My name is Dominic and I am a 22-year-old male from England. For the past 7 months, however, I have been living in Skåne, Sweden. The reason I came here was due to my universities opportunity to study abroad in my second year. I am studying to become a Physical Education teacher so it was a no brainer to come to Sweden. I am intrigued by their healthy lifestyle and their passion for the great outdoors. You are welcome to read more about me on my blog, as I recommend my introduction post at Who am I?
My semester studying abroad began at the start of the year. I arrived on the 16th of January in Copenhagen and took the short train ride over to Sweden’s third-biggest city Malmö. I was filled with such excitement and nerves… It was a strange but incredible feeling. It took some time for me to get used to my surroundings (not least the cold winter months) but I soon began to realise what a beautiful country it is. Swedes love the sun but even in winter and spring before warm temperatures, they are out and enjoying nature. That is something for sure I want to do and treasure when I return home to the UK.
These winter months and my amazing Skiing trip in Tänndalen now seem a lifetime away, what with the vicious hitting of the Covid-19 pandemic arriving in mid-March. I was devastated then as I worked so hard for a once in the lifetime opportunity, something that I felt was snatched away for me for so long. I had only been here for 2 months, and with the stress of getting used to my new life, I had not explored as much as I had wanted to. The next two months were brutal as the virus was so new, and I was more scared to go outside. I hardly went anywhere.
Eventually, things started to calm down and I could truly start to experience the Swedish summer that was just around the corner. I thought I would be long gone by the time summer had arrived, but what with tighter restrictions in the UK and my original summer plans in the UK affected, it made more sense to stay here. Since then, I have been all over the Skåne county but with many more adventures planned. I have sampled various beaches with warm and cold refreshing dips in the sea. I have been through many forests for hikes and truly experienced what a wonder this country is. I even have had time to pop over to Denmark properly in the cities of Copenhagen and Helsingør.
Although I am having to adapt what I am doing and the opportunities to travel effectively are compromised… I am still living the dream I was working so hard for. To me, that is a relief. It was a difficult first few months and I have not got much time left in Sweden, but I will always treasure these fine moments. Sweden is definitely a must-visit country when you can safely travel and do so!
If you like what you have read, I have written a lot on my blog about my travels and experience abroad. But I also write about other things such as autism, sport an university. I like to write about things that are personal to me but I strongly believe there is something of interest to everyone. So come on over to Life Is Too Sport.
