Välkomna!

Hello and welcome to my new blog! This is Yeon-Hee and for those of you that don't know already, I've decided to study abroad in Sweden (no, not Switzerland) for winter and spring quarters this year (2009) and this is where I plan to document my trip. I've taken Swedish language courses at the UW for two years and I figured it was time to test my mettle, so I'm going. I seriously considered Stockholm, Gothenburg, Linköping, and Uppsala Universities, but I have decided to go to Gothenburg University, or in Swedish: Göteborgs Universitet. :)

I chose Gothenburg for a few reasons. First off, Gothenburg is the music capital of Sweden and GU has a strong linguistics program. I also used to follow this Swedish drama online called Andra Avenyn that is set in Gothenburg. After 20 episodes or so, I found myself understanding most of the language on the show, and I learned a lot of phrases like: "herre gud!", "vad håller du på med?!" , "fy fan" , and "det är som fan." (Sorry, I can only remember the curse words right now). I followed most of the first season and I've watched some of the second season, which isn't as good, but hopefully by doing this, I'll have an easier time understanding and picking up the dialect.

For my studies, I plan to take a series of courses called "Scandinavian Studies: Cultural and Social Perspectives."

"The course addresses foreign students with the aim of enlarging their knowledge of Scandinavian society from historical, cultural, and social perspectives. It gives an introduction to the development of Scandinavian society from a European point of view and a broad orientation of everyday life in Sweden from the time of the industrial revolution to the present. With the focus on the city of Göteborg and its transformation, cultural and social changes concerning modes of belonging and social life in the shade of segregation, marginality and ethnic differentiation will be discussed. The course also gives an orientation in several fields of the Swedish youth culture research that has received internationally attention, as well as Scandinavian contributions to the study of different aspects of popular culture."

I have looked into what is involved in this course and I am excited! It really seems perfect for me and will provide me some great insights for my linguistics major as well as muscling through most of a Scandinavian Studies major. Plus, I've always wanted to travel to Europe and now it looks like I will have the chance to do so!

So, I'll be posting to this blog as I find time, and it would be great if you all commented once in a while so I feel a little less alone over there. I'm the only one from UW that will be in Göteborg spring semester, but some of my buddies will be nearby in Linköping and my professor will be in Copenhagen! Hopefully I'll meet lots of interesting people, learn lots of new slang, and learn a lot more than just Swedish over there.

Ha det så bra,
Yeon-Hee