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!! =)
Friday, July 31, 2009
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!!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
3 Months Left!!!
I decided to get a blog since it is only three months till I leave for Sweden. Maybe I should start with the basics...
Hi, my name Is Haley Stephenson. I Currently live in Rio Rancho, New Mexico but I will be leaving as an exchange student to Sweden in early August. I have three host families so I will be staying with each for almost four months.
My First Family: They live in Tranas, Sweden. I will Have a little sister who is 13 and her name is Amalia. My host mother is a History teacher at the school I will be attending,(Holavedgymnasiet). They have a horse named Tuva! I love horses so I am very excited!
My Second Family: They also live in Tranas, Sweden and the mother is also a teacher, but she teaches math and physics. The father is an engineer. They have two kids, One is named Peter and he is 25 and in college and the other is named Karolin and she is 15.
My Third Family: I heard from them first. The Mother is a Doctor and the Father is a Dentist. They live in Jonkoping, Sweden. They have a daughter named Lovisa who is 16 and going on exchange next year to Melbourne, Australia, and a son who is 15.
I have been interested in going on an exchange year since about 5Th or 6Th grade. We always got the exchange student packets in the mail, and that's what got me started. We found Rotary in about September and I automatically liked their program. They cared about the students and I feel 100% safe with them.
I hope you will follow me and my adventure, I am very nervous but also excited to go. I know that I am ready to do this, now if the summer would pass just a little faster! =)
Hi, my name Is Haley Stephenson. I Currently live in Rio Rancho, New Mexico but I will be leaving as an exchange student to Sweden in early August. I have three host families so I will be staying with each for almost four months.
My First Family: They live in Tranas, Sweden. I will Have a little sister who is 13 and her name is Amalia. My host mother is a History teacher at the school I will be attending,(Holavedgymnasiet). They have a horse named Tuva! I love horses so I am very excited!
My Second Family: They also live in Tranas, Sweden and the mother is also a teacher, but she teaches math and physics. The father is an engineer. They have two kids, One is named Peter and he is 25 and in college and the other is named Karolin and she is 15.
My Third Family: I heard from them first. The Mother is a Doctor and the Father is a Dentist. They live in Jonkoping, Sweden. They have a daughter named Lovisa who is 16 and going on exchange next year to Melbourne, Australia, and a son who is 15.
I have been interested in going on an exchange year since about 5Th or 6Th grade. We always got the exchange student packets in the mail, and that's what got me started. We found Rotary in about September and I automatically liked their program. They cared about the students and I feel 100% safe with them.
I hope you will follow me and my adventure, I am very nervous but also excited to go. I know that I am ready to do this, now if the summer would pass just a little faster! =)
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