Hej Hej!! 

I'm back finally, and ready to tell you about the past 2 weeks. 

So after my last post I had an ordinary week in an extraordinary place. I went to school which is fun in itself; getting hot food everyday is great and everyone is super nice to me, but after school is when I had the most fun. I played soccer in -5°C on Monday, ventured into Stockholm for Max (the Swedish equivalent of McDonalds) and traveled around Gamla Stan (Stockholm's Old Town) on Wednesday and then on Friday I left school early to get ready to go Skiing in Orsa. I packed my ski clothes as well as a weeks worth of clothes and then drove the 4-5hrs North to the ski fields.

I did okay. 

I struggled with stopping.

I fell once.

Snow doesn't taste half bad.

But I had a ball so it made up for all the snow eating. Samantha (the exchange student from Florida) was in the same situation I was in, coming from a similar climate to Australia, so we stuck together as ski buddies, keeping tabs on one another.

Where we stayed while skiing in Orsa. Ryssagarden.

The next day (Sunday the 2nd) the weather dramatically changed. The temperature went from -6-8°C on Saturday to +4°C on Sunday. This creates what the Swedes call kräm snö or hug snow in English. This is the kind of snow you see in movies, perfect for snow balls and building things. And so that's what we did. The whole morning. 

The parents decided that the best idea was to take the 9 exchange students, many of whom had not seen snow like this before, for a walk through the snow to look at the scenery. After many snowballs and falls in the snow we reached a large open field and decided that we were over walking and would make a snowman instead. 

Sam and I cradling the base

Daniel and I rolling the Base

The Gang with our Snowman

I'm 182cm tall, we guessed his height at about 210cm

"RYE 2014" - Rotary Youth Exchange 2014

Our snowman waiting on a promotion, he is outstanding in his field

After much snow shenanigans, it was time for me to head off to Language and Orientation Camp in Bollnäs. For those unfamiliar with Swedish geography, Bollnäs can only be described by the Australian term, "Beyond the Black Stump." Once there and united with the other new exchange students to Sweden (known as Newbies) from Australia, New Zealand and Argentina, we headed off to bed ready for the next day. Classes began on Monday at 9am with basic Swedish and some cultural things we should be aware of. That day did not end until about 3am the next morning. I think we were a little excited to meet each other. Much of the week went on the same with random activities thrown in; the next day we went ice fishing and that night we attended a concert, the following day we visited a local school and on Thursday we visited the local government office. Each night however was filled with fun and laughter. The first few nights we sat and talked, played music and card games as well as the occasional Max run, ice slide on the frozen lake and late night fika.

My beautiful snow angel on the lake

Learning how to Ice Fish from a pro

On the last night, Rotary organised a little break-up party for our group and so they took us to the local ski slope for some fun. Fun included Swedish pancakes (Fläskpannkaka), Swedish Cordial and Pulka (Tobogganing). After the festivities we headed back to the accommodation to pack and get ready to leave the next day.

The lake through the trees (way over in the back there)

The amazing people I met on Language Camp

I've done so much already it's hard to imagine what else I can possibly get up to while here for a whole year, though I'm yet to go skiing in France, that's booked on the 22nd, so we'll see how it goes... I might just develop a taste for snow...

Until then, here's me, signing off, 

The Swedish Adventurer.