16 Again

Last week I went on a residential trip with the science-stream first years to Saltsjöbaden, a coastal town with an observatory which dates back to 1931 (it was built to replace the original observatory from 1753, which is now used as museum). The observatory belongs to the company that owns my school and they run a residential week of science-related fun to help the students bond. My students were away from Tuesday to Friday but luckily my prior commitments (to French lessons) meant my presence was only required from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday morning.

Saltsjöbaden is completely gorgeous, it used to be the seaside destination of choice for the discerning Swedish Victorian (I’m not sure what they call people from the Victorian era here in Sweden so I am sticking with the British description) and is now the location of choice for a summer home of Stockholm’s rich. I was driven there on Tuesday but on Thursday morning I got to take the train back to Stockholm – the route is mostly unchanged since the early 1900s and it’s cool to think how the view has changed since then (I imagine the main difference is the influx of supermarkets by every station, big or small)

I bet the weather was similar back then though…

The town itself reminded me of Malahide in Ireland, it had the same feel of a home-away-from-home for the rich and privileged, same sort of view from the hotel across the harbour (complete with lots of fancy boats) and same big houses (although there is a slight difference in architectural design)

The actual place we stayed was pretty cool, not the bedrooms or the food (did you know that you’re expected to take your own bedding with you whenever you stay away from home in Sweden? slightly annoying. And the food was just more school food…great) but the observatory itself with its giant telescope. We got to look at the moon! I can confirm that it is not made from cheese.

As part of the residential I got to sit in on the science lessons all day Wednesday, this made me feel like a 16 year old back in a physics class (but minus my school physics teacher who was quite mad and, according to my friend, looked like Jesus). The icing on the cake was being accused of being one of the students by one of the teachers who worked at the observatory, he was quite rude to me about not speaking Swedish until I realised he thought I was a student and informed him I was actually a very young looking teacher. He didn’t apologise.

And finally, the view from my window in Saltsjöbaden:

Busy Busy Busy (but still time for coffee)

Wow, I didn’t realise it had been over 10 days since I last posted anything. What utterly terrible blogger behaviour. I do have a good excuse though, honest! I started work at Internationella Kunskapsgymnasiet two weeks ago and it’s been a fortnight of settling in and trying to understand how the school system works, what I’m supposed to be doing as well as when and where I’m supposed to be doing it. I think by the end of this week I should be a lot more settled to school life (and hopefully therefore less tired!).

Just in case you were wondering, I thought I’d quickly sum up what my job actually involves. I’m a Comenius Assistant at a high school (gymnasiet in Swedish), which means that I work as a not-quite-teacher in French and English lessons. Mainly French lessons, which amuses me as I think it’s a funny concept to have an English woman as a French assistant but at least it means my degree is being put to good use. I also get to some one-on-one mentoring sessions with 1st years – I like to think this means I have the power to mould some 15/16 year olds into perfect young adulst however I fear it’ll mainly involve me making sure they’re uptodate with all school work and not floundering. Basically, my untrained and not-very-experienced self has been let loose on a school full of teenagers in the hope that I’ll teach them something. Even if that something is simply how to speak French with a Yorkshire accent.

Onto more exciting things, or to be more precise, a more exciting thing: coffee! I have been on the hunt for the perfect cup of coffee (specifically a soya latte) in Stockholm. Today I endeavoured to visit yet another coffee-selling establishment but sadly found it didn’t have soya milk and I had to go to my current favourite cafe instead (what a shame…)

Said favourite cafe is Gildas Rum in Södermalm, they serve massive soya lattes at a decent price in the cutest (for ‘cute’ do not read ‘small’) cups ever. Plus the decor is lovely and quite French inspired so I feel rather at home. There are also often some very cute dogs hanging out there (with their owners, obviously) which adds to the experience! As I am a lone cafe-dweller it’s nice to go somewhere that feels quite homey and the mis-matched furniture and cosy lighting definitely make this place feel comfortable enough to sit with a book for quite some time.

Here is a  gorgeous coffee. This photo doesn’t really show how big the coffee was. It was BIG.

And a not-very-good photo of the decor.

I’m a big fan of coffee-shops so I will be continuing my search in case there’s a better soya latte out there in the city. Plus you need different cafes for different occasions (granted, I mainly just go to cafes to read a book. Although I suppose different genres of novel may require different surroundings). Back in the UK I honestly do love Starbucks, even though it’s a big corporation and therefore probably evil it is one of the only places where I can get a proper soya latte, however I love the fact that here in Stockholm I can satisfy my soya latte urges in nice, cute, non-evil independant cafes (but it must be said that I do miss the view of Edinburgh Castle from the Starbucks on Princes Street where I did much of my university work, the distracting powers of said gorgeous view probably caused my dissertation mark to be a few marks lower than it should have been).

In other news, I met a cat this week.