Week 8 Cultural

skogsmulle

This week we have been on an outing organised by the friend family project in Linnaeus. This gave us the opportunity to meet Skogsmulle (forest gnome), a Swedish sprite who takes care of the forests. It gave us the chance to further experience and appreciate the Swedes love of the outdoors. The kids were enchanted by Skogsmulle and I think this is an interesting and motivating way to teach children how to care for their environment and to want to use it for fun and enjoyment whilst making sure not to destroy it. The evening ended with us all sitting in a wooden ‘hut’ eating vegetable soup and enjoying time together. I have discovered that eating outdoors is not only reserved for sunny, warm days in Sweden and I think it is more fun to be eating outdoors when it is cold, dark or even snowing as it is not what we think should happen. When we return home I hope to continue picnicking and to further foster my children’s love of the outdoors regardless of the weather.

I also enjoy the meetings with the friend family as it helps us to access more typical Swedish culture. In class there are no Swedish students and as I live in a private apartment and don’t go to the student pubs I have not met many Swedes. The pairing with a family means that we have opportunities to learn more about Sweden, to practice our language skills and to ask questions or discover the local area more easily. I came here mainly to learn about Sweden and the Swedish people so this scheme has been invaluable.

We have also been on a trip to Gothenburg. I drove there and back and am feeling very proud of the fact that I managed this. After several weeks here I discovered that I look for traffic in the right direction so thought it was time I tried. Starting to drive has meant that I can now find my way around easier as well because I have to pay more attention to where I am going. When in Gothenburg we visited Universeum, the biggest science centre in Scandinavia. Although we visited for enjoyment I was also interested to see how it was set-up because I took the science outside the classroom module last semester. Although we enjoyed the visit I do think that our W5 is better at encouraging children to be inquisitive and to work things out for themselves. The focus in Universium appeared to be on animals and the environment with a large aquarium and rainforest environment which were fantastic. Perhaps the differences reflect what is important in our societies although the aims of both centres are the same; to encourage positive attitudes towards science, technology and mathematics and to encourage curiosity through the experiences they provide.

With the Easter holidays coming up I hope to visit more places and to experience more of Sweden.