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!!
Thursday, December 26, 2013
There are two things I'm going to miss while I gone, the CILT reunion and march madness...
...and boy was I right. At least about missing the cilt reunion part. Seeing pictures and reading about the fun time they all had together. I just love camp so much and it would have been so awesome to be there again with my favorite people.
I'm loving this vacation. I keep thinking that we have school the next day, but we don't! We still have a trip to go on!
The first few days of break were devoted to catching up on sleep and relaxing. On Tuesday the festivities began. Christmas in Sweden is all celebrated on the 24th. So on Tuesday morning we went to church. Then we came home and prepared Christmas lunch. There were 6 sorts of fish, 4 sausages, meatballs, ham, potatoes, beet-salad, and cabbage. Of course everything was delicious and we ate until we were stuffed.
our downstairs christmas tree
The next important event was Donald Duck on tv at 3. I heard that there are 2 precise times of the year that all Swedes are aware of; midnight on New Years Eve and 3pm on Christmas Eve. It's the same Donald Duck shown every single year and everyone watches it.
After this we had first round of gifts. We did a gift exchange. All the kids bought 3 gifts and the adults 5. Then we would go around rolling 2 dice, if you rolled a 1 or 6 you got to pick a present. Once all the gifts were chosen we went around a few more times where you could steal gifts. Then we unwrapped them all and went around other time stealing gifts. I think everyone was happy in the end and it was really fun.
After this we went upstairs to open the gifts that were under the Christmas tree.
Next was dinner. Then we just chilled and I got to talk to some cool people from home.
The next day, when most people celebrate, we had nothing going on. We played a family game after breakfast. And then after lunch Anita went home. We packed some for the ski trip and watched Cinderella on tv.
At dinner we tested out the fondue machine that Yvonne had gotten for Christmas.
Today we were back to the relaxing routine. I did go on a long walk so that was effective.
It's been a really great Christmas.
One thing that I noticed is that a lot of everyday things get traded out for Christmas things here. Of course we have Christmas ham and Christmas napkins, but in addition we have Christmas curtains, Christmas cheese, Christmas bread, Christmas plates, and Christmas meatballs.
I would also like to describe what fika is, apparently someone thought it was a grocery store... my description of fika is a sophisticated snack. But if you would like more of a description I bring you this excerpt from Misha's blog: Fika. As I mentioned before, fika is a social institution in Sweden where you and a friend or family or a group of people go out to a coffee shop or just at home or work to sit for a while and socialize, always with a hot drink of some sort and a sweet treat. Let me tell you, the Swedes love their fika.
Take care,
Rebecca
p.s. breakfast of champions
Friday, December 20, 2013
So much going on
Since I got two comments about how I hadn't updated my blog in a while yesterday I'm going to do that.
Last week the kidz were home alone for few days when Yvonne went up to Stockholm. We survived pretty well on our diet of macaroni and leftovers. The really exciting thing last week was a math test. It was a national test so equivalent to an INCAA or ECA at home. The test was to start at 10 and to make sure that I had plenty of time I was going to take the 9.08 bus. I had plenty of time in the morning and I felt relaxed and not rushed at all. My plan was to leave the house at 9.00. I was the last to leave so locked up and everything, took a picture of the pretty sunrise
After school I went to pick up 3 packages in addition to 2 that I had picked up on Thursday. 3 of the packages were from my family with wrapped Christmas presents so there wasn't much for me to open. And the others were from Grandma and Wiebke! I love getting packages.
On Saturday morning I took the train up to Varberg to visit good family friends. After being picked up at the train station right before lunch time, we went home, ate lunch, and I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the kids. (Ages 10,7,5) I was taught how to play chess and we played lots of memory. I also made knäck for the first time.
On Sunday I set my alarm because I knew the kids were early risers. I came in from the guest house around 8am and they had already had a prebreakfast fika and started a game of monopoly, before 8! We had breakfast and watched julkalendern. Later we all left to go to Stamared Kyrka for the kids' Lucia. There, I completely unexpectedly met one of my moms good friends, Ann Roos. Such a coincidence that we were both there at the same time.
Once I got home and had eaten it was time to decorate the Christmas tree! I even got to put the star on top.
This week was also pretty normal besides the fact that I've been very tired. On Monday I picked up 2 more packages. One from Morfar and one from the Wendts! The Wendts are like the best people ever and they send the awesomest stuff and I'm so thankful to be their friend.
On Wednesday after school Elna, Lina, and I fikade after school since Elna was leaving early for vacation the next day and we wanted a celebration of winter break fika. Then I got home and got the awesome chance to talk to Anna and Amanda as they were on their way to lunch. So lovely to get opportunities to talk to my friends.
Later I took the bus in, to meet up with my godfather, Bert. to give you a little background, Bert and I have not seen each other for over 10 years. He works some days per month in Göteborg and he was on his way to Malmö for a meeting to we took the opportunity to meet up. We had dinner together in town and then we went out to Hittarp to have tea/coffee with the rest of the family. It was such an awesome opportunity to meet up with him and needless to say we had lots to catch up on after 10 years!
Wednesday ended up being a late night and it would have been really nice to sleep in on Thursday like usual, but it was actually one of my longer days this week. In PE we curled (played curling?) anyway it was so much fun! I mean no one's rock was anywhere close to getting any points. They were either too hard and shot off to the other end or too loose, or they curved to the side.
Today was avsluting. We started at 9 in the aula (a lot like the old auditorium) for the Christmas cabaret. It lasted for an hour and there were musical performances (including a heavy metal punk band), a belly dancer, and a comedian. After this our class went to the library when the one's (status of freshman but age of sophomores) had set up fika for everyone. And then we saw some pictures from the party a few weeks ago. Below is a video from the party.
Last week the kidz were home alone for few days when Yvonne went up to Stockholm. We survived pretty well on our diet of macaroni and leftovers. The really exciting thing last week was a math test. It was a national test so equivalent to an INCAA or ECA at home. The test was to start at 10 and to make sure that I had plenty of time I was going to take the 9.08 bus. I had plenty of time in the morning and I felt relaxed and not rushed at all. My plan was to leave the house at 9.00. I was the last to leave so locked up and everything, took a picture of the pretty sunrise
and then checked the time. It was 9.04. I knew that it would be hard to catch that bus. But I started running and thought I would make it but then I saw the bus roll away...Typical right? Miss the bus on the day of the big test. Luckily I was giving myself plenty of time by taking the earlier bus. So I waited 15 minutes for the next bus. I really thought that I was going to be late but I got off at an earlier stop and half walked half ran to school. I made it almost exactly at 10. The test apparently didn't start until 10.15. We had one session 10.15-12.15 then lunch and then another session 1-3.
Friday was Lucia. I heard breakfast being set up in the family room a little before 7. From 7-8 Lucia from Örebro was broad casted live. We ate breakfast in front of the tv and watched that. At school there was a lucia tåg also.
Friday was Lucia. I heard breakfast being set up in the family room a little before 7. From 7-8 Lucia from Örebro was broad casted live. We ate breakfast in front of the tv and watched that. At school there was a lucia tåg also.
After school I went to pick up 3 packages in addition to 2 that I had picked up on Thursday. 3 of the packages were from my family with wrapped Christmas presents so there wasn't much for me to open. And the others were from Grandma and Wiebke! I love getting packages.
On Saturday morning I took the train up to Varberg to visit good family friends. After being picked up at the train station right before lunch time, we went home, ate lunch, and I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the kids. (Ages 10,7,5) I was taught how to play chess and we played lots of memory. I also made knäck for the first time.
On Sunday I set my alarm because I knew the kids were early risers. I came in from the guest house around 8am and they had already had a prebreakfast fika and started a game of monopoly, before 8! We had breakfast and watched julkalendern. Later we all left to go to Stamared Kyrka for the kids' Lucia. There, I completely unexpectedly met one of my moms good friends, Ann Roos. Such a coincidence that we were both there at the same time.
After Lucia we came home and had lunch. After lunch we went on a tomtepromenad which is a tipspromenad with a tomte at the end. The kids loved it. After that we came home and had a fika and after that I went in to Varberg to go home. Originally my plan was to walk around Varberg a while. But it was already dark and a bit rainy and I wasn't sure what I was going to do so I just went home instead.
Once I got home and had eaten it was time to decorate the Christmas tree! I even got to put the star on top.
This week was also pretty normal besides the fact that I've been very tired. On Monday I picked up 2 more packages. One from Morfar and one from the Wendts! The Wendts are like the best people ever and they send the awesomest stuff and I'm so thankful to be their friend.
On Wednesday after school Elna, Lina, and I fikade after school since Elna was leaving early for vacation the next day and we wanted a celebration of winter break fika. Then I got home and got the awesome chance to talk to Anna and Amanda as they were on their way to lunch. So lovely to get opportunities to talk to my friends.
Later I took the bus in, to meet up with my godfather, Bert. to give you a little background, Bert and I have not seen each other for over 10 years. He works some days per month in Göteborg and he was on his way to Malmö for a meeting to we took the opportunity to meet up. We had dinner together in town and then we went out to Hittarp to have tea/coffee with the rest of the family. It was such an awesome opportunity to meet up with him and needless to say we had lots to catch up on after 10 years!
Wednesday ended up being a late night and it would have been really nice to sleep in on Thursday like usual, but it was actually one of my longer days this week. In PE we curled (played curling?) anyway it was so much fun! I mean no one's rock was anywhere close to getting any points. They were either too hard and shot off to the other end or too loose, or they curved to the side.
Today was avsluting. We started at 9 in the aula (a lot like the old auditorium) for the Christmas cabaret. It lasted for an hour and there were musical performances (including a heavy metal punk band), a belly dancer, and a comedian. After this our class went to the library when the one's (status of freshman but age of sophomores) had set up fika for everyone. And then we saw some pictures from the party a few weeks ago. Below is a video from the party.
After this, around 10:30, we were done for the semester. I went home. Anita and I assembled a Christmas tree to have downstairs and decorated it. Then we had lunch and since then I've just been chilling.
God Jul!
Monday, December 9, 2013
Sunset: 15.30
Friday. The night before was the big storm night. So it was a bit unclear how we would go about going to school the next day. Early Friday morning I checked my school email and the message was that if you could safely get yourself to school then you should. So I started to drag myself out of bed but just then Yvonne popped her head in and said it was way too windy to go anywhere at the moment. I didn't protest and went back to bed. I got a nice sleep in morning. I wasn't going to go to school at all but we were labbing in Chemistry so I did eventually go in after lunch. I got to class and only half the class had time to lab that day. And I was not one of the people that labbed. So my half of the class stayed in the classroom and "worked in the book" but what we really did was talk and watch cat videos. Felt really silly of me to come in for just that one lesson. So after an hour I was back on the bus to go home. I was only home for 20 minutes to switch my school bag for some other things and then I was on a bus back in to town! Lots of back and forth that day. Before I left I took some pictures of the front yard and the damage that the storm had done. The water level had been so extremely high that a few meters of the yard has eroded away and no longer exists.
I went to Sofias house and Elna, Lina, and Malin were all there. We had a snack because we were all starving. Then we got ready for the party. This was the RTJ party (räddningsfesten). So it was the 1's, 2's , 3's, (the three grades in gymnasium) and other who already graduated who go in the same program that I do. The theme of the party was movie characters. I was black swan, Elna was a shadow hunter from the Mortal Instruments, Lina was Cat Woman, Sofia was Mini Mouse, and Malin was Black Widow. All we knew before the party was that we were supposed to meet by Tivoli at 7pm and then buses would take us to the location. We got there and we were right by the ocean and it was very very very windy and freezing cold. Right at 7 a few guys game with cardboard cutouts of buses and on and we were told that we wouldn't need to take a bus. We were going to be right there in Helsingborg! So we wondered farther out on the dock to H-55, the location. But because of the storm there was major flooding on the walk there. But luckily earlier in the day we had been warned to bring boots of some sort to have on while getting there. So that was really good because otherwise I would have been ankle deep in freezing water.
So anyhow, we got there. Let's just say that it was a really fun night! I got home around 1:30.
So anyhow, we got there. Let's just say that it was a really fun night! I got home around 1:30.
Let's just start by saying that Gustav, Jan, and I had breakfast at 1pm on Saturday. I had layed in bed until 12, Gustav hadn't gotten home from H-55 until 12:30, and since Jan's flight from Stockholm had been cancelled by the storm he had taken a bus and it had gotten him home around 5am. I was pretty surprised when I saw snow outside!
So Saturday was a pretty do nothing day. In the evening Jan and Yvonne had another couple over for dinner. They were having snails for appetizer and since they knew that I had never tried snails I came down and had some. They were really good! Then the kids had tacos for dinner. I fell asleep pretty early.
Then on Sunday I was up pretty early and started my homework before breakfast. It was horrible rainy weather. Then it was baking time! Yvonne, Jan, Yvonne, and I made pepparkakor and saffransbullar. It was so Christmasy!
Then I went to soccer. For the second half of practice we did strength. A person came and we did GRIT. I don't know if you know what this is but don't do it. It was 30 minutes long and only a little bit of what the whole program is and it was the hardest thing that they offered at the gym this person worked at. It was very hard. I'm so sore today it's unbelievable. But it's good because I really need to build up my strength again.
Then we went to dinner with the Dolk family. Which was lots of fun and delicious. We got home around 10 and I went right to bed.
Today was school as usual.
9 more school days. we can do this.
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