It was a Blustery Day in the Hundred Acre Woods

Recap!

Pretty normal school week but with a lot of gaps in my schedule for various reasons. Unfortunately all the classes that I could skip were in the middle of the day so I had to come for the first and the last lesson. But I'm not complaining.

Monday Elna and I had 4.5 hours to kill so went to town. I found 2 sweaters on sale and Elna found some very soft and fuzzy gloves. We also had a fika. That night I watched a staggering 5 (!) episodes of Grey's Anatomy. I didn't have any homework and it was a super exciting season finale.

Tuesday was a weird day.

Wednesday was my birthdayyyy!!!!!! It was such a great day!! 6:35 Yvonne, Gustav, Anton, and Anita come in singing with cake and gifts! I blew out all the candles on one try, I impress myself. Next I opened all my presents and I felt so spoiled and lucky. Some of the highlights: 3 sweaters, Georg Jensen candle holder, handmade silver necklace that Yvonne made, cookbook, Cold Tangerines, American junk food, and giftcards!

One of the sweaters and the amazing necklace!

Then we had cake for breakfast. I went to school like normal but only had one lesson! 8:30 - 9:50. So lucky for me! I then met Elinore for lunch around 11.

Then I went home.
I do have to say that the weather was not on my side that day. It was not only dark and gray and overcast, but it was also drizzling all day and really windy. But that didn't keep me out of a good mood!
We had an early dinner and it was really good.
At 5:15 it was time to leave to enjoy one of my birthday presents! Yvonne and I went to a candle making thing. It was in the attic of an ancient ceramic factory in Vallåkra. It was with 12 other people and super fun! That lasted from 6-10. And I'm pretty impressed with what I made too!

When we got home around 10:30 it was time for me to call some people. First Mormor and Morfar and then my family. I wish I could have talked longer but it was getting pretty late.
I ended up going to bed pretty late but that was okay, I had had a really awesome day!

And today was Thursday. After the late night I was really grateful to sleep in a bit. Funny that today was my busiest day with 3 lessons. Gym class we played a really fun version of dodgeball followed by soccer. Really fun. After school came home and had early saffron dinner with Saffron fish soup followed by Saffron Pudding (? not sure how to translate it!).

Really jealous of all the people eating turkey today. One of my favorite holidays and it's so American that it hurts. Going to try my best to make my own feast on Saturday!

I am so thankful for this experience.

 I think you've seen this view several times but sometimes it just takes my breath away.

 My crazy schedule!

Even Google knew it was my birthday!

Weeks with less school are long weeks

Since this week was parent-teacher conferences our schedules were a little different and I feel like whenever your schedule is thrown off time goes slower.

Monday I only had one lesson. One hour of school. Pretty nice. Jan had enjoyed the pulled pork so much last time that he made it himself again and we had it for dinner on Monday!

Tuesday was actually a full school day. I even stayed for extra chemistry after school. Elna stayed too. We had 10 from when class ended to when the extra chem started and we were hungry so we ran to the nearest gas station in the rain to get some food. We ended up being a few minutes late.
That night I studyed for a chemistry test the next day and watched the World Cup qualifying match, Sweden-Portugal. It was an exciting game for a little bit, but it turned into the Ronaldo show and was pretty disappointing.

Wednesday was Chem test day which I'm pretty sure I bombed. But I think a lot of other people did too, we'll see. After school I met Elinore and I tried my first birkabulle which was amazing! Then we shopped some and then ended up at her house. We were both in the Christmas spirit so we made up this whole schedule full of Christmas baking!

Thursday I only had one lesson again. Went grocery shopping with Yvonne which I think is so much fun. We shop at a giant ICA Maxi and it is so much fun. Then we had my parent teacher conference which was pretty painless. Also went on a run before studying for a French test.

Friday I had a French test which was hard. I also had some other lessons. After school I met Ellie at ICA to buy some baking supplies. Then she went home to drop off her backpack and turn in an assignment. She came over a little while later to make Caramel Apples and Caramel Corn. We started with the apples and they actually turned out really good.

Next came the caramel corn. We popped the popcorn on the stove which I had never done before and was really fun. Then we melted sugar and added the caramel part to the corn. It turned out really bad and we threw it away. No idea what happened.

Ellie stayed for dinner, yummy tacos. Then we watched some Grey's Anatomy (one of our many mutual interests).

Today I was woken up at 9 which is unusual but I like it, that way I don't sleep away the whole day. I got ready pretty fast and by 10 we were on the road to Landskrona. We went to the Christmas market there. Yes I know it's a little early but who cares. It was a lot of fun. Then we took the scenic route home with a few stops and a desperate hunt for a cup of coffee (which we found). Then we came home and had lunch.

Then I didn't do much for the rest of the afternoon. Skyped my mom which was nice.
Thought I was going to see Catching Fire but apparently no body booked tickets last night and there weren't any left so hopefully I'll get so see it later this week!.

Mighty Fine

Today was a mighty fine day indeed.

But let's rewind to yesterday. It was a normal day at school. Ended at 1:50 and Yvonne picked me up and we headed south. It took us about an hour and 20 min to drive to Copenhagen and that's including traffic due to an accident. There is a ferry from Helsingborg to Denmark but we drove over the bridge farther south. The bridge is 5 miles long. It was pretty crazy.

Once in Copenhagen we drove around for a while and she showed me a bunch of stuff around the city. Honestly I don't remember much, it was all very confusing and dizzying. But it was really really nice.

 We did a little bit of shopping and then had dinner. By then it was time to drive to the airport and meet Jan. We got to the airport and I glanced over and saw a Starbucks! I thought that I might finally get my Pumpkin Spice Latte. The barista said that he didn't have any actual Pumpkin Spice left but that he could make something that tasted a lot like it so I said sure and gave it a shot. He was right, it was a lot like a Pumpkin Spice Latte but not quite. It was really good though. But I was so stuffed from dinner that I couldn't even finish it. What a waste...

Anyway. Jan's flight was delayed a bit but we left the airport around 8:15 and started to drive home. I was nice and social in the car for about 20 minutes before I fell asleep and woke up once we were in Hittarp. I was pretty sleepy.

Now it was about 9:30. We prepared a little bit of appetizer type food and some cheese and crackers. We saw the disappointing end to the Portugal-Sweden soccer game. Then we watched something else that I don't really remember because I fell asleep again.

This morning we had pancakes at 12 for breakfast. Then I did some Thanksgiving recipe research, then I went for a run and by this time it was 4pm. Next I had a Skype talk with Julia! I love talking to her. She is one of the few friends from home that I've had visual contact with  and I love any chance to get to talk to her!
Then I tried Facetiming Ivy which has, until today, been unsuccessful. So when the iPad said that it was connecting I was so stoked. It was so crazy to get to talk to one of my best friends for the first time in 3 months. We didn't get to talk for very long but any time with Ivy is a good time!

Jan and Yvonne went to some dinner tonight so the kids were on their own for dinner. We cooked some pasta and had ketchup OR pesto, ham and corn. Yup, canned corn is a staple whenever there are macaroni's on the table. And I have to say that I approve that it is quite yummy. Gustav mixed his pesto and ketchup. I tried it and it was not very good.

Now it's 8:30 pm and I'm super tired. I haven't done much homework today which is dissappointg. I have 2 tests next week.

You know the routine, Grey's Anatomy and then bed.

Oh and if you want to send me something, baking mixes are always a great idea! Because then I don't have to hunt for ingredients but I can bake for my family which I love. But I don't have a cup measurement and my mom refuses to send me one so birthday present?

Sink or Swim? (3 Months!!)

Today was sleep in Thursday. Which I guess explains why it's so late and I' not so tired. 

First thing on the agena this morning was a physics test. We started at 10 and didn't finish until 11:50. I think that we all thought that it was pretty hard. Today we were swimming in gym class and so we didn't have time to each lunch because gym started at 12:30. So we took the bus to the swim place. 

Then we got split into groups. Girls would swim for 20 min and then guys. There are 24 in our class and only 9 girls so I was really happy that we wouldn't be so crowded. 2 girls were even late so we were 7 in our round and the next round was 17. The actual swimming part went pretty good and I was pretty proud of myself. 

Our last lesson was cancelled, thank goodness, becasue who wants to go to school right after swimming? And since I hadn't had luch yet I was starving. I went into MAX. I was in line about to order when I heard a familiar voice behind me. Malin and Elna had followed me in because they claimed that I couldn't eat lunch alone. That was so nice of them! Then I inhaled my lunch. 

I was going to get picked up after school for a vaccination but I didn't have anything to do to fill the time so I went home. I was only home for 20 min until it was time to go to the vaccination place. The vaccine wasn't painful so that was good. 

Then I went home and relaxed. I didn't do any homework. I baked cupcakes from the mix that I had gotten in the mail. They turned out really good! And then I put frosting and sprinkles on them and I even impressed myself! 

Tomorrow is Friday of this short and good week!

Above was physics class last week...

Back into it

Besides yawning an incredible amount of times today it was a good first day back. I reviewed for my physics test and then rewrote that stupid English thing. I stayed after to go to hoework help for my Chemisty test next week. It's still shaky but it gets better each week. Once we finished at 4:25 it was pitch black outside. I would like to inform everyone that today the sun set at 4 pm. Which means that tomorrow it will be setting before 4 pm which means that sun will sent at 3 something. Each day is shorter by 3 min. It really messes with your head. 

On the bus home I ran into Anton and we got off a couple stops early so I could go and pick up a much overdue package and Yvonne met us there to take us home. 

The package was so amazing. Packages are some of the nicest surprises ever and this one especailly made me realize how lucky I am to have such awesome friends back home. Thanks guys! 

(btw I am for sure baking funfetti cupcakes tomorrow, so excited!!!)

We had a yummy dinner and now Yvonne is at silversmide like she is every Wednesday.

 I have a big Physics test tomorrow but I haven't studied at all since I got home. I studied a lot at school today and I'm not sure what else to study. I should porbably start that like really soon. 

Tomorrow I have that test, then we are swimming in gym class. (and it's not a basic swim thing, its swim as many laps as possible in 20 min. Coming from land locked Indiana I'm not sure how I'm going to match up to my classmates who were practically raised in the sea ( well actually I know how I'm going to match and its not going to go so well for me...)) After all this I have a Swedish lesson and then, I'm going to bake some cupcakes. 

Goodnight everyone

Taking a Personal Day No. 2

That's right people. I stayed home sick two whole days in a row. Something that I never would have accepted at home. I would have at least gone in for a few periods. Things just always seem so important. But today I didn't think I would be missing too much (even though it was TTT for those of you who know what that is). Anyway I was feeling a ton better. And last night when I went to bed I thought that I might go in today. But when that alarm clock rang at 6:30 I was like no. Yvonne supported the idea of staying homr so that was that and I spent the whole day right here. 

I went back to bed, had breakfast, took a shower. Of course I watched some Grey's Anatomy. Then I did some homework. Next I just sat downstairs and read Harry Potter. I should mention that it was raining all day. Not just a little sprinkle of rain but real rain all day. So reading was pretty appealing. Lunch. Siesta. Chemistry. Then I organized some pictures on my computer and yeah. That's pretty much what I did today. 

Tomorrow I'm definitely going to school, not beacause I'll have to rewrite that stupid American History X paper, but because its our last physics lesson before a test so that seems like a pretty important thing. Not that I'll have any medical reason to stay home tomorrow anyway.

Honestly, one of the worst parts of being sick is getting out of shape. All you do is eat, sleep, and lay around. I know that the first training passes after being sick are absolutely horrible. So well see how soon I get back into it. 

I've had some time to think lately and the scariest thing of this whole eperience is coming home with regret. It's not the language or the people or the situations that are scary, at least not for me. For me, my biggset fear is coming home with regrets. That would be such a horrible thing to realize once you get home. Though by no stretch of the imaginaion will this year or this experience be a waste, but coming home with regret would seriously make me question that. So the daily question is what will I regret doing or more in my case, what will I regret not doing.

For example, one of my main goals, no, my biggest goal comnig into this was to make connections so that I would feel like I have a second family here in Sweden. People know that I'm shy and honestly pretty bad at making those personal connections. I keep telling myself that it's still early but let's be honest, it's not early. It's Novemeber. I really want Christmas to be wonderful. But I'm afraid that I won't be able to be a true part of the family by then. And if not by Christmas what if I don't feel that way in June when it's time for me to leave. This may seem weird but I want leaving here to be sad and just as if not more tearful that when I left Indiana a couple of months ago.

I know that this is a two sided effort but let's be honest, it's more on me. I have to open up. I cannot allow myself to be as reserved as I want to be. Because if I don't, my whole year is going to be forced and weird and not very fun. Will I ever see Anton and Gustav as brothers? Coming into this I really really hoped so. And I still really do. I'm just realinzing that it's going to be a lot harder that I thought because unlike I maybe thought, the effort has to come from me. 

And I also want to be treated like a member of the family. Dont get me wrong, the lightness of chores has bee nice. (don't worry people, I still make my own bed and clean up after meals). But sometimes I wish I was told to do more things. Is that weird? I'm the family's first exchange student too so I guess we are both learning. 

And I think we all have a lot to learn.

Hey people, this whole exchnage thing isn't always a walk in the park!

And I've come to realized that I packed very poorly coming here. Well not very poorly, just a little poorly. The most embarrasing thing ever is the amount of shoes I brought. I think I brought more shoes than most people even own. Yeah, I brought 19 pairs of shoes. I know, so embarrassing. 

This is also a weird problem but I don't know what to ask for for my birthday! My family asked me to put up a list and I want to be helpful and help give them idea but I can't think of any. Help!

 

Oh yes, also, in a few weeks there is a school party and we are supposed to dress like a movie character. Does anybody (please!) have any ideas? I don't want anything too complicated, but something cool and unique. Ideas ideas??

On Thursay I have a Physics test and I'm getting a vaccination in case anyone was wondering. On Friday Jan is coming home from business in the US, he flies in to Copenhagen and Yvonne and I might leave right after school to get some time to see the city which would be really fun. 

Thanksgiving is still coming up and I still feel completely freaked out and unprepared. 

Aything else? I don't think so people. Let me end this with a quote, 

"Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared." -Buddha 

..and some really random pictres of my Indiana life that I really like!

Julia and I in...London?

Katherine and I somewhere in Europe

My all time favorite picture from Homecoming 2012

Literally the last night of my summer. 

Taking a Personal Day

Today I took a personal day, a sick day. Though I'm feeling loads better than Saturday and Sunday, I still have a killer sore throat and those annoying pounding headaches when you move too fast.
I hate having to miss too much class but at the same time it doesn't seem like I'm missing too much. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

After sleeping in and eating breakfast. I started watching American History X.  I would not have watched this by my own choice. We're watching it in English class and only got through the first half last week. This movie never would have happened in school in the US because the movie is rated R. And it's not a soft R, it's a most definitely a hard R. I mean in Zionsville we aren't even allowed to watch movies that are PG-13. Anyway, I spent the whole morning watching the rest of this movie and then writing a 3.5 page paper on it. (Last week our English teacher said we would finish the movie and then write after that) So being the proactive person that I am, I wrote that paper and sent it to my teacher. He replies saying that we are writing by hand in class on Wednesday and that I'm now well prepared but will still have to rewrite it. When I opened that email I got so mad. Like really mad. I spent a lot of time writing that thing.

Anyway, after lunch I took a siesta with Grey's Anatomy and then I went for a little walk and took these pictures!

Then I did some other homework and we had an awesome meatloaf for dinner.

After dinner I finished up some homework and then around 8, per the norm, it was tv time. I was falling asleep on the couch so when the program ended I was ready for bed. We hadn't had any dessert which was unusual, but I didn't really mind. So I brushed my teeth and started changing to my pajamas but when I looked at the clock I saw that it was only 9:15. I was so sure that it was 10. Lo and behold, at that time Yvonne comes bearing dessert. So dessert and more tv until 10. It was just so weird and I was so confused.

Another big thing was also that today I figured out how to turn off the tv, go me.