Fleur and her internship in Borås, part 1

Fleur in Borås: “To be honest, I didn’t know much about Sweden.”

Preparations

In November 2016 it became clear that I’d do an internship in Sweden in February of 2017. At the time, it felt very far away, but the weeks flew by. I had to quickly begin searching for accommodation. In the beginning, it didn’t go too easily, because many websites were only available in Sweden.
Borås is a true student city. Many apartment buildings were only open to University students, which was a problem. Because I’m going for an internship and won’t be studying at a University in Borås, the search took a little longer. After some tips from Abroad Internships and my Swedish internship guides, I managed to find a good place to sleep.  

Very quick arrangements!

When my room was finally taken care of, I felt such relief! I think arranging accommodation is the most important part to organize before you leave, apart from your internship company of course. Exactly one year ago I also spent half a year abroad, so taking care of insurances and my student loan was easy. Tip: don’t forget to apply for an Erasmus scholarship when you study or intern within Europe!

In between all the organizing, my dad came with the great news that I could take the car to Sweden. This made me super happy: I can now easily explore Boras and its surroundings. Instead of spending an hour on public transport to my internship company, I’m there within ten minutes (nice nice nice). At the moment, I don’t have any experience with public transport, but I’ve heard it’s all well organized in Sweden.

My image of Sweden

To be honest, I didn’t know much about Sweden, only that it must have pretty amazing nature. I don’t know anyone who lives in Sweden or has ever visited the country on a holiday. While I was busy organizing my internship in Sweden, the tv show Nick & Simon: The Dream (Sweden) aired. All the shots I saw there were very similar to my mental image of the country.
Even though I’ve only been here for two weeks, I immediately noticed that Swedes are really kind and caring people. Everyone speaks English fluently and they all gladly help out with any questions you might have.

My last month in the Netherlands!

The moment my last month in the Netherlands started, I was still not convinced I was actually going to leave the country for 5 months. This because I was super busy with school and right before I left I still had to manage deadlines and exams. I think I only became aware of the fact that I was going to Sweden after I finished school on Friday (and I’d leave on Tuesday).

The last month was filled with goodbye dinners, drinks and all kinds of other activities. Time flew by, but I managed to see everyone before I left!

I am super excited about all my new experiences and Swedish adventures!