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