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.

#SickLife

Hi everyone.

This week was definitely an up and down week. Lot's of Highs and Lows.

First of all, let's start with the fact that all week we had to boil all of our drinking water. There was some kind of bacteria found in the Helsingborg water supply so all water had to be boiled. And boiled water does not taste the same. And also there was no water at lunch, only milk. So in other words I think that the whole city, including myself was pretty dehydrated this week haha.

We ran the beep test in gym class. For those of you who know what this is, you feel my pain.
That same night I was supposed to have soccer practice but I didn't feel 100% so I skipped out. And this was probably a good thing because on Friday morning I woke up with a sore throat.
I didn't think much of it.
We had visitors for breakfast so Gustav and I were a little rushed getting in to school. I show up out of breath and guess what...my first lesson is cancelled. Just my luck.

Anyway, after school Elna, Malin, and I fikade and I did some shopping. I had felt fine all day up until then but the later it got I knew I was getting sick.

So I headed home and spent the night watching Grey's Anatomy and the first half of Harry Potter.

On Saturday I lied in bed all day. Not even joking, all day. I maybe left my room like 4 times. I was not feeling good. I watched a lot of Grey's Anatomy and finished the Harry Potter movie. For a while I was too tired to even watch more TV. I'm pretty sure that means you're really sick, if you can't even watch tv.

But good news is that this morning I woke up feeling a lot better! I'm still not 100% and since I don't have any too important lessons tomorrow I'm going to take a sick day. Better to miss some not-as-important classes now instead of a test or really important lessons later.

Oh yeah, and I got the news that a package that was sent from Zionsville several weeks ago has not arrived yet. I really hope that it is still on its way! Packages are such kind jestures and I love getting a taste of home in a box!

I dont think that I have anything else to share right now. Have a great week everyone!

Catching Up

Hi!

I know that I have not written in a long time. And that's not because nothing has happened, actually a lot has happened!!

Monday October 28

         It was an early morning. Woke up at 5:50 and Jan drove me the train station so I could take my 6:53 train to Goteborg. I met Misha there and at 10:00 we left for Vasteras. Once in Vasteras Mormor and Morfar met us at the train station. We had lunch in town and then went home. Misha and I entertained ourselves for a very long time by playing dress up with all kinds of clothes we found from all over the world.
Then we took a well deserved nap. When we woke up Moster Cecilia, Morbror Fredrik, och Teija were all there. We had dinner which my mom had decided would be renskav (reindeer meat). It's one of my Swedish favorites! We had a great time with lots of laughs and smiles :)
After our company left Misha and I relaxed and found Duck Dynasty on TV and shared some laughs over that.
Sunday was also the day when the storm, Simone, hit Sweden. It was very lucky that Misha and I left in the morning because after 4pm all trains from Goteborg were cancelled so thank goodness! I think that it would have been fun to be home when the storm came. Thankfully there was not much damage. Some fallen trees and stuff blown around.

Tuesday October 29

      Mormor, Morfar, Misha and I all took the train in to Stockholm on Monday morning. We had some time to kill so went, suitcases and all, to "City Hall" which was lovely as always. Then we walked back to Centralen and ate a great lunch. Then it was time to say goodbye to Mormor and Morfar. Though our visit had been short it was so much fun to get to see them and Misha and I had such a great time!
Next we found our YFU group and waited with them. It was so much fun to see people that we hadn't seen in months. Once everyone got there we went to our hostel at Fridhemsplan. I roomed together with Mish and Greta from Germany. We dropped off our bags and then headed to Gamla Stan. Literally the Old City, Gamla Stan is an island in Stockholm that was originally all of Stockholm. A YFU volunteer that had been at the on arrival orientation gave us a tour. After dinner we went back to the hostel. Some of us went to buy some candy at the ICA down the street. We socialized a little bit but then retired to our room. We had the genius idea of putting the beds together so make a giant one right in front of the TV. So we had our candy, our giant bed, and Star Wars was on TV...we were set!

View from our room

 

Wednesday October 30

     Breakfast 7:30. The breakfast at the hostel was very nice, they even had one of those orange juice machines in which you can see the oranges getting juiced, so entertaining!
On the agenda that day was Skansen. Which is on djurgarden and it's popular to take a ferry to djurgarden so that's what we did! We went to Skansen and had a few hours to do whatever. The place was kind of dead and there weren't many places open. It was also very cold so it was difficult to fill the hours. But the highlight was definitly seeing the bears, they were so cool. Lunch was at Skansen too.
Next on the agenda was the Vasa Museum. The Vasa is a giant ship that it like an ancient titanic. It sank while still in sight of shore. After 333 years underwater it was recovered and now it fills this huge museum. It was really fascinating (I remember being there as a kid and thinking that it was the most boring thing ever). We unfortunately did not get much time there.
After did we did the Amazing Race YFU Stockholm style. We were divided into teams and got a list of places to go and take pictures of. Out group got off to a great start. One of the leaders called to check in and he said that we had a good chance at first place because none of the other teams had returned so we were pumped. Then we made a fatal mistake. Instead of going to Margaretha Krooks statue at Dramaten in the middle of the city we went to Margartha Krooks gata in Ornsberg. Which is like way outside the city. There goes our chances of winning. But we wanted to finish so we got back on track. When we were back in the city we got another call saying that no teams had finished! We were so surprised! They must be really lost we thought. Renewed with energy we rushed to our meeting place. We saw the leaders on the steps but no students. Could we really have won? We all started cheering and then from across the square a large group of people start cheering too. Just friendly people? Nope. All the other students. We were dead last, a solid hour after the first team. Everyone had been waiting in the cold and was hungry. So we went straight to dinner. Needless to say, a huge blow to my competitive side.
So after our late dinner (thanks to my team) we headed back to the hotel. It had been quite a full packed day!

 

 

During the not so amazing Amazing Race

Thursday October 31

Halloween! Let me start by saying that you would never had known it was Halloween. Maybe a few people dressed up, but nothing like in the states.
We went back to Gamla Stan to go to the Royal Armory. But it was closed. So we got some free time and Misha, Greta and I headed to Urban Outfitters because Greta had never been there. It was such a cool Urban Outfitters, like in an old movie theater. Super classy.
Then we met up with the group again and went to the Nobel museum. I think that all that type of stuff in incredibly interesting and it was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me!
Then we all went to a cafe for lunch followed by some free time. We went shopping because we needed to buy a gift for a person in the group. (We had drawn names earlier in the week, think Secret Santa type thing). So after we made our purchases we met with the group again and went to the YFU office. The office was very nice and cozy. It's so much fun to meet the people that have made this year possible for you and who knows all kinds of things about you. I loved looking around the office and seeing my face on the wall tracking progress of students placed with families and with a little mini bio.
After this we had free time which we devoted to shopping. Since we had been late several times throughout the week we made sure to be early to our meeting place after free time. Then we all went to pizza dinner together which was a lot of fun.
We came back and socialized. We did not have a lights out time so let's just say, it was a late night. We also received our 'secret santa' gifts which was a lot of fun!

 Urban

 

Friday November 1

This morning we got to sleep in which was much needed. Then we went to Central station to drop of our bags. While someone stayed to watch it we went back to Gamla Stan to visit the Royal Armory which we had missed earlier. Honestly it wasn't my favorite thing ever. But it was just fun to be with friends!
Finally it was time to go. We went back to Centralen and did the famous YFU hug circle. We just sat there and talked and people left one by one. My train left at 3:21 and I was on the same train as Franziska and her host sister. It was a simple travel home and I got home around 9:45.
Yvonne was picking Anton and Anita up from the airport since they had been in Lanzarote. Once they got home we shared about our trips.

The rest of the weekend was chill. On Saturday I did practically nothing and Sunday followed the same trend with a little bit of homework sprinkled in.

And now we are at Tuesday and chugging through this week. My motivation is 7 school weeks until Christmas. We can do this!

I had a great fall break. I loved talking and sharing stories with the other exchange students. We don't get to see each other often but that does not keep us from having plenty to talk about. Misha and I counted and we have actually seen each other face to face for a total of 14 days combined. That's very little but I consider her one of my best friends.

At a metro station

 

FRIENDS :)

 

That is the jist of my last week.