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