Day 1 at school in Sweden.

I awoke around 6:20 a.m. and got ready for my first day in a Swedish school. For breakfast I had cornflakes with strawberry yogurt on top, cheese & crackers and a small ham sandwich. These are all very common things to have for breakfast in Sweden. Around 7:05 a.m. Lena and I left for the school, Apelskolan. Apelskolan consist of students in the 7th through 9th grades. On the way we stopped and picked up two more teachers, Jennie and Kenth. Kenth teaches Physics and Jennie teaches English, Swedish and French. Lena teaches Swedish and English. After a 30 min. drive we arrived at Apelskolan.

I observed four different teachers during my first day and was able to learn a lot. I was also able to share a lot of what I do with computers. I had a wonderful experience and can't wait to return to Nebraska to share the information with everyone. I would blog about it now, but I'm very tired and there is a lot to say. To the left are some pictures of the students I met.

For lunch I ate at the school. It consisted of fish in a lemon sauce/gravy, boiled potatoes, a carrot salad and a lettuce salad with corn. The fish was amazing for what I think of as school food. I also want to point out that I had coffee 5 different time during the day. Once for breakfast, 3 coffee breaks during the day and once more after school. This was nice, because I was running on 4 hours of sleep! Below is a picture of the food Sarah K. and I had for lunch.

After school, Sarah K., Matt, Angela and I presented to all the teachers in the district. We shared information about our school and how we use the computers in our 1:1. Afterwords they had a coffee break. This is when I consumed my 5th and final cup of coffee for the day. If I sleep at all it may be a miracle.

When Lena and I arrived back at the house it was 6:30 p.m. Almost a 12-hour day. It went by so fast I can hardly focus to remember it. For dinner we ate a noodle salad with bacon, dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. We had large green olives and garden fresh tomatoes for side dishes. Did I mention yet that Christian (Lena's husband) keeps a garden in a greenhouse. Sorry, no picture of this meal. I was to hungry and forgot to stop and take a picture.

Overall, I am very impressed with the hospitality of everyone I've met in Sweden. The students in Sweden are very polite and respectful. The student / teacher relationship is one of trust and is very relaxed. Students address their teacher by his of her first name. The students at Apelskolan are very grateful to have computers. I got a very strong feeling that the students really have a good appreciation for the education they are receiving.

- Mr. Allemang -