I had some worries before I left for Stockholm. I was nervous about my first time travelling alone overseas. Would I be able to get around? What would I do in a country that didn’t speak English?  However, from my arrival to my departure from Stockholm, I always felt comfortable and welcome. I have nothing but compliments about the Swedish Program staff and my teachers at Stockholm University.  And everybody speaks English.

My apartment turned out to be a great space to call home and my worries about not being connected to Swedish society were baseless due to my wonderful contact family. And then there are all the friends I made. I couldn’t imagine exploring the city with a different group of people. Stockholm has a really great music scene, and people were always game to check out the bands playing at Debaser or Strand. Wednesday nights at the Yellow House student pub were always entertaining, and offered up a good way of meeting other Stockholm University students. I even found people willing to hunt around the city with me for Rose & Born, a luxury menswear store where we could barely afford the socks#. In short, I met a gang of people that I was not only willing to spend my three and half months with, but genuinely loved spending that time with.

And this past spring, we had such beautiful weather. When spring arrives, it brings with it a whole new atmosphere and vibrancy to the city. After making so many great friends, it only made the experience even better to shift it outside, where grassy expanses and cloudless, blue skies allowed us to trade our pants for shorts and scarves for sunglasses. My time in Stockholm was some of the happiest of my life. I made memories I actually will hold dear forever. One million thank yous’ to the Swedish Program for making that possible.

Robinson Schelhas
Spring Semester, 2011
Oberlin College