Ok So I am going to use this blog to pretty much just gush about my recent acceptance into a study abroad program! Next semester I will be studying at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. I originally tried to apply for the program in Uppsala, Sweden because I did not know the Stockholm one existed but by a lucky twist of fate (though it didn't seem like it at the time), Uppsala was full and my adviser informed me of this program. Stockholm is supposed to be one of the prettiest, most progressive cities in the world. On top of that, Swedes seem fucking awesome and I'm determined to find the underground rave scene.
Things that have sucked so far:
~My adviser is the devil. She is an unhelpful airhead. Not only does she take at least 4 days to respond to my emails but she usually doesn't answer whatever question I had and simply rambles off some piece of information we've already gone over. When I set appointments with her to fill out paperwork she almost always refuses to fill out anything and will only "discuss" the paperwork with me so we can fill it out at a later date. I don't need 2 appointments for you to sign 1 piece of paper!
~Classes. KTH is a technology school meaning that it pretty much only has technological and engineering majors and classes. I though this would be ok since I am a math major so I would be ale to use some of the classes. However, though everyone in Stockholm (supposedly) speaks English, they still use Swedish for their every day language. As it turns out this means that only really high level classes at KTH are taught in English and the rest are in Swedish. This posed a problem when I realized that I did nit have prerequisites for almost all of the English classes. Luckily, I managed to find one math class I could take and 2 Swedish society classes as well as my first level Swedish class.
Things that make me terrified:
~I know approximately 5 words in Swedish. How am I supposed to read maps and road signs and instructions and posters and menus and everything else?? I plan on learning as much as I can over winter break but still...
~I literally know zero people in the whole country of Sweden. Going to college was hard enough and I knew a large handful of people here. Zero people. In the whole country. I have recently found out that I girl a couple years older than me that I knew from my high school will probably be there next semester as well which is easing my anxieties a lot but who knows how much we will even be able to see each other.
All in all I am ecstatic about this opportunity. I have never been out of the country and really have no real proof that Europe even exists. I have never been anywhere where the culture was more than a little different than my own, I have never been in the minority and I have never done anything so bold as living alone in a foreign country. I expect this to be life changing. And if it isn't then fuck every single person who has gone abroad and told me it was life changing.
Oh and also Carrie and her boyfriend are going to Glasgow, Rachel Zook is already ion Germany and will be in Austria next semester, John Witter is going to Spain and it's just going to be an all around European extravaganza!!!!
AHHHHHHHHHH
-Mada
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