Marcela’s Journals

August 31, 2024

Into the Land of the Midnight Sun

One can think the exchange journey starts once one gets to their host country, but it really begins the moment one decides to become an exchange student. It didn't hit me until I was in the plane about to take off "It's a full academic year abroad" I thought about the past year and about everything that happened, "that's a lot in too little time" I realized, so I told myself that whatever Sweden will bring, I'll make the most out of it.

After a 15-hour journey from one side of the world to another, I finally got to Copenhagen, Denmark. My host family received me with American and Swedish flags along with a nice poster welcoming me. We crossed the famous Öresund (or Øresund if you're in Denmark) and finally got to Malmö, where things just got progressively more interesting.

One of the first things that drew my attention was the fact that I live by the ocean as I have never experienced that before, and that I can see Copenhagen from the beach; till today I still get shocked whenever I look at the horizon and realize that I'm looking at a different country from where I am. Then we've got the other thing that surprised me on my first day here... Taco Fredag (Taco Friday), Swedish costume that although not everyone follows it's a thing here. Though I didn’t have the famous Swedish tacos that day, when I tried them, they weren’t bad at all, but of course they were completely different from the Mexican tacos I’m used to, and I honestly love that!

Something that I didn’t expect would shock me as much as it did was the youth culture. Yes, I already knew teenagers in Sweden are given much freedom and overall responsibility over themselves than where I come from; yet, experiencing that trust from adults took me by surprise since I was used to something completely different. I know I can hold myself accountable but having adults believing that too is still something that I’m learning to adjust to.

My host sister introduced me to her friends soon after I got here, they showed me around the city, and they taught me the local teenage life customs that no one really learns but just naturally adopts when you grew up in the area. Some examples included not getting surprised if someone screams “gul bil!” (yellow car!) every time someone sees a yellow car (no. Taxis don’t count, sorry) and hit me, since it’s a game people just play, or avoiding stepping on the sewer covers with a letter “A” as it brings “bad luck”, unlike stepping on the ones with the letter “K” since they do the opposite.

With those same friends, I attended Malmöfestivalen/Malmö festival when it began. The city festival had music performances at different venues throughout the city. Every stage was for a different music genre, which I think is such a great idea for everyone to enjoy. There were also food vendors and other activities for people of all ages. I got to see local artists that I just enjoyed so much that now I listen to every now and then in my playlists.

The day after going to the festival I finally got to meet the exchange students from my host district on a train to the inbound camp in Nykoping, where later I met the rest of the students that are staying in Sweden. Today whenever I think about those 5 days at the camp, I can’t help but smile at the memories from it, I had too much fun to forget. More than anything, the camp was for us inbounds to get to know each other and learn the “must-knows” of the Swedish culture and language. Speaking of which, the most delicious moments were those in which we’d tried Swedish candy, cookies, and of course fika, but the award-winning memory is when we got taught how to eat kräftor/crayfish the way people do it for kräftskiva (Crayfish party, an end of summer tradition). Shockingly for one night one could see the northern lights. When I returned from camp and talked with my host mom about it, she sympathized with my shock and told me she also witnessed them all the way from the south. Their splendor is something I'll ever forget, especially since my phone camera doesn't do justice to their beauty in real life. 

The next week, school started. I had my first Rotary meeting on my first day of school, there I exchanged banners with my host club as well as participating in a brief Q&A after introducing myself to my host club. At school, I was introduced by my mentor to the class I’ll be part of for this school year, and I couldn’t help but think about those movies where there’s a new student and they go through that exact same situation. “What do you think about Sweden?” “Where do you live?” “What things do you want to do in Sweden?” Those are the top 3 most asked questions I get all the time whenever I meet someone new, of course in school there wasn’t an exception. I find it interesting that even though I get asked the same questions repeatedly I often end up changing my answers (except the one asking where I live), maybe since every day I learn something new, and which enlarges my bucket list or makes me elaborate more my opinion on Sweden as of now. Although by the end of that day I felt a bit too exhausted, the tiredness came with a feeling of accomplishment as I didn’t get lost in school, met some awesome people, but especially since I understood more than what I thought I would during the lessons!

I also met the rest of my hosts’ family in Simrishamn, grandparents, uncles and aunts besides cousins. They were very welcoming and joyful. We spent our time together berry picking and enjoying fika after having some smörgåstårta (sort of like a sandwich but served as a cake, which makes sense since smörgås = sandwich and tårta = cake). Since I was at the same place as another exchange student I befriended during the camp, we met up and spent some time together. She showed me the beautiful town, the picturesque fishermen’s’ houses and the school she’s attending, and together we followed a tradition kids (and I guess sometimes other people too) do called Lördagsgodis (buy and eat candy on Saturdays).

The following week I arranged a meeting with the mayor of Malmö, Katrin Steinfeld Jammeh, to give her a letter from the mayor from Johns Creek (where I come from in the U.S.), John Bradberry. Before being able to talk to her, I witnessed a political meeting, where there was a board of people from different political parties debating over different issues within the city. It was interesting as well as very informative on how the government system works over here.

That same week, one day after school, when I was about to say goodbye to my friends, they surprised me with a welcome gift they prepared. The bag they gave me included Swedish candy, beverages, CDs, and a cute postcard with a nice note in Swedish, which illustrated two Swedish characters (Pettson och Findus). I already felt welcomed by my class before they gave me that, but with this detail my heart really melted. It all just makes me want to become fluent in Swedish instantly, but I know it’s not as easy as that and that this process will take time, but I am 100% sure it will be worth all the time and patience. After all, even the journey is rewarding. I can’t wait for what more is to come and to experience it with such amazing people as the ones I’ve met so far! As I’m writing this I’m listening to Kent’s album, Verkligen, one of the ones my friends gave me and that I completely recommend!

So, until I write to you again, vi ses!