A small confess – I don’t think that I’m ever going to be a good blogger because I am so not used to doing this – uploading photos, posts, sharing in the internet + I am really critic about myself + my ability to overthink supplies me with various amount of mental conditions every day and after all, I would like to be in at least normal one when I write my blog. However, here I am!
Now, after we cleared that out, let’s move to the main topic of this post, namely the beginning of my adaptation. I start with the one in the family because this is the first environment where the exchange student tries to find his/her place. I am extremely happy to say that the people, who decided to host me during this year, are as much inclined to accept me in their already created family as I am to become part of it. I wish most sincerely to every exchange student these continuously developing relations to the host parents which I believe I have. This is a relation like any other – it requires effort and time but as most important I consider talks. Exactly that way happens the exchange itself and the more various topics are discussed the better! For example, I learned the exact meaning of the word “lagom” in Swedish from my host dad. This word really has any direct translation neither in English, nor in Bulgarian. He explained it that way: decades ago in Sweden, during the time of the Vikings (<3), when these Vikings were having dinner, they used to pass a jug with kind of a beer drink; everyone used to take a “lagom” sip, so there is enough from this drink for the rest of the Vikings. I don’t intend to go into detail about other topics; my point here is that you can always learn something new if you just dare to ask, which for me personally, as many of you know, is really hard NOT to do.
Furthermore I want to write a bit about school. Yesterday began my second week in a Swedish gymnasium. The first thing that I found about it was that in their school system gymnasium is the last three years in school; then the student gets to choose what does he/she wants to learn more thoroughly but he/she is not obliged to continue with it. This means that you don’t have to decide at the age of 14-15 what you want to do with your life, like in Bulgaria. I can write really a lot about school but I will try to shorten it. During the first week I have been sitting like… like a decoration in the classroom while trying to get at least one Swedish word that I know. Fortunately, in Sweden almost everyone speaks really good English and my adorable classmates continue to help me get the important stuff. However, I really don’t want to be like a burden for anyone (someone to translate it all to English). The situation has a good side, though. While I don’t understand anything, I have the perfect option to observe, analyze and compare the new things that I see. To begin with, the people who told me that in the Swedish school system the learning process depends mainly on the student (there are no teachers to help and urge you all the time, just so you end the year), were so right. Of course, on the other hand, having all of this freedom is necessarily a good thing. Although the relations student-teacher are a little blurred (I see that everywhere around me), I still cannot start calling the teacher by their small name. My week schedule is quite different than what I am used to but the differences are only positive. There is no waking up at 06:00 am, being at school at 07:15, you don’t spend every single day 6 hours in school with pauses from maximum 15-20 minutes. Here the classes may be 60-90 minutes but at least they aren’t like four-five but two-three. The time that we have for lunch every day is between 11:00 and 13:00 and is minimum 50-60 minutes. I personally start school earliest at 08:30 and end latest at 17:00. So, here the stress from knowing that you have to get up early every day is apparently gone.
Now is the time for the accent that I want to put, namely for the people in Sweden. I think that everyone has heard about the stereotypes about Scandinavian people – they are cold, closed, individualists, and silent, not so communicative. The thing I learned for my two weeks (and a little!) in Sweden is that this doesn’t refer to young people (I mean the people I meet in school and on the streets). I even would say that they are exactly the opposite. Maybe it depends on the surrounding that one will have, but in my school (my class in particular) there are a lot of people, willing to socialize, talk and get to know me. Of course, there are introverts everywhere and Sweden is no exception. The other thing that I really liked is the freedom that is given to young people in yet another aspect. Everyone is able to express him/herself either in dressing style or simply outlook, without being afraid that someone would laugh or make fun of him/her (which is quite usual in Bulgaria). People simply accept each other the way they are.
The last thing that I want to write about is my adaptation, namely the nostalgia. Honestly… in the beginning (even now) it is hard. It was really fun to see how on the first day on the on-arrival camp in Stockholm all of the students were excited, happy and I… I felt horrible the whole day. I even cried, like, a lot because this was the moment when “shit got real” : I am going to be in Sweden for 11 months, BAM! ou won’t see your family and friends 11 months, BAM! Just to make clear – when you have these really close friendships that have been proven through time, is kind of hard to accept the reality right away. It comes a moment when you realize “Shit, everything is going to change” and then it is tough exactly because these people are so close to you and you are simply used to sharing a lot with them. But this is only the first thought. Then comes the other thought “If they are that close, they simply will stay such and when you get back it is not going to be a huge change”. On the other hand, if I were in Bulgaria I would graduate this year and we all will just… go our way. Another problem is even if I find enough time for those really close people in Bulgaria (plus school, plus time for the host family), there are like twice as much people with whom I still want to have contact but simply I don’t have the time. Exactly here comes my motivation for the blog from. ^^
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