By Samuel Li Cheng Xin | Year 2 NIE student-teacher
Majoring in Geography and Social Studies (Secondary)
The global pandemic has forced countries to close their borders to the world in attempts to control the virus, essentially halting all forms of travel, including international exchange programs. What it cannot stop, however, is human innovation. This NIE-Linkoping virtual exchange program is one such product of the Trainee Teachers’ Club’s (TTC) innovation, allowing students from both schools to transcend geographical boundaries and connect across great distances. The program involved NIE students and Linkoping students meeting on Zoom every Wednesday from 6pm to 7pm during the month of June. Each student was assigned a buddy from the partnering university that they primarily interacted with. During the meetings, three pairs of buddies were grouped to interact and play games together.
Our Zoom Meetings!
I personally had great fun during the experience. Interacting with people from different cultures is truly very interesting and enriching. I learnt various things about Swedish culture from the Zoom meetings as well as conversations with my buddy, Julia. For example, Swedish people have a culture of valuing their personal space, which translates to Swedes feeling extremely uncomfortable and displeased if strangers were to sit beside them in uncrowded public transport settings. My buddy and I love exchanging cooking recipes and she even shared how to make Swedish meatballs! I shall aim to, with this recipe, relinquish the need to have IKEA meatballs (Of course, I am joking, but it would be great if I were to be good at it).
If you enjoy interacting with people or explore foreign cultures, I think that such future events organized by the TTC are truly worth registering for. Personally, nothing beats learning about new cultures through the candid conversations and stories that we share with other people.