I went on a ferry trip from Riga, Latvia all the way out to Stockholm. It took a while to get between spots, but it was, ultimately, an amazing trip. One thing that has to be noted is that a ferry ride, in and of itself, is a perfect opportunity to learn about your destination before even arriving. Essentially, I became accustomed to what life in Sweden was like before I even arrived at one of the country’s numerous ferry ports!

The ferry trip gave me plenty of exposure to a number of interesting things. I’d like to share the things I learned with you today.

Swedish Lessons – Music!

• While on the ferry, I, and the other people who were onboard, were treated to a performance of a number of Swedish musical numbers. These included many Nordic numbers performed on a number of traditional music instruments, such as the clarinet and fiddle. You haven’t seen the Nutcracker until you’ve seen it on a boat!

Swedish Lessons – Food!

• We also dined on Swedish food while on the ferry. I found it amazing how Swedish cuisine involves more than just Swedish meatballs (doesn’t anybody else have that idea in their head?). While we did enjoy plenty of those meatballs, we also enjoyed several different foods that were professionally prepared in the ferry’s kitchen. One food that I particularly liked was the gravlax, which is, more or less, a salmon that is prepared with sugar. We even had some dumplings that were filled with pork.

Swedish Lessons – The Language!

• I also learned plenty of things about the Swedish language while on the ferry. Every morning, a small crowd of us got together to take a look at some of the basics of the Swedish language. I came to understand that Sweden is a highly bilingual country that uses Swedish and English alike. Knowing this made it the transition from sea to land a little bit easier.

Swedish Lessons – Life Tales!

• A great part of going on the ferry was communicating with people who were actually from Sweden. Some of these people were already visiting Riga and were heading back to their homes in Stockholm. I got to talk with a good number of these people and the things that I learned about them proved to be very interesting. (And no, we didn’t speak in Swedish.)�I learned quite a bit about life in Sweden from these people. I learned about not only what they do but also how the weather is like and how they are interested in different kinds of sport and entertainment. It is amazing to see how people from a country that is not too far off on a ferry ride can be so different from people who are in another country.

My ferry ride from Riga to Stockholm proved to be quite an experience. I got to learn a little more about Sweden and experienced many things dedicated to Sweden even before I got to the country. It proved to be a great primer in everything that I needed to know when I was heading into the country.

CC Aneswede

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