My fourth week in Sweden was highlighted by my family coming to visit! We traveled to Åre (pronounced oh-ruh) for the weekend, a small skiing town that happened to be hosting a bike festival. I’d already realized that Sweden was going to have hands-down the most incredible nature, but wow – this was good stuff guys. 

Riding on the overnight train and leaving the city center, the scenery slowly transitioned from office buildings, to small towns, and finally lakes and trees in every direction. I stood outside of my room for a while, trying to get a glimpse of what life would be like as a bird living deep in the Swedish forest. I decided it was probably pretty sweet. 

However, problems began as I tried to fall asleep. While the rocking of the train car was quite soothing and put me to sleep relatively soon, I was promptly woken up by the blast of the horn and the periodic bells of the train crossings. It was quite jarring, and after the third go around of the whistle + bell combo, I mustered up the strength to leave my very, very small cot and close my equally small window. 

I felt surprisingly refreshed arriving in Åre the next morning. I’m not sure if it was finally getting out of the Stockholm air (which, to be fair, is extremely clean for a city) or the crisp fall-like temperatures, but the area had a peaceful and vast feel to it. The ski lifts, now fitted for mountain bikes, meandered up the green landscape and disappeared behind low hanging clouds. Looking across the lake rose ridges taller than the resort tamed mountains behind me. They had small patches of snow near their peaks. I spent the majority of the first day catching up on work, with the occasional sauna break of course. 

The second day was much more exciting. My Mother(!?!?!) successfully convinced me and my brother to go parasailing from the larger of the surrounding mountains, and wow – you guys have to do this. I wasn’t as scared as I thought I would be until about halfway through the ride. We were around 350 meters from the ground, and suddenly my clips and ropes that attached me to my guide didn’t seem as secure as they were at the beginning. Immediately after, my guide asked if I wanted to do the “rollercoaster” which I promptly agreed to. 

The rest of our time in Åre was spent biking around and enjoying the beautiful Swedish nature. My brother and I biked up one of the larger mountains in the area and took a nap at the top, before returning back in time for dinner. I know that the days are longer in Sweden, but man this was a long one. 

As I’ve discussed in my previous blogs, I have found Sweden’s work culture extremely easy to assimilate to. I have been consistently treated with respect, and my assignments have been very manageable. 

I would say that the only difficulty I’ve had integrating with the work culture is knowing how and when to take breaks. Often after working for an hour or so, my supervisor will turn to me and start talking about whatever is going on in her life, and we’d go grab a snack or drink. While I am more than happy to take a break, it kind of annoyed me at first. I’d be in a great flow state, going to town on excel, and now I have to completely switch gears?
Of course, I quickly began to appreciate the opportunity to have a break. While I usually start to burn out from studying after 3 hours straight or so, I found that I was able to handle the entire workday with little struggle. It was also a great opportunity to get to know my coworkers better. 

I think that this was a bit of a difficulty to adapt to due to the American mentality of working as much as possible. Through lunch, through breaks, after the workday, etc. While I haven’t been exposed to that mentality directly, it has certainly rubbed off on me from the media I consume and my experience in school. I would love to bring back this mentality to the United States, and plan to add it to my studying habits.