Yes I realize I have not written in forever and this post tecnically could/should be split into like three different posts, but that takes up more time so her is essentially the low down of my past month.
Even though it is looking like we would have a white winter/christmas our snow lasted for less than a week. This year is one of the mildest winters Sweden has ungone in many many years.
Scouting has been coming to a close for 2013 and ended with a jul marknad (christmas market). There were a few different groups there that had booths or games set up and were raising money for themselves.
I have also been inside and eating lunch in the grand hotel, were kings and queens have stayed along with other famous people in town for the Nobel Peace Prize Awards. All the exchange student in district 2350 were invited to a christmas lunch!
All us exchange students
The ladies room was quite possibly the best part...
After the lunch we spent some time catching up because I had not seen some of these people since my first week in Sweden and a few I had never met before! So we walked to Gamla Stan where they had a jul marknad.
I had so much fun hanging out with the Stockholmer's that I decided to come down for the weekend to get to know more of the people I had just met for the first time at the Grand Hotel, do some christmas shopping, and of cours to hang out with all the other exchange students.
Saturday night was a giant melting pot! It was really cool to see all these unique, special, different people come together and bond. We had the hippie, mormon, really quite girl, really talkative girl, the sassy one, and the jock (all names were concented upon by group members by the way).
And we could not get one decent picture of everyone...
In this past month I have tried to switch to speaking only Swedish and it has been a good experiment. At times it makes me feel so lonely and like I took a vow of silence. But then there are those moments in school where you understand the entire lecture, or someone on the street asks you for directions and you actually understand and can respond, or when you buy something and the cashier askes you questions and you know that she asked if I want my items gift wrapped or just in a bag...It is the icing on the cake; it truly makes your day!
But mostly in this last month I have realized how crutial friends are to your exchange year. I have been trying so hard to invite Swedes over to my house and spend time with them, getting to know them more than just class aquantences, more on a personal level. I have found the days that I have gone christmas shopping and to fika with my friends have been the highlights of my weeks!
Our IKEA shopping trip:
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