So today was my first day at school. I'm learning Swedish - Swedish for immigrants. The class is run by Merit Utbildning and a school near where we live has kindly allowed them the use of a classroom for our classes. I would be studying there for four hours four times a week.
This morning, Pete woke me up early. I was feeling kind of excited and nervous. I didn't know how it was going to turn out - will I be able to follow the lessons, would I understand the teacher, would the rest of the class be nice to me and help me out? So many questions in my mind as I went about the chores.
After finishing the rest of the shepherd's pie and a slice of the apple pie, I got ready for school. I should have brought my pencil case, notebooks and files when I was back in Singapore but I totally forgot that I would need them when I started school. I only brought a pen with me and also the file that I received last week.
Pete walked with me to school. Class was supposed to start at 12.30 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but the classroom door would be unlocked ten minutes before. We left the apartment at 12.15 and reached there five minutes later. There was only about five other people there. I saw an Asian looking woman and we started talking. She's from Thailand and another Asian woman, from Philippines, joined us soon after. Another woman from Pakistan sat next to me. I guess we were the only Asian girls there.
There were two other guys from Pakistan as well but they sat at the back of the room. A very friendly and jovial Romanian guy joined our table, followed by another Romanian lady. At another table, two other guys were there. I think they are from Albania. On the other side, a group of Arabic ladies were there, chatting away with each other.
The teacher started the lesson by asking us the day and date in Swedish. She spoke Swedish first and then in English. That's really helpful since I am hopeless at Swedish for now. She got us to fill up some forms about our education, career and other interests. At first I filled out my forms quietly. Then I realised that the others at my table were having some problems with it so I helped them a bit.
I finished my forms early so the teacher approached me and got me to do the first few exercises that I missed. She explained a bit but I was familiar with the words so I attempted to finish them on my own. She told me to approach her if I needed help. I was able to complete most of the first two exercises and the Pakistani girl next to me helped me with the rest.
My group mates are very friendly and helpful. They are also easy to talk to. Well, easy is not really the right word to use. Their English is very basic but we managed to understand each other somewhat. I am very surprised that I managed to find out a lot about them in just one day. They told me about their husbands, their jobs, where they live and how much easier it is to migrate to Sweden than Denmark. Two of them also said that they wanted to learn how to bake. I offered to teach them and I will probably have them over to my apartment one of these days.
During the breaks, they shared their cookies with me and welcomed me to the tea and coffee table. One of them also showed me the way to the toilet. Even the Arabic girls gave me and others at my table cookies. The Roman guy also played some songs on his laptop to entertain us. In all, it hasn't been intimidating. On the contrary, the class has been so welcoming and friendly, with smiles all round.
After the first break, we got down to serious business. We were taught prepositions. After writing in Swedish, the teacher would write the English translation below it. Again, at first, I would write quietly. But when I noticed that she was having trouble with some of the English words, I helped by giving the right words and spelling. She was happy to have me in the class, I think, so that the translations would be as accurate as possible.
There are a lot of words I haven't learnt yet and the worksheets that we were given were a bit tough. But the teacher is very helpful and I could also ask my classmates. We couldn't finish our work today so we would continue tomorrow. I'm not sure if I need to complete it at home. I don't think I will. I would just go over it with Pete. He would need to help me, especially with the pronunciation but I would not do more at home. I don't want to be the person who tries too hard to impress.
I have enjoyed my first day in class. I wasn't too lost and I was able to keep up and I made a couple of friends. I even walked home with a friend who turned out to be living in the same apartment block as me. Not bad for the first day. Not bad at all. Day two beckons and I am looking forward to it.
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