Hej allihopa!

My name is Emma, and I’m bursting with excitement just typing this. After months of preparation, paperwork and packing, I’m finally in Sweden! Ever since I was accepted by DIS Stockholm, I’ve been waiting for arrival day. Though I won’t be in Stockholm until August 17th, I arrived in Copenhagen on the 13th and have been spending the week in beautiful Skåne (there will be a blog post about that soon!).

Here’s a little bit of an introduction and why I chose DIS:

Born and raised in the suburbs of New Jersey, I’ve turned into a bit of a city-slicker since I started school at Fordham University, where I’m studying journalism. Living in the heart of New York City is exhilarating; as cliche as it sounds, the city truly never sleeps. I’m very much looking forward to urban life in Stockholm — a fashionable, modern city rich in history.

I have an internship with The Fischler Report, a weekly newsletter all about ice hockey — my other passion in life aside from Sweden and traveling. As it were, there are two professional hockey teams in the capital: Djurgårdens IF Hockey which plays in the highest Swedish league, and AIK in the second-highest. An absolute dream come true!

I’ve always been fascinated with global culture so when my school district introduced Mandarin Chinese as a language option in middle school, I hopped on the chance. That was when I truly realized my passion for traveling and foreign languages.

Believe it or not, hockey is what introduced me to Swedish culture. The NHL is surprisingly diverse, with players from Canada and the U.S. (så klart) as well as Russia, Czech Republic, Finland, Slovakia and, among other European nations, Sweden. Since I watch so much NHL hockey, I became super curious about these other hockey-loving countries and when I began to do research, I became fascinated with Swedish culture. And, as they say, the rest is history.

In 2014, I traveled to Sweden through the exchange organization Youth for Understanding. During that time, I lived with a host family in the country’s southernmost region, Skåne (which means I speak Swedish with a pretty distinct accent!) and attended a local gymnasium, essentially the equivalent of high school.

My first experience abroad was incredibly transformative for me as an adolescent. Not only did I learn the language, but I discovered so much about myself as a human being. I was exposed to new concepts and ideologies that I never had been before. To assimilate into a completely new society isn’t easy, and it presented many challenges. But that semester was the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life, and since then I’ve been dying to come back.

Now, I’ll be trading Skåne for a studentboende in Årsta, only around 30 minutes from DIS. And just 15 minutes from Globen, where both hockey teams play — perfect! I’ve started to talk to my future roommate, who seems to be super nice. I think we’ll get along great and I can’t wait to meet her and the rest of my peers this Saturday.

So, here I am, sitting at the dinner table with my former host family, in a state of shock that I’m finally back in my favorite place. I can’t wait for what lies ahead in Stockholm.