New Family
I moved in with Camilla and Arne in the end of October and absolutely am loving life here! They are a great fit for me! I have a 7 year old sister, Johanne, 19 year old brother Patrik, 23 year old brother Fredrik, and a 29 year old brother Benneth. Johanne is the only one of the four that still live in the house, and we get along really well. I have always wanted a little sister and am really enjoying having her around! We do many activites together and enjoy each others company. The house I'm living in now is 20km out of Arvika where I go to school and where most of my friends live. The commute from Växvik is sometimes a hassle, but there are busses that go during the weekdays that make it a little easier. On the downside there is only one bus on the weekends and it is on Sunday night, so I am dependent on rides into town on the weekends. I solve this problem by staying over at friends houses that live in town when I go out late.
Free Time
I try to fill my free time with as many activities as possible, especially in the winter because it's so dark and people can get easily depressed if they stay inside all day. During the week I hang out with my friends, go to the library, or on Tuesdays I help out at an after-school program at an elementary school. Things that I do with my friends are: having fika (going out for coffee and cinnamon rolls), playing pool, watching movies, making dinner, going on walks, going out to movies, going shopping, or going to clubs and parties. In Sweden the drinking age is 18 so many of my friends go out on the weekends, I enjoy following along and being able to dance and socialize. Swedes tend to be pretty shy, so the best way to meet new people is out at night on the weekends.
Friends
I have been making friends very easily, and am glad that I have such a great class at school. I don't think that I could have been placed any better! I have a main group of friends that are from my class (Bild Estet) but I try to branch out and hang out with the other people that I have met as well. I finally feel like I'm at home here. I'm not spending as much time on Skype calling home with all my problems, I'm turning to my host family and friends here, and feel comfortable doing so. That was a huge step for me and I'm really glad that I've accomplished it.
Language
I don't want to say that I'm fluent, because I still struggle with little things, but I'm told almost every day that I am. People don't believe me when I say that I've only been here 5 months, of course I did study Swedish before, but I learned the most here. I am more and more comfortable with Swedish everyday. Even with the other exchange students who I speak English with I find Swedish slipping out instead. I am also told that I am speaking with a "Värmland" dialect. Which is the Swedish province that I'm living in. I am not so sure how I feel about that, because "Värmlandska" as it's called is one of the most made fun of dialects in Sweden. When I'm in Stockholm, people joke and say that they almost don't understand me because of my strong dialect.
Winter Break
For winter break my Mom and brother came to visit me! It was weird having them here, it made my life feel like a vacation again, but it was nice to have them here for the holidays! We had a great Christmas at my host grandparents house and Santa came to hand out all the presents! Then we took a trip to Stockholm so that I could show them "my" view of the city and we had fika with my friend Riley who is also an exchange student living in Stockholm. We were in Stockholm for one night and then went to Borlänge to visit relatives. For New Years I was with my friends and went to 3 different parties, and was at the town center for fireworks at Midnight! It was really a great New Years Experience! Mom and Robby were here for 2 weeks. I had one more week off until school started again. I was mostly with my friend Peter, we went to Karlstad to go shopping and then to Årjäng, his hometown to see how his life was growing up on a farm. I start school again on Tuesday, and am ending the winter break with a movie night with my girlfriends!
I am truly loving my life here, it is better than I could have expected. I am happy, and living every day to the fullest. Carpe Diem. Fånga Dagen. Seize the Day.
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| Stay forever young. |
