NIELinkoping2019

16th May 2019, Thursday As the brilliance of the sun baked the ground, providing its warmth and comfort amidst the chilly winds, I leaped from stone to stone with a control flag in one hand and a map in another. A lot of thought and effort has been put into this day and the last thing that can happen is a bad weather. Thankfully, the weather was perfect; it was not too cold, nor was it too hot. On the previous day (Wednesday), Mr Magnus and I went out to the supermarket near the school to shop for the necessary items for this outdoor adventure. We then spend most of our free time slots gathering all the necessary things from the various PE stores (The sports complex is huge! There are so many PE stores) . On the morning itself, we came to school early to load all the items into Mr Magnus's car and did one last thorough check before we depart to the woods. The woods was about a 10 minute drive away from the school. Upon reaching the woods, we met another teacher who had alre

On the Saturday of 11th May 2019, we went to see the Studentorkesterfestivalen, also known as Student Orchestra Festival (SOF). SOF is one of the largest student festival in northern Europe, organised by students themselves. There are visitors all over Sweden and northern Europe. We even met two gentlemen who came all the way from Germany for the festival. SOF only happens every odd year (We got really lucky!). SOF 2019 was actually from 9 to 11th May this year. For 3 days, there was festival and music wherever we go. Students were seen with funky overalls with patches all over. Apparently, the number of patches they have, represents the number of parties they have been to. And each disciplines have thier own coloured overalls. Our friends in the education fraternity have theirs in red! Our teacher-friends in their funky red overalls. Lois have the most patches! What a party girl! At the city center, the streets were filled with people. Both the young and the old all waited by

Im sure you've heard that education system in Sweden is FREE. But, is it really true? What's the catch? Yes, every child has equal access to free education in Sweden. Books and other necessary items for school are all given for free. Free education for all ages, even in University! However, they have a very high taxation rate as compared to that of Singapore. According to Henderson (2017), Sweden has the highest income tax rate in the world, with as much as 57.1% deduction from annual income! On the flip side, sales of residential properties in Sweden are exempted from taxation. Below is the breakdown of the different levels in the Swedish educational system. There are 4 stages of compulsory schooling:   förskoleklass ,  lågstadiet ,  mellanstadiet  and  högstadiet (age 6 to 15) . Educational System in Sweden Here in Linkoping, I am posted to Berzeliusskolan. It was named after one of the fathers of modern chemisty, Jons Jacob Berzelius. Berzeliusskolan is a seco

This post is the series of events that happened upon reaching Linkoping. It was a very tiring day with so many things to do. There are some notes and tips too for the future exchange students who wants to  come to Linkoping! We arrived at Linkoping by train from Stockholm on Monday afternoon. The train booking is straightforward and it can be done through internet on the computer or through the train app on the smartphone. The app is called, 'SJ'. It is easy because you simply have to type in the departure and arrival points (Stockholm to Linkoping) and there will be many different trains to choose from. They vary in terms of the journey and duration - some are direct, others have pitstops in between. The direct trains are faster but usually more expensive. Tickets that are non-rebookable are cheaper than the rebookable ones. Hence, if you are going for the cheaper option, it is recommended that you reach the train station earlier than the departure time so that you would n