Hej hej! Today was our first full day in Stockholm, and our last day of math instruction! We finally got to see some daylight (for about an hour). The days are short here and it's definitely taking some getting used to, but the excitement of Sweden is keeping us going.
We had breakfast in the hostel this morning and then met up in one of the meeting rooms for a lecture from our tour guide on Swedish language and culture. We learned some key phrases, like good morning (god morgon), thank you (tack), and, of course, cheers (skål!). We also learned about the history of Sweden from its Viking and Sami roots to today.
I was interested to learn about the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint, who made some really interesting, spiritual, abstract art with really extensive symbolism:
We also learned about Alfred Nobel and a bit about living in Sweden (they have really, really good healthcare).
We had a short break between 2 hours of Swedish culture class and 2 hours of our final math class where we learned more about partial differential equations, heat equations, and, finally, the Cauchy-Kovalevskaya Theorem. During the break, we got to enjoy some good fun, as you can see below:
After class, we all dispersed to get lunch, work on our final projects, explore the city, relax a bit, and then get dinner in the evening. Some featured highlights from Math 257 students in the wild include:
Today we found some yummy food spots! My personal favorite was the Thai restaurant where we had dinner (and there was free water included with this meal)! Also, it was fun to walk around Old Town and see places that we spotted on the tour in daylight.
--- Alex Freihammer
After lunch, some of us went to study at a cute coffee shop near the train station (gotta get on that grind for the final project). We got to observe the “Fika” hour (where people grab coffee and socialize in the afternoon). It was nice to get to see everyone laughing and having engaging conversations. Later, for dinner, we had plans to go to what online appeared to be a very cute Tapas and Sangria bar, but in reality, it was quite empty (probably because we arrived a little too late, who knew the kitchen would close at 7 pm?). The very kind bartender fixed us some “nachos” (see below) and we enjoyed some watered-down Sangria. The bartender at Bebidas was one of the nicest people I have met so far; however, I would not recommend going there if what you’re looking for is a nice meal.
--- Leni and Hannah
As for me, I went exploring today after stopping by Ikea for an economic lunch, and did some sightseeing myself. We're off to a good start in Stockholm!
Hejdå!
Grace Bielefeldt
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