This weekend Megan, Jakub and I set off on a road trip to Malmo and Copenhagen. It was great having the use of a car for the first time in 2 months and not having to catch a bus or a train. On our drive to Malmö which is the southernmost province of Sweden the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. The first thing we spotted as we approached Malmo was the tallest building in Scandinavia known as The Turning Torso which is a high-rise sky scraper. We managed to direct ourselves to it with Megan’s good navigation skills and Jakub’s good driving and of course the excellent motorway which reaches right into the city centre. The design is based on Santiago Calatrava’s “Twisting Torso” sculpture and there is a creative 90-degree twist in the entire building.
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| Christiania |
After our brief but enjoyable visit to Malmo we then travelled on to Copenhagen to meet the other Erasmus students who were travelling there by train. It’s only 45 min by car but the journey was very exciting as we drove over the Öresund Bridge, the longest bridge in Europe which connects Sweden and Denmark. After booking into our hostel we made our way to the centre of Copenhagen. We couldn’t believe it when we met Mary, Michael, and Niall on the main street of Copenhagen. It turned out that they were staying in the same hostel as us, so it was great to catch up with them and share some experiences of University life here in Sweden. Copenhagen was full of wonderful places to see and we did our best to get round as many as we could but I will definitely not forget Christiania (a free town within Copenhagen well known for it’s hash trade) and the smell of people freely smoking illegal substances. It is also well known for its inhabitant’s love of meditation and yoga and abroad it is celebrated as a showcase of the progressive and liberated Danish lifestyle. So leaving this cultural experience behind us we returned home early on Sunday to prepare for our first school visit.
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Us in the centre trying out some danish mediatation
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On Monday as part of my field studies for the module on Inclusion of Special Needs I had the opportunity to visit a school in Vanersburg close to Trollhattan known as ‘Norra Skolan’. This was my first experience of the Swedish primary education system and when myself, Megan and Rebbecca arrived we had a warm and enthusiastic welcome from a Special Educational Needs (SEN) teacher called Camilla. This particular school had two separate classes for those with learning difficulties (such as autism and ADHD). A class for the younger children aged 7 – 9 and the older group aged 10 -12. This was a new experience for me as during my previous placements in Northern Ireland I had not encountered specific classes catering for those with SEN in a mainstream school and I was delighted to have the opportunity to experience this method of inclusion. The children attended music in the morning which was taken by a specialist teacher, this was followed by some mathematics lessons and in the evening we were privileged to join in the cooking of apple pie and cream. The children’s behaviour and ability to organise themselves even the very young was in such contrast to what I have experienced so far in my teaching practice. This is definitely something I think is very positive about the Swedish culture. I think the resources in the school were excellent and it was great to learn more about how the Swedish education system works including the fact that school dinners are free for all including staff. I felt very welcome at this school and am looking forward to visiting other schools in Trollhattan next week.
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