I’m long overdue for an (English) post on this blog! 

Let’s roll.

This weekend I had my final Rotary camp with the inbounds from my district in Sweden. Most of us are going on EuroTour next month, but for the few of our group who weren’t, this was goodbye. Surprisingly, there were no tears. But it was still a very solemn and bittersweet weekend. 

My weekend started on Friday when I went to a barbecue in Ystad, a little city on the coast. My friend Rosie and I met first at the train station in Lund, did some clothes shopping, and then took the train with another new exchange student, Allessandro, who’s only been here for four months. After two hours travel we arrived in Ystad and met Nikki, who organized the barbecue. We went back to her place and set up and people started to arrive. It was a really fun night- we grilled, danced, laughed, and played “kubb” (a Swedish game sort of like Ring Toss, but only vaguely) and walked to the beach. Rosie and I were supposed to take the train home at 10PM, but missed it and had to take the next train at 12.30 (!!) since Rosie lives far away, we got to her house at 3.30AM! It was a late night.

The next day we got up at 9 and headed out to our camp with the exchangies in Laholm. It only took us about 30 minutes on the train and we met up with Bengt, our district governor once we were there. He drove us a little way to the hostel we were staying at where we met the others as they arrived. We had a lot of free time that afternoon and got to meet some Swedes that are headed outbound in the summer for a year-long exchange. It reminded me of when I was in that place, sitting with my parents taking notes and wondering what my year would be like. It’s not been what I expected! I mean that in the best way possible. 

We hung out and took it easy the whole afternoon- we had cartwheel competitions, braided each other’s hair, built human pyramids, played bränboll (sort of like baseball) and walked on the beach and in the water. In the evening we grilled (there is lots of grilling in Sweden this time of year!) and afterwards had a little ceremony for the oldies. We all received our certificates of completion for the year, which was really bittersweet. I remembered watching my oldies receive the same certificates at the Kosta Boda camp and thinking it would never be me in that position. It’s amazing how quickly the time has gone. 

After we’d said good-night to the adults we went back to the rooms and changed into our swimsuits for a midnight swim. The beach was only 200 meters away, so of course we had to do it. The water was FREEZING but it was still so fun. We splashed each other and screamed and laughed. I got side-tackled and dragged under the water by a newbie (don’t worry, I got payback later). We headed back to the rooms again numb and shivering and converged in one room, burying ourselves in blankets. Looking around the room at all my friends sprawled out on every available piece of furniture (and sometimes sprawled out on top of each other when there was no space left on the furniture) I wondered if the Swedish outbounds-to-be realized how special moments like those are to all of us. This is my foreign family, and the times when we’re together are so few and far between. I don’t know when I’ll see some of these kids again. But I know that I WILL see them eventually. 

The next morning we cleaned the rooms, ate breakfast, and had some more free time. We gave a presentation for the parents of the Swedish outbounds and sang our national anthems. We ate our last fika together as a group. It started to hit us- we’ll never get this year back. We might come back to Sweden. We might meet up again. But we can never get this year back.

It’s a weird time to be on exchange. I have to say goodbye to my best friends in two weeks time. We’re all emotional, but there’s an undercurrent we all feel that says we’ll meet again. There’s planes, trains, and automobiles that will take us where we need to go, and we’ll make it work. We have to.

Above: The oldies with our certificates of completion

Below: The oldies on the beach 

Ibland känns det jättekonstigt när det är lättare att pråta svenska än det är att pråta engelska. Det är inte så ofta när det händer, men när jag träffa en kompis ute i stan eller i skolan och vi, båda två av oss, pråta flytande svenska, sverige känns som hemma. På riktigt. 

Jag tänker ofta om hur det skulle blir att åka hem igen till USA. Oftast jag tycker inte om att tänka så, men det är också spännande att veta att snart jag ska får se gammal kompisar igen, och min familj, som jag har saknade mycket. 

Samtidigt det kunde också blir skönt att stanna. Att studerar och ta det lugnt med de kompisar som jag har fått har. Det trivs bra nu med de tjejer i kören, och der räcker med de kompisar som jag har i skolan. De är inte så många, men de är trevliga andå. 

Det är tråkigt att tänka att snart jag ska inte pråta svenska så ofta. Min mamma och bror ska hälsa på i hela av juni månad, och vi ska köra med engelskan oftast. Sen i juli jag har min “Ramble Tour” runt hela Europa, och det är ju spännande, men det är också med bara utbytesstudenter, så vi ska pråta engelska, naturligtvis. Det år alltid så med utbytesstudenter. 

Många saker känner kaotisk nu. Jag ska tar studenten snart. Jag ska träffa min familj snart. Jag ska åka hem snart. Jag ska borja med amerikansk skolan igen snart. Allt känns som det är för tidigt. 

Jag vet att de sista månader är på riktigt de svårtaste. Men så måste det blir. Och så ska det vara. 

Ofta jag tänker att denna året är så speciell på grund av det är bara ett år. De flesta utbytesstudenter som man träffas ska säger detsamma sak. En utbyte är inte ett år i ditt liv. Det är ditt liv i ett år. 

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Today I felt like writing in Swedish, because I felt that it would be easier to express myself that way. I hope that’s alright. If you’d like to read this post, feel free to copy and paste the body of the text into Google Translate. I’ve tweaked some of the wording so it should translate fairly smoothly. 

I have a very busy few weeks coming up!

It is very often said that they last few months in a country are the ones that go by the fastest. I have found this to be more accurate than I can say- it seems that now, since all the exchange students have return dates looming over our heads, we’ve been kicked into gear and are constantly meeting up with each other. I’ve just passed my eight-month mark in-country and it feels absolutely wretched to only have four months left here. 

I’ve just switched host families as well. I am currently living with my Rotary contact person Christine and her husband, Dag. It’s been great living with them. I can literally see my house from school, so I can leave five minutes before lectures start in the morning and still be on time. Dag and Christine have a son as well, who is a teacher at my school and has a family of his own. Their son, Anton (we call him Lilla [little] Anton, because his father is also named Anton) is nearly three years old and there is a baby girl on the way, due just before i go home in July. Lilla Anton is often at the house when I get home from school (he ends Dagis, or daycare, about an hour before I end school) and so we’re getting to be good friends. Last night we played games on the iPad together. It’s great because he obviously doesn’t speak and English, so we can only speak Swedish together. Along the same line, I speak only Swedish with Dag and Christine and find myself now speaking Swedish more often than I speak English. It’s such a strange feeling when you forget words in your mother tongue and have to look them up in a dictionary because you know it only in Swedish- but it’s also a sign that I am coming closer and closer to fluency! I have started having dreams in Swedish too which is very cool. 

Another exciting thing I’ve been doing is “working” at the local Bokhandel (bookstore). It is not really work, per se, it is more of an internship. When Swedish students are in their third year of Gymnasiet, we are supposed to complete an internship over a period of several weeks to show us how working is in “the real world.” Since the president of my Rotary club owns the bookstore in town, I’ve been spending school days there cataloging books, doing inventory, and running errands. It’s been pretty fun. The problem is, though, when I’m working at the bookstore I see all the beautiful books I would love to buy but cannot possibly take home with me. Books are heavy, and my luggage going back can only weigh 23 kilos, so if I want to bring home all the books I have bought I will have to donate a lot of my clothes. This is a price I am willing to pay. I caved last week and bought the Swedish translation of the first Lord of the Rings book, because it’s gorgeous and was on sale and I couldn’t resist. Altogether working at the Bokhandel has been great.

This weekend it is Easter (or Påsk) which is a very big deal here in Sweden. I am supposed to sing at church for mass this evening and then Christine and I will sing again on Sunday. We’ll be spending our Easter with the family at the summer house, which is right next to a lake is is sure to be beautiful. Today the small children do something similar to trick-or-treating where they dress up and get candy. Lilla Anton is dressing up as Kalle Anka, or Donald Duck. 

Another exciting thing in the works is that I am going to Germany with the choir I sing in. We’re going to a town a little outside of Stuttgart, and we’ll stay in host families for four days and sing with a German choir. Spännande!

I am also going to Stockholm with a class in school for three days, just after the trip to Germany. As you can see, this month is very, very busy! Next month is looking about the same. Then my mom and brother will visit, I will go on EuroTour, and I will fly back to the States! Time flies!

Hello everyone! In following with the once-every-few-months theme, it’s time for another blog post!

It’s springtime now in Sweden, which leaves me with the stunning realization that I only have about four months left of living in this beautiful country. This is bittersweet. I love it here so much- it feels like even more than my second home- but I am also starting to long for my family, friends, and the familiar Colorado sun. 

Since I’ve last posted on this blog, I’ve switched classes in school- I was originally in the social sciences program but in order to better align my credits for my junior year of schooling in Colorado, I have since switched to a business administration program. I am still, however, in the third year of gymnasium in Sweden and as such will be “graduating” in the spring. (I put graduating in quotations because I will still have two more years of school when I get back to the states, so it’s not a real graduation for me.) 

Other interesting things in the works: it looks like I’ll be going to Stuttgart, Germany with my choir in April, and also going on a short trip to Stockholm with another class in school, also in April. Should be a really awesome couple of months :)

Hello everyone!

In truth I feel really horrible for not writing on this blog more often. I feel obligated to since so many people from home are using it as a way to stay in touch with me, but typing up text posts takes a lot of time and effort for me now that my English is deteriorating. My head is just so full of Swedish!

But, here’s a short update. I have changed host families, and now live directly inside the city, about a five minute walk away from my school. I have also changed classes in school and I am now in a business administration course. The classes are fun and I have some solid friends in them now. I speak only Swedish with my host family (the main reason why my English is not so good anymore) and I am finally beginning to speak Swedish in school.

My favorite course this semester is my History class. Our teacher, Bosse, is so enthusiastic when he lectures that we students can’t help but be enthusiastic, too. I love the class because we talk about topics I am interested in but also because I am now able to understand about 70-75% of the class. 

Now that I’ve passed the halfway mark of my exchange, it is really hitting hard that I have to go home in six months. It’s bittersweet, because I miss Colorado, but Sweden feels like home to me now, too. 

More updates to come, hopefully soonish. Hope everyone is well!

-Dem