Even though I’m not studying ‘abroad’ anymore, it doesn’t mean that I’m no longer studying. It also means you aren’t done reading about my life just yet. Muahahahaha

Honestly, I have no idea where time has gone since I’ve been home. I know I’m not the only one out there feeling this way, but I’ve been extremely bored while at the same time being unmotivated to do anything. On the bright side, I exercised today for the first time since being home since I was procrastinating on my assignments that are about to begin. 

Even once my 14 days of quarantine are done, I don’t even know what I would be doing differently. All I know is that I want Starbucks once my quarantine is over because I miss my Pink Drinks (I’ll be going through the drive thru, of course). Additionally, I will be donating blood since I want to help with the current situation in any way that I can – apart from just staying at home. 

I would like to get a job to do something with my time and to even earn a little bit of money, but obviously jobs are scarce during these unprecedented times. It would also be nice to explore the outdoors, but Florida is just so dreadfully hot that it’s pretty miserable to be outside for long with the blazing sun. Gotta love the Sunshine State. 

Anyway, my program is moving to online classes beginning tomorrow, meaning that my stress levels will also be coming back. Instead of having the appreciated distraction of being in a beautiful city to balance out the stress of academics, I have walls to stare at all. day. long. 

I think I’ve perfected the art of wall staring, which can be seen in one of my upcoming assignments. My photography teacher is having us do a self-portrait while at home since we’re all practically in quarantine. The photo pretty much sums up what the past week has been like. 

Take care, and until next time.

P.S. I will say that that above photo is not my best work but it captures how I feel ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Below are photos from when my teacher gave us the same assignment while in Stockholm. There’s definitely a difference in how I approached my self-portraits the first time around.

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With a heavy heart, I am writing this post as I am on my flight back home to the US. From the last time I posted until now, we all know that everything in the world has dramatically changed regarding COVID-19. I am truly and utterly sad that I am being forced to go home two months early, and there was nothing that I can do about it but drag myself to the airport.

Last week when all study abroad programs were beginning to shut down, my friends and I knew that it was only a matter of time before DIS Stockholm was going to suspend its program too. Last Thursday when President Trump gave his broadcasted announcement, we all stayed up to watch it. It was 2 am our time when it began.

He threw every American outside of the US into a massive panic – he never specified that US citizens will still be able to return home once the ban was enacted. Once he said this in his speech, my friends all went into a frenzy calling their parents trying to get the next flight back home. I didn’t do that. I was mostly in shock about everything and I was in denial about the whole situation. Because I didn’t want to believe it to be true. It wasn’t until we received the email at 4:30 in the morning from our program telling us that we have to go home that I knew it was all over. Reality sunk in for me when I had no other option but to rebook my return tickets home.

I was able to extend my stay in Stockholm for an extra week. Part of it was because I recently broke my glasses and was hastily waiting for my new pair to arrive before I had to go home, and the other part was that I really really didn’t want to leave. I’m so glad that I didn’t rush to leave Sweden because I gave myself another week to explore Stockholm. I was allowed to take in the city and give myself a proper goodbye (for now). A part of me wished that my flight would get canceled so that I would be stuck in Europe. The way I see it and the way things are going on at the moment, it would have been much safer to ride out the coronavirus pandemic in Sweden than to get on a plane and go back to the US where the virus is silently spreading.

Once I am home I will have to self-quarantine for two weeks, giving myself plenty of time to sulk around and get really deep into my thoughts. I’ll be finishing my classes online this semester, but will all the free time I’ll have I may as well find a job for the next couple of months. But who knows how easy that will be given the current situation? One goal I am giving myself is to get back into an exercising routine and sticking with it.

I am sorry for writing this post with such a somber tone. I am just really sad that this is how the events unfolded. Studying abroad is something I was looking forward to for such a long time, and now it has been ripped from my hands, and I have no one to assign blame to for making me feel this way. I will just have to learn to let things go that are beyond my control – it’s just going to take a while to learn.

As I’ve been in tears through most of the day, I just want to acknowledge the people out there who are gifted with the ability to have compassion and empathy for other people. When I arrived at the gate for my flight, I was randomly selected for another security check. The security agent saw that I was in tears, and once I was cleared for boarding, she pulled me away from the main waiting area to sit and talk with me while giving me a welcoming hug. I’m in awe of people like her, who go out of their way to help others, even if it’s as simple as being there with them. And that is why I love Sweden: there are tons of people like that here.

All in all, I will be back in Sweden. Sitting at home for two weeks will also give me plenty of time to hunt for an internship there over the summer. I hope this pandemic blows over soon because at some point, we have to live our lives. It’s awfully weird sitting in a plane where there are only 26 passengers when this aircraft is designed to fit more than 200. But I guess I’ll appreciate this once in a lifetime experience of having literally no one around me on this flight. Chances of contracting COVID-19 here seem pretty slim, don’t you think?

All jokes aside, I’ll be back Sweden. I promise you that.

Tack för allt Sverige och jag ses snart.

(Thank you for everything Sweden, and I’ll see you soon).

Okay, so I’ve been thinking long and hard as to what to talk about in this post, but I think I got it. After being super busy and traveling around this past month, I think I can give a decent explanation of the basic cultural differences that I have experienced here in Sweden so far.

So to begin with this country, there are a lot of rules that Swedes abide by. First off, almost always keep to yourself. You are never supposed to talk to people you don’t know, and you should not even make eye contact as you walk by someone. Initially, it was a little hard to get used to this because back home it’s such a common practice to look at someone and smile hello. This rule especially applies when taking public transit. When on the tunnelbanan you don’t dare to talk, especially in the mornings. Swedes are very much to themselves when transiting to work, and when it’s obvious that Americans are loudly talking on the train, we get death stares from the locals ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Another big thing here is fashion. Everyone here has an awesome sense of style, which I can only aspire to obtain. Swedes often wear dark clothing which I believe it’s mostly to keep warm, but it makes everyone look very well polished. I myself have tried to look as Swedish as possible by purchasing a pair of black boots that are used for everyday wear. I learned very quickly that sneakers don’t cut it here. 

Additionally, I learned from friends that my sense of style looks pretty Swedish, but that my backpack is a dead giveaway that I’m American. Upon learning this, that same day I went out to buy a Fjällräven Kånken bookbag (if you don’t know the name just google it because I know you’ve seen it before lol). These backpacks originated in Sweden and they are everywhere. I think that making an effort to adjust to the cultural norms and trends in a different country can go long ways, and at least I can take these momentums back home with me. 

When comparing Sweden to different countries, it is very apparent how different things are over here. Last month when I visited Copenhagen, all I’m going to say is that the Danes are the wild childs of Scandinavia. I would say a drastic difference between the two countries they each approach nightlife. 

First off, alcohol here in Sweden is highly regulated, where you can only purchase liquor at the Systembolaget, which is the government-owned chain of liquor stores that are only open for certain hours during the week and even less on the weekends. On the other hand, Denmark has access to whatever they want wherever and whenever! There are 7-Elevens literally everywhere in Copenhagen, and you can just roll up and buy whatever you want at any time of day. It’s a pretty stark contrast from what I’ve seen in Sweden.

It was a great experience visiting the country for the weekend, from taking a boat tour to walking around the city at night, but when it was time to leave, I was ready to head home to the less hectic Nordic country. 

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Another place I visited last week was Paris, France! Right off the bat, I will say that Paris is a beautiful place, but I think that my experience there was stimulation overload, with one thing just happening after another. 

From the very beginning, all 17 of us from our Affective Neuroscience class were supposed to depart Sunday morning. Hearing from our group chat that our flight was completely canceled the night before, we were unsure of how exactly we were getting to Paris. Long story short, communication was terrible on all ends, and we were all booked on multiple flights that day. And unbeknownst to the rest of the class and me, I was in the group who was supposed to fly out earlier that day, causing us to miss our flight completely. Had to do a night layover in Copenhagen (lol was just there not too long prior), and then flew out to Paris Monday morning. 

So that was just the start of the weeklong adventure. The purpose of Travel Week with our core course is to get hands-on experience with our topic, and we get the opportunity to do this in another country. My class’s central theme throughout the week was how sensory input and perception could affect our emotions. We did activities that included eating in the dark, spending time in a sensory deprivation tank, watching a ballet, and even touching artwork in the Louve while blindfolded (there are sections designed for people with disabilities where they can feel the art and gain tactile stimulation). All in all these activities were really unique and exciting, but I think I was just so overwhelmed by everyone in my class that it was just difficult to appreciate and take everything in. Traveling in such a large group really makes everything difficult, and traveling as 17 Americans can make it even harder. I hate sticking out like a sore thumb, but when I had the chance to venture off and explore on my own, I feel a lot more relaxed (within reason). 

Of course, you always have to be on high alert when traveling, but when you do it on your own, especially in another country, you have to be on top of your game. Paris is definitely not like Scandinavia. People do stare. And I know to stare back until it makes them uncomfortable. Lol. With this in mind, I am always aware of my surroundings, and I know to look out for my friends and to make sure that they are okay. 

Paris is beautiful, but definitely not as clean as Sweden! I didn’t get the chance to experience everything while there, but it’s not going away anytime soon so I will be back someday 🙂 

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I just hope that my time here in Europe doesn’t get cut off sooner than expected. As everyone is very much aware of the Coronavirus epidemic that is currently going on, I am under the constant fear that my school will force me to go home before May. I’ve had my mind set to study abroad in Sweden for years, and with all the opportunities that have fallen into place for me to actually come here, it would break my heart to have to say goodbye to this place and everyone here abruptly. It’s a constant stress to keep googling the news, but I hope this passes soon enough. I won’t be traveling round in the near future as both a safety precaution, and over the idea that I may be forced to quarantine myself in a place that may not be my room here in Sweden. 

I’ll end this post by saying this: stay safe and please wash your hands!

This past week I’ve been throughout Sweden and it’s only the beginning of my travel adventures. 

First, it was our Outdoor LLC weekend, so all ten of us traveled to Tyresö, a municipality within Stockholm located about an hour outside the city. We arrived bright and early Saturday morning and divided into two groups. I was in the group that went hiking that day. It was a beautiful view from both the top of the mountain as well as the trail that we were on.

After reuniting for lunch, I got to hear some accounts of the activity that the other group just went through. I wanted to ask details, but they were keeping their lips sealed. The only thing they kept mentioning without any context was to look out for the “friendly room.” I could only imagine what that was supposed to mean. 

Later on in the day, we went to the cabin to drop off our belongings before exploring the area. Casually, we stayed in a place right next to Tyresö slott, a beautiful palace built in the 17th century. We didn’t get the chance to take a tour of the inside, but the fact that these structures exist reminds me how different the US is in terms of never having an aristocratic system in place. It also reminded me of the Highclere Castle shown in Downton Abbey and how I need to visit it one day 😀

The next day came around and we switched group activities. I will not lie, going caving sounded a bit eerie given the reaction from the other group, but I was still excited to try something new. We geared up by putting on gloves, helmets, and headlamps, and we were off. 

The first part of the cave was the hardest since I kept slipping. My shoes didn’t have the best grip and the first obstacle we had to tackle was to climb up a steep piece of rock. With the help of our guide, he was able to use (almost all of) his bodyweight to lift me. 

Some people may think that going through a cave means that you will be able to stand up inside the cave and walk around while appreciating the geological phenomenon from an upright position. Yes, I was fascinated with the rocks and how this has been around for over ten thousand years. But this experience was not done standing. No, no, no, sweetie. When I tell you that I was crawling my way through the cave, I was on all fours navigating through some very tight spaces. Granted, I had an advantage getting around since I have a background in dance, but nothing before this has taught me how I needed to use my body to get between the nooks and crevices of the cave. 

To show you an example of what I’m talking about, here is a picture that shows just how tight the rocks were:

When there was light at the end of the tunnel *ahem* I mean cave, I thought we were done. But we had yet to go through this so-called “friendly room.” Our guide instructed us that it was right before the exit, and was encouraging all of us to go. I did not dare go first, so my friend Hannah did. After a few seconds of losing sight of her, we all heard her shout “OH MY GOD” over and over again. 

So naturally, I went in after her.

The light was dim while navigating through the first part. After reaching the ground, the guide told me not to touch the walls before turning on the light. What I ended up realizing was that the walls were COVERED in spiders. They weren’t poisonous or dangerous in any way, but these spiders were pretty damn close to me. And I was low-key flipping out. For every drop of water that fell on me, I thought a spider fell from the ceiling and landed on me. It was pretty terrifying. The reason why all these spiders are in this particular area is that this room is really damp, and these creatures thrive that kind of environment. 

All in all, my LLC weekend was such a fantastic experience, and it was worth waking up the next day covered in bruises in addition to having very sore muscles. I pushed myself while trying something new, and got up close and personal with a certain kind of animal that I am not particularly fond of (just a PSA, these spiders weren’t some baby spiders, but they were some big boys.)

Next up, I traveled with my Affective Neuroscience class to a city called Umeå, located in northern Sweden. We all woke up bright and early before the sunrise to catch the six-hour train ride north. We arrived at our hostel, ran to find food, and hurried off to our first workshop. 

Discussing emotions from a classroom setting is very different from working with emotions from a theatrical perspective. This workshop was designed to show us how actors used emotions to convey their message to an audience and how there are different approaches that an actor can take to approach this. Ultimately this was a great experience to learn about emotions from a non-academic setting while also getting in touch with my own emotions and how they can be perceived. 

Timing our trip with National Sámi Day (6 February), we learned a lot about the culture of the indigenous group of people that live in northern Europe.

We watched Sámi Blood, a movie about a teenage Sámi who attends a Swedish boarding school where students are forced to assimilate into normal society, all while being shamed for being who they are. Seeing what the protagonist had to go through brakes my heart, knowing that this true story is one of the thousands of stories out there where people are prosecuted for not being acceptable by society’s standards and try so hard to give up their identity in order to fit in. Only until recently has Sweden been changing the laws about the Sámi people, but this indigenous group had to go through hundreds of years of persecution before being recognized by the State. And yet they still have a long way to go…

In addition to learning about Sámi culture, we also went to a workshop and learned about joiking, a traditional form of song that is performed by Sámi people. It was a great experience to learn this tradition from a Sámi who is a professor at Umeå University. Joiking is truly an art, where each individual uses their emotions to create a unique joik. We were able to hear this singing by Sámi people when the university hosted an event in honor of National Sámi day. 

To sum up my time in Umeå, one of the fun activities we did while there was taking advantage of the snow and going cross-country skiing. All I’m going to say is that cross-country sking is NOT a natural sport, but I had fun falling down a million times nonetheless. I learned my lesson not to go down a mountain in skis that aren’t designed for three-dimensional landscaping (at least for beginners!)

I know I wrote a lot in this post, but that’s what happens when it’s 2 am and I had more coffee than I should have. I blame fika for my growing liking towards kaffe.

I am signing off with a gorgeous sunrise in Umeå. Hej då!

After the initial adjustment period of being here in Stockholm, I have now been taking the time to explore the city and try new things. For the first couple of weeks, I have been actively trying to stay within Stockholm before I start traveling for my class (along with making personal trips!)

I am part of the Outdoor Adventure LLC where we go on weekly trips exploring the outdoors within the greater Stockholm area. Last week we went to a reserve called Judarskogen naturreservat (The Judar Forest Nature Reserve), where we walked around the lake and built a campfire. Even though sunset was at 16:45, I managed to take this photo with my iPhone well past 20:00:

However, this week’s trip was an ~interesting~ experience, to say the least. We went to this place called Hellasgården, which is known as a “gateway to nature.” There are several activities to choose from, but our leader had us partake in the sauna experience.

This experience wasn’t just about sitting in the sauna and then going home. The whole point of this experience was to plunge into the *FREEZING* lake after the sauna so that you can reap all the health benefits that come with shocking every single part of your body with cold water. The first time we went outside to the lake, the Miami in me screamed to not jump, but after the second time I forced myself to jump! It was the craziest thing that I have ever done, but with the encouragement of my friends, I can say that I have now (skinny) dipped in Europe!

Of course, in typical European fashion, this entire experience was done without a swimsuit, making this experience at first pretty uncomfortable for an American. But just learning to let go and understand that the culture in Europe regarding body image is much different than in the US just made the experience that much more enjoyable. Besides, I don’t think I have made a better bond with my floormates until going through that experience!

Other activities that I have done include visiting the museums within the city. Over the weekend I met up with my host family and we explored the Nordiska Museet, or as you may have guessed, the Nordic Museum.

The biggest takeaway that I got from that museum was learning about the Sámi people, the group of indigenous people within Sweden. On a similar basis that is comparable to indigenous Native Americans, Sámis have been the subject of discrimination for centuries. It was hard to believe that a country like Sweden has long been discriminatory towards a group of people. This gave me the realization that no country could ever be perfect, no matter how much you want or wish it to be.

On a happy note, I’ve mentioned in a previous post about how Swedes LOVE their fika. Even though I was never a coffee drinker before coming here, I have really started to partake and enjoy in this cultural phenomenon. Something that I did yesterday was combining fika with one of my favorite things on this planet: cats! I went to a cat cafe and just spent the lunch hour playing with cats while having some kaffe och kanelbullar (coffee with a type of Swedish cinnamon roll). Here is what a typical fika looks like (sans cats):

Ses snart, hej då! (see you soon, bye!)

The first week here has been a lot: a lot of new faces, a lot of new places, but most importantly, a lot of love for this country.

The first week was an adjustment, where I was still getting my bearings with trying to understand public transit that is in a different language. It wasn’t until I did a scavenger hunt around Stockholm with a group of friends that I now feel much more comfortable with my sense of direction. As I was doing the scavenger hunt, I became pretty excited to come back and spend time at all the locations because we were visiting a lot of iconic places, like the ABBA museum!

Modes of transit within Stockholm include the tunnelbana (subway), buss (bus), båt (boat), and more. What I find awesome about the subway system here is that it is the world’s longest art exhibit: each stop has its unique artistry that you can spend several days just exploring all the subway stations. As an example, here is a photo from the Stadion stop that I use to get to class:

Earlier in the week, I went to a place in Stockholm called Gamla Stan, also known as “Old Town.” Walking through the area where the streets are narrow, and where the cobblestone flooring made it difficult to walk, I couldn’t help to imagine how people lived (and still live!) the way they did.

Visting the Stockholm Palace located in Gamla Stan gave me a small glimpse as to what life was like through the eyes of the nobility. Even though Sweden is now a secular country, and where the Royal Family no longer holds the same power as to what they did back then, it is still interesting to see the dynamic amongst those in power and the great strides they took to keep it (I guess if you look closely enough, you can see that history repeats itself). Different era’s throughout Sweden’s history was explained through clothing and artifacts.

One of my favorite things here is something called Fika, where Swedes take a break during the day to sit with a friend and drink Kaffe (coffee) alongside a Swedish pastry. Culturally, this is really important to people here because it helps establish a proper work/life balance. In the US, society has ingrained in us never to take breaks, as that is seen to be a waste of time instead of doing the work that needs to be done. However, in Sweden, taking the 10-minute break that allows you to not think about work helps improve the quality of life and also allows people to be more productive in the workplace.

I’m signing off, but below is a photo of a daily phenomenon that happens right outside my window. This was taken just earlier today:

Vi ses! (See you!)

I arrived in Stockholm just over 36 hours ago, and my experience so far has been nothing but wonderful. When I arrived here after my overnight flight from the States, the sun was starting to rise and the colors were so rich in pinks and purples that I was standing there in awe because I often don’t see sunrises that beautiful back home. They say the colors are vibrant here is due to the high latitude.

Once I arrived at my housing, I was shocked by how my place is above and beyond my expectations. For example, there is a bathroom in our room! Typically in American colleges, the expectation is to have communal bathrooms, so being the naive American that I am, I brought shower shoes! This room is fantastic and when I met my roommate there was an instant connection, so I know the next four months is going to be nothing but good memories here.

Additionally, I decided to live in the Outdoor Living Learning Community (LLC) and we all had our first group meeting today. Hearing all the activities planned makes me extremely glad to have joined this LLC because I will get to experience Stockholm in a way that I would never have if I weren’t a part of this group. I think the main activity I’m excited about is to go ice skating!

Finally, I met my visiting host family today. I thought that having a host family while abroad will be the best way for me to learn the culture through local Swedes and I am so glad that I decided to do this because this family is so wonderful and so kind. Hopefully once I start practicing the language again I can engage in a basic conversation with them! Fingers crossed.

Being thrown into a new country on your own does come with some of its own set of challenges. I think the biggest challenge for me is trying to understand what all the signs and labels mean because almost all of it is in Swedish. While I did have some exposure to the Swedish language and culture, it has been over a year since I’ve seen or practiced it (and I was never good at it to begin with lol), so hopefully as time goes on some Swedish words and phrases will come back to me. But like I mentioned, I have a host family and they will definitely be able to help with my Swedish!

Overall, the people here are so nice and I am looking forward to next few months of my stay. I don’t think reality has hit me yet that I am here in Sweden but I think it’ll hit me once classes start rolling and I get settled in.

With that being said, I’m off to bed since it’s been an exciting two days but I will leave you with a picture that I took while exploring the neighborhood. The photo below was taken just a block from where I live!

Hejdå! (Bye!)

Hi! My name is Julie and I am currently a junior at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts studying Neuroscience & Psychology.

Born and raised in Miami, FL, I didn’t have many opportunities to travel until I was adopted by my middle school principal at the age of 15. I have done the basic traveling that Floridians typically do, from going to Disney in Orlando (where I now live!) to going to the sandbars in the Florida Keys, but I have always wanted to travel outside of the United States.

With the exception of going on a cruise to celebrate my adoption, I actually did get my first stamp in my passport by going to Costa Rica. Since my grandmother tripped and broke her leg after not even being in the country for more than two hours, I do not count this trip as my first adventure to another country. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That being said, I am SO excited to be studying aboard in Stockholm, Sweden for a semester where I can finally get my first real stamp in my passport (my old passport got lost when I moved so it’s like the evidence of that Costa Rica trip has been erased, LOL). It has always been a dream of mine to go to Europe, so being granted the opportunity to take classes and immerse myself in Swedish culture for about four months just makes this dream become a reality.

Without further ado, down below is my pre-departure video which is just a brief introduction about me!