Gränna and Visingsö!

Gränna is located within the municipality of Jönköping and is known for its red and white polkagris or stick candy. There is actually a bus in Jönköping, the bus 101, that takes you to Gränna and you can catch it from the central station, it costs 50 sek one way. It is definitely worth visiting Gränna because it is also a connection point for the ferry service to the island of Visingsö. The island is 14 km long and 3 km wide and it is an amazing place if you want to see the Swedish countryside, there are lots of forests and farmlands as well. Bikes can be rented for 50 sek 3 hours or 80 sek the entire day, we went biking all the way to the north of the Island (9km away) so we biked for 18km on a really sunny and hot day! I got a sunburn for the first time in Sweden :) It was an awesome afternoon and a nice break from studying for finals.

"Valborgsmässoafton"

So there are definitely many things that are new to me in this country. There are many international students in Jonkoping (over 200! One doesn’t get to know them all!) But mostly are from other European countries so the culture and holidays are somewhat similar. However, for me everything is new! So of course I was not aware of “Valborgsmässoafton" or “Walpurgis Night” which is a traditional spring festival on 30 April and is a celebration associated with dancing and with bonfire. 

Bonfire in  Råslätt

Since 30^th of April was a Monday, I go to class like normal and I noticed that the campus is empty and there’s no one in the engineering building (which is really weird). Later I found out that classes were cancelled because of this holiday and there is also no class on May 1^st because everyone gathers to officially welcome the Spring with lots of bbq, dancing, and drinking on the park :)

With Sofia

Spring is Here!

Coming to Sweden during Spring semester was definitely a great idea. Students who usually come during Fall semester will arrive to a nice weather, long days, great atmosphere; but everything will gradually change to the worst as the days get shorter and colder. However, in the spring I arrived to a cold and dark country but each day that passed by things got unexpectedly better! It was a surprise for me to walk on a sunny day by the same streets I’ve walked down all these months and notice how people had a spark on their eyes and everyone was smiling just because it was such a nice day!  7 out of 12 months is usually cold in Sweden, since Swedish don’t normally have sunny days, they really know how to make the most out of a nice day. Trust me, people here really know how to enjoy a beautiful day and you will feel like it is an entire different country when is sunny.

köttbullar!!

I have met with my contact family again; they invited me to their house for a traditional Swedish dinner. The house is by the other side of the lake from where I live and is a beautiful cozy home, they have 2 kids, an 8 year old daughter and a cute 3 year old boy, they didn’t know English but we were trying our best to communicate each other with pictures and google images lol. I actually helped the mom cook the traditional Swedish dinner, they thought it would be a better experience for us (me and the other contact student from Africa) if we cooked with them our meal from scratch. So yes I learn how to cook Swedish köttbullar (which is meatballs), with mashed potatoes and lingon (a small red fruit which they use to make a type of sweet jelly to eat with the potatoes and meatballs). The traditional food in Sweden is a bit plain in my opinion but nevertheless it was delicious and memorable to share dinner with a Swedish family! <3

Bonfire!

Living in Vilhelmsro accommodation is great! Everyone does truly become your family and it gives you that sense of "home away from home". Vilhelmsro is a big accommodation only for international students and it is divided in different “color-coded” corridors, I live in the yellow corridor. There’s one kitchen and about 3 bathrooms and showers for each corridor, plus there is a common area for all of the corridors; it is really easy to socialize since there’s always someone cooking or watching TV in the common area. So if you feel alone in your room it’s just a matter of going to the kitchen and common area if you feel like you need to speak with anyone. There’s really that sense of community and family here.
Since Vilhelmsro is right next to the Vättern lake (the second largest lake in Sweden), we decided to do a bonfire at night right next to the lake! It was so cold, there was still snow in the forest but it was nice to share stories in the middle of the night while cooking bread or sausage in the fire and looking at the amazing view of the city of Jönköping reflecting over the lake J 

Definitely a memorable time

Walking on the Lake!

A good thing about the University of Jönköping is that there are no assignments, no quizzes, and no homework, just one final exam at the end of the segment (which can also be bad since your entire grade depends solely on this exam). The semester is divided into two segments and you only take two classes per segment as a full time student, this leaves me with a lot of free time! And there’s really not much going on during the weekdays K
Sometimes the days here can be so beautiful and sunny with little or no clouds, how can people stay indoors when the day is so  nice out?!? (here in Sweden, there aren’t many sunny days, so when there is a beautiful day GO OUT AND ENJOY!)

So that’s what I decided to do J while everyone in my accommodation was still sleeping K I decided to go explore the city and take advantage of the sun while it was still up (the sun goes down around 4pm right now). I realized than when I decide to take on a new adventure and start exploring on my own with no set path or destiny, I end up appreciating the moment even more and encounter unique things that I wouldn’t have encountered otherwise.

The lakes here are all frozen! So while on the bus I saw many people walking on the frozen lake and decided to get off to check it out myself, the scenery was beautiful!  

 Then I head out to the only place in Jönköping that is open on Sundays: A6!! A6 is a mall! with great stores and IKEA is also right next to it. Most stores in the city are closed with the exception of a few groccery shops and the gym, so it is wonderful to know that all the stores in A6 are open!!!

Sweden

It has been 1 week and 3 days since I arrived to Jönköping, Sweden; Nevertheless, I feel like it was just yesterday when I arrived. It has been so hectic trying to get used to a new culture, learn the route from the university back to your dorm, know where to buy groceries, where to get your bus card, get used to the new currency, learn to cope with the weather…, etc. It just and endless list, but the experience I am getting here is unforgettable and the people I am meeting is unique. I feel like I have known these people for a very long time but I realized I just met them last week, it is a really strange feeling but everyone here is really nice.

First people I met from my dorm

The trip to get here was extremely long and I thought I would never get here; first I flew to Canada, then Germany, then Gothenburg, and finally a bus ride to Jonkoping. It took over 24 hours in total, the most difficult part was traveling by myself and carrying all that luggage K. Yes, I am pretty sure I over packed and I probably won’t use everything I brought with me… but hey I am a girl! and I heard shopping here is really expensive so I decided to bring most of my clothes. Nevertheless, I am pretty sure I will shop for more here J

View from a small part of the University, the yellow building
is the Engineering building

Short trip to Gothenburg, Copenhagen, and Berlin

I tend to be a really spontaneous person and sometimes commit a lot of crazy impulsive actions! This trip can be added to my list of spontaneous things I have done. It was Tuesday night and my friend Jose, also from UCF, and I decided to go to Gothenburg the next day. We had to take our finger prints and picture for the student visa at the embassy in Gothenburg; we then decided that since Denmark was so close we should also go there, then Germany was also just south of there…Our trip to get our student visa turned out to be an adventure and we ended up visiting 3 cities and 2 countries in just a week. It was an exhausting but very rewarding experience! J

Backpacking in Europe

It was my first experience staying in hostels and it wasn’t as bad as I imagined. We booked the hostels through hostels.com and we found pretty good rates. During winter season there are not as much tourists or young travelers as during the summer, so we found great rates at all the 3 different hostels that we stayed. The hostel in Gothenburg was private, the one in Denmark was for 10 people, and the one in Berlin was for 4. I realized that staying in hostels, besides being relatively cheap and convenient for students, is also a great way to meet people from everywhere! We met mostly Australians in our trip (Since Australians are currently having their summer break and they are on vacation for 3 months). The experience was priceless and we met awesome people along the way that we probably wouldn’t have met if it wasn’t for this adventure. Thank God we can still keep in touch through FB. J

At a Cuban Club we found in Berlin

I’ve been in Sweden for over a month now and I’m still feeling super homesick. However, meeting my contact family today just made the day so much better! Here at Jonkoping, the International Association offers two programs to international students: Contact family or contact student (they are really limited and you have to apply early). I have not met any locals since I arrived to Sweden because it is really hard (especially if you live in a student accommodation where everyone is an international student) so I feel that I have not had the chance to experience the “Swedish life” yet. I recommend applying for any program (student contact or family contact) because they help you a lot in getting accustomed to this new life and culture. I was one of the few lucky students to obtain a contact family and my contact family is so nice, they invited me to lunch today and took me to the health center (since I showed them my concern after hitting my head really hard when skiing a few days earlier), and I am meeting them again later in the semester for dinner at their house. Later in the day I went to the gym and afterwards I decided to go for a walk in the city just to explore and enjoy the sunny day (it’s almost never sunny in Sweden) then I went to this coffee shop where I ended up having “fika*” with an Argentinian and a Romanian guy who have been living in Sweden for a while now (more locals, great!)

*Fika is like a coffee break to have a nice conversation and just relax for a bit. Swedish people have coffee breaks all the time.

So today was a great day since I got to meet four locals that are willing to help me adapt to this culture better, plus is always better if you know local people because they can answer you all the questions and show you what places are better here in Sweden.