It's not everday you're in Glumslöv twice.

Crazy week as usual!

Wednesday was a great day. I was the first one up in the morning so I had plenty of time to get ready and since it's so freezing everywhere I wore a nice, warm, cozy outfit that day. I had fika with Morgane (the French student) after school. Since food at a cafe is so expensive we went to ICA (supermarket) first and bought a package of Anna's pepparkakor (ginger snaps) because Morgane had never had them before. We then bought coffee at a cafe. We sat there and ate almost the whole package of pepparkakor between the two of us. It was so nice to talk to her and we were there for almost 2 hours. We could have talked longer but she had to catch her train. I was just in a really good mood when I came home, so that was a good day.

Also, Wednesday morning was the morning I woke up, immediately checked my phone, and saw the girls had beat Carmel. So that was definitely a day maker in and of itself! I am so very happy for the team and hope and think they will make it far. Awesome to see them do so well but also so hard because I really really want to be there.

In gym class on Thursday we did track and field and I am sorry to say that I'm not a future Olympian. High jump, long jump, 60m, 200m, and shotput were the events that were offered. I honestly think I did the worst in every single event except high jump. It was still kinda of fun though, but being last isn't always fun, but hey! you win some and you lose some right? Planning on some intense training for the next track opportunity in the spring, not.

After gym class on Thursday we were done. And I really wanted to make Rice Krispie treats. But I had looked at the ICA I normally shop at they didn't have Rice Krispies. And since I had time to kill I decided to walk to the bigger ICA way down the road. Long story short, and hour later I had bought a box of Rice Krispies and the last two bags of marshmallows at ICA Hamilton.

Once I finally got home on Thursday we ate a little bit because we were going to have a late dinner. After we ate I made Rice Krispie treats which actually turned out well!

Around 6pm we went to start the fire for the night's grilling. Apparently this is thing they do every so often with a few other families. Our location was a fire it right next to the water and it was an absolutely BEAutiful night. Jan started the fire from scratch with only 1 match which he was very excited about.
Then the other families came and we feasted on hot dogs. I sat and talked to a very nice girl named Elinor. We had a lot to talk about and hopefully we can do something together sometime.
Eventually it was freezing cold and we came home.

Friday. I brought Rice Krispie treats to share at school and to say they were a hit would be an understatement. Making friends with food? Absolutely. But if I do say so myself, they were very good.
After school Elna and I walked downtown a bit and hunted for vanilla extracted which she eventually found.

Once home I was informed that appetizer and a game would be at 5:30 and dinner at 6:30. We are orderly people here. We played Trivial Pursuit which was very fun. The game got spilt into a before dinner part and an after dinner part. I might have to say that it was more fun before dinner because after dinner I was falling asleep. Some of the answers that I provided throughout the game were; Mercury, Spanish, Flamingo, NSYNC, and Copper and Zinc. (my team won)

And so we arrive to Saturday. This morning I was up "early" for a run. Then I came home and got ready and then took the bus into town to meet Morgane. We wandered around until we were picked up at 11:30. We drove to Ängelholm for the YFU meeting. At the meeting there were 9 students (there are more in the area that didn't come) and their host families and a few volunteers. Once we arrived there was lunch and just socializing. It was so nice to see the other students and to just talk to them. Then we split up so that the students and the junior area representatives went to a room and talked. We were given a list of topics to follow which we did loosely, but we mainly just talked about our experiences so far and such and I think we all really enjoyed it. Again, we could have talked much longer if given the time.

This is everyone who was at the meeting.

 



We got home from Ängelholm and it was dinner time. Though I had stuffed myself with cookies and kannelbullar earlier I forced myself to eat some real food. Then at 7:15 we headed downtown to see a show called After Dark. It's a drag queen show. The show was very good but I didn't understand many of the jokes. But still, very good. We got home from the show a little bit before 11pm. We then had cheese and crackers and grapes and candy. I satisfied myself with water and tea.

And that brings us to present time which is bed time. I think some Harry Potter and then sleep.

Tomorrow will be homework day as I didn't do any today. On a side note, there is more weekend homework here. For example, in the US teachers give assignments that are due the next day and usually none on Friday that is due on Monday. But here, you might not have class until next week, so naturally, at least for me, that homework gets pushed to the weekend. Does that make sense? It's not necessarily weekend homework, it's due by the next class but that class might not be until next week.

Also, since teachers move between classrooms throughout the day like students. None of the rooms are cozy. Classrooms are all quite generic and boring. A bummer I think.

 

And when you meet someone for the first time you always shake your hand and say your name. Doesn't matter if you've already been introduced, say your name, and it's always a handshake, even between teenagers. But, if you've shaken their hand once, you hug the next time. This is a pretty definite rule. So if I haven't met the dinner guests it's handshakes when they arrive and hugs when they leave.
And you hug more here too. When people arrive you hug and when they leave. Either at someones home or even downtown when you have to catch a bus. Hug hello and hug goodbye.

Also, compared to my brother who wears a t-shirt everyday and owns a handful of button down shirts, fashion is big here. Not even exaggerating my host brothers spend way more time on their hair than I do. Gustav, who drives me to school, has never been ready to leave before me. And also when Anton had bought some new clothes, that evening Gustav and Anton tried on all the clothes and showed it to Yvonne, Anita (mormor) and I. And then the next day it was the exact same thing to show Jan who had come home.

Pictures!

 

 View from kitchen.

 

 

 Nightly TV time with newly baked _____ pie. (usually apple)

 

 Always tea

 

 That nights apple pie. Yum.

 

 This was the exchange my brother and I had...

 

 One beautiful morning at the bus stop.

 

 From my run.

 

Oh and I almost forgot! Calling all Thanksgiving fanatics!! I am starting to plan the feast the I want to prepare. I'm thinking:

turkey

gravy

stuffing

cranberry sauce

mashed potoatoes

sweet potatoes

green beans

rolls

pumpkin pie

pecan pie

 

What do you all think? Does anybody have something that I would be absolutely missing? Or any absolutely amazing recipies? Or some absolutely amazing advice on how to make these things with limited knowledge and indgredients? If you do, it would be much appreciated. I could handle Rice Krispie treats, we'll see about this...

 

Okay I'm done. Though I said I was going to go to bed a while ago, I actually am going to now. Good night!

 

(i think this is the longest post ever)