Guess who now rides a miniture horse!!!! HALEY!! =) Tuva is my sister Amalias horse and she is very small, I'm taller than she is! In Sweden they ride horses English style so that is a big change for me, the cowboy style rider. I am currently borrowing Amalias riding pants, shoes and Helmet, but I willhopefully get my own soon. Amalia wants to teach me to jump the horse in exchange for Martial arts lessons, sounds like a good trade to me! =)
The meals are so different here! I am having a hard time getting used to them. They eat lunches that are as big at dinners then they eat an even bigger dinner! I have never been a big eater so I usually onlytake one serving and they find that so weird! LOL The food is good though, Very yummy!
A few days ago, Leo and his friend Cecilia and I took the train to a city called Nörköping (I think that ishow it's spelled!) We went shopping in this gigantic shopping mall type place, It's a bunch of buildings and you go from building to building and each has tons of stores! I had to buy some running shoes because Ursula told me that everyone is required to run an hour a week at school.
I had my first experience with hanging laundry! They dont dry their clothes in a dryer! I dont really mind that much but they have their drying line by thisbush with tons of bees so when I wentout to dry my clothes, I got stung! They are only little onethough, thank goodness! Also that day we went to a cottage in the woods that some friends of Ursulas own and it had to be the cutest must typical swedish house I have ever seen!! It wasso tiny, but it was on its own little island in the lake that you had to go across a bridge to get to. (I will post pictures later)
Yesterday I got to go see my school and I met the Headmaster. Then Kjell and I went to a rotary meeting. I couldnt understand anything!! I get to make my speech in 3 weeks so I better start practicing!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Pictures Part 2!!
On a dock in Kalmar
Kalmar Castle
Amalia and Leonardo sideways, dont now how to change it. =)
A huge sailboat
A crab that Amalia caught!!PIctures
Amalia and I sunbathing =)
The Jellyfish! There were tons of them!!
The little Square
Me on the Ferry!
The Ferry ride. Its like a little hidden Valley...hmm mabe they make ranch there =)Monday, August 3, 2009
The most busy 3 days of my life!!!
WOW!!!!
I have been so busy these last days that I am exhausted!!
So I guess I should start with the west coast...
We went at about 6 in the morning (EARLY!!!) and drove about 4 hours to get to the city that I cant pronounce =) Better get used to that! We hadto take a ferry to get there and thats when I first saw the jellyfish , there are so many of them on the coast!! We went to Leonardos (my host brother) hockey game he was coaching. Then we went and walked through the city for a little while. It is a very cute city, very old looking... There were some pink houses, which made me very happy. We then met up with Leonardo and I got to meet him for the first time. He is going to canada on exchange next week so I will get to know him then he will leave! We went andhad lunch with some of Ursulas (host mother) friends. Then after that went down to the water, I was too afraid to go smimming!! I am terriffied of jellyfish!! I was so tired I fellasleep on the way home.
The next day was more of a relaxing day but we still did alot of stuff. First I met a few of Leonardos friends, which will be nice when school comes around on the 19th. Amalia and I took a quick dip in the lake!! Very cold. If you want to see pictures you can check my facebook because I am having a few computer problems at the moment!! Very frusterating!! Then we got to go visit Amalias forse, Tuva, she is a miniture pony and so adorable. Then we just relaxed the rest of the day, rented a few movies.
Today was very exhausting, probably because I was still tired fromthe days before. We went to the east coast, another 3 hour drive. We dropped Amalia off at her hockey camp then walked around the town, Kalmar. We also went to a castle and had a really cool tour, but I couldnttake pictures!! Aww... On out way back home, we went to a glass blowing demonstration and it was soo sad because he broke the ducks head!! Everyone jumped when it happened. I was so tired from the last 3 days that I slept the whole way home.
P.S. Hopefully I will eventually be able to put pictures on here, but for now I am having tonsof computer issues so I will have to settle for the pictures my host father took. Mine wont download anywhere!! I will let you know when that is all sorted out. =)
I have been so busy these last days that I am exhausted!!
So I guess I should start with the west coast...
We went at about 6 in the morning (EARLY!!!) and drove about 4 hours to get to the city that I cant pronounce =) Better get used to that! We hadto take a ferry to get there and thats when I first saw the jellyfish , there are so many of them on the coast!! We went to Leonardos (my host brother) hockey game he was coaching. Then we went and walked through the city for a little while. It is a very cute city, very old looking... There were some pink houses, which made me very happy. We then met up with Leonardo and I got to meet him for the first time. He is going to canada on exchange next week so I will get to know him then he will leave! We went andhad lunch with some of Ursulas (host mother) friends. Then after that went down to the water, I was too afraid to go smimming!! I am terriffied of jellyfish!! I was so tired I fellasleep on the way home.
The next day was more of a relaxing day but we still did alot of stuff. First I met a few of Leonardos friends, which will be nice when school comes around on the 19th. Amalia and I took a quick dip in the lake!! Very cold. If you want to see pictures you can check my facebook because I am having a few computer problems at the moment!! Very frusterating!! Then we got to go visit Amalias forse, Tuva, she is a miniture pony and so adorable. Then we just relaxed the rest of the day, rented a few movies.
Today was very exhausting, probably because I was still tired fromthe days before. We went to the east coast, another 3 hour drive. We dropped Amalia off at her hockey camp then walked around the town, Kalmar. We also went to a castle and had a really cool tour, but I couldnttake pictures!! Aww... On out way back home, we went to a glass blowing demonstration and it was soo sad because he broke the ducks head!! Everyone jumped when it happened. I was so tired from the last 3 days that I slept the whole way home.
P.S. Hopefully I will eventually be able to put pictures on here, but for now I am having tonsof computer issues so I will have to settle for the pictures my host father took. Mine wont download anywhere!! I will let you know when that is all sorted out. =)
Friday, July 31, 2009
Hej Sweden!!!
I have finally made it to Sweden! I am now officially an exchange student, so exciting!
I was awake for over 30 hours with only about a 30 minute nap so I bet that you could image how tired I was when I finally got to my new house. My family is very nice! There is Amalia (my little sister) Archie (the dog) Princess (the cat) Tuve (the horse) and my host parents Kjel (pronounced Shell) and Ursula. I got very lucky with my first host family!
The house where I am staying is very cute and the backyard is amazing! There is a lake in my backyard! So Beautiful!! I promise that I will post pictures in a few days, when I am unpacked and settled, but right now I dont even know where the chord is!
Today I woke up at 7 in the morning, I dont know when I have ever done that on my own, it was very odd. I unpacked a little and then fell back asleep till 10. We walked into town and had coffee after a HUGE breakfast. Cereal, yogurt, bread, grapefruit, ham, orange juice and tea!! I was so full. There are some shops that have really cute clothes that I want to go into, there was one called creme and it had the cutest clothes!! I could spend a ton of money there, but I wont. =)
Right now we aren't really doing anything, Kjell is making Swedish Meatballs for leter when Sven (my counsellor) comes and checks up on us. Maybe I'll go take a nap.....Hmmm.....ZzzzZzz
POP QUIZ!!!!
What is coffee break in Swedish??
Fika!! =)
I was awake for over 30 hours with only about a 30 minute nap so I bet that you could image how tired I was when I finally got to my new house. My family is very nice! There is Amalia (my little sister) Archie (the dog) Princess (the cat) Tuve (the horse) and my host parents Kjel (pronounced Shell) and Ursula. I got very lucky with my first host family!
The house where I am staying is very cute and the backyard is amazing! There is a lake in my backyard! So Beautiful!! I promise that I will post pictures in a few days, when I am unpacked and settled, but right now I dont even know where the chord is!
Today I woke up at 7 in the morning, I dont know when I have ever done that on my own, it was very odd. I unpacked a little and then fell back asleep till 10. We walked into town and had coffee after a HUGE breakfast. Cereal, yogurt, bread, grapefruit, ham, orange juice and tea!! I was so full. There are some shops that have really cute clothes that I want to go into, there was one called creme and it had the cutest clothes!! I could spend a ton of money there, but I wont. =)
Right now we aren't really doing anything, Kjell is making Swedish Meatballs for leter when Sven (my counsellor) comes and checks up on us. Maybe I'll go take a nap.....Hmmm.....ZzzzZzz
POP QUIZ!!!!
What is coffee break in Swedish??
Fika!! =)
Monday, July 20, 2009
Only 9 Days Left!!
I am so excited to leave! It is coming up so fast and I am busy all the time which makes it seem faster. There are so many things to do before I get to leave, the main thing is to get my visa but that really isn't in my power to make it come faster. We just have to hope that it will get here before the 29Th so I can leave on time.
I have started packing and that is ridiculous! I have already filled up a HUGE suitcase with long sleeves and jackets (stuff I don't need at the moment, since it is about a hundred degrees her most days!) I have to make sure I don't go above 50 pounds per bag and that might be difficult because of all my shoes!
I got a Learn Swedish book thing and i was listening to the CD and I got so lost! In the book they said that Swedish is one of the easiest languages to learn, YA RIGHT!! I was so confused! I couldn't even tell where the words ended in the conversations on the CD. Hopefully it will be easier to learn once I am there immersed in the culture.
So for now I am still in New Mexico, just waiting... =)
I have started packing and that is ridiculous! I have already filled up a HUGE suitcase with long sleeves and jackets (stuff I don't need at the moment, since it is about a hundred degrees her most days!) I have to make sure I don't go above 50 pounds per bag and that might be difficult because of all my shoes!
I got a Learn Swedish book thing and i was listening to the CD and I got so lost! In the book they said that Swedish is one of the easiest languages to learn, YA RIGHT!! I was so confused! I couldn't even tell where the words ended in the conversations on the CD. Hopefully it will be easier to learn once I am there immersed in the culture.
So for now I am still in New Mexico, just waiting... =)
Sunday, June 21, 2009
5 Weeks and 2 days! (38 Days!)
I am so pumped to leave! I know that may sound terrible but I really wish the summer would pass faster! I love my friends and family TONS but going on exchange is something that you just can't help but be super excited for.
I found out my leaving date. I am scheduled to leave July 29th! I also found out my allowance, 600 SEK a month! YAY! For those of you that dont know...
1. Rotary exchange student get an allowance every month from their hosting Rotary clubs. This money is mostly for necessary things, the kind of stuff your host family doesn't buy for you. Things like floss, toothpaste, face wash. Basically stuff that is more personal hygeine. You can also use it for your "fun" money, It doesn' really matter.
2. "SEK" is the Swedish currency. It can also be called Krona, Kronor, or the one most people have heard it called, Crown. The exchange rate for the Crown is about 1:7, maybe a little higher. So that means that every dollar is about 7 Crowns. In a nutshell that means my allowance roughly translates to 80 dollars a month, not too bad... plus i will have to money I make over the summer to help me out!
PEACE OUT!!
I found out my leaving date. I am scheduled to leave July 29th! I also found out my allowance, 600 SEK a month! YAY! For those of you that dont know...
1. Rotary exchange student get an allowance every month from their hosting Rotary clubs. This money is mostly for necessary things, the kind of stuff your host family doesn't buy for you. Things like floss, toothpaste, face wash. Basically stuff that is more personal hygeine. You can also use it for your "fun" money, It doesn' really matter.
2. "SEK" is the Swedish currency. It can also be called Krona, Kronor, or the one most people have heard it called, Crown. The exchange rate for the Crown is about 1:7, maybe a little higher. So that means that every dollar is about 7 Crowns. In a nutshell that means my allowance roughly translates to 80 dollars a month, not too bad... plus i will have to money I make over the summer to help me out!
PEACE OUT!!
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