Spring Semester 2007

I would like to start off by telling you all how I got here. It took me about 4 months to convince my parents to let me study abroad in another country. I had to bring it up every single day and I started acting more responsible until my parents had no choice but to let me go. They could see how much I wanted it. So they let me apply.

Photo: Jaclyn, Amanda and Katya

When I found out I was accepted I was so excited! I called my friends and told them the good news. Instead of jumping up and down and screaming with me, they sat down and cried. On the last day of school before winter break, they all surprised me with a Swedish soccer jersey, a Swedish flag, Swedish food. Pretty much anything and everything Swedish they could find in sunny California.

As my departure date grew nearer and nearer, I became nervous. However, I focused my time on getting to know my host family via email and asking them what I should bring. They told me it was cold. So I figured "Oh you know... cold is like 60 degrees." And I thought I brought "warm" clothes.

Amanda and her classmates

As soon as I stepped off the airplane, I thought "Oh gosh, what am I doing here? I should be at home in the sun...." And then I saw my host family there waiting for me. They had a sign and they looked so excited. And at that moment, I knew this was exactly where I was supposed to be.

I'm going to be honest; I was pretty homesick the first week. I hadn't started school and I missed the sun. But I live right next to the downtown and there is plenty of shopping, so I bought a bunch of warm clothes and a bright light and pretended I was in the sun! It worked. Then I started school and met my class. They were just as nervous as I was. I knew absolutely no Swedish and they were afraid to use their English. However, within minutes, they were asking me tons of questions about where I come from and why I came to Sweden. It was so exciting!

Photo: Amanda with her host sister, Kajsa

Six weeks have passed now, and I have done tons of things I have never done before. I have touched snow for the first time (I didn't know it would be so cold!!), I have gone sledding, I have gone to a Swedish concert, I have taken a test in Swedish, I have ridden the public bus!, I have walked to school (it is about 1.5 miles away!), I have bartered in Swedish, I have tried fish, I have tried caviar out of a tube, I get lunch for free every day at school.... The list can go on for ages.

But the most important things I have received since being here are patience, appreciation, understanding, a second family, a second home, and friendships that will last a lifetime. Not a day goes by that I don't think I am the luckiest person in the world for getting the chance to be here. My friends have even said I am an "official Swede"

 I know as my departure date approaches, the picture of home becomes more bitter than sweet. I have learned to love my live here in Sweden and just the thought of leaving my life here sends a chill down my back. But I know, when I leave, I will have friends to visit, memories made, an extra home, a new language and most important..... I will have lived not just a dream, but MY dream.

Hejdå!!