Åre

sorry for taking a while to write another blog..

So.. last week as you are probably aware i went on a rotary camp... which was amazing!

I left last Saturday evening on the night train which left stockholm at 11.50pm.. there was 5 other exchange students on this train aswell.. so we all switched seats around and sat with each other.. and were the annoying, rowdy, teenagers that talked loudly while the rest of the train was trying to sleep. The trip took about 12 hours, we had at least 2 hours worth of delays though, so that was a bit annoying.. and we were all very ready to get off the train by the time we reached Järpen... When we arrived at where we were staying.. most of the other exchange students were already there.. out of them all, i only knew a couple before this week and that was from my language camp in Eskilstuna the second week i was here. So it was cool having so many new people to meet. That afternoon we all went into the town of Åre which was about 20kms away from where we were staying... we then got a tour around the small town by some old guy who has lived there a long time.. Then we went to this indoor swimming place, which was really cool, it had lots of different pools and spas and a water slide... it also had a 'sauna world' which was really cool.. before this year i think i had only ever been in a sauna once, and i almost died cos i thought it was so hot and hard to breathe.. but now i really like them and dont feel like i am going to die.. which is nice :)

There was a sauna there that was 80 degrees.. and there were a fair few of us all in there for ages.. a few people had been running outside and jumping in the snow after having been in the sauna for a while... so i decided that sounded like a pretty cool idea, and have wanted to do it for a while now... so i went with a few others out of the sauna.. then we jumped in a swimming pool that you can swim outside of the building in.. and then from there you can get out..

so we did that and got out of the pool into the freezing cold and then ran to the snow and dived into it and rolled around and pretty much just got really really cold... i however, managed to dive into the only part of snow that had big rocks underneath... and ended up with bruises all over my shins and a cut on my knee (luckily my entire body was numb and i couldnt feel it)
anyway, once we were covered in snow, we then made the 'what seems like forever' walk/run (so you dont slip) back to the pool... jumping into the pool was the nicest feeling.. it was good to feel my body temperature go back to normal.. it was a lot of fun though and a really cool experience.

Then Monday we had our first day of Skiing/Snowboarding! Most people skied but there were about 10 or so people snowboarding, myself one of them.. we had ski school for two hours.. and because everyone was kind of at different skill levels we all went with different instructors... somehow i ended up having an instructor all to myself, which was really cool. She was really nice and helped me a lot.. then after lunch i met up with others and went with them. That night we did some different team building type things in small groups, which was fun.. but they were all outside and by the end of them i was well and truly frozen. Each day we had to be ready by 8.30 to all go on the bus, which took us to Are, then we would leave there each day at around 4.30.. so by the end of each day i was quite tired.. we could have breaks whenever we wanted.. but most the time was spent snowboarding.. one of the coolest things at big ski places in sweden is they have this tent, where you can get free yoghurt and muesli and free milk or chocolate milk.. it was only a small bowl/glass.. but it was super cool and we went there as much as possible..

I also improved at going on the lifts a lot this week! which was good.. cos i used them alot... although it did take me 7 attempts to get on one of the T-bar lifts at one time.. and one of those times it hit me in the head and knocked my goggles off.. but by the seventh time.. i made it on safe and sound :)

they also had gondola lifts to get right up to the top of the mountain.. which were really cool and nice and warm and cosy inside. I went right to the top of the mountain a few times.. and each time it was really really foggy! you could hardly see a few metres in front of you.. it was quite scary.. and we just went down really really slowly.

On the second day of snowboarding.. the zipper on ski pants broke... which proved to be incredibaly inconvenient.. i was pulling them up the whole day.. and then when we were at the top of the mountain.. my gloves went all frozen and retarded and i couldnt get my hands in them anymore.. so i was trying to pull my pants up the whole time and my hands were freezing cos there was no way i could get my hands in my gloves (they were frozen into some weird shape) and i could hardly see a thing! all i wanted to do was get to the bottom, and go have some free yoghurt and muesli! Then when we went down another run, by the time we got to the bottom.. my pants were around my knees.. i would have been embarassed.. but by that stage i really didnt care about it anymore.. and i had tights on underneath, so it wasnt that bad ;)

the rest of the week, i borrowed some pants from another girl who had some spares.

On the wednesday afternoon we went to visit a waterfall which was nearby.. it was so amazing! it was covered in snow and ice.. and then there was all this water just gushing through holes in the ice! it was definately the coolest waterfall i have ever seen ( i havent seen that many waterfalls) we then kept walking and we seen a house made out of ice.. which was also really cool! it had lots of different rooms and was quite big... they make a new one each year, which i think would be really annoying having all that hard work melt each year..

Then the final night we had a 3 course rotary dinner at the place we were staying.. this was quite fun, we all wore our blazers and exchanged pins.. during the dinner we all had to do a presentation... each country had to speak about a different country for five or so minutes.. in swedish..

so for example.. all the Australians had to speak about Mexico, the Americans had to speak about Australia.. and so on.. with all the different countries.. it was quite funny.

Our (the Australian's) presentation was the worst out of everyones.. as we have all only been here 2 months, aswell as the people from argentina and new zealand.. however all the students from other countries have been here for 8 months.. so there swedish sounded alot better than ours.

We also all got given bright orange shirts saying 'Winter Camp Are' which was pretty cool and makes a comfy pyjamas top. Seeing this was the last night of camp everyone was pretty happy and was talking lots and listening to music and dancing and everyone signed each others t'shirts.

Me and three of the Americans were the last ones up and we were just sitting in the lounge area talking and listening to music... then we decided that we just wouldnt go to bed at all.. so we attempted an all nighter.... and we almost nearly made it. I think we ended up falling asleep at around 5.30am.. and we had to get up at 7.00 for breakfast.. so technically we were first there for breakfast seeing we never realy left the room.. that morning i drank coffee.. and i dont even like coffee..

then we had a final day of snowboarding.. and then that night people started heading back home on the night trains! it was quite sad saying goodbye to everyone.. as everyone had such a fun week and got to know each other quite well.

I can't really think of anything else to write.. but if you are still reading this, you are probably almost falling asleep from boredom anyway ;) so now is a good time for me to stop writing :)

oh and i have lots of photos from my week on facebook, if you want to have a look :)