Fleur during her internship in Borås, part 6

The 5th and Final Month Flew By, Just Like All the Others

I was really looking forward to finally handing in my internship report, as it had kept me quite busy.

Internship Company

At the end of May, our company moved to a brand-new location. The move was great for the office dynamic. Since it was such a special event, we were often surprised with lunches out and nice dinners. The new location was exactly as far away as the old one. A few pieces of furniture came with us from the old building, but everything else was completely new and looked really beautiful.

At the new office, I even had my own office for the last few weeks. During that time, I put all my energy into my research and final report so I could submit it on time. The fact that it had to be written in (correct) English meant I needed quite a bit of extra time. When I finally submitted my report on June 16th, I could finally relax. Phew—what a great feeling that was!

The following week, I had two final presentations, but those went very smoothly. Of course, I was very happy to have finished my research internship with a grade of 8! As a little celebration, I treated everyone at work, and on my last day, some colleagues and I cooked a traditional Swedish meal together. It was a lovely farewell.

Liseberg (Theme Park) and Street Festivals

As a birthday gift from work, I received a ticket to Liseberg—one of Sweden’s largest amusement parks, comparable to Walibi. The weekend after my birthday, I went with two friends, and I would definitely recommend it if you're in Gothenburg! Despite it being a Saturday, we didn’t have to wait in line even once.

After visiting Liseberg, we went to Hela Dagen Lång, a street festival with musicians, DJs, and food trucks filling the busy streets of Gothenburg. There were performances everywhere and people dancing in the streets.

Midsummer

Midsummer is celebrated every year on the Friday before or after June 21st. This year, the celebration took place on Friday, June 23rd. From the moment I arrived in Sweden, I was asked dozens of times: “Will you be in Sweden for Midsummer?” Swedes look forward to this holiday for months.

Traditionally, Midsummer is the day when the sun stays up the longest and the night is the shortest. What’s typical for Midsummer? A flower crown in your hair, dancing around the maypole, and singing songs. There are also special dishes that are eaten on Midsummer.

Heading Home!

After a fun, enjoyable, and—let’s not forget—educational time in Sweden, it was time to go home. By mid-June, many students had already finished school and often went back home. That made the house a lot quieter, and for me, it felt like the right time to leave too.

Together with my grandma (who just turned 75), I road-tripped back to the Netherlands. I picked her up at Gothenburg airport by car, and for three days I showed her around Borås and Gothenburg.

On the fourth day, we left early for Copenhagen. Although the weather wasn’t great (rain :-(), it was still a lively and fun city. Unfortunately, the next 500 km drive to Hamburg took over 8 hours—bad weather and chaos on the roads. Thankfully, our Airbnb in Hamburg was another great find. Hamburg is definitely a city I want to return to—there’s still so much to see.

On Saturday, July 1st, after driving 1,300 km all by myself, I was finally back home! The “welcome home” party on Sunday was a great way to close this academic year.