Our second meeting in Stockholm  

 

The planning for the visit started early, where we all contributed with ideas and suggestions on how we could make this visit as good as possible for everyone. When the time came, there was a schedule with activities planned for the whole week. This included workshops, guided tours, and other fun activities. 

The book we chose to work with was Cirkeln (The Circle) by Mats Strandberg and Sara Bergmark Elfgren. We managed to arrange an author visit with Sara, which was highly appreciated. Three students volunteered to interview Sara with questions that the whole group had helped put together. The interview was in English, so that everyone could participate and understand what was being said. In addition to the author visit, we worked with the book in various ways, discussing it orally and writing questions about it. After the author's visit, a movie night was organized for everyone in the auditorium, where we watched a Swedish movie called "Vinterviken".  

The schedule also included a Stockholm Tour where we walked from Östra station to Gamla stan, with many sights along the way. Among other things, we stopped at the city library at Odenplan where we got to go in and look around. We also walked around Gamla stan and visited the Nobel Prize Museum. 

One of the activities that we Swedish students managed to organize outside of school hours was a barbecue evening at Ängsholmsbadet in Täby. The evening consisted of grilling sausages and marshmallows, swimming, and other fun games and activities. The evening was successful, and many of the exchange students were very impressed by the communication and willingness to cooperate among the hosts. 

Another activity that many found enjoyable was when most of us went to the tivoli Gröna Lund. Macklemore had a concert, and the cost of admission seemed reasonable, some also chose to go on the rides at Gröna Lund. It was a fun and memorable evening for all of us, exchange students as well as hosts. 

During the week, other fun activities were done in smaller groups. Some students went to Norrtälje and had pizza in the harbor, while others played laser tag. Another group watched an exciting Italian football match, and others visited Vaxholm. Regardless of the activity, we always had fun, and even though the hosts couldn't always join everything, the exchange students were encouraged to participate as much as possible! We will cherish all these fun memories together with the fantastic group we had, and we also worked with literature in a fun and stimulating way.