Center for International and Cultural Education

Standing on Kinekulle

Our geology field trip with Mark was a very interesting and enlightening experience.  It was amazing to see all of the old rock formations and really put the earths age into perspective.  One of the parts that was the most interesting which made it easy to see the history of the area was when the [...]

IMG_0526 

Sheep!

Since I grew up around sheep, I was given the task of chronicling our journey to the sheep farm outside Jönköping. The farm is owned by Karin and Göte Lindström. Göte is the Vice President at the school we were staying at. Their farm is about twenty minutes outside of Jönköping in a lovely countryside starting to [...]

Lake 

Wood, Students, and the Greenest city in Europe. April 17-18

For years if someone wanted to build a building over 3 stories in Sweden, wood was not an option. It was not considered strong enough to safely support such weight. Recently, however, people have changed that. Wood is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than brick or cement. It can also be recycled and is easier to [...]

Here we were standing on the peneplain. Photo by Cami Andersen. 

Geology of Southwestern Sweden with Mark Johnson

On April 30th, the group headed two hours west from our dorm in Jönköping to a hostel in Gothenburg. On our afternoon of arrival, we met Mark Johnson, a former professor of Geology at Gustavus. He began teaching at Gustavus in 1985, and moved to Gothenburg in the early 2000s to teach at Gothenburg University. [...]

Kalmar Slott 

Journey to Växjö, Kalmar and Öland

On the morning of April 15th, we departed from our hotel in Uppsala for a relaxing morning train ride to Växjö.  That afternoon, we congregated at the main square before meeting our families, while some of us had fika at a nearby cafe.  Matt and I would be spending the next five days with Stefan [...]

DSCN6122 

Hello Hållö!

After a day of exploring the city of Göteborg, we began our first day “out in the field” of Geology with Mark on Tuesday. Mark taught at Gustavus for many years before he moved to Sweden in 2003 and began teaching at the University in Göteborg, and he is now head of his department there. [...]

cookout 

Our first week on the hill – Jönköping

We arrived in Jönköping after a short train ride from Växjö. The first thing we saw through the train windows as we pulled up was the enormous (2nd largest in Sweden) Lake Vättern. Jönköping is situated at the southern tip of the lake, with large hills on each side of the city. It’s actually quite similar to [...]

IMG_20130331_115342 

Spring in Paris and Berlin

Over spring break I decided I would hop over to continental Europe to see Paris and Berlin. After spending 12 days in Stockholm, I thought it would give me a great opportunity to compare 3 very different cities. It’s interesting how cities have a character. Each city certainly feels different, but it’s sort of hard [...]

My cousin Ingela and her husband Lars 

A week with my family in Småland

Over spring break, some of us took the opportunity to reconnect with home again, through a trip back home or spending the week with family and friends.  I chose to spend my spring break with my cousins here.  My cousin Ingela and her husband Lars live on a farm near the small town Ljungby in [...]

IMG_0272 

Got Land? I did during Spring Break

As loyal readers already know for spring break I traveled with Devon to Visby on Gotland, an Island off the southeastern coast of Sweden. Visby is an extremely well-preserved medieval town, and was a member of the Hanseatic League, a group of predominantly German towns specializing in trade on the Baltic and North Seas. At the local museum, Devon and [...]