23rd November 2016

First week done and enjoyed by all.

The Erasmus programme encourages staff and students to learn and experience the culture of the country they visit.  A weekend of cultural visits and excursions is part of the overall package.  Our lucky lot spent the weekend visiting the capital Stockholm and surrounding areas.

An opportunity for a bit of R&R today for SDC staff & students in Stockholm. Learners bought a travel card at the start of the day that gave them free access to every mode of transport Stockholm had; minibus, tram, river-bus, underground train

A truly inspiring visit to the Nobel Center in Stockholm with the students and staff this morning. Alfred Nobel’s vision was to reward those who, by means of their discoveries and their works, had “conferred the greatest benefit to mankind”

A visit to see the ‘Vasa’ today was a jaw dropping experience for all the students, but especially the level 3 carpenters who could appreciate the craftsmanship used to construct it. The 17th century warship the ‘Vasa’ is over 300 years old and is over 98% original. The ship sank after only 1000 meters into its maiden voyage in the Harbour and was raised in 1961. The warship is still to this day being restored, however it’s not expected to last due to the fragile nature of the timber.

 

Another amazing day out with the students today to visit the wildlife zoo ‘Jarvzoo’. Students had the privilege to come within a few meters of Reindeer, Golden Eagles, Wolves, Artic Fox, Wolverines, Lynx, etc. Unfortunately the Brown bears were hibernating

 

Staff and students warming hotdogs on a fire pit today in a log cabin at Jarvzoo after a free for all snowball fight 

 

Traditional dish of Swedish meatballs for lunch at the Vasa museum in Stockholm today.

Now ready to start the second week of the mobility with Carpentry students finishing their commercial project and the Engineering students continuing with their college lessons and work experience.