Höstlov (Fall Break)

I cut my bangs today! I decided I couldn't live with them in my face... So I did it myself. They actually didn't turn out bad at all, other than being uneven in an unnoticeable way they look quite good. I'm so proud of myself... But no way will I do my whole head!
Oh I think I made a slight improvement in Swedish class today, I was able to reply with answers that weren't on the board, and it made sense! Of course it was very simple, but that is a step in the right direction and I am happy to see some improvement!
I have also been planning to send my computer home for a week now, I haven't had the chance to do it because Anna hasn't been home much, and neither have I. I don't know how to send it so I need her help to get it done... Looks like I will have to put it off until Monday or Tuesday when she gets back home. The sooner I do it, the sooner my computer will be fixed!! For real this time!!!

Today was really nice, it was a much more clear day than the past few days. It was lighter longer because of it, I even saw the moon as I was walking home to get my Swedish books. It made for a much cheerier day, and I actually did things today. I went to my councilor, Marie-Anne, to talk and pick up my rotary money. I then went shopping for a little while before running home to get my Swedish books. Oh and I wasn't late for Swedish class today!! Hooray! :P For the past four classes I have been late I think. Next week is my last two classes, how sad.
Now I am hoping I will be able to find a different program that is cheaper or something, I don't want to fork out two hundred some odd dollars for a course that was so short, five weeks.

Tomorrow Marian(Mexico) and I and anyone else who might be able to make it are meeting up with a Canadian girl named Julia who is staying up north in Sweden. She is visiting Stockholm for a couple days and I promised to organize fika with her. Most of the exchange students are out of town so it looks like it will be small.
Fika is like going for coffee, by the way, it's like coffee or tea with buns and cookies or what ever. It's nice... I don't know if I already explained fika or not. :P

Yeah.. That's all for now.

Nasty experience!

When I was riding the subway to Tasnim's house a drunk man got on the train, he was rocking wet pants! The drunk had pissed his pants!
I was so scared he would try and talk to me or something when the one other person who was standing by the doors was preparing to leave on the next stop (everyone else was sitting). Lucky for me the drunk slowly stumbled off on the next stop too!
I had a great time at Tasnim's and great food to though, so that makes up for the creepy drunkard. :)

Just a Rambling of Today

This morning Anna left for Adu Dhabi until Monday. Her friend is going to stay in the house with me this time so I don't have to leave. Tonight I'm hanging out with my girl friends again, we are all meeting up at Tasnim's house and she is going to make us dinner. It is going to be fun, I can't wait!
Last night I had Swedish class, we had a substitute teacher. :P She was quite good, and we learned some very essential things, like how to pronounce the vowels, which I think we were doing a lot in class yesterday. I only have a week and a half left of this Swedish class, and if I want to go on I obviously have to pay more... I'm thinking about looking into whether or not I can get rotary or my school to pay for it, or at least some of the price. By law I guess my school is supposed to offer a Swedish course but they do not, so since my needs aren't being met they should be the ones who are put out by them. :P
Oh sounds like the painter is here doing the kitchen, apparently they aren't going to take down the wallpaper before painting. Instead she is just sanding the seams and painting over and wallpapering one wall. I think the kitchen will look nice. It is going to be a coral color with the focal wall a wallpaper with large print of flowers and parrots and a brown background. Anna is also having them paint the living room red, and she is having black and white striped wallpaper put up in the hall. The black and white could be really cool, or it could be a total disaster, I'm still on the fence about it.
I still have yet to find nice winter shoes that I can walk in, I have found many nice shoes but they just don't give much support at all. I now bought insoles so I have been using them in the crappier shoes I already have. I am thinking about going out to look today, but it would be nicer if I could get to the outlets just outside the city. I'll have to look for a bus there or something. Otherwise I will be buying my shoes at city prices.

The Darkness

Quarter to five and it's already pitch black! But I still love it!

It's a start.

Okay, I decided after already being in Sweden for almost 3 months that I would start blogging about my experiences. I guess it is always nice to share, and it will maybe help me remember some of the great times I have had and will have while I am here.

I will start out by saying my Swedish is awful! I am trying to find new ways to improve it, I think I partly wanted to start blogging so I would have a place to write a word of the day or something. Maybe I should just write a few statements in Swedish instead, because my reading and listening are not the issues, it's my speaking that I have absolutely no grasp of!

A little about my year so far, I am living in Stockholm, on an island in the inner city call Djurgården, which translates to animal garden. I live in a very nice area, on the island, which is maybe 2 km long, there are 2 museums, an amusement park, restaurants, a place called Skansen that is part zoo part old fashion recreation of houses and life back in the day. Also, I live right next to a small palace, called Rosendals Slott. Just up the road there is a beautiful garden called Rosendals Trägård (trägård means garden but if directly translated it's tree garden). I live in an area with a lot of big houses, my house is not one of those really big houses but it is absolutely beautiful, the house used to be part of the palace, maids chambers or the kitchen, something like that. My host mom is really great and she is very welcoming, I have felt at home since I arrived.

I attend gymnasium (high school) at Östra Real, which I can never pronounce correctly I don't know why. The school is really big and very old and my locker is on the forth floor, while most of my classes are on the second floor. It's quite the workout. I have made great friends at school, they accepted me immediately, I am very lucky to have them!

I also spend a lot of time with the other rotary foreign exchange students, we usually hang out once a week, it's nice to have people who are going through the exchange together. I am one of the oldest exchange students in Stockholm, there is only one kid who is older than me. One girl, Marian from Mexico, is only 15 years old I don't know how she does it, at 15 I certainly wasn't ready for an experience like this, I'm sure she will grow a lot from this year though.

It is strange how similar the culture here is to that of home, I feel like I am home here because it is just so similar. The one big difference is that I am living in a city and not a town like Elmira, there is more shopping here, obviously, and more places to hang out, like coffee shops. I think the atmosphere of the café's are different here, not enough to really know it but still different. Also there is a night life here, I have gone out dancing with my friends 3 times now, each time to a different club. It's a lot of fun, and definitely nice to be 18 here, otherwise I wouldn't get to go out like that.

Well, I think that catches me up for now, I will do my best to keep in touch.