Exciting news: today I got an official welcoming letter from Södertörn University today, complete with the course list, academic calendar, and exchange student application. So basically.. it's pretty official that I'll be going to my first choice school! How exciting!
Now how will I be living while I'm in Stockholm? It's a good question, and, honestly, one I haven't thought about much yet. I'm thankful that Södertörn has a peer mentor programme like we do here that pairs up international students with local students; I'm sure that will help me get adapted to the lifestyle a bit, and I'm really hoping my mentor and I get along well! There will be plenty of other opportunities to interact with my peers, though. Södertörn has a student union, called SöderS, which allows Swedish and international students to mingle and get to know each other. Long story short, I'm not too worried about making friends, thankfully. All I have to do is be willing to push myself out of my comfort zone some and put myself out there!
I don't see a typical day being too different from a typical day in Maryville, except Stockholm will undoubtedly be much colder. I'm sure I'll wake up every morning, go to class, go to the library to do homework, then hang out with friends, and repeat. Weekends will obviously be filled with fun and adventure and sightseeing because I will unabashedly be a tourist for the first month or so of my stay. After that, though, I will probably settle down some. I'll decide on my favourite restaurants and find a grocery store I'll deem as my preferred choice; little things like this will help me become immersed in Swedish life rather than watching Swedish life.
Hopefully, I'm able to work hockey into at least some aspect of my life in Sweden as well... :) I've made friends with people from Sweden and Swedish hockey fans by blogging about my own experiences as a hockey fan, so hopefully I will be able to meet up with them and attend a few hockey games - I'll only be 20 minutes away from my favourite Swedish team, so I'm excited!
Immersing myself, making Swedish friends, learning the language, etc., is incredibly important to me because I don't want to just be a tourist and feel completely out of place for ten months. By living like a Swede, I'll feel much more comfortable in my surroundings and will be able to do things and have fun with ease and without my actions feeling awkward or faked.
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