Freshman Emma and senior Frida Svensson are sisters from Halmstad, Sweden. They were reunited this semester after Frida came to UCA to play golf three years ago.
“We want to take advantage of us being here together,” Frida said. “It’s pretty rare that two sisters are in the same place. It makes us explore more here. We have four eyes instead of two.”
The sisters recently began blogging their year together, sharing their love for travel, health, food and fashion with their readers.
The blog, “The Sweden to American Road,” captures their journey and influences between the two cultures.
So far, the two have blogged about local restaurants and stores, Eureka Springs, their Swedish summer, favorite looks and other ideas and adventures.
“We just want to give our point of view and our message,” Frida said. “It’s the most important thing in life: to learn from each other and accept each other’s backgrounds.”
The two plan to keep the blog after Frida graduates and to use it to expand their love for fashion. They said they hope to use it as a platform for their own fashion business one day.
Frida said they want to incorporate their experiences into their fashion, bringing influences from each place they have been.
“That’s been our dream since we were little,” Emma said.
The two play on UCA’s golf team, which has provided them a community and several travel opportunities.
“Our coach is amazing,” Emma said. “She’s engaged with everyone and wants to develop each person to the fullest. The team is really cool, too. We have three Swedes, two Mexicans, two Americans and a Korean. It’s a mix. I think that’s really good; you learn a lot from each other.”
Being in a different culture has opened the sisters’ eyes to the endless travel opportunities.
“I would never think that I would call another place home besides Sweden,” Emma said. “When we came here, people think it’s the most boring place in the states. I just want to prove that there’s so much more here than they think.”
The sisters hope to expand their horizons and see what America and the rest of the world has to offer by traveling during their fall, Thanksgiving and spring breaks.
“I want to explore as much as possible,” Frida said. “You just live once.”
However, after all of their travel and business ventures, they hope to eventually return to Sweden.
“When you go home, you appreciate your time so much,” Frida said. “The place and the family and the food: everything.”
To follow the sisters’ adventures, visit their blog at nouw.com/thestar.
This article originally appeared in the Oct. 7, 2015 print edition of The Echo.
