And here is one more while I'm at it!

Since I'm bad at posting real posts...here is another video...

Here is a new video! Hope it is a bit better than the last one.. :)

watch this if you dare..hopefully understand it...and don't get bored

Missin that NW atmosphere...

I happen to have a cold currently, soo I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to take my water bottle with me to school. TURNS OUT: Swedes have probably never seen a metal water bottle before in their life?? I had person after person look at me funny and ask some version of, "What are you drinking...?" and I would look back at them funny and say, "Uhh...water.." like that is the most obvious answer ever.. Cause in good old Bham no one would everrrr ask me what I was drinking...so that was what I learned today. Plus the idea of carrying around any type of water bottle that isn't bottled water you just bought, is rather uncommon here in Sweden. I am still a proud owner of my metal water bottle with gorillas on it! :) Yes, over and out for now!

Welllll. Before everyone gets even moree on my back about posting...
It was a while ago I posted.
So I have to do some thinking and remembering..because it has been over two months now..
First of all, I have now been here for a little over seven months! Time flies way faster than birds and airplanes. But at the same time I am so at home here that it feels so strange to think about the fact that I met my family for the first time seven months ago...and even stranger to think about the short three ish months I have left! I can't explainnn how excited I am to see everyone back home..but leaving here will not be so fun. Being homesick is just a waste of time, so I avoid that! Looking at prom pictures from last weekend made me miss friends..but I definitely am not disappointed that I missed prom..expensive dresses and dancing are better without me involved!
Let's see. February...now I am regretting putting this off so long...anywaysss. The first week of February was the AFS ski trip! 4-5 hours of train the first day, followed by a good 8-9 hours in a bus the next day...and we were finally there! It was a whole lots of fun to see the other AFS kids again, many of which I hadn't seen since the orientation camp. It is really quite amazing how exchange students bond. We are all completely different individuals from different countries, but we have at least one thing in common: our exchange student-ness..it is rather hard to explain. Something only us exchange kids can understand:) But anyways. We stayed in the lovely little cabins with 8 or 9 other students and one volunteer. I only skied one day. Becauseee. I have skied before, I like it, but I don't love it...and skiing just so happens to be cold. And if you know me, then you know how I feel about the cold. That was the coldest week of my entire life. I have never been in such cold weather. I hope you guys are realizing how cold it must have been! It was ranging between -15 to -28 degrees Celcius. In Fahrenheit that would be ranging between 5 to -18 degrees. YEAH. It was cold. And I lived. The lodge place where we ate dinner was about a ten minute walk from the cabin as well...so I couldn't avois being outside. Each cabin also had their own sauna. I can't say I went out and rolled in the snow.. because I am only half Swedish...and wasn't really interested in torturing myself! But I did go outside and stand there in just a swimsuit! Anywaysss it was a fun trip and I discovered I am pretty darn good at the limbo. I tied for first place! And one the last night we didn't sleep at all..which was strange..we had to clean our cabins superrr well before we left and instead of doing it the evening before we did it at about three till six in the morning..thennnn it was the long travel home. I did a lot of sleeping on the bus, as well as looking out and the snowy scenery and eating candy!!
Nowww..the rest of February...I can't remember any of. So I guess it was school and school and gross weather and such.
Speakinggg of weatherrr! Spring is finally beginning to pretend it is coming! The sun didn't set until 18:29 today which is so wonderful, and I no longer walk to the bus in the dark! Today it was around 45 to 48 ish degrees F! Sooo of course the guys are suddenly wearing teeshirts and everyone had there sunglasses. Even though it was still foggy the whole day..:)
Hmmmm what else. GREECEEE. Yeahhh you thought that was random of me to say I bet. BUT it isn't! Because I get to go to Greece with my lovely host family!! I am oh so excited. Sunshine is a wonderful thing. And traveling. All that.
Ohhh. So I'm not a huge bragger, but I am pretty proud of this so I will say it. Do you guys know the book A Thousand Splendid Suns? Same author as The Kite Runner. Anyways I read that whooooleee book for my Swedich class! I am really proud of myself. Plus I read Eragon before that. Now I am reading Holes for me special Swedish class and I loooove how fast I can read! And I am going to start readin Eldest soon too. Reading is fun! It is nice to have time to read.
My hair is really long these days. I haven't had it cut since before I left for Sweden. It's to my belly button when it is straight...crazyy. I am hopefully getting it cut soon. Not much more than a trim though..cause I like it long. Then I can braid it!
I really love art. And I really love music.
Today when I was on the bus in to town my iPod was one shuffle and these three songs came on in this order: Stairway to Heaven, Beautiful Day, & Imagine. WHAT could be better. It was a nice day. I took pictures too. I really love taking pictures. I might not know anything about cameras...but so goes life.
I should clean my room. But right now I should consider bed..though that really means I will brush my teeth and then read :)
Oh. I forgot to talk about my birthday. Birthdays are never really such a huge deal to me. I asked for Swedish pancakes for dinner and my dad put food coloring in them, I thought that was fun :) And other than thattt...I am now 17! And that is all I have to say about that.
I FINALLY got to skype Katie today! It had been two weeks and one day...and it felt like the longest time ever. Katie is the best :)
Yess..now I think I am done..I hope I haven't forgotten anything important..

So long for now!

It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
It's a beautiful day
-U2

Here are pictures...that I have put off putting up...

I know that Christmas was about 200 years ago...but I figured better late than never? Soo here is our tree and the gifts!

This is the only picture of me from Christmas time this year... :)

The parents!

Far too much excitement to contain it!

Here is the lovely Marstrand! You can see the castle in the back.

My youngest and cutest cousin Celia!

My twin cousins Johan and Lucas seem to like each other :)

There are rocks like this alllll over Sweden. It seems as if all the waterfront I have come across is made up like this.

Windiest day everrr. I love the ocean.

This is a bit of the countryside in Grimeton, where I live! Fields surrounded by forests.

This is the only real sunset I have experienced in Sweden. Nothinggg measures up Bellingham's sunsets.

Snow. Yupp. I don't love snow. It is pretty. But it is so colddd. So I prefer to stay inside by the fire :)

I do admit it looks nice! Though it doesn't last long before it is an icy mess.

Sweden=Sverige if you for some reason didn't know that.

Sledding at the golf course! No time to be lost!

Most of the AFS kids took part in a ski trip at a place called Ramundberget. In other words...a place it takes a very long time to get to....and is nothing short of the coldest place I have ever been to. If you look closely...you'll notice that Sweden does in fact NOT have any mountains! I mean...sort of...but there are no peaks like I am used to.. Still very beautiful nonetheless!

Sweden is fulllll of candy! Three bowls of chocolate...and a huge bowl of candy goes very quickly!

These are my wonderful cabin mates!

Elif is my friend from Turkey!

I started drawing on these shoes monthssss ago...and now they are finally doneeee! :)

Jul och Nyårs och Sånt

Well. Noww that January is close to done...and December has happened..and I have neglected to blog...I guessss I will go ahead with it. Since about 1700 people have told me to. I don't know whereee to begin.


Let's seeee. Winter is dark. Winter is cold. I don't love winter. Ok so December in Sweden. On the 13th is Lucia Day. Girls dress up in long white dress things with a red sash and a crown of candles. If you are a brave boy you also wear a long white thing and you hold a star and have a pointy hat of sorts. Traditionally the girls get up early in the morning and go around singing to everyone and giving out lussekatter (saffron buns). Each town or city gets to vote for the girl they want to be the main Lucia girl. I opted to not take part...surprise? But I went to my bother Lukas' school and watched their Luciatåg. All of the kids in the first couple grades take part. It was adorable. And my brother was of course the cutest little Santa.

Next...Christmas I guess? Welllll. Let's see here. I loveee all of my relatives in the states. Pretty much every Christmas I can remember is spent with my family and Newell relatives. Being away was not the greatest. I haven't really had trouble with homesickness. But Christmas...yeah. I missed my Bellingham Christmas. On the bright side I now know how special Christmas really is! Aside from missing Bham, it was still a good Christmas, just different! Soo Swedish Christmas traditions. First of all Christmas in Swedish is jul, and that is a lot easier to write. SO. Swedes celebrate jul on julafton (Christmas eve). We began our day with breakfast. Pretty sure I just ate cereal...cause that is the only thing I ever manage to eat for breakfast. But I don't remember. Then we went to the church service at ten. Came home and ate? And ate some more? Julgodis=candy. Tasty candy. Homemade! My mom's parents came to visit for a bit in the afternoon and we had fika. Of course. I think we had raspberry pie. And I knowww it was delicious. Then at threeee. The famous Kalle Anka! Donald Duck in english. Every year this same show plays on TV. It is a collection of clips from Disney movies. I am pretty sure I was struggling to not fall asleep, it was very good though! My favorite was Mickey Mouse in the camper RV thing. Thennn it was time for dinner. So Swedes eat ham on Christmas. It was tasty. Of course they have sill (herring). I don't eat that kind of ridiculous food though. Basically there are fifteen hundred different kinds of meat or fish. Can't forget about the special potatoes. A Halland specialty is grönkål, kale. I just google translated that for the first time...I didn't realize I was eating kale! It isn't that great though...but better than brussels sprouts! Hmmm I'm sure there is more...well Swedes have this drink called Julmust. It is carbonated. I don't really know how to explain it...other than that they have it during jul time and then again around Easter..but then it has a new name. Sweden doesn't have eggnog. So that is sad. Thennn finalllly in the evening it is presents time! The Collander method involves each person opening one present at a time in a very methodical manner. No ripped paper, because we of course use the same paper for years in a row! Calvin and I usually order them in size and so on. Anywaysss that is not the Brosved method! The Brosved method is more along the lines of Lukas and Lousie making everyone a pile of their gifts and then the ripping begins all at the same time. And all of a sudden the floor is covered in wrapping paper. So that was a bit different. Funny story though. Well...I thought it was funny. When I opened my package from my Bham parents...I recognized one of the wrapping papers from a former Davis gift, the other was one we have literally had since we lived at Grandma and Grandpa's house..and the other was a former Newell gift. So that was entertaining, and very typical Collander. Plus I got gummy vitamins from my mom, of coursee:) No sunshine or fruits or veggies in this country. Just kidding. Not about the sun though..

Alrightt so after jul I headed up to Kungälv for a few days. First to Marstrand Erica and the cousins though! Such a beautiful, Swedish place. Love it. Even if I froze. That's just typical. But yes, it was nice to see family again! I got new knitted socks, so that of course was wonderful! Plus I completed farrr too many sudokus in just two days.

Ok so moving on from jul. Nyårs! New years! Well during the day I went to Göteborg with my friend Josefine. In the evening I went home and had dinner with the family. Hung out for the evening. And went in to town to watch the fireworks. Yeahhh so no super exciting stories there.

After thattt I roadtripped with the family to Västerås. You guys can feel free to test your google maps skills and figure out where that is. I slept in the car. We ate at IKEA cause it is cheeeap. And yupp! It was fun, stayed with some family friends who have three kids from South Afrika. Wow cool...I just spelled Africa with a K...that is the Swedish way to spell it. Ahh. The confusion that C and K are creating now that I am learning the Swedish spellings of everything. Anyways it was fun! Really nice family. I didn't do much. Just sat and listened, talked some. I was the not young kid..but not adult either person. It was cold there. I do not enjoy the being in the cold, or being cold. Surprise surprise.

My inspiration seeems seemingly lacking today. But I reallllly can't put this off any longer. Cause I happen to be quite talented at putting things off! So that hasn't really changed I guess. But I am a better person! I eat fruit. Willingly! I eat whole apples! Today I had a clementine and a banana. And an egg. Yogurt is delicious here. Chocolate. Is chocolate. SO. It is of course delicious. I just like food! Welllll that was a lie, wasn't it. I like certain foods would be more accurate.

Today I was down in Lund for an AFS meeting. Our half your year is basically over meeting. So in other words I spent most of the day on a train. Okkk not most of it. But a lot of it. Not much else to say. Though it was fun to see some of the others again. It snowed yesterday, and more today. Bellllingham and Sweden switched weather since I came here. As you all know there were four snow days and a whoooole lot of snow in Bham. Soo when I woke up Friday and there was an inch or two of snow I was in that "yesssssss snow day, back to sleep" mindset. Nooope. I wish. Swedes are completely baffled by the idea of any amount of snow causing school to be cancelled. It is amusing to see their reactions.

I've made a conclusion about my bed. My bed here is more comfy. BUT my my bed at home has better pillows and it is a bunk bed. So my new conclusion is simply that I enjoy beds. And my bed is what I should be in right now! I am reading Matilda in Swedish currently. And I am going to read Eragon too I think. If anyone was for some reason or another wondering about beds or books...I can't think of anything else to say. I was going to try to explain my most common, or at least most amusing Swedish language mistake. But it is too hard to describe in English. För ni som kan svenska, ni kan skratta åt mig. För att jag "går" överallt...jag "åker" aldrig. Vet inte om ni förstår vad jag menar...men min mamma och pappa gör det iallafall:) And for those of you who just google translated that...I know it makes absolutely no sense...I don't even know if it makes sense in Swedish. Oh well. Spelling and grammar have still not decided to be my best friend. In either language for that matter...mooostly Swedish though. You know what is really nice about Swedish though...in Swedish you capitalize soo much less, and apostrophes don't really exist? I don't think? Who knows...it is almost one thirty in the morning. SO I have a good excuse.

I will put up pictures. Some day. Now it is time for bed. I hope this satisfied all you who have been waiting. If I have left anything out that you happen to be very curious about....you can tell me! I would love to answer any questions if I can! Now I am going to go hibernate. Godnatt till er alla!

Each region in Sweden has a main church, which always has two towers or steeples..whichever they're called, instead of the usual one. This is the main church in Lund, Skåne.

 

 Time for some wreath making with the mamma!

 She is really normal, I promise, just like me.

School photo! Which I never ended up buying cause it cost toooo much.

This is a little lake next to a huge field right by my house!

This is my windowsill. It is perfect. It is right next to the heater, I have a pretty star, there is a chocolate count down to Christmas thing on my wall, I have my paints and pens and scissors, some shoes I guess, my candles, my laptop, and the chocolate is missing from the scene....but basically it is a cozy perfect location.

I guess my little brother Lukas gets the tallest birthday cake since he is the shortest in the family! It is half a foot tall! Delicioussss chocolate raspberry cake that my dad baked. Mmmm.

Bellingham has the most beautiful sunsets in the entire world, but Sweden has beautiful skies too. Huge clouds. I love them.

This is the driving range at the golf course down the road from my house!

I told you the skies are awesome!

Exchange students are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

Every once in a while it is best to just take it easy. I might have a math test tomorrow. It might not go so well. But that is okay! One test isn't going to ruin everything. It isn't the end of the world. Sometimes I think too much thought is put into the little things. The temporary things. The big picture is important too. The people and the relationships. Not the new shoes or new hair style. I need people in my life. I miss the ocean, the trees, the mountains...Bellingham is beautiful. No doubt about it. But it's the people I miss most. Not a kind of miss that makes we want to go home. It's the kind of missing that makes me appreciate them more. I know they'll all be there when I go back. I knew that leaving for a year would make me appreciate life more, but I didn't really know how..now I'm beginning to. It is all so strange. I love my family here. I feel at home with them, and in this house. Not even four months ago I got off a train looking like a junky with a ton of luggage, got in a car with four strangers, went out to the middle of nowhere with them, and looked at the house that is now home to me. I can tell by just looking at the state of my room that I feel way more comfortable here than in the beginning. I should clean it. Maybe tomorrow. Although I do say that a lot. I have learned so much by living with another family. It's something you can't understand until you've done it. So many new insights and perspectives. I also find it interesting to think about what it must be like for my family. They picked me with only a picture and a letter to decide. And then they picked me up from the train station with nooo idea what they were bringing home with them. That is brave I must say. Considering they are offering their home and so much more to me. What if we hated each other? That would suck for all of us. Luuuckily I think we like each other..or else they are the masters of deception. And now I bet they are reading this and laughing at me...and laughing that I failed my math test. Ha. Yeah I should go to bed. I have thought of some more Swedish America comparisons, but who knows what they were. And I willll put some pictures up some day. But today was a more thoughtful day. Or maybe a "I don't want to study anymore" kind of day. Or both. Or maybe that is always the case. Anyways, goodnight everyone. I hope your Christmas season is off to a lovely start! :)

Yes...I am still alive and well!

Sooo everyone has been asking when I'm going to post another blog post...I am sorry it's taken so long!
November. I cannot believe it is already November. After November is December. Christmas time always flies. And thennn it is 2012 and the world will end! Just kidding. The world isn't going to end guys...don't believe that.

The first highlight I can think of since I last posted is that Coldplay's new album finallllly came out! I probably thought of that first since I am listening to it...but it is quite the highlight nonetheless!

Ok what else. It is so hard to think of things, it all runs together cause everything is so great! Maybe if I go backwards, I don't remember if I used that strategy last time, but I'll give it a try.

I'll start with höstlov. Otherwise known as fall break, so I had a week off school! Kind of like Americans get school off for Thanksgiving..but we don't have that here. Soo I went to my friend Simon's house for a Halloween party. Simon is an exchange student from Australia. I hate Halloween. Buuut I went anyways, and it was ok! A whole herd of exchange students and two Swedes I believe. But there was good food and good company, so all went well. Then Sunday was recovery day. Monday I went up to the Universeum in Göteborg with Lukas, Louise, and Magnus. It was a little like the Pacific Science Center..mixed with an aqurium and a rainforest? But it was fun! A radar measuring thing told me I am 162,2 cm tall. My little sister (6 years younger) is not much more than 10 cm shorter..won't be long till she passes me up. Buuut after that I got picked up by my Farfar and I headed up to Kungälv for a visit!

Let's see. Kungälv. My home town. Although I really only remember it from visits...but it was familiar nonetheless. I love the castle there. Now that I have been around Sweden a little more, I can definitely say that Kungälv has one of the best castles I have seen so far. Andddd Kungälv smells delicious. There is a kexfabrik (cookie factory basically) in Kungälv. Tastyy tasty. I also found the smell of my Farfar and Farmor's house familiar. Along with Anna's apartment too! I must have smell memory. But anyways, on Tuesday I saw Anna (childhood friend)! It was a lot of fun. We walked around town and had fika. Then we walked up to her apartment and I saw where I used to live too..kind of strange. Tuesday also happened to be my Farfar's birthday! So I headed back to their place. We had food and cake and the rest of the relatives came up too. It is so strange to be around them without the rest of my family there...cause that has never really happened before. No problems there though! It is nice to be able to spend time with them, seeing as it doesn't happen so very often. Two nights there, and then it was back home to Grimeton again for the rest of my break.

I went to Stockholm for a couple days sometime towards the end of October! It was a lot of fun to be able to see my exchange student friends there and see how their life is. It is so different...I live in the middle of nowhere...with a bus that can take me town only a couple times a day..only once on Saturdays and none on Sundays...in Stockholm you can jump on a bus, train, subway, anythinggg at just about any time you please. I mean you mighttt have to wait maybe three minutes..but you can literally go anywhere..without much inconvenience. And there are SO many people in Stockholm! Capital of the country...biggest city...only a million people...that isn't a lot compared to other places in the world. But in Lisa's world that is a lot of people. Something like 600 people in Grimeton, about 30,000 in Varberg, and 80,000 in Bellingham....yeahhh that's right! I know a couple facts...anyways I have to say I am glad I was placed here in Grimeton. Sometimes I wish I lived a little closer to town...but when I see the bigger cities like Göteborg and Stockholm I am thankful for the green grass, horses, and cows.

Well this memory thing...is hard.

I'll talk a little about school I suppose! I had my first Swedish test. It was about animals, veggies, fish, sayings, and abbreviations. I think it went well! I hope so at least. I've had some other test too, but mostttt stuff is all going to be coming up in the weeks leading up to Christmas break. School is eh though, so that's all I have to say for now.

Darkness is creeping over Sweden. I bike to the bus in the dark, and I ride home from the bus in the dark too. I am now wearing my warmest jacket and pretty much allll my warm clothes. Yay for Swedish sweaters!

Hmm. So this past weekend I went down to Lund to see the town and visit her daughters. Lund is pretty much a "college town" you could say. It was very nice though! I love all the old architecture and cobble stone streets all over Sweden. It may be normal for them, but you don't find that in Bellingham. Ulla's brother in law is Italien and has a pizza and pasta place in town, so we went there for lunch. Very tasty. He then cooked dinner for us later too. Three types of fish! I am not usually huge on fish, but he knows how to cook! Sweden also has really delicious bakeries. And all of them are reallyyy small, but super crowded. Because who doesn't want deliciousness!

Anyways that is what my past month or month and a half has looked like!

Buuuut I must talk about this evening! So I have this geography test on Wednesday. An English essay test as well....and I really should have studied. I had a much better time though. My mom and I made Christmas wreaths! It was a whole lot of fun. At least I thought so. Although bows are really difficult to make. I will put up some pictures, when I get around to it...so who knows when that will be. Guess you guys can hope that is soon! :)

Once again...sorry I'm so slow...my motivation sometimes is lacking...but like my father advised me..perhaps if I write shorter posts more often, it would be easier to keep up to with.

Hope all is well for everyone! If you are American and reading this, have a delightful Thanksgiving!

Little of this, and a little of that.

I don't know if you've heard, but chocolate is very good for you. I mean it makes you happy...so that's good. Let's see I should really write on here more often. Cause then I wouldn't have to sit here and try to remember sooo much.

In Sweden you spell everything with K. My English is declining in quality I can tell. And Swedish is hard. I have a thing for putting words in the wrong order when I write papers...grammar is just trouble. Even in English class we do grammar stuff. I know nothinggg about English grammar..soo that will be fun. I should be able to figure it out though. It's fun to listen to people speak English here...some people speak with English accents and some with American...and some just sound very, very Swedish. The "th" is a hard sound for them..

I like to make bracelets! But whenever I put a new one on an anklet falls off..not really..but that happened this time. I don't think I told you guys, but I made a hemp hairwrap. I think it's pretty sweet.

I guesss I'll tell you guys a little about Sweden.

Let's see. It's really hard to remember...I've done something each weekend I've been here..but my mind doesn't work so I'll tell you about this past weekend (yesterday and the day before). I went to Halmstad to visit Sebastian and his family with Amelie! It was very foggy. I got to see about three feet of ocean...buuut the fog lifted later so then I got to see the view. Quite lovely, Halmstad is a summer town, like Varberg. Beaches and sunshine. Swedes love sunshine. I do too. This rain is ehhh. And the cold that is well on it's way..is definitely ehhh. We have had a couple of nice days though, so I can't complain. I think the biggest difference tree wise here is the leaves. They don't really have the whole evergreen thing goin on for them. The leaves are beginning to dropppp. It is going to be a long, dark...not green winter.

Oh! I can share about my hike! Last Thursday my class, 10SPB, went out on a wandering. We were in groups so we could make lunch in the forest. It was quite the adventure...frozen chicken that looked like a brain..eventually became eatable! It was a lot of fun. ANDDD it was about five miles! Which is an accomplishment for me. Ohhhh plus we did some professional bus catching that day too. It was a close call...but I don't think the story would be so fun for you all to read.

I remembered another thing to tell about! The weekend before this past one I went to Varberg's Harvest festival at our local castle. SO sweet. I love that about Sweden...there are castles everywhere...you do nottt find that in America. Plus there was free food from ICA! Can't go wrong there. Unless it's gross food...but I have a good eye filter. Plus it was nice weather that day. Sunshinee:) And an ocean breeze. I love the ocean. Smells delicious.

Stars! Since I live out in the countryyy it's extra dark so you can see the stars even better! I went out sometime, I don't remember when...for a walk at night. There is a golfcourse close to where I live. In Sweden they're cool...golf courses, forests, pastures, etc are all public..I mean I don't know the specifics..but it isn't trespassing. Sooo I walked up onto the golfcourse and then I was thinking "ohhh what lovely stars! Oh look a bench? I can't see it and I'm a wee bit afraid of the dark...but I'll check it out" So I went a laid down on a bench for over an hour. I sang Coldplay songs and counted 11 shooting stars:) It was amazing. And the stars look different here! Of course..but it was still exciting. I succeeded in finding one constellation...that was a hard word to spell..

Anyways. School. Hmmmm. Math test tomorrow I should be studying for? But I'd rather wing it?

I would like to take a moment to talk about dairy. I love milk. I love milk machines at school. And I love whole milk at home. I like yogurt. I like yogurt that comes in a carton and you can pour. I like drinkable yogurt with my cereal, my bananas, my apples. I like ice cream. I love dairy. Mmmm.

I also thought I should mention a few things about vegetables. First of all, vegetables in Swedish is "grönsaker"..which translated literally means "green things". So anyways (Mother dearest this is directed towards you) I eat green things! There are pictures for proof. Although I think I have only had broccoli about once since I got here..............soooo you should probably send me some for Christmas since I miss it sooo much....


Homes are much tidier in Sweden. Or maybe not always tidy...but at least more clean. Also houses are smaller and cozier. 

Trash cans...are sooo big in the US.... All of the public trash cans here are little and metal and usually attached to a lamp post or something of that sort. They are not huge. And the trash cans that people put at the end of their driveway are mush smaller too. Plus they don't have red, white, and blue recycling bins like us..not blue and yellow either...You have to go to a place outside of a grocery store and separate your recycle your self into the designated dumpsters. Plus when you bring bottles and cans back to the store you get money back. Buuut the catch is, is that they have cool machines that you stick the cans and bottles into and it gives you a receipt. Oh and one other thing, a household garbage can in Swedish is a "papperskorga" which literally translated means "papers basket" which throwsss me off cause you recycle paper.

I find it strange that listening to the radio here is nearly like listening at home..only a month or two behind on the latest songs...and the occasional Swedish tune thrown in there. 

You have to pay for bags at grocery stores here..it's a good idea..come onnn America. Gotta get it together.


IKEA ads in Sweden are nothing like the weird ones in Canada and the US...


I don't think I have properly introduced you all to lös godis. That means loose candy. As in a huge wall of candy. It's like our bulk food section. But it's allllll candy. Soooo much candy. You grab a bag and a scooper. And you scoop scoop scoop. For what you get, it is cheap. And it is delicious. Plus the chocolate here is soooo much more delicious.....I've onlyyy gained like 5 pounds...no need to worry about me...everything is worth it :) 


Speaking of everything is worth it. My host mum has some words of wisdom. Every time I come back from something that I...let's say didn't particularly enjoy...she tells me this, "everything is a positive learning experience". 

That's that for now I think! I'll throw up some pictures from my Halmstad adventure below :)

I love spirals.

Flowers photograph nicely!

It was a foggggy day.

Two of my lovely German friends, Amelie and Sebastian :)

Halmstad's beach

Roger is a professional chef! Delicious.

I end every day with sleep. And that is what I will go do...soon... :)

My lovely sibling Lukas and Louise :)

I ate that.

I am proud of my photography!

Playgrounds in Sweden are not American Standards "safe", so therefore they are fun!

It's All About Observing & Experiencing.

When I first go to Sweden it was raining. There were trees. So pretty much it was just like Bham. Except now that I've been here for almost a month, I've decided it's not the same at all. There are quite a lot of random things that I'm going to share about. In no particular order I will try to remember some of them and tell you guys.

•  Cars. Cars here are little. In America SUVs and trucks are common. Here I have seen approximately zero SUVS and maybe two trucks. Now I bet you're wondering how Swedes haul trailers and stuff. Well you may not know this, but Mercedes and Audis seem to work great, they look real classy going around the roundabouts with their trailers. 
• Speaking of cars. Swedes are much better and efficient drivers than Americans. It's not really something you can appreciate until you drive on a freeway here. Plus roundabouts are genius. Varberg had about three hundred and sixteen of them. 
• Cake. American cake sucks. I always knew that. But maybe you didn't know that. I have tried five different Swedish cakes that I can think of already. And they are just so delicious. Mmm. It's my name day on Tuesday so I get cake! 
• Let's see here. Oh! Robinson. So I am assuming everyone knows what Survivor is. Well Sweden is awesome, so they have Robinson. (Essentially the same thing. Apart from that Swedish television doesn't really believe in any sort of censorship. At all.) Oh and they also have Idol. So pretty much American Idol..but instead with Swedish people. A good portion of the television here is English with subtitles, so they are pretty proud of the shows that are actually their own.
• Rain. Rain rain rain rainnnnn. I love rain so much that I thought I would take it with me to Sweden and leave the beautiful sunshine in Bellingham. Whatttt was I thinking. I would like to tell you guys a story. Sometime, I don't remember when, I was biking to the bus stop. It was raining. I took a shower before I left the house. When I got to the bus stop (literally a two minute bike ride all downhill) it was like I had showered in my clothes. So school was a lot of fun that day. Cause I love being wet. When it rains here, it pours. Not Bham drizzle..Varberg waterfall raindrops. Apparently it has been raining more than usual lately...but who knows. At least they know how to heat their schools.
• So since I talked about rain, I will talk about wind. The hurricane wasn't done in New York, it flew over to visit us here too! It has been howling for the past couple days. I have to concentrate harder to keep my bike going straight. Cause in the mornings I'm kinda tired.
• Stoplights. I knowwww, super exciting. When the lights are going back to green after being red, they turn yellow in between. So it goes red, yellow, green and green, yellow, red. Today I was wondering why it is green. Red and yellow are primary colors. So why does go get to be green...not blue...
• Swedish people. Buses here are amusing. Here is how a typical bus scenario would play out. A person would get on the bus, sit down by the window with their bag in the seat next to them. This goes on until all the window seats are full. Generally speaking the next person to get on would rather stand up, than sit down in an open seat next to someone unless they know them. You don't really smile at anyone..and your bag is your best friend. I smile at least.
• Wind power! So you know those tall white windmill things that get energy from wind? Well they have those here. On my way home last weekend I decided to count them. I counted nearly 100 in a 30km stretch. I thought it was a lot, I dunno about you.
• None of the people in my class have worn sweatpants yet this year to school. Except me. I was planning on trying to dress a little nicer here..so I could make at least one friend...but I love sweats too much. They'll be my friend at least. 
• I wanted to tell everyone that on Monday's I get home from school at half past twelve. And on Friday's I start at ten to two and am done at four. I like it here:) Don't worry, that isn't the only reason.
• It is so strange seeing the ocean here. Coming from Bham, I am used to seeing the ocean with a backdrop of islands. Here it is the open seas. It is surprisingly different. Although last weekend I went down to Helsingborg...and guess what you can see from there! Denmark! 
• Dialects in Sweden are very distinct. If I were to drive to Seattle...the people would sound the same to me. If I travel even 30km South here..I can already hear the difference. Everything in Sweden is in a much smaller scale. Sweden is not a whole lot bigger than California..

I thought I should take a moment to talk about the Bellingham Cousin Clan. As of Monday we are all officially in different parts of the world. I am in Sweden. Ryan is in Maine. Calvin is in Oregon. Katie is in California. And Jason is still in Bham to hold down the fort until we reunite next summer. Can't forget our roots! You guys are the best. Jason I miss you, and I hope you are doing okay at Sehome without me..I am sorry I left you there all alone.

Speaking of cousins. Tangenttt! On Saturday I am going to Göteborg for an AFS event of some sort. Buuut afterwards I am going to the Fosse's house. It's been a while since I have seen them all...but I can't wait:) Hopefully Farmor och Farfar skall komma också. Yay for family!

Mom and Pop I miss you guys toooooo. But I do love it here, so don't even think of coming and taking me home! Although I bet you guys are at least getting someee satisfaction out of the peace and quiet at home. Mom-Today at lunch I had a couple peas, some lettuce, anc some carrots. I ate and apple when I got home, and had more carrots at dinner. I thought you might be proud, I'll refrain from talking about all the other days though..:) Pop-Dina kanel bullar är mycket bättre än dem jag åt ner i Helsingborg. Du vet ju hur att baka. Jag fick 32 ur 44 på en Svenk grammatik prov som jag tog på fosta dan i Svenska två. Jag lär mig! Jag ska få hundra procent når det är dax för mig att komma hem! Jag bara fuskade lite med Google Translate..jag lovar!

Hej så lange! Jag måste gå borsta mina tänder nu!

Och nu är jag i Sverige!

Well here I am. I have now been in Sweden for a little over two weeks. And A LOT can happen in two weeks. I have definitely done more in the past couple weeks than I have done all summer..it seems. Let us see here. I guess I should start from the beginning.

Airplanes. Airplanes are just a lot of trouble. It kind of sucks when they are delayed six hours. Mechanical problems, rain storms, and thunder and lightning just don't sit so well with flying. There are six American kids with AFS in Sweden. So we really got to know each other on the floor of the JFK airport. And my stomach..we were supposed to get dinner after the plane took off..which should have been around eight. But instead I ate dinner at one in the morning. I have neverrr tasted such delicious airplane food. The other thing about planes..they neverrr fail to make me sick. So that isn't really a highlight either. But they do transport you across the world, which I can't complain about.

Next stop was in Stockholm! The AFS orientation camp. I don't have much to say about that. It was awesome meeting all the kids from around the world, about sixty of us. The weather was gross though. SO Bellingham like. Rain rain rainnn. Yayyy.

Soo after the orientation camp comes the exciting part! Meeting my host family:)! They picked me up from the train station as if we already knew each other. Then drove me home to my new home! A RED house! I love it. I live out in the countryside, and it is beautiful. I think it will be worth the bus ride to school. Though I haven't explored it yet, there is a big forest somewhere behind my house and all the fields. I have lotsss of exploring yet to do.

Let's see here. There is so much to talk about..I guess I could talk about school. I started school not last Tuesday, but the one before. School is definitely different here in Sweden. I'll make a list of some of my observations.

• Teachers don't have their own classrooms. They have these funky shopping cart things that they bring their stuff in to the classroom. It's pretty odd, but seems to work well enough.
• Being late..isn't the same..as far as I'm aware there is no such thing as being tardy. If you're late you knock on the sometimes locked door, come in, and say sorry for being late. You just don't really come late..Swedes like punctuality. 
• On that note, there are no bells.
• Everyone has a different schedule. School starts at the earliest 8:10, and finishes at the latest 16:00. The schedules are SO confusing. Because everyday I have different classes..and even though I have math three times a week..it is in a different classroom on Fridays..well I made that up, I can't actually remember. But yeah. I have English and Math three times a week, all my other classes I only have one or two times. Plus they are allll different lengths. Anywhere from forty minutes to an hour and a half I think. Some days I have an hour or two hour gap between classes. And I don't start class until 13:50 on Fridays. So yeah, you get the point, it's crazy.
• Hmm lockers..lockers here are a funny shape and you bring your own lock. And people here do nottt believe in combination locks, all have keys.
• Oh! Lunch! Lunch in Sweden is free for everyone. You don't ever bring your own lunch. You can eat whenever you want while the cafeteria is open, and you can eat as much as you want. Plus you get real plates and silverware. AND there is milk machines! I love that. The food..not so much..but I'll be okay. There is always knäckebröd with butter if the food isn't edible. 
• What else...P.E. Everyone has it once a week. And in Sweden Everyone showers together after a sports practice..as opposed to showering at home. And the same goes for P.E. at school. It's normal to shower afterwards. Not always, but yeah. Not a highlight I'd say. 
• Ohh another thing. You call your teachers by their first name. Not saying I know all my teacher's names yet..but I definitely don't know anyyy of their last names.
• Class is pretty relaxed. And swearing in Sweden is probably the most normal thing ever. My older lady teachers all do too. And little kids. Just how it is I suppose.
• Buses. Their are no school buses here. No big yellow buses. Instead they have a wonderfullll public transport system. The bus schedule is probably as confusing as my class schedule. It's scary. You get a bus card to use if you live far enough away from school, or train if you live super far away. Cause in Sweden you can pick your school (it's not called high school, but essentially the same thing, only three years not four though) as long as public transport can get you there.
• In Sweden you pick your gymnasiet (high school) based on what you are interested in. They have different programs you can pick. I am in the social science program (I didn't get to pick). But they have lots of options. At my school you can do social sciences, nature sciences, theater, technique, restaurant stuff, store management stuff, a sports focused program, orrr some other program I either can't translate or am forgetting. Then there are other schools for people who like to ride horses or something. Anyways it seems more like college to me, just because of how much freedom you have to pick what you are interested in. For example the program I am in doesn't have any science, apart from social science that is..but no biology or chemistry or anything. It isn't required. I don't know exactly how it works, but at my school at least there is a points system and each course you take is worth a certain amount of points.
• Hmmm other school related things...bikes! There are sooooooo many bikes parked outside of school. And it's super weird because you don't lock your bike to anything..instead there is a bar thing that you lock through your back wheel so no one can bike off with it. And all the bikes are cruiser bikes. Noooo mountain bikes. If you rode one of those to school it would get stolen pronto. So basically keys are important..I have one for my house, one for my bike, and one for my locker. So I probably shouldn't lose them.
• iPhones. Let's just say I thought American's had a lot of iPhones. I was wrong. SOO many people have them here. It's tooo much. And if it isn't an iPhone it's some other sort of fancy touch screen. But Apple computers are wayyyy less common..except they won't be as of next week because our school is getting Macs for almost every student. It's a save paper slash our world is becoming super technologically based idea. So I think that will be a change too to what I'm used to.
• Bathroomsss. At my school there are no American style public restrooms. Instead of stalls, each toilet and sink has it's own little room. It's nice. Plus they don't smell terrible. The school in general is just a much cleaner place than Sehome. And America. 
• I can't think of anything else about school at the moment..but I have said a lot so I think I should be safe.

Ok. What's next. My awesome host family leaving me maybe! Just kiddinggg:) That sounded way too bitter. But it is true. They had a previously planned vacation to Bulgaria. Sooo after a week of staying with them they left. So I went down to Falkenberg to stay with my AFS contact person, Ulla, for the weekend. Let's see. Ulla loooves to talk. And since I have gotten here it has been nothinggg but Swedish once I tell people I know Swedish. That weekend was THUNDER like I've never heard thunder before. ALL day. And pouringggg rain. We still went for a walk on the beach though. Came home drenched, but that's ok. 


Food. So with my family the first week I was fed nothing but delicious food. I love Swedish food. Well at least all the sweets:). Anyways, after our walk on the beach Ulla took me to a famous Swedish surströmming party. The smell was way way way more than enough for me. Call me pathetic, but I was nottt interested one bit in trying it. It was enough with FIVE dogs running around. I don't want to talk about it, but the puppies tried to eat my Birkenstocks and I still have not forgiven them. 


The next day at Ulla's we went walking again. She lives in the countryside as well and has a beautiful forest with three lakes that she took me too. It was a lottt of walking for a person like me who just loves walking sooo much...but it was okay. I actually do have to admit that I liked it. 

Then this past school week I have been with ANOTHER family that lives close to my school. So basically I have been shipped all over the place. But it was very nice staying with them. They have a girl my age, so that was a lot of fun. School and speaking Swedish allll the time makes me a permanently exhausted person. So it was nice coming home to a relaxed family. Sandra, the girl I stayed with, let me come along to hang out with some of her friends last night (Friday night) which was very nice of her.


Swedish people have this tendency to be shy and cold towards strangers. SO. Basically it is hard to make friends is what I'm getting at.. But don't worrryyy guys. I think I've made some friends in my class. That's the other thing! You have the same kids in each of your classes! You are with the same group of kids from your first year of gymasiet to your last. Which I think is neat, cause you get to be really good friends with them. Makes it a little harder for me, coming in, being an exchange student, while they already all know each other. Buuut I'm working my through the shy Swedishness of them all. So it should all be okay. I can't complain, I'm only two weeks in! And I will be here much longer!


Nowww I knoww I've written a ton. But believe me, it isn't even half of what has happened. I think I am finally to talking about today though! Today I can back to Ulla's house. She invited an exchange student and his family up from Halmstad for a kräftor fest (I don't how to properly say that, but basically an afternoon of eating crayfish and a tonnn of other food). I am proud to say I ate TWO crayfish. Two different kinds. I liked the red kind better, they told me that's because it was one of the freshwater ones cooked in beer, not the saltwater one. Anyways, they weren't bad! My food eating is getting more diverse and salad doesn't taste as bad over here. 


Okayy one more thing to mention about Swedes. Fika. Yessss fika. It's soo wonderful. You can fika at any time during the day. A typical fika is coffee with a sweet cookie or pastry or something. But it can also be some other sort of drink and also not just with sweet food. But it's food and drink, not at a meal time, and it can last for any possible amount of time. I loooove it. My host dad loves to bake, and I love to eat what he bakes, so I'd say it's pretty great:).


And guess what elseee!! My host family gets home tomorrow and I am sooo excited. I was only with them a week before they left..but I felt at home with them and it will be very nice to be back in my own room and house and such. Plus wearing some clean clothes..cause when I packed I didn't really account for nine days, even though I thoughtt I did..


Anyways, I do believe that is all for now. I miss my parents and Calvin and Katie and my friendsss, but I'm doing quite well over here. God natt allihop!

Goodbye Bellingham.

This is it. I said my last goodbyes to friends today. The journey begins tomorrow! For those interested, I hope to keep posting on this blog. But no guarantees. At this point I'm mainly writing this because it's a good way to avoid the last things that need to be done before I'm off. Apart from packing and saying goodbye to my family, I am looking forward to EVERYTHING else. I received my host family information and location about three weeks ago. As far as I can tell it seems we'll mesh well. Can't say I've met them yet, but I am veryyy ready to. I've exchanged a number of emails with my host mother Inger. My family sounds wonderful. I've always loved kids, and now for a change I'll get to be the older sibling. My house is red, the perfect house. As excited as I am for the orientations..I'm looking forward to meeting and moving in with my new family most. Bellingham is a beautiful place with some wonderful people, but I am off to explore the world. And I am as ready as could be. As soon as my clothes magically jump into my suitcase. Haven't figured out the trick to that yet though, so I best get to that. It's harder than I thought..buuut I have a lovely packing list to guide me, so all is well.

Farewell Bellingham! :) Don't forget me!

It's Just the Beginning.

Hello friends. I'm Lisa Collander. I am a sixteen year old, currently attending Sehome High School. I live in Bellingham, Washington right by the sea. I love it here. I live with my mom, pop, and brother. In town I also have grandparents, two uncles, two aunts, and three cousins. I love to make art, sing along to music, spend time with friends and family, and enjoy Bellingham. My favorite color is red, I love my Birkenstocks, and Coldplay is the best band. Little things, I know, but they all happen to be a fairly large part of my identity. Last spring I joined the high school sailing team, and I'm currently part of that again. A lot of my time has been devoted to sailing. I love to be out on the water during practice, and spending most of my weekends away racing. Throughout the years I've travelled a fair amount. Seeing the world has always made me want to see more. I'm a curious person. Exploration is the only answer.

Just in the past couple months I decided I wanted to be an exchange student in Sweden. My dad is a Swede and I lived in Sweden the first four years of my life. I've loved going back and visiting, even if I don't remember much about living there. I wouldn't say I'm entirely fluent in Swedish, but I could get along just fine. I've always felt the Sweden is an important part of my life. I'd never really realized how much I value my heritage and my desire to stay connected with it. The idea going there on exchange made me so excited. A chance to be able to live in another culture and experience the world outside of my home is such an opportunity. I want to improve my Swedish, and mainly just widen my perspectives. I love new experiences and putting myself out there. At this point it's so hard to know what to expect. But the best I can do is not have expectations, just let it happen. I know I'll have amazing experiences, as well as difficult ones. But they will all be just as important. There is no doubt I'll come back with a much better grasp on who I am.

I'm hoping that my experience living in Sweden for a year will benefit more than just myself. I can never decide anything for anyone else. But if I have my way, I hope to have an impact on the lives of some people in Sweden. Maybe even save a few trees while I'm at it. I am ready to go. Adventure and exploration. An open mind. An excited attitude. I'm readyyyyy!

Living abroad for a year is quite costly. I'm hoping to raise some money in order to help pay for the cost. With my brother Calvin going off to college next year, and myself going to Sweden, there is lots that needs paying for. I appreciate any support in any shape or form possible!

Thanks friends,

Lisa





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