Why Sweden?

Every time someone finds out I'm going to Sweden for my student exchange, the initial reaction is "Wow! So cool!". Then two seconds pass, along with the excitement - that has proven itself to be not so overwhelming after all - and they cock their head to the side with slight degree of leeriness and ask, "But why?".

My answer is pretty much the same every time. I want to go somewhere I have never been before, somewhere so different that I've never even experienced anything remotely like it and nowhere touristy. Some place that is opposite to Singapore in every way imaginable - that means long winters, day light savings, medieval towns, random polar bear sightings, not needing sunscreen.

I've traveled quite a bit in my short life but I've never been to Europe, let alone Scandinavia - the birthplace of Anglo-Saxon literature. I'm excited about seeing the midnight sun, northern lights and perhaps going up to the arctic.

Besides, if I had ended up somewhere closer to home or cheaper to get to, I think I might chicken out, return half-way, annoy NTU and differ a semester at the first inkling of home-sickness. So when I'm 9,524 miles away from home, there really is no turning back.