Hej från Stockholm! The last two months of my study abroad have been a whirlwind. I’ve been to Poland, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, and Estonia. Unsurprisingly, I’m now much better at European Geography too. Perhaps my favorite piece of these excursions was my trip to Berlin with my class. We learned a lot about queer history in Berlin and had the privilege to enter many queer spaces here. With queerness under attack back home in many states including Missouri, visiting these queer spaces filled me with hope. Learning about the underground queer culture here in World War II, visiting places with very anti-queer politics and seeing that queer communities are always present and always find a way through was really inspiring and gives me hope that despite the political turmoil in the US, the queer communities will find a way to thrive. This is one of my most meaningful experiences here I think.

On a lighter note, I’ve had a lot of opportunities to do new things here in Stockholm as well. One such thing is “traditionsfesten,” an activity my host family held for me so I can experience all the holidays I won’t be in Sweden for. All in one night, we celebrated nationaldagen (national day, similar in a way to the 4th of July), midsommar (a very Swedish holiday celebrating the summer solstice, no it’s not like the horror movie), kräftskiva (a crayfish-eating party), kanelbulledag (cinnamon bun day), Sankta Lucia Dag (Saint Lucy’s day), Jul (Christmas), and New Years. This celebration was a lot for one night, but it was so much fun. We had a lot of food, our household plant doubling as a midsommar pole and Christmas tree, a visit from Tomte (Santa) and went out to gather whatever early spring flowers we could find to decorate the midsommar pole. Being with my host family and their family for this celebration will definitely be a very fond memory for years to come.

At the end of April, I also got to celebrate Valborg, which I understand to be similar to Labor Day, but also with some graduation celebrating weaved in. I visited Uppsala, the biggest student city in Sweden, and frankly, I was a bit disappointed. I wasn’t able to get into any of the nations, which are the closest thing to Greek life they have, and so after the concert at 3 p.m., I just hung out until 8:30, where me and my friends walked 30 minutes to the bonfire, the other hallmark tradition of Valborg. The bonfire was nice, but next time I think I’ll stick with that.

Jumping back to the beginning of April, we celebrated Påsk, or Easter. Much of it is the same as home, we had an easter lunch, though their lunch consisted of sill (herring), and generally a lot more fish than our ham and cheese sandwiches from home. However, it was still quite good! Rather than dying eggs by dipping them in dye, they paint eggs, which I found to be a really fun tradition too!

I also got to accompany my host dad, host sister, and her boyfriend to a football (soccer) game. For the opening game of the season, they have a march to the stadium, and for me, it was joyfully reminiscent of my march to the stadium with Marching Mizzou at home. Seeing the fans go crazy for their team (Hammarby) reminded me of Mizzou football in a really nice way. It was also a more interesting sport than I expected. Overall, I’m starting to find comfort in how many things are like home in a nice way. More updates on my takeaways once I’m home! Hej då!

---

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