Hej från Stockholm! The last month has been packed with lots of fun exploratory experiences with my host family and friends. I’ve made friends here who are also staying with host families, so visiting and hearing their stories has let me see a broader view of culture in Stockholm. It’s been so nice to make friends here and build our own community of exchange students. I would encourage everyone who goes abroad to put yourself out there and find friends to share the struggles and exploring with.

One thing that happened in the last month was Fettisdagen, or Fat Tuesday. To kick off lent, we enjoy semla, which are cardamom buns with mandelmassa, an almond paste like marzipan, and whipped cream. Many people, like my host mom, enjoy them in the form of hetvägg, which is a semla in a bowl of warm milk. There are also many varieties of semla other than the traditional, like vanilla ones, sans almond, and chocolate ones, with chocolate cream and Nutella. I’m still not sure about hetvägg, but semla, especially the chocolate ones, are delicious. I’m glad that after seeing them in stores for a month, I finally got to try some.

As I’ve gotten more comfortable with the public transport, I’ve been able to explore a lot of new places around Stockholm. I’ve been to several museums including Fotografiska, the Swedish Museum of Performing Arts, the Museum of Swedish History and more. I was also able to visit Drottningholm Slott, one of the Swedish palaces. Seeing castles is one of my favorite things to see here, since we don’t have them in the United States. Between the museums and castles I’ve seen, I feel I’ve learned a lot about the forces that shape Swedish culture.

One of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in the last month was the northern lights, or aurora borealis! The phenomenon is rather unpredictable, and rarely is visible in Stockholm. Unexpectedly, my host mom texted our family chat one day, asking if we were ready to go northern light chasing. My host sister and I were shocked. There had been a recent solar flare, making the lights visible in Stockholm the previous night, and it was predicted that night as well.

Around 10 p.m., my host mom drove us all 30 minutes away to a dock area, where we were able to see the lights. In person, they actually look more blue/gray than green. My host sister and her boyfriend had never seen them either, so it was really cool experience to share with them.

I also got the chance to try skiing for the first time with my host family. We visited their summer home in Avesta for a weekend and went to the ski resort Romme on Saturday and Sunday. Skiing definitely has a learning curve, even just walking in the ski boots can be challenging to adapt to. I spent my weekend learning on the “beginners hill”… which was primarily full of four year olds whizzing past me. Nonetheless, my host dad was very patient in teaching me how to balance with the skis, wiping out and having a complete lack of coordination.

By the end of the weekend, I was able to comfortably go down the beginners hill, and steer around obstacles. I’m so proud of myself for trying something outside my comfort zone, and I ended up having an amazing time. I would definitely go skiing again given the chance, and going back to the summer house with the wood burning stove was so cozy and quaint.

At DIS, my program, we have a study tour week, and there are two weeks, each where half of the core courses take a class trip to another city in Europe. While many were on class trips this month, those of us who weren’t, myself included, got a free week to travel.

Solo travelling for the first time in an unfamiliar country was kind of terrifying, to be totally honest. I traveled on my own to Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. It was so refreshing to make my own itinerary and go at my own pace, without needing to compromise. I think that Amsterdam as a city definitely had the best vibes. The canals were so beautiful, the people were friendly and I LOVE all the gothic architecture throughout the city.

Visiting Dam Square with the street musicians in front of the grand palace really gave the romantic feel of travelling in Europe, especially when I got to dance in the circle that formed. Brussels was very pretty, including mini Europe, though overall there weren’t as many activities to do there. I really enjoyed Paris due to my background in French. I was able to connect experiences and places with things I’ve learned in my French courses in a really meaningful way (despite the trash in the streets and messy transport system from strikes). The palace of Versailles was stunning in its grandeur, almost surreal.

It was a super amazing trip and I’ve come out with two pieces of advice for anyone traveling: don’t be afraid to just wander the city, you’ll find so many cute places and things that aren’t going to be on Tripadvisor (like street markets!), and don’t leave your phone on the subway (lesson learned). Coming back to Stockholm after my trip was a bit jarring in terms of weather. Just before I left for my trip, we got a big snow storm with 30 cm (which is about 12 inches) of snow. This was shocking to my Midwestern sensibilities. We worked together with the neighbors to keep the walkway shoveled throughout and after the storm. I call it our little snow tunnel.

Going to more southern located parts of Europe was a nice break, going to places where it was around 50F during the day, but coming back to the 30F here was definitely a jolt. Much like the Midwest, Stockholm seems to have a penchant for changing weather; it seems one week is spring like and the next we get another snowstorm, and this repeats. I hope that we’ll get spring soon.

I’ll have more updates as the spring comes! Hej då!

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program:  DIS: Prostitution and the Sex Trade