Preparing For High School in Sweden

My host sister Anna and my host parents.

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It is almost impossible to believe that in only four days I will be leaving my life here in Florida, leaving the country for my first time ever, and spending 5 months in Södertälje, Sweden. I can’t wait to begin my study abroad exchange adventure with a wonderful host family, a great school, and a beautiful city.

A lot of people have been asking me why I want to do this, how I found it, and why I picked Sweden. Well, everything kinda came together in a whirlwind. Way back in January, I began looking into high school study abroad programs after hearing my best friend talk about her year in Costa Rica. When I googled “how to study abroad in high school,” many different companies came up and I began sifting through, knocking out ones I thought were too expensive, or didn’t offer any places that interested me, or that I felt weren’t the right fit for me.

I finally settled on my lovely company, Greenheart Travel, and began looking at all their options. Almost immediately I knew that my heart belonged in Sweden. I had previously been interested in the way of life of Swedes and their outlook on life and the world. The only thing still standing in my way was convincing my parents to let my insane dream become a reality. After putting together a powerpoint and waiting a few weeks as they thought about the reality of this situation, my amazing parents actually agreed to sending me half way across the globe!

With my new amazing family, I will be living in Södertälje, a medium-sized city on the South coast, only about a 40 minute train ride south of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.

Beautiful Södertälje! (Sodertalje) My new home while I study abroad.

I will be living with my host mamma Karolina, my host pappa Richard, and my two host sisters Ebba and Anna. I have already Skyped with them a few times and Snapchat Ebba almost everyday!

My host parents and my host sister Ebba.

They are so personable and I am so lucky to have been picked by such a wonderful family. Ebba is about the age of my older sister, Stephanie, and we are very similar so I can tell we will get along very well. However, Anna I will only meet for a few days as she will be leaving shortly after I arrive to be an exchange student in the States.

My two host sisters, Ebba on left, Anna on right.

I will be taking her place in my class at school and she has already told many of her friends I am coming, so hopefully I will have some friends waiting for me there!

One thing I have already found very cool for Sweden is that my school is only 10 minutes away from my house, walking distance!!

This is my cozy little home that I will be living in while I’m in Sweden.

My school has two programs to choose from, Economics or Natural Science, and I will be in the Natural Science program. I will be taking Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Social Studies, Spanish, Swedish, and English all in Swedish. That’s a little scary since my Swedish is quite basic, but hopefully I will make friends who will help me understand.

Since I am a dancer, my host mom has already helped me find a dance studio in our town who is willing to take me in. I am excited to see what dance is like in Sweden, but I am also eager to get involved in other activities I would not do here in the States.

I’m so excited to share my experience abroad with you and be able to tell you all about life in Sweden. I will try to post as much as possible and keep you updated with fun things I am doing or things I find interesting about their lifestyle.

One of the two cats my host family has.