One Month Down!

Well, I suppose technically it has been one month and a day now because I choose to be lazy yesterday, but you get the point. I have officially been living away from my friends, family, country, everything I knew for 32 days. That is the longest (by far) I have ever gone without seeing my family.

I am not going to lie, I do miss them. However, not in the severe-homesickness kind of way. More in the I am thinking about them because I love them, but I know that I will see them again soon enough. They are not gone, I am not dead, this is merely a period of separation which I think in the long run will have been a really good experience for both me and my parents. I cannot imagine how hard it was for them to trust me enough and let me go halfway across the world on my own and live there for 6 months. Everyday I am here I am so grateful that they did though.

Most days have been great! (Aside from the beginning week when I had terrible jetlag) I found the transition not to be as hard as others have said. This is partly because of my amazing host family and partly because I choose Sweden for the very reason that it was somewhat similar to American culture. They are not like Spain who is up all night and eats at 9pm and not like China where the language is so different I surely would’ve had a heart attack my first day of school. I purposely picked a country that could speak good English for the most part and had a similar culture. That being said there are still MANY things abut Sweden that are very different from America which is good and makes me still feel like I am getting a real cultural experience.

Making friends has been interesting. As I have stated before I was placed in a small class (only 5 other kids) in a major (psychology) I knew nothing about. In Sweden you stay with the same kids in your class from the first day of secondary school, until the day you graduate. Also, you spend your whole day with them, so if you do not like the people in your class you are in for a long 3 years. I did like my classmates a lot, but we just did not click which happens sometimes. I wanted a major more involving health and fitness with a bigger class so I have more opportunities to meet people. I am fortunate enough to have a great and understanding principal so on Friday I am meeting with here to talk about changing my major to RT! These are the rescue people – ie firefighters, police, ambulance paramedics ect. I am really excited and hope it works out! These classes are much bigger (about 30 people) and seem way more interesting to me. So fingers crossed!

I often get asked what it is I miss the most, besides family and friends of course. Honestly, I do not miss much and what I do miss are things that cannot be sent in the mail for the most part. Maybe because I have only been here a month I have not had time to develop extreme longings or materialistic items yet. Anyway here is a small list of random things I miss from America:

• PEANUT BUTTER – First and for most I miss peanut butter more than anything. The good Trader Joes kinda that are unsalted and only have 1 ingredient, the pb and co cinnamon swirl, the honey bee. I miss it all so much I dream about it at night – no joke. Here if you want peanut butter you have to drive 15 miles and settle for creamy Skippy. Filled with all the nasty preservatives and is $10 for a jar no bigger than your fist. It is quite funny actually because after reading my other exchange students blogs and talking to them peanut butter is without a doubt the number one thing that we all have in common when it comes to missing things from home.
• Soft Gum – Here the gum is super hard and only sold in plastic bags. No clue why, but when I tried to explain to people that in America we kept our gum in boxes you should have seen the looks I got.
• My Kerig Coffee Maker – While Swedes do love their coffee they tend to be very old fashion abut how they make it, no Kerigs here.
• Being able to actually read a Menu – Here I eat out at least once a day because of the school lunches, so reading a menu is a rather important task for me. I have gotten a lot better, but still often have to ask a friend for help. The food words can be so confusing too. For example, the word lök which I was convinced meant salmon because at the Art Museum we sell bagel and lox  so I just assumed it meant the same thing, I mean close enough right? Well nope, lök actually means onion. Blomkål means cauliflower, annas means pineapple, vitlök means garlic (why that does not mean white onion I couldn’t tell you), but you see my point. Food words in Sweden are very different, thus making ordering a daily fight.
• My bed – I think that this sis something all travelers miss. Whether it be just a short weakened vacation or year long trip, everyone always misses sleeping in their own bed.

For now that is all I can think of, not too bad. The weather here has been great, all of the snow is gone. I went for a nice run outside yesterday in about 40 degree weather. Sorry to taunt all of you stuck inside all day. I am super excited for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics tomorrow, except I bet they will broadcast it in Swedish so I will be somewhat lost, still I be it will be super cool. For now I am standing strong and rooting for all the USA athletes, we will see how long that lasts. The Swedes tend to be very good at their winter sports – they are especially good in my favorite, hockey.

Here are some random pictures I have not had a chance to post:

Sledding a few days ago when we actually had snow.

Pretty shot from one of my morning walks.

Lucy the family dog.

Swedish Word of the Day: “Trött” – adjective and means tired. Jag är mycket trött is and extremely common phrase used by teenagers and means – I am very tired. This was one of the first phrases I learn that and Jag är mycket hungrig. (I am very hungry)