Week Four, August 18th-25th: First Day of School, Fears, and Friends!

Hej!

It's good to talk to you, I hope you're well! This week was full of new experiences, sickness, and lots of fun!

Sadly, Monday night I started to feel under the weather, which carried into Tuesday. By Tuesday night I was feeling better, but not 100%, hence the delay in posts, but I powered through, since I was starting school the next day! Tuesday afternoon, my host mom and I went to tour my school and meet my Headmisstress. For safety reason, I won't be sharing my school, but it is just outside of Stockholm. I am in the Ekonomi (economics) Program, and am studying Judicial/Law.

It is around an hour commute to school, which includes two buses and the subway. I was set to start school at 8:30 Wednesday morning. I left home quite early for the bus - around 6:55AM - and got to school at 8:15AM. I was quite nervous. I was very jittery on the way to school, and kept re-checking the directions, making sure I was going to the correct place. I saw quite a few others that had the same computer case as me, that has the school logo on it, so I knew I was going to the right place. My Headmisstress helped me get settled into my first class, and I sat quietly as the other students came in. Lots were staring - although they knew I was coming, so it wasn't too much of a shock. The very first class I attended was Business, that I currently no longer take.

Since it was the first week of classes, everyone was getting back into the groove of being in school, so it wasn't a super in-depth class. The use of Swedish all around me was definitely a new experience, but it was a little overwhelming. Everyone was very welcoming, especially the teacher's who were very excited to speak with me and learn more about my hometown and why I chose to come on exchange. After the day ended, I was quite tired, but I had a short meeting with my Headmisstress to go over the day and talk about how I was feeling. That night, I was extremely tired when I got home, and ended up getting turned around and going the wrong direction which meant having to back-track, putting my getting home very late. By the time I finally stepped through the front door, I was ready to fall asleep on the rug by the door.

By Thursday, I was bed-ridden and wasn't feeling well. I slept the majoirty of Thursday and Friday, taking it easy and trying to get myself feeling better. But! Thursday was also my host sister's 17th birthday! I felt good enough to eat with them for her birthday dinner after she had gotten home from Go-Kart Racing! Sadly I wasn't feeling good enough to do that, but I know they had so much fun! We of course ate my host sisters favorite kind of cake, Pannkakstårta! Pannkakstårta is a cake made of pancakes (Swedish pancakes, which are very thin) with whipped cream between the layers and jam on top! It was so good!! Pannkakstårta is a very traditional dessert and a must-have if you come visist Sweden! Although, homemade is always better :)

On Saturday, my host sister started getting ready to host her birthday party! The theme was Carnival, so everyone had to dress in bright colors, sparkles, the whole vibe! I sadly didn't have a dress, so I went out to some stores in the center of Stockholm to find something. I ended up meeting with one of my Rotary friends and getting fika after I got an outfit (there is a photo attached.)

The party was a hit! We had tacos before hanging out and talking the whole night. I met so many new Swedish friends that were very excited to meet me. I bonded with a couple that I still talk to now, even though my host sister has sadly left for Italy. I could not be more thankful!!!

Sunday I woke up relatively early and boarded a train towards Stockholm City to see some of my Rotary friends that has come up from different towns! It was so good to see them! We hung around, walked around a mall and got lunch. We were together for a short time, but it was great to see them nonetheless, and I think they quite enjoyed Stockholm! I ended Sunday by going on a walk with my host mom around our small town and gathering apples that our neighbors had put out from their trees. It was a nice way to end a hectic week.

(I apologize for the delay! I am now writing this a month after these experiences have occurred. Things have finally calmed down a little, and I am able to have some extra time to write these! I am currently on a train for five and half hours, so I have no excuse to not get up to date on these posts!! Now that we are a couple weeks in, my posts will probably not be as long, seeing as not a lot happens every day of every week now that I'm in school!)

New Swedish words & phrases I've learned:

• Tack för maten - Thank you for food.

• Spela - Play

• Hallon - Raspberry

• Boken - The book

• Vem? - Who?

• Kylskåp - Refrigerator

• Sedan - Ago

• På - On

Talk in a week!

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