Hejsan alla!
I study for a degree program of Social Services and I’m doing my practical training of the second year now in Gothenburg, Sweden. My training is for three months, but I still have only two weeks left here.
As you may not know, Gothenburg is a part of a Finnish administrative territory because of the many people with Finnish backround living there. I am here to explore especially the services for the elderly but also getting to know with some Finnish organisations and Swedish Finns culture.
The biggest difference between working as a socionom (= bachelor of Social Services) in Finland and in Sweden is that in Sweden the socionoms can do the same work as the social workers do in Finland. And still their degree program lasts as long as ours (3,5 years).
As a second biggest city in Sweden, Gothenburg is still very down-to-earth and cosy place to live. I could actually compare it to Tampere, because even when the city is so big with it’s manymany people, the atmosphere is still very open and welcoming to every kind of people. Also I love that there are many different kind of landscapes here. You can just wonder around the city and the next thing you know, you can see the whole city under your feet.
The Swedes “fika” all the time. It means having a coffee and something sweet or sour with your friends/family/workmates. The best place to “fika” in Gothenburg is in Haga. There you can find the cutest little coffee places with these huge cinnamon buns! It’s a nice part of the city to just relax and have coffee. And you can also climb up the hill there and watch the whole city while drinking your coffee. It’s magical.
Also what we like to do with my friends here is to play “kub” which is almost like Finnish “mölkky” but the Swedish version of it. There are many beautiful parks where you can go and play or have a picnic or even little barbeque. The only minus side of this city is that it’s always windy here. So even if the sun shines, it can still be quite chilly… And that’s why there’s no point of using an umbrella if it rains, because you’ll get wet anyways.
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