The Gustavus Semester in Sweden program will reach its halfway point next week. The 12 Gusties traveled to northern Sweden this past January and have been making their way south as the semester goes on.

The program is led by Gustavus Professor of English Eric Eliason, and the students are taking five courses during the semester. Eliason leads many of the classes but is aided by guest professors, including Gustavus Professor Emeritus Roland Thorstensson who traveled to Sweden to spend a week with the group in early February. The group studies at universities, folk high schools and independently as well.

Some classes are completed in a short time, like a January Interim Experience course, to accommodate for travel, while others are taught throughout the semester. A course on the indigenous people of Scandinavia, the Sami, is now complete.

Group members lived in Jokkmokk and Umeå for this portion of their studies.

“I’m so glad we started with the Sami because everything we learned about this group enhances our understanding of cultures. It was such a unique experience to study every facet of their culture while living and working with them on a daily basis,” Junior Scandinavian Studies and Political Science Major Jen Fox said.

The group is currently in Mora studying Nordic politics, Swedish language and reading works by Nobel Award-winning authors. The politics course is taught by a former member of the Swedish and European Parliaments.

“I am really enjoying the classes in Mora. The Swedish class is perfect. Our teacher has so much energy and is able to cater to all our different levels. It is also great to be working on a literary class again; it relates to Scandinavia and our other studies, but it is a nice change of teaching styles and assignments,” Sophomore Scandinavian Studies Major Cassandra Quam said.

“Our time in Mora is so much like being at Gustavus—we have regular classes, live in dorms and eat in the [cafeteria]. There is a lot of free time here, too. We have made friends with many of the students here, and there is so much to do. We only spend a few weeks anywhere so we try really hard to see all that each town has to offer,” Sophomore Theatre Major Karla Leitzman said.

The trip is intentionally scheduled around important Swedish cultural events. While in Jokkmokk, the group was able to participate in the Winter Market and an environmentally focused international conference. In Mora, the students are able to participate in the events surrounding Vasaloppet, the oldest, longest and biggest nordic ski race in the world. These events are huge attractions for towns, bringing in celebrities, musicians, vendors, athletes and thousands of tourists.

“I sat less than three feet away from H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria at the Jokkmokk Winter Conference, saw Swedish rapper Dogge Doggelito perform during the market and heard the Prime Minister’s wife speak during the opening ceremony of Vasaloppet,” Junior Political Science and English Major Ben Lundquist said.

In addition to seeing famous Swedes, the group is constantly meeting locals and often finding connections to Gustavus and Minnesota. Some of the guest professors and lecturers have been to Gustavus in the past to teach January Interim Experience classes. Other connections have been as simple as someone in a coffee shop noticing that they speak English and finding connections to the school through conversation. “The people we have met along the way have had a phenomenal impact on this experience, and that’s what makes it so special,” Junior Political Science Major Sonja Johnson said.

Outside of academic work, the students make time to visit cultural tourist attractions and see more of the country. Among other destinations, they have been to museums, the original Ice Hotel, the Gulf of Bothnia, churches, Finland and reindeer grazing grounds.

“Part of our education about the Sami people included hands-on experience and learning about reindeer and reindeer herding–including playing with the reindeer,” Sophomore Nate Dexter said. Students had the opportunity to ride in a sleigh pulled by a reindeer, lead the reindeer on a track and pet the reindeer.

“In everything we do there is an opportunity to learn. I left for this trip without having taken any Swedish classes, and now I can mostly get by in social settings, and I even learned a little Sami. The total cultural immersion has been an invaluable experience,” Sophomore Classics Major Janella Reiswig said.

In about a week, the group will move again, this time to a much bigger town. The group will settle next in the university town of Uppsala, then to the capital city Stockholm and will end the semester in Jönköping. They will take a science class called The Study of Nature while continuing to work on their semester long courses, Swedish Authors and the Nobel Prize and Sweden Today.

The group maintains a collective blog for anyone interested in knowing what students are doing and where they have been.