5,6,7,8, who do we appreciate??

Now, that I have been in Sweden for over 3 months. i have begun to realize how much i really do appreciate home, my family, friends, and just the U.S. in general. Not that im homesick, but when you move away from home you really begin to appreciate what you had.

My first visitor came, on october 23. Mick McCormick. I have to admit, it was really weird seeing a family friend in sweden, but it was so nice to have a visitor. We talked about the differences between here and home, how school is, how everything back home is, a lot of things really. to be honest it really didnt make me that homesick, i love where i am now, i wouldnt have things any other way. it was sad to hear about home and how everyone is doing and how im not there with them, but, its just a year, i'll be home soon and this is a once in a life time experience.

this past week i was in the local newspaper back home, i was sooo nervous about writing an article about my life here, and having everyone i know back home read it. but in a way i want them to know also of how things are here. i wish everyone could have some of the experience i have. my eyes have been opened and now i view the world differently. ive begun to read the news a lot more, come up with my own opinions on things, and make my own decisions and have a sense of independence. i cant begin to say how thankful i am for my parents allowing me to come here, and everyone here that has been incredibly helpful and friendly. i wouldn't have things any other way.

school has begun to get a little harder. now that things are getting closer to the end of first semester, more tests are becoming more apparent. for me i dont take the same test as my friends. (because its in swedish) for history i did take a test in swedish, it was difficult but i had lots of help from the teacher. in my international relations class i took a test and wasn't too hard. i had to write a two in a half page essay about all that i have learned from the class thus far. i have a big french test coming up in two weeks, that should be intresting because i think it will be quite difficult. lots of vocab grammar, listening, reading, writing, and speaking.. all in french! but im trying to study hard so i can do well on it! more updates on that later. in french class we actually were able to use our french and converse with some french exchange students that came to our class for a day. i didn't say much to them, they talked so fast it was hard to understand it all, but i was suprised with how much i understood! which reminds me of how my swedish is coming along. i think im getting pretty good. i mean im not speaking it all the time. my main objective for coming here is not to learn swedish, its to make connections and have a great year, but i do know quite a bit. in class i understand some of what the teacher is saying, it depends on the subject really. sometimes they use big words, then i have no idea what they are talking about. all in all the swedish is coming along slowly.

i think i have begun to suffer from the worldwide epedimic. maybe not the swine flu, but something, ive been sleeping all the time and i feel really queezy its been like this since sunday, hopefully it will get better. i believe i will be getting the svine flu shot this thursday. eva got hers yesterday and said it hurt, im not looking forward to it at all. but its free and i might as well get it to be on the safe side.

this past weekend was halloween. no, it is not like in the US, there were no haunted houses, trick or treating (at least around where im living in some parts of sweden there were), there wasn't much of a halloween spirit anywhere. so that was kinda sad but oh well its just the different culture. but my canadian friend and i carved a pumpkin and ate some candy that my mom had sent from home. we had our own little halloween :) we also went to a halloween party. but no one had any creative costumes and there were not many typical halloween games or movies, so that was quite a bummer. now shops and cafes are starting to get into the christmas spirit. there are special kinds of drinks, like sodas and fruity drinks, and kinds of food, im not sure of the name but i will find out, these are all only available during the christmas season. they start kind of early here but thats no problem with me! i love christmas, it will be really really realllyyyy weird not to see any snow! well not a lot at least.

no eva has not found a horse yet. she is still trying to find one that can pass a vet check. she has been really really busy with work. because she is a nurse she has a lot of work to do with all the swine flu chaos. and mats is just mats being mister fixit around the barn and what not. we went on a trail ride last friday when i had the week off of school and it was really nice, its starting to get really chilly. but we took a fika and had some warm kaffe so no worries!

this past week i had a break from school. it started with the district conference for rotary in alingsas, we went to a light show around the small town there, it was okej, we were walking arouund in the rain for what seemed like hours. but the lights were really really pretty. then i went to boras to stay with amanda, my canadian friend. we just hung out and had a couple relaxing days. on monday we went to a spinning class with her host sister, it was funny because the instructor would yell encouraging phrases but it was in swedish, but still it was fun to go. :)
then tuesday and wednesday i didnt do a whole lot. wednesday eva and i went to a nice little restaurant on the outside of town by the main harbor called stina's and they have typical swedish food. i had the typicall swedish meatballs and potatis and lingonberries, it was delicious! on thursday i went with two of my good friends, frida and lejla, to goteborg for some shopping and fika. it was a super nice day, perfect weather. i found a new coat and just a couple things that i need for the soon to come cold weather. on friday i went to my next host sister hanna. i will move there in feburary and i cant wait. its like having the sister i always wanted! she loves to cook so hopfully i will learn a few things here and there :) i move there in feburary, it will be really hard to leave mats and eva but no worries ill be back for little visits! so we had a cozy time and watched the swedish idol. yes you heard me right, the version of american idol. it was actually really really good. even though its all in swedish they sing english songs and the performers are really talented. its a big deal here and its fun to talk about it in school the next day.

so this is what ive been up to, taking it easy for now, i hope i will be feeling better by this next week or so. more updates soon!!