So maybe i should write about sweden since i dont think i have really done that this year.
so i went skiing in febuary at Säfsen. I had mono at the time and couldnt eat or swallow anything, and im pretty sure i was like completly out of it that entire trip, not really safe for skiing, but i seemed to be fearless and just went straight down the mountain, it was a small mountain, but it was still skiing and i had a good time. we went skiing 3 days and yeah it was really cool, i miss skiing.
Easter. that was interesting. the spring in sweden is so beautiful and there are flowers everywhere. and easter was sunny and warm. and m host mom hide an easter egg for me, that was cute and actually very hard to find. then we ate easter food like sill which was gross, we drank schnapps but you have to sing before you drink them so that was funny now that i can actually understand to songs kind of. it was a good easter.
Valborg: there is a tradition in sweden where at the end of april to celebrate may coming the light huge bond fires all over the country and the young kids party. so i went to watch this in stockholm with juliana otavio and luara all from brazil. I thought it was so strange how they thought it was safe to light this huge fire with like hundereds of people all around it. it was scary when they light it, all the smoke and this huge fire. it was crazy. but it was interesting and people sing and just hang out around it, but it was very cold. but the place we were at was very beautiful and it was a cool tradition to celebrate may. nice
we had a exchange kid weekend in Strängnäs and that was fun to be with all the exchange kids again. we went to the church there and like strängnäs is very important to the religious side of sweden. then we went to a fire station and that was so fun. we went down the fire pole and up in the sky lift, used the fire hose and hung out with fire men. that was my favorite part. we walked around the town and all the old buildings and streets and we hung out at the beach thing there, rugved went swimming because he's crazy. Then we went to mariefred and toured the old castle there and learnt some history of sweden, like the paintings in that time the guys wanted to have really good legs so thats why they showed so much legs in the paintings to get the ladies. and they have this super old stuffed crazy looking lion in the castle, it was weird. then we rode an old train and then went home. i actually had a very good weekend even thought we did some like kid activities it was so fun.
Juliana had her birthday a week before mine so we had a party with some of the other kids that was really fun. exchange kids are crazy i'll leave it at that.
The weather here is very nice, everything is blooming and its very beautiful, so many colors. and the sun like wont set till like 11 and it rises like at 4 so its a huge opposite of the winter time. it rains alot but i really love the spring here.
I moved to my last host family.
Häkan is my dad and hes the owner of a company that makes fences called heda. its pretty successful adn he is so funny. he always teases everyone but he is so nice and so funny.
annette is my mom. She is so nice and talks so much which is good becuase my swedish is improving, but sometimes my brain hurts. she really makes sure her kids do what they are supposed to and shes nice.
Josefine is my sister she's 15 and she rides horses. She is so busy with school and horses and i have no idea how she has anytime to do anything fun. But she is very good at riding and competes alot. she spends alot of time with her horses and she has such a sweet heart.
Madicken is 9 and doesnt speak any english which is good for my swedish. but she is nine and has so much energy adn speaks so fast that i try to understand her but its hard. She is pretty cool though.
I like this family, they are so busy though. They are building a new house which we will move into pretty soon by the stables so they can care for the horses. they really love horses and have 2 and now im realizing how much work horses really are. but i think it'll be fun to live in the country and be a farm girl for a little bit anyways.
School. Yeah its soon over and yeah.
Swedish. I actually can understand most and i speak some, its coming and im happy with it now. of course im not where i wanted with it, but i know alot for only studying it for 10 months of my life. im proud because learning a language is not an easy thing to do for anyone.
yep thats sweden
Sunday, May 29, 2011
France
I haven't updated in a couple months now :P sorry for that but i really hate writing about my life. anyways though i thought it would be good to write about my trip to france.
So i left on thursday the 19th of may and woke up early met with Philip, Alicia and Sanna went to the airport and took of on our way to biarritz. I sat next to Philip who i havent seen in a long time and we talked the whole way which was nice, and it was all basicaly in swedish and i understood and spoke so i was pretty proud. then we landed to a bus to the train station. we had some time to spare so we got some lunch and when we were walking around this little boy with a baguette came skipping down the street smiled and said 'bonjour' it melted my heart how cute and french that was. then we got some baguettes and waited for our train. when we got on the train it was ok, but then this really creepy french guy came on and started like hitting on sanna and long story short we got flashed on our first train by a french men and it was creppy. Ok then after our train journeys we ended in Le teich went to our hostle thing swam in the pool which was nice, then oscar came over and we had a french dinner. It was so nice to see Oscar again. And it was really nice to be in france, it was really beautiful. so we stayed up eating baguettes and drinking red wine and talking it was a lovely evening. Then oscar had to leave and we went to sleep.
may 20th. We went to Arcachon which is kind of where oscar has stayed on his exchange. its a little town right on the coast and so cute i love it. We went to this freaking amazing beach! its just these huge sand dunes, like the biggest ones i have ever seen in my life, and they just go on and on. ONe side is like a forest and the other side of them is ocean, absolutly breathtaking. So after the hike up the mountain of sand we se up our stuff then Oscar Philip and i ran down. It was like a good 3 minute run straight down to the water. i was so tired when we reached the bottom but it was exhilirating. and so much fun! we stood in the water for a bit then we had to start our hike back up. that part not so fun. it was so steap and me and philip we joking that we were going to die or have to crawl up it, oscar freaking like ran up it so he was long gone. then like after 10 minutes we made it back to the top and then Alicia and Sanna ran down. So i visited with oscar and Philip then we decided that the girls will need water when they come back so oscar and i decided to get some. we ran down the other side which was so much steaper but alot shorter. it was so fun i felt like i was flying down the dune. amazing. the we got water and had to walk back up. then we made it back to the group and Philip wanted to run down the other side so we did that again, this time i filmed it and it was pretty fun. then we went back up and then we felt ready to leave the beach, well actaually i never wanted to leave, but it was time becasue we were hungry. So we ran down one last time and this time i fell and rolled and had sand all over my body and hair in every inch of my body for the remainder of the trip hahha. Then we went and ate. i had a hot dog, but it was 2 hotdogs in a baguette with french fries on top and it was so good. then we caught a bus back into the city and walked around there. we walked around a park and then around the neighborhood and the houses seriously look like castles. i really loved it alot. Then we saw like a lookout tower so we went to the top of that which was pretty cool and very beautiful. then we walked around and got some things to eat back at the hostle went to another beach and just relaxed before our train went back. It was my favorite day and so much fun. i got very sunburnt and i dont think i will ever forget those sand dunes, they are amazing and i really love arcachon i want to go back there someday. then we took the train home drank some red wine on the balcony and talked the night away. fantastic.
May 21st. we left Le Teich and headed to Bordeaux. Thats a cool city too. It has so many old buliding and stuff and it was pretty cool there. We went to a park along the river and soaked in the sun. Then we met with oscars exchange friends from america, it was cool to meet them and talk about there exchange and mine. then we went to a park and relaxed walked around the city, went back to the river by the park and just hung out. it was fun and relaxing. then we met with some other exchange kids and went to a pub, but we didnt want to sit inside so us swedes went back to the park by the river and took in the sun. then we went with oscar to the train because his rotary is dumb and he couldn't stay with us. then when he left us and the other kids all went to eat food. It was really cool how exchange kids accept new people and are friendly to them without even knowing them, these kids were very friendly and we had a good night. so after we took a tram back to the hotel but we got on the wrong one so we asked this guy for help and he put us on the right train but grabbed both alicias and Sannas butts and thats not ok at all. The french guys are so sleasy it was gross. but we made it back safe and went to sleep.
May 22. so it was our day to go home and my Birthday! we took a train to the airport and we were tired so we slept most the way there, but i really loved the french country side. I decided that if i would have gone to paris first i probably wouldn't have like france as much as i do. I really love france its very beautiful, but the people are so different, the guys are sleasy and none of them can speak english and never in my life have i felt more useless trying to communicate. I think it was a good thing i went with swedes becasue we only really spoke swedish so it was good. and actually on this trip i started to think in swedish which was amazing and so weird! so then we got on the plane and i have never prayed so much or been so scared before in my life. it was seriously like 2 hours of straight turbulance and i was scared. its weird casue when i was a kid and something scary happened i always felt safe becasue there were adults around and like i knew it was going to be ok, but then i was like the adult and alone and i felt so unsafe and scared. but we landed safe and im still alive for now anyways. then i came home unpacked, got a package from my family for my birthday and then my friends came over for a birthday dinner.
My trip to france was amazing, i really love it there even with all the creepy people.
So i left on thursday the 19th of may and woke up early met with Philip, Alicia and Sanna went to the airport and took of on our way to biarritz. I sat next to Philip who i havent seen in a long time and we talked the whole way which was nice, and it was all basicaly in swedish and i understood and spoke so i was pretty proud. then we landed to a bus to the train station. we had some time to spare so we got some lunch and when we were walking around this little boy with a baguette came skipping down the street smiled and said 'bonjour' it melted my heart how cute and french that was. then we got some baguettes and waited for our train. when we got on the train it was ok, but then this really creepy french guy came on and started like hitting on sanna and long story short we got flashed on our first train by a french men and it was creppy. Ok then after our train journeys we ended in Le teich went to our hostle thing swam in the pool which was nice, then oscar came over and we had a french dinner. It was so nice to see Oscar again. And it was really nice to be in france, it was really beautiful. so we stayed up eating baguettes and drinking red wine and talking it was a lovely evening. Then oscar had to leave and we went to sleep.
may 20th. We went to Arcachon which is kind of where oscar has stayed on his exchange. its a little town right on the coast and so cute i love it. We went to this freaking amazing beach! its just these huge sand dunes, like the biggest ones i have ever seen in my life, and they just go on and on. ONe side is like a forest and the other side of them is ocean, absolutly breathtaking. So after the hike up the mountain of sand we se up our stuff then Oscar Philip and i ran down. It was like a good 3 minute run straight down to the water. i was so tired when we reached the bottom but it was exhilirating. and so much fun! we stood in the water for a bit then we had to start our hike back up. that part not so fun. it was so steap and me and philip we joking that we were going to die or have to crawl up it, oscar freaking like ran up it so he was long gone. then like after 10 minutes we made it back to the top and then Alicia and Sanna ran down. So i visited with oscar and Philip then we decided that the girls will need water when they come back so oscar and i decided to get some. we ran down the other side which was so much steaper but alot shorter. it was so fun i felt like i was flying down the dune. amazing. the we got water and had to walk back up. then we made it back to the group and Philip wanted to run down the other side so we did that again, this time i filmed it and it was pretty fun. then we went back up and then we felt ready to leave the beach, well actaually i never wanted to leave, but it was time becasue we were hungry. So we ran down one last time and this time i fell and rolled and had sand all over my body and hair in every inch of my body for the remainder of the trip hahha. Then we went and ate. i had a hot dog, but it was 2 hotdogs in a baguette with french fries on top and it was so good. then we caught a bus back into the city and walked around there. we walked around a park and then around the neighborhood and the houses seriously look like castles. i really loved it alot. Then we saw like a lookout tower so we went to the top of that which was pretty cool and very beautiful. then we walked around and got some things to eat back at the hostle went to another beach and just relaxed before our train went back. It was my favorite day and so much fun. i got very sunburnt and i dont think i will ever forget those sand dunes, they are amazing and i really love arcachon i want to go back there someday. then we took the train home drank some red wine on the balcony and talked the night away. fantastic.
May 21st. we left Le Teich and headed to Bordeaux. Thats a cool city too. It has so many old buliding and stuff and it was pretty cool there. We went to a park along the river and soaked in the sun. Then we met with oscars exchange friends from america, it was cool to meet them and talk about there exchange and mine. then we went to a park and relaxed walked around the city, went back to the river by the park and just hung out. it was fun and relaxing. then we met with some other exchange kids and went to a pub, but we didnt want to sit inside so us swedes went back to the park by the river and took in the sun. then we went with oscar to the train because his rotary is dumb and he couldn't stay with us. then when he left us and the other kids all went to eat food. It was really cool how exchange kids accept new people and are friendly to them without even knowing them, these kids were very friendly and we had a good night. so after we took a tram back to the hotel but we got on the wrong one so we asked this guy for help and he put us on the right train but grabbed both alicias and Sannas butts and thats not ok at all. The french guys are so sleasy it was gross. but we made it back safe and went to sleep.
May 22. so it was our day to go home and my Birthday! we took a train to the airport and we were tired so we slept most the way there, but i really loved the french country side. I decided that if i would have gone to paris first i probably wouldn't have like france as much as i do. I really love france its very beautiful, but the people are so different, the guys are sleasy and none of them can speak english and never in my life have i felt more useless trying to communicate. I think it was a good thing i went with swedes becasue we only really spoke swedish so it was good. and actually on this trip i started to think in swedish which was amazing and so weird! so then we got on the plane and i have never prayed so much or been so scared before in my life. it was seriously like 2 hours of straight turbulance and i was scared. its weird casue when i was a kid and something scary happened i always felt safe becasue there were adults around and like i knew it was going to be ok, but then i was like the adult and alone and i felt so unsafe and scared. but we landed safe and im still alive for now anyways. then i came home unpacked, got a package from my family for my birthday and then my friends came over for a birthday dinner.
My trip to france was amazing, i really love it there even with all the creepy people.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Barcelona!
order of pics. 1Park on the way home with a lizard 2.my teacher,
3.on the beach 4. in park guell
5-6 park guell
7. door at la sagrada familia 8 la sagrada familia(back)
9 inside sagrada familia 10 outside it(front)
11 catherdral 12 monseratt
13 mountains, 14roof of casa batllo
15-16casa batllo
17 roof of casa batllo 18 roof of casa mila
19 CASA MILA!
Barcelona basically amazing! everything about it is different, exciting, artistic, incredible. My favorite city so far.
1.OK first day there, we take the airplane and land like 7ish at night so its pretty dark, but it was WARM! and in spain so i was happy. before we even landed i said i love this country i want to move here someday its so beautiful. ok but then we get off the airplane and then get on a bus. the airport is like 1 hour from barcelona. Then seriously as we started to get into the city we were all like WOW look over here, look over there, it was amazing. So after that we met up with our spanish pen pals we have had all year. Most of the kids stayed in there families so most of the kids left then. It was pretty funny watching the swedes great the spanish, since they like to kiss your face and the swedes get very uncomfortale with that, it was awkward haha but its culture so i liked it. then when all the other kids left, they remaining 7 ventured our way to the hostel thing we were staying at. so we got to walk through barcelona at night and it was soo cool. then we went to eat. TAPAS of course. we ate alot of tapas which are appatizers and really good. i ate so much bread and nachos and everything it was good. then we went home and to bed.
2. We met at plaza de cataluna so we got to walk La Rambla which is the biggest street in barcelona, like huge tourist attraction, it goes from the statue of christopher columbus to the plaza de cataluna, and we lived like 2 blocks off of it. So we met the others there and then half of us went to Casa Mila and Casa Batllo, and the other half went to camp nau and the olympic stadium. I of course went to casa mila. This has to be my favorite thing on the schedule we did. Ok some history. both of the Casa's were designed and built by Antonio Gaudi which is a very different architect, he was very art nouveau. He was inspired alot by nature, and casa mila's walls look like waves and he also used no straight lines in either building. they were built on aches and pillars and he is incedible. Casa mila has his roof and on top you can see alot of the city, and its like a playground up there, random staircases and arches and the chimney stacks look like sci-fi warriors and its really incredible, i really loved it up there, i oculd spend all day up there. i have a little bias about casa mila since i did a project on it before we left so i knew alot about it and i could apprectiate it more. Then we went to casa batllo which is by gaudi, to be honest i was a little dissapointed with it, pics of it make it look so colorful and bizzar and what not, but i was way more impressed with casa mila which most people dont really think about as much as this one. you have to pay more to get into this house then mila. but thats probably just becasue of my bias. But it was still incredible, the outside of it looks like something in disneyland or something, its so colorful and looks like a dragon kind of. It was really cool and im super impressed with gaudi! then we went to lunch then we went up to the school of our pen pals. that as interesting. so let me just say i dont speak spanish, i dont understand it doesnt click for me so i had some difficulties when ever we hung out with our friends. luckily i had juliana to help me and save my butt a couple of times. Anyway my friend was Vanessa, well i had a pen pal but something happened and we never kept in contact and i dont know what went wrong there so when i got to school i met vanessa. she is so nice. but yeah we just listened to there projects and they would speak catalan so we didnt understand at all and it was crazy, after all the swedes came up to jul and me and was like now i know how you must feel in class at school and everything, i think now they realize that learning a language isnt an easy thing to do, like they have taken spanish for 4 years and they still couldnt understand what was being said, when i have never studied swedish at all. Then after school the spanish wanted to meet up and shop then eat. so we went with them and went looking in some shops, we were like a group of 50 so it was pretty insane going into stores and what not, but it was fun. then we went and ate tapas and the kids are so friendly i had a good time out with them. then we went back and tried to sleep. oh its funny the swedes were not used to the concept of eating dinner at 10 at night, they usually eat at 6 or 7 so they would look so tired the next morning, i did to im sure, but its cool the different cultures.
3.Today we met at the school to go up to monserrat. so we took a bus like an hour into the mountains. and we had to sit with our pen pal and i was trying to talk to her but it just got so confusing, i was trying to explain how i had a friend from barcelona and he inspired me to go on exchange and how i wanted originally to go to spain on exchange, but apparently thats really confusing and she did not understand my shit spanish and i couldnt understand her at all, so juliana had to be our 2 way translator hahah, it was a mess. anyways we get there and the mountains are so beautiful, like huge spicky rocks coming out of the ground. it was beautiful, but it was raining really hard and was cloudy and what not so we couldnt see so much of the view. So then we were supposed to hike the mountains, but it was raining to bad to we went to the monestary and watched the boys choir sing. it was kind of sad because some of the boys were like 7-8 and were practicing monks, i didnt even know that kind of thing was still around. OK the history of monserrat, someone saw a huge light in the mountains along time ago so they went to investigate and they found a statue of a lady and a child sitting on her lap and then they made it a very sacred place and bulit a monestary up in the mountains, so it was a very sacred place. then we went to a museum, then after it was pretty clear so some decided to do a fast hike out to this cross thing. so me and my friend basically ran up this mountain to this cross just goofing off taking pictures and having fun and we get there and its so beautiful, we are up in the clouds and the view was so cool, it would have been better with the sun but the fog gave it something mysterious. it was cool. then we took the bus back and then we met up with the spanish at maremagnum which is a mall in the harbour. so we went shopping. funny story. OK so we were in a souviner shop and one of the spanish started to talk to me and i thought he asked me if i liked anything in this store, and i thought i said, no not in this store but other places. then he was like "otro paises!!" and so then i started saying how i dont understand and what not, then i thought about it all night and turns out he really asked me if i like barcelona and i said no i like other countries. hahaha i was so embarrassed and then i tried talking to juliana to practice what i should say to him so that he knows i love barcelona and with her i ended up saying, i love myself alot and that im dumb in my house as i pointed to my head. so after that catastrophe, i decided to not try and speak spanish for everyones benifit.
4. so since it was still raining we decided not to do the beach walk and instead we walked around barrio gatico. its like a really old part of the city and the streets are really narrow and its like a maze in that part. its really old buildings and random streets and what not, really cool. then we went to the cathdral and it was so beautiful so we spent some time there and looked at gooses and gardens and statues and saints and everything, it was pretty cool, but i wanted to do the beach walk, but i enjoyed myself. then after we had a 3 hour lunch and most of the kids wanted to shop and walk la rambla which me and juliana did alot already so we didnt want to so we asked if we could go to La Sagrada Familia, and the teacher said yes so us three got to go see that. IT WAS ABSOLUTLY AMAZING! wow. ok La Sagrada Familia is Gaudi's last project, and its been in the building process for like 100 years now, like and its still not finished, they dont think it will be complely done until 2026, its insane and so much detail and is so beautiful. like just look at pics of it, its insane. i dont even know how to describe this place, just look at my pics on facebook http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=707045736&aid=283946 i have alot of pics on facebook that you should check out because a pictures worth 1000 words and everything is so indescriblable. but anyways, this place blew my mind away, you walk in through these 2 huge doors that have words all over it, i think it actually says something but its in spainsh so im not sure, then your inside and the ceiling goes up for ever and its like really white and the pillars are so beautiful and pointy at the top and the ceiling is so introcate i cant really describe it. then you go to the back side and it looks like a melting candle and there are scenes from bible stuff all over it and its so crazy. Gaudi is like crazy insane, its kind of sad that he'll never see this place finished, its awesome! then the teacher left us there and we had to find our way to park guell. it wasnt hard and we did it no problem. Park Guell is also another part of gaudi's insaneness. SO we got there pretty early and walked around to the top of this hill and there was a cross on top and you can see over the whole city, and there was this crazy guy singing it was funny. then we continued our walk to the main part with a bench that you can see the city. this whole park is on a hill so you can see so much of the city its awesome. then we walked to the highest part and yeah breathtaking of course. then we just kind of explored the park and had fun for a while there with the spanish kids. then we went back to there school becasue they made us tapas to eat. it was fun to hang out with them, and after dinner the group of like 50 went to a pub to play pool and chill and talk our last night together. it was a really good night, but it was sad to say goodbye to our new friends. but they are so nice and i will never forget them or this trip.
5. today was nicer and we had sometime in the morning so juliana and me did the beach walk. i went in the mediterranean sea!!! it was cold, but the beach was really nice and it was warm and i never wanted to leave, but we didnt have that much time so after playing in the waves a bit we walked paseo maritimo around the harbour with all the boats, by the statue of christopher columbus and back to the hotel to leave. then we had to walk back to the bus station, so we walked around and stoped in this park for a bit to sit and enjoy the sun and the heat and it was really sad to leave. i never wanted to leave Barcelona, there is still so much i want to see and do there, its absolutly amazing, i really recommend it for everyone to go there before they die. its amazing! then we took the bus to the airport and then flew home to sweden where it was snowing and really cold, but its home for now.
3.on the beach 4. in park guell
5-6 park guell
7. door at la sagrada familia 8 la sagrada familia(back)
9 inside sagrada familia 10 outside it(front)
11 catherdral 12 monseratt
13 mountains, 14roof of casa batllo
15-16casa batllo
17 roof of casa batllo 18 roof of casa mila
19 CASA MILA!
Barcelona basically amazing! everything about it is different, exciting, artistic, incredible. My favorite city so far.
1.OK first day there, we take the airplane and land like 7ish at night so its pretty dark, but it was WARM! and in spain so i was happy. before we even landed i said i love this country i want to move here someday its so beautiful. ok but then we get off the airplane and then get on a bus. the airport is like 1 hour from barcelona. Then seriously as we started to get into the city we were all like WOW look over here, look over there, it was amazing. So after that we met up with our spanish pen pals we have had all year. Most of the kids stayed in there families so most of the kids left then. It was pretty funny watching the swedes great the spanish, since they like to kiss your face and the swedes get very uncomfortale with that, it was awkward haha but its culture so i liked it. then when all the other kids left, they remaining 7 ventured our way to the hostel thing we were staying at. so we got to walk through barcelona at night and it was soo cool. then we went to eat. TAPAS of course. we ate alot of tapas which are appatizers and really good. i ate so much bread and nachos and everything it was good. then we went home and to bed.
2. We met at plaza de cataluna so we got to walk La Rambla which is the biggest street in barcelona, like huge tourist attraction, it goes from the statue of christopher columbus to the plaza de cataluna, and we lived like 2 blocks off of it. So we met the others there and then half of us went to Casa Mila and Casa Batllo, and the other half went to camp nau and the olympic stadium. I of course went to casa mila. This has to be my favorite thing on the schedule we did. Ok some history. both of the Casa's were designed and built by Antonio Gaudi which is a very different architect, he was very art nouveau. He was inspired alot by nature, and casa mila's walls look like waves and he also used no straight lines in either building. they were built on aches and pillars and he is incedible. Casa mila has his roof and on top you can see alot of the city, and its like a playground up there, random staircases and arches and the chimney stacks look like sci-fi warriors and its really incredible, i really loved it up there, i oculd spend all day up there. i have a little bias about casa mila since i did a project on it before we left so i knew alot about it and i could apprectiate it more. Then we went to casa batllo which is by gaudi, to be honest i was a little dissapointed with it, pics of it make it look so colorful and bizzar and what not, but i was way more impressed with casa mila which most people dont really think about as much as this one. you have to pay more to get into this house then mila. but thats probably just becasue of my bias. But it was still incredible, the outside of it looks like something in disneyland or something, its so colorful and looks like a dragon kind of. It was really cool and im super impressed with gaudi! then we went to lunch then we went up to the school of our pen pals. that as interesting. so let me just say i dont speak spanish, i dont understand it doesnt click for me so i had some difficulties when ever we hung out with our friends. luckily i had juliana to help me and save my butt a couple of times. Anyway my friend was Vanessa, well i had a pen pal but something happened and we never kept in contact and i dont know what went wrong there so when i got to school i met vanessa. she is so nice. but yeah we just listened to there projects and they would speak catalan so we didnt understand at all and it was crazy, after all the swedes came up to jul and me and was like now i know how you must feel in class at school and everything, i think now they realize that learning a language isnt an easy thing to do, like they have taken spanish for 4 years and they still couldnt understand what was being said, when i have never studied swedish at all. Then after school the spanish wanted to meet up and shop then eat. so we went with them and went looking in some shops, we were like a group of 50 so it was pretty insane going into stores and what not, but it was fun. then we went and ate tapas and the kids are so friendly i had a good time out with them. then we went back and tried to sleep. oh its funny the swedes were not used to the concept of eating dinner at 10 at night, they usually eat at 6 or 7 so they would look so tired the next morning, i did to im sure, but its cool the different cultures.
3.Today we met at the school to go up to monserrat. so we took a bus like an hour into the mountains. and we had to sit with our pen pal and i was trying to talk to her but it just got so confusing, i was trying to explain how i had a friend from barcelona and he inspired me to go on exchange and how i wanted originally to go to spain on exchange, but apparently thats really confusing and she did not understand my shit spanish and i couldnt understand her at all, so juliana had to be our 2 way translator hahah, it was a mess. anyways we get there and the mountains are so beautiful, like huge spicky rocks coming out of the ground. it was beautiful, but it was raining really hard and was cloudy and what not so we couldnt see so much of the view. So then we were supposed to hike the mountains, but it was raining to bad to we went to the monestary and watched the boys choir sing. it was kind of sad because some of the boys were like 7-8 and were practicing monks, i didnt even know that kind of thing was still around. OK the history of monserrat, someone saw a huge light in the mountains along time ago so they went to investigate and they found a statue of a lady and a child sitting on her lap and then they made it a very sacred place and bulit a monestary up in the mountains, so it was a very sacred place. then we went to a museum, then after it was pretty clear so some decided to do a fast hike out to this cross thing. so me and my friend basically ran up this mountain to this cross just goofing off taking pictures and having fun and we get there and its so beautiful, we are up in the clouds and the view was so cool, it would have been better with the sun but the fog gave it something mysterious. it was cool. then we took the bus back and then we met up with the spanish at maremagnum which is a mall in the harbour. so we went shopping. funny story. OK so we were in a souviner shop and one of the spanish started to talk to me and i thought he asked me if i liked anything in this store, and i thought i said, no not in this store but other places. then he was like "otro paises!!" and so then i started saying how i dont understand and what not, then i thought about it all night and turns out he really asked me if i like barcelona and i said no i like other countries. hahaha i was so embarrassed and then i tried talking to juliana to practice what i should say to him so that he knows i love barcelona and with her i ended up saying, i love myself alot and that im dumb in my house as i pointed to my head. so after that catastrophe, i decided to not try and speak spanish for everyones benifit.
4. so since it was still raining we decided not to do the beach walk and instead we walked around barrio gatico. its like a really old part of the city and the streets are really narrow and its like a maze in that part. its really old buildings and random streets and what not, really cool. then we went to the cathdral and it was so beautiful so we spent some time there and looked at gooses and gardens and statues and saints and everything, it was pretty cool, but i wanted to do the beach walk, but i enjoyed myself. then after we had a 3 hour lunch and most of the kids wanted to shop and walk la rambla which me and juliana did alot already so we didnt want to so we asked if we could go to La Sagrada Familia, and the teacher said yes so us three got to go see that. IT WAS ABSOLUTLY AMAZING! wow. ok La Sagrada Familia is Gaudi's last project, and its been in the building process for like 100 years now, like and its still not finished, they dont think it will be complely done until 2026, its insane and so much detail and is so beautiful. like just look at pics of it, its insane. i dont even know how to describe this place, just look at my pics on facebook http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=707045736&aid=283946 i have alot of pics on facebook that you should check out because a pictures worth 1000 words and everything is so indescriblable. but anyways, this place blew my mind away, you walk in through these 2 huge doors that have words all over it, i think it actually says something but its in spainsh so im not sure, then your inside and the ceiling goes up for ever and its like really white and the pillars are so beautiful and pointy at the top and the ceiling is so introcate i cant really describe it. then you go to the back side and it looks like a melting candle and there are scenes from bible stuff all over it and its so crazy. Gaudi is like crazy insane, its kind of sad that he'll never see this place finished, its awesome! then the teacher left us there and we had to find our way to park guell. it wasnt hard and we did it no problem. Park Guell is also another part of gaudi's insaneness. SO we got there pretty early and walked around to the top of this hill and there was a cross on top and you can see over the whole city, and there was this crazy guy singing it was funny. then we continued our walk to the main part with a bench that you can see the city. this whole park is on a hill so you can see so much of the city its awesome. then we walked to the highest part and yeah breathtaking of course. then we just kind of explored the park and had fun for a while there with the spanish kids. then we went back to there school becasue they made us tapas to eat. it was fun to hang out with them, and after dinner the group of like 50 went to a pub to play pool and chill and talk our last night together. it was a really good night, but it was sad to say goodbye to our new friends. but they are so nice and i will never forget them or this trip.
5. today was nicer and we had sometime in the morning so juliana and me did the beach walk. i went in the mediterranean sea!!! it was cold, but the beach was really nice and it was warm and i never wanted to leave, but we didnt have that much time so after playing in the waves a bit we walked paseo maritimo around the harbour with all the boats, by the statue of christopher columbus and back to the hotel to leave. then we had to walk back to the bus station, so we walked around and stoped in this park for a bit to sit and enjoy the sun and the heat and it was really sad to leave. i never wanted to leave Barcelona, there is still so much i want to see and do there, its absolutly amazing, i really recommend it for everyone to go there before they die. its amazing! then we took the bus to the airport and then flew home to sweden where it was snowing and really cold, but its home for now.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
about time for another update
sorry i haven't writen in forever, i kind of felt like i had nothing interesting to say since i haven't really done much. well of course i did things, but nothing that seemed so interesting to put in my blog. where shall i start?
Families!
I moved out of my first family in the end of december to live with my counsler on his farm. That was pretty cool, its really beautiful out in the country side (even though i was only 10 mins by car to town) but i saw his cows and lots of deers and what not. this is the family i went hunting with. one day his son and friend had to butcher two baby deer in the kitchen, so i watched and yeah that was... interesting.. i guess. it was very strange, but fun. and one day we went to stockholm. they have a tiny apartment in gamal stan. you can see the palace from there apartment, so that was really cool. and then we went to the national museum and i learned alot about the swedish history and art and what not. Im glad i did that. yeah i stayed there for 3 weeks it was fun but i was the only kid for some weeks so it got a little boring at times, but there house is older than our country! i find that to be so awesome. its funny cause the family is really tall, but all the doors are tiny! hehehe. oh also they had some american visitors for a couple days. a boy and his gf are from arkansas and he lived with them on a short term exchange and came back to visit. it was nice to talk to americans and like i feel like im really into the culture here now since i would watch them and see what they thought was strange is like normal for me now, but at one point it was weird. if that made sense at all. thats life at my counslers house.
Then i moved to my next real family! they are so awesome! i have 5 brothers! gustaf is the oldest and lives somewhere else in nyköping so we see him often. Oscar is 20 and lives here. Edvard is around my age but he's in italy on exchange so i dont know him. and then there is Johan and Magnus who are 15 year old twins. I couldn't tell them apart for a while. they have a nice house like right in town so its perfect. they are really busy because the twins play handbol and practice all the time and watch it all the time. we actually went and watched the handbol world cup here in sweden. that was fun, we watched brazil vs austria or something. brazil lost, but it was fun. My family is obsessed with handbol, it is there life really. Im not really home too often so i dont know them so well, but im working on that. they seem very awesome and juliana really loved her time with them.
NEWBIES:
we got 5 newbies around nyköping! its insane, we got 10 new ones in our district and 5 of them are in this tiny town. but its alot of fun. we have Tom, Jenny, Tussi from australia and then Eva and Thiago from Brazil! its a really fun group. they seem like good kids and i can see us having alot of fun together. we'll see how this goes though.It's weird to be an 'oldie' i feel like i got here yesterday and its insane to think that i have been here for over 6 months. i dont want to go home.
SCHOOL:
I. HATE. SCHOOL! i go to school, but i dont have friends. i'll leave it at that.
LANGUAGE:
so i can understand alot more now, well somedays anyways. sometimes i dont even have to translate back to english and i understand whats going on. but other days my swedish just doesnt work at all. im still afraid to talk but i know if i do talk they'll understand what im talking about. actually its annoying somtimes, i'll say a swedish word, and they wont understand so i'll repeat myself like 500 times, then they'll be like" oh! you mean ..." and just emphasize a part of the word a little different when its like exactly what i said! its frustrating, like they have to realize i have an accent when i speak swedish, and im not going to be able to say everyword perfectly. like i understand there accents when they speak english! that really annoys me somethimes. but i have had some little dreams in swedish, just like little things, but still :) and sometimes i translate my thoughts with out realizing it. im starting to get somewhere with my language i guess. and when i do talk it comes pretty naturally, i dont have to think so much.
thats my updated life really. nothing else too interesting, well there is more, but i cant really post that on my blog so :P
Families!
I moved out of my first family in the end of december to live with my counsler on his farm. That was pretty cool, its really beautiful out in the country side (even though i was only 10 mins by car to town) but i saw his cows and lots of deers and what not. this is the family i went hunting with. one day his son and friend had to butcher two baby deer in the kitchen, so i watched and yeah that was... interesting.. i guess. it was very strange, but fun. and one day we went to stockholm. they have a tiny apartment in gamal stan. you can see the palace from there apartment, so that was really cool. and then we went to the national museum and i learned alot about the swedish history and art and what not. Im glad i did that. yeah i stayed there for 3 weeks it was fun but i was the only kid for some weeks so it got a little boring at times, but there house is older than our country! i find that to be so awesome. its funny cause the family is really tall, but all the doors are tiny! hehehe. oh also they had some american visitors for a couple days. a boy and his gf are from arkansas and he lived with them on a short term exchange and came back to visit. it was nice to talk to americans and like i feel like im really into the culture here now since i would watch them and see what they thought was strange is like normal for me now, but at one point it was weird. if that made sense at all. thats life at my counslers house.
Then i moved to my next real family! they are so awesome! i have 5 brothers! gustaf is the oldest and lives somewhere else in nyköping so we see him often. Oscar is 20 and lives here. Edvard is around my age but he's in italy on exchange so i dont know him. and then there is Johan and Magnus who are 15 year old twins. I couldn't tell them apart for a while. they have a nice house like right in town so its perfect. they are really busy because the twins play handbol and practice all the time and watch it all the time. we actually went and watched the handbol world cup here in sweden. that was fun, we watched brazil vs austria or something. brazil lost, but it was fun. My family is obsessed with handbol, it is there life really. Im not really home too often so i dont know them so well, but im working on that. they seem very awesome and juliana really loved her time with them.
NEWBIES:
we got 5 newbies around nyköping! its insane, we got 10 new ones in our district and 5 of them are in this tiny town. but its alot of fun. we have Tom, Jenny, Tussi from australia and then Eva and Thiago from Brazil! its a really fun group. they seem like good kids and i can see us having alot of fun together. we'll see how this goes though.It's weird to be an 'oldie' i feel like i got here yesterday and its insane to think that i have been here for over 6 months. i dont want to go home.
SCHOOL:
I. HATE. SCHOOL! i go to school, but i dont have friends. i'll leave it at that.
LANGUAGE:
so i can understand alot more now, well somedays anyways. sometimes i dont even have to translate back to english and i understand whats going on. but other days my swedish just doesnt work at all. im still afraid to talk but i know if i do talk they'll understand what im talking about. actually its annoying somtimes, i'll say a swedish word, and they wont understand so i'll repeat myself like 500 times, then they'll be like" oh! you mean ..." and just emphasize a part of the word a little different when its like exactly what i said! its frustrating, like they have to realize i have an accent when i speak swedish, and im not going to be able to say everyword perfectly. like i understand there accents when they speak english! that really annoys me somethimes. but i have had some little dreams in swedish, just like little things, but still :) and sometimes i translate my thoughts with out realizing it. im starting to get somewhere with my language i guess. and when i do talk it comes pretty naturally, i dont have to think so much.
thats my updated life really. nothing else too interesting, well there is more, but i cant really post that on my blog so :P
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