Tag Archives: so tired

Hamish, Andrew, and Emily. I think I joined a gang. I’m not sure. I don’t know if I like it.

Andrew

We took this escalator up to a library and then when the library closed we tried to leave, but there was only this escalator and it only went up, so we had to use the handicap elevator???? I feel like this architect could have just planned it so much better

group hug! awww

Pablo and Jorge DJ-ing like bosses

yoooooo Pabloooooooo

Martin is an amazing dancer omg

Oh Narain

Aakanksha!

Martin wearing Andrew’s glasses

wow my lense is dirty

we woke up at 7 in the morning to walk Aakanksha to the bus stop

THIS IS THE BEST SCHOOL LUNCH I’VE EVER HAD!!!! ILY ST. ERIK’S GYMNASIUM! First time I’ve had curry too!

This is my ID. I’m lookin fresh to death, but my name isn’t Aaron??????? Or is there something my parents aren’t telling me?

Okay so I hung out with the losers (I say losers lovingly. That probably sounded mean if you don’t know me.) in the first picture all night and it was great and Muna from Kungsholmen came along which was super cool of her and I hope she didn’t hate us.

The next day I went to the train station to meet Andrew so that we could go to Södertälje together and he was late. Andrew, if you’re reading this, I haven’t forgiven you yet. He told me to meet him at 12:30, and he came at 1:13.

Moving on.

We walked around Södertälje a bit before meeting up with Breno and then later Narain, and then even later Hannah, Alejandra, and Jorge. We sat in this super amazing McDonalds for a long while before the DJ event started. (Jorge and Pablo take DJ-ing lessons and their club put on a charity event for kids with cancer. We all signed up to work it, but in the end only the 18-year-olds were allowed to work. Martin gave me his Crew shirt though, so it was all good on my end.) We got there and Pablo did some mixing and then we all stood around and talked/danced*.

That night we went home around midnight and because it was a sleepover we talked until 3. I then layed in the bed Hannah generously offered me (btw, if you’re reading this Hannah, you need to stop being so nice because it makes my stomach hurt and I feel awful taking things from you.) staring at the wall wondering how sleep happens. A little after four I think I fell asleep. The alarm went off at seven and that was the start of the day. Who needs eight hours of sleep? Certainly not me!**

We walked Aakanksha to the bus station and then went home. Narain called and he and Pablo met us outside the house, where from we walked to ICA to get some doughnuts for Hannah. Pablo is really generous and bought everyone doughnuts*** and wow, what a cutie. He stuffed a chocolate bar in my pocket and I ended up really needing it when I got to the train station to go back home because I hadn’t eaten anything all day. ily Pablo!! ❤

Idk what else to say? I hung out with Narain and Hannah all day because Pablo had to go to his host mom’s birthday. I love Hannah and Narain so much and it’s not like I can tell you our conversations? I seem to run into this problem a lot. We just sat around and made bad jokes for a few hours . <I hope that works for you.

Then I headed home. The bus and train ride home seemed to last years and I really appreciated riding to Södertälje with Andrew and being able to take the bus to Trossa to Hannah’s house with everyone because company makes the time go by so much faster and easier.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

I got up at seven (ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh seven) to go to school and I had a really hard time finding my first class. My room was A4107F, but the doors went G, D, C. No F. So I went to the room where F should have been (it didn’t have any number on it) and I asked the teacher and she was like “Go away, I need to start my lesson. I don’t know who you are, I can’t help you.” in Swedish and I was like “UM?!” and I’m desperately trying to explain my situation in bad Swedish and this other teacher guy comes up and he’s like “Who are you?” and he’s speaking English now, so I was able to explain myself completely and he still wanted to kick me out until I showed him my schedule. I think they made a few phone calls wherein Jonas explained who I was. It was all very stressful.

The kids in my class are super cool and super nice and I’ll take pictures of the school and classrooms soon.

In all, it was the best day of school ever and I can’t wait to go back.

*When I refer to all of us dancing, I’m excluding myself. Social situations with that kind of pressure give me a lot of anxiety and I know I may seem like a super cool person on the outside, but I’m almost always uncomfortable with everything and it takes a lot of effort for me to even talk to people I’m unsure around, much less dance in a dimly lit room with them. If I ever dance around you it’ll be impromptu and probably after several nights without sleep when I’ve lost all sense of boundary.

**That’s a lie. Today think I fell asleep in every single class. My eyes kept closing and when I tried to keep them open they were so heavy it hurt. I want to go to bed right now, but I need to make this post before I forget everything! 😦 I’ll do the ESA thing when I get home from school, Dad. I’m dying right now.

***I told him “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” because I can’t let people be nice to me and also three hours of sleep makes you want to lay down and die, not eat doughnuts.

X

1 Reply

Yesterday was the worst day of my entire exchange. I’m going to steal pictures from other people’s blogs because I was to distraught to do naught but film.

Here is some context for the day I’m about to talk about

Thursday: Signing of the flags

Friday: Saying goodbye to Perth.

Afterwards I went home with Brooke and helped her pack a bit. She gave me a bunch of stuff that was weighing her suitcase down and now I’ve got Aussie stickers and a really cool Aussie lanyard and summer clothes that will remind me of her everytime I wear them. I almost don’t want summer to come now.

That night I slept over at McKenzie’s house and while we were falling asleep she asked me to tell her my life story, but she fell asleep halfway into it. I hope she’s reading this right now.

4-up on 1-10-14 at 11.13 PM #5 (compiled) <USA? Photo on 1-10-14 at 11.15 PM

Saturday: Went on a walk with McKenzie because it SNOWED!!! < jk

< I ate some

I lost my SL card on the walk and now I’ve got to get a new one in a mail. Meanwhile I can’t really go anywhere. I was supposed to go to school on Monday for my Natural Science class, but when I woke up I couldn’t make myself go outside and walk all the way to school in the cold for a class that I hate, sit there for an hour, and then walk all the way back home. Google maps says it would have taken me well over an hour, and I’m a slow walker, so I’m going to say it would have taken me two, making adjustments for getting lost. Uphill both ways. Through the snow. With wolves chasing us. We didn’t even own shoes.

Later that day I met up with McKenzie, Tanner, Narain, and Abigail. We ate deep dish pizza from Pizza Hut (it was amazing, fyi. Everyone told me Pizza Hut was a bad idea and that Swedes couldn’t do it right, but they were wrong.) and then went to Max for ice cream. I called my papa and talked to him for a while which was SUPER DUPER COOL! I miss talking to my parents on the phone. Skype is different. I just want to be able to call my friends and tell them pointless things and send them pictures of things that remind me of them and I just want to go home, only I don’t because I don’t want to go back to working two jobs or my life with my monotonous high school schedule from 8:00 to 3:20 and I would like to go on EuroTour right now and then return home for college. I’m so jealous of the Australians. Jerks.

We told our parents about this live camera in Stockholm that shows the weather, and then we went to it and stood in front of it so that our parents could see that we were still alive.

< we’re the group standing in front of the circle thing < sick photo of me high fiving tanner < trying to figure out where the live cam is

< Abigail and Tanner touching a heated statue’s belly

<waving at the camera

< <hot hot hey we got it, hot hot woah we got it, hot hot yeah we got it, HOT CHOCOLATE

Sunday: I hate this day. I don’t want to talk about this day. I’m going to anyway because I don’t know how else to get over it.

We woke up at 4:45, and I threw some clothes on and ate a piece of half frozen bread which I later felt like throwing up. We got on the train. We got off the train. We got on another train. (Because I’m only a lil bb, possessing only 17 tender years, I got to ride the Arlanda Express for free. All of the adult children feigned stupidity and bought senior citizen tickets instead of the full priced ones.) We got off at the airport. I didn’t think I was going to cry because I was so tired, but I was wrong as usual. Brooke and Oliver walked in and then I saw Emily crying and I just wanted to lay down in the fetal position for the rest of my life. Emily cheered me up by singing songs and doing interpretive dance and telling me the story about how she became Orky Idol and her name was on a sign welcoming people to her town of Orky in Canada. She’s great. I want a Pocket Emily to cheer me up every time I’m sad.

We said goodbye and everyone was crying except for Aakanksha who was too stunned to do anything but stare.

I don’t know what else to say. I feel like you all can understand how terrible it is to know that you will never see someone ever again for the rest of your life. I mean, there’s skype, but it’s not the same. I feel like Miles in LfA, wondering when he’ll forget Alaska’s name and when it won’t hurt so much to remember. So dramatic. Someone pinch me. God. I need to get over myself.

<Emily and I < Sam and Beth <Brooke and McKenzie < Hugging Brooke goodbye <Me, Oliver, and Emily

< Narain dying

< SEE YOU SOON!!!! < Breno showing off his cool shirt

The Rest of The Day:

We took the bus back into Stockholm so that the adult children wouldn’t have to pay. Narain was silently crying, Breno was showing off his Alaskan presents Carley had given him, Emily was talking about YouTube, Somehow we all broke out into “I Dreamed a Dream”, I’m sure the other passengers were very confused and annoyed. The emotional distress we were all in was a little too overwhelming at this point for any of us to care though, I suppose.

I was a little upset that we were in Sweden at this point and not a country with a Denny’s because I really needed some pancakes and everyone agreed that Denny’s was what they were craving. Let it be tradition from now on that whenever something tragic happens, Denny’s is the place to go. Get some crisp bacon and maple syrup and put your head down on the table. Denny’s don’t mind. Denny’s will take care of you.

Tanner needed to meet his host mom at noon so Emily, Narain, and I all waited with him after grabbing some food from Coop. This ended up being not such a good idea because I was already dying and wanted to throw up from all of the stress. Yogurt isn’t something you should drink when you feel nauseated. We ended up at Espresso House later and then H&M to get Tanner a hat. I begged Emily to come with me to pick up my stuff from McKenzie’s house because I couldn’t bear to be alone. Have I mentioned how great Emily is?? She rode all the way with me to McKenzie’s house and back again.

When I got home I was a mess again and decided to try and edit all of the footage from the day together to take my mind off of things, which is the opposite of a good idea??? I ended up falling asleep and waking up an hour later still completely wiped. Today is a little bit better. I just want some pasta and a book.

BTW: Kate Recommends: The Fall (2006) and The Book Thief Movie. (Watch the movie before reading the book or else the movie may feel a bit disappointing in comparison.)

In which I get progressively more lost

5 Replies

it’s a watertower?

oh, is it really that easy? Just hang a left?

That dark place on the hill that I went to used to be a fort or something? In 1654 I think it said. Now it’s a cafe and there’s the remains of a cannon road on the other side of it. I accidentally deleted the video clip of me explaining all of that.

So so so so so

3 Replies

I title these the way I title word documents before I save them.

Today I had the final music class rehearsal before the big performance on thursday. Yikes.

Before SFF I was looking super pathetic and sleepy and the Gunilla’s miracle replacement sub felt bad for me and she insisted on giving me money for a coffee. (Yes, mother. I refused her money several times. As you know though, people tend to not give up once they’ve offered to pay for something for you.) The rest of my day went much better after that. When I drink coffee I feel like I’ve got my life together. When I drink tea I feel like my life is falling apart. When I drink hot chocolate I feel like I should take a nap or watch a period romance movie.

Religion was cancelled because the teacher was sick. surprise.

I went to the bank and they refused me because I only had a copy of my passport and not the actual thing.

I went home and got my passport.

I went back to the bank (which is a little over 30 min away, mind you) and got my $$

I bought a pair of ice skates!!!!!!! YEAHHHHH

I went home and read the Book Thief. I highly recommend each of you does the same.

The End.

I’m a professional blogger, so I can update as often as I see fit

5 Replies

Alright. Where did we leave off last?

Um so. This weekend I went to the library and got some books that I probably won’t read. (I only want to read The Book Thief right now, but I can’t find it, so I guess I won’t read at all.) I walked around until I was a Kate-sicle and then I got on the train and went home. The rest of the night was spent skyping with my parents and that was nice.

On Monday I went to school at 13:00 for my only class of the day, but no one opened the door when I knocked, so I figured it got cancelled and hopped onto the train. I rode for like two hours because I didn’t feel like going home. I got off at the slutstation (it means last station, but I call it the slut station, which is definitely my stop 😉 jkjk ) and got some risifruitti which is basically my life. I only eat risifrutti and tea now. I think drowning in either one might be an okay way to go. The only time I stop thinking about how much I want some is when I have some. And even then, I’m thinking that I wish I had more. I will probably have to go to addict meetings when I get back to America.

On Tuesday I made vegetable soup for dinner, but no one really ate it, so it’s my duty to finish it off before friday. Thermoses of soup abound. I am always drinking it. It’s a little off putting when you get to the chunks, but I do my best.

Today I slept until 10:00 exactly which is when my English class starts. Somehow my alarm got turned off and I missed class. Amazing. This must be how it feels to go to college. Wake up late, school day is over already. So I spent all of today drinking tea and looking at scholarships and eating grapefruits.

I’m feeling like I’m going back to my middle school days because lately I’ve been listening to exclusively musicals. You just can’t stop the beat, my friends. Showtunes are where it’s at. I like how they don’t really repeat and how I can use a funny voice when I sing and it sounds right and how every musical has the same sort of sound in each song, so you can sing along even if you don’t know how it goes exactly.

A Rant and an Update

2 Replies

Ohmygoodness. Every time someone asks what country I’m from, and I say America, they go “Well, there’s more than one America, you know ;)”

No. NO THERE ISN’T. You asked me what country I was from, and I told you the shortened version of the name of my country. The USA is the only country with the name America in it. You didn’t ask me what continent I came from, you asked me for my country. This isn’t about being politically correct, this is about you being annoying.

Someone said that we need to call the USA the USA instead of America because saying America makes it sound like we think we’re better than everyone, and we need to break that stereotype.

Here’s a nifty tip: Be a nice person, and do kind things for people, and then when they ask you where you’re from, and you say “America,” they’ll think, “Gosh, that American was a really nice person. I guess not all of them I giant jerkwads! In fact, I should like to visit there someday, because I enjoyed this person so much and they represent their country so well, that it sounds like a dandy place to go.”

So, yeah. People need to get over themselves.

Moving on.

Yesterday no one talked to me and that was great. Then I got a migraine and slept for five hours and when it was time for bed I couldn’t fall asleep until two, so I was tired and grumpy all day today.

I’m a full-fledged vegetarian from here on out. It’s been going great so far. It’s just the smell of fried foods that kills me sometimes. Must. Resist.

OH, wait, that was a lie. I went to a Rotary meeting yesterday, and they talked to me. They’re looking into getting me more than one host family, which is nice, because perspective. Also, I waited outside Dorren for 20 minutes, and my rotary contact didn’t show up, and when I called her, she said that she left through a different door and didn’t see me. So, there was that.

Today I had music class and Sandra decided we needed to change the melody. And I was put in charge of that for some reason. And it’s due on Thursday. And I sing with the rhythm of an unevenly loaded washing machine, so I can barely sing the song as it is. Cool.

Then we had SFF and the teacher was gone, so I sat downstairs and got to know the older, more mature kids in the class, and they’re all pretty great.

Then we watched a documentary about Hang Drums in Religion, and for the second half of class the teacher was at a Dr. appointment, so we went to the computer lab and I studied Swedish.

Then we had the Club Fair and I signed up for a book club, a creative writing club, and a film critic club, because I love to participate when things are organized and there are more than 3 members in the club, and I don’t have any secretarial responsibilities.

Then we had a class photo, and I’m pretty sure I blinked in each shot.

Then I went home and my hands were white because it’s FREEZING outside.

The End.

Can you tell I’m still hung up on the America thing? Ugh. It just really gets to me.

I think this might be their excuse for a corndog. Hank would be very disappointed.

I feel like a Swedish peasant when I hang out in Gamla Stan

this is the pretty courtyard

Me waiting

Sonya on the royal steed at that museum I went to a few posts ago

Sonja on the royal steed at that museum I went to a few posts ago

we're never getting off this planet

what the h*ck is julmust?

Tag Archives: so tired

It’s Been Awhile

MEGA-UPDATE

This is the Most Poorly Written Post I’ve Ever Made

X

In which I get progressively more lost

So so so so so

I’m a professional blogger, so I can update as often as I see fit

A Rant and an Update