University of South Carolina
Number six. This is my sixth IPHE experience, so I must believe something is right about it. (And I want others to feel the same!)
I was not in any position to entertain Study Abroad as a student, so this has been my chance as a faculty member to try to make opportunities available for others. My first IPHE took us to Spain and France. I was able to watch leaders in action and grow confident in my ability to do the same. Mary Ann Byrnes (formerly with the Deans Office in the College of Arts and Sciences) was part of our cohort. She too turned believer and found funds to send me to Chile to do preparatory work for my first course taught abroad. Relationships made that happen. My second IPHE was to Ireland where I was no longer a newbie and had the opportunity to help the leadership pair. Growth, little by little. By my third IPHE, Costa Rica, I had taught solo in Chile a few times and was asked to co-lead. This led to co-leading again in South Africa, my IPHE #4. It was affirming to have the Study Abroad Office have faith in me to lead and share with others. IPHE #5 was to Colombia, and here I was just along to learn (specifically looking for content for my Latin America geography course). And now, Sweden, #6. We have a varied group this time, with more university staff than in previous years. I think that this is an exciting development, and one that recognizes growing international experiences for our students is a lift by the entire university community. We have a great line-up of cultural experiences well-balanced with visits to university partners across the country. I look forward to seeing what connections our group can make for themselves and for the university. We are entering an uncertain time for travel with a public health crisis looming, but we are pressing on. Half of our leadership team is staying behind as a result, so we head to Sweden tomorrow minus a Magdalena but plus a Taylor. We are going to see a lot, learn a lot, laugh a lot. Let’s go!
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Stockholm is an amazing city! Old town, Gamla Stan, immediately fascinated me. For the traveller who is interested in the early history of Stockholm, there was so much available on this island. As I walked around, I made a conscious effort to look down as I walked on the cobblestone walkways. The narrow streets and colorful and exquisite architecturally sound buildings added to the charm of the town. The streets were very narrow in some areas, making it difficult to walk side by side without bumping into other people. An eclectic array of stores and restaurants, which sold clothing, jewelry, antiques, food items, and desserts were situated within these historical buildings. Stockholm is definitely a cash free society. When I travel abroad, I usually exchange money and return home with a few coins to give to my nieces and nephews. There was no need to exchange money since I was able to use my credit card for each and every purchase. How convenient!
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
We landed in Stockholm Sunday afternoon, March 8. During the landing, I was reminded of my last arrival at the Columbia airport last autumn. From the air, the Swedish fields and forests looked like those southeast of Columbia in the autumn: muddy, bland, uninspiring. Of course, Swedish forests feature birch trees and Scots pines and spruces; all much more inspiring than the monotony of pines in South Carolina. The trip from the airport took us past fields and rust red farm houses, gas stations and fast food restaurants, including multiple McDonalds and Pizza Huts. The landscape quickly changed to urban gray as we passed light manufacturing centers as well as tall, funky, isolated tech start-ups. We drove through a long tunnel and by bodies of water before turning onto a long, typically European boulevard, with folks walking down the tree-lined center path, bundled in coats. Our fika tour around Stockholm was memorable and sweet (literally). Our tour guide directed us to three stops, each filled with laughter, tea, coffee and of course, traditional Swedish treats! So, what is a ‘fika’ or what does it mean ‘to fika’? Fika is a coffee and pastry break during the day where you can gather with one or a couple people to sit down, enjoy time together. A popular fika time is between 3-4pm, but depending on the line of work you are in, it could be earlier in the morning. It is an exchange of ideas with meaningful conversations. It can be with a co-worker or friend, but ultimately it helps you take a break and be more productive!
During our tour, we stopped and has traditional pastries, such as Princess Cake (layer cake or torte consisting of alternating layers of airy sponge cake, jam, pastry cream, and a thick-domed layer of whipped cream. This is topped by marzipan, giving the cake a smooth rounded top), Semla (cream filled pastry), cinnamon roll (some the size of a human head!) and Havregrynskugle (oatmeal ball with sugar, cocoa, vanilla sugar, butter, and sometimes a small amount of coffee—SO good). Without a doubt, I will be incorporating this into my daily routine. If covid19 has taught us anything, it’s how interconnected our world is and the importance of global learning. My hope for next steps is that after the pandemic ends and travel bans are lifted, more people than ever will be interested in traveling the world.
My heart breaks for our students who had their experiences cut short or cancelled. Personally, my next step was going to be serving as a program coordinator for a Maymester to Greece. Like our students, I was so looking forward to the opportunity and am disappointed that I won’t get the chance (for now) but know that another opportunity in the future will present itself to serve in that capacity one day. I know many of my fellow IPHE friends were also looking forward to Maymester and summer programs that are now cancelled or on hold. As a group, I’m confident everyone will remain committed to offering opportunities for UofSC students to engage in study abroad and global learning opportunities. In some ways educational systems in the US and Sweden had similar origins in that important universities in both countries begin as institutions for educating the clergy. But from that beginning, they diverge. Church (Lutheran) and State in Sweden were united until 2000 and education is an arm of the State. This unitary system separates it from the United States where institutions founded to educate clergy were developed by localities: Harvard (Congregational) in Massachusetts; Princeton (New Light Presbyterian) and Rutgers (Dutch Reformed) in New Jersey; and Columbia (Anglican) in New York were among several others founded in British North America before the American Revolution, eventually losing their religious affiliation and becoming prestigious secular institutions.
It was an interesting time to visit Sweden for the International Perspectives in Higher Education (IPHE) trip with a group of faculty and staff members from the University of South Carolina. While there during the week of spring break from March 7-14, 2020, little did we know that both the United States and Swedish governments would soon be advising higher education institutions to close campuses and switch to remote education and services in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. In thinking of experiential education for students, this interrupts many plans for completing internships, co-ops, job shadowing, in-person clinical hours, and special projects (unable to be completed remotely). Even with this unsettling news of this public health crisis turned pandemic, I did learn some valuable information about the differences between our higher education systems and gained insight into how students learn beyond the classroom in Sweden.
I’m an organized traveler. Or at least, I try to be. Having a specific place for all of my things, a folder full of important documents, and a firm grip on my passport physically or mentally keeps me cool as a cucumber. I’m well-known for having a google doc itinerary, google sheet for expenses, and a custom google map containing each place I’ve pre-planned to visit. And I love it. But being that organized doesn’t stop me from thinking “Wait — do I have my passport” nearly every 10 minutes while in transit. So as you can imagine, throwing myself into this adventure without that level of control naturally makes me a little nervous. I have to trust that my organizers and guides will lead me confidently into and around a foreign country. From what I saw at our preparation meetings, I was going to be in good hands.
After five days of exploring Sweden, I was very excited to visit the University of Gothenburg on our last day in this beautiful country to hear all about the academic programs and their current research. I am an instructor in the Arnold School of Public Health and plan on teaching a public health course in Sweden next year. I was looking forward to learning about AgeCap-Centre for Ageing and Health along with their programs in Public Health Science. I strongly felt their programs would be of interest to our students at UofSC. Networking with the UGOT instructors would be a rewarding experience and the collaboration on my future course would be an educational opportunity that could open so many doors for our students.
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