Hmm, where to start. Alright, well this last week was fairly slow, at least the first half was. Hanna took me in to town for me to get a sim-card for my cell phone. So that was really nice. And my host mother bought me unlimited texting, which was nice as well. So now I've got a fully functional cell phone, which is good. I did some more sailing again, this time I was in the class for younger kids, 12-17 age group I think. I was in the adult class before. At the class I met a girl that goes to the same school as me, so that was nice to meet her. The next day I went on a bike ride around the area, by my self, with out knowing where I was going, right before it was about to rain. So yeah, I ended up following a bike path that just goes in a big circle around the surrounding area. Got to go through a lot of the area, houses, park, downtown, through the forest, next to the train tracks. It was really cool. Ended up taking about an hour or so, and after about fifteen-twenty minutes it started to rain, luckily I brought my rain coat, my legs still got pretty wet though.
I haven't taken a lot of pictures of the area yet, mostly because I'm lazy, but also I'm not sure if there's anymore AA batteries in the house, and I haven't asked if there are. I miss my old camera...
School started up Thursday, well kinda, it was more of an introduction. I met all the teachers and, that's about it... Everything was in English, so I didn't really know what was said most of the day, I guess the teacher forgot to translate for me. I did meet all my other class mates, they were all really nice. They translated things for me when I asked. Which was good, because the next day, Friday, was kind of a 'game day'. All the classes went together to different games, e.g building a tower out of marshmallows and dry spaghetti. My class was really glad to have me because no one there had ever made a building out of stuff like that. I've been doing it since I was like, four or five, so I knew what I was doing. Consequently our class won that game with a tower of 94cm. By the end of the school day there were a few kids that were talking to me, who had also invited me to sit at the same lunch table to talk to me. So that was really nice.
Besides that I haven't really done anything else. Oh, so some stuff over here that have stood out. Construction workers actually work here. Like, the whole time they're on the job, there might be one guy taking a short break while the rest work, so its pretty outstanding compared to back home. Shopping carts have a lock on them that you need to pay to unlock them, you then get your money back when you return them, so its a really cool way of keeping them from spreading all over the place. All the soda here is made with real sugar, so its pretty awesome.
So yeah, after writing this I've discovered that I still don't like to write. Regardless of how well I know the subject. But yeah, oh well.
Hej Då!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Wow I'm tired. The jet lag and mental stress of seeing, learning, listening to something new every. single. day. finally caught up. This last night I slept for about 16 hours, and am probably going go to bed even earlier tonight. So yeah, I am really exhausted right now.
So, the last week has been really long. Spent it at what was called language camp, to try and learn the Swedish language. We were staying in Kristianstad, town about an hour train ride from here. Well, I didn't really learn the language that well, but did learn a lot about the culture and history of Sweden, which was nice. Their state religion is recycling. Just about 96% of all waste is recycled here. There was a lot of information that we learned, it was over all fun. I was able to meet up with the other exchange students here, one guy from Colorado and two girls from Florida. There was also one girl from New Zealand that has been here in Sweden since January, she kind of acted like a guide for us, it was nice. I just did a lot of little stuff throughout the days while there, so kind of hard to re-cap it all. The most fun part was when went to a type of reconstructed viking town. It was really cool to light a fire with flint and to mess around with a sword, helmet and shield.
One topic that came up over dinner one night with the other Rotary members was when they were talking about how a quite of few of Rotary exchange students get married shortly after to people they meet on their trip, wither to other students or natives. So who knows? I've been told a lot that I'm going to find some Swedish girl and get married...
One other cool thing we got to do was go to an old church. It was built around the 1400s. It was really beautiful inside, and was very large for the size of the town that was around it. It was uncommon for churches to be built so large in smaller towns such as Kristianstad. The basin for baby baptisms is still the original one from when the church was built, which is very neat.
Besides that nothing else really happened. I did get to meet with Hanna today, that was fun. She was very nice. We went down to the beach and hung out for a little, she got back from Virginia this earlier this year as an exchange student as well. It was nice to hang out with someone not associated with the family or Rotary.
Well, that's about it. Now for some more sleep.
Hej Då!
So, the last week has been really long. Spent it at what was called language camp, to try and learn the Swedish language. We were staying in Kristianstad, town about an hour train ride from here. Well, I didn't really learn the language that well, but did learn a lot about the culture and history of Sweden, which was nice. Their state religion is recycling. Just about 96% of all waste is recycled here. There was a lot of information that we learned, it was over all fun. I was able to meet up with the other exchange students here, one guy from Colorado and two girls from Florida. There was also one girl from New Zealand that has been here in Sweden since January, she kind of acted like a guide for us, it was nice. I just did a lot of little stuff throughout the days while there, so kind of hard to re-cap it all. The most fun part was when went to a type of reconstructed viking town. It was really cool to light a fire with flint and to mess around with a sword, helmet and shield.
One topic that came up over dinner one night with the other Rotary members was when they were talking about how a quite of few of Rotary exchange students get married shortly after to people they meet on their trip, wither to other students or natives. So who knows? I've been told a lot that I'm going to find some Swedish girl and get married...
One other cool thing we got to do was go to an old church. It was built around the 1400s. It was really beautiful inside, and was very large for the size of the town that was around it. It was uncommon for churches to be built so large in smaller towns such as Kristianstad. The basin for baby baptisms is still the original one from when the church was built, which is very neat.
Besides that nothing else really happened. I did get to meet with Hanna today, that was fun. She was very nice. We went down to the beach and hung out for a little, she got back from Virginia this earlier this year as an exchange student as well. It was nice to hang out with someone not associated with the family or Rotary.
Well, that's about it. Now for some more sleep.
Hej Då!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Light Festival and Danmark
The last two days were pretty fun. Yesterday I went to the local Light Festival. It wasn't really any thing special, really just a boat parade down the middle of town on the river. The boats were mostly dressed up with lots of lights, but a lot had just a few strands of them, so it was nothing special at all. This was the first time for my host family as well and they were wondering why it was so popular, they didn't think it was that great either. 
(It was hard to get good pictures because I had to use an extended shutter time)
They did however have some live entertainment that was pretty cool. The only ones that I saw was of some African music and a fire dancer type guy. The African music part had four or five men playing on the drums, I think I saw two Djembe, and one guy singing and dancing. It was interesting to see this in Sweden. Apparently there are a considerable amount of immigrants in the Southern area. I think the number I saw online was that about 16% are foreign born. The Fire dancer was cool to watch, the first to parts of his act were not very spectacular, he was just swing some stick around that had their ends on fire. Anyone could really do it. The last part though was fun, he had two chains that were on fire and was spinning those around his body and such.
Afterwards there were some fire works, but we didn't stay for them. We did however see some of them from the house. The last two or three were large smiley faces. It was really cute. Good way to end the day.
Today we went to Danmark to visit Kronborg castle. Kronborg is the castle that Shakespeare based the play Hamlet at. It was really awesome. It's about 40min total travel time from Ängelholm to Helsingør, Danmark. Really simple too, just get on a train to Helsingborg, then a ferry to Helsingør. Kronborg was really cool, it was originally built in about the 1420s as a way to collect tolls from passing ships. Then in the 1550s Fredrick II rebuilt it as a more strategic castle for defense and kept evolving until about the 1800s. One fun little tidbit about the castle is the myth surrounding it. Holger Danske (Ogier the Dane)
It was really cool to be able to walk around the tunnels beneath the castle, it was very dark with a lot of side rooms, so it would have been more fun to be able to crawl around for an hour or so just in the tunnels. We then walked around the upper levels of the castle through the Royal apartments. There were a lot of old paintings and tapestries. Some dating back to the 1500s. Most were on average 300-350 years old. It was very interesting to see all of the old furniture and decoration, very fun too. 
There was a flag bastion that over looked the sea in between Danmark and Sverige. It was a beautiful view too look over. You can really tell the significance of the castle's position on the channel when looking at the surrounding area. 
The castle was great fun to go around and as a souvenir I got a mini Holgor for my desk, maybe if I'm ever in a lot of trouble he'll wake up and help me. After the castle was slowly made our way back to Sverige. Had some good Danish food and overall a real good time.
(It was hard to get good pictures because I had to use an extended shutter time)They did however have some live entertainment that was pretty cool. The only ones that I saw was of some African music and a fire dancer type guy. The African music part had four or five men playing on the drums, I think I saw two Djembe, and one guy singing and dancing. It was interesting to see this in Sweden. Apparently there are a considerable amount of immigrants in the Southern area. I think the number I saw online was that about 16% are foreign born. The Fire dancer was cool to watch, the first to parts of his act were not very spectacular, he was just swing some stick around that had their ends on fire. Anyone could really do it. The last part though was fun, he had two chains that were on fire and was spinning those around his body and such.
Afterwards there were some fire works, but we didn't stay for them. We did however see some of them from the house. The last two or three were large smiley faces. It was really cute. Good way to end the day.
Today we went to Danmark to visit Kronborg castle. Kronborg is the castle that Shakespeare based the play Hamlet at. It was really awesome. It's about 40min total travel time from Ängelholm to Helsingør, Danmark. Really simple too, just get on a train to Helsingborg, then a ferry to Helsingør. Kronborg was really cool, it was originally built in about the 1420s as a way to collect tolls from passing ships. Then in the 1550s Fredrick II rebuilt it as a more strategic castle for defense and kept evolving until about the 1800s. One fun little tidbit about the castle is the myth surrounding it. Holger Danske (Ogier the Dane)
According to his legend, he is the son of Geoffrey, king of Denmark. In La Chevalerie Ogier de Danemarche, he had a son who was slain by Charlot, son of Charlemagne. Seeking revenge, Ogier sought out and slew Charlot, and was only barely prevented from killing Charlemagne. He resisted Charlemagne for seven years but made peace with him to fight at Charlemagne's side against the Saracens, in which battle he slew the giant Brehus.Currently he sleeps under the castle and will awaken of Danmark is ever in dire trouble to save the country.
It was really cool to be able to walk around the tunnels beneath the castle, it was very dark with a lot of side rooms, so it would have been more fun to be able to crawl around for an hour or so just in the tunnels. We then walked around the upper levels of the castle through the Royal apartments. There were a lot of old paintings and tapestries. Some dating back to the 1500s. Most were on average 300-350 years old. It was very interesting to see all of the old furniture and decoration, very fun too. 
There was a flag bastion that over looked the sea in between Danmark and Sverige. It was a beautiful view too look over. You can really tell the significance of the castle's position on the channel when looking at the surrounding area. 
The castle was great fun to go around and as a souvenir I got a mini Holgor for my desk, maybe if I'm ever in a lot of trouble he'll wake up and help me. After the castle was slowly made our way back to Sverige. Had some good Danish food and overall a real good time.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Sailing
Well then, that was a fun day. Went sailing this afternoon and instead of doing the normal routine of just casually sailing around we did some racing. It was just two boats, me and one of the instructors on one, and three other people on the other. It was really fun and exciting. Me and Hannas, the instructor, won 7/11, so we did pretty good. On the fourth race, the only reason they won was because I got got tipped out of the boat. We were coming around the bouye to make the final stretch to the finish line when a small gust of wind and me having to yank the rudder to not hit the other boat kicked me out, so I went for a nice swim in the sea. It was really fun, however my camera would like to beg to differ. I had my camera and journal in my pockets, hopefully the camera will still work, its in a bag of rice right now. I'm going to be checking it tomorrow night. My journal however, it was good that it took a swim. Its called 'Wreck this Journal' and you're supposed to do crazy stuff with. There are instructions on every page of it e.g "Poke holes all over this page with your pencil" or "Stand on top of this page and wipe your feet". Its just a fun little book that a friend got for me before I left, it was really thoughtful. Well, besides that nothing really else exciting happened.
Hej Då!
Recap of the last few days
Alrighty then, I have been here in Sverige for 3 full days, starting the fourth. So, what follows is a complete list of what I have done while here. This will be mostly in chronological order and as comprehensive as possible.
Sunday evening started when I arrived in Copenhagen. Family picked me up right outside the baggage claim and we went strait home. On the way to the house, the father pointed out a seagull and said that they call them "Stockholmers" because they "make a lot of noise and sh*t all over the place", pretty funny. When we got home they asked what I would like to eat, I did not really care about what, so they ordered Thia food. (Go figure right?) So, I had duck, and it was actually really good. After dinner we hung out in the kitchen for a while. Calle, their youngest son who is sixteen had some of his friends over because they wanted to meet me. It was fun, they were all pretty funny. They asked me a few questions here and there but it was mostly idle chit chat. One thing that I know now though is that where I'm living, Skåne, is pretty distinct from the rest of Sweden. They have a completely differ accent than the rest of Sweden, and have slightly different words for things. The reason for this is the area used to be a part of Denmark until approximately 300-350 years ago. After all this I went up to bed, which is actually the biggest room in the house.
Monday I woke up early-ish, about 930 or so (the sun is up at around 430-500), had some breakfast. The grandparents were here, so I talked to them for a little bit, the grand father doesnt know any English and the grand mother knows a little, enough to be able to communicate. They were both really nice, the grand father is pretty funny. Later on we all went down to their 'Colony' house. (not sure the Swedish spelling or word). Its a small one room cabin with a garden. They're used as summer homes for a lot of people or as a recreational thing. Historically they were set up during the 1700's during a large spread famine. A lot of the peasants and lower class peoples that lived in the cities did not get any food because there was not enough to go around, the the government gave everyone a small bit of land out side of the towns so that they could support themselves independently.
Its a nice little place, they have a garden with tomatoes, chili's, raspberries, cucumbers, onions, and others. After that me, the father and grand-father went of fishing! Not pannzy fishing with poles, but real fishing with nets. They own a small little put-put boat that he uses, its a nice little thing. We laid the nets, about 180 meters of them, about 10 minuets from the marina. They were to be collected the next morning.
After wards went to the grandparents house for a BBQ, which was nice. Talked for a bit. After that I went bowling with Sanne, the daughter, who is 20, Calle and his friends. Was pretty fun. One thing thats nice over here is how the sun is out late so it makes hanging out a bit easier. So, when you're walking home at 2200, its still light out. His friends are pretty cool, some of them want me to reactive my WoW account so I can play with them, but we settled for me playing Counter-Strike instead. So already there are nerds for me to hang out with.
The next morning I was woken up at 530 to go fishing. There coffee is really good too, really really good. Definitely bringing some home. Fishing was fun, caught a lot of flounder and some other fish that I know but forgot the name of. We were hoping on catching Salmon, but no luck with that. After that we went on a short hike around the area. Really nice place, there is a river running through the center of town. Then too a bike ride to the center of town to meet with my Rotary contact helping person. The school Im going to is about a 5minute ride from where I live, so thats nice. Also, its called the Future School in English. Apparently they use contemporary learning techniques, such as self learning. So the teachers give you an assignment and you do it you self or something like that. Anyways, theres about 150 kids that go to it, which is really nice because I wont be in such shock than if I were to go to a large school. I'm planing on getting a cellphone here pretty soon, maybe within the next couple of days.
Next day basically did the same thing, woke up early to go fishing and such. Hmmm... now my days are getting a bit mixed up, I've done so much the last few days. Well, I've gone sailing twice now, really fun. Awesome small boats, when you go fast it tips almost 90 degrees, so you end up almost stand up on the side of the boat.
And the instructer was an exchange student to Australia when he was in high school through the Rotary club as well! So we were talking a lot while sailing. One fun word in Swedish that I got to learn is 'fock' with a longish 'o'. So that word will be easy to remember. He he.
So, thats basically what I've done so far these last couple of days. The language is coming along slowly, I can now discern individual words that are being spoken instead of just a jumble of gibberish, so thats really good. Hopefully this camp Im going to well help a lot. but most people I've talked to have said that I pronounce all the Swedish words as if I've been speaking it all my life, so thats really cool. Also, theres a girl across the road that wants to meet me, she did an exchange to Virgina a year or two ago, so it will be nice to be able to hang out. But apparently she is pretty shy, so I'll probably have to go over and say hi first. So yeah, so far its been really great here. Every thing is really nice, the coffee especially.
My next posts will prolly not be quite as long as this one, but I'll still try to summarize my weeks.
Hej Då!
Sunday evening started when I arrived in Copenhagen. Family picked me up right outside the baggage claim and we went strait home. On the way to the house, the father pointed out a seagull and said that they call them "Stockholmers" because they "make a lot of noise and sh*t all over the place", pretty funny. When we got home they asked what I would like to eat, I did not really care about what, so they ordered Thia food. (Go figure right?) So, I had duck, and it was actually really good. After dinner we hung out in the kitchen for a while. Calle, their youngest son who is sixteen had some of his friends over because they wanted to meet me. It was fun, they were all pretty funny. They asked me a few questions here and there but it was mostly idle chit chat. One thing that I know now though is that where I'm living, Skåne, is pretty distinct from the rest of Sweden. They have a completely differ accent than the rest of Sweden, and have slightly different words for things. The reason for this is the area used to be a part of Denmark until approximately 300-350 years ago. After all this I went up to bed, which is actually the biggest room in the house.
Monday I woke up early-ish, about 930 or so (the sun is up at around 430-500), had some breakfast. The grandparents were here, so I talked to them for a little bit, the grand father doesnt know any English and the grand mother knows a little, enough to be able to communicate. They were both really nice, the grand father is pretty funny. Later on we all went down to their 'Colony' house. (not sure the Swedish spelling or word). Its a small one room cabin with a garden. They're used as summer homes for a lot of people or as a recreational thing. Historically they were set up during the 1700's during a large spread famine. A lot of the peasants and lower class peoples that lived in the cities did not get any food because there was not enough to go around, the the government gave everyone a small bit of land out side of the towns so that they could support themselves independently.
Its a nice little place, they have a garden with tomatoes, chili's, raspberries, cucumbers, onions, and others. After that me, the father and grand-father went of fishing! Not pannzy fishing with poles, but real fishing with nets. They own a small little put-put boat that he uses, its a nice little thing. We laid the nets, about 180 meters of them, about 10 minuets from the marina. They were to be collected the next morning.
After wards went to the grandparents house for a BBQ, which was nice. Talked for a bit. After that I went bowling with Sanne, the daughter, who is 20, Calle and his friends. Was pretty fun. One thing thats nice over here is how the sun is out late so it makes hanging out a bit easier. So, when you're walking home at 2200, its still light out. His friends are pretty cool, some of them want me to reactive my WoW account so I can play with them, but we settled for me playing Counter-Strike instead. So already there are nerds for me to hang out with.
The next morning I was woken up at 530 to go fishing. There coffee is really good too, really really good. Definitely bringing some home. Fishing was fun, caught a lot of flounder and some other fish that I know but forgot the name of. We were hoping on catching Salmon, but no luck with that. After that we went on a short hike around the area. Really nice place, there is a river running through the center of town. Then too a bike ride to the center of town to meet with my Rotary contact helping person. The school Im going to is about a 5minute ride from where I live, so thats nice. Also, its called the Future School in English. Apparently they use contemporary learning techniques, such as self learning. So the teachers give you an assignment and you do it you self or something like that. Anyways, theres about 150 kids that go to it, which is really nice because I wont be in such shock than if I were to go to a large school. I'm planing on getting a cellphone here pretty soon, maybe within the next couple of days.
Next day basically did the same thing, woke up early to go fishing and such. Hmmm... now my days are getting a bit mixed up, I've done so much the last few days. Well, I've gone sailing twice now, really fun. Awesome small boats, when you go fast it tips almost 90 degrees, so you end up almost stand up on the side of the boat.
And the instructer was an exchange student to Australia when he was in high school through the Rotary club as well! So we were talking a lot while sailing. One fun word in Swedish that I got to learn is 'fock' with a longish 'o'. So that word will be easy to remember. He he. So, thats basically what I've done so far these last couple of days. The language is coming along slowly, I can now discern individual words that are being spoken instead of just a jumble of gibberish, so thats really good. Hopefully this camp Im going to well help a lot. but most people I've talked to have said that I pronounce all the Swedish words as if I've been speaking it all my life, so thats really cool. Also, theres a girl across the road that wants to meet me, she did an exchange to Virgina a year or two ago, so it will be nice to be able to hang out. But apparently she is pretty shy, so I'll probably have to go over and say hi first. So yeah, so far its been really great here. Every thing is really nice, the coffee especially.
My next posts will prolly not be quite as long as this one, but I'll still try to summarize my weeks.
Hej Då!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Here I am
Well, am now in Sweden. Pretty crazy. Really nice so far, the family I'm staying with is great. Very hospitable people, they're treating me just like part of the family.
Adjusting to the time change probably wont be to hard, I woke up at about 930 over here, and that was after 28 hours of travel with little sleep.
My host brother had some of this friends over last night because they wanted to meet me, apparently I'm already known as the "American" and am also already on the dating field. They were talking about how their accent down here is very weird compared to the rest of Sweden. They talk a lot like Danes. Well, one of the guys was saying how their accent is more 'manly' and 'People in Stockholm talk gay!' It was hilarious.
I have my own room over here, its the biggest one in the house. It has a 37" Widescreen which doubles as the computer monitor.
The weather so far is really nice, albeit I haven't really been out side much yet, I think I may go fishing either today or tomorrow though. Also apparently this is the best beach in Sweden. Its about a 15minute walk through some woods to get to the beach.
Sorry for all the jumbled thoughts, still pretty exhausted from the trip and my mind is still pretty tense. I'll try to get a more legible post up by the end of the week before I go to the language camp.
Hej Då!
Adjusting to the time change probably wont be to hard, I woke up at about 930 over here, and that was after 28 hours of travel with little sleep.
My host brother had some of this friends over last night because they wanted to meet me, apparently I'm already known as the "American" and am also already on the dating field. They were talking about how their accent down here is very weird compared to the rest of Sweden. They talk a lot like Danes. Well, one of the guys was saying how their accent is more 'manly' and 'People in Stockholm talk gay!' It was hilarious.
I have my own room over here, its the biggest one in the house. It has a 37" Widescreen which doubles as the computer monitor.
The weather so far is really nice, albeit I haven't really been out side much yet, I think I may go fishing either today or tomorrow though. Also apparently this is the best beach in Sweden. Its about a 15minute walk through some woods to get to the beach.
Sorry for all the jumbled thoughts, still pretty exhausted from the trip and my mind is still pretty tense. I'll try to get a more legible post up by the end of the week before I go to the language camp.
Hej Då!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)