Day 11 and 12 – Umeå

Umeå University Campus

Let me start off by saying: I cannot believe I have been in Sweden for two weeks already! I do not know where the time has gone! Before I know it, I will be back home. I do miss the food from home, my bed, my students, and of course everything that I take for granted. This trip has been an eye opener for me. It has made me realize a lot about living in a society like the United States.

Yesterday and today we had our final classes before heading out into the schools. Class has been very interesting here in Sweden. First off, the girls and myself were taking notes during class, and no one else was taking notes. We all thought that was strange. Yes, we knew that we were not going to be tested on the material, but we thought it was important enough to write down information about the Swedish schools.

Language is a huge barrier out here. Everyone in the classroom likes how the 5 of us can speak "perfect" English in their point of view. But we have trouble understanding what they are trying to say because 1.) their accents is very strong and 2.) they do not understand all the terms in the English language. That is like yesterday we were sitting in a group with students from various countries and they were trying to explain a word that Americans use a lot but they did not know how to say the word. The word ended up being weakness and the definitions that they were explaining to me did not seem to create the word weakness at all! One of the girls in the class, explained to Sara (one of the girls I am traveling with) that she has been taking English for 13 years and wished that her English was as good as ours.

Walking to the Dorm

While sitting in the classroom with students from the other countries here are some differences that we have noticed:

1.    They are very surprised that we pay to go to school in the United States. They are shocked because you do not have to pay to go to school in Sweden. The government has put aside money for students to go to school because people here can still work without a degree, not like at home.

2.    The government runs the education system in Sweden. They are in the process of changing and improving their education. Some countries are based on a scale system. For example: Germany scales from 1 – 6 and Spain scales from 1 – 10. In the United States we have a grading scale that is based off 100%. Sweden is in the process of working towards a grading systems based off of A, B, C, D, E, and F. Grades A – E are considered passing and an F means that the student is failing.

3.    The Swedish government is paying their teachers to go to school and earn teaching degrees (if they have not earned them already). Plus the government puts aside millions of Swedish Kronor for the education system. For example, in the Budget Bill, 3.8 billion Swedish Kronor has been allocated for the years 2012 to 2015 to strengthen teachers’ skills and raise the status of the teaching profession. That is $577,881,922.24 U.S. dollars just to strengthen the teaching profession in Sweden!

4.    In Sweden they have 9 common subjects that they must learn: English, History, Sports and Health, Math, Natural Science, Religion, Civics, Swedish, and Swedish as a second language. Can you see the differences in subjects between Sweden and the United States? At home the subjects that are in the classroom are: math, reading, science, social studies, and spelling.

5.    Also, there is no excuse for taking a vacation! I was shocked when our supervisor was explaining that you must always be in school and you cannot miss a day of school for family vacations!

My schedule at the school I will be teaching at.
The yellow represents the time time that I start teaching.
Can you figure out the military time?

6.    Everything here seems like a century behind. Yes, they have computers and Internet, but it is not the same compared to the United States. You do not see many video game stores around, cell phones, or even cars!

7.    Everywhere you go it is walking, biking, or taking the bus. I must admit I am getting my experience about not relying on a cell phone or using a car to get me to the places I need to go to. I think I will be an expert on the bus system when I get back home.

8.    Laundry is free on campus unlike in the United States where we have to pay to use laundry facilities!! We also have a sign up system where you schedule the time to do the laundry. At Whitewater, it was a first come first serve basis. Plus it is free, so I think I like doing my laundry here instead! Well besides doing laundry at my parents house!

This has been quiet the adventure within itself learning about the schools and the Swedish culture. I start teaching in the school on Monday and I am very excited. Apparently the students in the Swedish classroom are asking about me everyday and I cannot wait to meet them and share my experiences with them. I will be teaching classes in English, and who knows maybe they will be able to teach me a little more Swedish!