Friday, August 6, 2010

Home Sweet Home

I am so sorry guys for not updatingig soo long! It has been over a month. Things have been so crazy!



I guess I can start things off by saying I am back home in the US and it feels so weird. I felt so at home in Sweden and coming back home reminded me that I was on an amazing adventure but it had to end sometime. The first morning I woke up in my own bed it felt like my exchange year was a beautiful dream and I was so sad to wake up from it. Everything is the same here so it feels like I really did go to sleep and have this amazing dream. But as I swiped the sleep from my eyes I realized that it had been a year since I last woke up in my own house with my own parents there to greet me. Now that I am moved into my room again I can almost forget at times that I left, but there are traces of Sweden everywhere I look. The memoirs I have in my room, on the walls, the great friends I have made and a language that I never would have dreamed of learning. I am so grateful to have had this experience and I feel like now that I am soon to start school it is time to join the real world again, see people that I have known since 2nd grade. Exchange was a great adventure that most teenagers don't get the chance to do and I have a view of the world that most of the people at my school don't have.



For the last few weeks of my exchange I was on a Euro Tour. I am not going to describe it in full detail because it would take hours just to write up. All I will say is that those 17 days were the best in my life and I dont know if anything will ever top that. The reason is because of the friends I made on the tour, anyone can do a Euro Tour but not everyone has the amazing friends that exchange students become. I know people from all over the world, the closest person to me would be a 5ish hour drive. I bonded with these people like you would never believe. We became a family, everyone on the tour in near and dear in my heart and I can only hope to see them all again. =) If you would like to see what I did on the tour, go on to my facebook and I have all the pictures up. They say a picture is worth a thousand words!



Today, a new exchange student is coming to live with my family and I. Nini from Germany. I am very excited for her to come because I think it will keep me involved in exchange, I didn't want to come home and just be done with exchange students. Exchange students just have such a great bond with one another and make such great friends. =)



I am hoping that I will continue this blog but I just dont know if I will be able to find time to write. If I do continue, this will be the last post in english. Since I need to practice my swedish I figure this will be a really great way to do that. So for all of you out there that are just beginning your exchange, good luck! I really hope that you have a great year and just remember that this is your year and it is up to you to make it amazing! If you ever need any advice from a rebound don't hesitate to ask me, =) I would love to hear how other exchanges are going!



Kram, Haley

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Euro Tour schedule

So here is my schedule for my whole trip...

July 1st- Malmö, Sweden to Berlin, Germany
July 2nd- Berlin, Germany
July 3rd- Berlin, Germany to Cracow, Poland
July 4th- Cracow, Poland
July 5th- Cracow, Poland to Prauge, Czech Republic
July 6th- Prauge, Czech Rebublic
July 7th- Prauge, Czech Rebublic to Salzburg, Austria, to Zell Am See, Austria
July 8th- Zell Am See, Austria
July 9th- Zell Am See, Austria to Lido di Jesolo, Italy
July 10th- Lido di Jesolo, Italy
July 11th- Venice, Italy
July 12th- Lido di Jesolo, Italy to Chambery, France
July 13th- Chambery, France to Paris, France
July 14th- Paris, France
July 15th- Paris, France
July 16th- Paris, France to Brussels, Belgium to Hagen, Germany
July 17th- Hagen, Germany to Malmö, Sweden

So that is my exciting adventure for then next couple weeks!!! =)

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

A Midsommar Nights Dream...

So a week has passed since my last post... you know what happened?!

MIDSOMMAR! =)

Midsommar is a huge thing in Sweden, it is almost as important and celebrated as Christmas. So if you dont know anything about it, the basic principle is that it is a celebration of the longest day of the year. We put up a midsommar pole and dance around it. As much as this pole may look like a christian symbol, it isn't! Haha it is actually very funny and innappropriate for small children to dance around. Google it! =)

I spent my Midsommar out with Michaels family, they have a huge party every year. So I was there early to help out and set everything up for the party. When the party started at 4 we ate a meal, one of 3 haha, then we decorated the pole with tree branches and flowers. I also made a head thing, look on my facebook at the picture of me with flowers on my head and someone tell me what that is called in english haha, I can't think of it for the life of me! Then we set up the pole and danced around it singing songs and having fun. When we were done with the pole we were split into teams and we played fun games. My team won!! =)

We got very lucky this year because we had beautiful weather, apparently it usually rains on Midsommar. After the games was food and music then grilling! Yumm.. We also had fireworks at midnight. =) The it got dark a bit after 11 and then it started getting light again at about 2, those are just estimates though. I finally went to bed at 3ish, I was tired but I was actually one of the earliest to go to sleep. Some of the people stayed up until 7.30, and by that time the sun was shining brightly.

So that was my midsommar adventure, the pictures explain it a lot better that I can type it haha. Now I am about to take a leave of absence because tomorrow I leave to go on EUROTOUR!!! I will be gone 18 days and i am going to have an amazing time! =) So I will not be able to get on the computer for a while, I might be able to check a little email, but chances are I wont have much time to be on the computer.

So farewell for now!! See you guys in a few weeks! =) =)


Kram, Haley

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Holy bejeezes!

I have only one month left!!! I literally can not wrap my mind around this concept. It had always seemed like I had all the time in the world to be here and enjoy myself with all my friends and family but I am almost DONE!

I dont even have the whole month in Sweden. 17 days of it will be spent on Eurotour. So really I have a little less than 2 weeks left in Sweden. My mind is spinning haha.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

PLANS...

Btw... I forgot to add that I have decided to continur this blog when I get home, but... wait for it........

IN SWEDISH!

So all of you who are in New Mexico reading this back home, that wont be so fun for you haha. Men.. alla i Sverige kan läsa om hur det är för mig när jag åker hem! Also all of the people that are about to go out on their exchange can practice their swedish a bit. =)

I wont update as often as I have this year, mostly because I wont be doing so much exciting stuff. When I write in here, I can talk about how it is for me adjusting to my old life again and the differences I notice between Sweden and the USA. I will also be able to practice my swedish and that is a huge plus!

SO... soon after I gte home you can look for a re-done blog! I will completly transform it to a swedish blog. =) Make-Over!!

Kram, Haley

I can hear the bells....

So this past Saturday was the royal wedding! I actually sat don and watched it like a good little exchange student. Haha it was actually really interesting to watch, you could tell that they were very in love. Daniel (New prince of sweden) even cried a little! They are a cute couple. =)

So this past week I have had summer break! Yay! I haven't done much, hung out with my host sister and stuff. I think during summer break people should take it easy. =) Especially when I have a crazy trip coming up on the horizon. The weather was pretty nice up until friday, I have been out sunbathing and even..... yes..... swimming! In the crazy freezing lake. I am not kidding! My heart felt like it stopped for a secong there. On Friday, I went to Linköping with Lisa (Youtube video up! Lalalanddreamer21) we went and saw Sex and the City 2, it was very funny! I really liked it =) Today me and my host parents did some touristy stuff in a city about and hour from hear. It was nice, it was like a little mini vacation.

This whole next week I am the only one in my family that is not working haha, so I will just be chilling and hanging out with friends. Hopefully the weather holds up. =) Friday is Midsommar, a HUGE swedish holiday. I will post more about it once I learn more about it haha. It will definitly be a new experience!

Kram, Haley

Monday, June 14, 2010

Graduation!!

Vi har tagit studenten
för vi har tagit studenten
Vi har tagit studenten!!!
Fy fan vad vi är BRA!!!

Haha just a little tune to say that I have graduated!! I haven't written in a while because I wanted to get all of the graduation stuff into one blog and grad lasts about a week here so here it goes....

At the beginning of the week was a carnival, it was more of a parade than a carnival I guess but it was definitly funny! All of the graduating classes chose a theme and dressed up for it then had a parade of all of them. There were so many great costumes and it was all very funny to watch. At the end, three of the classes won a money prize. My class (Well not my class technically but the grade above us) came in second place, they were dressed up as nuts! haha. That night I was over at Lisas and we had a Harry Potter marathon, the weird thing was that we saw it get dark and we also saw it get light! It gets dark here at aroung 11ish and then it started getting light at like 3 and by 4 it was completly light outside! Monday there was a race on the river, the classes had to build their own floats and then they raced. I felt pretty bad for them actually because it was really cold and kind of rainy. The whole week was pretty bad weather actually. =(

On Saturday was graduation!!! I got up and went to school at 9 and the ceremony started at 10. I was there earlier because I am in the choir and we got to perform. So the whole gradution was some singing and lots of talking about the future. There were no diplomas like back home and we werent allowed to put on out hats till the very end. Michael and I had to go up on stage and get introduced, he just said stuff about what we were doing and why exchange was such a great thing. I translated to Michael as the principal was talking and everyone thought that was pretty funny. =) After the ceremony all of the classes went into a room with their teachers and the teachers talked, gave out grades, and said goodbye, it was pretty emotional. At 12 we all raced out of the school and then went and found our families. Parents make posters with a baby picture on it so they can be found in the crowd, it was a really fun thing to see! Then after everyone said hi to their families we all piled into the float and drove around town with the music blasted and we were screaming and dancing. It was a blast!! After all of that I went around to houses with my host family for a few grad parties which are pretty much like back home I would say.

It was a very cool experience and really great that my school let me graduate, a lot of exchange students dont get to do that here. So now I am on summer break and I have 2 and a half weeks before Euro Tour to spend with my friends here! Now hopefully the weather gets nice again so I actually want to go outside haha.

Kram, Haley

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

JUNI!

I know, I know, I haven't written for over a week but that would be because NOTHING has happened since I returned from Germany.

All last week was normal school, I went into Linköping on saturday with a couple of my friends and we went shopping. I bought a dress for graduation because it is traditional that grads wear white. =) I also bought a bathing suit in preparation for the summer. =P

This week has been the most beautiful weather EVA! I have worn shorts and skirts all week, haha I need to get some color on this paleness! The weather has been over 20 degrees every day, celcius so you USA people should go translate that into fareinheit because Iäm too lazy to do it. It is almost summer break here, I have one week left of school.

It is actually pretty sad that school is almost over because that means my exchange is almost over =( I have about 50 days left but sooner to Eurotour.

Ok so next week I will have tons to write abut since it is the last week of school and tons of festivities =)

Kram, Haley

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Germany!

I got home from Germany on Sunday night and let me tell you... I was tired. I travelled 2 hours by car, 1.5 hours by plane, 1.5 hours by bus, 40 min by train and then another 40 min by car. So lots of travel. I had such a great time in Germany and I did so much stuff so I guess I will just have to take it day by day. =)

Wednesday- Same amount of travel as on Sunday, so about 6 hours. We drove from the airport to Lulus town, Bonn. I got to see Lulu after a little less than a year and that was really fun. I don't think we ran out of things to talk about the whole time I was there. For those of you who dont know, Lulu was an exchange student last year and she lived with me and my family. When I got there we went to the store to get food for dinner then came back and made a sallad. After we ate we got to catch up and just hang out till we decided it was bedtime.

Thursday- I got up early to go and get my parents from the train station and that was nice to see them again, even if it was only a week since I had last seen them. We went back to the house so they could get drop their stuff off before we made our way to Cologne. The first thing we did was go to this beautiful church. We first walked around the inside and then we took the 500ish stairs up to the top of the tower. It was a long walk, haha at the top was such a great view, you could see the whole skyline of Cologne. It was definitly a great experience. Then we went and ate, I also got my first starbucks in 10 months! I was so amazingly happy haha. We then went to a chocolate museum, it was basically just telling about the history of chocolate and how they made all the shapes and stuff. There were lots of cool antique chocolate realated things. It was pretty interesting to learn about, not to mention the free samples haha. Then we went back to the house and had a delicious dinner.

Friday- I got up early to go to school with Lulu but her class was cancelled so we just ended up going into the city and had a starbucks and sunbathed. The weather was so incredible! Everyone was in shorts and tank tops. We then met up with my parents and Lulus mom and went on a river boat tour of the Rhein river. It was very pretty, there were a few random castles and mansions where government leaders used to live since Bonn used to be the capitol of Germany. Then we stopped at a little city and had lunch before it was time to go back and go to a BBQ. We had real german Bratwurst and they were so yummy!

Saturday- I said goodbye to my parents until to end of the summer, but it's ok because I know that 2 months will fly by and I will be back home before I know it. Lulu and I went shopping in Cologne and I got some new things including some awesome zebra sunglasses haha. When we were all shopped out, we went back to Bonn and ate dinner at a family friends house and then went to hang out with some of Lulus friends on the Rhein river. It was fun and warm. As we were going home at midnight, it was still about 18 degrees! I was so happy! We then watched the notebook and did our nails haha.

Sunday- Lulu and I slept in really late, we had to leave the house at 1.30 and then we had the long drive to my airport where we sain goodbye and I made my journey back home to Sweden where the weather isn't nearly as nice, but I'm hanging in there hoping for better weather by June. =)

Kram, Haley

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Student ball =)

This past saturday was the student ball for my school. The student ball is pretty much like prom but to make it even better they had a red carpet that the couples walked down and it seemed like the whole town was there to watch, haha there were soo many people! It was cool to see all the 3rd graders (senior equivalent) all dressed up and perty. =P

That was my exciting weekend haha, we had a four day weekend and that was the single most exciting thing that happened to me haha. It's ok because tomorrow morning, I am going to ......

GERMANY!!!

I will definitly keep you guys posted and tons of pictures will be on facebook, promise!

Kram, Haley

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Part 3. Stockholm

Before I get started on my trip to Stockholm I would just like to say that I just realized that it had been a year since I started this blog! Wow! The time has gone sooo crazy fast, this time last year I was just getting pumped up for exchange and now it is almost summer! Ahhh!

Anyways...

My trip started very early in the morning with a long bus ride. We stopped on the way at a castle and got a quick tour before we had to keep going on the bus. At about 11.30 we got to the National Museum in Stockholm! I was so excited to be in Swedens capitol! We took a tour of one of the art exibits there, it was very interesting. We got to see some of the artworks that we had seen in our text books!

After that tour, we were free to do whatever in the city. Of course, we went shopping haha. I saw a T.G.I. Fridays! I did not know that they had those here haha. We also ate Ben and Jerrys ice cream. The weather was beyond amazing all day, it was definitly the best weather of the year. Everyone was soo happy that the sun was shining. =)

We got a tour of the opera house and that was very interesting, we even go to go backstage and see that the stage was tilted! It was so weird, I couldnt believe that ballerinas have to dance on a tilted stage. I definitly learned a lot about the opera house. We then got a little more free time so we walked around the castle, everything was closed so we were just randomly walking around taking pictures but it was fun anyway.

Then we went to the opera house again but to actually see the opera this time. We saw Tosca, it was a new experience haha, it was my first time at the opera and I had to keep reminding myself that they did not have microphones on then haha. it was amazing, they sang sooo loud! After the opera, we had a very long bus ride all the way home again, we got back into ton around 2.30 so I jusy went a collapsed into bed!

Kram, Haley

Part 2. Parent Visit

So saturday after I left Kalmar, I had a 3 hour train ride to Linköping where I met my parents! They actually suprised me because I thought that I would be getting in earlier than them and meet them as they got off their train so I was waiting in the waiting room for their train to come and they came up behind me and suprised me! It was really funny, I was so shocked but happy to see them. We then took the train down to Tranås and my host dad met us at the train station. We drove straight out to my house in the countryside so my parents could meet my host family. =)

We then went to the sauna! Haha if you remember my first post about the sauna, it was a pretty akward thing for me the first time so I thought it would be interesting for my parents to experience that. They got a warm welcome there and everyone was very nice. Haha Life experience =) After that we went back to my house and ate dinner then collapsed in bed.

Sunday we started out going to a nearby city named Gränna. We ate the famous polkagris candy and walked around the cutest little swedish village. I could definitly see myself owning a little summer cottage there. We had lunch at the golden otter, a resturant that has the most amazing view of the lake I have ever seen! It is so gorgeous. We then went back and had birthday cake, yummy! After we were all filled up on cake, we drove into the city to have dinner with Lisa! I was so excited to have my parents meet Lisa since she has been sich a big part of my exchange here. They loved her of course =) We watched a bit of Salongerna since Lisa had the DVD! I really need to buy one now. It was really fun for my parents to see that since that was about all they heard about for months. We ate dinner and walked around in huge fields of little white spring flowers. Then another cake haha. We were stuffed! Elisabeth then came and picked us up to go to her house where we would be staying. When we got there we talked a little then decided it was bedtime.

Monday we basically did a tour of my little town. We started off with the shops on the main street and had lunch with Elisabeth at a wonderful Italian resturant. We then walked to the school I help teach english at, we visited my 6th graders, then continued on to my school. I gave then a tour and they met a few of my classmates but most of them werent there because english class was cancelled! So once we were done with that we walked over to my First host family, we ate crayfish and some moose, then went to the stables where we watched Amalia in her horse riding lesson. Mom and Dad got to meet Tuva for a bit but then we had to go back to the house to eat another birthday cake! After that we went back to Elisabeths and had a nice chat until we were all to tired =)

Tuesday was the last day of my parents visit so we went into Linköping and shopped. My birthday present was a new outfit, I definitly needed the clothes =) It was a very nice day on Tuesday so we ate lunch outside then grabbed some ice cream with two of the exchange students living in linköping, Alex and David. When we got back to Tranås we went over to my second host family and had a little bite to eat before we went to "Open Stage" It was basically just like a talent show without it being a competition. I preformed in my choir. It was really fun. Then we just went back to Elisabeths and had some really yummy crayfish soup!

The next morning we had to say goodbye since I was off to Stockholm for the day. I will see then next week in Germany though!

Part 1. Kalmar

Ok so last thursday and friday I didn't have to go to school. =) Very happy!

I left ( I was silly and accidently booked the wrong train ticket so I had to travel all alone! ) Tranås in the morning and was in Kalmar by 1. 30. Kalmar is a town on the east coast of Sweden, sadly it was very cold and windy because spring here is very weird. The weather can never make up its mind! When I got there, Fuzz (exchange student) picked me up and we walked to the hostel place we were staying at. We got a little lost and walked around a strange neighbourhood for a while but we eventually found the place and dumped my bags then walked back into town to meet more exchangies.

When we were all together, there are about 15 of us, we went bowling! It seems that at any exchange event I have been to, they take us bowling. In the US and here in Sweden haha. We all squeazed into a fruit van to get there, that was interesting. My team was awesome simply because of the fact that we are all terrible bowlers, we eventually get fed up with our bad scores and just changed it to all strikes =) After bowling, we went to an Italian resturant and waited for what seemed like forever to get our food. We were all starving since none of us really had the time for a real meal all day long. The food was dissappointing so afterwards, we all went to a grocery store and bought candy and junk, which was much more satisfying.

The next day was.....drumroll please.... My 17th Birthday! Finally! Haha, I got sung to a million times that day both in swedish and english. It was a fun day. The first thing we did was get transported to a high school in Kalmar and we were supposed to be giving brocures out about being an exchange student but no one wanted to talk to us! It was soo sad! We did find a few randoms dressed up as a cow and some guys with a beard to talk to so it wasnt completly pointless. =) After that we all went to a Billiard hall and had a 9 ball tournament. By some birthday luck, I beat Evan and made it to the semi-finals but then lost to Nora. Neither Evan or I could believe that I beat him, there was no skill involved haha it was just purely luck. After that we all walked back to the hostel where we got pizza and played mafia a million times. Whats more, Evan let me straighten his hair! It was hilarious and then David and Fuzz wanted it done too, it was very funny! We all finally had to go to bed though.

The next morning I had to leave earlier than everyone else to go meet my Parents! See part 2... =)

Wow!

Its been a while! Like I said, I was B-U-S-Y, I barely had time to breath. So to prevent this blog from getting to crazy long I am going to split it up into 3 parts.

Part 1. Kalmar
Part 2. Parent visit
Part 3. Stockholm

I wouls also like to thank everyone for reading this blog because now my views have gone past 3,000! That is so amazing that people are interested in what I am doing here. =)

Kram, Haley

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Ready for some fun?

So this week so far has been average, nothing out of the norm. =) The exciting stuff will all be happening tomorrow and continue on for the next 2 weeks. So if I neglect my blog just a little, heres why...

Tomorrow I will be heading off to Kalmar, Sweden for a district gathering. I think most of the exchange students in my district will be there. we will be bowling, canoing (haha cuz the weather is so amazing, NOT!) and going to a school to talk about the exchange. This lasts until saturday, my birthday is also convenietntly in there too. =) That's right, Haley will be turning 17 in two days!

On Saturday is the big one..... drumroll please... The parents! Yup, My parents are finally making their trip here. I am super excited to see them since it has been over nine months since I last saw them. Can you believe it? Nine months? That is utterly ridiculous, I just can not fathom where all the time has gone. So we will meet up on saturday and they will saty until wednesday morning.

While my parents head off to their europe adventure, I will be somewhere a little closer to home. I get to go to Stockholm! My class is going to Stockholm on wednesday, we are going to the opera, a castle,the art museum and we also get to roam the town for the majority of the day. I am very excited for this because even though I have been in Sweden for 9 months, I haven't been to the capitol yet, shameful I know.

We then have thursday and friday off school for some random holiday, but hey, I'm not complaining.

The next week, I will be in school monday and tuesday but then I will be off to my biggest adventure yet on exchange, getting myself to Germany. Ya, I have to book all the correct plane and bus tickets, make sure I am there on time and not lost and arrive safely in Dusseldorf, Germany. I'm sure everything will be fine but I do have a tendency to get lost. I am going to Germany to once again meet up with my parents and also get to hang out with Lulu! The german exchange student my family hosted last year, I'm sure it will be a very fun visit. =)

Then I have only three short weeks until school finishes, 2 and a half weeks of break, 3 weeks of europe travel, four days of goodbyes, then tons of hellos =)

Kram, Haley

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Valborg/ Dansens dag

This past week was pretty fun, it was the last week of April so definitly a week of celebration here in Sweden.

On Wednesday, it was "Dansens Dag" which means the dance day. I preformed in a dance with my begining dance class and I think it went really well. Especially taking into consideration that we don't really know what we are doing. I posted the video up on my youtube if anyone is interested. You can find my account under lalalanddreamer21. It was also fun to watch ass of the other, more advanced dance classes preform, they were really really good. =)

Friday was the last day of April and a holiday in Sweden. It is called Valborg. Basically it is just celebrating the coming of spring. We picked stinging nettles and made a soup out of them. They do this because the nettles are the first fresh things that you can eat in the spring, even though I didn't even know they were edible. They actually tasted really really good, I would reccomend it. We also had fondu with 3 kinds of meat that were all a little different. There was lamb, ox and.... Ostrich! I was a little sceptical abuut the ostrich but it was really good! Also on Valborg, everyone lights big bonfires to rid off the witches and the winter. It is swedens formal way of welcoming spring. May I add that even though it was raining, we all stood outside and watched the fire. Then we got ot come in and eat dessert. We had 12 people at my house until about 12.30. It was a pretty fun party.

Today I went into Linköping with some exchange student friends and we messed around in the city and took lots of pictures and then we went to go see Iron Man 2! Go see that movie if you haven't already, it is soo amazing, I really enjoyed it.

So now I'm home just waiting for another exciting week to start. =)

Kram, Haley

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Snow?!

Nothing much happened this past week so this will be a short blog. =)

I have finally booked the train tickets for my trip to Kalmar. My whole rotary district is getting together May 6-8, and my birthday happens to fall into that visit! Yay! So for my birthday I get to hang out with all of my rotary friends. It's kind of ironic because the same thing happened last year to haha. So for the trip, we will be going to schools and talking about the exchange program, canoing anf bowling. It should be pretty fun. Then the saturday I get back, my parents will get into town! I am very excited haha, and they will stay for 3ish days. =)

There was unnecessary snow this week, it snowed three times! Terrible! It was always melted be noon but still, it is APRIL, there should be no snow! Other than that though the weather has been pretty nice, except for the wid but I can deal with that if its 15 degrees outside. (celcius)

On friday, we watched and particpated in a radio recording thing. It was some radio competition, we were the typical sudio audience, we were even told when to clap and how loud haha. After that I just went home for the weekend and havne't done anything since. =)

Kram, Haley

Sunday, April 18, 2010

BBQ

So to make up for the week of boringness, this past week was pretty busy. I already told you about what happened on Tuesday and wednesday.

On thursday, I had a rotary lunch as usual and everything was pretty calm. On friday, we had visitors from a school from Vetlanda. It was their seniors from the music program and they preformed for us.

I spent the weekend at my first host family this because I wanted to go into Linköping on saturday. It's kind of silly that I live so far out of the city that if I want to visit my friends over the weekend, I can't sleep in my own bed haha. So saturday afternoon, I took the train into Linköping and I met Evan, another exchange student from Canada. We hung out in the city for a while but then we got really hungry and being the broke exchange students we are, we didn't want to pay for food, so we walked all the way back to Evans house and cooked some pasta, yum =)We went over to another friends house for a BBQ! It was fun to meet a bunch of new people. There was a girl that moved here from Germany in august and her swedish was sooo good! But apparently, swedish is really easy to learn if german is your first language. There was also a girl at the party who is leaving for exchange in the US in July, so I had fun talking to them.

After the party, my saturday night turned a little sour. I left the party at 10 and cought a bus to the train station to catch my train at 10.30. I got there in plenty of time and everything was fine but then they said that my train was deleyed 10 minutes, so i wasn't too happy bout that but I realized it could have been worse, and then it got worse! Haha The train got cancelled! So they said the train was cancelled and they said that there would be a bus but they didn't give us any times or info. So we just waited for something to happen for an HOUR! Might I mention that it was freezing cold and the wind was crazy that night? Well it was, yay lucky Haley! I felt pretty bad for these three guys that were standing there because none of them had jackets, they just had their T-shirts, haha I have no clue why they thought it was warm enough for that. So eventually a bus came, but heres the other twist in the story, it didn't go to Tranås. So there were three people with no way to get home. They called a Taxi for us and we had to wait another 15 minutes outside for that. It was really ironic though because one of the people that was stuck with me was a girl who was leaving today for the US. She was a part of that nanny program where you go and live with a family for a year and they pay for living expenses and your salary. It was very fun to talk to her!

Anyways, I finally got home after an hour long but free Taxi ride. I pretty much just collapsed in bed, frozen haha. Sunday, my host dad nad brother came and got me at the Åsens and when I got home, it was time to relax!

I think this week will be a pretty normal week, but after that, it's crazy! So I wil lhave plenty to writea bout =)

Kram, Haley

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Påsk Lov

So I am finally sitting down and making myself write! The reason that it is so hard is because I did basically nothing over my week long break! So sad!

On the days when I didn't have a ride into town, I just hung around the house. You have to remember that I live a 20 minute drive from ANYWHERE. So yoo when you have no car available, you are pretty much stuck. I did go on a long walk in the forest one day, that was nice because you don't see anybody, just the forest. Haha I was kind of nervous to be walking alone at first because we have really mean wild pigs on out property! I figured I was safe though. For those of you that don't know, My current host family lives on 200 acres of land, so there's definitly some room to breathe. Other than walking in the forest I didn't do much outside because the weather last week was terrible, it seemed to be on the verge of rain all week. The weather is much better this week.

On friday, I went to Linköping with Michael and we went to the movie theatre and then to a really awesome 2nd hand shop. I got shoes for 50 crowns and a shirt for 45. That is ridiculous! Nothing in sweden is that cheap! BTW divide by 7 do get dollars.

The rest of the weekend I went to the sauna and weaited the return of school!

When we came back to school, Monday was a normal day but Tuesday and Wednesday were a little different.

Tuesday- We went on a field trip! Haha I haven't been on a field trip in forever! We went to a city called Örebro. It is about a 2 and a half hour drive from Tranås. We went to the music school there and we got a tour and learned all about the school. Then we were allowed about an hour to just hang out in the city, we got ice cream and soaked up some sun! =D

Wednesday- After lunch, we went to the movies! It is so funny that here a few times every year, you get to skip your classes and go to the movie theatre in town for free and see a movie. We saw a movie about a girl that wanted to be an actress but she was really big and everyone made fun of her. I was really proud of myself because the movie was in swedish and I understood everything. I remember how frusterated I was when I couldn't understand anything. It felt like I would never learn the language. A word to all future exchange students, it will be OK! You will learn the language, just give it some time. Don't let people tell you that you have to know the language after 3 months just because that's what the person before you did. Everyone is different and some people learn languages faster than others. I am fairly slow at learning languages but it came eventually. =)

So that was my break, now I'm just counting down till my birthday and my parents visit! My birthday is on the 7th of May and my parents come the day after that! Yay!

Kram, Haley

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Påskkärring


This is a picture I found of some cute little swedish witches!

Glad Påsk!

Or.... Happy Easter!

So now that it's easter, I also have a break that many of you probably already know about and I have nothing to do all week. I did do some stuff for easter though. So I think I should tell you guys how the swedes celebrate Easter!

It is very similiar to the USA, except here, it is was bigger! Everyone celebrates it! One thing that I found very interesting is that on Easter, little girls dress up as witches and go trick-or-treating. I don't really know why so I looked it up! Here is the article I found on thelocal.se:

The local supermarkets in their weekly adverts also exploit the food associations of chicks, lamb, påskmust, eggs, sweets and the obligatory “påskkäring” or Easter witch to draw in customers gearing up for the upcoming gluttony of Påskafton.

Easter celebrations and traditions for the secular Swede are nearly as sacred as Christmas to the Swedish culture. Even devout atheists pay respect to the long-standing traditional norms that the holiday dictates in Sweden. Easter is a big deal to the entire country.

Religious Easter isn’t completely removed from the celebrations of the modern Swede. Swedes are traditionalists after all.

There will always be the group of churchgoers on Easter Sunday. Most likely they are the same gang who went to church for julotta Christmas morning. However, Easter today, has little to do with Christian beliefs for the majority of Swedes.

Children dressed as witches give a clear indication that Swedish Påsk origins predate Christianity. Folklore alleges that witches flew off on broomsticks to dance with the devil at Blåkulla.

In Sweden, this tale ties in with Easter. And so on skärtorsdag, Maundy Thursday, modern Swedish children dress up as påskkärringar (Easter hags) paint their faces, carry a broom and knock on neighbor’s doors for treats, much like American children do at Halloween.

Children also contribute to the tradition of Easter worldwide. What would Easter be without beautifully painted and adorned Easter eggs? Swedes just revere their Easter eggs –the decorative and the edible versions.

Semlor are still on sale despite the Lenten fast, and anticipation of the big day grows in the week beginning with Palm Sunday. In conservative communities there is an air of solemnity.

It would be taboo to get married or baptize a child during this week. And many die hard traditionalists still scowl at the modern disregard of a sober Good Friday and snort at the mention of potential merriment that evening.

Only in recent years are cinemas allowed to be open. Good Friday is more appropriately named in Swedish Långfredag – Long Friday, the most unhappening day of the calendar. Fun not allowed.

However, once the mourning of the crucifixion of Christ is over, the proverbial good times roll.

Saturday morning resembles a resurrection of sorts.

Spring is in the air, merriment is on the menu. The family will sit down to an ample feast in the afternoon on Påskafton, or the Eve of Easter. Eggs and lamb are the quintessential Easter fare that very nearly connote Påsk all by themselves. They represent the fertility of the spring and the rebirth of the year after the long winter.

Bonfires are lit in some regions of Sweden in the late afternoon.

Some say they are to scare off the evil influences of the Easter hags and their journey to Blåkulla. Others take the opportunity to clear gardens for the coming spring. For some regions, including the Stockholm area, the bonfires must wait until Valborgsmässafton or Walpurgis Night at the end of April to banish the remnants of winter.

Elizabeth Dacey-Fondelius

So I think the swedish celebration of easter is very interesting. I didn't do much on good friday, but unlike what the article says, it wasn't a day where you couldn't have fun. I did go to an orchestra concert that my host mom and brother were playing violin in and that was very good. On Easter eve, (Påskafton, it makes much more sense in swedish to say that haha.) My family, Michael and I went over to a friends house and had some fun. We Played darts, decorated eggs, and played croquet. Then we ate a big meal and waited until midnight mass at the church. My host brother sang in the choir, it was so good! After that, we were all really tired and collapsed in bed. Today we went out walking a little in the beautiful weather and now we are waiting for my host moms mom to come over for her birthday dinner, then we will go and see Shutter Island in Jönköping! Im excited!

P.S Sorry for the length, but I thought it was inportant for you guys to learn the importance of easter here in Sweden.

Kram, Haley

Monday, March 29, 2010

Springtime!

So now that it it almost April it is definitly officially springtime! You can not imagine my happiness after this crazy long winter. Even though it is the end of March, we still have some snow on the ground but it is dissappearing fast! On friday, we had beautiful weather, 16 degrees celcius. I was so happy but then i looked at the weather for back home. Anywhere from 16 to 24 degrees! Crazy jealous! But we will get there soon enough.

This past weekend I had some fun. I spent the night at the Åsens because we were planning on going to one of Amalias hockey games but the game got cancelled so instead on saturday we went into Linköping. Amalia and I did some shopping. I bought some shorts. Haha I know this seems a little pre-mature but I wanted some, maybe owning shorts will make it get warmer faster... or maybe not haha. Then I met up with my exchange student friends. We went to Evans house and made muffins then went back into town for dinner. We wanted some kind of asian food but ended up with kebab haha. Then we walked back to Evans house and watched Mulan! Awesome! Haha then it was time to go home, so we went to the train station and when I got back to Tranås i walked to the Åsens and spent the night there. All in all, lots of walking that day haha.

Then Sunday was spent at home relaxing and pretty much doing nothing!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Youtube

Hej hej! So I decided that instead of writing a blog this week, I would do a youtube video so you can go onto youtube and search my username to get to my chanel.

My username is lalalanddreamer21

Go look! =)

Kram, Haley

Friday, March 19, 2010

Grövelsjön/ Åre

So as most of you know, I have been on vacation for the past two weeks and that is the reason for leaving my blog untouched for such a long time! There is so much to tell about the last few weeks so I am going to take it in cronological (spelling?) order.

The first week started off with a 10 hour drive through Norway to Grövelsjön. Boring and tiring so when we got there it was dark and we were exhausted. We got all settled into our cute little cabin. (Hjorten was the name) BTW On this trip was My host mom and dad, host brother, Michael and I. The next day we pretty much just tryed to get the feel of the cross country skiis. Not going to lie, I was pretty darn lousy haha. By the end of the day I did feel a bit better on the skiis though. The whole week was pretty much going through the same thing every day, we got up and ate lunch then went out to ski for a couple of hours then came back and chilled. On wednesday, we went downhill but I was on the bunny hill all day because I had no idea what I was doing! Also on wednesday, we went to a huge buffet. They had every type of meat and fish imaginable. Moose, elk, pig, cow, you name it. I was pretty adventurous and tryed most everything, even the raw fish but I did stay away from the moose heart. No thank you haha. Most days we would go anywhere from 5-10 kilometers so were were always pretty wiped out when we got back. I had a very good time, even though by the end I could barely lift my arms because they were so sore!

On Saturday, we had to get up at 3.45 in the morning! We had to drive 3 hours to a train station in Norway to catch a train to Trondheim, Norway. It was about a two hour train so it was still pretty much breakfast time when we got there. It was a very randon and funny day. Apparently the day we happen to be in that city is some huge event that happens every year. All the shops were having sales and there was free stuff everywhere. We found free Jesus waffles in the street, haha not kidding. A church set up a stand and they were making waffles and giving out juice to everyone. When they found out that we were foreigners, they asked for a picture! Very funny. There was a market and lots of crowds. There was also a few people dressed up in pink bunny suits giving out easter eggs, unfortunatly I did not manage to get a picture of them! Michael and i found an advertisement in the street where you just grabbed in and got free chips haha. Like I said, it was a very random day. Then we took a train to Åre and met up with Rod and his family. We were there a day earlier than everyone else so we just hung out at Rods house.

On sunday, everyone started arriving. There were people that I knew from my language camp wayyyy back in august and new people that I had never met before. When everyone was finally there, (There was at least 40 of us) we went and took a tour of the town. Then we went to the waterpark! It isn't really a waterpark it is more of saunas and pools, but there was a slide! This place was amazing! There was a sauna world complete with saunas, fog rooms, ice baths and a snow room. Then there was the pool section with the waterslide, hot tubs, pools and even an outdoor pool where you could go and swim in the blizzard. We jumped out and played in the snow in our bathing suits haha. The next day wa sout first day of skiing, it took forever to rent out stuff for 40 people but we got there eventually. The people who really didn't know what they were doing (me =) got instructors and they taught us how to ski. During the week I got good enough to make it down a blue slope and still have fun. Haha. Not very impressive but I'm pretty proud of myself! The whole day was spent with our teachers. After lunch, my ski buddy and I got a really awesome teacher and he took us skiing off the track and jumping and fun stuff like that. That day we got back and relaxed since we were all pretty tired. It pretty much went the same every day, ski, lunch, ski, hotel. I did get to the top of the mountain but we couldn't see anything when we got up there it was so crazy foggy! Still fun though, everyones hair was turning white because it was so cold up there! On wednesday, we had to do a rotary presentation in swedish haha, that was interesting to hear how everyones swedish is going. Yesterday, I skied till lunch then we turned in out skiis so we cound go in and explore the town. We walked around a little and got some touristy stuff. We came back and had dinner then I had to go catch a train. There were about 13 exchange students on my train so it wasn't too boring. We watched movies and played blackjack, basically we were the loud foreigners that everyone gets annoyed with haha. We encountered an interesting person on the train to say the least haha, so some of us avoided her and went into the cafe for a couple hours. I did not sleep well haha, it is hard to sleep on a train! I was freezing and uncomfertable! This morning we got to Linköping at about 5.30. Then Michael and I had to wait for our train so the others just decided to wait the half hour with us, then we all said goodbye till next time.

When Michael and I got off the train in Tranås, we noticed a dramatic difference in our little town... It's SPRING!! The long winter is finally over and it is warming up and getting lighter. You an not imagine how happy I am that it is about 6 degrees celcius out. The snow has dramatically decreased and it is only a matter of time before it is gone! =) I've had a good swedish winter but I think it is time to move on now... Ready for the sun!

Kram, Haley

P.S Plently of pictures up on facebook soon.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Spännande!!

I am so excited for these next two weeks! I wont be on the computer much, so I definitly won't have time to write a blog till I get back. I will tell you guys all about my trip and there will be pictures on y facebook page!

This week was nice and relaxed, since I knew I had a two week break after this week. The 3rd grade at my school was putting on preformances in their groups. So my program in school is the fine arts program and in that program we all chose our "major" There is dance, theatre and music. So everyone made a show for their groups. It was very fun to watch and everyone is so talented in this program! The dance people had to made all of their own choerography, (spelled wrong I know haha) their show was about 45 miunutes. Then there was theatre and their show was a little hard to understand for me, haha, but great all the same. I really enjoyed the music performance since that is the program I go into in my grade. They played a bunch of songs for over an hour. . Every grade in the music program has a big project. 1st grade is a musical, 2nd Salongerna, and 3rd is this, it is called tour.

So that was pretty much all that happened this week! Haha

See you in 2 weeks! =)
Haley

Monday, March 1, 2010

Mars! (Not the planet!! =)

So now that it is March, (Mars in Swedish) I realized how fast time has gone. Months go by so fast and I only have a little less than 5 of them left. March is going to be gone really fast because next week, I am going to Grövelsjön with my family and then Åre with rotary.

I will be leaving on Saturday and we will drive 10 hours to Grövelsjön and then we will be spending that week cross country skiing. Then on the next saturday, we (Michael and I) will board a train to Åre for the rotary ski trip. I wont we skiing though, I decided to try snowboarding. We will get back early friday morning after spendind the night on the train.

This past week was a pretty normal week. On thursday, I had my rotary speech, it is nice to finally have it over with! I basically just did a powerpoint on New Mexico and my family and friends. It was in swedish and english haha. Michael also did his speech, but he got to speak english obviously. On friday I was at the stables working in the cafe, saturday and sunday were spent relaxing and staying at home. Reading also, I read the notebook and it was soo good. I still really like the movie version though.

If any of you dont know, I have a youtube and I have been putting up videos in between blogs. I also have been putting up random videos of what happens during the day with my friends. My friend Lisa and I had thought that it would be fun if we cound do some swedish language cideos, to get you guys talking swedish! Then when I come back, we can talk to each other in swedish! That would be awesome haha. Anyways, if you just type in lalalanddreamer21 into youtube you will get to all of my videos. Go and check them out! =)

Kram, Haley

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Sport Lov!

Ok so I know that I haven't written in over a week but nothing much happened over my break. As I said before, I had a week off of school called Sport Lov. I didn't go do anything "Sporty" because I am going skiing for 2 weeks at the beginning of March.

I got my computer finally! Very ironic time to finally get it to because right now I have no internet acess at my house haha. The crazy amount of snow we have gotten in the past few days completly messed up the lines! Hopefully that will be fixed today. The snow is now up to my hips in some places out in the forest and where the all the shoveled snow is put (on the sides of the streets) the piles are wayyy taller then I am. There is just no where to put at all! haha It is definitly an interesting experience.

On Valentines day, after I wrote, I went over to Lisa's house and we and a few other girls hung out and made food before we went to youth group and hung out there. We didn't get home till about 1 so I spent the night at Lisas. Then I didn't do anything until Thursday. I went to Linköping with Lisa and we met up with Evan and saw Valentines day. It was an Ok movie. Better than I thought it would be haha. We gave Evan the awesome princess cupcakes we made him for winning a bet we made. =) I spent the night at Lisas again, haha transportation is a bit of a problem now because it is kind of a long drive back home and I can't make my host parents drive into town at midnight and bring me back home so it is way easier to just stay in town.

Now I am back at school for 2 weeks before I go to Grövelsjön and Åre. Super pumped!!

Kram, Haley

P.S More pictures when I get my internet acess back!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentines day!!!

So since I last posted not a lot has gone on in my new country life haha. Today is Valentines day and I'm in a happy mood, but it's a little dissappointing because no one here really celebrates Valentines day. No Valentine exchanging with tons of chocolate and candy this year. That's ok though =).

Friluftsdag--
This past wednesday, we had a friluftsdag. Which basically translated means fresh air day. It is the day where you get out of school to go do stuff outdoors and get some good 'ol winter air. You could choose from skiing, ice skating, ice fishing, hiking and various other things. My friends and I chose to go ice skating. The ironic thing as that it was snowing so much that we had to go to the indoor arena instead of the out doors one. Kind of defeats the purpose of fresh air, but it was fun all the same. We skated around and goofed off. =) After lunch the snow had stopped so we went outside and played a gameof Bandy (Kind of like hocky but faster and with a little ball) When we were done with that I went over to the Åsens and baked a little before it was time to pick Evan up from the train station. We then went and watched a game of real Bandy. It was fun but so cold. We had to stand outsidefor the 2 hour game and we froze haha.

This week I am on Sport Lov, the week you get off school to go on skiing trips and stuff. I am not going anywhere because I am going on two skiing trips in the beginning of March. So I will tell you what I did after the break, but it wont be too exciting. =)

Till next time, Haley

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Sauna.

Even though nothing much has happened since my last post. I though I would write in here a little because I have a bit of time to kill.

First of all, my views on here got to 2000! Thank you guys so much for reading my blog, I really like sharing what is happening on exchange and I hope you enjoy reading it. =)

Second of all, I promise pictures will be up on facebook soon. It's just a matter of taking the time to put them up.

Third of all, this weekend the new exchange student, Michael, stayed the weekend at my house in the country. He will be staying with them after I leave around the 22 of July. So on Saturday, we practiced our cross country skiing skills for a while since we will be doing it for a week up in Grövelsjön. Then later in the day we went to a family friends house to join in on the sauna club. As most of you know sauna is a big thing here in scandinavia. Not nearly as big in Sweden as it is in Finland, but you get the point. The basic idea of sauna is to be in there for a long time to cleanse your skin and your body. I had never done it before this past weekend so this was all new to me. When we got there, it was a tad akward for me being the only young lady and one out of the 3 that had a bathing suit on. The women had towels but the men... Nada. A little weird at first but after an hour the weirdness kind of goes away especially since I was expected to have conversations with these men. They all got a little chuckle out of me being there. haha. The next thing we did after about 20 minutes was go and roll in the snow in only our bathing suits. COLD!! But really fun, I kind of dive bombed in and then crawled out really fast and sprinted to to sauna again. Then after about another 20 minutes we decided we were brave enough to take a dip in the freezing river. I mean this literally too, there was a hole cut in the ice so we could jump and get out really fast. It felt kind of good actually because we were so sweaty from the sauna that we wanted the cold water. So that was my adventure for Saturday. Of course Sunday was a resting day, and boy did we need it!

Kram, Haley

Friday, February 5, 2010

Side Note...

I just realized that my page view counter is at the year I was born, 1993, haha just thought it was cool. Come on 2000! =)

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Continuation...

Sorry last time I got cut off because I had to go to lunch so I can finish now...

So after we got to get aquainted with the new ones, we got out on the ice. The rotarians tried to teach us how to curl but no one ended up being very good but it was so much fun! I promise pictures soon! The basic idea of the game is to slide a huge granite rock across the court and make it stop in the target. Herder than it seems because there is a lot of tecnique to it. After we were done with the curling and sufficiantly bruised up =), we went over to Lorena's (Mexican exchange student) house and hung out till it was time for us to either take a train home or go to the house we were sleeping at. Michael and I stayed at a rebound exchange students house who was in Australia last year. It was fun to talk about his experience with him. The next morning, we went to the train station and left Norrköping at 10. Later that day I moved families. I moved about a month and a half earlier than I was originally supposed to but it is for the better, I promise. My new family is out in the countryside about 45 minutes from the city. So there is a bit of a drive in the morning before school, that means I'm back to waking up at 6, just like at school back home. I will definitly tell you guys more about them when I get to know them better! =)

Ciao!
Haley

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

SO much fun!

Sorry that it's been a week since I last wrote but on top of not really having a computer at home, I was crazy busy. After I wrote I was over at either the Åsens or Lisas house everyday baking and what not.

On Thursday I went over to Lisas and we had a sleepover with a few other girls because we had a free day on Friday. So I made some brownies from home and biked over. It was so great because the theme was American night! Everything was red white and blue and we ate all american food. For dinner we had buffalo wings and fries. For dessert we had Ben & Jerrys and brownies and doughnuts. So yummy! I was so happy, I hadn't had buffalo wings in 6 months! Then we watched Benjamin Button and fell asleep.

On friday it got even better because we had an American breakfast! Talk about good! There were pancakes, eggs and bacon and bagels. After everyone left Lisa and I went into town to Fika with Michael. When we were done with that I went home for a little while then Lisa came and picked me up for a Sex and the City Marathon Party. There were about 5 or 6 of us and we just sat around watching TV. We even had tacos!

Saturday we had to wake up and get on the train right away. Michael and I met up with Evan on the way. When we got to Norrköping we went to the curling hall and got to meet the other exchange students that came from Australia and New Zealand

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Hola, Hej, Hello, Ciao!!

I am still without a computer of my own so I am chilling in the school library. This weekend was fun! Wanna know why? Well because we got a new exchange student here in Tranås! His name is Michael and he is from Australia.

On friday I went over to the Åsens and we went into Jönköping for Amalias hockey game. By the time we got home it was really late so we just went to bed. Early saturday morning, we had to drive all the way to Gothenberg. We got there aroung 10, and Michael came out about 15 minutes later. We got his stuff and then drove all the way back home. I am now officially the old exchange student, haha old news. On sunday I went to the stables with Amalia and got to ride a bit and then we went back to the house and Hjalmar and Sven came over and we went ice skating in the back yard after going into town to show Michael the town and getting some candy of course.

One more exciting detail, he is going to be in my class at school. The music program! =) He starts a few classes this week then he gets to go to Vimmerby for language camp. (deeply jealous!) This weekend we get to go to Norrköping and go curling so i will let you know how that goes.... haha I barely even know what curling is and now i'm going to play it. That will be interesting to say the least.

Kram, Haley

Friday, January 22, 2010

NEJ!!

Jag är jätte arg!!
I am very angry right now because my computer broke down!! I don't know how it happened but it just stopped working one day. So right now I am sitting in my schools library on on of the computers to tell you about my week.

Not much happened actually besides the disaster. On Tuesday I went to my dance class and the teacher told us that we has a preformance the same week that I am supposed to go skiing with my third host family so I am a little torn about that. I will probably end up going skiing even though that really isn't my forte. I think it would be worth it though to risk injury and frostbite to to go where they would be taking me. It is apparently way up north anc we have to drive through norway to get there. We would be cross country skiing and I have never done that before but hey it's worth a try right? Today I an going to Jönköping (There definitly an advantage to using the school computers!! öåä!! Haha I can spell now!) with my first host family for Amalias hockey game then tomorrow we are getting up bright and early to go to Goteberg to get the new exchange student from Australia so that's exciting! I will write in here after the weekend and more stuff happens..

Hej då!

Monday, January 18, 2010

First week back at school.

I was soo terrible about posting this week! I was too lazy to write a blog and then this weekend I was out in the countryside and I didn't have my computer with me. But now I am sitting down and forcing myself to write haha.

The week started off really slow. Everyone was tired and not ready to come back to school . So it was all pretty relaxed. I got a new schedule! I am now always with my class because I am done with my swedish lessons. I am really excited to be with my class all the time because they are so great! So here is what my schedule is like now...

Monday:
Swedish 8-9.00
History 9.20-10
Ensemble 10.05- 11.05
Piano 11.35-11.55
Go to Amalias school to help teach 12- 2
Italian 2.10-3.20

Tuesday:
Music 8-9.
Choir 9.20- 10.
Governmental stuff? 11.55-1.25
Swedish 1.35-2.20
Math 2.30-3.20

Wednesday
Italian 9.20-10.30
Math 10.40- 11.30
??? 12.25- 1.30
History 1.40- 3.20

Thursday:
Governmental stuff? 9.05- 10.15
Audio (Tech) 12.50- 2.00
Dance 2.10- 3.20

Friday:
Audio (Tech) 8- 9.10
Dance 9.25- 10.35
Gym 12.50- 1.40
Singing 1.55- 2.30

So it is quite a bit more full than last semester. On Friday, I went out to my third host family for the weekend. We cooked foos and we also drove to another town to look at goats since they are looking to buy a few to keep the grass trimmed haha. The babies were so amazingly cute I wanted to get one! It was nice to be with my third host family fo the weekend. It is a little weird to be so far out of the city but I think it will be just fine.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Winter break... (revised)

So now winter break is almost over, I go back to school on Monday. I am definitly ready to go back to school. There isn't much to do when I don't have school everyday so it will be very nice to get back into the swing of school again.

We will be getting a new exchange student in a few weeks, from Australia. I am very excited for him to come, I won't be the new exchange student anymore! A few exchange students I know from Australia are getting ready to go home and I am going to miss them. =(

This past week of break I have been just hanging out around the house. One really cool thing that I did was go ice fishing, I went to my third host family and tryed it out. I was pretty freaky to be out on top of a lake at first but after a while you kind of forgot. So we had about 10 holes in the ice and cought 5 or 6 fish. It was funny because whenever you saw that a hole had a fish you had to run to it really fast and the ice was a bit slippery in places. I also got to try out snowboarding and skiing. I love the snowboarding, I was very sore by the end of the day but it was fun. Skiing wasn't my favorite thing in the world but it wasn't so bad. I have been to a few parties, last night I went to a really fun birthday party and a lot of my friends were there. It's definitly more fun to go to parties now, since i can speak a lot more swedish than a few months ago. I am trying so hard to talk only swedish but sometimes it can be so frusterating. Haha that's what you get when you try to learn a whole new language and speak it in 5 months!

Kram, Haley

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Happy New Year!! 2010!!!

I can't believe that it is 2010 already, seriously where did the time go? It doesn't seem like I left New Mexico 5 months ago, I mean seriously I am almost halfway done with my exchange. So I thought I could do a recap of the year 2009....

January-March: Everything was going as normal, school and I also was involved in Grease! I had so much fun with that! But other than that, nothing much happened. Exchange seemed so far away!

April-May: This is when things started to get really exciting, school was coming to an end, I turned 16! (haha woot!) I also had to seriously start thinking about exchange. Everything started to go so fast, I never had time to think haha. I had to take the AP test the day Obama came to my school! Haha but when school came to an end, it was a little sad because I knew there were a lot of people I wouldn't see till senior year.

June-July: The summer. Haha I did a lot of work over the summer. I had to skip camp this year because I needed more credits for school to graduate on time. So I decided that even though i didn't want to I had to take a college course. So I enrolled in a public speaking class and went to that 2 times a week over the whole summer. I went to my Aunt Renees wedding and that was so much fun! I also worked at my dads office a few days a week. When my last few weeks came around, I had a few going away parties and said goodbye to all my friends. By the time the 29th of July came I was so excited to leave but sad to leave my friends and family behind.

August: So much happened in August, I found myself in a completly unfamiliar place. I met so many people, it was such an overload of information that I was tired all the time bet I was also always excited and I had to keep telling myself that this was all real. I went to Vimmerby and met a bunch of other exhange students, and some of those are still my good friends.

September-October: I was getting used to my new home, school and friends. I was so lost in the language but I was trying really hard to understand. School was the most confused I have ever been in my life because I didn't understand anything! I started making good friends though. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have the friends I have now.

November: I was finally very comfertable in my home, but then I had to change host families! It was so weird going to a different house after school everyday. I got used to that very quickly, I soon felt like a member of the family. I was a little homesick, but I knew that would come eventually.

December: So much fun! Haha I did so much stuff in December, the Holidays were great even though they were completly different than I am used to. We celebrated christmas on the 24th and watched Donald Duck and everything. It was very fun to see how everything went for christmas here. Once new years came, I didn't know what to think. i was nervous for a new year because I know that now everything was going to change. The first half of my exchange is when I get used to everything, learn the language, and meet everything. The second half is when I can really enjoy all of it. I am looking forward to a great year! On New years, I went to a party at the church I go to for youth group and we had dinner then went into town for fireworks at midnight! After the clock struck 12, we went back to the church and danced till 4 when it wa finally time to get home. =) It was such a fun night, a great way to kick off the new year!