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15 October 2018

Visiting Norway #HogsAbroad in Sweden


So much has happened since I last posted in the beginning of September. I have found some great hiking trails, I went to Norway for a week, and have gotten sick for the first time.

For anyone coming to study at Jönköping University who likes to hike, I highly recommend going to a waterfall in Röttle. It's about 45 minutes from here and it is right by a 12th century mill. I’ll post some pictures below. I’ve already been twice because it has great hiking trails right beside it. I also went to an overlook called Vista Kulle that was pretty cool too.

I went on the school’s Norway trip last week. It was so unbelievable. I highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about going. When I initially signed up I was pretty nervous because I only knew one other person from Montana who was going, but not really knowing anyone made me get out of my comfort zone and I met some super cool people. It allowed me to hang out with multiple different groups of people, compared to just one the whole time.

During the trip I went to Oslo, Jostedal, Gjerde, and Bergen, Norway. Jostedal was probably my favorite part of the trip because we stayed in these super cute cabins for 2 nights, did a camp fire, went glacier hiking, and kayaking through a fjord. The glacier hike was so unbelievable because it was like nothing I’d ever seen before. There was so much snow. I also got to see my first real life snow man. We got to take a 5 hour fjord ferry/cruise from Gjerde to Bergen which was also super cool. In Bergen there was a big fish market that had a fun vibe to it. I also met two American families from Georgia while I was eating lunch there and it made me home sick for the first time. One of the biggest differences between Sweden/Scandinavia and the US, especially the south, is how reserved people are here, so meeting the Americans was nice because even though I’d just met them they just came right out and started talking to me for like 20 minutes about where they were from, where I was from, how I was liking exchange, etc. It made me feel at home again. After they left the Austrian guy I was with couldn’t believe how friendly and talkative they were to a complete stranger. After we left Bergen we had a 13 hour bus ride, overnight back. That was the only part of the trip that was not so fun. Norway was so amazing though. I would really like to go back in the summer at some point in life.

While in Norway I also got sick for the first time, probably because of the cold weather (it was like 25 degrees Fahrenheit there). It has been pretty bad having a cold in a place that doesn’t have DayQuil/NightQuil or Theraflu. If anyone is reading this that is planning on studying abroad here make sure you bring some from the US when you come. Their cough and cold meds just aren’t the same here. Luckily I am just now starting to get over being sick, after having it for 2 weeks.

My classes are going great too. I have about 2 and a half weeks until finals. I am looking forward to my next quarter classes even more. The school work is not as homework orientated here, it is more about group work and projects, which is really nice because you have most of the quarter to work with your group when it is convenient for everyone. I also have been very blessed with getting great groups for both of the classes I’m in this quarter.

My next update will probably be after finals. Here are some pics from some hikes and the Norway trip. Thanks for reading!!
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Accounting major Arielle Amburn is spending the Fall 2018 semester in Sweden with our U of A Exchange program at Jonkoping University.

Read more from Arielle at https://ariellessemesterabroad.wordpress.com/

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/