Birthdays n' Stuff

Never in a million years would I  have guessed that my twentieth birthday would be spent in Sweden. I was a little sad not to be celebrating it with my boyfriend, friends and family back home, but everyone here made my day so special. Chloe surprised me with this sign, flowers and balloons when I got back from my field trip. It was so sweet! We joked about how I'm finally in the same age bracket  as her (yay for no longer being considered a teenager). Later that night I had a little birthday celebration at Kafé de Luxe with Amy, Elin, Chloe and Christine. I'm so lucky they wanted to help  me celebrate...I'm so blessed to know such great ladies! I loved the cozy, homey feeling of the restaurant, it was so relaxed and right up my alley.

I met another student who was also celebrating her birthday. Birthday buddies :)

I went to the Systembolaget on Friday and made my first (legal) alcohol purchase. Unlike the US, the beer is sold individually so you can mix and match different brands. When it was time to check out I was a little nervous I had my ID all ready to go AND she never even asked for it! 

Even got sung to by my parents! 

After I got back from my birthday dinner, Aki surprised me with the best birthday back message. It felt soooooo good! He is the cutest.

bikes n' beer

The welcome dinner was a formal event for students to have some great food, watch performances and share a lot of laughs! As we were standing in line to get into the building, it started to rain. Everyone was wet and had frizzy hair... well wait maybe thats just me! I had to buy high heels earlier in the day and the only ones I could find were two sizes too big, but I bought them anyway. After dancing and a few drinks, I quickly regretted the purchase. My sweaty feet were sliding around and my pinky toes kept on coming out of the sides of my shoes. Its a miracle I didn't break an ankle. 

dancedancedancedance

kebab pizza. 

I met My local friend family for the first time last week. They are the BEST! They even got me the sweetest birthday gift. I'm excited to spend more time with them and learn swedish culture. 

My class was on an all day excursion exploring the countryside and learning about the Swedish landscape.  I wish field trips happened everyday!

 Every time the bus stopped for more than half an hour, the bus driver had to take a breathalyzer before he could turn on the bus to make sure he hadn't been drinking... I found this very interesting!

For part of the excursion we stopped by a local farm and learned about a typical swedish farm. The smells and sights were really similar to home and reminded me of my grandparents. This farmer had 200 cattle and a bunch of land. I learned that all McDonalds in Sweden use 50% local beef...I'm not sure about the other 50% haha.

Falafel for lunch! Also, first french fries since being here. Man were they good :)

the beautiful plants don't stand a chance for much longer.

 I've been doing a lot of reflecting and journaling of how scared/anxious/nervous I was this summer to study abroad. I compared it to the year I moved to Sioux Falls in third grade and how I cried and cried for the first few months because of the rough transition. I really thought I would have an awful first couple weeks here adjusting to a new environment, and although its had its moments, overall these first 3 weeks have been wonderful. Figuring out how to pay my rent, do my laundry, communicate with non native english speakers etc...has been a little challenging but I'm slowly figuring it all out. I think in a broader scope that this is a good life lesson. You can worry and drive yourself crazy with all the little details, but no matter what everything will work out the way it is suppose to. I'm really trying to embrace this lesson and live in the present each and every moment. I feel my time here is already going by so quickly and I don't want to waste any of it by worrying about the future. Following through with my dreams of studying abroad was the best decision I made. I doubted myself a lot and feared I wasn't ready... but if I ever truly felt ready for it, I probably wouldn't have ever gone. Taking a leap of faith and having a little optimize can really go a long way... you can figure all the little details out later! Thank for reading.

hanna