Halloween is coming!

Hej Hej! Well last night I had a scout meeting where we voted on what project we should do next summer. The options were things like rafting, canoeing, climbing the highest mountain in Sweden, going to Scotland or the USA or England. I think it's cool that we'll be doing something, I just hope we do it before I leave to go back home. We also planned for Halloween. We're going to scare the younger scouts and its going to be great. I don't know what I'm going to do on Halloween, though. I already picked out a costume. Its a funny costume, but not everyone will get the joke. I think that the people who will mostly get it will be exchange students in Sweden. Obviously I'm not going to tell you what it is. Also yesterday I made chocolate covered bananas, with nuts on them. They are really good. This weekend im going to Idol! I'm so excited :D TTYL!

WHAAA....?

Hej! Yesterday I did almost nothing except clean my room, just like I said I would. I also Skyped with my parents and grandparents back home. Did you know that Skype was created by a Swede? He owns his own island here, I saw it a few weeks ago. Anyway, We talked for a while about a bunch of different stuff. There is a 99% chance that my family is going to buy a new house back home. The one we have right now is only a rental, and it's not big enough, so they will get the fun job of packing up all of the stuff I left at home and moving it into a new house. I just hope I get a nice room. Yesterday my host family booked our flights to Amsterdam! Yay!! We're going in the beginning of December and I can't wait! The amazing thing is that for me to go from Stockholm to Amsterdam and back is only $210(1,514 SEK)! I love the prices here. Everybody keeps saying "Don't you hate how everything is so expensive here?" Well I don't think everything is super expensive. But what I do like is how the taxes are already included in the price. If you go to a store in America with only 1 dollar, and you find a candy bar that says 99 cents, you might think you'll have enough. But, nope, in reality the price of it will be over a dollar because of the stupid taxes. Here in Sweden, If something says it's a price, it actually is! Isn't that great? I really love Sweden.

Ett... Två... Tre!

Hej Hej! Today there was a scouting event in Stockholm that I went to. It was kind of a contest. There are a number of stations all very widely spread out and at each one you have to do a different task and you get points. I didn't participate, instead I helped work at one of the stations and I managed the points. Let's just say, it helped A LOT with my Swedish numbers. At my station, the scouts had 8 minutes to make a cup of tea using matches, wood, a bucket, water, a mug, and a tea bag. The points came from how hot they made the water. It was very interesting to watch. the highest temperature a group got to was 96 degrees Celsius. What was great was that the location of our station was at the same place as the YFU Post Arrival Orientation that I went to when I first got here. It was so weird so be there again and see the place that gave me my first impressions of Sweden. I took a bunch of photos and you can find them on my Facebook, because I am way too lazy to put them here. On October 12th, YFU has a mandatory Post Arrival Orientation and I can't wait to see all of my friends again. Tomorrow I'm doing nothing, so maybe I'll just sleep in and then clean my room, I guess. The weather was nice today, even though it rained the rest of the week. I'm really enjoying the rain, It's so beautiful. We're beginning to see the leaves change color and I can't wait for Winter. Some of my friends at school want to celebrate American Thanksgiving with me to see what It's like. I told them about Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and football, and, of course, food. I told them about the Pilgrims and the Native Americans and how when you're in Elementary school you draw turkeys using your hand print. I told them that Pumpkin Pie is my #1 favorite thing about Thanksgiving and they'd never even heard of it. Do they have pumpkins in Sweden? Anyway, It will be weird this year because the fall break is in the end of October, meaning that I will have no school on Halloween but I will have school on American Thanksgiving. It's weird. My friends said that Americans make a big deal about Halloween, compared to Swedes. Maybe I just love it more than Americans. I'm 16 and 3 quarters and yet I still go Trick-or-Treat-ing every single year with my brother, and I ALWAYS dress up. Halloween is my favorite because you can be anything you want to be. I HAVE to dress up this year, but I doubt I'll go Trick-or-Treat-ing :'( My mom told me she is sending me a package of candy and magazines and cupcake stuff. Maybe I'll make some EPIC cupcakes for Halloween. Thanks for reading my blog, I'll write again soon, bye!

Awkward...

Hej you guys, TGIF! Did you guys in the USA know that they have TGI Friday's in Sweden? I haven't been yet. I haven't been to there in years, actually. Well on Wednesday I had Theatre in Stockholm, we're beginning a production of The Tempest, and we got our roles. I play the part of a girl named Adrianne. Which is funny because my middle name is Adrienne. We have only gotten a part of the script, but so far I have about 4 lines! They're all in Swedish(of course), and only a few words, and I haven't translated them yet to figure out what I say. I have no idea who my character even is. She's just some random girl, but I'm okay with it. BTW, I have NOTHING to do this weekend, which is a first for me sense being in Sweden. So if any of you peeps who stalk my blog like its your job are in the Stockholm area, HMU and we can FIKA!! The only reason I haven't posted much this week is because I've been obsessively watching the 3rd season of Awkward. I watched the first two seasons when they came out, but after that my parents blocked MTV from the TV because it was "gross" or something. Well I watched the entire season 3 and I just started season 4. Now the fact that I write a blog feels kind of Jenna-ish.

Its highly addictive. Im kind of obsessed with TV shows. The Vampire Diaries season 6 premiers on October 2nd and I am so excited!!

Okay, okay, now I'm done obsessing. I've been thinking a lot about college and how I have NO idea what college to go to, or if I'll even go to college. Everyone says that you should go to college to get a good career. The only reason I might not go is because I have NO idea what to do with the rest of my life. Its kind of stupid that people expect 18 year olds to know what to do with the rest of their lives... but, then again, some people know who they want to be from a very young age, like Taylor Swift. But take, for example, my sister, Kirsten. She started at NMSU because of the equestrian team there, and she started with a major in English. Then she quit the team and at one point changed her major to business. Then she changed it again to Art. If you had walked around my house and seen the pictures on the wall that my sister drew or took in high school, you would have been able to tell her that she should be an artist or photographer, she just didn't know it yet. Here's a painting she made:

And don't worry, Kirsten won't know that I talked about her because I'm 99% sure that she doesn't read my blog. My sister is just 1 example of people who have no clue what to do for the rest of their lives, like me. But I don't want to switch majors a bunch of times. I don't want to waste my time or my money on something that I don't love. So I think I might wait to start college, just until I'm sure of what I want. I may not know what I want, but I know what I don't want. I don't want to be a cook, or a scientist, or an engineer, or a pilot, or a stripper, or a bouncer, or a therapist. That's good enough, right? Well I'd better go to class... Laters!

Update

I'm not having a very good day. They say not to post what makes you upset or mad, when you're an exchange student, because you don't want to hurt peoples feelings or insult someone. So I won't tell you whats wrong, I'll just tell you what's been happening this week. I went shopping for some stuff to keep me warm this winter, like hats, scarves, and gloves. I went to my scout meeting and we tied knots and made cinnamon buns. Its been raining all week. Thats all I've done this week. Thanks for reading.

Life's a Beach

Hej Hej world, Happy Sunday! I haven't posted all weekend cause I've just been so busy. On Friday night I went to Stockholm and saw Markus Schulz perform. He's a Swedish artist, that only sings Swedish songs. The music was good but I had no idea what the lyrics were. It was really nice, though. On Saturday I went with my family to a really nice place by the shore, I forget what its called though. I ate a tub of Ben & Jerry's cookie dough ice cream and I don't regret it a single bit. We walked around a lot and looked at the water and some really nice old houses. Today I've done absolutely nothing for the first time in weeks. It's really nice. Heres some pics from the weekend.

"Study" Abroad

Hej! :) Im sorry I didn't post yesterday, I wasn't really in the mood and I had nothing to say. Well, happy Torsdag :D Yesterday I went to my Theater group in Stockholm. We did an improv where you have to have long periods of silence, and you have to work with it. My group did an improv with a girl, her 2 boyfriends, and her mother. It was really complicated but basically the story is that the girl introduces her mother to her boyfriend, and then the mother doesn't like him, and then she tells the mother she's pregnant! Then: PLOT TWIST! The girls OTHER boyfriend comes, and she doesn't know who the baby's daddy is. It was really funny, even though I didn't say much except "tack" and "hejdå." I played the first boyfriend of the girl, who was played by my host sister, Veronica. Today I did nothing but school. Tonight I'm going to make crepes/Swedish pancakes. Swedish pancakes and crepes are basically the same thing except that Swedish pancakes are slightly smaller. I'm going to use a crepe recipe tonight, though, just cause I know how to do it. The stupid Metric system keeps tripping me up... Today I was checking the weather and it said 17 Degrees, I thought it was super cold, but It was celsius, obviously :( I wonder why the U.S. doesn't have the Metric System. We're just weird like that, I guess. Today I worked on my U.S. History course online alot. I realized that all my saved worksheets are on the home computer back home in America, and theres no way I'm gonna tell my family my password, so I'll just have to redo it all.

It kinda sucks, but It's alright. :) I have all of Zara Larsson's songs on repeat.

"I can see the world before my eyes, I’ll take the world and make it nice,Just put a cherry on top, leave ‘em on, yeah they never come off." That's a quote from Under My Shades :D I'm kind of bummed out right now :( You guys know when you go see a 3D movie and you get those really cool glasses? Wait- do you guys have that in Sweden?? Anyway, in America at least, you get really cool black 3D glasses. When you're between the ages of 10 and 13, they are the coolest thing EVER. After the movie, you punch out the lenses and wear them.

Well I have some of those in America that I got this summer(Yes I am 16, and I did just say that nobody over 13 does that.), and I wore them a bunch, and now I miss them :( I didn't bring them because I didn't think I would need them, which I don't, but I want them really bad right now. I also want girl scout cookies. So ill talk to you guys tomorrow, probably. Bye! :)

1000??!!!

WOAH I am only 1 view away from having a thousand views! Thank you so much for reading my blog! For some reason I really want someone in Canada to read my blog. If you know any Canadians, send them the link! Actually, If you're a human than you should know some other humans, so you should send them the link to. And while your at it, you might as well post it to Facebook. Tack!! Well today is Tisdag. Yesterday I went to my scout meeting and we talked about what we want to do next summer, and my friends taught me some bad words in Swedish. Next summer the ideas we had were that we might go to Scotland, or the USA, or do some rafting and stuff, or climb the highest mountain in Sweden, or we might do something completely awesome and rent a place to build the biggest fort ever and live in it for a week. I really hope that whatever we do, we do it in the beginning of the summer so that I'll be here. And I hope that I'll have enough money to go. The AMAZING thing is that the movie The Giver is in theaters right now, and I wanted to see it, but last night I found it online on Movhunter.net and watched it. I saved myself like $20! I know that at some point I'll go see a movie here in Sweden, even though its expensive, just for the experience. I'll probably see 50 Shades of Grey when it comes out in February. The strange thing is that when you see a movie like 50 Shades of Grey, should you go alone or with people? What if it gets really awkward sitting with people? Do you look at them? Do you awkwardly laugh it off? What if people think you're weird because you're alone? Do you look at them? Do you just stare at the screen, thinking "How does he do that??". Maybe you just shouldn't go at all. Yesterday Zara Larsson came out with her new song called Rooftop and I am in love, so go listen to it, right now. Why? Because Zara Larsson, that's why. Why does it always feel like I'm advertising stuff? Like movhunter.net, Zara Larsson, next thing you know I'll be telling you to go eat a jar of Nutella. But, if your like me, you don't need to be told. I feel like that woman that Truman marries in that movie The Truman Show. She's always advertising stuff. Today was picture day in school, and I hadn't even known about it. I really didn't want to take pictures but I just told myself "You will look back at these photos your whole entire life. So you better smile." And then I did. I hope I look okay with my Arizona T-shirt, sweatpants, and ponytail. Well I hope you guys have a great Tisdag, talk to ya later!! Byee!

IKEA

Hej world, I now have viewers in Turkey, Estonia, and Germany, too!! Yay!! Today is Sunday, the 14th of September. I've been in Sweden for exactly one month and a day! Can you believe it?? Yesterday I went with my host family to look at some dogs, and I baked an AMAZING cookie cake. I can practically feel myself getting fatter... Today I went with my family to Ikea!! YAY!! They bought a LOT of stuff, and I wanted to buy the whole store! But I had to focus on what I need, not what I want. I ended up buying some storage containers for my school papers and YFU papers, and a apple scented candle. I only spent a little less than 4 dollars(27 kronor)!! I saw this amazing bed sheet that had the Swedish alphabet on it and I fell in love! My host family was nice enough to buy it for me, can you believe that?? YAY!!! Then I met up with my YFU representative and had dinner with her, her boyfriend, and her son and his girlfriend. It was really fun. There are many people in Sweden that don't know where New Mexico is in America. I tell them its in between California and Texas. I cleaned my room really well yesterday. For the first time sense I got here my room looks nice! Yeah, so, thats pretty much it... ttyl!! byee

FREDAG

Hej you guys, I realized I haven't posted at all today, so I am typing this while im watching Idol.(Swedish Idol is just called "Idol"). So today is Fredag!! TGIF! Today I was really happy because I went to school at 9:45, only had one class, and then I got to go home! I got home at around 11ish, then I sat on the couch and did...well, nothing. I took a really long nap, which was awesome! I woke up, watched some TV, and had dinner with my host family. I'm really excited because my family got Nutella at the store today!!! YAY!!! This morning when I wake- woah. I just said wake instead of woke! My English is getting bad already! - when I WOKE up, it was very cloudy outside, and all of a sudden I though "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" Then I thought "Cloudy With a Chance of Swedish Meatballs". It was so funny, I guess you just had to be there. My host family said that the names of movies in English were cooler than in Swedish. Theres one movie that, in Swedish is "familjetrippen", which is directly translated to "Family Trip", but, in English the movie is We're The Millers. Weird, right? My host family were talking about a movie they had seen last year, but they didn't know the name of it in English, so they described it to me as a movie with 3 girls, a big man, and yellow people. I had no idea what it was. I was picturing a mix of the Powerpuff girls and yellow Avatars. Turns out they were talking about Despicable Me. Weird, right? In case you don't understand what I did today...

There you go, that was my day :) I have a tip for all you exchange students out there, if your tired all the time like me. If your host family asks why you're always tired, say you're still getting over jet lag. It doesn't matter if you've been there one day, or 10 months, just do it, trust me. Well I guess thats all today... Have a nice day, TTYL.