2024-25, Amelia outbound to Sweden

My exchange so far has been an awesome experience. I cried a few times in the airport when I was leaving but was so glad to arrive. I met my host mom, Marit and my host sister, Felicia, and our neighbors. I got to tour my school before classes started and it’s like a mansion but now that I’ve started actually going there every day I can find my way around really easily. Katedralskolan is almost 1000 years old and the first king of Sweden was a student here.
I went to an introduction camp where I met almost 40 of my fellow inbounds in Sweden and I made some great friends. We spent a week being tutored on Swedish culture before we were turned loose to learn it for ourselves in Sweden. I’ve since met up with some of my exchange friends I’m Stockholm and made more during that same trip. I’m pretty sure that they don’t know how to find these blog posts so I’m going to advertise that some of us are planning a surprise birthday party for the next time we meet up for language tutoring because two of them have had birthdays since we last saw each other. I still need to get cake making ingredients and my card with Rotary money isn’t working even though the money is on it so I’m still relegated to using my US credit card.
In school I’ve made a great group of friends. I sat with Ellen on the first day and so now I’m hanging out with her friend group of Ebba, Astrid, Ingva, Miranda, and I still can’t remember two of their names which is embarrassing because we’ve been friends for two weeks. They’ve been really nice and helpful and have took me shopping at stores near our school and have brought me baked goods from home to introduce me to Swedish foods and desserts. They’ve involved me with the planning for parties counting down to graduation because I’m in the final year of school here.
I’m in the nature science program which was fun to discover is a thing here. I like the idea of having classes tailored to your interests. You have the same class of people for all of your classes so you have the chance to make really close friends. So far the best part of the classes here is that I already know the material for over half of them so I can use them as a review where I learn Swedish vocabulary. Classes are also on a schedule that changes day to day and week by week so there’s a variety in what you do. Also, homework isn’t a thing in Sweden.
My host family is awesome. Marit is always looking to learn more about people and tell stories and help others and Felicia likes to do art and help the community. I met my host brother Joel before he left for Michigan and he was awesome. He was really excited to meet his host family. He is really thoughtful and since he knew that I was going to have his room, he painted to walls for me. Right after the introduction camp, I went to Falun where my host family has a summer house. There I met siblings and cousins and uncles and aunts. I have an older host sister who lives in Germany who gave me chocolate and jackets because I was expecting summer weather and my cold weather stuff is still in my suitcase but it feels like October to my Florida bones. There were sixteen of us at Falun because we were having an end of summer crawfish party (I’m allergic to crawfish but the quiche was delicious so it was great). We sang Snaps (traditional verses sung before drinking enjoyed by underage folks via soda shots) and laughed and I got to know so many people. Everyone was so inviting and I really felt like I was a part of the family when I was helping with preparing the food.
Yesterday I went sailing in the rain in 14 degree weather with inadequate clothing for the weather so while it was fun and I enjoyed having the wind in my hair, I totally caught a cold and sit here writing this with hot chocolate in hand. Bright side: Swedish hot chocolate is Amazing.
Overall, exchange has been fun and I’m looking forward to more!