Today I went to art class and they told us our next assignment will be “graphic”. I asked what that was supposed to mean and they said that you can use a potato to do it???????? But we won’t be using potatoes. I guess it’s something to do with stamps. We get to use knives on linoleum flooring to make them. We weren’t supposed to have school on Wednesday, so I was going to hang out with Sam, her mum, and her brother who are coming from Florida to visit her that day. The art teacher said today that she wants us to meet in Slussen at noon on Wednesday. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. She wouldn’t explain what we were doing in Slussen beyond “getting inspired”, so I should probably be able to hang out there for an hour or two and still meet up with Sam’s family.
Update: My friend just posted this in our class group on facebook – Imorgon letar vi upp Sophia och säger att vår mentor har bestämt att hela klassen är lediga på onsdag. Hon får skjuta upp tiden på den där konst grejen. Vad tycker ni? Jämställdhet osv. Maybe we won’t have school after all!
I tried to go to a rotary meeting today, but when I got there my counselor wasn’t there and I felt weird staying because I wouldn’t have paid for my meal and they would have given me meat and I didn’t recognize any of the members that I usually talk to, so I slipped out after making some small talk.
I needed to wait for Hamish though because I left my phone at his house when I slept over the other night. He said he would be at the place where my rotary meets at 1:30, so I took a walk around gamla stan and rode the ferry a bit. Then I decided to go to where he has his rotary meetings so that he wouldn’t have to walk all the way to where mine are. Trouble is, he doesn’t go every week like I do. I waited there until 1:30 when his rotary meeting would have gotten out and he never came from the dining hall.
I ran from Katarina Hissen into gamla stan where my meeting was and found him and Emily waiting for me. I was 10 minutes late and they were scared that I was never going to show up. So much for being helpful.
We hung out for an hour or so, trying to find a cafe that could be “ours” since we always go to Cafe Dox as a large group and we wanted a place for our own. We loitered in a church though and couldn’t find what we were looking for by the time Emily had to go back to school. Next monday maybe.
Here are some pictures I stole off of Hamish’s blog:
Yesterday Tanner came to Stockholm so I met him and Avishkar, Elle, Grace, and Hamish at Katarina Hissen. We walked around Gamlastan a bit and made a stop at an antique store. Elle bought some henna tattoo powder so that she and Avishkar (who’s incidentally Indian) could draw an eagle on my back. Later on we found out that there wasn’t any henna oil in the box though, so we couldn’t do it. I will be sad until I have a poorly drawn henna eagle on my back.
Avishkar and Hamish live together in Nacka (which is where Tanner was sleeping over), so we went back to their house. They told me that their host mom was really cool and I wanted to meet her. Elle and I slept over too after having a v lovely dinner that we all helped build and watched Benjamin Button (terrible movie, but Brad Pitt, so, hey).
This morning I made some really awful eggs for Tanner and I. I was afraid of overcooking them, so I undercooked them, and it was just really awful. I’m so sorry, we probably both got salmonella. Tanner was a champ and ate them anyway though. Thanks for not making me feel like a loser, Tanner.
After cleaning up breakfast (and several cups of coffee. omg they had a coffee machine like we have back in WI and it tasted beautiful I wanted to cry.) we went to Skeppsholmen (I think that’s how it’s spelled???) to see Moderna Museet. None of us really “got it” and there were some pretty freak exhibits. No photography allowed though. Sorry guys. It’s hard to explain what we saw. There was a weird and unsettling music video about nuclear meltdowns that was in 3D with a robot singer. I don’t know.
The End. I’m going to ask around and see if I can get any pictures for you guys.
Today I hung out with a bunch of the other exchange students (specifically the newbies) and I had them over for an hour so that they could help me eat all of the food that my parents shipped to me. The donuts are all gone now and I’ll be making more at some undetermined time in the future. Everyone liked them a lot and couldn’t believe that they were made out of potatoes!!!
We saw the changing of the guards again today and then hung out in Cafe Dox. Narain missed his train so we came back into town to meet with him and Hannah at Espresso House.
I’m now sleeping over at Elle’s house (A Newbie) and I met her entire extended host family and they’re super cool. We had a really nice dinner with candles and everything and then Elle, her host sister Ylva, and I took the dog for a walk. We’re going to watch Mamma Mia in an hour or so because I’ve got that Gimme Gimme Gimme song stuck in my head >:/
I’m really super happy right now and everything is great! I don’t have any more info about Kiruna, but I think I’ll probably hear about it on Monday.
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.
<USA?
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.)
I made the post and then I tried to add the pictures and the computer froze and lost the whole post. So. I quit. I’m not rewriting it all, because now I’m in a terrible mood. You get the abridged version.
Friday.
no. nothing happened. I ate pizza. Here are those pictures I promised earlier.
I was so close.
this is ridiculous
Here are some more to tide you over.
secret agent man
tell me who you are
so mysterious
species please
what kind?
bird
this reminded me of the IKEA monkey
IKEA monkey
Saturday:
Cafe Dox exchange student gift exchange.
I didn’t participate because I suck at giving gifts.
It was nice
We went ice skating afterwards. I was wearing tights because all my pants were in the wash. I was super super cold (but also super super cute.)
Lots of kids had never seen snow or ice skated.
I was helpful. Made me proud to see them going off on their own. And sometimes they fell, But they got up without help, and that’s what counts.
We went to McDonalds to warm up and ate ice cream because we like to be ironic.
I got home at midnight because I was sitting with Narain and Tanner at Central Station for a few hours after they missed their train home. Had a little heart to heart. It was grand.
Sunday:
Went to see Catching Fire with Hannah, Emily, and Oliver.
The movie theater candy
Hannah is like the best friend I had in a past life, Emily is like the friend on the internet I never met in Real Life, and Olver is like the big brother who never came to stockholm with me.
If you guys ever run into these three, you’ll need to step up your wit-game. Clever sarcasm abounds.
Oliver and Narain
Emily and Tanner
Afterwards we looked at the NK display and had our minds blown.
Then we went to a trendy cafe.
Hannah’s bus home was coming, so we left really soon after getting there.
We ran to Emily’s host family’s apartment to get Hannah’s bag, and then ran all the way to the pendltag platform.
My lungs still sting from the cold air.
I think that’s it.
OH!
I might be moving to where Hannah lives at the end of the christmas break. So there’s that. No more living in Stockholm. It’s alright. Hannah’s the best. Also, music program at school. I miss singing.
OH!
Also, I’ve been staring at dogs when they walk past me, and then they stare at me and they stop sometimes and their owners are like ‘whatchyou doin m8?’ and I keep looking over my shoulders and I can tell the dogs want to be with me. This is my power. I can control the minds of dogs. My YA novel character power has been achieved, not a moment too late either, seeing as it should be at it’s full force around my 18th birthday.
Last night I went to the Imagine Dragons concert and AHHHHHHHHHHH OMG it was so amazing! I’ve never been to a concert before, so this completely blew my mind.
They had two opening acts: Moth and Flame & Dan Croll
I thought M&F was good, but then Dan Croll happened and they were even better and then Imagine Dragons came on and I wanted to die because they were amAZIIING!!! We were the second or third row from the front, so we saw everything (except for Hannah who is 5’1” and could only see people’s backs. Poor Hannah 😦 ) The whole thing was super intense and I could feel the bass in the bones of the people around me.
Since the refrigerator here is broken, the milk keeps freezing. I quickly discovered that there was yogurt in the door, and it’s been there the whole time, but I’ve never looked at it close enough to notice it. I’m afraid my host family is going to be very upset with me pretty quickly here because I LOVE YOGURT. I love it so much, I think about it all the time. Risifrutti doesn’t matter when there’s a liter of yogurt and granola at your disposal. Sometimes I’m laying in bed trying to fall asleep and I think about how excited I am to eat yogurt for breakfast the next morning. It’s getting pretty pathetic, you guys.
Today we had hole time for humanistics. Only it wasn’t for an hour like it usually is, it was for three because Humanistics lasts forever. Afterwards we had E-Block until 5:10. Some woman was going to come in and talk about her book about Pompeii, and I really didn’t want to go for several reasons.
1) I didn’t go to Rome with the class, so the book doesn’t really matter to me. I mean, it might have, but
2) I didn’t read the book. So,
3) I wouldn’t be able to ask any questions about it. And
4) If I were to ask questions, they would have to be in Swedish. My Swedish isn’t advanced enough to ask questions about Pompeii and books. Besides that, my heart beats really fast and I sweat for like ten minutes after I answer a simple question in class. I don’t think I could handle the level of participation this sort of thing requires.
5) omg, 5:10? You’re kidding me. That’s less than an hour ago that I would have gotten out of school. Ughhhhhhhh
So, to conclude this thrilling story I went home half way through hole time because after talking to some of my classmates they said it wouldn’t be a big deal if I did.
Tomorrow I don’t have school, so I guess I’ll return my severely overdue library books (Sorry mom. You were right. I can’t handle the responsibility of library books.) and do some NaNoWriMo stuff. I’ll have some stuff for you Ollie!
So. Friday I went out to dinner with Tanner, Narain, Samantha, Alysa, Andrew, Sophia, Emily, and another girl from Australia. We were going to go to this place called Vapiano, but we got lost for a while and by the time we got there, there was a fifty minute wait and we decided not to go in. We wandered around until seven or so because this other group that we were going to meet kept on saying that they were coming (but they didn’t) and so we went to a pizzeria in Gamla Stan and that was cool.
Afterwards, none of us really wanted to go home so we went to Espresso house and talked and played BS until midnight. So cool. I can’t even tell you how cool. I’d give you some obscure analogy, like a polar bear eating ice cream on December 21st, but it was cooler than even that. 2kool4skool.
sidenote: Tanner touched Alysa’s glass eye and it was super freaky and I might have cried a little.
Sunset near Gamla Stan
Samantha and Alysa
Sophia and Tanner
Okay, Saturday we went to IKEA to play hide and go seek. I lost my IKEA virginity in Stockholm, Sweden of all places. AMAZING!! The building was a circle and super maze-like and I’m really glad I didn’t have to be a seeker. I hid in this fake bedroom and people kept walking in, so I played Super Jewel Quest on my phone so that I didn’t have to look at them awkwardly. I was one of the last people to be found cause I’m boss at hiding.
We only played one round because there was another group that we were supposed to meet, but they were late and lost and it was all a big mess, much like the night before. (My group was Miranda, Samantha, Tanner, Narain, Daniel, and a few other Australians that I don’t remember the names of.
Afterwards we went to Coop and tried to find the elusive American Isle, but couldn’t. I made Daniel try Risifrutti, and he didn’t like it so I got to eat two XL Risifrutti containers in a row. yeahyeahyeah get on my level.
I wish it was possible to buy an IKEA room. They were all so stylish and trendy.
I bet that Aaron Tveit sleeps on one of these.
Eating IKEA food
I K E A
Today I went on a picnic on djurgarden and it was super chill. I met a boy from Brasil named Breno and a girl from Canada named Emily.
These days are hard to describe since the thing that made them awesome was the people. I can’t describe our conversations or why certain things were funny at the time. I hope my pictures suffice for lack of words.
Note: we left our picnic because some really giant swans got close to us and stood up and shook their wings and junk. nonononooooo. I don’t want to get attacked by a swan, thank you very much.
<USA?
< jk 
< I ate some
we're never getting off this planet 