I thought I would give everyone an insight on how my year is going. To be honest, I will write some sad ones, but I will write some amazing ones as well. I want to give everyone a better look at my exchange year because a lot of people ask me how I am. And I love answering them. So this post is for the other people who don't get the chance to ask me how I am doing. I hope that these confessions will give you an idea of how I am keeping up in Sweden :)
After arriving, I thought that I had never truly left the States. I mean there are some pretty big differences, but where I live has a forest pretty close by and it looks pretty similar to Vermont. But there are huge differences.
I had to start a new medication for a exsisting condition. And I had gotten very sick from it. I tried to hide it as well as I could. I never really told my host parents about it. I am still feeling some of the side effects now. And I have been on it for over 2 months.
I had liked my last host family, but I didn't really connect with them. I mean I did, but not like I thought I would. It was hard because of their jobs.
I had very bad depression during the first two months, but it really effected me in the second and third month. I almost never wanted to do anything. I would sit around and cry for most of the day. I sometimes did it during school, but I hid that very well also.
I was very homesick during the end part of August and beginning of September. I like to think it was because I had finally gotten fully adjusted to my new life and I was a bit jealous of my parents exchange student. But I stopped being home sick in early October.
In Sweden, they have some American things, such as Skittles, M&M's, Ben & Jerry's ice cream (Made in Vermont), Coca-Cola products, peanut butter, Doritos, and even fluff. It makes my happy that I can go to the store and get them.
Sweden has mostly BMW's, Volvo's, Citron, and some Toyotas. I have seen very few Chevy's, Jeep's, and Ford's. This is because the cars here are made in surrounding countries. And the cars that we have in the States would be very expensive to ship here.
It took some time to make friends. It was maybe a month or so before I really had any friends. Now I am friends with most of my class. It feels great to know that I have people I can hang out with and talk with.
I have blood from Ireland, Scotland, and England. A few people at my school asked me if I was from different places in the U.K. I told them that I was from the States and that I had blood that came from the U.K. They were very surprised.
I have been told that I do not have the "typical" American accent. The "typical" American accent to them might be from the large places that they have visited. But I am from a very small town and state. I also I have a parent from Vermont and one from New Hampshire. My family lives throughout New England. I hear different accents all the time. Mine has changed over the years due to this.
Food here is very good. But it isn't a normal meal. To me, a normal meal is where you have a meat, a vegetable, either rice, pasta, or potatoes, and a drink. Here that is not the case. You have a meat, potatoes, and a vegetable. I am fine with having potatoes because I eat them in almost every way. Even raw, just needs a little salt ;)
I thought that the weather would be freezing and that we would have seen some snow by now. I am completely wrong. It is currently like a late September to early October weather in Vermont. And when it is time to go to school, the temperature is not usually below 32. I was told that back home they have seen snow and that it is cold almost all the time.
I thought that Sweden would have a lot of Swedish artist. I thought that it would be a great way to learn the language. But usually they listen to American music. They do have some successful artist, but they mostly sing in English. Some famous artist are ABBA, Rockset, and Avicii.
A very good thing about Sweden is that they have many different types of candy. Their chocolate is amazing. I get very bad headaches from eating American chocolate. But here, I don't get any. They have many different types of candies to choose from. The Swedish word for candy is Godis.
The language... For me, I think that it is pretty easy to learn. I do have problems with it though. Don't get me wrong. Anyone who learns a new language has problems. I can talk to my host siblings with almost now problem now. But the good thing about Swedish is that many of the words are pretty close to English. But the grammar is hard. And there are three additional letters. Å, Ä, and Ö. We have words that use the sounds of the additional three letters in English. But they have different ways of saying them here.
Since I have moved to my new host family, I feel like a big sister and feel like I have big responsibilities. I am the youngest of three and the only girl in the family. It is different having a younger sister and brother living with me. I love it though! I wouldn't change it for the world. They are the best!
For the first time in my whole life, I have no pets around the house. I am used to having a dog or two. But my host family's dog recently passed away. It is sad.
In my mind, I think that a bit of the Swedish guys are pretty hot. I mean like damn.... And I also think that a lot of the Swedish girls are very pretty. It sort of intimidates me.
A lot of Swedish girls have very thin and very straight hair. And is usually blonde. Where as my hair is very thick, very curly, frizzy, and wavy. And it is a medium brown color. I am always having my hair up because if it wasn't, it would be an afro or a hot curly and frizzy mess.
The stereotypical Swede had blonde hair, blue eyes, very tall, very pretty/handsome, and can be very shy. Well I can tell you. They do have many different hair and eye colors. They can be very tall and very short, such as myself. They are pretty and handsome, but everyone has their own looks. And they can be very shy, but it doesn't take very long for someone to crack their shell and make them act like a bunch of crazy people.
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