An AFS year in Sweden?!
Välkommen!
Sweden
If you decide to come to Sweden as an AFSer, you are in for a treat. Sweden is a beautiful country and its people too. Once you get to know us you will find out that many of the people you meet here will become your friends for life. it may take a while before they open up but once they do you can really count on them.
As an AFSer you need to be ready to take the initiative. Engage yourself in activities outside school, volunteer in helping out in your hostfamilies' house and always start asking questions first. Once you show an interest in other people and what they do, they will be interested in getting to know you.
Arrival to Sweden and language camp
When you arrive in Sweden in August you will travel straight to the arrival camp in Stockholm where you will spend 3 days with orientation and language classes. After that you will travel either by train, bus or air plane, depending on where in the country you will be hosted. The camp will be a helpful tool for you to discuss and learn more about Sweden, Swedish life and Swedish. You will also get to know the AFSers who has come to Sweden from all over the world, so your in for fun!
Your local chapter
On the local level we have local chapters which mainly consist of young people (former AFS students) and hostfamilies. The local committees are headed by a chairman - in some cases the chairman is the only member. In other cases you find big and very active chapters.
Although the chapter dedicate a lot of tehir spare time to AFS activities (they are the ones that find and interview host families among other things), there is a limit as to how much you can expect from them in form of activity and close contact. Depending greatly on what part of Sweden you are hosted in you will be invited to local and regional meetings, parties and volunteer activities. No matter where you are placed, however, you will be expected to help out in recruitment activities.
School
You will be going to 10th, 11th or 12th year of the Swedish gymnasium. Depending on your background and the availability at the school you will be studying a line of subjects. Here you will find more information on the Swedish school system.
You will be expected to learn Swedish and the school will in most cases give you one or two lessons per week in our language during your first semester. Schools are able to give you a certificate of subjects studied while in Sweden, but you can not count on getting a diploma. The Swedish gymnasium (upper secondary school) is much based on a system with a lot of freedom but also a lot of individual responsability for your own studies. You must be prepared to take own initiatives and work hard in your subjects, but then you will find that you get a lot of respect and you will learn plenty of Swedish without even noticing!
AFS encourages host schools to integrate exchange students as resource persons in different subjects and studies. You should therefor be prepared to give lectures and assist e.g. language or civics teachers with knowledge about your country, culture and language.
Mid-Stay
About half way through your experience you will be invited to a mid-stay camp. The camp takes usually takes place in Stockholm for a couple of days. The focus during this camp is to give you an opportunity to reflect upon your stay in Sweden - through games, plays, discussions and not the least - a lot of fun spending time together!
End-of-Stay
Before you go home you will be able to spend 24 hours with all your friends before getting on the plane back home. We believe with a greater knowledge, a bigger circle of friends, a new language and hopefully with a greater understanding, not only of Sweden but of other customs in general.