Swedish Schooling in A Little Town

My first day of school in Sweden was four months ago and all I can say is that the time between me nervously starting my first day to where I am now has gone by ridiculously fast. I think it’s important that people learn about different kinds of schooling in different countries, just as I have. There were many more surprises and differences than what I had expected before leaving home. When I first signed up for exchange, I was worried about traveling to another country by myself, meeting my host family, and many more things, but the scariest aspect of exchange for me was school. Back at home school is already a hassle. Taking into consideration homework, friends, and extra curricular activities, the average American high schooler has a lot on their plate to deal with. Now imagine flying to the other side of the world to a country where you don’t know the language, and starting at a new school where you know absolutely nobody. It’s terrifying just thinking about it. This was my greatest fear when I left so you can imagine how I felt on my first day. The morning of my first day I woke up and already knew it would be a long, tiring day. I had missed the first two days because of language camp so I had already missed most of the class introductions. This meant I would have to introduce myself all alone, in front of the entire class. I got ready to go and left the house on my bike half an hour before my first class started to give myself enough time to find my first classroom. Even though I had already been shown the way to the school by Ebba on the moped, I still managed to get lost on the way to school. After calling my host mom for help, I realized I was just one street over from where I needed to be and quickly found my way to school. The first day went slowly as I introduced myself in each class and had to state “jag talar Engelska” many times, which means “I speak English.” Most of the students that I introduced myself to were excited to speak English with me and show me how to get around so I had more help then I had anticipated which was comforting. When the day was finally over, I biked home and collapsed on my bed. Because it was a Friday, I would have the weekend to recharge and prepare for the next week of school. Every year, the first years in Gymnasium (Sweden's equivalent of high school) get to go on a short trip together. Almost no one knows each other when they start out in gymnasium because they all come from different middle schools. Many of the people in my school actually commute to school by bus or train everyday from different towns. The whole point of the trip is so that all the students could get to know each other early on in the year. My class was going camping for Monday and Tuesday so we would be missing the first two days of the week. Being from Alaska, when someone says camping, I expect tents, and no running water. I realized that this was not the case for our class trip. We arrived at our campsite by bus and were each assigned small cabin-houses with sinks and electricity. The two days went by quickly, filled with get-to-know-you games and team building activities. By the end of our camping trip, we all knew each other a little better. This is just one example of the many opportunities Swedish gymnasium students get to do. An average day at school for me here is wildly different than school at home. To start with, instead of starting school at the same time every day, like I do in Alaska, each day of the week starts at a different time for me. The earliest being 9:00 and the latest is on Wednesday, when I start at 11:00. My classes are slightly longer than back home but I have fewer classes every day. The earliest day I get out is at 1:20pm on Fridays. Some students get out of school before lunch and can choose to either stay and eat or go home. I used to be able to do this but I was added into a much needed Swedish class that kept me until later that day. Another difference between American and Swedish high schools is that in Sweden, everyone chooses a program to be a part of. Each program has different classes and you can choose them based on whether or not you want to go to university after gymnasium or go straight to work. There are tons of different programs throughout Sweden in different schools but my school in Svedala only offers about five. I chose to be a part of the Society program, where students learn about different cultures and societies. I am also a part of the Media program: A smaller class where we’ve been learning how to use sites like Photoshop and Garageband. Unlike in American schools, where everyone goes to seperate classes and has their own schedule, all of the students in the same program and class go to classes together. I would have every single class with the same students together for the entire year, but because I am an exchange student, I was able to be put into a few different classes. Three times a week I have Swedish classes with SFI (Swedish for Immigrant) students. These classes replace my normal Swedish class, and I managed to get added into the art class, despite it only being for second and third years. The other classes that are included in my program are math, history, English, and Swedish. My program offers mostly the basic classes while other programs have very specific classes. Just to name a few, one of my friends is in a cooking program where the main focus is to learn food preparation. There is also a nature sciences program that mostly focuses on math and science. I was actually able to visit the school that my host dad teaches at and check out some very unique teaching styles and programs. The school that he works at is for students who want to go straight to work after graduating. I got to spend the day with the animal program students. Their average day consists of getting to school early and taking care of all the animals that they have on school grounds. First I got to see the momma pigs and their piglets while the students cleaned the pens, then we visited the cows. They had everything that you would find on a normal farm there, from cows, to ducks, to goats. They even had a room dedicated to small household pets with gerbils, mice, lemurs and more. By the end of that trip I was a little jealous of the students at the school who got to spend their days taking care of animals which is one of my dream jobs. One of the biggest differences here for me at least is the school food. In my school back home, you would have to pay every day just to choose between a sandwich or a main dish. Some of the most common options were one slice of pizza, a small burrito, or a chicken burger. All of which were simply heated before being given to the students. Along with that we had a salad bar and you could choose an apple or orange to go with your meal. After buying your food, that's that. If you are still hungry, you have to buy an entire new meal. After two years of high school, this was normal to me. Until I came to Sweden. My first day of school here, when everyone got out for lunch, I was stunned to see the foods they offered. Everyday there is a main course that was homemade earlier that day and there is always a vegetarian option. Along with that, they have a salad bar that I like to call The Mystery Bar. I call it that because every day it has a new, interesting assortment of salads, vegetables, and sometimes indistinguishable food items. The great thing about the lunches is, if you had one serving and you’re still not feeling full, you can go back for as much as you want! I regret to say that this is definitely one of the contributing factors to my weight gain here, but it is so worth it. If the food they’re serving that day doesn’t look as good, or you just want a change, you can buy a baguette from the cafe, also in the cafeteria. Along with more options for lunch, they always have dessert that you can buy and a coffee machine for exhausted students and teachers alike. I’ve gotten used to not having to pay for my delicious lunches and it’s going to be a hard adjustment when I go back to school in Sitka next fall. I’ve enjoyed discovering the similarities and differences between my school in Alaska and my school here and I hope to be able to share more about what a Swedish student lives like.