My second week of Sweden began early. I woke up at 6:30 AM to make the 40 minute tram ride to our new home base in Hammerkullen, Goteborg. Chalmer’s University has a floor in one of the buildings in the area. I had no idea what to expect going up the elevator…

Rice University is teaming up with Chalmer’s University to build an outside classroom in a nearby forest. We started with an introduction and a background on the project. After this, we were told our groups for the project. The outside classroom is split into 5 parts. There is a plant, woodpecker, mushroom, and frog path, and also a central circle built by the wilderness team. I was placed into the plant group. I was originally disappointed not being placed on the woodpecker team, but after our first brainstorming session I grew to like the plant path. We then traveled to the site to look at the forest where we would be working. It was so peaceful and beautiful. The birds were chirping, the sunlight was filtering in through the trees, and the soil was soft underfoot.

The rest of the week we met at the Hammerkullen site at 8 AM, and usually left at 5 PM. This week was very long as we were up and at it for about 12 hours each day and then had to come back to the hostel and make dinner and then start on homework for our other Engi 355 class. We had a homework due Wednesday, and then our midterm project due Sunday. Within our busy schedule, Scott and I found some relaxation time by watching “Avatar the Last Airbender,” a beautifully crafted show about transcending boundaries to defeat a larger threat.

The week was also packed with different lectures learning about new and different topics. For example,  we sat through lessons on post-humanism, child-friendly design, and a lecture on collaborating across boundaries. I did not expect to be learning about topics like these while taking an engineering course, but i found them to be quite interesting and thought they provided a more liberal arts take to engineering design.

One of my highlights of the week was sitting in the patio of a coffee shop doing homework. The weather was beautiful, and I just felt a strong tranquil feeling sitting outside, sipping coffee, and drawing 3D designs.

My favorite moment from this week was when the 7 students visited the archipelago by Goteborg. It was a 20 minute tram ride out to the coast, and then we took a ferry out to the different islands. While we were out I enjoyed a very delicious seafood pizza.

We then went to a second island where we explored around and found a swimming area. There was a raised platform to jump off of into the water. Although we were all hesitant, eventually we took turns jumping in to the freezing cold water. It was indeed very cold, but luckily we were able to dry off and find a place to get some hot coffee. All in all it was a fun day outing.