THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15-SATURDAY FEBRUARY 17

In SWEDEN for the super exciting sounding short study tour.
On Thursday we drove by bus up to Lund. Most people slept on the bus. There is a really long (10km) bridge from Denmark to Sweden that we went over. In Lund we had a tour of a cathedral from the 1100s. There was a really neat astronomically correct clock that told the time, the phases of the moon, and the zodiac sign. It had been made a really long time ago so the technology and accuracy was very impressive. There were a bunch of seats by the front altar. The priests and people who would sit in the chairs could sit on a special part on the bottom of the flip up seat to make it easier to stand and hold onto these supports on either side of the chair. Early evidence of accomadating special needs. Many bookmarks, dice and stuff had been dropped below the chairs. Finding dice is bad because gambling was not allowed in the church.
Underneath the main part of the cathedral there was a crypt. No bodies are still there though. There were two statues of guardians. There was also a story about St. Lawrence and a giant. The giant and St. Lawrence made a deal that the giant would build the cathedral in a certain amount of time if St. Lawrence could guess the giants name. If St. Lawrence couldn't guess the name then he had his eyes pulled out. The towns people all helped but no one could come up with the name until St. Lawrence was depressed and got a secret message in his dreams from a Mother Earth type character of the Giants name. St. Lawrence says the name but it was almost too late. The andromedia meteor shower is the tears from St. Lawrence.
We at lunch at a cute little cafe type place and then explored Lund. Swedes are a little more openly friendly than Danes it seems.
After lunch we went to the Swedish Institute for Special Needs. The director gave a talk which was OK. Pretty general overview of the swedish edc. system and the role of the institute. Basically it is a resource teachers can call. People from the institute go into schools to help with assessment when needed. Teachers can go there to find books and games and resources to help work with children. We had yummy chocolate covered marshmellow pastry type things.
We had interesting talks in small groups about the education system. My group got onto the topic of prenatal testing and getting parents to talk about what they will do if their child has a disability. We also talked about the differences in labelling children and also in formal testing of children.
We went this hostel in a stationary train. It was a bit claustrophobic and crowded and small but definitely an experience. Three bunk beds on top of each others and a tiny area to stand in each room.
We had a really nice dinner of chicken and veggies in a creamy sauce with bread and potatoes on the side. For dessert there was a flan like thing with lemon ice, strawberries, and a powdery chocolate ball. It was nice to talk with the other PCD students.
On Friday we had breakfast at the hostel train. Really yummy bread and jam, cheese, and a strange type of melon. We left early and went up to Karlskrona to visit schools. I went to a school with 360 students ages 5-16 from 45 countries. Many refugees. Swedes don't send their children there much because of racist attitudes which is unfortunate. They have a very hands on approach there and seem to really feel that there are many different ways to measure intelligence. The school was newly renovated and very beautiful and full of light. Students work with guidance to write and produce plays in all the different capacities. There is the option of a Montessori School or an English school. To go to the english school you must be good enough in swedish. We were given an explanation by the administrators and teachers and then students gave us a tour. My tour guides were from Bosnia and Croatia. We had lunch at the school of mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and hamburgers. They also gave us tea and mini sandwiches when we first arrived. Everyone was very open, welcoming, friendly and enthusiastic.
In the afternoon we went on a walking tour of Karlskrona in two groups. They showed us the clock stable, a historic church, and the harbor. It was pretty cold out. Brrrrr. After the walking tour we went to a cafe and got to try pastries and tea or coffee (there was one that was like Monkey Bread, one with almond paste in the middle, and cookies).
After that we checked into a very nice hostel/hotel.
Elizabeth, Ashely and I played cards and hung out for a bit and then went to an italian place for dinner. The pizza was delicious thin crust with lots of toppings and just a bit of cheese. A bit like Bertuccis.
On Saturday we had breakfast of yummy breads, cheeses, yogurts, orange or the same strange melon from the day before.
We went to a glass blowing place. We got to try blowing glass. Super cool! You blow into the end of this long tube and it bubbles out. We then had the process explained the glass comes in little bits that must be melted down at 1000 degrees and then brought down to 500 degrees to be shaped and cooled. They go down this conveyer belt thing to cool off slowly and then must be sanded and polished. The end products were amazing. It is a family business and has been for years. People ogled the stuff in the gift store for a while. I thought about buying stuff but was afraid about it breaking.
We had a traditional swedish lunch that workers would be given in return for doing a few hours of labor at the glass place in the past. Lunch was dark bread, potatoes with herring, bacon, and sweet sausage. It was not what I would normally like to choose to eat but it was absolutely amazing! So delicious. For dessert there was a bread budding/cheesecake consistence cake with whipped cream and strawberry sauce.
We had along bus ride back where we had to fill out evaluations. We watched The Usual Suspects and You've Got Mail.
Sweden is beautiful but not very developped. Many more trees and open space than Copenhagen. Much of it seems like any highway through the USA. The streets in the towns were cobblestone in many cases.
We had a long bus ride