Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Last day of Teaching in Sweden

Today was my last day of teaching at Folkungaskolan. It's been a great four and a half weeks with my fifth and sixth grade students as well as my supervising teachers Karin and Björn while I have been teaching English lessons everyday. I am so thankful to have been given the teaching experience at
Folkungaskolan, and will treasure all of the memories and relationships that I have formed across the pond. My fifth graders were so sweet to even make me a good bye notebook filled with hand drawn pictures and notes.

I loved teaching English to my fifth graders through animals and Disney themes. On Friday, my students presented different Disney movies in groups through singing, acting, or both. They were so creative and fun to watch! My sixth graders were very impressive in their presentations today through comparing the United States and Sweden. It was so interesting to watch my students form their own opinions of what the positives and negatives are within each country with a specific topic such as the economy or gun control. Both grades and their English speaking skills were so impressive through their projects.

Overall, I am so sad to go, but ready to return home and graduate on Saturday from WKU! I have thoroughly enjoyed this great experience in Sweden; a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me while I have been in Sweden, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone back at home very soon!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Cruise to Helsink, Finland!

This weekend, we ventured to Helsinki, Finland on a weekend cruise from Friday to coming back today on Sunday. We left from Stockholm on Friday afternoon on our cruise ship, the Mariella. We arrived at port in Helsinki, Finland around 9:45 AM to go out exploring through the city until having to return back to the ship by 5:00 PM. On Saturday night, we began our trek back to Stockholm arriving in the morning around 10:00 AM and catching a bus back to Linköping from port.

The whole trip was a lot of fun. It was my first time ever being on a large cruise ship. The small cruise ship room to sleep in was definitely something to get used to! Nikki and Rhanda accidentally missed the bus to go to the ship, subsequently missing getting on the ship, so it was just Katie and me on the weekend trip together. 

Going to Helsinki was amazing because of how beautiful it was and the architecture. It was the perfect day to go with the best weather we have had this whole trip. There was a very cool market that we hung out in awhile just to see the different craftsmanship; they had a lot of things made with reindeer horns and fur from seals and foxes. You get a sense of the culture through going into the city markets.

We explored Helsinki, all by foot, walking for about 6 hours to get the whole feel of the city. We saw beautiful cathedrals, the Senate Building, Finlandia Hall, and much more. Overall it was a great trip for our last weekend in Europe!