So it would be difficult to encapsulate my entire experience the past year and my body of thought on Swedish culture in one blog post. So I am going to cheat a bit and let someone else do it for me. The linked article is written by a professor at Lund University, which is about two and a half hours from where I was living. He is a British ex-pat who has been living there for a while and who's thoughts I have heard echoed by many of the other foreigners I have talked to. Bits of it are idealized, and perhaps exaggerated, but it is a good overview nontheless.
The past year, from a personal standpoint, was absolutely tremendous. Failings of my academic program aside, the experience of immersing myself in another culture was incredibly valuable. I've gained skills in cross-cultural communication, and understanding, worked for a Swedish municipality and made great friends. I am very thankful for the opportunity, and for the funding, provided by Rotary. I look back on the time fondly, and I think that it has helped prep me for the next stage as I transition to work, and possibly, more school.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Life in Blekinge
Well, what to say.... The past seven months or so are not easily condensed into a blog post. May take one or two.
The first step in getting to know my new home region was learning how to pronounce it. Most say BLEAK-ing -ah, though some go for more of a BLEKH-ing-ah interpretation. The "city" that I am living in, I won't even try to spell out phonetically. You just have to hear the name "Karlskrona" for yourself. If you zoom in on the map, you might wonder, "is your apartment building really just a few feet from the Baltic?" Or, "are those really docks behind your apartment?" The answers would, in fact, be yes, and I have to say it's pretty fantastic.
Karlskrona (wiki) is a somewhat typical European small town. There is a large public square in the middle of the centrum, several old churches and even some forts/castles. It has a much different character from the typical town in many ways though, due to its location on the archipelago. Things are a lot more spread out and there is not a classic walled center as many other towns have. With so much rocky coastline and greenery, it reminds me a lot of certain parts of the great lakes region back home. For those of you who have spent time in Traverse, this place would feel pretty familiar to you. Perhaps there is a connection between the terrain and why there are so many people with Scandinavian roots in the northern Midwest. I have to imagine that finding a region that looked so much like home was a bit of a comfort for folks who had come such a long way.
The population of the town and all the surrounding areas is only about 50K. It makes for a pretty sleepy place most of the time. 'Rush hour' is for five minutes just before 8:00am, and ten minutes just after 5:00pm, with the sidewalks rolling up shortly after 6:00. There are no music venues, and just three pubs in town. This makes complaining about Karlskrona a popular pastime among students.
Though Karlskrona is far from a thriving metropolis (for reference sake, Chicago metro area is roughly 11 million people, all of Sweden is under 9 million), the truth is, there is a lot to do here. The amount of nature and water means all kinds of opportunities to get outdoors. There are rock climbing and kayaking clubs, sailing, hiking and lots of team sports to get involved in. There's even a dancing club in town called "tipsy dancers." I've taken up rock climbing and some trail running, both things I have wanted to do for a long time. The size of the town also means great accessibility. You are not tied to a car, or even the buses. Bikes will do just fine thanks. There is a grocery store just down the block, meaning I can stop in every few days and get fresh fruits and veggies, plus some exercise walking there and back. Definitely a change of pace from Ukrainian Village.
I miss the opportunities and activities offered in big cities, but the quality of life here is difficult to ignore. It would be a great place for families or perhaps a summer residence.
Up next: A bit of Karlskrona history, and some cultural observations...
The first step in getting to know my new home region was learning how to pronounce it. Most say BLEAK-ing -ah, though some go for more of a BLEKH-ing-ah interpretation. The "city" that I am living in, I won't even try to spell out phonetically. You just have to hear the name "Karlskrona" for yourself. If you zoom in on the map, you might wonder, "is your apartment building really just a few feet from the Baltic?" Or, "are those really docks behind your apartment?" The answers would, in fact, be yes, and I have to say it's pretty fantastic.
Karlskrona (wiki) is a somewhat typical European small town. There is a large public square in the middle of the centrum, several old churches and even some forts/castles. It has a much different character from the typical town in many ways though, due to its location on the archipelago. Things are a lot more spread out and there is not a classic walled center as many other towns have. With so much rocky coastline and greenery, it reminds me a lot of certain parts of the great lakes region back home. For those of you who have spent time in Traverse, this place would feel pretty familiar to you. Perhaps there is a connection between the terrain and why there are so many people with Scandinavian roots in the northern Midwest. I have to imagine that finding a region that looked so much like home was a bit of a comfort for folks who had come such a long way.
The population of the town and all the surrounding areas is only about 50K. It makes for a pretty sleepy place most of the time. 'Rush hour' is for five minutes just before 8:00am, and ten minutes just after 5:00pm, with the sidewalks rolling up shortly after 6:00. There are no music venues, and just three pubs in town. This makes complaining about Karlskrona a popular pastime among students.
Though Karlskrona is far from a thriving metropolis (for reference sake, Chicago metro area is roughly 11 million people, all of Sweden is under 9 million), the truth is, there is a lot to do here. The amount of nature and water means all kinds of opportunities to get outdoors. There are rock climbing and kayaking clubs, sailing, hiking and lots of team sports to get involved in. There's even a dancing club in town called "tipsy dancers." I've taken up rock climbing and some trail running, both things I have wanted to do for a long time. The size of the town also means great accessibility. You are not tied to a car, or even the buses. Bikes will do just fine thanks. There is a grocery store just down the block, meaning I can stop in every few days and get fresh fruits and veggies, plus some exercise walking there and back. Definitely a change of pace from Ukrainian Village.
I miss the opportunities and activities offered in big cities, but the quality of life here is difficult to ignore. It would be a great place for families or perhaps a summer residence.
Up next: A bit of Karlskrona history, and some cultural observations...
Monday, March 2, 2009
Back, for now...
Hello everyone, or, hej hej! as they say here in Swedlandia.
I'm back. Or at least for a few posts. I've done a modest redesign as well. Not quite done with that, but close.
I haven't been blogging so much since I've been here, for a couple reasons. One being that I've been pretty busy with school, and the other being that I haven't been out traveling around much. It's pretty difficult to get back and forth from Karlskrona to other places. The easiest is Copenhagen, and you can't get cheap fares as easily there as other places, like London. Still, I've had a lot going on here and kept busy, as I said. Here's some updates on what's been going on so far.
School has definitely been taking up the biggest chunk of my time. Between classes, homework and group projects, I've had my hands full. It hasn't been really difficult work, more the busy-work type. I know quite a bit more about the European Union now than I did before. We spent quite a bit of the first semester learning about the power structure and the different bodies that make up the EU. From there we have explored the different policies on development and growth that the EU has enacted and debated in its relatively short history.
We had five classes that ran separately for a few weeks each. They included lectures most week days, and minimal readings. Then we would usually have a paper and some sort of exam. Given the reputation that Scandinavia has for planning and design, I expected to really be challenged academically while I was here. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Even though the faculty that we have are bright individuals, they are certainly not experts in "planning." One is an economist, and the other is a Biologist. Add to that, that the economist openly questions the legitimacy of planning as a discipline, and it makes for a program that was not at all what I expected. Having a lot of exchange students that do not take the program seriously as well is an issue, plus its size and language issues make mean that generally only two to three people participate in class discussion.
Overall, it has helped me to understand why American Universities dominate the world rankings year in and year out. There are certainly some pedagogical elements that US schools would do well to adapt from there European counterparts, but the depth and breadth of an education at a quality American university just does not compare.
Things have been looking up, however, this term. We have been in thesis period and I am working on a really fun project. A friend and I had been discussing the possibility of writing something having to do with cities and sustainability since the middle of last term. When our class went out to a town called Växjö, I took advantage of the opportunity and asked if they had any projects we might assist them with. After some back and forth and some meetings, they decided to have us develop a sustainable transportation plan for an area they are hoping to develop in 10-20 years. Right now, all that's there is fields, so it presents a perfect "blank slate" to really develop in a sustainable way. There is also a good chance that they will use some of our ideas in the master plan they are developing for the area as well. We're still in research and theory stages right now, but I'll be writing more about that at some point.
Next up, life in Blekinge....
I'm back. Or at least for a few posts. I've done a modest redesign as well. Not quite done with that, but close.
I haven't been blogging so much since I've been here, for a couple reasons. One being that I've been pretty busy with school, and the other being that I haven't been out traveling around much. It's pretty difficult to get back and forth from Karlskrona to other places. The easiest is Copenhagen, and you can't get cheap fares as easily there as other places, like London. Still, I've had a lot going on here and kept busy, as I said. Here's some updates on what's been going on so far.
School has definitely been taking up the biggest chunk of my time. Between classes, homework and group projects, I've had my hands full. It hasn't been really difficult work, more the busy-work type. I know quite a bit more about the European Union now than I did before. We spent quite a bit of the first semester learning about the power structure and the different bodies that make up the EU. From there we have explored the different policies on development and growth that the EU has enacted and debated in its relatively short history.
We had five classes that ran separately for a few weeks each. They included lectures most week days, and minimal readings. Then we would usually have a paper and some sort of exam. Given the reputation that Scandinavia has for planning and design, I expected to really be challenged academically while I was here. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Even though the faculty that we have are bright individuals, they are certainly not experts in "planning." One is an economist, and the other is a Biologist. Add to that, that the economist openly questions the legitimacy of planning as a discipline, and it makes for a program that was not at all what I expected. Having a lot of exchange students that do not take the program seriously as well is an issue, plus its size and language issues make mean that generally only two to three people participate in class discussion.
Overall, it has helped me to understand why American Universities dominate the world rankings year in and year out. There are certainly some pedagogical elements that US schools would do well to adapt from there European counterparts, but the depth and breadth of an education at a quality American university just does not compare.
Things have been looking up, however, this term. We have been in thesis period and I am working on a really fun project. A friend and I had been discussing the possibility of writing something having to do with cities and sustainability since the middle of last term. When our class went out to a town called Växjö, I took advantage of the opportunity and asked if they had any projects we might assist them with. After some back and forth and some meetings, they decided to have us develop a sustainable transportation plan for an area they are hoping to develop in 10-20 years. Right now, all that's there is fields, so it presents a perfect "blank slate" to really develop in a sustainable way. There is also a good chance that they will use some of our ideas in the master plan they are developing for the area as well. We're still in research and theory stages right now, but I'll be writing more about that at some point.
Next up, life in Blekinge....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
