I landet av Svensken krigare (getting involved)

Per my purposes of campus and community involvement, I plan on investigating all potential routes at my disposal and as my schedule comfortably allows logistically speaking.  If there are student unions, I will look to join one.  I will look to network and socialize with my neighbors and with other internationals as my base. I will look to my support persons (newfound friends, student mentors, International Education officer) in order to explore ways I might involve myself in local cultural happenings or perhaps community service opportunities.

For me, living like a local entails really and truly getting to know the Swede.  It means a great deal of listening, of care to ask a whole host of questions, and of courageous participation in those things that Swedes do.

Perhaps this is too simple an outlook, but in honesty my best hopes lie in taking care to have a chat and hang around others.  My natural tendency is isolate myself and keep everyone else far away, but I recognize that my success is contingent on my ability to reverse this habit and be social with the locals.

There is a sizeable international student mentoring program ongoing at my host university, and I expect they will afford me good opportunity to get social and involved.

Making local friends represents what is for me perhaps the most harrowing trial of them all.  I am not outgoing or particularly charismatic, so it will be a battle.  Ugh- there I go, reflexively relating things to warfare.  Many habits will need re-examination and reformation if I am to be social and succeed in this place- particularly since Swedes are reputed to be moderately shy towards those they do not know.  I believe that if I am authentic and sincere, and truly search for the value in others, I can accomplish this friend-making objective.

I suspect my day-to-day life will consist of...

• walking through the snow
• interesting study
• near-constant amazement at this new society
• working out (perhaps my only continuity from life in the homeland)
• quiet reflection

I believe my plan involves some difficulty... but that from difficulty will come growth.

With all sincerity, I believe I will become a more mature and humble man from this journey.