Week 15 At SVF

November 26th - December 3rd

The days leading up to the trip to Stockholm went by slowly. Naps were abundant and Christmas songs started to be played.

Sondag, Jack, Kajsa and I were invited to eat lunch at my roommates house. We got up, and walked to her house which was very close to campus. When we got there, we were greeted by her mother who offered to take our coats. We were introduced to her father, mother and her younger sister who were all very pleasant and wonderful to be around. We went and sat down at the table for lunch. There was a meat dish with potatoes, carrots, salad, bread with cheese and a wonderful home-made red currant jam. For dessert we were served a chocolate mousse with cream. There was also pepparkakor with coffee. It was a wonderful meal and I was very excited about spending more time with Linnea and meeting her family. After we were done with lunch we walked back to school where Kajsa, Jack and I decided we needed to work more on our homework for the week coming up so we read the book we were assigned for Scandinavian Culture class. After we read and took notes together Jack and I decided to go get dinner. We walked down to the pizza place near campus, ate and then walked back in the pouring rain to watch the last episode of Stranger Things. Måndag morning we woke up early for our Swedish class. We learned how to ask questions and answer them in Swedish. In Mediterranean World we were given the option to take a test or write a paper on Ancient Greece. I decided to write a paper, so I took the prompt we were given, and started typing in the waiting area outside the classroom. In our Swedish night class we were read a Christmas book in Swedish and Jack even got a chance to read to those who showed up! There was pepparkakor and godis to eat while we listened to the book. It was a very cozy night class. Tisdag we woke up early and went to the second day of Swedish class. We talked more about professions and had a test in the plurals of words we have learned in the past. After lunch we had our Comparative Politics class, where Jeevan and Gabriel gave the final presentation on their country; the Philippines. We then had our usual weekly meetings with the whole college line where we helped the Swedes with their classes more. i got this time to finalize my schedule for the next semester at North Park. After our meetings I was feeling rather tired and run down so I decided to sleep for a little bit before going down to dinner. Onsdag we had religion class after breakfast. Today, we discussed the hashtag me too. The boys (including John) went in a different room to have their own discussion while the girls had their private discussion. Around half hour left in class, the boys rejoined our group and we talked about our private discussions as a whole group. After religion class we had fika and then Comparative Politics where, in our pairs, we answered the remaining questions we had on our past countries. After this, we discussed how the next round of presentations would go. After lunch, I felt like I was having a rather rough couple of days, so I decided to go spend some time in the prayer room. I was in there for a while. When I came out I went back to my room to wait for Axel to be ready to work more on our presentation for South Africa. When we met, we decided to meet in Matsalan, work and then go to dinner. After dinner, Axel and I decided to go to the music room, as he wanted to hear my play clarinet (which I have not played in a while). After this I went back to my room and worked more on the paper I needed to write for Mediterranean History class. Torsdag morning after breakfast we had Scandinavian History class where we talked more about the royal family. In our Comparative Politics class, Rachelle invited someone from the Feminist party in Sweden to come speak about the party. After this class, I said goodbye to Jack and Jonatan as they would be leaving for Falun at lunch. After lunch we had Creativity, where I continued to knit the hat I was working on. That night, I had to do my laundry as I would be leaving for Stockholm with David the next day. Fredag morning, we woke up to the realization that we would be doing the circle work out again in P.E. This was the activity that made everyone incredibly sore afterwards. After we got to shower and drink some water, we had Mediterranean History, however, this class was cut short as there was a celebration of Advent in Mansalan. Directly after the service, David and I had to run to catch our bus. We stopped at ICA for lunch and then headed to the bus station. When we got to Stockholm we, walked by Louise's house and then to Davids house where I would be staying for the next three nights. When we got there, we ate dinner with his incredibly nice family and then watched a movie upstairs. We had plans to go out and meet Kajsa and Olivea, but we were all so tired from P.E and traveling that we decided to stay in and sleep. Lordag morning we woke up early to meet Kajsa and Olivea in the city. Davids uncle worked with the Royal Palace and said that he could get us in to see the stables and the Christmas market. We picked them up from Louise's house and then headed to the city. We went to the stables, saw all the horses and then went to the Christmas market where we got to try Reindeer, Moose, Roasted Pork and a type of Champagne Honey which was all amazing. We bought some Christmas gifts for our families and friends and then decided to meet up with Axel and walk around Gamla Stan which was the old town and a rather touristy area. After we walked around for a bit we decided to get some lunch at a cheap place. We went to Max and ate some food before heading back to Gamal Stan for a bit and then going home. When we got back to Davids house, we ate dinner and then decided to go out and meet one of Davids friends. We went to a place called Paddys and got a beer, however it was rather loud because it was Karaoke night so we left and went to a different bar nearby which was really nice. We sat and talked with Adam (Davids friend) for a while before going home rather late and going to bed to get ready for rock climbing the next day.