Sweden

A group of ten pupils paid a visit to the Sandaggymnasiet in Husqvarna, Sweden. Some of them wrote the following report:
There we were at school at 10 a.m., with our bags packed and full of enthusiasm. After saying goodbye to our parents we left by bus, together with the group that went to Italy. At first we discussed the weight of our luggage (15 kilos was the maximum) and what presents everybody had bought (ranging from liquorice to candles)
When we arrived at Brussels it was time to say goodbye to the Italian group and after our best wishes we split up. After check-in (a few of us had to pay for the overweight of their luggage) we waited for a while and then we flew off to Sweden.
After our arrival at a small airport near Stockholm we had to travel for hours by bus in order to reach Jönköping/Husqvarna. There was a lot of snow and the countryside looked beautiful.
At Jönköping bus station we were met by our host families. It took some time before we found out to which family we were allocated but in the end everything went well. Then we split up.
The Saturday began with an excursion to Bodaborg, which was a very good idea. We split up in groups of four: 2 Swedish and 2 Dutch pupils. The groups had to do a number of assignments, in which teamwork and cooperation were the key words. Thus we had the chance to get to know each other better. We had the evening off.
Sunday morning was a good time to get to know our host families better. In the afternoon there was an ice-hockey match. A team from Husqvarna played the quarter finals for the Swedish Championships and they finally became the new champions. We had more fun than expected: the atmosphere was great! We sang a lot, yelled and made a lot of noise.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we had to work. Everyone liked the work, no one was really disappointed. On Monday evening we went swimming in a swimming pool where de diving boards were as high as 10 metres. Some of us dared to make the jump. On Tuesday we had the evening off. On Wednesday evening we went bowling which we enjoyed very much. The Thursday was reserved for an excursion to Gotheborg; we were accompanied by the Swedish pupils. First we watched the construction of a medieval ship, which everybody rather disliked, since we had a very irritating guide. Afterwards we went shopping. We had the evening off. On Friday we accompanied our Swedish hosts to their school, so that we could have a look at the practice of the Swedish school system. We came to the conclusion that they have more freedom. The rules are not so strict and being late for a lesson is no problem. Everyone goes in and out of the classroom without asking permission and if you felt hungry you could eat something during the lesson. And if you don’t feel like going to a lesson, you just do something else. At lunch break all pupils had a hot meal in a restaurant; we loved it. This was a very special experience for us, we just found it a pity that we couldn’t understand much of what was being said during the lessons. After this we went shopping in Jönköping.
In the evening we had a small farewell party at school since it was our last evening. We were shown a video about Sweden, not very logical when we were about to leave, and the photos that had been taken during our week in Sweden. All of a sudden we had to leave the school building because the alarm went off. Half the group went with one of the Swedish girls and the rest went into town.
On Saturday morning we had to be present at Sandagymnasiet at 7.30 a.m. and we were transported to the airport in two mini vans. On arrival at Schiphol Airport we were joined by the group who had been in Scotland and together we travelled back to Beekvliet. We exchanged experiences and after the day-long journey we arrived at home, tired but looking back on a fantastic week and lots of good memories.

Leoni en Emile
Click on the logo the go to Sandagymnasiet’s website.