I was just wondering if anyone actually reads my blog.  If you do can you make a comment.  I do not really care.  If no one comments I will still write because I know my mom reads it.  But I was just wondering if anyone else reads it.  So if you do please comment.  Like not a deep thought out comment just like Yes I read it.  That is all.

Sportlov

Pictures from top to bottom= Isak and Rasmus playing table top hockey, semi final.  Swedish chef and fruit salad.  The mountain.  My ski buddy.  Boys playing Grizzly Dumb.  My birthday breakfast.  Snow from the bus window.  Girls night with my besties.
So this week was sportlov which means sport break and I had no school.  On Friday Jessica and Rachel slept over which was really, really fun.  We talked about pretty much everything and ate lots of junk food.  Then on Sunday I went to Sälen with PeOs churchs youth group to go skiing for the week.   It took like 5 hours to get there and when we got there my group had to make supper, but it was really easy because all we had to do was microwave the premade food.  The place we stayed was pretty nice.  It was like a hostel but we were the only ones there.

Monday was my Birthday.  I got breakfast in bed and they sang to me in the morning.  Plus I had to wear a neon vest all day that said it was my birthday.  Monday was our first day of skiing and I realized I cannot ski.  Even on their tiny little hills.  But it was okay because I hung out with PeOs daughter and we stopped skiing after lunch.  Their mountains are not very big.  At night we watched The Chronicles of Narnia and talked about how it related to God.  Then we played games and stuff and I won the ice cream eating race.  But then I got like gum disease.  It was gross.  Everyday they had Dagens Dansk where they would each tell their story about something a Danish person did and then we would vote which one was best.  I saw a woman with her helmet on upside down.  It was very Christian of us to make fun of the Danish.

On Tuesday I only went skiing in the after noon and I convinced this one guy from my class, Isak, to go skiing with me.  It was fun.  We went on all the green runs.  After skiing Isak and I played cards and I taught him Grizzly Dumb,  the game that all of us exchangers play where you try to get your queen to the king.  Then all the boys started playing it.  It was so funny.  I took lots of pictures of them all trying to find their future wives.  Then we watched more of the movie and prayed some more.  

On Wednesday I went skiing in the afternoon alone.  I was supposed to meet the others for fika, but could not find the place so I just went home and showered and knitted.  When they came back Isak and I played cards some more and they had a table hockey tournament.  Then we had supper and it was my groups night to provide the entertainment so we had a disco.  It was lots of fun.  Oh and they played fruit salad which was disgusting.  Four people chewed and then spit out fruit into a bowl.  Then Måns ate it.  I almost threw up.  Thursday was out last day of skiing and Isak and I went in the afternoon.  Then I watched them all race, but got really cold just sitting there so I went a little on my own and then returned my skis.  I went back showered, then went to the Sälen store and bought a hoody so I would always remember my awesome ski trip.  It was lots of fun apart from the whole skiing part.  

We drove home on Friday which was fun because we watched good movies and I got to sleep.

On Saturday I went to Göteborg with Rachel and Justin.  We went shopping a little bit and Justin bought me my birthday present.  Then we had Indian food for supper.  It was pretty good for Sweden.  But it was lots of fun talking to them.  And we found an English Store that we are going to go to next time.  We did not go yesterday because my tummy hurt and by the time we got there it was closed.  We had to take the trolly thing.  We are getting so good at getting around Göteborg.  Yay us!  When we were heading to the station we saw recorder lady, the lady who sits and plays recorder all the time for money and we decided to buy her something to eat but the only place open was McDonalds.  So we bought her a cheeseburger and apple pie.  When we took it to her she like blessed us in her language.  I was happy that she was happy.  Oh yeah and in Goteborg we saw these guys with Guy Fox masks on who were protesting Scientology and then we went to the Scientology church because we wanted to see inside.  But you had to ring a bell to get let in so we stood outside for awhile trying to decide whether to ring it our not.  Then we finally did, and Rachel spoke, but they did not understand so we did not get in.  It was sunny in Göteborg so we just stood in the sun for a little and today it was sunny here so I went for a walk with my host mom.  It was really cool in the mountains because there was like actually real amounts of snow and it was nice out too.  It kind of made me sad at first because it reminded me of home.  But then yesterday on the train I was so happy that I almost wanted to cry.  I like it here now and am happy.  Okay that is all.  I was told I write too much so I tried to cut it down today.

Okay so I haven't written in like a month and I am a bad person.

Let's see what has happened in January.  I moved, but you knew that.  I like my knew house with my little apartment like area and it is nice on the lake.  It is pretty.

So school was the same pretty much as before Christmas.  But now I have only one class on Mondays from 8:15 to 9:20 so last week I started working at my host mom's daycare.  It was lots of fun and I think I learned more Swedish there than I do at school.  Because the little girls say things and if I don't understand get all cranky and little girlish and say "you don't understand do you"  with a smirk.  But now I have learned how to say lose your teeth and all about different animals.  There was one little boy there who doesn't speak very much either and we are kind of like best friends now.  

But before last week lets see what I did.  Justin slept over on the 16th and then we went to Göteborg with Jessica and her friend from Belgium on Saturday.  It was kind of fun but I was kind of sick so I was rather tired.  But we saw Nazis again.  This time they had done something bad but we did not see what they did we just saw when they were lined up against the wall being frisked by the police.  There were lots of police and a police dog.  It was rather exciting.  But they were just taken away and we were getting hungry so we went into the mall and ate at Pizza Hut.  It was fun to eat in a Pizza Hut, but it was not really the same as at home.  When we finished eating we came out and there were no more Nazis.  I wanted to go home early because I did not feel well so Justin and I went home early.  Justin went back to Lidköping and I went to watch Erik, Calle and Antons band play.  They are really good.  I quite enjoyed it.  Then we went to Eriks house after and had and after party.  

Then that week at choir I started my first Swedish Solo.  It did not go so well the first time, but I think I am getting better.  Carros 18th birthday was that Friday so we had a party at her house.  It was really fun.  I love the boys in my class, well and the girls too.  We sat around and talked about what I like about Sweden and what I thought.  And they asked me if they saved up money for me if I would come back next year to go on the class trip to Germany.  It almost made me cry.  I love them so much now.  On Saturday I went to Hjo and watched the boys play again.  I went with Carro.  We are like groupies now.  

I have also started being really nerdy again.  Swedish school is rather under stimulating so I have started researching stuff like UN missions and stuff.  And I have started to write a paper comparing Queen Elizabeths rule to Catherine the Greats.  Yeah kind of lame but I think that it makes me happier to actually use my brain again.  Plus it is good practice for next year.

On Wednesdays I finish school at like 11 or something.  I have started going to Religion which is interesting.  But now Jessica and I meet in Skövde earlier on Wednesdays and fika.  I love talking to here.  And I love Canada.  Canada is really awesome.  I have decided.  But we found this new little cafe in Skövde with lots of good stuff and we go there a lot now and have made friends with the guy who works there.  But I am pretty sure he still thinks we are American even though we have told him a bunch that we are Canadians.  Last Thursday I watched the boys play in Skövde again.  They were good but the other bands were a little scary.  But on the bus home I talked to Erika all in Swedish and it was so fun.  I think she was a little surprised at how much Swedish I could actually speak because everyone speaks English to me so I never really get a chance to speak Swedish.  

This weekend I went to a folk music festival in Vara with my host parents because my host mom plays the accordion and my host dad plays the bass.  It was fun.  I played the accordion and sang, but it was really hard to learn the songs because we did not get the words written down, she just sang them to us and then we had to sing them back.  So I made up some words and hummed a lot.  But it was cool to listen to.  

Yesterday was Justin's Birthday so Jessica and I went to Lidköping to see him and Rachel.  It was fun.  Lidköping is so much cooler than Tibro.  Well it is a lot bigger at least.  We had sushi and then fikad.  And saw their school and stuff.  It was nice to visit with them.  I like them.  We have a small but awesome district.  I wish the Ausies were closer because I am a little afraid they might feel left out because we always hang out but we cant hang out with them because they are so far away.  Oh well I invited them to Göteborg on Valentines day.  But they have each other so hopefully they are good.

Okay so that is what happened in January.

I am going to make soup because I am sick

So the rest of December and the start of January was a lot of fun.

I went to Göteborg with Elisa and Victoria to stay with Victorias sister for the weekend.  We went to Liseberg which was fun, but not as lit up as I expected.  I missed Christmas lights.  They have little lights in their windows, but no lights lining the houses like we have.  Which I guess is better for the environment except that they leave their window lights on all day and night even when everyone is at work.  Oh yeah and I sang at the school final assembly which was fun.  We came back from Göteborg on Sunday and then I took the train back out on Monday with Justin and Rachel.  I love them.  We had Italian food in Lidköping first, that is where they live.  And then took the train from Lidköping.  We went to Liseberg again which was more fun with them because I got to pretend to be a loud american.  

On the Tuesday before Christmas I hung out at home and then went over to PeOs, my counsellor and Elisas host dad, and we ate pizza and played bingo on the TV.  It was fun.  Wednesday was Christmas eve which is when they celebrate, so we went to Maggies sisters house and ate ham, meatballs, pickled fish, sausages and pickled cabbage oh and potatoes.  The last week of school was so much fun because it was all just Christmas parties and we got special Christmas food in the cafeteria.  Like rice pudding and ham and meatballs and special potatoes.  Anyways after we ate lunch on Christmas Eve we watched Calle Anka, Donald Duck.  Which was so cool because everyone in Sweden watches it on Christmas Eve.  It was just a string of parts from different Disney movies.

After Calle Anka we played some games, darts, Chinese Checkers, and others, and then we played a present exchange game.  The same one we played at youth group.  After the present game we went home to open our presents and eat rice pudding.  Gustaf and I watched Hitch Hikers Guide to the Universe while we waited.  But Gustaf was really excited and kept asking if he could open presents but Hans was on the phone with Amy so we had to wait.  Then when we did open presents I was assigned the Santa and I had to take everyones presents from under the tree and give it to him or her.  It was kind of cool.  Then after present opening we ate our rice pudding upstairs and watched the rest of the movie.  I woke up at like 2 in the morning so that I could talk to my family in Canada on Skype.

On Christmas day I got to have Turkey because my host mom is half British.  So we went to her other sisters house and had turkey and stuff, but no stuffing which was sad.  I left my host aunts house early and walked home so I could skype with my family when they opened Christmas presents.

The rest of the break was pretty fun too.  I went to Göteborg with Jessica one day because we were going to shop all of the great sales, but I didnt really find anything worth buying other than a childrens Christmas book about a cow and a crow.  But we had fun anyways.

I hung out with Gustaf and his friends a little.  I watched movies at Eriks house and we went ice skating on a little pond by the big church.  I went swimming with Jessica in Skövde one day and on New Years eve I went to a party at Eriks house.  IT was so much fun.  We all dressed up and had a fancy dinner and then after dinner more people came and we just hung out.  Over the break I also went to Göteborg again with Rachelle, Justin and Jessica.  We went to the Universeum, which is like a science center.  IT was a rather tramatic experience.  We were in the rainforest area where they let their monkeys run free and I was leaning against a railing looking at one and then all of a sudden it jumped right at me.  I thought I was going to die.  I jumped out of the way just in time and it landed on the railing.  But I was really scared.  I almost started crying so Jessica took me out of there.  But other than the monkey incident it was a really fun day.  We went to Göteborg on Monday and then the rest of the week I packed and hung out with the boys, we had a gam session and stuff like that.  Then on Wednesday I moved to Fagersanna.  A little collection of houses outside of Tibro.  I have to take the bus to school now which is kind of lame, but I like my house and host parents a lot.  I have like my own little apartment because I have the whole first floor, but I can go up whenever I want.  But I dont like living out of town because on my way home on Thursday I missed my stop and went all the way to Karlsborg which was like an extra twenty minutes both ways plus I had to wait in Karlsborg for and hour.  But I talked to Justin and Jessica on the phone which was good.

Okay well I am going to Tidalholm soon to meet my host mothers daughter and grandson so Ill write again later.

Lucia and Stockholm

On Friday we celebrated Lucia because Lucia was actually on Saturday. It was so awesome, I love Lucia. It started off with a fika in school. We got safron buns and orange juice which I had with the girls from my teknik class. I love safron buns. They are so yummy because they are not really sweet so they taste good. After fika I went to art class, but we didn't have enough time to do anythingso Elisa and I stole paper for our light saber costumes for the Christmas party we went to on Friday night. During art class we went to watch Lucia in the forum. It was so cute. Little kids came from an elementary school, they were in grade 2 I think. There were so many sjärngosar, or however you spell it, which are what the boys are in Lucia choirs. I felt bad for the little boys because they have to wear pointy, cone hats with stars on them and they have to wear dresses. I think some of the boys were embarrassed because when they went to the mic to say their little speech they covered their faces with their star wands. After the star boys came in the Lucia tåg followed. There was only one Lucia and a bunch of attendants. They were so cute when they were all singing.
After we saw the Lucia tåg we had a special lunch at school because it was Lucia. We had rice pudding which was so good. I love rice pudding and they eat it with milk, sugar and cinnamon which makes it even better. Elisa and I had to eat quickly because PeO was coming to get us to take us to Hjo for a Lucia tåg there.
The Lucia tåg in Hjo was amazing. It was at a music school and they were so amazing, but their Lucia was a little creepy looking just because she had giant eyes, but didn't move at all because she was afraid of tipping the candles or something probably, so she just stared out with her giant eyes. But they were really amazing. Those boys didn't have to wear dresses and cones, they got to wear dress shirts and red ties. After the Lucia in Hjo, we ate lunch again. I thought that we were just going to watch Lucia and then go home so I told Elisa that we should eat before, but then we had to eat again and we were really full. But the food was pretty good. We had ham and potatoes. And I met a man who had been on exchange in Oregon, it was kind of weird because he started talking to me in the coffee line and it was so weird to hear a North American accent instead of a British/Swedish one.
PeO dropped Elisa and I off at school because my bike was still there, but we were done school. We walked home because Elisa didn't want to bike in the snow. We saw yellow snow on the way home and she asked what it was. She is so cute sometimes. When we got home we worked on our costumes and went to the square because Elisa needed to pay a bill or something and we needed to buy presents to take to the party.
After supper Maggie took me and Elisa to the yellow house where I got to be Lucia!!! It was so much fun, but scary. We changed upstairs and I got my crown, but we didn't light me until downstairs because that could have been bad. But when they light me I was standing under a fire detector that kept going off. I was really scared of burning myself because I didn't have a wet cloth over my hair. I don't think I sang very well because I was so nervous about the candles on my head and I was really hot. Now I understand why the Hjo Lucia didn't move so much. But it was so cool to be Lucia. We sang for the handicapped people in Tibro because they were having a Christmas party. After we sang we got boxes of chocolate from them.
When my magnificient performance as Lucia was over we went home and got ready for the Christmas party. It was at the Church and was Starwars themed. Everyone had such good costumes, but Elisa and I looked pretty stupid. Neither of us have really seen starwars so we dressed up as lightsabers. We just rolled up paper and put it on our heads. But other kids had really cool costumes like princess leia and that fat worm guy, and the robots and a fat blue guy. It was really fun. They had a Lucia tåg at the party too, but instead of Lucia they had Leia as Lucia and the others were dressed as other characters. They changed the words to the songs so they were about starwars. It was really funny. Then for supper we had a corv, sausage, buffet. It was good and for dessert we had an ice cream space ship.
After supper we played Starwars games where we had to make stuff from starwars, my team had very little starwars experience so we made the gold bikini and put it on my host counsellor's son because he was one of the judges. Then we had starwars trivia. After that we had a present exchange. I love their present exchange game. You role a die until you get a six, then you get to take a present. Then you roll again and if you get a six you have to trade. I was happy because I ended with what I wanted. I got a cookie cutter and a sucker. After the present exchange it was almost one in the morning and Elisa and I were going to Stockholm in 6 hours so we walked home. I like walking around really late at night/early in the morning. It is so quiet and not that cold and very well lit.
On Saturday we went to Stockholm at 7 am. It takes about 4 hours driving, or maybe 3. I don't know PeO drives pretty fast. So we stopped at McDonald's on the way to have breakfast. I like McDonald's here better than in Canada because it sometimes has really food like I had a sandwiche for breakfast with lettuce, cheese and ham. And I had Oh Boy, their hot chocolate mix. When we got to Stockholm the first thing we did was go to our hotel to drop off our bags and car. It was a very nice hotel in one of the richest parts of Stockholm. It was so nice. It had book cases all over and it was just very nice. But the elevator was really really scary. There was no door on the inside so you could see the wall go buy and you could touch it. It really freaked me out. And one time when we were in it it stopped and I freaked out a little bit. Once we had dropped off our stuff we set out walking to the Vasa museum, the Vasa was an old battle ship that sank, then was rescued from the bottom and then put in a museum. It was cool to see it. It had so many carvings on it because it was like to show off, but that is why it sank I think. I'm not 100 percent sure though. but we got to see conditions on board and they recreated the people that had died and stuff, it was interesting. After the Vasa Museum we went to a children's museum about Swedish Children's Authors like the lady who wrote Pippi Longstockings. it was so cool. They had recreated the settings from the stories and you could go in them like Pippi's house was a jungle gym. And there was a train that went from one part to the other and all along the train ride it had reenactments of the stories and speakers told the stories as you went. That was one of my favorite parts of Stockholm. They had a Lucia Tåg at that museum too, but Lucia was a boy. But we didn't watch them that long because we had lots to do in only 2 days. After that we had lunch I think. Yeah we ate at an italian restuarant which was kind of weird because they made you leave your coat at the front but you had to pay 8 crowns each. But they had really good pizza, because most pizza here is thin crust, but it is always soggy, but there it was thin crust and crispy. It was so good. After lunch we went to the Nobel Museum, which was cool, but it was mostly about the literature winners and I wanted to see about medicine and peace and science. But they had all the winners going around on a mobile around the roof and there were so many. Nobel day was on December 10th and they show it on T.V. and like everyone in Sweden watches them eat and then dance. After the Nobel Museum we went out to a Julmarknad in the square outside of the museum. PeO bought marzipan pigs for his dad and Marie's dad for Christmas. It was really dark out already because it was around 4. We walked back to the hotel after the Julmarknad. It was cool because we got to see all the stores. I like Stockholm because it is more like real Europe, or at least what you see in movies. It has old buildings, but also has shops with cutting edge design and is a melting pot of cultures. I heard so many people speaking English and other languages like French, Italian, Spanish... It was so interesting and to see all the different stores and restuarants. And there was a fresh food market. I love Stockholm. We walked past NK, like Swedens Sak's. They have huge window displays every Christmas. They were so cute and fun and colourful. I took pictures of them. While we were looking at them Sweden's Lucia road by in a horse drawn carriage and all her attendants were on horse back. It was so cool. I took pictures, but it was dark so they weren't very good. but it was so cool to see Sweden's National Lucia. On our walk we also saw Sweden's Reich and other government buildings. When we got back to the hotel we had hot chocolate, coffee and I had glögg. It was nice to have something warm. Then we went for supper. We went to TGI Fridays. I think that was my first time eating in a TGI Fridays and it was in Sweden. I enjoyed have North Americanish, restaurant food again. And the menus were in Swedish and English! But I know most food words in Swedish now. I had pasta for supper. The waiters all had TGI Friday santa hats on so when I came back from the bathroom when we were about to leave, PeO had gotten each of us one too. Elisa, Viktoria and I had our picture taken out side of the restaurant with our hats on. I will write more later. I have lunch now and we get special christmas food.
So after supper on Saturday night we walked back to the hotel and then Viktoria went up to the room to study and Elisa and I went for a little walk, but everything was closed so we didn't walk very long, we came back to the hotel and sat with PeO and Marie for a little, but we were all pretty tired so we went to bed.
On Sunday we woke up and had breakfast in the hotel, it was really good. We got to make out own waffles, Viktoria made mine and then I made ELisa's but I put too little batter in so her's didn't work out so well, but she was able to fix it. After breakfast we went to the National Museum, Viktoria stayed at the hotel to study. The National Museum was really nice, I like the Reniessance paintings the best. I like to see old people and old clothing. But I was in Reneisance and we had to leave because we had a tour in the Statshuset, but I didn't know what time it was so I made us a little late for our tour. The Stadshus is the city hall and where the Nobel Prizes are held. It was really cool because I saw the Nobel Dinner on T.V. on Wednesday and then I was in the room where it was held. There was a really beautiful ballroom where all the walls were covered in tile mosaic of gold and other colours. One of the mosaics was Lady Stockholm or something with landmarks from all around the world on either side of her, it was supposed to symbolize who the world comes to Stockholm or something. The tour was a little boring because it was in Swedish and I didn't understand everything.
After our tour we went back to the hotel to get Viktoria, then we had lunch in McDonald's on our walk to NK, the really fancy department store. The department store was really cool, but really expensive. I bought a safron bun stuffy thing and a marzipan pig. Oh and I found a cheese slicer in the shape of a moose that I bought even though it was really expensive. After NK we went back to the hotel and then we left for home. On the way home we mostly slept, but we stopped for supper and this sketchy little place. It was sketchy because we had to go off the road into the dark forest a bunch and then it was just this place with cold sandwiches and this weird girl speaking weird english on the phone. But we eventually made it home, and that was my weekend.

So last weekend we had a district thing with just the inbounds in my district. It was in Tibro, well actually the forest around Tibro. We stayed in a building owned by the Mission church in Tibro. It was so much fun. On Friday night a lady from my Rotary club came and did our hair because she is a hair dresser. And we are sausages and meat balls at like 10:00. But it was fun to just sit around and talk. There were only 5 students there, but there are only 6 kids in my district anyways. It was kind of a good bye to the two brazilians who are going home after Christmas. That is really sad because then I will be alone in Tibro. So it was kind of a sad weekend, but mostly just super duper fun. On Saturday morning we made breakfast all together and then we washed our hair in the sink because we had no shower. After breakfast we made gingerbread houses. I burned my finger on the melted sugar. Here they use melted sugar instead of icing to put the pieces together. But we couldn't find the powdered sugar to decorate with so we gave up and would do it after we got powder sugar. We watched Pirates of the Carribean instead. Then my host mom came to get me because I had to go into town for choir practice. The other exchange students went into town to another church to watch a Lucia performance and there was a Christmas auction there too. I walked over to that church after choir practice and met them just in time for Fika. We had saffron buns and pepparkakor and juice. I love saffron buns. We got a little bored after awhile because we were supposed to be watching the auction, but they were selling tea clothes and things that weren't all that interesting so we went outside and played with snowballs. We still had a little snow then, but it is all gone now and it is raining out. Then we walked to the Ica and bought candy and chips. I bought these cool chips that are in the shape of stars. The Rotary lady came and got us and we went back to the forest house. She had to go back to town to pick up Elisa because there was not enough room in her car. But they were taking a really long time to get back so we were concerned and called Elisa, but it was okay they were just picking up some things from her house.
On Saturday night we ate pizza and then the Rotary lady made us a fire out side where we roasted marshmallow santas and had sparklers. But then she threw the bag of our garbage on the fire which was really not cool and I tried to blow it out because you aren't supposed to burn plastic. And it was really gross. She was picking threw it all and roasting it with the roasting stick. She stuck pieces of pizza and orange peel on the stick and then asked if we wanted to roast hot dogs with it. We didn't. Anyways after our fire we went inside and the Rotary Lady left us and we played cards and talked about stuff. Then we finished watching Pirates of the Carribean and Paula found our powdered sugar sitting by the fire place so we decorated our gingerbread houses. Then we went to bed early, at like 11:30.
On Sunday we made a huge breakfast of all the left over food. We had meatballs, bread, cheese, pizza, hot dogs, salad and oranges and other things I can't remember. We ate so much. Then we had to clean up because we were leaving. Then we went home.
When I got home I got ready to go to choir. Then Maggie took me to the big church where we had practice before the Lucia crowning. We practiced all our songs for about an hour and then we fikad! We had juice and pepparkakor and saffron buns and sandwiches. Then we had to get ready to perform.
It was really cool. The Lucia girls all came in singing. But Lucia's candles weren't lit yet. Then we joined them in the same song and then sang a few other. Then the girls each did a reading, but Lucia forgot hers. Then we sang more songs and they lit Lucia's head on fire and then we sang more and then they had collection and some readings in Swedish. Then we sang a few more songs and then the Lucia girls sang themselves out. It was really cool and fun. But I've decided being Lucia is scary. Skövde's Lucia had wax running down her face. But I was in the newspaper today because we sang. Last weekend was so much fun. It was probably one of the best weekends I've had here so far and we didn't do anything outstanding, well other than the Lucia lighting.