I was a Viking!!
Yes it’s true; I was a Viking for a weekend! Last weekend I went up to Västerås for the weekend with the rotary. All the inbound exchange students in the districts around Stockholm, and the rebound students went up camping for one night. Rebound students are students who just got back from their exchange year. We all went up early Saturday morning by train and car and met at a golf course just outside of the city. There we ate most of our meals throughout the weekend, and we did a couple of activities there. In the evening on Saturday we all went onto these 2 Viking ships that were near the golf course. The place was actually a re-enactment of the Viking age. It had a couple huts and some games that were set up like the Vikings would have had it. We sailed to an island just off the shore and we set up our camp. We played Viking games, ate a dinner similar to what the Vikings would eat, and then we all sat around the camp fire. The camp fire was great! All of us were sitting and having a great time, we sang songs to a guitar, and joked around for most of the night. When most of the people started going to bed I wasn’t tired. So Claudia and I went out on a rock with Flavio and Laura and watched the stars. It was absolutely beautiful. I think we saw about 5 shooting stars, and all the stars were very bright because we were out in the country side away from the cities.
The next morning we all got up pretty early and had coffee and tea, then set sail back to the golf course. We ate breakfast, then went back to the Viking place and played more Viking games for the rest of the afternoon. Some of the games were leg wars, shooting bows at targets, and throwing a double edge axe. I thought it was all really fun and the games were very interesting.
I have been quite busy on the weekends, and during the week for that matter. I go to school at really nice hours during the week. Usually I will start about 9 or 10 and go until 2 or 3. So it’s not that bad of a school day at all. My class is great! They are all very helpful when it comes to learning Swedish. They all want to teach me, and I want to learn very quickly, so it works out very nice. I haven’t begun to totally speak with them in Swedish yet, just because I am not able to speak correct sentences. But I try and usually fail, but most of the time they know what I am talking about and then help me to say it correctly. I can understand what they are saying most of the time, unless they are telling a joke, or using a lot of slang and speaking fast. The hardest part I think is to understand the teachers in school. I can understand math almost perfectly, but the science classes and Swedish class I am almost completely lost. I think that science is hard in English, let alone in Swedish. I understand when the words in Swedish are similar to the ones in English, and that allows me to understand what the rest of the sentence is about.
This weekend I was very busy. I went out Friday night with some friends. We were going to go and watch a movie at a theatre in the city, but it was sold out. So we went to this music festival and danced for a couple of hours. It was absolutely great! We didn’t dance like teenagers do these days; we danced how my parents would. We did the salsa, tango, waltz, samba, western, and some others. And then on Saturday I went to my Floor ball teams’ game. I am not able to play yet because I do not have a license. It is very frustrating watching your team play when you’re not able to play. My coach keeps saying I am not ready, but I think that I am. I think that I can keep up with the other players, and would be a great addition to the team in a game. Hopefully I will start playing within the month, but who knows. After the game, I went back home and had some lunch. For lunch here I usually have a sandwich. I eat a lot of sandwiches here!! They have 1 piece of bread, some mayo, sometimes meat, and then cheese! I love the cheese here. It tastes so good. After lunch I went to the golf course with my host father. It was a 9-hole course where you just drop in and play. Here in Sweden and in most of Europe you have to have a “green card”. This card says that you know the rules and that you are good enough to make it through the whole round. My host father was playing for his, and he got it! He was very excited to get it, because now he can play at any course. Before you have it, you can only play at a few courses that don’t require a green card. My host father is so funny. He says things that just make me laugh all the time. His expressions are hilarious, and he is great to talk to and spend time with. I spend a lot of time talking to him because he drives me to my floor ball practice and then we talk at night and watch the Spanish soccer matches on the weekend. And then after golfing I met my friend Simon who is in my class. We went to play tennis at an indoor tennis facility. It was so nice to play tennis; I haven’t had time to play since April. Simon and I raced home after tennis to take a shower, and then went to the bus station. Whenever we had to go to a bus this weekend we always ran. It seemed like we always had like 2-3 minutes before the bus came, so we had to run to make it. We took the bus down to t-centralen and went to a free concert in the park. That was a fun time, and it was followed by another fun time the next day at gröna lund. Simon and I met about 8 other exchange students and we all spent the day there. It was great, although I got sick. Yes it is true. I got sick from the rides. This has never happened to me before, and I could not believe it. I just felt so sick after 3 rides that take you upside down, around, and everywhere. After that though I felt better and enjoyed the last couple hours there. Well that is all I have for now. This up coming week I will probably play floor ball 3-4 times. I am also planning on going to Finland with my host family the end of September for my host sisters 16th birthday. It should be great. Well that is all for now, god natt. Sorry if some of my English is not correct, im sure all of you will be able to decipher it.
The next morning we all got up pretty early and had coffee and tea, then set sail back to the golf course. We ate breakfast, then went back to the Viking place and played more Viking games for the rest of the afternoon. Some of the games were leg wars, shooting bows at targets, and throwing a double edge axe. I thought it was all really fun and the games were very interesting.
I have been quite busy on the weekends, and during the week for that matter. I go to school at really nice hours during the week. Usually I will start about 9 or 10 and go until 2 or 3. So it’s not that bad of a school day at all. My class is great! They are all very helpful when it comes to learning Swedish. They all want to teach me, and I want to learn very quickly, so it works out very nice. I haven’t begun to totally speak with them in Swedish yet, just because I am not able to speak correct sentences. But I try and usually fail, but most of the time they know what I am talking about and then help me to say it correctly. I can understand what they are saying most of the time, unless they are telling a joke, or using a lot of slang and speaking fast. The hardest part I think is to understand the teachers in school. I can understand math almost perfectly, but the science classes and Swedish class I am almost completely lost. I think that science is hard in English, let alone in Swedish. I understand when the words in Swedish are similar to the ones in English, and that allows me to understand what the rest of the sentence is about.
This weekend I was very busy. I went out Friday night with some friends. We were going to go and watch a movie at a theatre in the city, but it was sold out. So we went to this music festival and danced for a couple of hours. It was absolutely great! We didn’t dance like teenagers do these days; we danced how my parents would. We did the salsa, tango, waltz, samba, western, and some others. And then on Saturday I went to my Floor ball teams’ game. I am not able to play yet because I do not have a license. It is very frustrating watching your team play when you’re not able to play. My coach keeps saying I am not ready, but I think that I am. I think that I can keep up with the other players, and would be a great addition to the team in a game. Hopefully I will start playing within the month, but who knows. After the game, I went back home and had some lunch. For lunch here I usually have a sandwich. I eat a lot of sandwiches here!! They have 1 piece of bread, some mayo, sometimes meat, and then cheese! I love the cheese here. It tastes so good. After lunch I went to the golf course with my host father. It was a 9-hole course where you just drop in and play. Here in Sweden and in most of Europe you have to have a “green card”. This card says that you know the rules and that you are good enough to make it through the whole round. My host father was playing for his, and he got it! He was very excited to get it, because now he can play at any course. Before you have it, you can only play at a few courses that don’t require a green card. My host father is so funny. He says things that just make me laugh all the time. His expressions are hilarious, and he is great to talk to and spend time with. I spend a lot of time talking to him because he drives me to my floor ball practice and then we talk at night and watch the Spanish soccer matches on the weekend. And then after golfing I met my friend Simon who is in my class. We went to play tennis at an indoor tennis facility. It was so nice to play tennis; I haven’t had time to play since April. Simon and I raced home after tennis to take a shower, and then went to the bus station. Whenever we had to go to a bus this weekend we always ran. It seemed like we always had like 2-3 minutes before the bus came, so we had to run to make it. We took the bus down to t-centralen and went to a free concert in the park. That was a fun time, and it was followed by another fun time the next day at gröna lund. Simon and I met about 8 other exchange students and we all spent the day there. It was great, although I got sick. Yes it is true. I got sick from the rides. This has never happened to me before, and I could not believe it. I just felt so sick after 3 rides that take you upside down, around, and everywhere. After that though I felt better and enjoyed the last couple hours there. Well that is all I have for now. This up coming week I will probably play floor ball 3-4 times. I am also planning on going to Finland with my host family the end of September for my host sisters 16th birthday. It should be great. Well that is all for now, god natt. Sorry if some of my English is not correct, im sure all of you will be able to decipher it.