Ylvis - The Fox & Kultur Natten

I've been in Sweden for nearly two months now, and I can't believe how quickly time has flown by.

On Tuesday, Bengt-Ove was in Belgium on a business trip, and Ulrika was in Småland for her work, so it was up to me to make sure that Anna and Axel got ready in time to take the bus to school. Everything was going great until Axel found a tick in his hair, ten minutes before he and Anna had to leave for school. I was cleaning up the kitchen, and they came in and told me that Axel had a " fästning" in his hair. I looked up "fästning" on Google Translate, and it said that meant the word "fortress". I had absolutely no idea why Axel was telling me about a "fortress", I actually thought that he was telling me a story about his legos. Axel actually meant to tell me about the "fästing" in his hair, but he typed it wrong into Google Translate, which is where all of the confusion began. The word "fästing" in Swedish means tick. So Axel and Anna were trying to tell me about the tick they had found in Axel's hair. Luckily, they managed to get the tick out of his hair. I made sure they brushed their teeth, and brushed their hair and I sent them off to school, on-time and tick-free. Now that I have survived the tick drama, I know that I am capable of handling anything and I know that I can get the kids ready for school all by myself. After a dramatic start to my morning, I had a very average day at school. We watched the movie Hugo in my Film & TV class. After school, I made rotini pasta with pesto for dinner. Anna and Axel spent the night at their grandparent's apartment, so I only cooked dinner for Simon and myself. I made peanut butter cookies later in the evening and they were delightful. I really love peanut butter and I am so happy that it is available in Sweden. 

Wednesday, I woke up early and had breakfast with my family. I usually wake up every morning between 6:30 and 7:00, which is really nice because I have time to have a long and relaxed breakfast and I am never rushing off to school. In Filosofi (Philosophy), I had absolutely no idea what our teacher Rickard was talking about and I spent most of the day, taking notes on Cecilia's computer and looking at photos of celebrities on People.com. My afternoon Kultur och Idéhistoria class was cancelled, because the teacher, Per was sick. I went home early and I worked on my homework for a few hours. Simon made super delicious salmon and potatoes for dinner, which was fantastic. Simon, Axel, and I watched Iron Man 3 after dinner. The first time I watched that movie in Colorado, I was at the drive-in, so of course, I fell asleep, so it was really nice to see the entire movie. 

Thursday, I was awake early in the morning like I usually am, so I had a lot of time before my first class at 11:30.  I watched half of Pitch Perfect and I ate some of the Ballerina cookies that Frida and Cecilia bought me for my birthday. I finally got my laptop from the school, which is great because now if I don't understand something in class, I can use my laptop to translate. In the afternoon, we did our Swedish poet walking tour and presentations. I presented the biographical information about my chosen poet, Gustaf Fröding entirely in Swedish and I read one of his poems to my group. Everyone seemed really happy and excited that I managed to do my presentation in Swedish, and my group applauded for me twice. After my successful Swedish presentation, I took the bus to IKEA to meet Anna and Ulrika. We went shopping for about an hour and I had so much fun. IKEA here in Sweden is really affordable and I bought a hot dog for only 4 Swedish crowns, which is less than 1 US dollar. We went to the home of Ulrika's parents, and Morfar gave us a jar of lingon berry jam. He bought the berries and then made jam out of the berries he had bought. Ulrika walked with me to my extra Swedish lesson after we dropped off Anna at her piano lesson. It was nice to meet the other exchange students again, and we had even more students in the class than last week. Marie (Annalise's host mom), gave us all a ride home, and in the car we spoke a little bit of Swedish together, and that was a lot of fun. I am starting to feel better about my Swedish and I was very happy that I understood the questions that Marie was asking me in the car. 

Friday was a long day at school. I always want school to go by very quickly on Fridays so the weekend can begin. Cecilia and I showed Frida the " Ylvis - The Fox" video on YouTube, which Ulrika showed me the day before, so funny. After school, I went home and packed my bag to go to Frida's house. Cecilia's dad drove us out to Frida's house and she lives 2 Swedish miles away from Uppsala ( 20 km). I met my next-door neighbor at Frida's birthday party, which was really funny because we only kind of recoginized each other, having only met once before. We had tacos for dinner and we watched She's The Man, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and Wedding Crashers. I had a fun time at Frida's birthday party and it was nice to meet all of her friends and family. 

On Saturday, I spent the morning at Frida's house and had breakfast before I finally got home around 13:00. My host family's friends from Nyköping drove to Uppsala for Kultur Natten and we had lunch together before taking the motor boat into the city. I had a great time meeting Helen and Nicklas and their children Matilda and Oskar. I had so much fun at Kultur Natten and we went to a really fun salsa dancing lesson in Stadsparken. Matlida was my dance partner and we had a blast together. We took the boat home for dinner, and after dinner we watched Despicable Me. After that, we watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Yes, I watched the same movie two days in a row, but I fell asleep watching it on Friday night at Frida's house, so it was nice to watch the entire movie. Saturday was an exhausting day, but it was also full of good times and laughter. 

Sunday was a beautiful day in Uppsala, and it was sunny outside. I woke up around 9:00 and I got ready to go hiking with the Sunnersta Scouts. Beth (from California) and Anna-Karin rode their bikes to my house to pick me up. We met up with the other scouts by the bridge, and we set off on our hike. We went to the forest behind my neighborhood and we hiked for about an hour and looked for mushrooms and berries. Unfortunately, we didn't find very many edible mushrooms. Bengt-Ove says that it has been too dry lately for any mushrooms to grow. We did collect a small amount of lingon berries and I got to take our findings home with me. Ulrika turned the lingon berries we picked into a lovely jam, although there was only a very small amount of berries. About an hour into the hike, we stopped for fika. When I got home from the mushroom picking/hiking adventure, my Swedish family was out on their motor boat visiting a castle. I went into the city center to get fika with my Rotary counselor later that afternoon. We had korv stroganoff for dinner, and after dinner, Axel and Anna were watching tv and they thought they saw me on the tv, so funny, but we never figured out if it was me or not. 

Monday meant the end of a wonderful weekend and the start of another week at school. I am nearly finished with my project in Kultur och Idéhistoria so that lesson was very productive for me. Svenska was cancelled, so I had a three hour break before Samhällskunskap. I worked on some homework during the break and I hung out with Cecilia and Frida. I went home right away after school to go to horseback riding lessons with Ulrika, Anna, and Axel. I helped Axel with his pony, Bolle, and this time Bolle didn't try to bite me, which is a plus. It's really interesting to see Axel and Annas progress in their lesson each week, and I can already tell that they are improving and learning many new and useful skills. Bengt-Ove made two different kinds of Swedish pancakes for dinner: one kind was cooked on the stove and the other in the oven. The pancakes were absoulutely delightful, and I got to try the lingon berry jam that Mormor and Morfar made. ( Best. Jam. Ever.). I skyped with Ally, and that was cool because she is in London and I am in Sweden so we only have a one hour time difference.

I cannot even fathom that September is halfway over and that I have been living in Sweden for almost two months. 

As always, let me know if you have any questions about Sweden. : )

Surströmming, Stockholm, & My 18th Birthday

It's hard to believe that I've been in Sweden for five weeks already, nearly six. That means that I've been here for a month and half, which is crazy! My Swedish abilities are improving slowly, but surely.

Monday was an average day for me. I woke up at 6:30 and had breakfast with my host family before we all went our separate ways to school and work. My legs were pretty sore from all the biking and walking/ going to the gym that I've been doing, so I am hopeful that the soreness in my legs is just a sign that I am getting more fit. I am working on a project in my Kultur och Idéhistoria class and for my project I am reading 1984 by George Orwell. This is one of my favorite books of all time, so I am really happy that I could pick a book that I've already read for my project. I am reading the novel in English, but writing the assignment in Swedish, so I am sure that will be quite the challenge. Later in the day, Cecilia and I watched old Danny Saucedo and Darin music videos, which were hilarious. ( Danny Saucedo & Darin are two famous Swedish pop singers, btw). After school, I went to horseback riding lessons with Axel and Anna. We go together every Monday, right when I get home from school. I really love helping my younger Swedish siblings at the stables because I like horses and it's just a really fun activity that I get to do every week. After we got home from the stables, we ate a quick dinner, and we watched Titanic in English with Swedish subtitles. That was an emotionally-draining movie, but I had a great time watching it with Ulrika and the kids. Bengt-Ove didn't watch Titanic because as my Grandma in Colorado would say: " I already know how it ends". 

Something that I find interesting about Sweden is that almost all of the movies here are available in English with Swedish subtitles. In Sweden, the only movies that are dubbed into Swedish are animated  children's movies, besides that every movie comes in it's original language and Swedish subtitles. 

Tuesday I had a very short day at school and I only had one class. Cecilia walked with me to the hotel where my hosting Rotary club has their meetings, so I wouldn't be completely lost.Tuesday was the first time that I had been invited to attend Rotary, so  I was very happy that my school schedule allowed me to attend. All of the Rotarians that I met were very friendly and welcoming. After the meeting, the club president offered to give me a ride home, and she drove me all the way to the southern part of Uppsala, where my 2nd host mom lives. I had fika with Karin (2nd host mom) and Beth, the newest Rotary exchange student. Beth arrived in Sweden on Monday night, so obviously I had to meet her and get acquainted with her right away. I ended up staying for dinner, and after dinner we took the family's dog on a walk all around the neighborhood and to the nearby lake. I walked with Beth (from California), Alva ( host sister), and Emma (host sister). We had great conversation and we even played on the zip line at the elementary school in the neighborhood. 

Wednesday, I woke up at 7:00 and ate breakfast with my host family. I woke up way before school started so I had some free time before I had to leave. Being me, I spent my free time reading about The Titanic on the internet, I learned many interesting facts and I think it was actually quite a productive way to spend my morning, if I do say so myself. When I finally did go to school, I had Filosofi (Philosophy), and I understood absolutely nothing. During our break, Cecilia and I went to ICA and I bought mini Swedish pancakes with raspberry jam for a snack, they were wonderful. On the bus ride home from school, the bus broke down about 3 stops ahead of where I was supposed to get off, so I walked to where I had left my bike in the morning and made my way home. I made my Swedish family BLT's for dinner, they turned out really well, and I thought the sandwiches were delicious. I also made lemon bars for dessert. While Ulrika and I were cooking dinner, we listened to Danny Saucedo on Spotify and had an awesome kitchen dance party. Ulrika and I share a very similar sense of humor and we always make each other laugh, a lot. 

Thursday, I was up early again, so I had free time again, before I had to leave for school. I skyped with my best friend Jae Jae and it was great to see her face and just catch up on her life back in Colorado. In my Religion class we did a skit about moral and ethical dilemmas. I didn't completely understand my groups skit, but I know that Frederick played the part of a pregnant teenage girl who was facing the ethical dilemma of abortion. I played the stern, silent, Catholic mother, while Bonnie got to play the angry father. It was a really amusing skit, and Religion class was definitely interesting. We had delicious pancakes for lunch at school. I had my first Swedish lesson after school with the other Rotary exchange students and a few other exchange students living in Uppsala this year. The class is just one hour every week and it it held at my school, Katedralskolan, so that is convenient. I thought the lesson this week was very easy and I am hoping that I learn more with future lessons. After the lesson, Sierra's host dad Stefan drove me, Sierra, Beth, and Annalise back to my house for a surströmming party. Surströmming is a traditional Swedish food, it is fermented herring that is buried underground for one year before it is canned and ready to eat. The smell of the herring is actually a lot worse than the taste, and I was a little unsure about trying it, but it was a lot better than I expected, and actually kind of good. I invited my friend Louise over for the party, and it was great to introduce her to my Swedish family and the other exchange students. After dinner, we sat on the trampoline and talked while my younger siblings jumped and played games all around us, so much fun. 

Friday, I had my first class at 8:30 in the morning, so this time when I woke up early it was great because I had just enough time to get ready for school and go. School was very ordinary, and I didn't understand my teachers. After school, I went to ICA with Cecilia, Josephine, and Disa, and we all bought ice cream bars. After I got home, I packed my back pack and spent some time with Ulrika before heading off to a new bus stop that I had never been to before. The bus stop was a few kilometers away from my house so I rode my bike there. I took the bus to my friend Sara's house, because she had invited me over for a sleep over. I had fun cooking dinner and meeting Sara's friends and family, and it was nice to meet new people. I could barely remember anyone's names, but everyone was so welcoming and friendly. I slept wonderfully on Sara's couch with a huge white down comforter. Friday was a good day. 

Saturday, I took the bus home from Sara's house and I had lunch with my host family. In the afternoon, some family friends drove to Uppsala from southern Stockholm. We took my host family's motor boat out onto Lake Ekoln loaded with a picnic, and some water guns. We went out to an island called Klinten. On my 2nd day in Sweden, we went sailing to Klinten, so it was really interesting to see the island again. This time, we use the wood-burning sauna on the island. The Water Battle Extreme started and I had a total blast. We had a lot of water guns and the lake, so I got soaking wet. I went to warm up in the sauna, and Axel and Anna came into the sauna with water guns and surprised us. I had such a great time at the island, and after the water battle, we had hot dogs for dinner. I skyped with my Dad and my brother Scott so it was great to finally see them and tell them all about my adventures in Sweden. After I skyped with my family, my Swedish family skyped my host brother Hannes, who is on his Rotary exchange year in the United States. It was nice to see Hannes again and I think that he is liking Michigan. It was cool to meet his host parents over skype, too. Saturday was just overall a fantastic day with my host family. I love my host family, I know that now, and I know that will only make it harder when I have to switch families in a few months. 

Sunday was without a doubt my favorite day in Sweden so far. My Swedish family celebrated my birthday in the traditional Swedish way. On Saturday night, Ulrika reminded me that we were going to celebrate my birthday on Sunday, even though my birthday is on Monday. She also reminded me that no matter what, on Sunday morning, I had to stay in bed and I couldn't come downstairs. So on Sunday morning, I was asleep in my bed, and my entire Swedish family got up early to prepare breakfast for me. They came upstairs with a tray of hot chocolate and my favorite Swedish bread topped with honey, butter, and purple and pink heart shaped sprinkles, and of course, candles. They came upstairs singing the Swedish birthday song for me, and they put presents on my bed. I woke up because I heard the singing, and I momentarily forgot that we were celebrating my birthday and I thought " Seriously, who is singing this early in the morning?". But, I sat up and opened my eyes and I found my whole host family in my bedroom with presents and breakfast. It was quite the sight to wake up to, and we ate my special birthday breakfast together while I opened my presents. My Swedish family knows me so well. Axel made me an adorable stuffed animal holding both an American and a Swedish flag. Anna gave me a beautiful, casual white dress that will be perfect for attending Simon's graduation in the spring. I also got two HUGE bottles of my favorite Swedish beverage, Ramlösa, which only further proves how well my Swedish family knows me. I also received a delightful Swedish cookbook and some other gifts that I can't recall off the top of my head. I was so happy that I got to celebrate my 18th birthday the traditional Swedish way. After the morning celebration, I took the train to Stockholm with Ulrika and Axel. We spent the day admiring the sights in Gamla Stan and all around Stockholm. We witnessed the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace, we went to NK (Swedish Macy's), and we got ice cream and lunch. I had an awesome time exploring the city with my Swedish family. Later in the afternoon, we took the subway to a suburb in southern Stockholm. From there we took a bus and walked. We arrived at a pancake party hosted by the same friends we had a water fight with the day before. Ulf had received a pancake machine as a gift from a friend, and we spent the evening eating wonderful pancakes and having a great time. Anna and Bengt-Ove drove down for the party, and after the party ended we drove home. Sunday was a perfect day. I couldn't have planned a better way to celebrate my birthday. I had so much fun celebrating my 18th birthday with my Swedish family and I am so happy to be living here. I am so lucky to have been given this wonderful opportunity and I am thankful every day. 

Monday was an incredibly important day.... my 18th birthday!  I can't believe I am finally eighteen years old. Since I celebrated my birthday with my Swedish family on Sunday, Monday was just a regular day. I woke up early, had breakfast, and left for school. My friends Frida and Cecilia got me two giant bottles of Rämlosa Smultron (my favorite flavor) and Ballerina and ICA Basic cookies. They know me so well. My Swedish teacher also had the whole class sing the Swedish happy birthday song for Frida and me and another girl who also has her birthday this week. In Swedish class, we also had fika. Despite having to go to school on my birthday, I had a wonderful day, and so many people wished me a happy birthday, in Swedish, too! After school, I went to horseback riding lessons with Anna and Axel, which was really fun. This week I helped Axel with his horse. I skyped my parents in Colorado for my birthday and it was great to speak to them, we ended up talking for nearly and hour and a half, and it was nice to introduce them to my Swedish family. This definitely has to be one of the best birthdays I have ever had. I am so thankful for all of the kind and friendly people that I have met in Sweden who helped me celebrate my birthday in so many fun and unique ways. 

I had an exciting week in Sweden and I will post some more photos sometime in the next few weeks. Let me know if you all have any questions about Sweden that I can answer. :) 

My Life in Sweden: Photo Edition

This is the first photo of Sweden that I took from the plane before landing at the airport. Sweden is very flat and there are many lakes and forests, what a beautiful view of my host country.

This is the lake that is about a 10 minute drive from where I live. The lake( Lake Ekoln) is actually quite large and it goes all the way to Stockholm ( 70 km south of Uppsala).

Closer view of Lake Ekoln. 

This is the sun peeking through some trees. In Colorado I am used to seeing pine trees, but I don't see deciduous trees as often as I do in Sweden. I live in between two forests and my commute to school every day is gorgeous. 

This is the Domkyrkan (Uppsala Cathedral). This is the largest church in Scandinavia. It is hard to tell just how big the cathedral is from this photo, but it is massive and lavishly decorated on the inside. 

Pappa, this photo is for you. Gustav Vasa is buried in a crypt beneath the Domkyrkan and this monument marks his grave. 

I went sailing on Lake Ekoln with Simon, Hannes, Ulrika, and Ulrika's sister/ her children on my 2nd day in Sweden. I haven't been sailing since I was 8 years old, so it was really fun to go sailing again. We also jumped into the lake from a dock and I quickly discovered just how cold the water is in Sweden. 

This is a photo of me and my younger host siblings Axel and Anna, and the family's pet cat, Sniff, from my first week in Sweden. They are very helpful with teaching me Swedish and we read children's books together. 

After a challenging reading lesson, we jumped on the trampoline together and I had a blast. 

2 days after I arrived in Sweden, my host family took me to Darlarna County and we visited my host father, Bengt-Ove's home town. The day we arrived at this lake, we had a party with some of my host family's friends. The building on the left side of this photo is a wood-burning sauna. We went in a motor boat from the other side of the lake to reach this sauna/ camp fire. I spent the day swimming in the lake and enjoying the sauna. 

This is the view from the cottage we stayed in while were visiting Darlarna County. 

On the left side of this photo, you can see the wooden outhouse that accompanied the cottage we stayed in.   

Another view from the cottage. Actually, part of the cottage is on the right side of this photo. 

This is a photo of Anna and me from when we dropped off Hannes at the hotel the night before he left for his exchange year. 

This is a photo of Hannes and me from when we dropped him off at the hotel. 

Ulrika took me dancing at the city park in Uppsala. I had so much fun learning a new dance, and even though I am not a great dancer I laughed a lot and had a really great time. 

Obviously, I did the cheesy tourist thing and asked for a photo with the dance instructor. He reminded me a lot of my brother Scott back in the United States. 

This is a photo of my first host family and me together when we were at the airport saying goodbye to Hannes. 

I did that instagram thing where I took pictures of my food, but actually I am really inconsistent about remembering to take pictures of my food, so I only have this one and the two below. This is chocolate chip cheesecake that I got when I had my first fika in Sweden with my friend Louise. 

This is a photo of the Apple Betty that I made for my host family the day that Hannes left. 

This is a photo of the Mackarutor that Simon made one day, it tastes kind of like brownies, but at the same time it's nothing like brownies, difficult to explain, and there is coconut on top. DELICIOUS. 

This is Dag Hammarskjölds Väg. This road is completely straight and it goes directly into the city center of Uppsala. I live a few kilometers south of the city, but every day I take the bus from this road to school and home again. I am still learning how to find my way around Uppsala, but I have gotten to know this road pretty well. 

This is a photo of what the Uppsala city buses look like. They are all bright green and they run on biogas. They are much cleaner than the buses in Colorado and here in Sweden, everyone takes the bus and it is a common mode of transportation. 

This is a roof near my bus stop where I leave my bike each morning. From my host family's house it's about a 5 to 10 minute bike ride to get to the bus stop. I lock/leave my bike under this roof, take the city bus to school. I get off the city bus near the castle and from that bus stop it's about a 5 minute walk to my school. 

This is the view from the bus stop I get off at near my school. Everyday, I see the Domkyrkan and the Uppsala Slott (castle). Uppsala is a beautiful city full of rich history and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world that I get to live here for a year. 

On my 5 minute walk to school from the bus stop, I walk down a beautiful street full of old houses and university buildings. 

This is a Uppsala Universitet building that I walk past every day on the way to and from school. 

These are just some of the many old houses that I walk by on the way to school, most of the street is paved in cobblestones. 

I apologize for these photos being out of order. Photo credits/ Special thanks to Ulrika for letting me use her photos on my blog. 

I will try to most more photos in a few weeks, hopefully these photos can give you all just a peek of my life here in Sweden. Sweden is a beautiful and historic country and these photos cannot even begin to capture the beauty here. 

En Månad i Sverige

Another week has passed already. They say time flies when you're having fun, and that's true. My time in Sweden is going by so quickly! 

On Monday, I had a very ordinary day at school. My first class was Kultur och Idéhistoria, this subject is  kind of like Humanities. I can tell that this class will be very difficult for me. However, I have a very kind and understanding teacher so that is helpful. My Swedish class is very difficult and there is a lot of work, but I think that I will pick up the language from all of the work we do in class. Swedish class here is the equivalent of English class in the United States. We read a lot of books and poetry and it is really a literature focused curriculum. Samhällskunskap is also a difficult subject. We are learning a lot about current events in the world, and there are many discussions in class. For dinner we had korv stroganoff and I thought it was really good!

Tuesday was an interesting day at school. In my Film & TV class, we watched an Italian movie called Cinema Paradiso. We watched the movie in Italian with Swedish subtitles, so I really didn't understand the film. However, I did understand bits and pieces of the movie, so that was good. Cinema Paradiso has an incredible soundtrack. There was blood pudding for lunch at school, and I wasn't brave enough to try that, so I just ate salad instead. After lunch I had a break from 12:50 to 14:50, when my English class started. My English class was canceled because the teacher was sick, so that was nice because if I had had my English class, school would've lasted until 16:15. My school day finished much earlier than I thought it would, but instead of going home early, I stayed at school for 2 hours and chatted with three of my classmates. My classmates are really nice and I think I am starting to make some friends at school, which is great. When I finally did leave school, I stopped at the gym and worked out and then I made my way home. Having a gym membership is great because I am getting in better shape, staying healthy, and it's a good way to work off the stress of being in a foreign country and learning a new language. 

Wednesday we had school photos. I had no idea what to wear for my photo, so I woke up 2 hours before I had to leave for school so I could decide what to wear and get ready for the day. I woke up without an alarm clock, too. Lately, I have been waking up around 7:00 am without an alarm clock. I think my body has a biological clock that just wants me to wake up at that time. Waking up at 7:00 am is really nice because it means that I am awake to have breakfast with my host family and I get to spend some time with them. We have oatmeal for breakfast every morning, I eat mine with lingonberry jam and I usually have a slice of toast with some peanut butter as well as a glass of milk. So, back to school photos, I settled on my sleeveless denim shirt and some black leggings and white converse. I haven't seen how my individual school photo turned out, but our class photo is hysterical. After school photos, I walked to the city center with a friend from school named Cecilia so I wouldn't get lost. I met up with the two other Rotary exchange students in Uppsala (Sierra & Annalise) and we went shopping at H&M and had fika at a café/bakery. After I hung out with Annalise & Sierra, I met my Rotary counselor for fika. We had a great conversation about my first week at school, and it's nice to have someone to talk to about everything in Sweden, even though I haven't had any problems so far. 

Thursday is quickly becoming one of my favorite days of the week. This is because, every Thursday, my first class starts at 11:30 so I get to sleep in. I ran into Sierra and Annalise on the bus, which was quite coincidental. They were going out to lunch and I was just on my way to school for the day. They live closer to their school than I do to mine, so they bike to school, I was very suprised to see them on the same bus as me. I discovered that there is an ICA grocery store about a block away from my school so I went shopping there and bought ICA Basic cookies and Ramlösa mineral water with my friends from school, Frida and Cecilia. After school, I met Sara at Stora Torget (The big square in the city center). We went shopping and got ice cream together. It started raining while we were eating our ice cream, so we went inside the Uppsala Cathedral. This church is absolutely stunning inside and out and although I had been inside once before, it was really cool to see it again. Bengt-Ove made this delicious vegetable/beef stew for dinner and it was wonderful. 

Friday was an average day at school. And as per usual, I didn't understand any of my classes. After school, I went home and cleaned my room and vacuumed the upstairs of the house because I had invited Annalise and Sierra over for Fredagsmys and a sleep over. Friday was also my day to cook dinner. Sierra and Annalise arrived in time to help me finish making spaghetti carbonara. We had fun cooking together and listening to various Swedish pop music ( thank you, Spotify & Ulrika). We watched Shrek 4 with my whole host family which was really interesting to watch in Swedish. After that, we watched George of the Jungle, Mamma Mia, and Mulan. We started watching Mulan around 4:00 am and we all fell asleep during that movie. We woke up around 9:30 am and we ate breakfast and watched the half of Mulan that we had slept through. I had fun getting to know the other exchange students better and Fredagsmys is definitely one of my favorite things about Sweden. 

Saturday was the day that marked my arrival in Sweden one month ago. It's hard to believe that I've already been here for a month. Sometimes it feels like forever and that I've always lived in Sweden and other times it feels like my first day and I don't understand anything that's going on around me. Usually it's a mix of both. I have my daily routine down, but as I am still learning the language each day presents it's own challenges. Ulrika took Axel and me on a tour of the castle. That was so awesome. We got to go inside the castle and it was like stepping back in time hundreds of years ago. We saw many old portraits of Swedish royals including Gustav Vasa. After we toured the castle, we went to a farmer's market and bought surströmming for the upcoming party. This coming Thursday, Ulrika has invited all of the Uppsala Rotary exchange students, their host families, and Rotary counselors over for a fish party. I read the Real Estate section of the newspaper with Ulrika after dinner and I had so much fun looking at all the unique houses. Although I was very tired, Saturday was a great day and it was nice to celebrate my first month in Sweden by doing so many interesting activities in one day. 

Sunday was the first day of September. I can't believe that September is here already, time is whizzing by. I took the bus into the city today, but since it was the weekend, I couldn't use my school bus card. I tried to pay with my debit card when I got on the bus, but the bus driver just looked at my and said " You are beautiful", and he motioned for me to find a seat on the bus and not pay. He spoke English with a very heavy accent, so I didn't understand him the first time, so he actually repeated what he said about 5 times, what a bus ride. I met Louise at the bus stop and we went on a lovely walk to her mom's house. We chatted for the whole afternoon and then she walked with me to the Studenternas IP where I watched an American football game with Simon and his friends. There were probably 1,000 people in the audience which was quite surprising because the sport is not very popular outside of America. Uppsala's team unfortunately lost by a large margin. Despite the loss, I had a lot of fun at the game and it's very interesting to watch American football with Swedish commentary. On the bus ride home, I also got to ride for free because they are in the process of changing Uppsala's bus system, so I couldn't use the credit card machine. Two free bus rides in one day was pretty sweet. I had hot dogs with ketchup and mustard for dinner. Sunday marked the end of yet another busy week in Sweden. I am loving it here, and I can't believe the first month is over already. 

School Days

Alright. So it's actually only been 6 days since I last updated my blog, but that's almost a week, so I am calling this post Week 3.

Monday was a momentous occasion for me, my first day of school in Sweden. I am going to one of the oldest schools in Scandinavia and a very famous royal is rumored to have attended school there. My school has about 1200 students which is several hundred less than my school in Colorado, but the building is huge! There are at least 4 stories in the building and many wings, so needles to say, getting around the school on my first day was a little tricky. On my first day, I met 3 girls in my class who showed me around the school, helped me get my locker, computer (still waiting on that), and lunch tag. These girls were the first people I met in my class and they really helped me transition into my new school in a new country and in a new language. Monday night, my host family had one of their friends over for dinner, who I had met previously when we were in Darlana County. We took my host family's motor boat into the city to drop the friend at their hotel, and seeing the city by boat was breath-taking and beautiful!

Swedish schools are organized very differently than American schools although there is variation from school to school, I'm sure. In my school, a person selects the program they want to study ( Science, Culture & Language, Social Science, and IB) ( I think those are all the programs my school offers, not entirely sure...)  then you are placed in a class of about 30 people. A student has all of their core curriculum classes with the same 30 students, but for elective subjects there is more variation. I am taking 7 subjects this year. My subjects are: Svenska (Swedish), Engelska (English), Film & TV Kunskap (Film & TV History), Kultur och Idéhistoria (Humanities), Samhällskunskap (Civics), Filosofi (Philosophy), and Religion. My class has a homeroom teacher who is also our Religion teacher, I have the same teacher for both of my history courses, and besides that I have a different teacher in every subject. My classes are an hour and a half and I have each subject twice a week. Something else that's different about Swedish school is that my schedule is completely different every day. For example I have English in the morning on one day and then in the afternoon on a different day. Another thing that's different in Sweden is that school lunch is completely free, and if a teacher will be gone, they don't hire a substitute, and instead class is canceled. 

Tuesday, my second day of school, was really great because it was just an orientation day so we didn't have any actual classes. My class gave some 1st year students a tour of the school, we had lunch and I was home by 12:50. Something else that is exciting about my school is that I am in the 3rd year. Swedish high school is called gymnasium and instead of 4 years, it is 3 years. I get to graduate with my class at school and participate in all of the really exciting traditions and activies that go along with graduation from Swedish gymnasium, I am so excited. When Ulrika got home from work, we rode our bikes to the bus stop and took the bus into the city center. We went to an free outdoor dance class for a dance called the Lindy Hop, which I think is kind of like swing dancing, but I'm not an expert. Even though I am a beginning dancer and I don't understand that much Swedish, I had so much fun laughing and learning the dance with Ulrika, and that was definitely the most fun I have ever had dancing. 

Wednesday, I only had one class, Philosophy and our homework was to look in the mirror and find an answer to the question " Who are you?". After school, I met a girl named Sara who was an exchange student from Sweden to Colorado last year, and we had ice cream together. I ordered my ice cream in Swedish all by myself and the cashier understood me! That was one of the best language accomplishments, I've had so far. 

Thursday, my first class was at 11:30 so it was really nice to sleep in. I don't understand any of my classes even the slightest bit. When I do recognize a word that a teacher says, I usually can't recognize the other words they've said, so I can never really piece together what we're learning. My classmates and teachers have helped me understand the assignments, but so far school has been really, really difficult. I know that as I learn more Swedish, I will be more and more able to understand my classes, I just wish I was already at that point in my Swedish abilities. I cooked my host family grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. I had really been missing grilled cheese so it was great to have that again, and I have never made tomato soup from scratch before, but that turned out really well! I have finally found a good way to convert my recipes to metric measurements so that has made cooking a lot easier. 

Friday I had my first English class and that was wonderful. I had English with my first Swedish friend,Louise, and the entire class was taught in English from start to finish, so I finally understood school, even if it was only for and hour and a half. I am getting to know more people in my class which is nice, but I can only remember the names of maybe 10 of the students out of 30. Swedish names are really hard to remember! Friday has always been my favorite day of the week, and being in Sweden has only reinforced that. The Swedes have a wonderful tradition called Fredagsmys. Fredagsmys is basically watching a movie, eating snacks, and spending time together as a family and it is one of my favorite things about Sweden. I also made chocolate milk for the first time since I've been in Sweden, and I made it with cocoa powder, sugar, and milk, delightful.This time, we watched a movie called The Crown Jewels which was good, albeit terribly confusing. I had a great time watching this movie, and I think I understood bits and pieces of the film too. Unfortunately, I was so tired that I fell asleep during the last part of the movie, so I didn't get to see the ending, although Ulrika explained what happened. 

Saturday was a busy day. I spent the morning packing and getting ready to go camping with my host family about 4 hours away from Uppsala. We finally got going, and after a very long car ride and lunch at McDonald's we finally arrived around 4:30 pm. During the car ride we watched a movie about Emil. Emil is a famous character from a book series by Astrid Lindgren ( the author of Pippi Longstocking). The movie was really good, although I really didn't understand very much. Saturday night, we attended a birthday party for 3 people and played many Swedish games. We ate delicious food and there was a lot of dancing. I was exhausted by the end of the night. We camped for the night in a tent, which was really fun, I haven't been camping in a long time. 

On Sunday, I woke up after 9:00 am which I thought was impressive, considering how bright the light is in Sweden in the early morning. We had breakfast with the rest of the party guests and sang many Swedish songs before packing up and hitting the road. We went swimming and played volleyball with some friends of my host family before we finally started the 4 hour car trip home. In the car, we watched The Muppets (2011) in English with Swedish subtitles and I had such a great time watching a movie I love with Axel and Anna. We got home around 6:30 pm and I prepared for school the next day before falling asleep after a busy, busy weekend. 

This week in Sweden was filled with many funny moments, good food, laughter, and adventures and I can't wait for even more to come!

Let me know if you have any questions about Sweden, I'd be happy to answer them! 

Hellos & Goodbyes

It's been more than a week since I last updated my blog, I have been very busy here in Sweden, and I finally have a little time to do an update. 

On my ninth day in  Sweden, I packed my bag for my host family's weekend trip to Töreboda and I watched the Broncos first game in the preseason with Simon. The place my host family and I went for the weekend is about a 4 hour drive away, so we spent Friday night driving in a car packed with a lot of instruments and people. The drive was very beautiful and the 4 hours in the car did not feel that long to me. Simon and I went to a Panda Express type restaurant called Chop Chop for dinner and that was delicious! I love Swedish fast food. 

The next day, my host family and I went to an amusement park in Sweden called Skara Sommerland, which was about an hour away from Töreboda. The amusement park was amazing. We spent the morning in the water park going down all the slides and having so much fun. For lunch, we went to the Tex-Mex buffet at the park, the food was good, but it did not taste like Tex-Mex at all. In the afternoon, it was a bit cooler so we rode the other rides in the amusement park. We left the park around 16:00, but not before getting huge amounts of soft-serve ice cream with toppings. That evening, we went to the birthday party for a family friend of my host family. The party was held in a barn and we ate a lot of Swedish food including raw herring in mustard and onion, which was surprisingly really good! 

Sunday was a very simple day. We cleaned up the cottage and packed and loaded the car up to return from our weekend trip. For most of the drive home, it was pouring rain, which was beautiful. I have never seen so much rain in my life. During the rain, the car almost ran out of gas, but luckily we found a gas station very quickly. I had a falafel roll for lunch, and it might be the largest food item I've ever ordered off a menu. I had no idea it would be so large, but thankfully Ulrika split it with me, the falafel was wonderful! When we finally got home, Axel made this really good potato dish for dinner and I watched a Patriots pre season game with Simon. 

Monday was the day that I finally went to the Swedish Migration office to get my residence card. The office is only open Mon-Wed from 12-3, so we decided to get there when it opened at 12 and hope that the wait wouldn't be too bad. Well despite arriving when the office opened, Simon, Anna, and I waited for more than an hour before my number was finally called. When I walked up to the desk, they took my picture, Simon told them my Swedish address, and they did my fingerprints, all of that took about 3 minutes. It was very frustrating to wait for so long for something that was very quick. We went to MAX for lunch and then we picked Hannes up and drove him about 20 km outside of the city for his surprise going away party. He was so surprised! Later that night, I skyped my best friend and my parents for the first time since I've been here so it was really nice to see their faces and hear their voices. I met my second host family and picked apples from the trees in their front yard. In typical Swedish fashion, we had fika and a great conversation about Swedish history and vikings. 

Tuesday was a very busy day. I baked an Apple Betty as a goodbye present to Hannes who was leaving on his exchange in the U.S. that day. Hannes had to leave for the airport hotel at 6:00 pm, and he came home from his goodbye party around 2:30 pm and then he began to pack his suitcase for an entire year. I was amazed that he managed to pack for a whole year in such a short amount of time. We said goodbye to Hannes at the airport hotel, although we were also going to say goodbye to him at the airport in the morning. 

Wednesday was also a busy day and it started very early. I woke up early to go with my host family to the airport to say goodbye to Hannes. After we said our goodbyes and watched him walk through security, we drove down to the outskirts of Stockholm to pick up my host family's motor boat that had been in a repair shop down there. Later in the day, Anna and I took the bus into the city and she walked with me to my school where I met my rotary counselor. He arranged a meeting with the head of my program and together we created my school schedule. I am in the social sciences program at my school and my schedule as of now has 7 classes. Engelska (English) Svenska (Swedish), Religion, Filosofi (Philosphy), Film & TV Kunskap (FIlm & TV History),Samhällskunskap (Civics) and Kultur och Idéhistoria (Humanities). After my meeting, I met a Swedish girl named Louise for fika and that was great because she goes to my school, so I'll know someone when I start school next week. I rode the bus home by myself and didn't get lost so that was great! 

Thursday, Simon and I rode our bikes to the gym and I worked out for an hour. I decided to buy a gym membership and I'm looking forward to using that because the gym is on the way home from school, so I can easily go to the gym after school. I cooked my host family crepes, hash browns, and bacon for dinner, but the hash browns were really difficult to make. The food turned out well, but it took a very long time to prepare and cook everything for dinner. 

Friday, I said goodbye to my host family, went to the gym and then I had lunch with my 2nd host mom Karin and the two other exchange students in Uppsala. There are three other Rotary exchange students in Uppsala this year, but one hasn't arrived yet. I had lunch with Sierra ( from Utah) and Annalise ( from Washington state). Annalise and Sierra are in the same program, year, and class at the same school, but I am going to a different school. After lunch, the three of us went to language camp together in a village outside of Norrtälje. There were 13 of us exchange students there. There were 8 Americans, 1 Canadian, 2 girls from India, a girl from Japan and a girl from South Korea. We studied Swedish when we arrived and watched a really good Swedish mini series called Murders in Sandhamn. 

Saturday was the first full day of language camp and the lessons were tiring. We learned many words and phrases that I had learned before I came to Sweden, so the course was quite boring at times. There were so many flies at language camp that by the end of the weekend, all we had to say about language camp was that there were more flies than guys. We had two Rotarians from Stockholm teaching us Swedish and they were very informative and helpful. I learned some new vocabulary this weekend as well as how to tell time in Swedish, which I know will be useful. Despite all the flies, language camp was a good experience and it was nice to finally meet the other exchange students living in this Rotary district (2350). 

Sunday, the last day of language camp was filled with learning and laughter (and of course flies) and it was overall a nice day. We left language camp around 3:00 in the afternoon and drove home. This was one of the busiest weeks I've ever had and I'm sure I'll have a lot more adventures ahead. 

Arriving in Sweden

Around this time last week, I arrived at the Stockholm-Arlanda airport and met my host family. My host parents are named Bengt-Ove and Ulrika and they have four children. Simon is 18, Hannes is 16, Anna is 11, and Axel is 9. My host family has been so welcoming and friendly to me since I've arrived in Sweden and I can't believe I have already been in Sweden for a week! I have been so busy every day, that I couldn't find time to update my blog until just now.

I arrived in Sweden around 9:00 pm on July 31st. When I arrived at my host family's house, we had tea and a chocolate cake with raspberries that Anna had made for my arrival. I was very tired so I went to bed and slept really well.

On my first full day in Sweden, Simon, Hannes and I rode our bikes to the city center of Uppsala. The bike ride was fun, and Uppsala is a beautiful city. We visited the castle in Uppsala and the famous cathedral. We had lunch at MAX (Swedish McDonald's) and we looked at many shops. We also rode our bikes to my school and it started pouring rain like crazy!

On my second day in Sweden, I went sailing with Hannes, Simon, Ulrika, Ulrika's sister and her children. We sailed on a lake that is about a 10 minute drive from my host family's house. We sailed out to this island in the middle of the lake and went swimming. Swedish lakes are SO COLD! But overall the swimming was a lot of fun, even though it was a bit chilly. When we headed back to the marina, the wind had stopped, so we had to use a paddle to get to a point in the lake where there was wind and we could sail back.

Anna and Axel are helping me learn to read in Swedish, by using children's picture books. Typically, one of my host siblings will read a page and I will tell them the words I don't understand. They'll explain the words to me, and then I will read a page and they will correct my pronunciation. I read a book called Ture, and later Ulrika told me it was a book for toddlers. Even though I can only read picture books, I feel like I am definitely learning Swedish.  

On Saturday, we packed up the Volkswagen and headed to Vika, Bengt-Ove's home town. Vika is about a 2 hour drive north from Uppsala. We stopped for lunch in Hedemora. The village sits right beside the lake, and we stayed in a small cottage right by the water. Staying in the cottage was nice because it was very cozy and we were really close to good swimming! My host family purchased a new floating dock for the lake so we installed that as soon as we got to Vika. 

Saturday night, we had a campfire and a lake party with some friends of my host family. We took a motor boat to the other side of the lake to get to the wood-burning sauna. I spent most of the day alternating between swimming in the lake and sitting in the sauna. Saturday was a really fantastic day and I got to meet a lot of new people, which was overwhelming, but exciting.

Sunday was a very relaxed day. I spent the morning swimming at the lake and trying out the new dock, and then I helped Ulrika cook lunch. On Monday, we drove to Orsa and Rattvik to buy a feeder for Bengt-Ove's family farm in Vika. After we bought the feeder, we had lunch at a fast food restaurant called Daisy's and I ordered this dish that had mashed potatoes, salad, and sausage all rolled up in Swedish flat bread, it was wonderful. We went swimming in Lake Siljan after lunch. Siljan was very interesting because the water is very shallow, we went really far out into the lake and the water was barely at my waist. The lake was suprisingly warm, (by Swedish standards) and I had a lot of fun splashing around in the lake with Anna and Axel. We had dinner with some friends of my host family, and  I made a salad. 

On Tuesday, I spent the day swimming in Lake Vika. In the afternoon, I helped my Bengt-Ove and his brothers install the feeder they had purchased in Orsa the day before. We drove to Falun in the evening to have dinner with the same friends from the lake party on Saturday night. Their house is beautiful and we played a traditional Swedish lawn game called Kubb. After dinner, we went for a walk in a park in Falun and that was beautiful.

Wednesday was a pretty ordinary day. I helped Bengt-Ove and Ulrika clean up the cottage and get everything packed. We had lunch with Bengt-Ove's Mom and she made this potato dish, with potatoes baked into this loaf of bread, I loved that. After lunch, we drove back to Uppsala. 

On Thursday, I tried traditional Swedish pancakes with tomatoes and cheese for lunch. After a delicious lunch, Anna and I took the bus into the city center and went shopping. The H&M here is massive ( 3 floors- with escalators). It was a really delightful afternoon, even though I still don't know my clothing size in European sizing. I went grocery shopping with Anna and bought ingredients for dinner. I cooked my host family my mom's homemade mac n' cheese recipe and they really like it! It was very difficult for me to convert the recipe from English to Metric, but the mac n' cheese turned out really well. 

I've had a very busy first week! That was just a very brief summary of all of my adventures so far. 

Let me know if you all have any questions about what I'm up to in Sweden or what Sweden is like in general. :)