besides the crazy weather, the week has been great! I really enjoy my classes.  The workload is definitely not the same as university in the U.S., but the lectures and readings are extremely interesting.  Today we spent the whole three hours discussing special education in Sweden.  We had some very interesting discussions about all the programs, schools and policies from the perspectives of the many different countries represented in my class.  


The highlight of this week was my dad's visit to Gothenburg.  He arrived on Thursday and we had dinner at his hotel, which is the biggest hotel in Scandinavia.  On Friday, we had a busy day of sightseeing throughout Gothenburg.  We rode the Wheel of Göteborg (like the ferris wheel at Navy Pier or the London Eye), walked all around the city center, walked along the harbor, and went on a canal tour.  During the canal tour it was downpouring rain.  It was raining so much that the canal water was so high that our boat almost didn't make it under the bridge.  We were instructed to get on the floor and lower our heads to clear the bridge.  After we were soaked from the canal tour, we went to get a cappuccino and some pastries in the famous Haga district. 


The next day we took a trip out to the archipelago.  We rode the ferry to the southernmost island called Vrångö.  Vrångö was a really cute residential island with a huge nature preserve. Before we walked around and explored the island, we ate at this little shack on the island.  We ordered the first thing on the menu, which we had no idea what it was.  It ended up being the most amazing baguette sandwich I have ever had.  It was like a crab salad with fresh cucumber and tomato on top.  It was fantastic!  Later that night my dad took my friend Carrie from Vancouver and I out to dinner at one of the best restaurants in Gothenburg.  It is called Heaven 23 and is situated on the 23rd floor of the hotel my dad was staying at.  There we all had delicious bread, fish appetizers, the famous shrimp sandwich, and the most amazing little dessert.  After our busy weekend we slept in a bit on Sunday and then we went to brunch at the fort Skansen Kronan.  We had authentic Swedish food consisting of shrimps, Swedish meatballs, hard boiled eggs with mayo, and several different salads.  My favorite part were the Swedish waffles with whipped cream and lingonberry preserves.  We took the tram back to his hotel and then said goodbye because he was off to business meetings in Switzerland and Germany.  We had a great weekend together!


The next two weekends I am going to be super busy with travel.  This weekend three of my friends and I are going to Copenhagen, Denmark and to Malmö, Sweden.  We come back on Sunday and then on Tuesday I am off to Paris and Nice!!!  


The arrival of my dad in Gothenburg also brought my much desired camera cord.  Within the next day or two I am going to be setting up an online photo account.  I will post a link to that here when I do!  For now here are several pictures to show a little of Gothenburg...

Me in front of Gothenburg

Skansen Kronan

In front of the main canal in the city center

The famous Poseidon statue

Carrie and I in front of the fountain in Jarntorget

The Wheel of Gothenburg

Gothenburg Harbor

A look into the Haga district

View from Skansen Kronan

A ship in the Gothenburg harbor called the Viking

View from the island Styrso

STUDY abroad

Another week has gone past and I am amazed that I have been in Sweden for over 2 and a half weeks.  In some regards it seems like I have been here for years and in others like I have been here for a few short day.  I am becoming more familiar with the city and navigating it everyday.  Gothenburg is intimate, but is still a city with something always going on.

This week was the first week of classes.  This cycle, which lasts until the first week of November, I am taking only two classes.  I only have class twice a week.  Once on Monday afternoons and once on Wednesday afternoons.  On Mondays, I am taking School Systems in a Comparative Perspective.  The class focuses on the school system in Sweden and then comparing it with the education systems we all come from.  The most exciting part for me is one week in October we get to attend school visits.  We will go to Swedish schools ranging from preschools to upper secondary schools (the equivalent of high school).  My second class is Gender and Education.  The title pretty much explains the course.  We will be discussing gender roles, biases, and how gender affects education and how education affects gender.  In this class we only have a few lectures, but we have seminaries.  Seminaries are quite popular in Swedish universities.  It is when you read the course literature and then have discussions with your peers and professors.

Both of my classes are taught in English and are only attended by international students with Swedish professors.  I am the only student who natively speaks English.  It is amazing to me how great other students from around the world are in English.  I am horrible with foreign languages and can't imagine taking courses in another language.  This is one of the reasons that I picked Sweden (classes in English).  The exchange students and Swedes, in general, impress me everyday with their extensive knowledge of English.

This week I also signed up for the gym.  The only reason this is of note is because I have since done three exercise classes.  The classes are great and the best part... they are in Swedish!  I know absolutely under 10 words in Swedish.

Hej (hello), Ja(yes), Nej(no), Tack(thank you), Kyckling(chicken), Jordgubbar(strawberries), Skinka(ham), and Ost(cheese).  I can pronounce four of these words properly:hej,ja,nej and tack.

Needless to say I make a ton of mistakes in every exercise class because I am constantly watching the teacher.  It is probably really funny to watch me and as I intently watch the teacher and try to listen.  Sometimes I think if I listen hard enough then I will start speaking Swedish.  Well maybe by January I will know gym/exercise vocab :)

Weather this week was pretty nice except for the past two days.  It was jeans, long shirt, maybe light jacket weather.  It was definitely the weird in between weather where it is too hot with a coat, but too cold without one.  However, Friday and yesterday was miserable on and off rain all day.  The weird thing is it really hasn't truly rained.  It just mists.  You don't really need an umbrella, but your hair is still getting wet.  It is a really awkward in between stage.

My first trip of the semester was booked this week.  In two weeks I will be going to visit one of my best friends from AU in Nice, France.  I will be flying out to Paris and staying there for one day.  After I will take the train to Nice and spend a few days there.  As I was talking with Khine the one thing that she said to me was "make sure you bring a swim suit!"  By far one of the greatest things I have ever heard! It will be amazing to go and visit the warm beachy south of France after my very, very autumn weather here in Gothenburg.

Until next time,

~Tori

The rest of welcome week

So life has been crazy busy here in Gothenburg getting adjusted and exploring the city.  Since I posted last Friday I have done so much here.  Throughout the week I continued to have different events planned by the Exchange Student Services.  On Saturday my friends and I competed in a City Challenge of Gothenburg.  It was kind of like a scavenger hunt where we had to go around answer questions in the city. We traveled all around including visits to Skansen Kronan (an old fortress that as one of the most gorgeous views of the city), Linnéplatsen (a famous area of Gothenburg), the Avenyn (the main shopping street which ends in a square with the giant, famous statue of Poseidon) and to many other squares and canals.  We had a great time going around the city and making a ton of new friends from Spain and Germany!


Sunday was a day to catch up and run some much needed errands.  I purchased my new Swedish phone, bought groceries, but most importantly made my first trip to H&M!  H&M is a very famous Swedish clothing store and they have recently made there appearance in the US.  Here in Gothenburg (where there are no Starbucks) there is an H&M on what seems to be every corner!  Fantastic shopping, but during my first trip I only bought a pair of cheap sunglasses :( Definitely more trips will be in my future though.  That night my friends and I also decided to make dinner all together.  We went out to the grocery store, picked up some ingredients, and made a delicious pasta dinner.


On Monday we had our welcome reception by the University of Gothenburg.  We got general information about classes, buildings, and our time here in Gothenburg.  There are over 500 exchange students at the university and this was the first time that we were all together in one building.  After the reception my friends and I walked around, grabbed some coffee, and just enjoyed the city for a few hours.  We went back to our dorms and then went out for pizza later that night.


On Tuesday we had similar receptions, but for our specific schools at the University of Gothenburg.  99% of my friends (and everyone I meet here) are in Handels School of Business.  They went to their meeting and I went to mine at the Faculty of Social Sciences.  I learned more specific information about my classes and my program.  I went home after and started to prepare my "traditional" American meal because that night there was an international pot luck dinner.  I ended up preparing homemade mac and cheese, which is really funny because I think I have had homemade mac and cheese maybe once in my life.  In any case, I prepared mac and cheese not out of the box for the first time in my life and brought it to the international dinner.  There were so many people there who brought fantastic food from all over the world.  The food was great and we had a great time meeting new people.  


Wednesday and Thursday mornings were spent running more errands and sleeping in for the first time since I arrived in Gothenburg.  Everyone knows how much I can sleep and I was running on a serious lack there of.  It was great to recuperate from all the go, go, go activity since I arrived.  Wednesday evening my friends and I went out to this French restaurant on the main Avenyn.  While Thursday evening we had the much anticipated "wine and dine" with the Mayor of Gothenburg which was run by the Exchange Student Services.  The Mayor of Gothenburg was nice enough to address the international students from the university and then invite us into the gorgeous city hall.  We had a wonderful seafood salad and wine all while getting to enjoy the beautiful building and meeting the mayor.  


Friday morning I decided to fulfill my ultimate European fantasy.  When I was home and I would envision myself studying abroad in Europe I would always imagine myself sitting in a cafe, drinking coffee, and reading a book.  As we had been riding the tram all week I noticed this cute little konditori (Swedish bakery).  I decided that I would walk there and then enjoy a pastry and some coffee.  The morning was fantastic!  I got a slice of this strawberry & rhubarb pie that is well known here and a coffee, sat outside, and read my book.  The morning was absolutely perfect!  After that I walked around the city for a few hours, came back, and then went out straight away to "after work."  It seems that everyone is out of work here very early in between 3 and 4 even earlier on Fridays.  The streets are horribly crowded and no seats are available on the tram.  It is pure madness.  Then all of a sudden at around 5 no one is around anymore.  The streets and trams are empty.  Everyone in the city after they get off work goes to "after work."  Many restaurants and pubs offer specials that if you buy one drink then they provide you with free food usually in buffet style.  This is a way for people to meet up with their friends, hang out for a few hours, and then go home.  We decided to try the "after work"  The restaurant we chose was extremely busy, but the food was great and we had a great time.


Saturday my friend decided to have all of us over to his apartment for lunch.  They ended up getting ingredients to make pizza.  Again this was a new "homemade" food experience.  The only pizza I have ever made was originally frozen (with the exception of three weeks ago in Italy).  The group consisted of me, two Canadians, one German, and about 6 people from Spain.  Because of our international group we ended up having some very different pizza topping then in the US.  On our pizza was a combination of pizza sauce, cheese, mushrooms, onions, tuna, hot dogs, and uncooked bacon.  It was very different then pizza back home, but much better than I originally expected (with the exception of the hot dogs).  We had a great lazy day hanging out in his apartment's beautiful garden.  We had a great day and decided to try and make a routine of having lunch together on Saturdays.


In the weather update: we have had sun pretty much all week.  There have been one or two times where it rains for 10 minutes and then stops.  All in all the weather has been nice, except at night the temperature drops pretty drastically.  


Classes start tomorrow and it will be nice to get into a routine of life here in Gothenburg.  However, I don't think I will ever find anything routine about waking up every morning in a beautiful European city!


Until next time,


~Tori