I survived

So I survived my first week teaching!  I've never worked so hard in my life. It's an amazing place to work though, so it's worth the sweat and tears.  Teaching is so mentally exhausting.  Add the fact that the students are speaking Swedish with each other in the halls and cafeteria, and there's so much more to process in a day.  My body gave me a sure sign that I had reached my highest level of exhaustion on Friday.  I was getting ready to leave for a celebratory "we survived the week" drink out with some co-workers.  I headed down the stairs, and missed a step.  And then I continued to fall, down a couple stairs, did a flip, and landed at the bottom on my face/shoulder!  I was horrified that my face was going to have a massive bruise - luckily, I iced it enough in the first hour, that there's no mark to be seen!  The rest of my body is a little black and blue though.  I'm also convinced I had a minor head injury.  Nothing was going to stop me from going for that drink though - I had, after all, worked too hard this week to let a little stumble stop me!

I think I'll try and take it easy this week ;)

First Day of School Tomorrow

This weekend has involved a lot of preparation, heavy lifting, and hours of planning! Yesterday I spent 9 hours at the school, along with another 20 or so teachers, cleaning and moving old furniture, and then more planning for the upcoming fall term. It was nice to see everyone lending a hand, and working as a team, to make the school look beautiful! We prepped and organized for the 600 new (and old) students arriving Monday. Something that surprised me was that every kid also gets a package of school supplies on the first day -kind of takes the fun out of back to school shopping if you ask me.

I've been thinking about how I used to feel on the first day of school.  I was usually a nervous wreck, and for a couple of years, I would make myself sick to my stomach (literally) from the anxiety. Thank god I grew out of that in high school! I really hope my students don't feel like that tomorrow.

My Grade 1 school photo

Tomorrow I meet my group of Mentor students! This is something I hadn't heard of before coming to Sweden, and it's an incredible idea if you ask me. Each teacher is responsible for 16 students in a Year group. As a mentor, we are the main point of contact for parents, we give guidance if they are struggling with a specific subject, and in general, we are that person they can come to if they are having a rough time at school.  We meet with our mentor classes once a week and check in with their parents twice a month.  There are also opportunities to go on trips outside of school with the mentor students. I am really excited to meet them!

I am less excited for Tuesday - the first day of formal lessons. I'm a bit nervous to be honest. It will be my first  year as a new teacher, in a new country, surrounded by a new language and culture, while learning a new curriculum and assessment program.  Here goes nothing ... Wish me luck!

Stockholm: The Venice of the North

This past weekend I decided to play tourist in Sweden`s capital, Stockholm. The city is about a 4 hour train ride South, and even though I could practically fly across Canada in this time, it was well worth the trip.  On Friday, all the new teachers met at the train station at 6am for our new teacher training at the school`s headquarters in Stockholm.  We got there just in time for fika! Swedes love their fika. After a short day, we headed back to central Stockholm for a couple hours before the others had to catch the train home.  One of the Swedes was nice enough to give me a hot-spot shopping tour of central Stockholm.  I took mental notes, hoping I could find all these places on my own later.  The best shopping district was Biblioteksgatan. Here, a red carpet was laid across the street, so you could walk along and feel rich and famous!

Red Carpet on Drottninggatan

I said goodbye to the rest of the group at Central Station before heading straight back to Biblioteksgatan.  I blame it on the red carpet, but I had to buy something in one of these shops.  There were Sales or 'REA' everywhere, so it wasn't difficult to find something in my price range.  Well, once you took the 70% off the original price, it was with in my budget! I bought a cute fall jacket from Jackpot, it's organic cotton and so comfy!!

I was extremely nervous about traveling alone, and getting lost in a big city.  Especially since the hotel I booked was a last minute decision, and I didn't look at the reviews until after I booked.  I was pleasantly surprised though!  The room was a good size - perfect for just sleeping and getting ready for the day.   There was a single bed and a tiny bathroom.

My little hotel room!

In the end, I had a fantastic weekend.  I loved traveling all by my lonesome.  It wasn't as bad as I thought.  I did get lost A LOT! Now I know for sure that I'm directionally challenged.  I saw so much of the city!  I followed a walking tour from my Lonely Planet book on Sweden.  It took me through the city center, across to Gamla Stan, and around to the Royal Palace.  My favourite stop was Katarinahillen - A lookout tower over Stockholm.  There's also a bar at the top, and scattered seating to enjoy the view from.  I felt guilty, so I bought a beer (for 10 dollars!).

View from atop Katarinahillen

Another view from the top!

It's true - Stockholm is VERY expensive!  In fact, I kept track of all my spending while in the city.  So in case you're wondering, here's what a typical weekend in Stockholm would cost: PS this is minus all the shopping I did ....

Day 1:

- subway passes (pkg of 9) 180 sek

Inside the Nordiska Museet

- dinner at Sandy's 64 sek
- hotel (outside of city centre) 2 nights 790 sek

Day 2:

- Fika at cafe in Gamla Stan 50 sek
- Souvineirs in Gamla Stan 70 sek
- Lunch at Sundsberg konditori 75 sek
- Beer at Katarinahissen 60 sek
- Dinner at Chutney in Sodermalm 210 sek

Day 3:

- Entrance to Moderna Museet 100sek

View from the 4th floor of Nordiska Museet

- Ferry ride to Djurgarden 40 sek
- Entrance to Nordiska Museet 80 sek
-ps - this is a much better museum than the modern museum!
- Fika at Cafe Bellman in the city centre112 sek
- Train ticket back home 329 sek

Total cost of a trip:  2160 SEK (about 330 CAD)
(not including the train ride there, which was paid for by the school)

It will be a little while before I have enough money to return to Stockholm again, but I will go back - it's a beautiful city!

A Swedish Shopping Experience

Yesterday was the first rainy day in a long time, so naturally I went shopping.  There's an indoor mall about a 5 minute walk from the apartment, with three stories and a city block worth of shopping! It is on the main street, Storgatan, which is lined with stone, European -esque buildings. You can enter the mall through any storefront that has a giant, green IN sign, and then get distracted for hours with shoes and clothes! 

The stickers always seem more outrageous than they actually are.  I have yet to find the equivalent of a Walmart or Target here.  The average price of shirts are 200 -300 SEK, which is approx 30 - 45 CAD - which is why I ended up only buying sale items. 2 of them were from H&M (of course), and 1 from Cubus, which reminded me a bit if an American Apparel.  I've already picked out where my first paycheck is going too.  There's a knit cardigan in MQ that I desperately want to buy, but can't justify spending 799 SEK on a sweater right now. It's so pretty though - see ... I told you so:

I also need to start a list of things to get shipped from home.  Shampoo and conditioner come in teeny tiny bottles and cost a lot of freaking money. Makeup is insanely priced.  A tube of Maybeline mascara is 120 SEK ... that's 18 dollars!  My theory is, if you take the price you expect to be and times it by 3 - you get the actual price! I've also been buying Lattes from the coolest cafe I've ever stepped foot in, called Barista, and only yesterday did I sit down and actually calculate how much CAD money I was spending.  A large vanilla latte is 42 SEK - that's 6 dollars - yikes!  As soon as work starts, I will stop going there!  And the count down is on ... 3 more days until vacation is over!