AFTER FIVE months, whenever I get asked “Why are you in Sweden?” I still search for a clear answer. Maybe people imagine it’s my passion of ABBA or perhaps meatballs, but in all honesty my choice was because I knew nothing about Sweden before arriving. As a textiles student at Manchester, one of the ERASMUS options is the University College in Borås, which lies about 80km from Gothenburg. I knew that it was a leap of blind faith to come to a country in which I couldn’t speak the language and hadn’t visited previously, but I am more than happy to say that it’s all paid off.
Sweden is more than just IKEA – it’s a very tolerable and beautiful country. At every other glance, you’ll see a lake or a forest or perhaps an elk moseying around. And it doesn’t stop at the environment. Everyone is blonde and very much as gorgeous as you stereotypically imagine, but they’re surprisingly much shyer and more reserved than the English. With a population of only nine million, Sweden sometimes feels like one big village spread across the Eriksson, Svensson and Anderson families. One piece of advice is that though Swedes are shy at first, if you persevere and get to know them they have the potential to become fantastic friends.
My whole ERASMUS experience has felt like a soap opera. Imagine it as “Hollyoaks on Ice”. Living with the other exchange students from Spain, France, Holland and as far away as Costa Rica, Mexico and Iran, I have learnt so much of other cultures and languages but also I now appreciate what an advantage it is to be a native English speaker. English is our mutual language here and I am lucky that I can converse so easily. Many of my friends from abroad couldn’t understand me for the first few weeks, but give them time to appreciate a full English breakfast and bridges are built!
One of the best opportunities ERASMUS has given me is the chance to travel around Europe. Already I’ve seen the beauty of Stockholm and cosmopolitan Copenhagen and I intend to travel as far north as the Ice Hotel this spring where they’ll be 24 hours of sunlight. Sweden has much more than meets the eye and I can only hope the next few months will be as action packed as the last.
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