I've finally gotten around to posting about my post-departure adventures since I have arrived here. It's officially been two weeks from Saturday that I arrived here in Norsholm...and I can't believe it is already September! In these last two weeks, I have watched late summer slowly turn into the beginnings of autumn as the breeze is more crisp, and the morning and evening air is a piercing cold that doesn't accompany the smooth, summer breezes. That's not to say that we still aren't experiencing our fair share of beautiful summer-like weather. The report this week is projecting sunny skies (other than today) and temperatures upwards of 75 degrees (Farenheit)! We are happy for that. I have already experienced the ups and downs of moving to a new place and settling in. My first challenge was an old friend that arrived who always seems to come and keep me company when I have just moved somewhere new. This is the same friend that visited me the first three weeks of school at Willamette freshman year, and the same friend who payed me a visit during my first two weeks while settling into my life abroad in Uppsala....this is the friend who makes me sick. Not just a simple throat cold sick, but rather a full fledged fever, soar throat, runny nose, and this time the ever loved nausea and throwing up. I think I had a 24 hour bug as my first Saturday here I was in bed all day. I caught a nasty cold as well that lasted about a week and a half. I know that picking up and moving is both emotionally and physically stressful, but I was hoping I'd be spared this time. Luckily the worst of it only lasted about a day and a half and I have since recovered. In the mean time, I have taken to exploring both Norrköping and Linköping, trying to take some university classes (to no avail), playing with Valter and going on our daily afternoon walks through the country side, making home made apple sauce from the apples we picked, attempting to master a wonderful bread recipe, mushroom picking, and going to Stockholm for the weekend this past weekend.
Stockholm was great. We had a lot of fun, and all of us were eager to get away and see something new.....the big city. On both Friday and Saturday Anna-Carin (my host mom), Valter, and I spent our days walking through the city and strolling through small shops as well as big name stores. We met Filip (my host dad) for lunch on Saturday after an intensive fitness test to get him ready for the NYC marathon in November, and then we headed to meet with their friends for dinner that night. We stayed with Filip's eclectic and outgoing sister who we sadly weren't able to spend much time with. Sunday morning Anna-Carin, Valter, and I walked around the famous Söder (Girl with the Dragon tattoo, most notably) and then went to the Fotografiska museum where they had three beautiful exhibitions of very different kinds of photography. I'd been there once before, and I love it every time I go. We then met up with Anna-Carin's friend from university for a thanksgiving style hotel all-you-can-eat brunch where we ate so much it was painful to walk, and we weren't hungry for a solid 4 hours after. The food, as you can tell, was delicious, and we kept going back for more. We then drove home, ate a light dinner, and finished the night in our onesies (well, Anna and I), drinking tea, and watching our new favorite series....Broadchurch.
So far I've made two friends in the area who are also au pairs from Germany and Austria, and we've planned to meet up again this week with more au pairs in the city possibly to watch soccer, or enjoy a fika. Soon I start Swedish class where I will begin a daily routine of going into the city, going to class, and hopefully meeting some more people....not to mention learning some more Swedish!!
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