I patted a reindeer.

Hello again!

I am back from a little town called Rörbäcksnäs where i have spent the past week with my host family. We stayed in a cabin/small house which is in the forest on the lake (which of course was frozen over). It was really cute and very cosy inside.. and it had lots of little swedish things inside and there were several little swedish flags around the place.

We left Knivsta last Sunday and picked up Loella in Västerås along the way. From there it was about a 6 hour drive. It was nice and cosy in the car with Mats, Sanne, Naya, Loella and I and the two dogs Sally and Selmer. Normally people wouldn't particularly enjoy a six hour car drive and would find it boring.. but i really enjoyed it! Not only because of the amazing scenery we were driving through, but also because i never have long car trips anymore! everything is so close, and buses and trains can get you pretty much anywhere you want to go, so there is not really any need for many car trips.. and if there is they are rarely over half an hour.

We got to the cabin at about 6.00pm sunday and it was a very refreshing -24 degrees outside. because all of the snow hadnt been cleared away, we couldnt get the car up the track to the cabin.. so we had to park the car down the bottom and carry up all our bags. (Mats cleared the snow away the next day). Once we had put all our stuff inside and made our beds and stuff.. Sanne, Naya and I took the dogs for a walk around the lake.. (please remember, that i said it is minus 24 degrees!!) It was soooo cold, but i was wearing warm clothes and Sanne gave me and Naya these really warm hats to wear.. They were from China and they were made out of dog fur... i tried not to think about that too much and just focused on how warm it was keeping my head.

On Monday morning when i got up, it was minus 28 degrees outside! as that was too cold to be out snowboarding we didnt go out till after lunch. Me and Naya did walk to the ICA (type of swedish supermarket, that is everywhere.... not pronounced I C A though..... it is said 'eeka') which is about 1 kilometre away and bought some food for the week.

After lunch Mats took me and Naya to Hundfjället which is about 20kms away from Rörbäcksnäs. Naya and I spent the afternoon Snowboarding.. Sanne stayed back at the cabin with Loella because, she started to get a nasty cough and it wasn't good for her to be out in the cold. Mats just watched us and helped Naya as she has only tried it once before. It was sooo much fun to go snowboarding again.. and i hadn't forgotten how to do it, which was good.

Each day Mats took Naya and I back there.. and we snowboarded everyday except for Friday, which is when we went home. The mountain there is pretty cool, and i enjoyed going down all the different runs.. there was one, which has all these models of trolls and creatures and things like that... so as your skiing/boarding down the run you are going past all these creepy little troll things.. and some of them talk and say things... it was pretty cute though.. i liked looking at them all... except because of them there were always lots of people on this run and it is very narrow.. and i'm not that great at steering... so that was a bit annoying..

It was funny, everytime i got off the lifts at the top of a run and would sit in the snow and do up my binding on my snowboard, i would look around and think.... 'wow im actually in sweden!' i didnt even try to think that.. but everytime!! i did.. it was weird.. and there have been lots of... 'wow im in sweden moments'.

Also all over the mountain they have little wooden hut things with a woodfire in them and seats.. so people would sit in there to get warm or to cook food on the fire which i thought was really cool.. we packed sandwiches and hot chocolate or soup each day.. so we would sit in one of these by the fire and i would eat my vegemite sandwich :)

Each day driving back to the cabin was the most amazing views! all you could see for miles was mountains, covered in forests, it looked soooo pretty when the sun was setting!!

Loella and Sanne ended up spending everyday in the cabin, because Loella got really sick with a bad cough. One night at 3am Sanne and Mats had to call the ambulance because loella couldn't breathe properly, so they met the ambulance somewhere and they gave Loella some medicine which helped.. She had Croupe or Croop or however you spell it.

Loella was really cute and quite a character.. it was funny because she doesnt speak english and i dont speak swedish, but we still played lots of games together.. one night she was teaching me how to do ballet and so we were dancing and jumping around the cabin.. and then she was teaching me the name for the colours brown, yellow and red by using the dried fruit from her muesli.

One morning it was minus 30 degrees, which is the coldest that i have been in since i have been here in Sweden... so i went outside in my pyjamas and stood in the cold for about 20 seconds.. just so i can say i have been in -30 degrees :)

Oh and because where we were staying is very close to the Norwegian border.. we drove over to Norway one afternoon.. so i have now also been to Norway!! :)

And there were two reindeer at the mountain and i patted one of them.. but the other one (the one in the photo) was really grumpy and not nice, but it looked cooler, cos it had antler things..

Overall i had a really nice week and it was really nice staying in a cabin surrounded by snow and lots and lots of trees. It was soo warm and cosy inside with a wood fire which was really nice to come home too after having been snowboarding in the cold each day :)

Today it has been quite warm! it was about 2 degrees i think, which is the warmest it has been in a long time.. i got quite excited... but when it is warm everything looks all gross, cos the snow melts a bit and there is lots of water and the roads are all gross and the snow is all brown...

The other day i was in deep thought, as to why it hadnt rained here yet.... seeing that it is winter! and that is generally a good time for it to rain... then i realised, that i am an idiot and that of course it isnt going to rain.. because it is soo cold.. and thats why it snows!!! it took me a long time to work that out!! anywayyy this afternoon when i stepped outside.. i noticed that i was getting wet, and that it wasnt from snow!. i wouldnt exactly class it as raining though.. it was barely spitting.. but.. i was relieved to finally see a bit of water falling from the sky.

Deni is cool.

I don't really have too much to write.. but..

yesterday i got a lovely package of some vegemite, and some tim tams from my lovely mother and father. So thanks for that mum and dad :)
so i spread some vegemite on some bread for Sanne and Mats... Sanne didnt mind it.. but I don't think Mats liked it very much.. he didnt really say much.. just said it was interesting.. haha.
Once Sanne had tried the vegemite.. she went to the fridge and pulled out a tube that i was really trying to avoid for as long as possible... Caviar! i had it spread on some bread... and the moment it hit my tastebuds was not one of my most treasured moments.. it tasted like a fish market smells! so i just ate it quickly and washed it down with several glasses of milk and later on some toothpaste ;)

Then later that night, me and Sanne had a cup of tea.. and i showed her how to drink the tea through the tim tams.. which was quite fun.. and funny... and delicious.

A few things i've noticed about sweden... is that they don't have tissues anywhere! i havent seen a single box of tissues ANYWHERE since i have been here. They just use toilet paper, i think.

Another thing is.. everything looks like it is from a fairytale when it is covered in snow. especially all the forests along the side of the road, bus trips to school are very pretty. Its like being in Narnia, except minus Aslan, and a witch and Mr. Tumnus.

I used to always hate those christmas trees that you could buy that are made out of white leave things... because i thought they just looked soo stupid.. and everyone knows that trees are green, not white!. however.. i now can appreciate the white christmas trees that you can buy... because i understand that a tree looks like that when it is covered in snow!! (I knew i would become a better person after this year! haha :P)

Another thing i have noticed.. and miss slightly.. is that there are like no pubs anywhere... not that i spent that much time in pubs... actually no, thats not entirely true.. i spent a fair bit of time in pubs.. especially coming home from places with Dad :) but i dont think i have seen any yet.. but i suppose that even if i did it would be red and white.. and i probably wouldnt recognise it anyway.

Tomorrow we are going to Västerås to pick up Sanne's granddaughter Loella who is 6 years old, and then we are going to Sälen for the week, which is a skiing place. We are going to stay in a cabin there somewhere which belongs to Mats' parents.. We will do some cross country skiing, and also downhill skiing.. I am looking forward to this, but am a bit nervous aswell! as i am not the most skilled skiier.
But mostly i am excited! I just tried on all my ski pants and jacket before and beanie.. i felt pretty cool :) it feels a bit weird though.. cos it feels like i did before going on yr 11/12 ski trip... but it is going to be completely different to then. one minor difference i suppose, is that i will be in Sweden and not Victoria!

It is still veryy cold here! and it has been snowing lots again. Things are going well and this first month has gone pretty quickly! oh i do miss watching cartoons on saturday mornings though!

I cant think of a title.

Okay so i havent written anything in a while... just over a week actually..
The past week i have just been going to school... but i have done a few other things aswell..
On tuesday after school, i went for fika with people from my class, which was really fun.. the cafe was really cool looking, with lots of arm chairs and vintage looking wallpaper and old lamps. Then on wednesday after school i stayed in Uppsala and went to the movies with two girls named Clara and Lovisa, so that was lots of fun aswell.. We went and seen Where the Wild Things Are.. which i thought was quite funny, cos you can hire that on DVD in Australia.. but it is only just coming out in cinemas here. The cinema we went to though, was tiny! The Lameroo Cinema is massive compared to this one.. it was almost just like watching tv at my brother's houses on their big tv's (okayyyyy not quite.. but it wasn't that much bigger!) Anyway i still enjoyed the film and thought it was really cute.
Then on friday we went ice skating in P.E! I was pretty nervous about this, because I'm really really bad at it.. and when i went with my host dad... i spent the whole time hanging onto him.. so i considered 'forgetting' my ice skates.. but then thought that was a bit lame and i should just toughen up... and i'm glad i went.. because i had lots of fun doing it..
Where we went ice skating was a little way away from the school, so we took the bus. To begin with i spent the whole time hanging onto people.. but i eventually started to get a teeny weeny little bit better.. and i was doing it by myself then.. i dont have very much technique or class whilst ice skating.. and i tend to do little shuffles and concentrate very much on my feet and on not falling over... which paid off i guess.. because i didnt fall over.
After we finished ice skating, it was the end of the school day.. so a few of us went back to Clara's house and drank lots of tea, and ate yummy bread and kladdcakke.. that was lots of fun aswell... Then i caught the train back to Knivsta.

I didnt do too much this weekend, which was nice.. because i am still tired all the time... but i did bake some anzac biscuits.. which made me feel a bit australian.. (although they didnt taste that good.. which made me feel like a bit of a failure of an australian) nevermind.
On Sunday afternoon, another exchange student from Australia called Jessica came and visited me. She is living in Sollentuna which is just outside of Stockholm... It was nice to talk to another exchange student again especially one from Australia. We just went to a cafe in Knivsta and talked, which was fun.

After this week of school.. we get a week off.. I'm not really entirely sure why we get the week off.. (I dont think there is really much of a reason). But my host family and I are going somewhere up North in Sweden and staying in a little cabin.. Then we are going to go cross country skiing for two days.. and downhill skiing for two days. I'm really excited and it sounds like it should be fun. I'm especially excited about going downhill skiing, as i've only ever been snowboarding before..
In March i am going on a rotary trip to a place called Åre with other exchange students. we're going for four days.. and i plan on snowboarding then.. I'm really excited about that aswell.

Its still quite cold here.. and i am beginning to long for the sun.. and warmth.. Its also a bit worrying.. because i've been saying lately.. 'oh its such a nice day today' and the temperature will be -5 outside.. generally i would say a nice day is 25 degrees. but now -5 is a nice day.
Next Monday i will have been here for exactly one month.. which i think is pretty crazy.. It feels like soo long ago since i was back in australia and packing and weighing my bags.

Anywho, i cant think of anything more to write..
so bye!
p.s. I never know how to end my blogs!!!!!!

Picnicing (i'm not sure if that is a word)

Today i had a picnic in the snow! yes, thats right... in the snow :)
Sanne, Mats, Naya and I went down to the lake.. (which in the summer time, everyone swims in) but in the winter it is of course all iced over and covered in snow.. so Sanne, Naya and I went skiing across it.. and Mats went ice skating.
It was lots of fun.. and we had packed some sandwichs and hot chocolate.. so once we had been skiing for a little while we found a spot in the middle of the lake.. and sat on a mat thing ontop of our skis and ate our food and drank our drinks.. it was very pretty, because it was very sunny today.. so the snow was all shiny.. and also because i havent really seen the sun much since i've been here! normally in the day time it is cloudy.
But just because the sun was out, doesnt mean it wasn't cold.. it was still freeeezingg!! i didnt drink my hot chocolate fast enough.. and by the time i got to my last mouthful it was cold, like it had been in a fridge.
once we'd finished eating and stuff.. we packed up and put our skis back on and skied back to the car.. to get from the lake to the car park.. there is a hill you need to get up.. and so i tried getting up it with my skis on like sanne and naya seemed to be able to do with so much ease!
but i really, really sucked at it! i kept sliding back down.. and it was a pretty steep little hill.. so it was really scary.. and i kept stacking it and it hurt.. anyways... i must have looked so hopeless and pathetic.. cos then sanne was like... maybe you can just take your skis off there.. and walk up.. haha... so i did.
oh and while we were skiing.. we went past a man and a woman fishing in the ice.. like did the whole cut a hole in the ice and sit there with a little chair and line in the hole... just like in the cartoons! anywaysss. we were talking to them for a bit.. and i had been asking sanne the other day whether people actually do that here... so after we finished talking to these people.. sanne said that we will do it sometime.. so im pretty excited about that :)

Back to school tomorrow for me.. it feels weird going back after having only been there for a week.. and then having a week off... feels a bit like my first day there all over again.. but i'm sure it will be fine and everything will seem familiar. It's good because tomorrow i don't have to start until 9.50am unlike most mornings where i start at 8.30!

Eskilstuna

I got back from Eskilstuna about 6.00pm tonight and i had a great week!
All the exchange students stayed in different host families.. i stayed with a family in a town just out of Eskilstuna called Kvicksund.. There were three of us exchange students staying with this family, all from Australia.. There was me, Jessica and Eliza (who is actually living with this family for her exchange).
The host family was Eva and Peter and they had a 15 year old daughter called Alice.. they were all really lovely and made us feel very welcome..
They also had a really awesome house!!!
We had swedish classes each day from 8.30 till 3.30. We had an hour off for lunch each day where we went to different rotary club meetings. They were always at the same place.. so each day we would walk about 2kms up and back in the snow to get to the restaraunt place.. the food was always really good there, and we didnt have to pay :)
There were 12 exchange students at the course and 10 of them were from Australia... there was a girl from new zealand and a girl from south africa. We had two teachers the whole week.. and then another exchange student who is from canada and has been here for 6 months was also there to help us learn swedish.
We had a different activity each day as well as the swedish classes, on the monday, we didnt actually have a planned activity.. but we all went to a cafe after class for 'Fika' ( it is like going for coffee and something sweet to eat, and is very very popular in sweden!).
then on the tuesday evening, we went bowling.. and beforehand got all you can eat tacos.. which was fun..
The wednesday afternoon we went to the pool house in eskilstuna.. which is really cool and has a wave pool, a waterslide, and spas and saunas..
Then we had no lessons after lunch on thursday and we all went to the Parken Zoo, it was very weird going to a zoo here.. because the entire zoo was covered in snow! the zoo isnt normally open to public in the wintertime because there is not many animals you can see.. so we were pretty much the only ones in the entire zoo.. we did see some cool animals though.. and my favourite was the spider monkeys!! then that evening we all went to one of the rotarians house for dinner and to watch a movie... we watched.. Mamma Mia.
Then friday at the end of the day.. we all got picked up and went home..
During the week we got to spend a fair bit of time just walking around the city, which was pretty cool and was good to be able to see a different city.
It was a really fun week.. and was so good to meet all the other exchange students, we all became really good friends and are heaps excited about euro tour now!

oh and last sunday, before we left.. mats took me cross country skiing in the morning.. i'm starting to get better at it.. but i am still pretty bad! im not very good at getting up the hills, actually im REALLY bad at getting up the hills.. i always end up just sliding back down :)
we skiied for about 2kms.. which was really good.. and i was bright red by the end of it!

I dont think i'm really doing anything this weekend, which is good.. and i can just relax a bit :)