Two weeks in October 2019 may have the best two weeks ever. I had my internship in these two weeks. I went to Stockholm, Sweden working in the lab of Stockholm University for a whole week. Now you may think working in the lab may have been only office stuff since 16 year olds are not allowed to work in the lab, but then you’re wrong I spent 90% of the time working in the lab experimenting on DNA. I stayed in the department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, specifically worked on DNA and Bacteria in the Biochemist department. I learned so much, and had fun with my family who lives in Stockholm. It couldn’t have been better and I will never forget these two weeks.
My first day summary:
Today, 5th of October I went to airport in Schiphol. I was a bit nervous because I would be flying the first time on my own. But luckily everything went very smooth, it couldn’t have been better. I stayed at my Uncles place. It was vey nice seeing them again, my uncle and my cousins. We went to the park had dinner and that was kind of my long first day. 06:00 at the airport and the rest of the day spending in Stockholm.
My second day:
Today I would be going to the swimming pool with my family. We had a great time. My cousins and I had fun. Later that day we had lunch, my uncle is a very good cook. We played some games, coloured, watched movies and in the evening we went outside, because my uncle had some visitors. That concludes my second day.
My third day:
Today was the day of my internship, I travelled all by myself with the bus and metro for an hour to get to the University, I met Daphne the person who helped me getting this opportunity. She at first explained me things about safety rules and showed my around all departments, she introduced me to everyone and later told me about DNA and Bacteria and we started working in the lab until 16:00. That time I went home and ate until my uncle came home from work.
My fourth day:
I started the day with having breakfast with my uncle only, my cousins aren’t here anymore. Later around 9:00 I went back to Lab, did some more experimenting until 17:00 I guess. Had lunch where it was always cosy and fun to talk to the people working there. The whole week will be kind of the same but each day I will be doing other experiments. The great thing about today was that my grandfather from Iraq would be visiting us for a whole week, which was amazing.
My fifth day:
I guess kind of the same as the previous days, however I am not bored at all I have wonderful time at the department I have learned so much. I also enjoy travelling by myself. And when come back I have great times with my family. After the day in the lab I went to the local museum.
My sixth day:
I was getting used to this life, getting up travelling and working the whole day in the lab and then having some quality time with my family, having great dinners and lunches. Today was my Uncles birthday, but my grandfather and I didn’t know for sure, so that was embarrassing. The whole day was amazing again.
My seventh day:
Today was my last day at the department, I was upset about it since I have learned so much and had so much fun. I was going to make it an even more amazing day. However, today my mother and sister will be visiting as well!!
My day 8:
A day without going to the University a bit strange, however I started having even more quality time with my family, we went to Malls, restaurants etc. We had great evenings. So no complaining.
Day 9: 13th of October
Just like all the other days, I went around 7:30 to the ICA MAXI to get fresh bread for my family and I, no time for sleeping in. After breakfast we kind of immediately thought it would be a great idea to go outside to the shops and after we were done we could come home to eat lunch. So that is what we did. My grandfather drove in my uncles car to the shopping area, which was even doable walking, however we were lazy. So went to several stores, all random stores but we liked it and that is what we did all morning. We even went to a nice Lidl to do some grocery shopping, my grandfather bought new something nice in there and my sister got a bucket of candy. After we shopping, we drove home again and mom prepared the lunch which was amazing just like all the other days. The rest of the day I had to study for school, however my sister and I went to the playground were we stayed for an at least an hour. It was around 19:00 when we started just chilling together and watching TV, actually my mom and I were watching Expeditie Robinson, but my grandfather wanted to watch along even though he doesn’t understand Dutch, but he pleased himself. Around 21:00 my uncle came home and they had conversation and I was watching Netflix.
Day 10: 14th of October
You may already guess what I did this morning, I woke up early again to get fresh bread from the ICA MAXI. The day was pretty much the same as yesterday. However, after breakfast we didn’t go to the same shopping area, we went to very big outlet. I don’t know how much time we spent in the outlet, but it was fun. We went to the Nike store were I bought some sports clothing for myself. I wanted to buy it however my money was too old so my mom had to buy it with new Swedish money, I was a bit upset because I had saved that for so many years to buy something nice of it when I came back to Stockholm. The last store we went into was so chaotic, clothes everywhere. The prices were so low that everyone was pushing to get to the new clothing. My grandfather was searching for clothing as well, we spent at least one hour in only this store. And what was the result he bought nothing. So we were tired and went to the Mac Donald’s to eat something and after that we went home spent some time in front of the tv until my uncle came back home from his work.
Day 11: 15th of October
My uncle didn’t need to work today, so he stayed home. I went to the store again to get fresh bread. During breakfast and lunch we stayed home, my uncle was cooking and I was learning and the others were watching tv. We had an amazing lunch again. And after lunch we went to the Mall, which was nice as well. I like the Malls in Sweden because they are in an inside building and not outside just like the Netherlands. We spent some time in there. Around 16:00 my mom and my sister and I were going to visit Daphne and Felix to thank them for my stay in Stockholm. They stayed in an students apartment which didn’t look very cozy from the outside but they decorated it great. We went to the mall afterwards to get medicines for my grandfather. But there was such an traffic that we only moved small bits. We wanted to go the Ikea so we didn’t have much time to spent in the Mall. When we arrived my mom brought my sister to Smallland, and we went to look around. However, my uncle and grandfather only meant using the toilet so they were angry at us. So we went straight home which was kind of upsetting. My uncle was getting pizza’s but I could still feel the tension. The pizza’s were enormous and that was just a small, they were amazing. After the pizza we had tea and I went to bed.
Day 12: 16th of October
My grandfather left around 8:00, because his flight was at 11:00, he was going back to Iraq. Which was quit upsetting, because without him it wasn’t going to be the same, however we had only some days left so we had to make those fun as well. The first thing we did after my uncle left with my grandfather was having breakfast, without getting bread from the shop, because I only got those because my uncle and grandfather wanted those. My uncle was working the whole day so after breakfast I studied and my mom was cleaning and my sister was playing in Laniya’s room. We had lunch and after lunch we went to the mall, walking. We went to the Ikea, because yesterday we couldn’t go. We had a look around and later sat down in the cafeteria where we ate delicious Swedish cakes. After the Ikea were spent quit some time we went random shopping and went home again. Around 19:00 my mom made Yara and I some Kebab and fries which was delicious. We started packing, because tomorrow morning very early we would be leaving. When everything was packed, we showered and watched tv until my uncle came home. We had some tea and later on went to bed. I was a bit upset that I would be leaving tomorrow and my uncle said to promise I would be coming back in the summer holidays. So that made me exciting again. Yep, almost the end of my most exciting trip.
Last day of my amazing trip:
Okay, my trip was almost ending and then it would be back to reality. We left around 07:00 in the morning. The thing was my mom and sister had their flight at 9:00 and my flight left at 12:30, so I had to wait for a very long time, but that was alright. So we left my uncle’ apartment and went to the airport. However, there was a mega traffic on the road, so my uncle started taking an different road, otherwise my mom and sister wouldn’t have made, I would but they wouldn’t. I was kind of hoping we weren’t going to make, but we eventually did. So they had still some time to check in and we said goodbye to my uncle, I almost cried, but he said to promise to come in the summer. He explained me how to go the terminal since I had a different flight. I was easy, but a lot of walking. When I arrived, it was the same terminal were I had arrived, so little flashbacks. I immediately checked in my bag and went through security. When all of that was finished I went to the terminal and looked around there were almost no shops it was such a small terminal, but I looked around in the few shops there, there was a Starbucks but very expensive. So I sat down and studied because I didn’t have anything else today. I did that for a long period of time and then started to go to the shops again, where a bought a KEX. To eat in the airplane. I was hungry so I ate my sandwiches with kebab my mom made me. My mom called that they were boarding and then my uncle called me to see how I was doing and he said that he would be calling when I was boarding. I didn’t have very much today so I started watching Netflix. Around 12:00 I was going to the right area I thought I was in the wrong area because no one was moving. But that wasn’t the case luckily. I called my uncle that I was boarding. Apparently my seat had changed and I sat in the middle, unlucky me. I had even more bad luck because this time KLM was not going to serve us a lot of food due to their crisis. The flight went very fast and I fell asleep. When I woke up the man next to started talking to me that he was going on another flight to America, he was an American. So that happened. I went to luggage area where I called my mom and uncle that I had arrived and got my luggage and went to the Burger King where my mom and sister where eating. Later we went to the AH to get some food and then we left to the train, we missed it by some minutes so we had to wait half an hour. But it didn’t take long so we were travelling back home. The thing about public transport is that you can’t fall asleep, however I was tired after all. We had get to another train and sit there an hour as well. Finally we were home at station Reeshof. My mom’ car was still there and then we drove home only a few minutes later, we were home. So unpacking and taking a shower and that was my amazing 2 weeks of vacation/ learning holiday. I had an amazing time in the lab, I loved being with my cousins and that my mom and sister and grandfather also came to spend the week with me. So overall, nothing wrong with this amazing amazing perfect loving internship, WOULD DO IT ALL OVER-AGAIN!!!!
Liza Saaed' Blog 