“What can you tell me about Sweden?”
The time flies. We already have a new year, a year of 2020, and besides wishing you the very best time of your life, full of challenging dreams, interesting projects/trainings/…, we are welcoming it by a great story from one of our volunteers. Go on!
Hej hej! It’s me, Jakob from Austria (not Australia!). I am here in Sweden for 2 months now and it’s time to share some of this experience with you. Just recently I was asked the question, “What can you tell me about Sweden?”, by a dear friend of mine. It was hard to even find a point of where to begin…
Sweden is adventure.
Be warned, Swedish waters tend to be cold!
Sweden is new connections and friends.
Within this short time of 2 months of volunteering in Sweden I connected with so many amazing people from all over Sweden, all over Europe, all over the world!!!
Sweden is dark this time of the year.
Yeah, it’s true, the sun already sets before 4pm as my weather app and a look out of the window tells me…
Sweden is colorful.
Sweden is quiet and calm.
One of the most relaxing things you can do in your life is just lie down near one of the many lakes here in Växjö, listen to the soft swoosh of the waves, watch the clouds travelling with the winds and wait for the sun to set behind the trees.
Sweden is nature and wilderness.
Wanna get lost in the woods? No problem, 5 minutes to walk! Wanna count the ducks swimming on the lake? No problem, 5 minutes to walk! Wanna watch a wild rabbit visiting his pet rabbit friends? No problem, 5 minutes to walk! Even in the very middle of the metropole Stockholm I saw a small deer strolling around the streets. Sweden truly is a land of nature and wilderness all around…
Sweden is cold and grey.
You wake up in the morning – it is raining, the sky is painted in grey and the thermometer indicates -1°C in the beginning of December. You wonder how to cope with the miserable weather of today…?
Sweden is cozy and warm.
I can tell you that Swedish people have developed the perfect antidote for their weather. Here a nice sofa, there a comfortable armchair and on the table a burning candle – never have I seen such cozy pubs and restaurants. Just have a cup of coffee and a nice chat with a friend in one of the lovely coffee houses – you will forget about the weather.
Sweden is challenging.
Sweden is fika.
“Everybody have a swedish fika – World peace with a fin servis”. You want to find out about the power of fika and you wanna have a proper *Ohrwurm? Check out the song “Swedish fika” and you will be enlightened. Fika is so much more than just a coffee break…
*I love this German word – literally translated it means “ear worm”. Look up the translation or experience it on your own 😉
Reading volunteers’ blogposts is always refreshing, it makes us think of Sweden in a bit different way, from a bit different perspective. Tusen tack, Jakob!
