Feeling relaxed.

Today was the day for me. I got to sleep in until noon, I had the house to myself, it was great. I just got to relax in the morning/afternoon. Then, Lina, on of the twins I met last week called me up and asked if I wanted to go for a fika, I said yes of course. About five minutes after that Caitlin called me to see if I wanted to hang out, of course I said yes. So Caitlin came over and we chilled at my house for a little while and then rode our bikes up town and just walked around to see what we could see. We met Lina and Frida at five for fika and I introduced Caitlin to them, I think they were some of the first Swedish teens she has met so far. We had coffee at the Espresso House I think it was called and I ate a delicious chocolate muffin that had, of course, European style chocolate in it and I really enjoyed that. I then walked around with the twins for a while more and they showed me some cool shops to buy clothes at; Caitlin had to go home right after she met Frida and Lina because her family was having dinner with some people. I came home for dinner and greeted Hanna, she got home about a half hour earlier then me from her friend in another town. All in all it's been a great day and it was really nice to simply relax. We are headed to Stockholm this weekend to attend the birthday party of Andreas' brother, should be a lot of fun and I may not be able to blog the next few days, I will try though.

P.S. We found this metal statue thing in the park and had some fun with it!

Well I'm happy to say that the blogging is getting quite easy!

Today was a good day, better then the last few. Not the last few were bad or anything, they were great, today was just even better! I woke up at 9:01 and got going on my day. Breakfast, then picked up by Lenn (formerly spelt Linn, asked and found out that was the wrong spelling) at about 9:45. Went to the basketball camp for the morning session and actually had a lot of fun because we played more games and I enjoy that. Then, I went to find pizza in Örebro with Caitlin, and I am happy to report our mission was successful. We went around to a bunch of clothes stores, just looking, while we were there we asked around about good pizza. We were directed to ''Pizza Planet'' which was actuall pretty good pizza, 99 krowns and it was a buffet. We had some pizza and then went back on the shopping game and I bought my first piece of clothing that I would never buy in the U.S., a sweater. We were looking in a store when I asked for something in English from a clerk and automatically her expression brightened! She asked where we were from and we told her, she seemed so excited to talk to us and she was really outgoing! She told us that her name was Minna and she was on exchange in Canada when she was in Gymnasium. It was nice to meet someone who was actually excited to meet us, she told us that Swedish people actually, for the most part, love Americans they are just shy. We also met a guy later in another store that sort of had the same reaction to us. It was nice to get that reaction because most of the time people ask where we're from but they don't seem to excited. I then brought Caitlin home with me for dinner and we had a delicious vegetarian style dish. After the healthy meal Andreas said something about going on a run and that idea really excited Caitlin so we, Andreas, Caitlin and I, went on a 5.6 kilometer run in the nature reserve by our house. 5.6 kilometers is about 3.5 miles and I surprised myself by running the whole way without stopping, I am proud of that! Caitlin then went home and I chilled out for a little while and then remembered that my mom put a little note in my suitcase that told me about a meteor shower happening wednesday to saturday! Therefore, I eagerly went outside to look at the sky and, it's nothing like Lakeview. I could see stars but I live very close to a large city and it just isn't very many stars, I stayed outside for a while to let my eyes adjust. I realized that I could just barely see some shooting stars, I enjoyed that for a little bit and thought about all the good times I have had in my life watching shooting stars. All in all a great, great day!

P.S. This is the sweater that I would never buy in the States. I forgot to talk about it but when me and Caitlin got back to the house the icecream man came by in his truck and Ingela asked us if we wanted to go! (in the picture is Caitlin, The Icecream Man, and Me)

Life as I know it in Sweden!

Today was the day! To just kind of do my own thing. I got up in the morning and didn't want to get up. I then got picked up by Linn one of Hanna's friends for the basketball camp that we both are going to. She didn't have to pick me up but she was nice and did it anyway! Today at the camp I met Pierre, a pro basketball player here in Örebro. It was to meet him because his dad is American so he spoke great english and he also went to Virginska skolan, the same school that I will be going to. He actually just graduated last year and so I got to ask some very good questions about the place and I am very excited to go! After school I got some me time because Hanna left in the morning to go visit some friends of her's in another city for a few days. When Ingela and Andreas came home from work we made dinner together and then I went to Catelins house for a while to chill. We were going to go to a soccer game but it was pouring rain so we decided to skip over that idea. I had to ride my bike to her house so I was soaked head to toe, luckily Andreas let me borrow his waterproof pants and jacket so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. We went around to explore and got some ice cream and just stood on rock and ate it, it was a good day! I am very tired though and I plan on sleeping in all day on friday!

P.S. The fish is dinner.

Mamma's (Ingela's) birthday!!

Oh yes, it is birthday week here in Sweden! There are actually two more birthdays to celebrate this week but we're not going to them, it's Andreas' best friend and his best friend's son's birthday this thursday and friday. For now, just Ingela's birthday today! Andreas woke me up at six thirty this morning to sing happy birthday to Ingela and give her birthday presents. That was actually pretty fun because I don't totally know the words to the birthday song so I just danced around. Then we all had breakfast together and me and Hanna went back to bed before we had to get up for basketball camp. When I didn't wake up for Hanna she blaired her music really loud so I would get up, for some people that might be really mean but I didn't mind waking up to some good music. I told Andreas about that and so he gave me some computer speakers for my laptop so I can fight back when she does that. We went to basketball camp and it was good but I got a little lost, the coach today didn't show what to do he just explained and, since I don't speak very good Swedish yet I didn't understand. It all worked out well though and I met a few new kids, they are all younger then me though and so none are going to Gymnasium. We came home, had a snack and then Ingela came home and we started getting ready for dinner with her brother and her mom and Andreas' parents. I enjoyed helping prepare the delicious pasta salad! I think she enjoyed her birthday, I gave her a bracelet I brought from home that has all the American holidays on it and I really think she liked it. I met a lot of new people and I enjoyed doing that! I love people and I think people like me a little so it's good that we meet each other. All in all a good day and tonight I go to sleep happy!

P.S. I don't really know why I take so many pictures of food, I just do it.

Farmor's birthday!

Today was a big day! It was Ingela and Andreas' first day back at work and it was my first day at a four day basketball day camp. I think both Ingela and Andreas were ready to go back to work and I am not a huge fan of day camps but this basketball camp wasn't too bad. I got woken up at about 9 by Hanna, she was nice to me and that surprised me, I thought she might squirt me with water or something but I was lucky and she just opened my door and said ''hej''. We had breakfast together, by that time Ingela and Andreas were already gone at work. One of Hanna's friends, Linn, came over and we all rode our bikes to the camp together, it is at a school about five minutes from our house. The camp lasted three hours with an hour and a half break in between. One of the teachers form my school, Viginska skolan, is the coordinator for this camp and he was also coaching us. It was nice to meet and talk with him during the break and I found out a little more about my school. Also it was nice to just play some basketball. I am the oldest person at the camp, which is sad because I can't seem to meet anyone my age. After that ended at 3pm me and Hanna came home to chill. We had a snack and watched some tv, then Hanna left for some reason to ride somewhere and I was alone for the first time in this house, craziness. After Ingela and Andreas came home from work we headed to Andreas parents house for his mothers birthday! It was fun to eat dinner with them and talk, I gave her a sunstone pin that I had brought from Lakeview and I think she liked it! All in all a good day I am so happy to be here and to be experiencing everything I get to experience!

P.S. Today at the basketball camp I had this amazing bacon-cheese paste, it was so delicous! I told Ingela about it and later when we went to the store they bought some, yummy.

Sweden Honeys!!

Today was an all around good day, nothing bad to say at all! I woke up and made french toast for the family, I think they liked it. They told me they had never had it before so I enjoyed sharing that with them. Then I took a long time taking a shower and getting ready for the day, just because I could. Then, I decided to take the movie we rented back to the video store all by myself because it was a good thing to help me find my way around. It was nice to go on that ride by myself and I felt quite confident that I could figure out my way. I did so well that took one way there and then a different way home :D yes, I feel like I am starting to figure things out. I then helped Andreas a little with the deck construction and that was good, I feel like it's good to help around the house and I kind of like it. Also today I met Frida and Lina, two of Kajsa's friends that added me on facebook before I even cam here. I enjoyed meeting and talking with them and I found them to be very open and friendly. I hope I can spend some more time hanging out with them. After they left I had a feeling that I haven't had yet when I have been here, I felt like I really need to learn Swedish. It's not that their english was bad or that we couldn't communicate properly, I just felt like I wanted to talk to them in their language. Therefore now I plan on putting a lot more time and energy into learning Swedish. I helped Andreas with the deck a little more and then we ate a delicious dinner. all in all a very good day and an inspiring day! Tack så mycket Frida och Lina!!!