October 12th; Rotary District Conference!

Hi all!

On October 12th, I got to attend Stockholm International's Rotary Conference in Uppsala! Myself and the fourteen other exchange students in Stockholm got to attend!

I don't have many photos of the conference seeing as I was quite busy and was listening to multiple speeches throughout the day!

Stockholm International's Rotary President, who us exchange students know very well, did a presentation about Rotary Youth Exchange, and we were given the opportunity to come up and introduce ourselves in Swedish! I was the one to lead off, the group, and we all did amazing!

After the presentation we had lunch, and were given the chance to talk to the other Swedish Rotary members! Our "goal" was to talk to those apart of a club who had yet to host an exchange student and to convince them to host one! I talked to quite a few people, and many were very interested in my exchange, and more importantly, my pride and joy, my Rotary jacket. It is now decked out in pins and things memorable from my exchange trip thus far! It is definitely a head-turner, and a group of fifteen exchange students decked out in Rotary wear is something to stare at!

After the conference and lunch, we were given a tour of Uppsala by a very generous Rotary member! It was so much fun. We got to see so many different things, but sadly my phone died, so I don't have many photos.

We got to go to the Uppsala Cathedral, which is one of my favorite places that I have seen so far! It was amazing to go back and see everything again! Those who wanted also got a chance to play the church organ! It was amazing to be back there again, and those who hadn't been there before also loved it!

We were able to light candles in honor of people who had passed on, or for those who were still living - anyone you wanted. We were all quiet for a while, lighting the candles and thinking quietly to ourselves. It was definitely something that brought us closer together.

We also went to the Uppsala University, which is very popular! It was amazing to see everything, but my favorite part was seeing the anatomy theater! One where there's a table in the middle, and the rows are build up high around it! It was so cool, and really piqued my interest as I plan to go into the death service after high school.

After our tour of Uppsala, I hopped on a train and headed back to Stockholm. It's only about an hour train ride, and after being with people all day, it was nice to breathe by myself for a while. When I arrived home, my host parents had dinner already made, and I felt compelled to take a photo of it. After an extremely long day on my feet (in heels!) a warm meal and quite evening was just what I needed.

A few exchange friends live in Uppsala, and I plan to go back as often as I can!

New Swedish words & phrases I've learned:

• Kö - Queue

• Inne - Inside

• Kontoret - The office

• Alldeles - Totally

• Stort - Big

• Undrar - Wonders

• Vilket - Which

• Som - That/As

• Bort - Away

• Lätt - Light (Weight)

Talk soon!

Älskar dig!