#disstockholm

[blogstepharr]

the stranded stockholm staycation for the broke swede

happy Easter break!

this final week off has provided a lot of us with the opportunity to take one last trip before our time here in Europe comes to a close. sandy beaches, historic cities, and exciting vistas were calling our names. but for me, the cries from my wallet were louder. so instead of hopping on a plane, I decided to take a little staycation here in Stockholm. my week in Sweden gave me some much needed down time, and with the weather getting better and better every day, it really did feel like a whole different world—my own little vacation town.

I know I can’t be the only one who’s pockets are hurting at this point in the semester. so, if you ever find yourself stuck in the city for a travel week, worry not! here’s my personal guide to the Stranded Staycation for the Broke Swede.

tanning on the docks

there are literally like 30,000 islands in Sweden. no joke. so that means, at any given moment, you’re not that far from the water. wherever you’re living, grab a good book, put on your bathing suit (I swear, you won’t freeze), slather on some sunscreen, and head out to the docks to get some color! laying out for an hour at a time, just reading, listening to music, or even just people-watching gives you the perfect way to relax while still getting out into the city. if you’re bold, dip your toes in the water…I didn’t, but if you choose to, lmk how cold it is.

treat yo self

mr. cake is the only place I’ve found where ordering “cake” doesn’t result in the lime green princess cake that the Swedes love so much (loooove a good princess cake, don’t get me wrong). so if you’re in the mood for some good old fashion American-style treats, head over there to get yourself a cupcake, donut, or cookie that will remind you of home! or, if you’re still trying to ball on that budget, hit up the American grocery store, where you can find yourself some Poptarts or maybe just a huge jar of Nutella. go for the indulgence; it is vacation, after all.

thrift shopping

okay, if you enjoy thrift shopping, and have ever tried to get people that don’t enjoy thrift shopping to go with you, you know what I’m talking about here: sometimes, you just need to do a deep-thrift on your own to get to the good stuff. do some research and find the places that would be within your price range. there are countless thrift, vintage, and antique shops here in Stockholm, with great samples of grungy Swedish style. I hit three great places in Slussen that were within my very modest budget: Humana Secondhand, Emmaus Stockholm, and Siv & Ake.

new group hangs

don’t worry, you’re not the only person that’s pinching their pennies here in Stockholm. although it may not be your usual group of friends, branch out! grab a drink one night, meet for dinner, or grab some snacks and head out for a picnic together in a park! there are always new people to meet; after all, that’s one of the best things about going abroad. don’t be afraid to approach someone from a different housing or a different side of town. in my experience, everyone here at DIS is great, and would make a perfect Stockholm buddy for those days when you just need a little company.

so, despite how fun it would have been to hit the shores of Croatia or see the tulips in Amsterdam, Stockholm is full of beauty, fun and excitement—you just have to get out there and find it! be your own guide (or use me as a guide) and take on your Stranded Staycation with your head held high—you just may find out something new about good old Stockholm.

[seekingfika]

Long Study Tour: Five Days in Athens, Greece

Pictured here: Approaching the Parthenon through its ancient gates

Hello all!

Sorry for my recent lack of posting! I was experiencing the trip that I’m about to tell you all about, and then my computer broke!! It’s okay though, my trusty laptop is back up and running, which means I can finally sit down and write this blog post! 

If you go abroad with DIS, you will have plenty of opportunity for independent travel, but there is also an emphasis on organized group travel, and this comes in the form of your long study tour. Each core course goes to a different location that is selected depending on their area of study. I am in the Positive Psychology course, and at DIS Stockholm Positive Psych gets the amazing opportunity to go to Athens Greece! There are two weeks during which your study tour could take place. In the spring, this is either the first week or the last week of March. We were assigned the last week of March, which meant that we were in Athens for Greek independence day! Because we were in Greece learning about Well-being across cultures, it was particularly relevant to see how the holiday had an affect on Greek cultural pride, and how the Greek people expressed their feelings towards their culture and their country. 

Pictured here: A father and son wait to watch the Independence Day parade

For our academic activities, we had a number of guest speakers, and the opportunity to visit a really special organization, The Smile of The Child. This is an NGO that seeks to help children struggling in Greece, whether that be with mental illness, poverty, abuse this organization seeks to give every child the resources they need to like a happy and healthy life. The organization is funded nearly entirely through donations, and because of the way the Greek government works not only did they receive little government funding, but they also have to pay taxes. At this visit, we sat down and spoke to the therapists and care givers that work in the different sectors of the organization, including the report and helplines, the day-time mental health services, and the live-in home. We also had the opportunity to visit their off-shoot organization, You Smile, which works to get teenagers in the organization and in community service. We also had the opportunity to visit The Diamond Way Buddhist Center in Greece, and to learn about the value of meditation for well-being, and Buddhism in the lives of the Greeks who are involved. We also discussed the influence of religion in Greece, and what it’s like to take part in a lifestyle and practice that varies from the Greek Orthodox church. 

Pictured here: Group lunch at Acropol Plaka

In addition to our incredibly interesting academic visits, we also had a number of cultural excursions! In fact, upon arrival to Greece the very first thing we did was go on an extensive and amazing food tour! We tried souvlaki, grape leaves, cod, tzatziki, greek yogurts with honey and walnuts, baklava, loukoumades and so so much more! In the mornings, we had plenty of time to explore the city, including countless numbers of Athens’ beautiful small side streets and paths. 

Pictured here: An Athenian side street

We also had a special excursion where we learned a few simple Greek dances, some of which we later preformed at dinner that evening after a very filling meal of greek salad, moussaka, bread, and more souvlaki. We also of course had the opportunity to visit the Acropolis with a tour guide and to see the Parthenon, its gate, and the other ruins that still stand atop the Acropolis. 

Pictured here: Ruins on The Acropolis in Athens

On our last full day in Greece, we had the unique opportunity to visit the nearby island of Aegina! This island is known to be one of the pistachio capitals of the world, is in home to the temple of Aphaea. In order to get there, we took a ferry early in the morning and spent the day roaming the town with a tour guide and on our own. While it was rainy and a little chilly the day we visited, the island was beautiful and the water was still so clear that you could see the bottom despite the weather!! The first thing we did was visit the Church of Saint Nectarios, the patron saint of the island, and learned some information from our tour guide about Greek Orthodoxy and island of Aegina itself. For lunch, we ate amazing fresh seafood at Remetzo with a view of the water and a neighboring island, and even got to try some pistachio ice cream at a road side stop near the temple of Aphaea. I made sure to pick up some pistachio brittle to bring back to Sweden with me for my homestay family. 

Pictured here: The Church of Saint Nectarios 

All in all, this week was probably my favorite part of the semester so far! We were able to learn about positive psychology from a different cultural perspective, and the long study tour presents a really great opportunity for core courses to bond as a unit. 

That’s all for this time! -Ruthie

[ireneelsewhere]

PSA for everyone to stop sleeping on Finland

This past weekend my friend Nicole and I went to Helsinki, Finland, which is only a 1-hour flight away from Stockholm. 

Finland, for some reason, isn’t as heavily romanticized as some other European countries tend to be, which is honestly quite a shame because I thought it was down-to-earth, laidback, and sometimes just breathtakingly beautiful. Nicole and I were in the city for only a day and a half, but this was the perfect amount of time for us to not feel overwhelmed (trying to cram everything we wanted to do!) nor underwhelmed (trying to find things to do). The city was walkable, the public transportation system was great, the weather was a little bit rainy and could’ve been better but at least still sunny!, and the architecture was interesting to look at because there seemed to be both western and eastern European influences. At times, it felt like I was in London, and then a block later in Russia?! which is weird because I haven’t been to either of those places so like how would I even know. :-)

Here are the highlights of our trip! 

1) Had photoshoots everywhere but especially at Helsinki Cathedral. Because when you visit a culturally significant monument, you gotta show them who the REAL star of the show is, you know???

2) Took the 20-minute ferry to Suomenlinna and spent half a day there. The fortress of the island is actually a UNESCO World Heritage site because it was built for battling the Russians in the 1700s. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect going into the island, but I came out having the time of my life because the nature on the island was just. so. beautiful. It was pretty surreal seeing the juxtaposition of violence and natural peace, with the cannons & defensive walls against the backdrop of mother nature. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced something like Suomenlinna before, where there was so much rural countryside and history all at once. Hands down my favorite part of the trip. 

Suomenlinna also had lots of random tunnels that you could explore, but some of them were so dark that even if you used your phone’s flashlight, it was still pitch black. Kind of creepy and I was half expecting to stumble across a skeleton somewhere lol. 

3) Engaged in the Finnish sauna culture. I’m not a particularly huge fan of heat to begin with, but Finns invented the sauna and it’s a fundamental part of their lifestyle and culture. Also every single travel site basically said that you shouldn’t be able to go to sleep at night and live with yourself if you go to Finland without sauna’ing, so really, I had to do it just to be able to say that I did LOL. Yes you sit butt naked with strangers side-by-side (either in separate or mixed genders depending on the facility) but saunas in Finnish culture are seen as a purely non-sexual way of cleansing your mind and body so it’s actually a really relaxing environment. 

*does sauna once* *expects perfectly clear skin*

(Omg where did they get this picture of Nicole & I????)

4) Learned about Finnish design at the Design Museum. (FUN FACT, my first attempt of stepping outside my comfort zone while going abroad was striking up a random conversation with the dude next to me on my first flight to Sweden (lol if you know me then you know that I hate small talk). He happened to be a Finnish graphic designer and actually told me about the simplicity and functionality of Finnish design. Also pretty ironic because Americans are stereotyped as being friendly and overly conversational, which I was trying to be lmao, and Finns are stereotyped as hating small talk but he was actually super friendly)

(Vintage picture at the Design Museum that I thought was cool.)

Some other things that I learned from the Design Museum: Finns invented the orange plastic-handled Fiskar scissors that every single household has, Angry Birds, Clash of Clans, and the ball chair.

5) Ate salmon in one of the orange tents in Market Square, which is probably the most quintessentially touristy Helsinki thing to do, but the food was actually so good. One of my favorite meals abroad so far.  

(Old Market Hall. Literally so much salmon.)

6) Stumbled across an international food festival 2 hours before we had to leave to the airport to go back to Stockholm. I love cultural surprises!! I love accidentally discovering endless booths of food!!! They had different vendors with food representative of their country; eg. Italian salami & cheese, British fudge, Australian kangaroo meat, Belgian waffles, Dutch something, French something, etc. etc. 

There were also random artsy hills?! So naturally....

(this is a snapchat-turned-gif, aka I am now on my way to getting a computer science degree)

~~

ALL IN ALL, I had a great time in Helsinki. Even though we literally walked a total of 43,000 steps in the span of 48 hours, I actually felt invigorated and refreshed coming back to Stockholm. I think this trip was much needed to combat some of the homesickness that was creeping up on me for the past week. Sometimes it’s easy to take privileges for granted, such as being abroad, but Helsinki reminded me to live in the moment and to just..... enjoy life :-) 

Also thankful for Nicole for being great company and for navigating us everywhere because somehow she has a GPS in her head ?? 

Peace out Finland, you were great,

Irene 

[blogstepharr]

real life abroad

its been a while since my last post. 

I could come up with a load of excuses and reasons, but lets keep it real: I got sick.

that’s right, we still get sick here. it’s not all rosy-colored glasses and silver linings. it’s real life! so, in the spirit of my past week of bedridden agony, let me give you a couple tips and tricks about what to do when you’re not feeling your best during your time here in Stockholm!

apelsin means orange

okay, I know a quick google translate search could tell you this just as easily, but what I mean to say is: don’t forget to load up on that vitamin C! of course, its better to take this immune system boosting vitamin before getting sick to build up your defenses. but its also imperative that you get a lot of vitamin C during your illness and afterwards, as well. it won’t be easy to find supplements here in Stockholm, but getting some boosts in the natural way, through citrus fruits and juices, will work well enough. any coffee shop will have orange juice and orange-based smoothies, and most local grocery stores have a rotation of fruits, based on the time of year! check in for some big blood oranges or grapefruit for a little extra defense for your immune system.

reach out for help

DIS offers us all great health insurance while we’re here, and there’s an emergency number that we can contact to schedule doctors appointments or get more immediate help, if necessary. (keep that insurance card in a safe place! otherwise, you could find yourself tearing apart your room in desperation until you finally find it...yes, I’m speaking from experience). all it took was a phone call and a couple of emails to get me into the doctor and get things figured out. and they even checked up on me afterwards to see how I was doing! they’re happy to help and that’s what they’re there for--you just have to be smart enough to ask for it.

talk to your professors

the most stressful part about being sick (especially right before finals roll around) is missing class. DIS has pretty strict rules about missing class, but let’s be real, nobody wants to catch the flu in the name of the attendance policy. let your professors know what’s going on and be honest with them! a couple days off isn’t going to make or break you, but it could break that fever you’ve been struggling with.

rest and relax

there’s SO much to do here in Stockholm, and it seems like every afternoon and weekend my friends and I have a new activity planned! it makes the FOMO real and makes slowing down so hard to do. but there’s nothing more important when you get sick than taking a beat to let your body recover. so throw on a movie, maybe grab a face mask, and just relax. maybe your friends will even join you--though you may end up quarantined to avoid contamination.

wait it out

like I said, this is real life. you’ve been sick before, and you’ll be sick again. all you have to do is take your meds, hydrate, and rest. you’ll get better soon enough, and you’ll be able to go full speed again, I promise! as long as you take care of your body, you have nothing to worry about.

so yes, I’ve been a little under-the-weather lately. but don’t you worry, I’ve been drinking my apelsin juice, I’ve been taking my meds, and I’ve definitely been resting! but look at me now, blogging away. looks like things are getting better already:)

[blogstepharr]

a week in berlin

here I am, hot off a crazy week with my Core Course on my Week Long Study Tour in Berlin! and you may be sensing a theme here, but Berlin is a place I never saw myself visiting in this life. yet, here I am, ripe with stories and experiences from this city full of history, struggle, and culture.

I traveled with the European Security Dilemmas and Intelligence course, where we focus on real security threats, potential security threats, and the dangers of framing and securitization. in our course we’ve dealt with immigration, the Russian threat, hackers, and more. we’re rounding out the semester by addressing the Second World War, the Cold War, and the implications that this kind of history presents. Berlin proved a unique way for us to dive into all that this time period represented for our present and our future.

the academic experience being in Berlin was unreal. we toured a concentration camp, got to sit down with a real Stasi prisoner, and got to speak with one of the top political analysts in Berlin about the rise of populism and what it could mean for our political landscape. but even beyond the clear academic enrichment that this Study Tour provided, the cultural experience and flourishing comradery with my classmates was just as impactful.

waking up at 8 am for a day full of walking tours (or just plain walking), catching metros (or U-bans, as they’re referred to in Germany), and asking as many questions as we could got very exhausting very quickly. being around like-minded people who shared my interests was great, but being around friends who share my plight was what really brought us together. no matter how tired we were, we bonded over our excitement for the next step and our awe for the triumph of Berlin’s rich culture after all the city has been through. we split donors (kind of life German gyros), searched for good bratwurst, and scoured through records in the punk rock district. with an eight person Core Course, we had the unique opportunity to travel together, learn together, and experience together, becoming closer all the while.

I couldn’t possibly give the days justice in description here, but head over to Instagram and check out @disstockholm highlight titled “Study Tours” to follow me around for a day! spoiler alert, you get a sneak peek at the Cabaret show we went to at the end of the day...sensory overload is an understatement. my favorite part was probably visiting the Eastside Gallery (basic, I know), which is a section of the Berlin Wall that has been preserved and has turned into a sort of exhibition of graffiti art and a medium for artists to express themselves in relation to this little slice of history.

of course, I got some mural pics.

of course, they are of the usual caliber of the pictures that I have posted of myself on here:

still basic, I know.

after the long and full week, we returned to Stockholm to debrief and decompress. so much information was taken in and we all needed a moment to digest. this decompression came in the form of some

much.

needed.

sleep.

as much as we love to learn and travel together, we need to recuperate after all is said and done!

but how wonderful it is to come back from a trip exhausted both mentally and physically. how wonderful it is to have gotten so much out of an experience that you need to sleep for 10 hours afterwards. how wonderful it is to have gone to Berlin.

[ireneelsewhere]

Field study: The Royal Palace

9/5/2018

Wednesdays are unique at DIS in the sense that we don’t have a typical day of classes. Instead, we have field studies somewhere around Stockholm to learn ~outside the classroom~

Today was my first field study for my Swedish Language & Culture class. Half of regular class time is devoted to learning the culture (which is cool bc I can apply what I learn in class to my observations of the Swedes around me) and the other half is devoted to our horrendous pronunciations of Swedish words and butchered attempts at the grammar.

We went to the Royal Palace for a guided tour from a very theatrical and sassy man who was probably the reason why I found the tour so fun to listen to. The overall theme of the tour was power, specifically the symbols that convey the power of the monarchy. Interestingly enough, the monarchy hasn’t had any real political powers since 1975. They mostly have representational duties at diplomatic state and charity events, so i guess you could say.. they’re a symbol for Sweden (lol warning: i will be using the word “symbol” a lot in this post). 

Here are some fun facts that I learned from the tour so that you don’t have to pay for one (just kidding!! the tour is actually highly highly worth paying for, it’s def been my favorite stereotypically touristy thing that i’ve done in stockholm so far!)

1) The story of the silver throne. The first female queen of Sweden was Queen Kristina, who became queen at the age of six because her dad died in the Thirty Years War and there wasn’t a son to take over. In order to really cement her power as a female ruler for the people, bc lol yakno women couldn’t be the boss back then, she was gifted the silver throne at her coronation. They also renamed one of the busiest streets in Stockholm from Stora Konungsgatan (”Great King’s Street”) to Drottninggatan (”Queen Street”). It’s all about these symbols man, because if you look & sound like you have power, then it follows that you must actually be powerful. 

What’s kinda cool is that the silver throne has made its appearance in a few Hollywood movies. Greta Garbo played the queen in Queen Christina (1933), so it makes sense that she would have a silver throne as a prop. But then, a couple decades later, the prop also became the throne for Jack Nicholson as he played the Joker in Batman (1989). Our tour guide said that this was pretty controversial for Sweden at the time because the joker is a villain and villains shouldn’t sit on something as historically important as the silver throne, but nonetheless, Warner Brothers still retained the rights to use the prop. 

2) Since the 1970s, Royal Orders of Knighthood have only been given to foreigners outside of Sweden and aren’t allowed to be awarded to Swedish citizens or expats living in Sweden. This is to reinforce the idea that everyone inside Sweden is equal and no one citizen is above another. The principle of equality is actually pretty noticeable in everyday Swedish culture. 

For example, we call all of our teachers by first name here due to the lack of hierarchy in a school or workplace environment. Contrast this with how American culture taught me to address figures of authority (Mr./Mrs./Dr./m’aam/sir.) and how Chinese culture taught me to address any older acquaintances (Uncle/Aunt). Being on first-name basis with all of my teachers is definitely something that I’m gonna have to get used to. 

(One of the grand halls. Are there any orbs aka ghOsTs???!?!)

3) There’s actually been three royal palaces so far. No one knows what the first one looked like (bc no historical record), the second one looked more like a stereotypical castle (for some reason our tour guide kept calling it ugly???) and the third one - the current one - is designed to look like a Roman villa (which the tour guide also said was ugly LOL). The architecture derived most of its inspiration from the Romans because there was a desire to be as powerful as ancient Rome once was and to be known as Roma Nova (aka the “new Rome”).

(Architectural model of 2nd design - the castle. Destroyed in fire. Supposedly ugly.)

(Architectural model of 3rd & current design - “Roman villa”. ) 

4) If you look really really closely in the above picture of the Roman villa, in the center of the four walls of the main square (lol idk how else to describe it), you’ll see a white dot but it’s actually a star. The star represents the Northern Star, another symbol for the king, because the Northern Star never sets in Sweden (just like how the king’s power should never set!!!!). None of the palace workers are allowed to step on the star when they’re walking around, because that metaphor would be akin to stepping on the king. LOL. 

5) The palace is deceptively tall. By the time you reach the main floor with the king’s bedchamber and the ballroom and dining hall, you’re technically already on the ninth floor. The guide said that usually in a palace/castle, the living quarters for the king are designed to be closer to the ground floor so that he doesn’t have to expend too much energy going to his bed (whereas everyone else, like the servants, would have to climb to the highest floor). Instead, this royal palace was designed so that by the time any ambassadors or visitors reached the floor where the king was waiting to welcome them, the visitors would be tired and out of breath, thus automatically giving the king the upperhand. Asserting your dominance in the 1700s... amazing. 

(Originally two rooms, converted to a large ballroom by removing a wall. One of the recent royal weddings had a disco here!)

6) Most of the ceilings in each room are painted elaborately. One room has different images that represent global influences in each of the four corners, including Africa, Asia, and America (can’t remember what the fourth corner was. Sweden was in the middle of the ceiling, of course). The symbol for America is a blue Native American and an alligator. I don’t know why they chose the alligator (did someone go back to Sweden and talk all about Florida or something?) but they painted the Native American blue because the artist at the time didn’t know what Native Americans looked like... so they assumed... that their skin... was blue..... fun fact.

~

And with that, we finished the tour! Then our class fika’d at this cute & quaint cafe in Gamla Stan. I honestly think these kanelbullars (cinnamon rolls) are going to be the death of me.

(ugh don’t u hate urself when u make a typo in a snapchat story.. SCHOOL*)

Irene

[seekingfika]

CCW: Positive Psych in Gothenburg

Hey all!

it’s been a minute since my last blog post, but with good reason! I just got back from an incredibly fun and action packed week, core course week. What is this you may ask? Well, basically core course week is when each core course has the opportunity to travel to a different location in Sweden to get a different or more in-depth look at a concept they are studying. For the Positive Psychology class, we went to Gothenburg with a focus on altruism and more general themes of well-being. Our week started on Monday at home in Stockholm with a guest lecture on Changing Habits.

On Tuesday, we visited the Fryshuset school in Stockholm. This is a really interesting community center and school combo of sorts that focuses on giving kids who potentially don’t have the opportunity to explore what they love a place to do just that! They have amazing facilities that include an ice rink, a recording studio, indoor skate boarding parks and i’m sure much more that our tour didn’t include. After our tour of these amazing facilities, we sat down in a classroom for another guest lecturer. This lecture was with the director of Exit Sweden, an organization that helps troubled individuals that are seeking help leave extremist groups. This insanely interesting talk was followed be a super yummy lunch sponsored by DIS at one of Fryhuset’s on-site cafes.

Pictured Here: Yours truly enjoying one of Gothenburg’s signature HUGE kannel bullar on Haga street

Wednesday we had the day off, but bright and early on Thursday morning we headed out for the main chunk of the week, our trip to Gothenburg! The class meet at T-Centralen, where we boarded our train for the three hour train ride west. The moment we arrived in Gothenburg and dropped our bags, we were onto our next activity. We started with a delicious lunch of duck (and more bread!!) at Brasserie Lipp, a french restaurant before being picked up by our tour guide for a walking tour of the city. Even though it was raining quite a bit, we had a blast walking through Haga street, and enjoying some fresh hot chocolate at the local chocolatier.

Pictured here: Fresh hot chocolate!

Thursday was our busiest day, and involved two really interesting activities The first was something really special, the Random Acts of Kindness activity. for this, our teacher handed us 100 kroner each (approx. 10 dollars) and told us to use it perform some kind of act of random kindness! After this activity was complete, we were free to grab lunch on our own, and my friends and i decided on a lovely little cafe on Haga street.

Pictured here: Insanely delicious salad I ate for lunch

After lunch, the group met back up for an activity with the Forum Theatre Workshop, an NGO in Gothenburg that uses theatre to help Gothenburg’s citizens struggling with homelessness. The organization provides a space and a context to work through struggles, and we had the opportunity to partake in some of the exercises that the leaders regularly use in their work shops. This activity was super interesting and engaging, but exhausting so i was very excited for the group Italian food dinner that followed.

Pictured here: pre pasta smiles at Nonna, our group dinner location

Our last day was Saturday, and we woke up bright and early to enjoy breakfast before heading to the University of Gothenburg for a lecture with a professor from the Psychology department. The professor lectured on her research regarding body image, and why some people have a more positive body image than others. One really interesting point she discovered was the concept of the body as a functional structure vs the body as some kind of appearance based feature. Really interesting stuff, if you want to know more feel free to reach out on this blog, I would be happy to tell you all about it! After this lecture, we went out for a group lunch and learned how to play petanque...because why not?

Thats all for now!

-Ruthie

[seekingfika]

Arrival and First Thoughts

Believe it or not, I have officially spent two full days in Sweden! Only one though if you consider the fact that i was horribly jet lagged and in a state of tired confusion for pretty much the whole first day. That aside, I was able to go on a nice walk to a nearby lake in Sollentuna (where i’m living!) and move in all my belongings before all the residents of Sollentuna go together for a meal of Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes. Today, I met up with some new pals from the walk to the lake and picked up my first round of groceries! While there wasn’t much English in the supermarket itself, I managed to do a pretty good haul. 

We also decided to test-run the trip into Sweden and wow I have to say i’m super impressed with the Swedish transit system. Everything is incredibly clearly marked, the voices on the commuter rail and t-bana are super clear and easy to understand, and from what i can tell so far everything is very clean! After checking out the outside of DIS for the first time (very pretty) we walked around, enjoyed our first fika, and even got dinner at little restaurant in Gamla Stan! I’m already looking forward to exploring the rest of the area, and with orientation coming up tomorrow its only a matter of time before classes start. 

Thats all for now!

-Ruthie

[ireneelsewhere]

33rd week of firsts

Hello all,

So it’s been my first week in Stockholm. The first few days were rough, filled with orientation and jetlag and copious amounts of coffee, but mama I made it. I’m getting settled in and honestly Sweden is beginning to feel a little bit more homey. My superstitious ass is lowkey scared of putting this out into the universe (bc yakno the universe likes to prove you wrong)… buuuut I’m having a really really good feeling about this semester. 

As for the semi-confusing title of this post? One of the very first facts that I learned from my host family was that Swedes like to refer to weeks using numbers out of the 52 weeks in a year. Thus, my first full day in Stockholm, August 19th, was the Sunday that began the 33rd week of the year. (You can look up the current week number on vecka.nu, where vecka means “week.”)

I made it onto the social media for DIS! *cue Kanye West’s Famous.  

This was the moment I met my host family, who came to pick me up from the airport. I know everyone says this (”omg i LOVE my homestay family!!! it’s pERFECTO!”) but it’s true, they really are lovely and overall it seems like DIS did a good job matching students with their homestay families. All I can say that really wraps up my sentiments for my host family is that I hope they’re liking me as much as I’m liking them. 

There’s Gerd, the mom, and Daniel, the dad. Then there’s the three kids (Nella, Walter, Paola), who I had the chance to meet over my first introduction to fika - a Swedish custom of socializing over coffee and pastries. According to Daniel, fika is such an important and pervasive part of Swedish culture that workplaces tend to take a break around 3pm just for everyone to relax and fika. 

(I will note, for my own memory purposes and the foodie inside me, that their cinnamon rolls aka kanelbullar are different from the cinnamon rolls that I’m accustomed to in the states. American cinnamon rolls are fluffy, extremely sweet, and drenched in icing.  Swedish kanelbullar tend to be a bit drier, a tad harder, a bit less sweet, with just a sprinkle of sugar flakes and no icing, which sounds like it would detract from the taste but honestly it doesn’t. At alllllll. The subtlety that Swedes are known for even reveals itself in their delicious food.)

Part of the DIS program is taking a core course, which is the class that you delve more deeply into with various field studies in Stockholm as well as specific study tours around Europe (mine’s in Scotland!). My core course is Forensic Psychology and we had our first gathering on Wednesday. Professor Meiling Liu sure started off the class with a bang. She summarized the murder of Anna Lindh, a Swedish Social Democratic politician who was stabbed in 2001 while she was shopping in a clothing store with her friend. Then, for our mini field study that day, we all took the metro to the exact store and location where she was stabbed. The idea was to immerse ourselves into the environment where the crime took place and to try to put ourselves into the shoes of the assassinator (how did he navigate this area with all these clothing racks? where could the eyewitnesses have been standing?). Slightly morbid, yes, but also very exciting. This was exactly what I was hoping for when I signed up for a class called forensic psychology. 

(Peep Dr. Liu’s hand and dat flick of da finger. Also note the exit door sign that was apparently put up after the store was remodeled. Dr. Liu said that a common joke nowadays regarding the sign is that it looks like someone is actively trying to escape from the store, a slightly cruel nod to the history of the place.)

Speaking of politicians, almost all of my professors and every local Swede I’ve met has mentioned the upcoming election in September. From what it sounds like, it’s the most polarizing Swedish election in pretty much a century, and it eerily parallels the political tension that recently occurred (and is still occurring) with the 2016 U.S. election of Donald Trump. The current majority party according to the polls are the Sweden Democrats. A few short words that describe their party based on a quick Google search are as follows: anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, far-right. 

Hmm sound familiar????? 

One of the speakers during the DIS orientation said that we as the Fall 2018 study abroad cohort will be able to experience Sweden during a rocky political climate that she has never seen before. Guess we’re all just going to have to wait to see what happens on election night. Will keep y’all updated. 

Thanks for reading and adjö (goodbye),

Irene

[ireneelsewhere]

First post

Hi all,

A little about me for those who might be new: I’m Irene and I’m a senior at Vanderbilt University. I’m majoring in Medicine, Health, and Society (aka public health) with minors in Economics and Psychology, and my goal after graduation is to get accepted into medical school and eventually become a psychiatrist. Before college, I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. This semester, I’ll be studying abroad in Stockholm, Sweden at DIS - hence the creation of this blog to document! all my adVENtuREs!

I chose to study abroad this semester because 1) it was something I’ve always envisioned as part of my college career, and 2) if not now - then when? This is my last chance, being a senior and all, and now that I’ve finally finished most of my required courses, I couldn’t keep pushing the opportunity off. At DIS, I’ll be enrolled in the Forensic Psychology core course, which I’m excited to take to see if I would want to pursue psychiatry within a legal context later on.

I’ll be honest - I’m terrified, mostly excited but still terrified. It does feel a bit daunting to start anew, especially as a senior, leaving my close friends back home at Vandy (@ivy @phoebe ily but dontyoudareforgetaboutme), going into a program without knowing anyone else, navigating a foreign city and culture, and being an entire ocean away from what you’ve known your whole life. 

Despite these anxieties, I feel so lucky and blessed to be able to partake in this opportunity because there is tremendous amount for personal growth. I’ll learn the language and customs, make new friends, bond with my host family (with 3 younger children! I’m an only child and I’ve always wanted siblings growing up), fika (from what I’ve read, fika is a coffee-drinking and pastry-eating Swedish custom. Coffee and pastries, my two favorite things so say no more), shiver in the cold come winter (I was born in the desert ok) and hopefully widen my global perspective. 

I’m excited to keep yall updated on what is sure to be some of the most unforgettable months of my life.

Thanks for being here,

Irene