Margaret Powers discovering a geocache on an excursion in Sweden
Honors biochemistry major and future surgeon Margaret Power is studying abroad in Sweden through the UA Health Teams Abroad program. While there, she has had the opportunity to enjoy summer festivals, Swedish cuisine, and the hospitality of the locals while gleaning firsthand insights about healthcare systems.
Upon arriving in Sweden, there were many new experiences and aspects of the culture that were inviting. The first people we met in Jönköping were the SUSHI (students involved in the international association for the School of Health Sciences) who were beyond nice and helpful. They aided us in getting involved in activities on campus by providing us with opportunities to take part in events such as the Midsummer’s night going away party and a trip to a small countryside town called Granna. Midsummer’s night is a Swedish holiday that involves food, fun, family, and dancing. A typical Midsummer’s night food selection would have a buffet of grilled fish and meat kabobs followed by a dessert of strawberry cake. For our Midsummer’s night dinner, we feasted on pickled herring, salmon, and barbeque chicken kabobs. The pickled herring was an extremely salty fish selection, but the salmon was delicious along with the barbeque kabobs. (I don’t recommend trying the herring. According to the SUSHI, it is an acquired taste for most Swedes.) Granna is a town where they make authentic peppermint rock candies, which are considered a Swedish treasure. Granna was a fantastic getaway from the big city of Jönköping and was filled with beautiful scenery to see.
While in Jönköping, our health team was lucky enough to get to go to a local hangout spot called Akademia. Many students come here during the week to hang out and listen to music as an escape from studying. Our team met a lot of other international students from campus here. It was a great experience getting to be with local and international students alike. Travel around Jönköping was relatively easy to navigate. The city was beautiful especially around sunset (which didn’t happen until 10:00 pm every night.) The streets were made of cobblestone, which really gave the city an old fashioned, medieval feel. One of my favorite parts of the city to visit was the pier. The restaurants here were incredible, serving a variety of fish, ice cream, pasta and pizza. And the view of the lake was gorgeous. Our health team enjoyed taking as many pictures as we could on the rocks that surrounded the pier. The weather was quite rainy and cold during our stay, but on one of the nicer days, a few members of the team, including myself, decided to take a walk along the coast of the lake. I ended up climbing a tree and discovered a geocache that was disguised as a tree branch! It was special getting to add our names to the list of people who had found it before us.
Honors students clad in Midsummer’s Night regalia
One of my favorite things I got to do while in Sweden was practice with a local soccer team called Husqvarna Fotboll Club. I thought it would be hard to understand the coach while he was talking in Swedish, but I came to realize that by knowing the game of soccer and how it’s played, I could understand what he was saying just by the motions he was making with his hands and feet. It was interesting getting to compare their style of play with mine back home as a Razorback soccer player. Their team likes to control the ball and have patience with going forward to score goals, while my style of play back home is very direct and fast paced. I got to have fika (a small break for coffee, refreshments, and a sandwich or dessert that the Swedes have every day) with the team after practice. I thought this was a very kind gesture and I enjoyed getting to have some time to just be with the team.
Calling the Hogs in Sweden
The Swedish people place emphasis on different cultural norms than we do in America. For one, it is seen as a positive trait to be shy. Also, people never travel in huge packs because being alone and independent is seen as a positive characteristic as well. It was easy to see these personality traits on the buses especially. The Swedish people love their personal space, so you would never see people sit by each other unless they had to. Eye contact was avoided at all cost upon entering the bus. It wasn’t uncommon to sit down by a Swede and have them immediately stand up and move to an open seat. However rude this may seem, they were very open, friendly, and understanding in all conversations once they opened up. I was surprised to find their English to be quite good! I didn’t talk to a single Swede who didn’t know English and that couldn’t understand what I was saying.
Being exposed to Sweden’s health care system has made me feel better prepared for entering the medical field. I can take away the different aspects that allow the Swedish health care work and apply it to our changing health care in the United States. The lectures and hospitals we attended had very knowledgeable staff who clearly portrayed the benefits and problems that the Swedish health care professionals experience and deal with every day. I was very impressed with the health facilities and the benefits they supply to the people of Sweden. The understanding that I have gained after being exposed to knowledge of Sweden’s health care will be very beneficial up the road and has done nothing but reinforce my desire to be a health care professional. These three weeks of studying abroad have been some of the greatest weeks of my life. The exposure to Sweden’s health care as well as the traditions and culture of Sweden as a whole will be carried with me for the rest of my life.