More Sweden

For Easter my host family took me to the wintry island of Gotland. The unpredictable Swedish weather had become cold and snowy soon before our arrival there. This weather mattered not for us as we travelled to my host father's parent's summer house to partake in the Easter festivities. The first night we were there corresponded with Good Friday or Long Friday as the Swedes call it, and so we ate a large amount of fish prepared in special Swedish ways by the grandparents. I enjoyed the food but it was difficult for me to partake in the conversion, as it was nonstop Swedish. At this point into my exchange I am speaking only very little Swedish but I am understanding quite a bit. I can understand most questions asked to me, but I answer in English.

      The next few days were spent travelling around the island, enjoying the scenery and the history of the island whilst trying my best to stay warm. We saw the cliffs and rock formations of the shoreline, the boat-shaped graves of the Vikings and the churches and church ruins of the town of Visby. On the Wednesday after Easter we caught a flight back to Stockholm and drove back from there to Falun. Since then life has been ebbing along, with the days broken by school and small events. I had a dinner with the Inner Wheel ladies on this most recent Monday and I played the piano for a jazz group from a nearby school in a gig which they had at a local restaurant. I had been playing for them for a small while and, although I am not a jazz pianist I did my best for them. The night went well and I think everyone was happy with how they did, and I got a free hamburger for my part so I was also happy with the evening.

      And this is about as much as needs to be said. For the next couple of months my life should be pretty stationary, and I enjoy these quiet periods. I will give my talk to Rotary soon perhaps as it seems something is stirring for that and I will travel to Uppsala for a few days away soon.

Early Springtime

After a little over two months into my exchange I feel well settled into my new lifestyle here in Sweden. Although the language isn't quite there yet for my general comfortableness has increased from the start when I was a bit unsure of pretty much everything everyday, now I can go about my daily business happily. The early springtime has helped me to feel optimistic but I am in no doubt that my host family is responsible for my quick assimilation. I have to say that they are the nicest family your ever likely to meet.

How did they help me? Just by being nice, letting me do my own thing most of the time and inviting me out to various events around town. Each night my host family and I have dinner together. This helps immensely with getting to know them, through a simple thing like dinner table discussion.

What has been going on recently. I have been on a ski trip to Åre for a week with forty other exchanges. A hectic week was had by all I'd say. I personally had a great time snowboarding for four days straight, and the opportunity to meet the other exchanges was nice. Soon I will be going on another trip with rotary the finish off the month of March, in which we will be travelling for twenty hours by train to the freezing town of Kiruna, Sweden's most northern settlement. Whilst there we will be visiting the ice hotel as a main attraction.

Another small thing I did was the go ice fishing on a frozen lake in a small village called Vika, south of my town. This opportunity was afforded to me by a rotary member I know only as Stieg. He began fishing at five-thirty in the morning, and when I arrived at eight, he had caught one large pike. He inviting me to go fishing with him during my first rotary meeting in Falun. My new host club has got many activities lined up for me so I am sure in the coming months I will have plenty of new experiences.

Normal life here is school and home. I have been lucky to have had a friend and helper from the very start of my exchange, a french guy called Thibault. He is also on exchange with rotary and he has been in Sweden since August and thus can give me advice on what to do and how the systems operate. Also he is a good guy and it helps to have a friend around.

In the top photograph is the shores of the lake I was Ice fishing on. The sun came out after a while and made everything look like springtime should. On the right is a picture of my new mate Stieg and the grand fish he caught.

First Month in Sweden

I arrived in Sweden on the 22nd of January. It is now the 22nd of February, thus making it my one month arrival anniversary.

And so I have finally got around to writing something about Sweden. To begin with, upon arrival at the airport in Arlanda I noticed that Sweden had a distinct deficit of degrees, some thirty-five degree difference to the pleasantly warm thirty degrees in Sydney. Also, the snow covering the ground reinforced the alien nature of the new country to me.

The snow covering the ground not only signified the different climate of Sweden, but also made the landscape look beautiful. Ordinary fields look really special when buried under a light five inches of snow. Those were my thoughts on the car ride to my new home.

I arrived at the Ahlström's home in Falun at ten on the morning of the twenty-second. Met the family, all very nice people, and moved my stuff into my new room. From this room I traveled to and from school for the next two weeks, familiarising myself with the routine and system of the town and school I am now living in.

My impressions of Sweden are as yet not fully formed. When changing lifestyles the mind is often bombarded with information which can be tiresome. I have been surviving well but because of my tiredness I have not yet had enough motivation to think about what I have learnt from and about Sweden. Perhaps by the end of my stay I will know.

The above image is of the view from my window and the building is a large church, one of two large scale churches in Falun.