Last but not least....

We just can't get enough of Sweden, we love the hospitality of the Swedish who are always so friendly toward us and it will never be forgotten. I felt so comfortable in school and felt like part of their big family. It is a joy to go to school everyday and I look forward to see the students and teachers daily. I even helped the class to celebrate my CT, Jonny's birthday and they have so much fun eating the cake in class with their form teacher. 

Do you know that it is a tradition to bake your own cake at home for birthday instead of buying? Thus, the students are so elated being able to eat a cake bought from the cake shop!

Birthday Celebration with 4C

It is really amazing that we are able to forge such a strong bond with our CT within a short span of 5 weeks and they are always ready to lend a hand in helping us getting around Linkoping. My CT, Jonny even helped us to book train tickets for our weekend getaway. My CT even help out in a special event where he was trying to keep mum for more than 3 days.

Music room in Nya Rydsskolan

Ta-dah! This is something amazing and personal that my CT is trying to keep from me which happened last Thursday with Ding Yi's help! He helped my boyfriend coordinated a proposal in the school where we are doing our teaching exchange, Nya Rydsskolan. It is really a big surprise for me and my CT commented that he is a crazy man who travelled 10,000km from Singapore to do his proposal and thus it must be true love.

I was so worried about his "work trip to Indonesia" that I did'nt sleep well. 

And of course I said YES! After his successful proposal, I brought my fiance around Hemkop (Supermarket) to do some grocery shopping and while on our way out, we get to see the biggest rainbow across the sky.

What a beautiful day!

For me, Linkoping, Sweden will always hold a special place in my heart. It is a wonderful experience to be here and I am really thankful for the once in a lifetime opportunity to learn and share with Swedish teachers here. 

Minis - a collection of daily happenings

1.

As the weather is changing, so are the types of flowers seen growing on the grass patches. From chrysanthemum to daisies and dandelions, it sure is an eye feast to witness the evolving natural landscape in our neighbourhood. Here, these wild floral are regarded as weed and would have been removed in well-trimmed private properties. This was surprising to hear, and we joked about picking and drying chrysanthemums to make tea even. :)

By now this should have been gone already, but it is the appreciation of its
beauty while it lasted that means more.

2.

O.O

The brochure was chanced upon while applying for our LU identification cards, and was fascinated to find out that such a specialised department or faculty exists. This demand for great attention in related development may be highly influenced by the availability of wood and on a bigger scale, IKEA's worldwide success in showcasing unique Swedish home interior styles. The closest major we have in Singapore is perhaps Product Design, and my own interest is piqued in knowing more about what differences our local version has.



3.
The extent of the Scandinavian do-it-yourself attitude is seen in the curriculum. Dressmaking and Woodwork classes starts from Grade 2. By Grade 4, most, if not all, students are equipped with setting up and operating sewing machines as well as using carving and sawing tools. Meanwhile, these mechanisms may prove to be a challenge for some of our ex-pupils, since they might be exposed to similar skills only at slightly older ages in schools. Amid the worries for their safety, looking at children holding sharp needles and saws, I marvel over the expertise they have in carrying out the tasks that they have set for themselves.

Permission obtained for photo of pupil

Permission obtained for photo of pupil

A Time for Serious, A Time for Fun

Our culture shocks were pretty much diminished by the end of this 3rd week. We are getting used to the informality of the schools here in Sweden, taking more helpings of the food in the cafeteria etc.

The serious part: I have been observing this special music class for 3 weeks now. What makes this class so special is that there are only 5-6 students in this class, but the number of adults present is more than the number of students. These students are with disabilities such as down syndrome, autism, muscular dystrophy. Being my CT's 2nd year in his teaching stint in Nya Rydsskolan, he shared with me the challenges for this class especially. He is not trained in music therapy or teaching pedagogies for special education, yet he has found ways to bring joy to these students.

Every lesson with them is a energy booster to my CT and I because the pure joy that the students exhibit is really something that we could feel. Disabled but not unable. Something for all of us to think about.

Special Music Class - the students (front) are accompanied by their adult helpers (back)

The fun part: Zi Ping's CT, Lisa, and Shan Shan's CT, Johnny, brought the 3 of us around Linköping to see some of the landmarks. We visited the Göta Canal, the Cathedral and a Farmer's Market which only happens twice annually, lucky us.

Chilling at Bosses Glassbar, Linköping's famous Ice cream parlour. From top left (clockwise): Johnny, Boss of the shop, Lisa, Ding Yi, Zi Ping, Shan Shan

Another highlight was our visit to Oslo for the national day. Everywhere was packed. Using "grand" to describe it would be an understatement. The participants of the street parade were mostly schools, with children walking in lines while their teachers walked beside them. Parents would then line up by the streets, hoping to catch a glimpse of their children and take a photo of them.

Oslo National Day's Street Parade

Short Week, Long Weekend!

Throwback to last Friday evening when we had a picnic with some of the LiU student teachers and the student teachers from Chester University, England, who were also here for their teaching exchange. We were treated to a variety of food from the common swedish meatballs to the rare horse sausages. We also played a traditional outdoor game called "Kubb". It is a turn based game where 2 teams of players attempt to throw sticks and knock over all the blocks of wood of the other team from a distance before knocking down the "king" in the middle. This game is also known as "Viking's chess" to the Swedish.

Picnic with the LiU and Chester Students

Kubb - Chester vs NIE!

This week was pretty short as Thursday is a public holiday and Friday is a follow-up school holiday. But still it has been eventful. We found out that certain subject combinations (e.g. teaching of english/swedish and social sciences) can take up to 5 years to complete the degree! Number of semesters vary for different subjects and usually, those who are trained to teach the higher grades (e.g. secondary school) are also allowed to be employed in the lower grades (primary school). Also, there are 3 principals in Nya Rydsskolan. 1 for the grade 1s and 2s, 1 for grade 3-6s and 1 for grades 7s-9s. The greatest cultural shock for us is probably the way the students address their teachers, no salutation, just by their first name. Also, the use of vulgar language by the students is pretty apparent in this liberal country.

We also met up with other Singaporeans who have been in Linköping since January! They are here for a semester exchange and are from NUS and NTU. It's a great experience stepping out of our comfort zones, meeting and knowing new people. This is probably something that most of us do not do back in Singapore.

Meetup at 1 of the corridor living rooms. Singaporeans Unite

Updates of our first few days of settling down in Linkoping

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the late updates as we were all trying to settle down and meeting up with great people in Sweden ;) 

The weather here is super cold around 4 degrees and its raining non-stop after we have touched down. Apparently, umbrella doesn't help much here due to the strong wind so it is advisable to put on raincoat. 

On the first day of arriving in Linkoping after a 15 hours flight, we were so lucky to be able to meet up with Therese from the LIKES LiU club :https://www.facebook.com/LinkopingInternationalKnightsofEducationalScience and she drove us back to our accommodation in Ryd.  Thank god for Ding Yi’s help for carrying our luggage up to our hostel as both of us girls are staying on the 2^nd floor, as you know normally hostel doesn’t come with lift.

How our hostel look like in Linkoping 

 White Cherry Blossom just outside our accommodation. 

After putting our luggage in our room, we went to LiU to meet up with Lena, who is the coordinator for our stay in Linkoping. She is really helpful by handing us blankets, pillows and bed sheets from other exchange students who has already left Linköping after their exchange.

Then we are off to meet up Professor Anders of pedagogy from LiU at 4pm with other exchange students from Chester University in Manchester, UK. During the meeting, we get to share the differences between Swedish, British and Singapore’s education system. Professor Anders shared with us that Swedish education does not requires students to wear uniform but it has an uniform education system throughout Sweden. It is really an eye-opener for us on the very first day of touching down in Linköping. 

Do you know that the average height of Swedish male is 184cm and for female is 174cm?

Our picture taken with Professor Anders and Lena, our kind and helpful coordinator in Linkoping. We can't wait to meet up with Professor Anders again on 21st May, 4pm to find out more about the Swedish Education.