Nils loves all things SA
Nils says he will spend the next 10 months in Polokwane with his adopted family.
POLOKWANE- “If there is one thing I love most about Polokwane, it is the hot weather. I love it! Sweden is freezing cold almost the whole year round. Sometimes the temperature falls below -20 deg C,” says Nils Ohman, a gr. 11 exchange student from Stockholm in Sweden.
Nils says he will spend the next 10 months in Polokwane with his adopted family.
He attends Capricorn High School and says he just loves being away from Sweden and in a different country.
According to Nils, everything is different here. “The lessons are too short. We usually have lessons for two hours at a time, two hours in one class. School starts at a different time everyday and we do not wear school uniforms. The subjects are the same as in Sweden. We are allowed to use cell phones in class, but specifically for school work, not for chatting or games while in class. We use our cell phones to access the Internet,” he explains.
“In Sweden, we get paid to go to school. Every child that is enrolled and going to school receives about R1 800 every month from the government. In Sweden, anyone can go to a good private school without worrying about costs or what class they are in. Here I realised that people are treated differently because of the social class they are in.”
Nils is staying in Bendor with his adopted family. “The family is very nice. I like them and get along very well with my adopted little sister and niece. Everyone is so friendly and open here, everybody seems to know each other.”
He says he loves the food in South Africa. “I thought it was going to be weird, but it is not weird at all, except for the chicken feet and cow’s feet. Pap is okay, but does not have any taste and it is just too filling.
“When I imagined South Africans, I thought the people would be dark, dirty and sweaty like in the movies, but everyone is clean, fresh and smells good; even more than people back home.
“I have been here for a month and experienced a few things. I have been to the mall, the CBD and the stadium for the Kaizer Chiefs game, that was very very nice, I enjoyed it. I was the only white guy in the crowd on the grand stand and that was very cool,” he says.
“I also use a taxi to school every morning, which is something very new to me, but fun. I am loving the school and fellow learners and look forward to the best 10 months of my life.”
