The time we spent in Sweden

By Emanuela Dance, Coordinating teachers: Heredea Natalia and Popa Alina; School: Samuil Vulcan National College  

Our trip to Sweden will never be forgotten. Since the plane flew above its borders, we were amazed with how beautiful this country is. I mean, really. All we saw was forests, lakes, curvy roads and small towns here and there.  After we found the hotel in Kungsbacka, I was introduced to the family who was my host for the whole week. We drove to their lovely house, in Anneberg, a few km away from Kungsbacka. We chatted the whole day, and so I discovered more about Sweden and its people.

The next day, Lisa and I took the bus to school. There, we met all the students and the teachers who were involved in Erasmus+. Next, was fika, a Swedish custom: we had coffee and cookies and talked to each other. Then, the Swedish students and teachers showed us around their school, ElofLindälvsGymnasium. For lunch, we ate at the school cafeteria, and we all agreed they have great food there. Another thing we did that day, were the games in the Gym Hall. We had a lot of fun, and I was never more upset that a PE class was over. The final activity was a workshop, where we assembled a newspaper’s front page and created a billboard. That was the first school day. Afterwards, we went shopping, and of course, I bought some Swedish candy, as I was curious about new flavors and textures. I was not disappointed. 

On Tuesday, we went sightseeing in Kungsbacka, we visited the local newspaper, “NorraHalland”, and we took the bus to Vitlycke Museum. There we saw houses, objects and rock carvings from The Bronze Age: all kinds of symbols that no one could decode. On the way back, we stopped near the sea, at a beautiful restaurant where we had dinner together. That evening, like every other before and after, I played board games with the girls, and I talked to everyone, about our countries, our cultures, our schools, everything.

We had the next day for ourselves, so we went to visit Gothenburg. The guide told us many things about the history of the place and buildings. We visited the harbor, and although it was sunny, the wind was powerful and cold.

On Thursday, we woke up a bit earlier than usual. We took the bus to Varberg, where we visited the fortress and the museum. It was situated right next to the sea. The view was amazing, but the wind was incredibly strong. In the museum we saw the really old skeleton of a man, which still had his natural hair on! His clothes were in a display window right next to it, and they were almost intact. We all had lunch at a campus nearby, then we took the bus to Äskhults By.  There we listened to stories about each house and family from the old village. There was even a lake down there, and the view was fantastic, with all the autumn colors.

 We returned to Kungsbacka, and after a few hours spent resting and getting ready, we met again, for the Festive Dinner, at the school’s restaurant. The students cooked and served us dinner, which was a great experience, and we had a nice evening, playing games, talking and enjoying the food.

Eventually, the last day came. We gathered at the school. In the workshop, we created the front page of a newspaper that we invented. We attached photos that we made, and wrote short descriptions about each one. We had lunch at school, then we watched the students who dressed up for Freaky Friday, an annual event in ElofLindälvs Gymnasium. We hung out a little bit around there, but our activities were done. We said goodbye and took the train home.

After a good night’s sleep, on Saturday, we took off from Gothenburg, and landed in Cluj, Romania around midnight, still thinking about our visit, our memories, our friends.