Week Two, August 5th-11th: Social Outings, Swimming, and Sailing!

Hej!

I apologize for the delay in this post, I sadly came down with a sickness and have been super busy! How are you? I hope you're well!

A recap from last week: I arrived in Sweden, hung out with my host family, and went shopping!

Although a lot of that was from the first couple days of me being in Sweden.

This past week I took it upon myself to learn how to use the subway and train! It was a new experience, but I was very excited! I decided to take a trip to, what I thought, was supposed to be my school and check out the area. It was a nice trip, and I went to a small convenince store after and got a few things before heading home! The area was nice, but as you will find out, my school's got switched last minute so I am currently not going to that school, but a few of my exchange friends are going there!

Wednesday was my host dad's birthday, so I got to be apart of the Swedish birthday traditions! First, we woke him up early in the morning by singing Ja, må han leva! which translates to, "Yes, may he live!" We gave him some presents to open, and sat around as he started the birthday celebrations! For his birthday, he asked for us to go out on an excursion to the beach as a family! This was my first time swimming in Sweden, and it was so much fun! The water was a little cold, but after a while it wasn't too bad. We swam all afternoon before having lunch then spending time just laying in the sun, and some of us falling asleep, before we had fika! We headed home soon after, and had dinner and cake! My middle host sibling made him a chocolate cake with strawberries that we enjoyed together! It was a great time, and I loved being able to show my love to my host dad and celebrate him! ❤️

On Thursday, we packed our bags, loaded up the boat and went sailing! It was definitely a new experience for me, but I loved it! It was quite windy, making the trip to our destination quite bumpy, but it was still a lot of fun! When we got to our destination, Utö, my host parents met up with a few of their friends, meaning I got to meet some more Swedes! It was a lot of fun. We ended up going to the other side of the island to watch the sunset, and the next morning we got our swim suits and towels and went to a cozy spot on the island and swam! Swimming in the Baltic Sea is one of the best things I have ever experienced. While the water is a little cold, it was so refreshing and I smiled the whole time. We swam for quite a while before getting out, loading up the boat once more, and headed home!

We got home Friday evening, unpacked, and had a relaxing night. My host parents were out, but my host sister and her boyfriend ended up making an "American" meal for me, to celebrate being in Sweden for a week, which consisted of burgers, fries, and milkshakes! It was delicious! We ate in the living room in front of the TV and watched The Man from Toronto. We had a good laugh before deciding to finally retire for the night.

Saturday was a relaxing day, most of us catching up on our sleep, and on Sunday, we drove down to Nyköping, Sweden, a small town where my host dad grew up and his parents still live. I got to meet my host grandparents and have lunch and fika with them! At the end of the afternoon, it was time for me to be dropped off at my soft-landing camp. (More will be told about that in the next post!)

This was quite a fun week, and I am sure there are many to come!

Jag älskar dig!

Swedish Words/Sentences of the Week:

I dag gick vi till stranden. - Today we went to the beach.

bad bryggan - swimming dock

ankare, ankaret - anchor, the anchor

fören - front of a boat

aktern - back of a boat

styrbord - right side of a boat

babord - left side of boat

slag kommer - sailing term meaning, "heads up"

Vill du hå svart kaffe? - Do you want black coffee?