Last weekend, there were a lot of different activities going on at the school. First of all last friday, the staff had a big dinner and party at the castle to celebrate SSB's 40th anniversary. Saturday the castle was opne for students and parents during the evening to come and ¨mingle¨ with a glass of champagne and some snacks, this was also to celebrate the anniversary. During this event on the saturday, My friend Idar and I were asked to spend the evening at the school, be nicely dressed and stand by the door welcoming people to the gathering. It was nice to be there and wish everyone welcome and talk to the familier faces. 

 

Last sunday however, the school held the yearly SSB DAY. Each year, the school is open to everyone, students, teachers, families, old students and visitors. There are plenty of differnet activities to do. Such as differnt food from all the different scandinavian countries, a music café (which I did a performance at), a fashion show which one of our students held, different competitions where you can win prizes (last year I won a return ticket from SAS from Brussles to any Scandinavian capital), exhibitions from different classes and also a guided tour of the castle and the boarding facilities (Johan, Elise and I walked around with one of the houseparents showing our rooms and giving information to the ones on the tour). This year the SSB DAY was bigger than the former years due to the anniversary. I had a great day and it was nice to meet former students. It is a bit of a tradition to go to SSB DAY and everyone really enjoys it. 

 

Here are some pictures that I took during the day:

I got a question from a swedish follower regarding how the connection between the students at the school are, if girls and boys spend time together and if all the different classes at the gymnasium spend time together. She was also wondering if the boarding students and the students in the class have a good connection.

 

First of all I want to thank you for sending in a question, I am happy to answer everything that you are wondering about and I hope that my answer will help you!

 

The connection between the students, both on the boarding and those living here with their families, is very strong. Since we live in a foreign country and have moved from our home, we are all in the same situation and want to get to know new people and have fun. Therefore, it does not matter if you are a boy/girl or which grade you go in. When we make plans to do an activity, everyone is invited. As an example, you maybe read about our trip we took to Val D'Isere for the spring holiday, the whole gymnasium was invited and everybody could come, however, it was your own choice if you wanted to join or not. Also, when we go out to dinner or so on, we are often a mixed group of boys and girls in different grades. 

 

Living at the castle you get very close to all the other students who live here since we spend all day, everyday together. We eat together, we can study together, we chill out together, we get ready together, we support eachother and we help eachother. Since it is so intense we become a bit like a big family, always looking out for one another. It is hard to explain, but you will realise this when/if you live here.

 

I hope you have gotten your question answerd and feel free to send more questions!

 

Here are some pictures from the past year of all students together:

After looking trough my posts that I have written during the year, it came to my attention that I havent shown you how different parts of the boarding really looks like. I have taken some pictures to show you and explain to you some more practical information that is relevant if you are considering to move to the boarding.

 

In this photo you can see one of the corridors at the boarding. There are two different floors at the castle and they both look quite similar. Most of the rooms are for one person, however there are 8 dubblerooms. These dubble rooms either have two floors in them, so the rooms are in a way seperate, or they have walls that part them so you still can have your privacy. Two of the dubble rooms even have their own bathroom and toilet. Here you have a picture of the corridor on the first floor.

As you all (hopefully) know, Sweden won the hockey final yesterday against Switzerland and are now world champions! Johan, Anna and I spent the evening downstairs in the tv-room and cheered them on. We even had the swedish flag with us to show our support. 

 

Last thursday the whole gymnasium participated in the yearly SSB-MUN. Each year a student organises the event as a FN roleplay. The gymnasium is devided into groups and each group represent a country. We are handed out a resolution about a chosen topic and do research about our countrys view on the topic and how they stand to the resolution. It is very interesting to see all the students participate and discuss their views. 

This year the topic was ¨The end of the Arctic - melting ices and rising sea levels¨ and I represented the UK together with Martin Eirik and Johanna. I also enjoy SSB-MUN not only because the interesting discussions but also because of the formal dresscode. 

 

This weekend my friend Moa and I went to Paris for 2 days. Moa had her birthday in November and as a gift I gave her a weekend in Paris together with me. We decided to go to Paris in the spring since we both think that it is when Paris is most beautiful. The trip was just how I imagined it would be like (if not better)! 

 

Friday morning we went into Brussels to catch the bus we were taking straight to Paris. It took about three and a half hours to get to Paris due to some traffic on the way in to the city. When we arrived we took the metro to our hotel and checked in. After getting settled, we went out in the beautiful weather and walked to the Eiffeltower. There were loads of people out and about since the weather was so nice and it was a friday afternoon. After the busride and the sightseeing, we were pretty hungry so we decided to eat some dinner at a restaurant near the Eiffeltower. We were able to sit outside and ate a fantastic meal. 

After dinner, we walked around for a while and then decided that we would return to the hotel so we would be awake and ready the next morning to do some shopping.

 

Saturday morning, after eating breakfast and checking out of the hotel, we took the metro to the ¨Arc de Triomphe¨ and then walked down the Champs-Élysées and went in all the fancy stores. After hours of walking and windowshopping, we sat down at a resturant and ate lunch. Before taking the bus back home, we walked around some more by the river Seine. 

 

We spent some wonderful days in Paris and I am so glad that we took the advantage that we have here in Belgium to visit the beautiful city over a weekend, since living in Belgium you have the possibility to visit many countries and cities since everything is so close by. 

 

Today we got to try on our graduation hats for the first time! After school the class went to the reception and were excited like small children. When we got the hats on we were so happy and excited, especially when there is only 30 days left until graduation. 

The class has also started having dancing lessons for the waltz dance that we are going to do on our graduation prom. I have got to say that we have a lot to learn in a month since most people in the class have two left feet, but I hope that it will go fine!

 

 

Today there are only 37days until graduation and 22 school days left until the summer vacation. I can't believe it regardless off how much I think about it.

Today was our last school day this week because we are off from school tomorrow and friday. There are many boarding students taking this opportunity to go home to their families and visit before the summer holidays. I am staying here in Belgium during the weekend, however I am going to stay in Brussels from friday to sunday with a visitor from Sweden. 

 

I hope that you all will have a very pleasant weekend!

 

Pictures of the whole class wearing our new sweaters!

My friend Stepphanie was kind enough to let me take some pictures of her room so that I can show you guys another example of how a room can look like. I really like Stephanie's room because she has really personalised it and made it very cozy and it is a very pleasant room to be in.

 

Here you can see how the room looks like coming in through the door:

So, Jonas, this is your first year at the boarding school. How did you hear about SSB?

-          I heard about the school from a friend who went here last year and she recommended the school warmly and said that it was a fantastic opportunity to go.

 

What made you interested about the boarding facilities?

-          Of course, it's cool to stay in a nice castle and the campus is amazing. The fact that there is a football pitch, gym and tennis court made it all extra good because I am very interested in sports, so all these facilities caught my eye and made me interested.

 

What was your first reaction to the school when you arrived for the first time?

-          That it was absolutely amazing! I felt that I would really enjoy it, and I really do! The bond you get with all the people here and education is unique; I would never find such a place in Sweden.

 

I know that you are very active within the sports school. Can you tell me a bit about the floorball team?

-          The floorball team is awesome fun! The fact that we guys get to hang out and have fun while playing is wonderful. In our team, I am captain and have never experienced such a close connection with each player, they are really awesome!

 

What makes the boarding life so unique?

-          That it feels like everyone is one's family. Everone is so mice to each other and take care of each other, no one is excluded. To have so much fun here at boarding quite obviously a very big plus. I believe that I have never experienced this good a year as I have done at the boarding and it is thanks to all the friends you get.

 

Would you recommend the school to others?

-          Absolutely! I have almost tried to force people to come just because it's so damn good!

 

Are you looking forward to graduate?

-          Oh I can’t wait until graduation! I'm really looking forward to it, but I want to stay on the SSB boarding, because the friends you have here are absolutely amazing and I love life on SSB.

 

Do you have any plans for next year?

-          I think I'll take a year to work and work out at the gym. Then I’ll study and show all the knowledge I’ve gained on SSB, probably in the real estate program.

 

Today i received my graduation hoodie that the whole gym 3 class ordered. I am so happy with it and I can promise you that you will see a lot of these walking around campus up until graduation!!

 

For you who are thinking about coming to Belgium and would like to take their driving license here, I would like to let you know that that is fully possible. During the past month 4 of my friends have taken their license here. It is much cheaper than in the scandinavian countries and if you live at the castle and need to take driving lessons, they will come and pick you up at the school. 

When you sign in you need to go into Brussels to fill in some papers. After studying for the theory test, you pay 15 euros to take it in french and 75 euros to do it in english. If you pass this exam, you can start taking driving lessons which take place here in Waterloo.

 

My friend Katrine after getting her license about a month ago!

Hi guys! It's been a while since I last wrote to you all, but that is about to change!

A week ago it was exactly 50 days until graduation! I can't believe that this year is nearly over and that I am going to leave SSB and come out to the ¨real world¨. Last thursday it was also the first day that the norweigen students (and a few sweeds) put on their RUSS uniform. Since then they have worn them every day in school. Claes (houseparent) took the whole class aside during the lunch to take a photo of the class which he later put up in the reception. 

 

Last friday I also returned home to Sweden for the weekend. I spent saturday and sunday outside of Helsingborg with my parents just taking it easy and doing some hectic shopping for graduation. I am glad to say that I have finally found a white graduation dress! :)

I took monday and tuesday off from school and went to Malmö to visit my brother and celebrate Valborg together with him and his friends. I had such a nice time and yesterday I returned to Belgium and to reality. 

 

I hope that you are well and I can promise you a bunch of interesting reading to come shortly!

 

The class last thursday:

Today the students that read the samhäll B and samhäll C cources went into Brussels to visit the EU parliament. The buss left from the school at 08.00 and due to the traffic we arrived around 09.00. After going though the security check we met up with Amelia Andersdotter, a young swedish parliament member. She is a member of the swedish party ¨Piratpartiet¨ . She told us about the work she is doing, her political views and about how her working days looked like. It was interesting to see such a young woman is the EU parliament and to be able to hear what she has to say about it. 

Later, her assistent gave us a tour of the building (which is huge and very easy to get lost in!). He showed us conference rooms and all of the different buildings. It's very exciting thinking about all of the important people who have been walking in these buildings and how many decisions have been made in the rooms that we visited. 

I have been at the EU parliament a couple of times before and I always find it as interesting. 

 

Here are some pictures that I took during the day:

These pictures have been taken from the belgian news website www.lavenir.net

 

The children standing outside of the castle waving the scandinavian flags when the princess arrives: