Politics and fika!

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We started the early morning with Irma to discuss the Swedish political system. She told us how Sweden is big on power to the people and how involved the residents are with politics. This includes having 85% of the residents voting in the 2014 regional election - a figure we in the UK can only dream of! Irma then went on to explain exactly how the political system is set up and the levels creating the Swedish Government which was really interesting, but made some of us realise how little we know about the British system...

Irma also gave us our first experience of Swedish Fika, which went down very nicely - Paige’s first ever cinnamon experience!

We then went off to the train station to travel to Vanersborg (via Starbucks for an expensive taste of home!) The train took us right through the country side, loads of trees and scenery! When we arrived we had a tour of the Residenset of Region Vastra Gotaland. Each room of the building had a different period theme; it showed interior fashion throughout the ages. This shows the past and present use of the building. The King's old bedroom is now a conference room, who would have though?? In the spirit of Halloween, we also got all of the ghost stories and a look into the attic and the basement. Of course the hosts didn't let us down, making Helen and Paige jump out of their skin shouting in the dark rooms.

After our tour we then looked around the town of Vanersborg and discovered not many speak English there, thankfully "latte" has the same pronunciation as in English! We then made our way back to the train for the 50 minute journey back to central Gothenburg. To pass the time we had some group games, ‘what can I bring to the party?’ being a highlight.

As a group we all went out for tea to Max's Burger Bar for food tonight - following a recommendation from last year's group. We were a little bit disappointed, with the overall verdict being "slightly posher than McDonalds"! We’ve now all come back to our rooms to research tomorrow's subjects and to get some sleep.

See you tomorrow!

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