The GoGlobal Blog

Author: Ryan Johnson

I'm going to be a Junior at Loyola and I will be spending my fall semester in Växjö, Sweden at Linnaeus University. It took me a long time to decide where I wanted to study abroad, but learning more about my heritage eventually became a important part of my decision. I'm excited to visit my relatives in Mora, about 300 miles north of Växjö. Växjö is a town with about 50,000 people, so I'm excited to go to university with a different atmosphere than Loyola. Växjö is also know for being one of the most environmentally sustainable cities in the world. I'm looking forward for the amazing opportunity I have to be fully immersed in a new culture.
Getting settled.

Getting settled.

 

 

I have been in Sweden for about two weeks now and have been loving it so far. Sweden is a wonderful place to be a student. Being able to meet international students and learning their cultures and customs has been a highlight so far. I live in an single dorm room, but share a kitchen with 11 other students on my floor. This has created lots of opportunities to meet my neighbors, and has forced me to cook meals on my own. I’m so thankful for that I met some Germans who cook their native food for me otherwise I would probably being starving right now.

The town of Växjö is only about a 10 minute bike ride from campus, and it’s a very quaint small town. I’m really excited to go see the local hockey team here in Växjö. The Lakers won the Swedish Hockey League last season, so I’m sure the games will be fun. Also in town is a really fun bar called kafe de luxe that has live music most nights. Last weekend when we went it was a swing band, and the crowd was really into them. I’m going tomorrow to see a psych rock band, and I’m really excited to go.

Classes are so different here. At Linnaeus you take one course at a time for five weeks instead of all your courses at once. I really like the system because it allows you to focus on your course, and really make it a priority. I’m currently in a Swedish Anthropology class and it’s really interesting hearing about our professor’s archaeological research.

Thanks,

Ryan