I am home. I have been home. It's been almost 2 months now that I've been back on american soil. So I write my last post for this blog. It's been quite the year, one that I will always look back on and think about all the things I experienced, all the people I met and the life lessons I learned. Thanks to everyone who helped make this year happen for me, you have all made some sort of an impact on my life and I am truly greatful for that. So it's back to Curtis High School for me, my senior year is finally going to happen! Plans afterward....perhaps get my pre-nursing done then become a nurse for the Air Force. But I don't know what my future holds for me so I'll just take it day by day and see where life takes me.

So long Sweden, until next time.

Love, Ez

Birthday Wishlist!

So, 10 days from today I turn 18, also known as an "adult". In honor I've made a birthday wishlist. Now, I know that wishlists can be well....yeah, but when it comes to my birthday I definitely like to make a list. I also know that I have no reason to ask for anything because I've been given so much already especially this year that I've been gone. But when it comes to my birthday I tend to act a little selfish. So I've made a list of some things that I want but do not neccesarily need. This list is not meant for anyone, just for me...a reminder so that when I go back home I can buy myself some of these things because well quite honestly things are cheaper in the states then they are in Sweden :) So here it goes (by the way, this is not in a particular order).

1. Birthday Cards :)

2. Palladium Boots

3. Money

 4. iHome

5.  Anything Ed Hardy

6.  New Wrestling Shoes

7. CAKE!

8. SkullCandy Headphones

9. iTunes Giftcards

10. My family, friends, the island.



  

 All I really, really, really want is some birthday cards from family and friends back home and cake!

Birthdays, Cars, Boots & Countdowns

The first weeks of May have come and gone. For the first time in a while the month of May didn't feel jam packed. Normally back home this is a busy month. Rosanna's birthday (younger sister), Cinco de Mayo, Cassandra's birthday (older sister), Mother's Day, Prieto's birthday (younger brother), my birthday, pancake breakfast, beginning of studying for finals, and the list goes on. But since I'm obviously not at home I've been just breezing by this month, sorta. For both sisters birthdays and Mother's day I skyped with family, wishing them the best on their special days & I will actually do that again later today for my brother's birthday. He turns 16 today!!! Congrats to the best brother ever, my one and only brother, couldn't ask for a better one :)

Okay so what's happened here...in Sweden. Not too much.

My new host family is wonderful. They've got a quirky ness to them that I like, makes me feel like I can definitely by myself around them! This family includes host mom, Kersti, host dad, Thore, host sisters, Marta(13) & Agnes(15). Their older sister is on an exchange to Japan. We live in an area called Laröd just outside of the town centrum, about a 10 minute drive. It's a great neighborhood and I like that we aren't right in the city. But because we live further out of the city I now take a bus to go to school, 15 minutes on bus then 15 minute walking. No more biking, well at least not everyday. On the days that I start at 12:30 I plan to bike to school.

Speaking of school. I pretty much only have 14 days of actual school left. After May I have maybe 4 full days of school not consecutive but still only 4! I cannot wait till school is done, I've never wanted summer as much as I do now.

So on May 1st I went to a futbol game here in Helsinborg. It was HIF (Helsingborg's team) against Gotenburg I believe. It was fun to watch and thankfully we didn't lose, but instead tied.

May 6-8 was suppose to have been a volleybol tournament in Gothenburg but our team didn't go because we didn't have enough girls, again :(  Instead on May 8, all us exchange students had to attend the Rotary District Conference in Kavlinge, a town 30-45 minutes from Helsingborg. Dakota and I were able to get a ride from a Rotarian. His name is Lars and he is very nice. I've met him and his wife before, great people. He has a son who will be an exchange student to Kansas next year! Well, the point of us attending this meeting was so that we inbound exchange students could present ourselves to various members of the district and also so we can meet and chat with the soon to be outbound exchange students. It was fun to meet the students who are leaving next year and offer any advice for them. So, on our way home Lars said that he was going to pick up his Ferrari once he got home, at the mention of that I got excited. I'm not a car fanatic like my brother but it's not very often you meet someone who owns a convertible Ferrari & a yellow Lambo! Not only that but I told him how exciting it would be to get the chance to see it and what not, especially since I knew it would make my brother jealous. So he said he'd stop by the house and I could have a look, but believe it or not he took me for a ride as well. It was incredible! The sound of the engine as we sped up was remarkable, it was so fun to be driving fast.

May 13, this past Friday I went to Malmo to meet up with some other exchange students for a fika and to "shop". We definitely made a stop at the English store, and the American Store. I bought a Charleston Chew, Resses PB Cups, & BBQ Kettle Chips. Mmmm, hit the spot. Then we went to the Turning Torso, a very tall builiding that well looks like it's sort of turning. There we stopped for some amazing [italian] ice cream, and then sat around at Espresso House. After that Dakota, Chris, Keisha (exchangies from Canada) and I went to Svedala. A town semi close to Malmo. This is the town Keisha lives in, Dakota and I were going over to spend the night. Anyway, we had time to kill before dinner so Keisha took us on a 'tour' of the town, apparently the town is only like 10,000 people. Small to her, not small to me.

We went back to the house for a yummy grilled dinner then talked and talked about all sorts of things. Later we watched Black Swan, great, great movie. Next morning none of us got up till past 10 :) We ate some brunch then took the train back to Malmo for some more 'shopping'. Didn't buy anything, but saw a pair of boots that I really want now. Price for them here was 999SEK, so about $160. Yikes, so I googled the brand once I got home to see if they are actually that expensive or if it's just Sweden that's pricey. Well, it's just Sweden because on their actual site their $70! So guess that means I'll have to wait to get them until I'm back home OR who knows I could just get them as a birthday present....

May 15, today! I went with my host dad to the Classic Cars show here. It was lots of fun to see all the cars, lots of classics, some newer models, and even motorcycles too. I really enjoyed it, plus my host dad was telling me little bits and pieces about certain models, and the different car brands...or would you say car companies so that was interesting to hear.

That's basically all that's happened the past two weeks.

13 days- 18th Birthday!
17 days- School is done!

26 days- Mom is here!

29 days- Italy!

44 days- Flight home. Woah, time has flown.

Spring, The Beach, & Easter

<-- These colorful stands were in various spots around the city. All with assorted colored feathers :)

Spring break- Påsklov- pretty much began on Friday the 15 for me! It was a  great week to say the least all thanks to the very good weather here.

I began my break with a volleyball tournament that Saturday. We were the only B team, meaning that all the other teams we played against were in higher divisions than us...and older than us by 5-30 years. But that's not that important, we played three matches each with two sets. And well we lost all three. I did have a good time playing pool in between matches though, I won those games :)

The next day some of us from volleyball (guys and girls) went to the beach to do a little spring cleaning. We spent a few hours picking up trash from the beach then played some volleyball. Afterwards we did a little grilling...of hot dogs.

Monday I headed to the beach with Handi, Fatih (her brother) his friend, and two other girls. We played a few games of beach volleyball. Handi and I against Fatih and his friend. Losers had to buy the winners a pizza...well you'd think since Handi and I have actually been "playing" volleyball we'd have won. We didn't! Thankfully we didn't have to actually buy them a pizza after all ;) That night I went to wrestling practice, always tough but always so good.

Tuesday I laid out in the sun all day. Weather was finally feeling like spring. And yes I did get a tan!

 Wednesday I did the same, of course. Went to the beach with some friends as well. And also had wrestling practice that night.

Thursday Keisha (girl from Canada) came over for the day. We made chocolate chip cookies, tanned and had a good conversation with the 4 year old neighbor. She came over into the yard and started chatting with us...she is adorable. At one point she tells us about her grandpa. "His name is_______, he is___ years old and he's in the bathroom right now"! Kids say the darnest things.

Friday was another day well spent on enjoying the sun.

Saturday I joined the little girls wrestling team by helping them pick up trash in the woods/park for a few hours. It was a really nice day again so lots of people were out on walks. After that we grilled some hot dogs and had cookies too. Right after that I went with one of the moms of a girl from "my" wrestling group (older girls). We drove to the older girls training camp in a nearby town. There was a team from Germany there as well training with them. It was a lot of fun to watch them train...in Swedish and in German. That night I also went on a walk with Asa along the beach, so many people were out.

Sunday was another day spent at the beach with friends. We took out some grills and made kebabs, played volleyball and enjoyed the sun. 

My Easter decoration :)

Monday was a red day (swedish holiday?) meaning no school, no working, no nothing. I enjoyed my final day of break by relaxing in the sun all day.  I also went on an Easter egg hunt :) to find my one and only egg. After I found it I suggested to Mikaela that we dye some eggs for the 4 and 6 year old neighbor kids. I guess the tradition of hiding a bajillion eggs around for kids to find isn't really a tradition in Sweden.

So now that break was over...school started back up :(

It was boring as always.

Wrestling was extra good this week though, we had a team from France come and train with us. On one day their coach trained us, really cool to have had the chance to learn from so many great coaches. On Friday I was asked to speak as part of a panel of American-Swedes...Swedish-Americans to a group of students. We discussed lots of topics from school, the lifestyle, to racisim and hooliganism. And that same day I moved to my third and final host family of this year. I'll blog about them later once I've gotten to know them a little better :) Now, I'm just enjoying the weekend at the beach with friends until lovely school begins on Monday.

Lappland

Best week of my exchange byfar to say the least :)

Day 1: Tuesday, April 5

13:33 - 15:27 Train from Helsingborg to Gothenburg

Dakota, Shruti and I start the long haul to Kiruna!

17:00 - 11: 30 Night train from Gothenburg

A cabin full of 6 women, many stops and meeting Nick an Aussie (also part of our group to Kiruna).

  

Day 2: Wednesday, April 6

11:55 -14:57 Train from Boden to Kiruna

Here at the Kiruna train station us three girls, Nick and another girl were welcomed by two of our "leaders" Fredrik and Jonaton. They took us to drop of our luggage at the hostel/hotel we were staying at then drove us up to the school to meet with the rest of the group. 66 of us in total! Students from all over the world, France, Austria, Brazil, Canada, India, USA, Germany, Argentina, Chile, Switzerland, and more.

15:45 - 17:45 Bus from school to Ice Hotel

The moment I'd been waiting for had finally arrived! We were all heading to the ice hotel, here we would get a short tour of the main parts of the hotel and a brief history on how the hotel started. This was the 21st hotel they've built. I don't remember all of the information that was told to us but if anyone is really interested in learning more go to their website. http://icehotel.com/ Trust me, it really is quite an extrodinary place. So since we were only guided through the first few parts of the hotel we spent the next hour or so walking around by ourselves or in groups checking out the various other "art" rooms. It was amazing, all of it! But of course we couldn't stay there all day, we had to head back to the hostel. Good timing because my feet were frozen even with two pairs of socks on.

We got back to the hostel and had some free time before we ate dinner. Dinner was pizza, nothing special but still yummy. Later we headed back to the hostel and then some of us went outside to play some soccer in the snow and sit around a small fire. That night consisted of getting to know some of the exchange students, hanging out in various rooms and ended in us getting to see a glimpse of the northern lights! Although the lights from the hostel and nearby buildings sort of interferred with us getting to really see a great view of the northern lights we still mananged to see them, incredible. 

Day 3: Thursday, April 7

07:15 - Bus from Kiruna to Narvik, Norway

From the hostel we set off on two buses to Narvik, Norway. The trip took a few hours but we would make a few stops along the way as well. On the bus we had a guide that gave us information about several places/things we passed on the way. Around 8:30 we stopped in Abisko, Sweden. Here in Abisko we got off at the tourist station for a fika of coffee/juice/tea and blueberry pie. We also had a guide talk to us about Abisko, an area great for both winter and summer activities. A population of only 150... or was it 300 people. We also watched a 20 minute presentation about the seasons of Abisko then had a chance to look in the gift shop.

After our stop in Abisko we set off on the road again, about another hour or so we stopped real quick in Björkliden. Björkliden is a ski/winter resort, also just as popular as Abisko during the winter. We didn't get off the bus but instead just looked out the window, we got to see some snow sledding dogs!

So, back to the road we went. Another hour or so and we made it to Narvik. In Narvik we got a presentation about the town. Then we went down to the harbor for some lunch and after we got a chance to look around the town and shop if we wanted. But time was running out and we had to head back to Kiruna. Right as we crossed back into Sweden we took a stop at Riksgränsen. Yet another ski lounge. Here we heard about the lounge and the various winter activities avialable. We were also able to see the lappland gate! Back to Kiruna we headed.

  

That night we were going to have a nice dinner. A traditional northern swedish meal of moose, lingon, potatoes gratin and salad. It was so good. Following dinner we had dessert, cloud berries and ice cream.

And then the fun began (again).

The swedish leaders got together and sang their national anthem. Two of them were dressed in traditional sami clothes. Sami were the first inhabitants of scandinavia. They've lived in northern Sweden-Lappland, and in northern Norway. There was also a special guest who sang us a joik..funny! He even sang a few other sami songs.

Next us exchange students got together into our home countries because now it was our turn to sing our national anthems. I have to say we didn't do to bad....there was probably 12 of us "Americans" all together. It was fun to hear all the other anthems too. Well the evening continued with lots of singing and laughing and just good ole fun. The night ended with all of us heading back to the hostel and hanging out with each other.

Day 4: Friday, April 8

08:30- Group 1 to Icehotel for snowmobiling, Group 2 to LKAB mine.

I was in Group 1 so we were up first for snowmobiling! This day was so, so, so much fun. The group took a bus to the icehotel (the starting point of our snowmobiling trip) and we all got in these sleds attached to the back of the snowmobiles. It was a bumpy, icy yet fun ride over a frozen lake....river....body of water. The ice/snow was so thick you could drive a train across it! When we reached our next destination...down the frozen water a ways we divided into groups again, 3. We then did some fun activities in the snow. First we built a fire in the snow. Next we did this teamwork thing with planks of wood that we had to try to move on like skis, we also put on some "drunk goggles" for a little more fun :) Lastly we got to go on the snowmobiles, best part. Of course we rode with one of the swedish leaders for obvious reasons. After enjoying the snow and outdoors we went into these hut-like dome houses to warm up and eat some reindeer soup. And then we went back to the ice hotel to get on another bus that would take us to the LKAB mine. I believe we were down 700 meters into the mine. We took the bus all the way down to this level....going down it was like going through a tunnel, it was black and grimey. Basically at the mine we were led by a guide throughout the 'tourist-y' part of the mine. It was actually sort of interesting to see how they mine all the iron ore. They mine tons of it everyday and blast in the mine every morning (1am).  We even got to take home a souvenir of some iron ore pellets. Not really much use to these but still, a little piece to bring back home from Kiruna.

Just hanging around in the LKAB mine machines.

After this lovely tour we headed back to the hostel for a long break. We had dinner up at the school again, but first we had some more singing. Once agian the home countries got together to sing a different song, something a little more 'traditional' to their country. Us Americans sang "Take me out to the ball game". Oh for the love of baseball we have, right?! My favorite had to have been the Haka, a chant done in New Zealand before rugby games. It was great to watch! Well yet another adventerous day over, back to the hostels for some much needed sleep.


Day 5: Saturday, April 9

Final day in Kiruna, thankfully no need to wake up early. We had till 10:00 to eat, pack and clean the rooms. Some students left on a plane at 6am, geesh. While the rest of us didn't have to leave till later. Those who didn't leave till later (we) walked up to the town for a little free time shopping. In which I went on a hunt for a souviner shop because I really wanted to get something that was very sami. I bought a handmade traditional sami bracelet, I love it, which is a surprise since I don't really wear any jewlery. I also bought a pin for my jacket and a keychain made of reindeer antler, can't get more sami than that. Well at least half of the group that was left were taking the train at noon, so we went to the school for lunch and they headed to the train. For the next few hours we hung out at Ripan a snow camp area in Kiruna. There we went sledding, had a fika and played soccer in the snow. Lots of fun of course.

But sadly time was closing and our train was leaving at 17:35 so back to the train station we went. We said our goodbyes to the leaders and hopped on the train. Another 25 hour journey back to Helsingborg.

On the way home we went from Kiruna to Boden. We then switched trains to the night train. This trian took us to Stockholm. On the night train it was as before just as full. But this time there were more exchange students so we went from cabin to cabin talking and such.

Day 6: Sunday, April 10

Around 10:30 we got into Stockholm. In Stockholm we had a 3 hour wait until our next train. We hung out in McDonalds for a bit but once more and more students left for their trains us remaining left McDonalds too. Instead we just waited on the benches in the center of the station. Finally our train was there, to Gothenburg we went. Once in Gothenburg we had to literally run to the next train because we were running behind. On the train from Gothenburg we headed home to Helsingborg, only 2 hours to go. About 18:45 we got into the Helsingborg station, thankfully my bus was was coming in 5 minutes so I didn't have to wait long. I was finally back home by 19:00!

Overall this trip was incredible, I would love to go back! (In Ice Hotel)



Life is like a bowl of cherrios!

I forgot to post once more for the month of March since I was slacking that month but better late than never.

On the 24th it was Mikeala's 16th birthday. We woke up at like 7:30am to suprise Mikeala with singing, presents and cake! Best part, we ALL got cake for breakfast.

It was also time for a little spring cleaning, so one Sunday I spent my afternoon cleaning my room from top to bottom, inside and out. Who knew that there would be that much dust...and dog hair!

The last weekend of March was spent showing Dakota how to make cheesecake. Good ole' New York Cheesecake (with raspberries). The reason I was teaching Dakota how to [bake] is because well as she said herself she can't bake. But she can cook!. Anyway there is a short story that comes hand in hand with our cheesecake baking.

Dakota was suppose to bake something for her class on day, so she decided on bananna bread. An American favorite...classic. So she got everything together into the pan and in the oven it went. Apparently she realized that bread had not risen at all, and it had been baking for over half the required time. So of course she's trying to figure out why this is, when all of sudden she remembers that she didn't put any baking powder in. Quickly "thinking" Dakota pulls out the half baked bread, puts a spoonful of baking powder in it, mixes it all together and pops it back in the oven. Quick thinking, right. Anyway it "finishes" cooking and well it just doesn't look too appealing, her host mom says. So Dakota wants to change that, but how...Chocolate frosting was the answer! Her host dad makes some frosting and Dakota spreads it over the bread. I actually got a chance to try it, the flavor was there, lots of banannas, the frosting added a good touch, but sadly it was more fudge like than bread...guess adding the baking powder half way through doesn't work :) DAKOTA, don't worry I still love you, even if the bananna bread failed...I even went back for seconds!

So that's how it came to be that I'd help Dakota out with baking. First item, cheesecake. I showed her how to make a basic New York style cheesecake with fresh raspberries on top. But, when I went to the store to buy the cream cheese they didn't have any Philadelphia!!! How can you make cheesecake without your Philadelphia?!?! Well of course you can, but I mean Philadelphia is the way to go. Instead I just used some other sort of cream cheese spread and mascarpone. So, it turned out good but these darn ovens in Sweden never bake anything I make quite right. Or it could just be that I didn't let it cook long enough because the cheesecake wasn't super set in the middle. None the less it was tasty. The other reason I was baking with her is because I had a photo project to do. We were suppose to make a photo-film with the theme being passion. In which the passion I chose was baking, easier to take pictures of then it is to take pictures of wrestling or something else.

 Also, while with Dakota I tried this sort of beet salad spread...it was so good. Now, before coming to Sweden I had not tried beets. 1) my mom doesn't cook with them 2) they sounded gross But while in Sweden I have tried them several different ways and I actually really like them. Basically it's beets with a creamy "sauce", you just would eat it plain like potato salad or on top of a slice of bread like I did :)

So that was pretty much the rest of my March month, no March madness here. Wait a minute, I know what I forgot to mention. Life is like a bowl of cherries cherrios. Now the reason I say this is not because I don't like cherries, I love them, but because I love cherrios maybe a little bit more. Being in Sweden having cereal like corn flakes or cherrios is not common, instead we have musili with fil (aka sour milk). But when I was at Dakota's, guess what?! They had cherrios! I was so happy that morning, I didn't realize how much I missed my cherrios!