You people in Indiana are whimps. Let me guess, you're wearing Sperry's, leggings, and a North Face or Patagonia fleece, as you run from your house to you car, to Starbucks, and to school. No wonder it's a cold day, you aren't dressed for it!
Haha. Anyway here it's been snowing allll day! And it's crazy cold. It doesn't show on the thermometer but the wind is crazy. I think Helsingborg should be the new windy city. (Every time I think of the windy city I always think of the need to share the fact that Chicago is not called the Windy City based on weather, but rather because of the stormy politics.) It was so cold this morning that I even asked for a ride up to the bus stop which is a rare thing. And in Sweden you are forced to wear boots, a hat, gloves, and a scarf because not matter what, you have to be outside. Thanks to the lovely fact that people don't drive to school (I'm not being sarcastic, it's actually nice) you have to walk to the bus and people are smart and don't want to freeze so we dress for the weather.
In Sweden lot's of things are free. As a student you get a monthly allowance from the state. You get money for going to school! School bus cards are provided for. School lunches are free. You get student discount cards. The only costs for studying at university are living expenses. Not to mention, if you have a legit reason for having braces, that's paid for too (within a certain age range).
It may seem nice, and it is, but don't forget that you have to compensate for sky high taxes. But let's just forget that part.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Winter Has Come
On January 12th I made an apple pie for dessert that used up the last of the homegrown apples we had collected from the fall.
On Monday January 13th I saw a beautiful sunrise on the way to school.
On Tuesday the 14th we had the most fun gym class ever. I knew we were going to be dancing so I was dreading it. But once I got there it was so much fun! We do-si-doe'd, foxtrotted, and waltzed. It was the highlight of the day.
On Friday January 17th we started our Swedish class by meditating and sharing our plans for the weekend. And then we were dismissed!
On Saturday the 18th we took out the Christmas tree.
On Sunday the 19th I saw the movie Philomena with Ellie. We definitely brought down the average age at the theater but it was a really good movie.
On Monday last week we had the monthly grilling which is always nice. It was difficult to keep track of everything while wearing thick gloves. There was ketchup and hot chocolate everywhere. Ellie brought marshmallows so we roasted those too.
Wednesday the 22nd was a fun day. Ellie and I had plans to fika at the Zoegas Cafe. (Zoegas is a coffee company based in Helsingborg and my dad loves it). Ellie's mom is an optometrist so I met Ellie there because she was getting her eyes checked before she starts practice driving. Anyway she found out she needed glasses which shocked her mom more than anyone else and it was fun to try on glasses with her. We finally got to the cafe and sat there until they closed.
On Friday we were watching tv and one talk show had Bill Gates and the real Philomena (who the movie is based on) as guests and it was really interesting.
On Saturday we went to see a play together. It was Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. It was in a small theater, and we knew one of the actors. It was a good production but it was a bit hard for me to keep up.
Sunday was a good day. I met my YFU junior representative for the first time ans also Franziska who's a student from Germany in Ängelholm. We talked with Oliver (our rep) for an hour and then Franziska and I just hung out and talked for a long time.
I can confirm that winter has arrived in Skåne. It started with weeks to wind and cold. Then the nasty ice and finally snow!
"How do we balance what other people tell us, to be better people, and staying true to ourselves?"
On Monday January 13th I saw a beautiful sunrise on the way to school.
On Tuesday the 14th we had the most fun gym class ever. I knew we were going to be dancing so I was dreading it. But once I got there it was so much fun! We do-si-doe'd, foxtrotted, and waltzed. It was the highlight of the day.
On Friday January 17th we started our Swedish class by meditating and sharing our plans for the weekend. And then we were dismissed!
On Saturday the 18th we took out the Christmas tree.
On Sunday the 19th I saw the movie Philomena with Ellie. We definitely brought down the average age at the theater but it was a really good movie.
On Monday last week we had the monthly grilling which is always nice. It was difficult to keep track of everything while wearing thick gloves. There was ketchup and hot chocolate everywhere. Ellie brought marshmallows so we roasted those too.
Wednesday the 22nd was a fun day. Ellie and I had plans to fika at the Zoegas Cafe. (Zoegas is a coffee company based in Helsingborg and my dad loves it). Ellie's mom is an optometrist so I met Ellie there because she was getting her eyes checked before she starts practice driving. Anyway she found out she needed glasses which shocked her mom more than anyone else and it was fun to try on glasses with her. We finally got to the cafe and sat there until they closed.
On Friday we were watching tv and one talk show had Bill Gates and the real Philomena (who the movie is based on) as guests and it was really interesting.
On Saturday we went to see a play together. It was Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. It was in a small theater, and we knew one of the actors. It was a good production but it was a bit hard for me to keep up.
Sunday was a good day. I met my YFU junior representative for the first time ans also Franziska who's a student from Germany in Ängelholm. We talked with Oliver (our rep) for an hour and then Franziska and I just hung out and talked for a long time.
I can confirm that winter has arrived in Skåne. It started with weeks to wind and cold. Then the nasty ice and finally snow!
"How do we balance what other people tell us, to be better people, and staying true to ourselves?"
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Oh the places you'll go
On December 28th we left for a family ski vacation in Norway. We left at 6am and were in Trysil (ski resort) by 4 pm. It was our whole family, plus mormor Anita, plus the Härdmark family.
Every day was pretty much the same. We were always out on the slopes right around 9 when they opened. We had an apartment on the mountain so we could literally ski out the back door. Since we lived so close we came home for lunch everyday. The slopes closed at 3:30 and in the afternoon we chilled. Read, played games, watched tv.
We had foggy conditions everyday with low visibility. The temperature was right around freezing all week and we did get some snow.
We celebrated new years while we were away. We ate a nice dinner together and at midnight we had an awesome view of all the fireworks from the valley.
One night we ate fondue at a restaurant on the mountain. We met with a bunch of other people at the base and then took a snow cat type vehicle up to the lodge where we ate yummy fondue. On the way home we sat in a little sleigh thing pulled by a snowmobile. It was so cool!
We came home on January 4th. We came home in the late afternoon and were invited to dinner with a family in Domsten. It was a nice evening but I was pretty tired after a day of travel.
On Sunday night a couple girls from my class got together and spent the night at Elna's. We saw Sweden lose the Junior World Cup in hockey to Finland, played games, and watched Gladiator. The next morning I saw that Elna had grape jelly in her refrigerator. I was so excited because I couldn't find it anywhere in Sweden, but she had bought it in Germany. She also had peanut butter so I made a PB&J. It was heavenly.
On Monday night we ate dinner in front of the tv to watch the New Years concert that we had recorded. It's a family tradition. They always eat crepes too and they were amazing.
On Tuesday the second semester started. Tuesday was a rough day with school starting and such.
The exciting event on Wednesday was that I left my phone on the bus! I knew it was on the bus because I had been texting someone right before I got off and when I had crossed the street it wasn't in my pocket anymore. We called the bus company and we drove in to town to a bus stop in hopes of catching the bus I had been on. I got on one bus and asked but the bus driver knew it wasn't there but he was pretty sure it was on another line going in the other direction. It seemed like a long shot since it wasn't even the same bus line I had been on. But lo and behold, the bus driver on the exact bus the previous bus driver had described had my phone. It was amazing that he knew that. So I got it back, phew!
Yesterday after school I watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban because I recently finished the book. And today Yvonne, Gustav, Anton, Elinore, two of Antons friends, the family's hairdresser, and I went to silversmide in Viken. Yvonne goes to a class once a week with her friends and I got a necklace she made for my birthday and a bracelet for Christmas. Also for Christmas all 3 of the kids got the silversmide class payed for as a gift. We were there from 10-3:30 and I made 2 rings and a pendant to put on a keychain or something.
I know that was brief but that pretty much summarizes the past few weeks.
Happy New Year everyone!!
Every day was pretty much the same. We were always out on the slopes right around 9 when they opened. We had an apartment on the mountain so we could literally ski out the back door. Since we lived so close we came home for lunch everyday. The slopes closed at 3:30 and in the afternoon we chilled. Read, played games, watched tv.
We had foggy conditions everyday with low visibility. The temperature was right around freezing all week and we did get some snow.
We celebrated new years while we were away. We ate a nice dinner together and at midnight we had an awesome view of all the fireworks from the valley.
One night we ate fondue at a restaurant on the mountain. We met with a bunch of other people at the base and then took a snow cat type vehicle up to the lodge where we ate yummy fondue. On the way home we sat in a little sleigh thing pulled by a snowmobile. It was so cool!
We came home on January 4th. We came home in the late afternoon and were invited to dinner with a family in Domsten. It was a nice evening but I was pretty tired after a day of travel.
On Sunday night a couple girls from my class got together and spent the night at Elna's. We saw Sweden lose the Junior World Cup in hockey to Finland, played games, and watched Gladiator. The next morning I saw that Elna had grape jelly in her refrigerator. I was so excited because I couldn't find it anywhere in Sweden, but she had bought it in Germany. She also had peanut butter so I made a PB&J. It was heavenly.
On Monday night we ate dinner in front of the tv to watch the New Years concert that we had recorded. It's a family tradition. They always eat crepes too and they were amazing.
On Tuesday the second semester started. Tuesday was a rough day with school starting and such.
The exciting event on Wednesday was that I left my phone on the bus! I knew it was on the bus because I had been texting someone right before I got off and when I had crossed the street it wasn't in my pocket anymore. We called the bus company and we drove in to town to a bus stop in hopes of catching the bus I had been on. I got on one bus and asked but the bus driver knew it wasn't there but he was pretty sure it was on another line going in the other direction. It seemed like a long shot since it wasn't even the same bus line I had been on. But lo and behold, the bus driver on the exact bus the previous bus driver had described had my phone. It was amazing that he knew that. So I got it back, phew!
Yesterday after school I watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban because I recently finished the book. And today Yvonne, Gustav, Anton, Elinore, two of Antons friends, the family's hairdresser, and I went to silversmide in Viken. Yvonne goes to a class once a week with her friends and I got a necklace she made for my birthday and a bracelet for Christmas. Also for Christmas all 3 of the kids got the silversmide class payed for as a gift. We were there from 10-3:30 and I made 2 rings and a pendant to put on a keychain or something.
I know that was brief but that pretty much summarizes the past few weeks.
Happy New Year everyone!!
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