School Abroad
I know, the term "study abroad" actually means to study abroad. I'm here for two semesters to go to school, not to travel, go out at night and make a fool of myself in public. Like actual school, where I get up around 9AM-ish, figure out what I'm going to wear and walk to class to sit for 2 hours in lectures and seminars later to have to do a presentation and a then a paper.
It's shocking I know.
So here are facts about my "studying abroad"
-Classes here are very different than classes in the states. Very different. In the states you have one class at one time on certain dates in one room.
For example, Biology 101 at 8AM-10AM, Room 101, Mon. Wed. Fri.
Here in Sweden (and what I learned in other parts of Europe), you do have one class but at different times, on different days in different classrooms.
For example:
Image, Identity and New Media: Wed.10:15AM-12PM, RM A156
Image, Identity and New Media: Fri. 8:15AM- 10AM, RM H325
Image, Identity and New Media: Fri. 10:15AM-12PM, RM 416
Image, Identity and New Media: Mon. 13:15-PM-15PM, RM F332
Trying to figure out these rooms and times is still a struggle for me. 7 months later, I still get lost in the building trying to find one of these rooms.
But that's not the only difference.
The structure of the class and the content is what stands out from the American school system to the European school system (focusing mainly on Swedish Media courses).
In American classrooms, classrooms are filled with discussions and lectures containing modern examples and homework and midterms in between before the big final.
In Swedish Media courses, classes are filled with lectures and seminars containing theories and philosophy and thinking abstract with one reflection paper in the beginning and one final paper at the end.
It doesn't seem too bad when you look at it, but my Swedish Media Courses are once a month so when you start a class, 3 weeks later, the class ends. It's non-stop cycle.
We begin with lectures twice a week, then have a reflection paper, where we write a 2 page paper on our own and then a group presentation a week after that and then a final paper at the end of the week.
Another example that is differentiates Sweden courses from American courses is the way directions are explained. From my previous experience, when given a paper in my American courses, directions are direct and I know what the teacher is expecting and what they want me to get out of the paper.
In Sweden courses, directions are vague and unclear and you have no idea what the professor wants out of the paper and end up not knowing what you are writing about.
This previous class, I had an all day exam the day before I left for London, the test opened at 8AM and was supposed to be turned in at 11:59PM that same day.
I walked over to Norrlands Nation at 12PM to meet up with my friends who were also there, struggle and ended up leaving Norrlands at 6:30PM.
I spent 6 and a half hours working on this paper with little procrastination (ok there was a few procrastination moments).
4 and half of those hours were spent on the second question pictured below:
The hell does proliferation mean?
In basic English terms, describe the current dominating paradigm and then discuss whether this paradigm is increasing or decreasing by modern communication and global communication.
Even my English translation, still doesn't help.
This is what I struggle through every 3 weeks, and this is why my procrastination skills are so excellent now.
How I have survived these courses for the past 7 months, still surprises me and wondering how I will survive having 2 more months of these classes is still a wonderment.
Oh, and proliferation means: the growth or production of cells by multiplication of parts.
So there you go.
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