Lets see, 26 days, well in 7 minutes 25 days, until I go home.  Which is sad, but I am getting really excited to go home and am just ready to move on to my next adventure.  This year was a lot of fun, but I really miss actually thinking.  And I miss my dog.

So this weekend was Midsommar.  Midsommar was actually on Saturday, but they celebrate everything the day before so we celebrated on Friday, but the actual solstice was yesterday.  So yeah.  I went with Jessica and her Rotary counsellor to his mother-in-law's cabin.  It was on an island outside of Mariestad.  It was really beautiful.  The lake was right there and there was a herd of cows roaming free, which made me miss cows.  On Friday morning I had to wake up at 6 in the morning because my host dad was going to drive me to Mariestad and he started work at like 8 or something.  So it was early.  Jess met me at the prison, where my host dad works, as a guard, not like an inmate work program or something.  Then we walked back to her house and picked flowers on the way so we could make flower crowns for our heads when we danced around the pole.  It was a really nice morning.  I had a nap when we got to Jessica's house and she went somewhere, I can't remember where because I fell asleep shortly after she told me.  At around 11 Jessica's counsellor came and picked us up.  She was moving to his house friday for the last little bit she is in Sweden.  So we had to take all of her stuff.  Then we went to Arne's house and dropped off all of Jessica's stuff and picked up his wife Lena.  We fed their turtles and then were off to the island.  I love Jessica's counsellor and his wife and her mother and her brother.  They were so welcoming and amazing.  We had lunch, super good pasta salad and some other salads.  And it was so fun to sit and talk with them.  Then after lunch Lena helped us make our flower crowns for our heads.  It was kind of weird because we just like chopped big chunks of their pushes and picker her mom's flowers for our crowns.  But they let us.  After we made our crowns it was time to go down to the midsommar pole.  When we got their Arne was digging the rocks out of the whole for the pole and he found 2 toads.  Jess started playing with one and kept trying to get a picture with it but each time I was about to take the picture the toad would jump and me and so I quit trying after 4 attempts.  I don't like toads.  Then we covered the pole in branches and flowers.  It was really cool because like the whole island came out and helped cover the pole and set up.  Then we started dancing around the pole.  Except it was mostly children and their parents who danced but Arne and Lena pretty much organized it so we danced too.  They announced to everyone that this years midsommar celebration was international.  After we danced we had a tips promanade, which is where you walk around and answer questions.  Jess and I answered the children questions instead of the adult ones.  Except we missed on question so all of our answers were one off and we only got like 4 right.  It was a little embarrassing.  Then it started to rain a lot which was lame.  So we went inside and were going to reconvene after the rain stopped.  We fikade with like a billion different cakes and stuff.  Oh yeah and at lunch we had strawberry midsommar cake.  It was so good there was like a layer of apple sauce stuff which was very tasty.  When it stopped raining we went back out and played more games.  We had like different relay races and a tug a war, girls against boys, and then we had an egg throwing contest where you had to throw and egg back and for to your partner.  Jessica was my partner and I was the one who got egg all over my hands.  Oh well I got candy anyways.  After the games it was time for supper.  I love midsommar food, well it is the same as Christmas and Easter food, but it is still good.  We had meatballs, potatoes, sill, prince sausage and eggs.  They didn't have svensson potatoes, but I had those at daycare on Wednesday when we celebrate midsommar.  Supper was fun too.  Oh yeah and when we were playing games all the cows wandered over to see what we were doing and they just stood there watching and then all the kids ran at them and chased them away.  After supper we went back out to the field and played brannboll.  It was funny because the Midsommar pole was one of the bases.  Our team won!  Then there wasn't a whole lot left to do.  We played cards and then went to bed.  Jess and I put 7 kinds of flowers under our pillows because then we were supposed to dream of our futures husbands.  

I was supposed to go home the next day, but I decided to stay one day extra because it was so nice out.  We had a nice breakfast and then we went to the forest to find mushrooms.  There weren't any.  Well we found like 10 very, very small ones.  After looking for mushrooms we went swimming.  It was rather cold.  But once I got used to it it was fine.  Jessica is chicken and wouldn't even dunk.  I was swimming around.  After a while it was very pleasant and I didn't want to get out.  There was a snake in the water.  It was swimming by us.  But Lena said it wasn't poisonous and then it just swam away and everything was cool.  After that swim we played this game that Arne taught us.  There were like 10 sticks and you had two balls on a piece of leather and you had to throw the balls and nock down the sticks to get points.  The balls reminded me of bluggers or whatever they are called from Harry Potter.  We had lunch and then a fish was dropped off in an ikea bag by one of the neighbours.  Lena's mom, Marianne, gutted it which was cool.  Then Jess and I just laid in the sun for a while.  Jess was sick.  Then we went swimming again.  No snakes this time but this time Jess didn't even get her suit wet.  After swimming we went back and changed.  Then we tried to get a picture of the cows eating the leaves and flowers off of the midsommar pole because they often do that.  But we had to go eat supper before the cows got to the pole.  After supper we went back to the pole but the cows weren't there.  Then they came running.  A stupid little boy was chasing the cows towards Jessica and I.  I was actually a little bit afraid for my life.  Jessica hid in a bush.  So we didn't get our picture.  We went back and played cards.  I drank coffee when we night fikade so I was super wired when Jess and I went to bed so I made her stay up talking to me.  I eventually fell asleep.  The next morning we ate breakfast and packed up.  Then they found a snake in the greenhouse.  They thought it was poisonous so when it came out of the green house, I was in the bathroom, Jess's host uncle cut it's head off with a shovel.  I came out right after he did it and the snake was still moving.  It was so gross.  It was still moving it's head and sticking out it's tongue long after it's head was separated from it's body.  It was really gross.  Anders took it and put it under a tree.  Then we left.

Pictures

my lake

my lake again

my mom

my host families

my parents in Stockholm

My mom and me in Holland

Tulips

Evil lilies 

My dad and me in Tibro

The Globe

Amsterdam

So then after London we took the train to Amsterdam. It was cool to take the train, well actually I slept like the whole way, but I assume it was pretty cool because I love trains. Amsterdam was cool but I think the next time I go to the Netherlands I will go somewhere else like in the country side and I will go earlier so I get to see all the tulips. The tulips had already been cut up so we didn't really see that many. We went to a tulip museum in Amsterdam and it was so little but I learned a lot like for example cows always eat red tulips first. The first day, or the second day but the first full day in Amsterdam, we slept in really late, but once we got going we did a lot. We went for Dutch pancakes, I had apple and bacon which was actually really good. I really enjoyed it. Then we went to the tulip museum and the Van Gogh museum. And we had Dutch french fries. And then mom and I went to the Anne Frank House. Which was really good to see but sad. We walked by it in the morning and the line wrapped around the building but we went back at like 7 and there was no line. Then we ate supper in a little pub and I had really good ravioli. The next day we went out to a tulip garden that didn't really have that many tulips left but it had a really cool music player-box thing but it was all old fashioned but played I don't feel like dancing. We saw a bollywood movie being made there. It was on the pond because there were like giant cement lilly pads that they danced on. It was cool and her sari was pretty. There were some indoor flower exhibits which were really nice, but the lilly one gave me a head ache because it smelled so much. We went to the national museum or something and saw Rembrandt paintings but then I was getting sicker and had a coughing attack so we left. Our hotel had the coolest saunas. Well the saunas were pretty cool but it was more the "relaxation" area around it. There were all these cool different like showers and buckets and an ice machine and foot baths, I guess you kind of had to be there.
Yeah so that is like all I can remember from Amsterdam. Oh we went for Indonesian food the first night and had such as cute little waiter. He was very cute.

Lately

Ooops, I guess I haven't written in a while.  I'm sorry to my loyal fan.  I've just been busy. 

On the 8th I slept over at Rachel's house in Lidkoping, we were all there except for John.  It was fun.  We slept in the middle of a traffic circle which was cold, but still really cool.  A car full of boys circled around like 5 times and yelled things at us and some other people honked at us.  We were only out there from 1 until 4 I think and only Rachel and Jessica would come, it was too cold for Robyn and Justin.  I was the only one who actually slept.  I guess I am just a tougher Canadian than Jessica.  But we saw the sun rise at like 330/4 in the morning which was nice.  Then on the Monday we went to Goteborg because I was going to stay at Rachel's to fly out the next morning and the girls were going to Beyonce that night.  

On the 12th I went to London with my parents.  It was so nice to see them again.  The customs guy asked what Canada got in exchange for me and I didn't realize he was joking so I said "another girl" and then he said "not like a Volvo and some furniture."  It was funny but maybe you had to be there.  We did everything in London.  On the Tuesday we went in the eye and saw everything, we went past lots of old buildings and statues, we went by West Minister Abbey where Tamil Tigers were protesting.  I think the most interesting part of the trip to London and Amsterdam was seeing buildings that were bombed and that survived the World Wars.  Because I am a nerd and am into that stuff but there isn't really a lot up here in neutral land.  We went to a little music concert in a Church.  Dad and I got a little bored.  Dad fell asleep.  I didn't.  Then on Wednesday I really started to get sick which sucked.  But I still was able to get up and go see stuff.  We went to the Palace and saw the changing of the guard kind of.   It wasn't that exciting but I saw the queen sneaking out in a disguise.   She was dressed up as like a cleaning lady, it must have been her.  Then we went shopping.  Harrod's!!  Oh yeah bought a lot there.  Just joking I am poor.   But I did get a camera case.  And mom and I had a lovely sundae at 11 in the morning because they had a sundae bar and it was so cute.  We moved it along and went shopping somewhere else a little.  I think we went into West Minister on this day.  Not sure really which day it is all blending together.  But I decided I didn't like how you had to pay 15 pounds to get in.  Church shouldn't be so commercialized.  But I saw where Queen Elizabeth is buried which was exciting for a nerd like me.  Then we had high tea.  It was so much fun.  And so much food.  We had tea, I had green tea.  Then we got sandwiches that were cut into strips.  My favorite was the chicken one.  The smoked salmon one was pretty good too.  We ate a whole bunch of those.  And then we had a little palete cleansing dessert and then got scones with clotted cream and jam.  And we got a plate of desserts.  They were okay, but they were more about looks than taste I think.  After tea we went shopping, not before.  I got a little dress and we looked at hats, but I started feeling really crappy so we went home and I went to bed and mom and dad went out for fish and chips.  They brought it back and I had a little.  It was so good I wish I hadn't been sick so I could have fully enjoyed it.  

The next day I took drugs and was ready to go.  We first went to get tickets for a show that night.  We decided on Spring Awakening because it is a rock opera which sounded interesting.  Then we went by St. Paul's and over bridges and around.  Then we went to this hippie 60s shopping district and went shopping.  They were having a big sale but it didn't start until later so we went places.  I don't even remember where because my pictures went home with mom.  Then we went back to buy my shoes and then we had dinner, a meat pie, at Shakespeare's Head.  It was a pub in the area.  There was a Shakespeare hanging out on of the windows and his arm had been blown off in the Second World War.  I thought that was cool that it had been around that long.  Then we went to the show.  It was so so so amazingly awesome.  Well it was a little awkward to watch with my parents seeing as it was about sexual exploration.  But it was still really really good.  Oh yeah and that morning we met a lady in the line up who had funky glasses and was what my Bio teacher would be if she had done a little more acid.  She was really cool though.  Oh yeah and we took double decker buses places.  That was so cool.  I enjoyed seeing London from the top of a double decker bus.  

Friday was Shakespeare day.  We walked along to the Globe and saw stuff.  We had a tour of the Globe but I didn't really learn anything I didn't already know.  But it was so cool to be in there.  We saw Romeo and Juliet.  Which was okay. But the Juliet wasn't so great.  She was too happy for a tragedy.  Even when she died she treated the dagger like a treat and was a really bad dier.  But it was cool to be in there.  Then during the intense apothecary  scene where Romeo is getting poison to kill himself, a pigeon flew in and landed on stage.  It just walked back and forth and everyone was laughing.  It was so funny but bad.  I am not sure that the actors knew it was there, but they must have drawn some conclusion to that effect.  Oh we went to like fresh food markets which were nice as well.  Then we walked by the Tower, but didn't go in.  Then we went to a pub one last time but when we went in the lady said "no children under 18 are allowed in after 8 pm.'  So I had to show her my passport.  I got ID a lot more in London than in Amsterdam.  I don't think anyone ID me in Amsterdam.  

It was funny though, I went to London to hear people speaking English, but didn't really here a lot.  I heard more English in Amsterdam than in London.  I heard a fair number of Swedish people in London.  Ooo and I had Starbucks, really expensive Starbucks but still Starbucks.  But I have to get ready for school now so I will write about Amsterdam like tomorrow or sometime.  

Stockholm and stuff

So I started writing a new post last week and then again this week but I got distracted and stopped.  

Last week I went to Stockholm with my class on Monday and Tuesday.  I was a lot of fun.  We went to a university and learned about stars and nuclear particles and stuff but I pretty much just looked at the black lights and stuff.  After that we went to the Vasa Museum and learned about the Vasa.  A boat that sunk a long time ago and then they pulled it out of the water in the 50s or 60s and put it in a museum.  I had been there before with PeO.  Then we played outside the museum for a while and waited for the year threes.  The bus came and got us and dropped Carro and me off at SVT on the way to the hostel.  Carro's uncle works there so we went to have a little tour.  It was so cool.  I did not realize there were so many lights and stuff on the roof of each set.  We got to go in front of the news green screen and be on TV, but not real TV but we did watch the guy as he recorded the news.  It was interesting.  After SVT, oh yeah we got amazing SVT T-shirts, we went for supper some where.  Then we had a ghost walk of Gammal Stad.  It was so cute.  The guy was so cute because he was so in to it.  It was also rather intriguing but I didn't listen that much.  After that I decided to go in the ocean.  I jumped in while Erika and Calle watched.  It was cold.  

The next day we had free time so we went for free ice cream because it was free ice cream day at Ben and Jerry's.  Well first we had to look in the Science Fiction book store because Ben and Jerry's wasn't open yet.  I never realized how lame my class mates are.  But I still love them.  We went shopping a little bit but I have no money so I didn't buy anything.  But Isak got new shoes.  Then we went and got free ice cream.  I had Chunky Monkey and Calle and I decided that mine was infinitely better than his because of the name.  Plus it was fair trade which makes anything infinitely better than slave trade.  Then the boys decided that we should walk to the other Ben and Jerry's location in Stockholm so we did.  But on the way we saw a bunch of soldiers on horses and a band on horses so we decided to follow them.  We followed them all the way to the castle and it was the changing of the guard.  It was, well some might say awe-inspiring.  I told Calle he has to go back to army and ask to be that.  But he said it is too embarrassing and I guess I agree, but I would still do it.  I wonder if you already have to know how to ride a horse or if they teach you.  After that we had to meet up because we were having a tour of the Rigsdag.  Which was so cool.  Well I thought it was going to be so cool.  No one really showed up for the "debate" we watched so it was really just boring and the place where they actually have their meetings is really 70s ish and boring.  Ours is so much nicer.  We went to the old building which is all old and beautiful and I think they should have meetings there instead.  Then some politician from Skovde went on and on about something but I don't remember it was so boring.  Maybe the political process I don't know I stopped listening.  

After the Rigsdag we went to the other ice cream place but there was a long line so Isak, Nicklas and I went into Lindex to look at dresses instead.  Then we lost the others but went shopping a little bit.  It was weird asking Isak his opinion on a dress.  I didn't get it.  We had to wait for the year 3s again so we sat by the Rigsdag and listened to a crazy lady yelling about Jesus and then she turned on some music and started dancing like a Russian-hand-holding-kicking dance.  I really had to go to the bathroom so I broke down and paid five crowns to use a public one.  It was so worth it.  Well there was a little poop on the back thing but the toilet seat was a self-cleaning toilet seat.  I was speechless when it went around and cleaned the seat.  I only wish I had taken my camera in with me.  Then we went home.

Oh last weekend was our Rotary Distrikt conferens.  It was not so good.  Our speeches were kind of bad.  But we got to go to a cheese factory and I got a cream pitcher that is shaped like a fat cow and is painted white with black spots and a pink tummy.  

This weekend, well Thursday was fire night/king's birthday.  I went to Goteborg with my host parents to look at an art exhibit of an old children's author.  The pictures were really lovely.  And my host mom bought me a book of them for my Birthday.  Then we went around the islands on a ferry.  It was so gorgeous and the weather was wonderful.  I adored it.  But then we bought some shrimp from the grocery store on one island and then went and sat on the rocks and peeled them and ate them.  They were pretty good but they were a lot of work for a little bit of meat and it was windy so their peels and our napkins were blowing away.  On the way home we stopped in a town Anders used to live in.  We went to the church for a spring concert, but it was a bunch of kids singing so it was not so cute.  Well my host mom thought it was.  Then we marched through the city with the brass band all the way up to the fire, but they couldn't burn anything because it is too dry.  So they sang a spring song and then we left.  

Friday I met Jessica in Skovde.  We sat in the sun and then went to the grocery store to pick up stuff for a salad night at Rachel's.  It was so good.  MMMMM.  Man it was tasty.  My favorite part was the tiny little cheese balls.  Then we went out dancing and walked home at like 3 in the morning and saw the sun start to rise.  Last night Anton invited me to Linus' house but I was too tired.

Okay that is like it I guess.  Next Tuesday I am going to London with my parents.