Jon Wood hiked in the Arctic and climbed the tallest mountain in Sweden last summer. The summit of the mountain, Kebnekaise, soars 7,000 feet high.
“It was snowing horribly as I reached the top,” Wood said, an ETSU senior. “I stood up there not being able to see more than 15 feet in front of me and I felt amazing! I had an experience that I will remember forever.”
Wood, 23, and three other ETSU students made the trek to Sweden last summer to study Swedish Language and Culture in Kristianstad, Sweden – for credit from ETSU, taught by an ETSU instructor.
Brodie Kinsler, 25, journeyed not only within Sweden, but also to Finland, Denmark and Norway. “I would go back to Sweden in a heartbeat,” said Kinsler, an ETSU alumnus. “I would recommend to every student that has the means to study abroad to go (be it Sweden, any of the other Nordic countries, or any other country for that matter).”
ETSU students will have that chance again this summer, this time to spend one month studying in Kristianstad and have the choice of taking Swedish Language and Culture and/or Speech 2300 (Public Speaking) and Speech 2320 (Argument and Debate) to add up to no more than six hours of credit.
In Swedish Language and Culture class, students will be introduced to the basics of the Swedish language, said Angie Sheek, director of the program and instructor of all the classes offered. Speech 2300 and 2320 will be offered as “live in Sweden” courses.
Swedish Language and Culture will be taught primarily in a classroom environment, but half of the time will be devoted to outside-of-class activities, such as day trips to historical and cultural cites, said Sheek, a speech and communication instructor at ETSU.
Although students will be expected to be involved with their course work, they will have time to travel, relax and have fun. “There will be a free week at the end of the trip for students to travel and do as they please,” Sheek said.
Students will also have afternoons and weekends to travel, she said.
These classes will take place in Summer Session II, which officially starts July 7, although Sheek plans to leave between July 4 and 7 and to return August 6. Students register for classes as they would for any other summer course.
The current estimate of cost is not to exceed $2,000 per student and tuition will be in addition, she said. This price includes: airfare, transportation to and from the airport, a single room with hall shower and kitchen, breakfast the first morning, and two day trips.
Daniel Mansson, the director of the program last year, said the program was successful. “Overall, the program went very well,” said Mansson, a native of the Kristianstad area. “There were no problems of any kind. The fact that all of the students want to return to both Sweden and to experience other international cultures is a great sign that the students were pleased, which was a primary goal of the program.”
This summer-only program is rich in benefits, says Mansson, an international doctoral student, instructor at West Virginia University and former ETSU lecturer. “Learning about a culture as different from the U.S. as Sweden can be a valuable lesson for students,” Mansson said. “It will not only enrich their academic and professional lives, but also their personal lives.”
Students might find traveling to a foreign country daunting, but they should not be afraid of taking advantage of this course, Sheek said. “Sweden has a very high rate of English as a second language,” Sheek said. “Students will become increasingly aware of how important effective use of language is. Also, we will be living in a secure location and it is in an area I am familiar with.”
The students who traveled last summer found the program life-changing. For Kinsler, the most important part of the trip was finding himself. “Being able to detach from my normal routines at home, my way of life, and the people I am always surrounded by enabled me to look at myself in a whole new light,” he said.
Kinsler, who took a 17-hour ferry trip from Stockholm, Sweden, to Helsinki, Finland, discovered both the joys and frustrations of international travel. “The view from the ferry was absolutely phenomenal going through the archipelago of Stockholm,” he said. “I took a ton of pictures, enjoyed the good weather and watched the sun go down.”
He did not have a cabin on the ferry to sleep in, but met two Finnish girls who found him a windowsill to sleep on outside of their room. “How I slept at all I have no idea, but I did,” he said.
Nevertheless, Kinsler found roughing it to be satisfying. “It was no issue to just hop on a train or ferry, end up somewhere, get off and just go see what you could find,” Kinsler said. “This enabled me to do really more than I even planned on.”
Wood, who will graduate in May, is already planning his next adventure -- hiking the entire Appalachian Trail beginning next March. “I honestly think this goal is unfathomable,” Wood said. “I cannot in my wildest dreams imagine this becoming reality, but I am at least going to try and go as far as I can. Without going to Sweden I would not have even considered this a life goal. Going to Sweden made me realize that nothing is out of reach.”
For more information about the program visit http://faculty.etsu.edu/sheek/ or contact Angie Sheek at sheek@mail.etsu.edu.
