Well. It’s over. As I finish this post, I’m back at home in the US. Before the semester, various people in my life told me four months would go by fast, but I didn’t really take it to heart. The months stretched in front of me, filled with various events: my half marathon, core course week, the long study tour, travel week two, Thanksgiving break…
As the semester went on, the events checked off one by one and, day by day, the four months turned into three, then two, then one, then none. At times it felt like I’d been here for so long: I fell into my daily and weekly routines. Looking back, it simultaneously feels like no time has passed but also a lot has.
Ultimately, the things that I remember from this semester will, of course, include the big things, the ones that I knew to look forward to. However, many of my memories will also be in the small things, like…
-running to catch the train alongside other people, with the feeling of being in the race together even though we don’t know each other
I’m going to miss my walk to the train station
-spending Monday mornings in the 5e corridor week after week with the same friends, under the pretense of doing homework before class but actually just getting distracted and talking about random things
-spending my mornings running through the forest near my house, and watching the landscape change through the seasons: at first, it was full of mosquitoes, then orange leaves, then dead trees, and then snow
The forest
-the bus ride to Karolinska on Monday afternoons with my medical simulation lab class, where we’d sit in the back of the bus and talk and play photo roulette and (perhaps) annoy the rest of the passengers with our American-ness
-waking up early on sunday mornings to go to running club and seeing the landscape change, but also seeing the same people week after week and getting to know them
-week after week spending Saturday (or sometimes Friday) scooping candy out of the bins at the grocery store to fill a bag with loose candy
-lunches and fikas at Cafe Oktav (in the DIS building) chatting with friends and eating bread and avoiding our school responsibilities
-spending evenings cooking dinner with my host family, being quizzed on my Swedish skills and then eating meals together with a feeling of camaraderie and gentle teasing and caring
-having our 10 minute break during precision medicine class, when we’d all go into the kitchen and make tea and talk and laugh about anything that’s not school
-drinking glögg with my host mom in the evenings because “it gets you in the Christmas spirit!” and feeling time passing me by
The fika we had on Lucia–lussebullar on a lussebullar napkin!
It’s hard to put into words what my time in Sweden has meant to me, but I’ll leave it like this: it’s been a lovely, memorable semester, and I am so grateful for it.
Hej då, Sverige (at least for now).
I think it’s safe to say that it is winter in Stockholm. The ground is covered with snow; going outside without a hat and gloves is unadvised; Christmas lights are up and the Christmas markets are open. Honestly, I’m loving this season (except for trying to run on the snow…that’s a bit of a struggle).
Snowy Gamla Stan!Another snowy Stockholm scene
This travel kind of snuck up on me. I feel like the past month has been a bit of a whirlwind of travel; I spent a weekend visiting family in Bergen, Norway, then a week in Italy during travel week 2, and then four days in Berlin. It made me very glad to be staying in Stockholm for the rest of the semester. (Future students: I’d recommend this…there are probably going to be a lot of things you want to do in Stockholm, plus the workload really ramps up towards the end of the semester).
Anyways, back to Berlin. This trip was a bit different than the other times I’ve travelled with my core course (both during core course week and our long study tour) in that a) it wasn’t as heavily academic (this is probably due to the subject matter of precision medicine vs photography) and b) it was less structured and there was more time to work on our own. I think that this structure worked well for this class because we got to spend a lot of time working on our personal photography projects, which we each did two of.
A photo of a photographer! This is from our day of street photography
Essentially, we spent the first two days (well, like 1.5 days after travel) with the whole class: we visited a photography museum, spent a day doing street photography with a Berlin-based photographer, and had dinner in the dark (which was a very unique experience…think the darkest room you’ve been in, then make it darker, then imagine eating a four course dinner surrounding by people speaking German). After that, aside from a few short meetings with our teacher, we had a day and a half to work on two personal projects related to Berlin.
I had a lot of fun working on my personal projects–for one, I went to the Berlin zoo, and for the other one, I captured bicycles and bicyclists. I think that having these projects helped me get a little bit better at photography (or at least, I hope so).
A photo I took for my zoo projectA photo for my bicycles project
My regret from this trip, however, is not being able to explore Berlin’s history very much. I spent a little bit of time at a free museum (Topography of Terror), but I ultimately ended up spending so much time on my projects that I didn’t have much time to explore this history. I’d love to return to Berlin with a focus on its history.
Anyways. I think that I would recommend an exploration elective, depending on what your goals are. For me, it was nice to get to take what we’ve been learning in Stockholm and apply it to a new city alongside my classmates.
Like I said earlier, though, I’m glad to be back in Stockholm. The last bit of the semester is busy (lots of final exams and presentations and papers), and I’m excited to soak up these last few weeks of Sweden before I have to say goodbye.
Well…it’s finally here: the sun rises after I wake up and sets while I’m still in class. It’s something I’ve been anticipating ever since getting here; I’m used to it being darker in the wintertime, but I can’t say that I’m used to 3pm sunsets.
However, it seems like Swedes are, for the most part, well-equipped to handle this change. My host mom told me that November is her favorite month of the year (shocking to me…) because of the darkness and the preparation for Christmas time.
A lovely sunset…this photo was taken at 3:08 pm4pm…at least the Christmas lights are up downtown!
I have to say, though, even as I exit the DIS building in the dark each day, I’m not disliking this time as much as I thought I would. It also feels like the darkness is a big part of Swedish culture, and I’m trying to embrace it.
That being said, here are some things I’ve noticed Swedes do to thrive in the darkness, plus some things that have been helping me stay happy in this time.
Embrace the coziness. I’ve seen this in a few different ways, and I think my host mom is extra good at this. There are always multiple candles lit in the evening, which feels warm and comforting. I’ve also that, rather than turning on the overhead light, often rooms are lit up by the soft glow of lots of nice lamps. In my homestay, embracing the cozy also means keeping a fire in the fireplace, putting on warm slippers or socks, and drinking tea–although it can definitely mean whatever defines cozy to you. I also love the word for cozy in Swedish: mysigt.Cozy dinner table setting!Vitamin D supplements. Okay, so these might fully be a placebo, but I will take that chance. I think most people here take Vitamin D during the winter months because the sun is basically non-existent.
A scene from a run a few weeks ago…beautiful and cold, with no sun in sight.Making plans! This seems a little obvious, but I do think that if I don’t make plans, I won’t leave the house, especially when it’s dark out in the afternoon. This will lead to me inevitably going to sleep at like 8pm because it feels like it’s been night forever. Anyways, having things to do after class, especially recurring events like running club or workout classes, have helped me get out and moving. Running club has been extra fun/nice because it’s outside–so it’s in the dark, which is a fun change of pace (ha, pace, like running).
Anyways, hopefully at least some of these tips were helpful…I’m definitely be leaning into them.
I left Stockholm for 8 days, and in that time, it feels like it changed from fall to winter. The leaves are, for the most part, gone from the trees; it snowed this morning on my run; it’s now dark at 3:30 pm. However, it’s also getting cozy, and it’s (almost) Christmas season.
Last week was travel week 2 in the DIS schedule. For those unfamiliar, there are two travel weeks built into the DIS semester. During one of those weeks, you travel with your core course, and the other week you are free to do whatever you’d like!
I spent the time visiting a few cities in Italy with friends from my core course. Honestly, if you’d asked me at the beginning of the semester, I’d have said that I would not have expected this trip–it kind of just came together after we were talking in class and discovered we had similar places we wanted to visit.
I’m definitely glad to have waited until a little bit into the semester to plan this trip. I think that it allowed time to find people to travel with (who had the same week off) and honestly, it was easier to just wait a while before planning.
I had heard before coming to DIS to expect to become close with your core course classmates, but I didn’t really take it to heart. Now, though, I can say that is definitely true. Even beyond the friends from class I travelled with, I think that my core course as a whole is pretty close due to all of the time we’ve spent together.
That said, we did a lot in the time we had, and I can’t cover it all…so here are some of the highlights.
We spent the first couple of days in Milan, taking in the sights and walking around (like, a lot of walking). We were there at the same as some other friends from our core course, so we hung out with them a little bit while we were there too 🙂
My favorite parts of Milan:
We took a spontaneous day trip to Lake Como and walked around, took the funiculare up to a city on the top, and (you guessed it) walked around!
We went on top of the Duomo, the big cathedral in Milan–it was definitely worth it to pay the extra to go to the top because you could see the whole city, the mountains, the architecture of the cathedral…it was so pretty.
We ate so much gelato, pizza, and pasta (yum). This theme continued through all of the trip (gelato every day!)
On top of the Duomo di Milano (if you look close, you can see the stairs where people walk)We went to dinner in the Navigli district and saw a lovely sunsetAnother sunset, this one in Lake Como
After Milan, we took a train to Florence and spent a few days there. I’d love to go back and spend more time here; the city is so big, and I feel like we only saw a little bit of it.
Favorite parts include:
Mercato Centrale: we visited this place three times in the two and a half days we were there (it was that good). There are a bunch of different food vendors that were all pretty affordable and the gelato we got there was perhaps my favorite in all of Italy.
We spent an afternoon strolling through the Boboli gardens, which were huge and full of lots of statues and paths and viewpoints of Florence. We took so many photos here! We also got entrance to the Pitti Palace, but honestly, I think we could’ve skipped it–maybe if you’re very interested in art, but I liked the other gallery we went to more…
The Accademia: basically the most famous gallery in Florence. I especially liked the room full of statues…I feel like I often don’t understand art, but there was more here than just busts of old men (like statues of mothers and their children). It also was pretty affordable to get into (so if you’re going to go to one art museum, I’d say this is the one).
We went up into the clocktower and the dome in Duomo di Firenze (also very cool, but way more stairs than I anticipated)
After these cities, we headed to Sorrento and then Naples. Honestly, we didn’t do much in those places besides walking around, exploring, and eating pizza, pasta, and gelato. I’d love to go back to Sorrento/the Amalfi coast in the summertime and go swimming…but that’s a dream for later.
One of the few moments in Sorrento that it wasn’t raining….A sunset in Naples (before it started raining haha)
Anyways, it was a fun trip full of sun and friends and good food. However, I’m glad to be back to Stockholm–despite the cold and dark, it felt like coming home, and I’m excited to make the most of what little time I have left here.
Maybe it’s the weather (it’s puffy coat + hat + gloves time), maybe it’s the leaves changing color, or maybe it’s just the realization that I am halfway through the semester, but lately, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my time here in Sweden.
It feels like I’ve been here for a lot longer than two months…memories of the summer weather, orientation at the beginning of the semester, and meeting my host family for the first time feel far away. The two months remaining feels like a long time, but that’s only a few more weekends.
Amongst all this reflection, I’ve been thinking about what I wish I had known before coming to Sweden. Some are little things and others are bigger things; regardless, I wanted to share some of the practical things that I’ve learned in these past couple of months. Hopefully these can help someone out, but if not, perhaps you’ll chuckle at my naivetie (or at least get a little sense of what life is like here).
Firstly, and seasonally appropriate: bring gloves. And a hat, a scarf, and a good winter coat.
Make plans/goals early in the semester. This could mean travel plans (although I think those can wait a little bit), but also goals for what to do in Stockholm. If you wait too long (in the fall in particular), it will be cold and then those things might not be as possible. Plus, it will be nice to have a list to refer to when you all of a sudden have a free day…then you won’t be left scrambling wondering what fun things to do(I have been there).
The doors at DIS take some getting used to…but you’ll figure it out.Be ready to walk up a lot of stairs (and walk in general). DIS is on the fourth and fifth floors. Also, the metro has a lot of stairs…and I have definitely found myself frantically running up or down them to catch my train. Of course, elevators and escalators are a thing as well.
Embrace the commute + the quiet. Honestly, this is one of my favorite parts of Sweden. I look forward to my mornings of looking out the window listening to my music like I’m starring in a dramatic music video. There’s something about the fact that everyone is together, but in their own world; nobody really talks to each other, and I appreciate that time to myself.
Part of my commute includes a short walk to DIS, and thetrees really make it feel like fall.
However! There is still half a semester to go. With that, I’ve made some goals/bucket list items I want to do before I return to the US. Hopefully writing down these things will keep me accountable to actually do them–and maybe give some inspiration for activities for others to try.
Visit Christmas markets. I am so excited for this! It’s not quite Christmas time yet, but when it is…I’ll be there. I’ve heard Gamla Stan is the place to be.
Embrace the coziness and the darkness. In a few weeks it will be dark at 4pm, and all the Swedes I’ve talked to have told me to embrace it. Light the candles, bundle up by the fireplace, drink some tea: cozy.
Perfect my Saturday candy combination. Saturday candy = one of my favorite Swedish traditions, and I’m slowly making my way through trying the different types. Somehow I always end up with one or two types that I don’t like, so of course, I have to get new candy every Saturday–for research, of course.
Try the cafes on my list. It’s a fun way to explore the city! Currently, Lillebrors Bageri is at the top.
I just tried Cafe Frankfurt in Kungsholmen…if you want a bagel, I’d recommend!Try winter bathing + sauna. I did my first cold plunge this weekend and it was freezing…I think experiencing the cold water -> sauna would be a fun and perhaps warmer experience.
Two months down, two to go: my time in Sweden is flying by, but writing this post helped me realize that I’ve learned a lot in the last two months.
I hope this was at least a little bit helpful, and I hope it encourages you to take time to reflect…Now, I’ve gotta go check some of my goals off the list.
However! There is still half a semester to go. With that, I’ve made some goals/bucket list items I want to do before I return to the US. Hopefully writing down these things will keep me accountable to actually do them–and maybe give some inspiration for activities for others to try.
Visit Christmas markets. I am so excited for this! It’s not quite Christmas time yet, but when it is…I’ll be there. I’ve heard Gamla Stan is the place to be.
Embrace the coziness and the darkness. In a few weeks it will be dark at 4pm, and all the Swedes I’ve talked to have told me to embrace it. Light the candles, bundle up by the fireplace, drink some tea: cozy.
Perfect my Saturday candy combination. Saturday candy = one of my favorite Swedish traditions, and I’m slowly making my way through trying the different types. Somehow I always end up with one or two types that I don’t like, so of course, I have to get new candy every Saturday–for research, of course.
Try the cafes on my list. It’s a fun way to explore the city! Currently, Lillebrors Bageri is at the top.
I just tried Cafe Frankfurt in Kungsholmen…if you want a bagel, I’d recommend!Try winter bathing + sauna. I did my first cold plunge this weekend and it was freezing…I think experiencing the cold water -> sauna would be a fun and perhaps warmer experience.
Two months down, two to go: my time in Sweden is flying by, but writing this post helped me realize that I’ve learned a lot in the last two months.
I hope this was at least a little bit helpful, and I hope it encourages you to take time to reflect…Now, I’ve gotta go check some of my goals off the list.
12 students, two trip leaders, and five days in an unfamiliar country: our long study tour was busy, fun, and at times slightly chaotic. Here’s my recap (and I will warn, this post is very long, so feel free to skip around).
For those unfamiliar, every core course at DIS embarks on two travels together: core course week (which I wrote about here) and a long study tour to somewhere else in Europe. My class, precision medicine, went to Dublin for five days. It was a busy couple of days, but here’s what we did…
Sunday:
We had an early flight…as in, we met at the airport at 5:35am. Luckily everyone made it, and I wasn’t as tired as I expected. It was a smooth flight to Dublin and after a very long line at customs, we went to the hotel to drop our bags before heading to lunch at The Church (inside an old church!) We also got to eat with some former DIS students who are studying medicine in Ireland and asked them lots of questions.
A stained glass window in the church
We had free time for the rest of the evening, and I wandered around Dublin before getting dinner with some classmates.
Monday
We weren’t meeting till 10:30, so I recruited a friend to run with me (although we both decided Dublin isn’t the best place from running, at least where we were–too many people and stoplights).
On our run!
Our class went to a lecture by a professor at Trinity College, which was super interesting–the lecture was told like a story about the process of translating basic research into a drug and potential treatment for Rett’s syndrome.
Then we had a delicious lunch at an Italian restaurant before hurrying to our time slot to see the Book of Kells. If I’m being honest, I thought the Book of Kells was overrated…I think the way the exhibition was designed was a little confusing and cramped. However, after seeing the book, we got to see the Old Library–which was super cool.
The main area of the old library–very coolI had to take a picture of the Rosalind Franklin bust
We had some time on our own (which I spent walking around Trinity College and thrifting with some friends) before meeting up for a “musical pub show.” This was a lot more fun that I was expecting–we got to learn a lot about traditional Irish music and also sang some music from America (aka Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus).
Tuesday
We started the morning with a few lectures by different people working at Cardiovascular Research Institute Dublin, which is affiliated with one of the private hospitals. There was a bit of variety in the talks, which was fun to hear.
Then came what I’d been most excited for: high tea!! It was super fun to be all dressed up and to sample all the food together. My friend I was seated next to and I had a strategy that we agreed worked very well: we had one food from each level at a time and tried them together, then repeated that until we’d tried everything, so that we weren’t finishing by eating all the desserts.
High tea table setting!! There was so much food and we were all very full afterwards.
Afterwards we were free for the evening, and I spent some more time with friends and then with our whole class. I feel like the balance between having academic and cultural activities but also time on our own (which a lot of the time was spent with classmates) was really nice on this trip, because although it was busy, it didn’t feel overwhelming.
Wednesday
This day made me very grateful for Stockholm’s amazing and well-oiled public transport system…we started off the morning by visiting University College Dublin, and the bus ride took a very long time. Once we got there, though, the lectures were very interesting–the first was about the Irish healthcare system, and the second was from a researcher talking about her research on HER2- breast cancer.
Afterwards, we were in groups and picked random areas of Dublin and cuisines out of a hat to get. We ended up with Irish food in an area called Stoneybatter and ended up going to a pub/restaurant (which was pretty good).
Then our class met back up for a tour of the Guinness factory, which was not something I would have done on my own, but it was cool to see…the exhibitions were designed well, although it wasn’t something I was the most interested in.
From an ad campaign based on the quote “a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle”
After this, I was pretty exhausted (as was the rest of our class) and we ended the night with a few of us watching a movie together.
Thursday
We got out of the city! Our class met early to get on the train to Howth, a small coastal town about 30 min south of the city. We took a guided walk around the cliffs and it was super pretty and the weather was nice and sunny (we got lucky!)
The view from the cliffs!
Afterwards, on the recommendation of our guide, I decided to get fish and chips with some friends. It’s important to note that this was takeway, and we decided to eat by the harbor–a big mistake. I forgot how vicious seagulls can be and promptly had some of my fish stolen…after that, suffice to say I was very vigilant of my food.
Then we took the train back together and spent the time chatting before quickly showering and heading to a conference room at a nearby hotel to present our findings on the Swedish vs Irish healthcare systems.
Afterwards, we had our farewell dinner–a three course meal where we got to pick each course. It was delicious and we were all stuffed by the end, and it felt like such a good way to wrap up the trip. I feel like I laughed so much on this trip and got to know my classmates and study tour leaders so much better.
Friday
I headed back to Stockholm with our study tour leaders (although everyone else was going to be traveling more, I decided against it).
Flying into Stockholm–spot the fall colors!
I was really struck by how, as we flew over the fall foliage into Stockholm, it really felt like I was coming home. As much as I loved our trip to Dublin, it was mostly because of the people I was with, not the city itself.
In contrast, I love Stockholm because of the people I’m with but also as a city. I love the nature, the public transportation, the families with their little kids all bundled up for the cold, the way people follow the rules. I’m happy to be back and to make the most of what time I have left here.
It’s finally fall in Stockholm! The leaves are changing, it’s getting cold outside, and all of a sudden I have the urge to rewatch Gilmore Girls.
October hit and all of a sudden everyone was bundled up in warm coats, hats, and scarves…meanwhile, I am trying to hold off on the warm clothes for as long as possible (perhaps to my detriment because the last few evenings it’s been way colder than I expected).
^fall at Drottningholm palace, which I visited the other day
With these signs of fall comes the realization that I’ve been here for over 6 weeks (what?) In this time, I feel like I’ve gotten into some routines for mornings, school, and (as this post is about) workouts. I’m someone that enjoys and looks forward to exercising, and I’m used to going to the gym regularly when at my home university. However, this semester, I opted not to join a gym, and instead supplement running near my housing with a few more social ways of moving my body…
The first is a run club: Stockholm Run Club (instagram: @stockholmrunclub). I found their instagram through the Stockholm half marathon (I wrote about my experience here!), and I’ve been going to sessions when I can ever since. This run club has been one of my favorite parts of Sweden, and I feel like it’s been so good at getting me out of the DIS “bubble.”
The view from the T on the way to running club
I’ve never been a part of a running club before or ran in a group bigger than a few people, and I have to say, I was missing out. SRC is truly the highlight of my Tuesdays (which are filled with classes) and my Sunday mornings. Everyone I’ve met there has been so nice and friendly and welcoming.
It’s been fun to chat with new people on runs (from all over the world) and to see different parts of the city through running. I always find myself smiling during runs; there’s a real sense of community as we run through the streets of Kungsholmen together or (in the case of this past Tuesday) run intervals in the rain. If you’re someone that is at all interested in running, I would 110% recommend going to a session (which they always post about on Instagram). It’s totally free, there’s no commitment to go to more than one session, and there’s usually multiple different pace groups. This kind of sounds like an ad, but I promise it is actually that fun and I love it so much.
Secondly:SSIF, Stockholms Studenters Idrottsförening (Stockholm Students’ Sports Association), which is an organization for students (or anyone) in Stockholm to do lots of different workout classes. I found out about this organization before coming to Stockholm when I was reading through past student bloggers’ posts and came across this one (which has way more info about SSIF, and I’d recommend reading if you’re curious). They partner with DIS to give DIS students a discount, so the whole semester is only 500 SEK for up to 6 classes a week (a deal!)
I haven’t gone to too many SSIF classes yet, but the ones I have been to have been a lot of fun (I love BodyPump specifically). There are so many different classes I’m hoping to try, from gymnastics to yoga to boxing, and it’s been a fun way to branch out of my comfort zone a little in terms of fitness. I’ve enjoyed talking to other students doing the classes (lots of international students studying at Stockholm university) and also moving my body in new ways.
Whether you’re somewhere new (or somewhere you’ve always been), I encourage you to branch outside of the familiar. Explore your city and find something you’re interested in and try it out, whether it’s exercise related or not–you might just find your new community.
It’s been a little bit since I’ve written a post, and I wanted to share a snapshot of a few exciting days in my life here in Stockholm (and not in Stockholm…which you’ll read about later in the post!) Without further ado, here’s a snapshot of some of those days…
Saturday: Stockholm Halvmarathon!
Amongst other things (like a breakfast for homestay students and their families), Saturday was the day I ran my first ever half marathon!! It was a day I’d been preparing for excitedly but also anxiously for months. A few weeks before, I recruited a friend at DIS to run with me, and I was glad to have someone to navigate the crowd and manage my nerves with.
Me and my cheetah socks (a good luck charm)!
We stuck together for the first half, until I hit a wall and “bonked” (as runners say, apparently). Miles 8-13.1 were quite rough for me, but I finished the run, and I’m super proud of myself for that! I can definitely see myself running another half in the future…but we’ll see.
Monday: traveling to Lund!
Part of DIS academics is core course week, when you travel somewhere in Scandinavia/Sweden with your core course to learn about topics related to your core course, do cultural activities, and bond with your core course.
My core course (Precision Medicine: Tailored Treatment in Clinical Practice) travelled by train to Lund, in Southern Sweden, early Monday morning. I’d never travelled by train for so long (4 hours or so), and I really enjoyed it–I definitely prefer train to flying.
After arriving in Lund and getting lunch, we visited Lund University’s stem cell research center (and met up with some DIS Copenhagen students!) We got to learn about their research, visit some labs, and hear from some Americans who moved to Sweden for their PhDs (this is an option that is quite appealing to me…)
The library at Lund University
We also did a walking tour of Lund University, then got dinner together as a class. I didn’t know what to expect for the food (DIS provides 2 meals a day for study tours), but it was soooo good–we got a two course Italian meal and the pasta was delicious.
Tuesday: more time in Lund
We had a later start on Tuesday, so I woke up a little earlier in the morning to go for a short run and recruited a friend for said run. We ended up in the graveyard by accident, which was huge and full of nice running paths…although it was a little spooky since it was a foggy morning.
As a class, we visited Kulturen, an open air museum very similar to Skansen (another open air museum in Stockholm). We got to go into lots of old buildings, which were fun to see.
Inside an old church in Kulturen
After lunch, we headed to BioInvent, a biotech company in Lund. We again learned more about their research and visited some labs–it was interesting to see what it might be like to work in industry and also to see how big the labs were compared to the tiny lab I worked in this summer at Whitman.
The BioInvent building
Wednesday: Lund -> Stockholm
Wednesday started early, with an 8am meeting in the hotel lobby ready to go. However, I didn’t mind (too much) because the early meeting time was so our class could go to a ropes course in the woods outside Lund. This was SO fun. I’d never done anything like it and I don’t really know how to describe it–kind of like American Ninja Warrior but with less strength required, a climbing harness, and also ziplines…suffice it to say, I had a lot of fun and I feel like I bonded with my class.
Here’s what some of the ropes course looked like…
We spent the afternoon interviewing people about the Swedish healthcare system (random people on the streets–this was more successful and fun than I expected!) and then headed back to Stockholm by train.
All in all, it was a fun but busy week–a little break from the normal routine!
Hej! Now that I’ve been in Sweden for a while and gotten the chance to settle in, I wanted to talk about some of the places I’ve been. One of my goals while I’m in Sweden is to explore Stockholm and its surrounding areas. It’s felt a little overwhelming at times because there are so many places I want to visit, but at the same time, it’s exciting. I’ve really appreciated the fact that DIS helps us get out into Stockholm with field studies and other events (some of which I’ll talk about in this post!)
In the few weeks I’ve been here, I’ve gotten the chance to explore a few different places in Stockholm–some with DIS and some on my own. Here are a few of those things (plus photos, of course).
Vaxholm
It seems like everyone agrees: if you’re in Stockholm, you have to visit the archipelago, the islands surrounding and making up Stockholm. Thus, our first weekend here, my friend and I took a trip to Vaxholm, one of the islands in the archipelago.
Unfortunately, we managed to pick a day where the weather was cloudy and there were very little people there (as evidenced by my photos), but it was still fun! We took a bus and used our SL cards (which DIS provides, so it was a free trip!), but there’s also a ferry that takes about the same amount of time (an hour). We walked around and took some photos (see above) and got ice cream; overall, it was a nice little afternoon trip (although if you’re visiting, maybe pick a day when it’s nicer out).
Hellasgården
I tried pear juice for the first time (would recommend)
Last Saturday, I signed up to attend a DIS-organized hike in Hellasgården, a nature reserve southeast of the city center. I really appreciated that all I had to do was show up ready for a hike and not plan anything, and it was fun to get to explore a new area that was super pretty and have some fika! I definitely want to go back and go swimming, since there’s a big lake with lots of docks (plus a sauna–apparently this is a popular place for winter bathing!)
Afterwards, a friend and I went to the grocery store for some candy because it was Saturday, so how could we not? Candy Saturday is a Swedish tradition I can already tell I will be embracing–every Swedish grocery store I’ve been to has a big wall of bulk candy sold by weight, so you fill a bag and pay by the kg. The tradition is to get candy on Saturday (in theory, just on Saturday, although people vary on how closely they adhere to it).
Class-related exploring
A building in Gamla stan
A maypole plus some houses at Skansen
Classmates practing sutures!
I’ve really enjoyed the experiential/hands on/real-world approach to classes at DIS. For example, my photography class (Photo Documentary and Discovery) only meets once a week, but for a three hour block, which gives us enough time to spend lots of time taking photos. This week, we went to Gamla Stan and paired up to take photos according to different prompts (including things like taking a photo of a street and taking a portrait capturing the relationship between a person and animal). It was fun to think about how to fulfill these prompts creatively as well as practice taking photos in the real world–plus I really enjoyed working with a partner. For my first Swedish Language and Culture field study, we visited Skansen. (At DIS, Wednesdays are designated field study days, where classes get the opportunity to visit relevant places in Stockholm). Skansen is the world’s oldest open air museum and includes houses and buildings from different places in Sweden as well as different animals–there was so much to see there.
My Medical Simulation Lab course has also been quite hands on–this week, we were practicing suturing, which was a lot of fun. I’d never done this before, so there was definitely a learning curve involved, but it was cool to get to practice and feedback to learn this new skill!
Anyways, here’s to many more adventures in Sweden!
Hej! Welcome to my blog, where I’ll be writing about my experience studying abroad in Stockholm with DIS. I’m still figuring out this website/platform, so bear with me if there is some weird formatting on this post…I’m trying my best 🙂
Anyways! I’ve been in Stockholm for 5 (?) days now, but it feels like it’s been a lot longer than that. The last few days have been a blur of orientation activities and introducing myself to people (so many times) and figuring out public transportation, but it’s also been so much fun. There’s a lot that I could talk about (and I probably will talk about some things, like cultural differences I’ve noticed, later), but for now, here’s some of what I’ve been up to…
Living with a host family
I was definitely quite nervous about this…it felt a little strange and scary to be moving into a house with strangers that I had exchanged a few emails and a 30 minute video call with. However, my fears were almost immediately appeased. After getting picked up from the airport, my host dad and I went for a run/tour of our neighborhood (I promise I was a willing participant, although my host siblings didn’t believe that, haha) and talked about where everything was and Stockholm/Sweden in general. I like to run, so this was a really fun way for me to get to know my host dad and also my neighborhood a little bit.
Since then, I’ve bonded with other members of my host family as well. My host mom and I made Swedish apple pie (which I wish I took a photo of, because it was so pretty) and went into the forest mushroom foraging (very random, but very fun). I’ve also spent a lot of time talking about Swedish vs American culture and life things (like health insurance, the school system, politics, you name it) with my host parents and host sister. It’s been a little bit of an adjustment living with a family again, since I’m so used to living on my own at college, but it’s also been a lot of fun.
The DIS experience (so far)
DIS Stockholm is a pretty small program (I think there are around 120 of us this semester), so I’ve gotten the chance to talk to a lot of different people over the last couple of days. Orientation was a blend of organized activities to learn about DIS/get to know each other, but also time spent waiting where people were forced to talk to each other.
I was a little afraid of making friends since it all feels like freshman orientation all over again, but it’s been really nice, and everyone I’ve talked to has been super friendly. It was kind of overwhelming meeting so many people (and our first day of orientation lasted from 9am – 6pm, so I was very tired by the end of the day), but also fun and new. After a few days, I feel like I’ve (at least kind of) found a group of friends. We went exploring Gamla Stan (old town) in Stockholm after a short day of orientation the other day, and that was a fun way to get to know them. We felt like tourists, and it was really pretty to walk around (see the photos below).
I’ve only had one day of class so far (today is the second day), so I’ll talk more about academics later, but yesterday’s class was a really great experience. For some background, at DIS students have a “core course” that is one of their classes, and this class goes on two study tours (one shorter, and one longer). DIS courses also have field studies on Wednesdays, where classes will go to different places in Stockholm/meet different people related to the classes. This structure (so far) seems very cool and unique, and I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it later. My core course, Precision Medicine: Tailored Treatment in Clinical Practice, met yesterday, and I really enjoyed getting to know my classmates (there are 12 of us in total) and my teacher.
Okay, this post is already getting pretty long, so I’m going to wrap it up here. Hopefully this has been a somewhat interesting glimpse into life in Stockholm–see you in the next post. Hej då!
Part of my commute includes a short walk to DIS, and the trees really make it feel like fall.
