Can I be honest? I’m tired. Like really, really tired. Like “I woke up this morning and immediately wanted to go back to sleep” tired. This week was core course week and my class went to Oslo, Norway. Typically, core course classes take a trip to another city in Sweden, but my instructor, Iwo, is Norwegian so he got approved to take us to Oslo for a few days! It was very exciting to travel via train to a new country and explore another Scandinavian capital city.
My time at DIS thus far has been incredibly exciting and filled with new experiences. My Oslo trip continued with this trend. My instructor organized several informative academic visits with organizations connected to the themes of our course. In our free time, my classmates and I explored Oslo by visiting the Royal Palace, getting sushi, and doing karaoke later in the night.
It was a really fun time, but by the last day of the trip, I felt exhausted. Admittedly, I was physically tired because I hadn’t prioritized sleep while on the trip, but on a more metaphysical level, I felt exhausted as well. I’m a really introverted person and I value and need alone time. Core Course Week is a good time to get to know your classmates, which is important since you’ll be traveling with them for a longer time during your long study tour. I wanted to get to know my class better, so I prioritized spending time with other people during our breaks from academic visits instead of recharging alone. I’m really happy to have done so, I got to know my classmates so much better and had some memorable moments on the karaoke stage.
However, I haven’t had much time for myself since arriving in Stockholm. There are so many people to meet and opportunities to take advantage of, but this weekend, after I returned from Oslo, I decided to give myself time to be alone and chill out for a bit. My Saturday was basically a rot day where I did absolutely nothing productive. It was nice to just take a break and relax after a busy month getting to know Stockholm and traveling to Oslo. By Sunday, I felt excited to socialize again and went thrifting with my friend Klara!
I guess the moral of the story is that it’s okay to need a bit of a break even when abroad. I feel like there’s a lot of pressure to make the most out of your time in a new place, but I think that taking time for yourself is connected to that objective and not in conflict with it. Sometimes it’s nice to just lay in bed on a Saturday when you could be doing something more productive or exploratory around the city!
This week, I didn’t spend much time on the Stockholm metro because I was in Oslo! I traveled by train to get there, but I mostly slept and listened to podcasts. Regardless, I’ll include a Tunnelbana Track of the Week. This one is a bit tongue in cheek. If you’re a DIS student, please don’t actually leave me alone, I promise I’m friendly, I just like Fred Again and this song sort of connects to this week’s blog lol.
Tunnelbana Track of the Week:
Nola's Spring in Stockholm 
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