After Exchange

Rafting the Niobrara River
So this is my life now... long night Skype dates with my best friends from all over the world!
Voyage~ A long journey involving travel by sea or in space.

Europa Resa

“Even though we've changed and we're all finding our own place in the world, we all know that when the tears fall or the smile spreads across our face, we'll come to each other because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will ever change so much to the point where we're not all still friends.” ♥

This quote truly explains my 18 day adventure across, and the picture above, just tops it off.

Those 3 people there are my best friends... yes 18 days is enough time for a person to become truly connected...

Now that I am home, and have been home for almost 2 weeks now... my life contains working.. and late night skype calls!

So my Europe tour started in Malmö Sweden went on to Denmark, then to Germany, where we went to Berlin, then to Cracow Poland- then Prague Czech Republic- then to Salzburg (Mozarts home Town) and Zell am See in Austria- then to Lido De Jesolo and Venice in Italy,- the To Chambery and Paris France- then to Brussels Belgium- and then one last stop in Germany, because we made our way back to Sweden.

I have to say my favorite place in Europe was Paris! Such a beautiful city!

This was in Venice, our way of transportation for the day!! Amazing!!! The only bad thing was the heat!! I felt the urge to jump of the gondola into the water!

Prague- Czech Republic!! What happens in Prague stays in Prague!!!

And Germany... this was after we walked a good 2 hours to find this part of the Berlin Wall.. just to write our names on it!!

Totally worth it! I can now say my name is on the Berlin wall!!! :D

Over-all that was the best 18 days of my life... and the best year of my life!!

So many memories that I will never forget... life long friends!! I love you all! Thanks for such a great trip!!

Snart Slut

Almost Over!

So my exchange year is almost over!! I only have about 3 weeks left in which I will be spending traveling around Europe! Berlin, Germany- Cracow, Poland- Prague, Czech Republic- Salzburg & Zell Am See, in Austria- Lido Di Jesolo & Venice in Italy- Chambéry & Paris, France- Brussels, Belgium- and then once last stop through Germany! I am actually leaving today, in a few hours, and I thought before I leave might as well update you on my busy week!!

So this picture above is from Midsommar, and holiday in Sweden when we celebrate the midnight sun, (which is really cool.. but makes you tired after a while, because then the sun rises also very EARLY in the morning!) But it makes up for the very DARK winter season!

So we all make crowns of flowers, and danced around a midsommar pole! It was really cool to experience such a celebration over the sun! We spent the week at my family's summer cottage, which is right on the beach! So that was nice!

This was someone's midsommar pole, it was actually the most traditional midsommar pole that we found!
Also, my friend Maud came down to visit me, she is from France! This is a picture outside out summer cottage, my host sister Mikaela found a jelly fish!
It seems so crazy for me, so just be living abroad... there is so many things that I will treasure from this year! Surprisingly, still after almost 1 year living in Sweden I find things that BLOW MY MIND! Like the fact that I can just go outside walk around the beach, and find a jelly fish from the Ocean!

Lately people have been asking me things like

1. Will I miss sweden? And if so what will I miss most?

2. Am I excited to go home?

&

3. What are my plans for the future?

So here are your answers..

1. DUH! I will miss Sweden... so so so much! I feel totally like this is my home now... Mostly I will miss my host family, who have been so great to me this year, I am so glad that my rotary club put me where I am... which brings me to my rotary club.. who have also been a family to me this year, they have been so welcoming even from the very beginning! And my sponsor person Peter, is probably the nicest man I have ever met! I will never forget him! With out him, I don't think this year would have been as fabulous as it really was! So Tack så mycket Peter!

Also I think I will miss the ocean, and the 15 minute ferry ride to Helsingør Denmark... with always and AMAZING VIEW!

2. I am not super excited to go home.. only because I love it so much here... but I do miss my family a lot, so I am excited to be able to see them again!

3. I am so glad I got to go on this exchange, one of the reasons I wanted to do it, was because I had no idea what my future plans where, but now I am absolutely sure, that I want to work with languages, and I want a job that will allow me to travel A LOT!

When I get home, I think I will start learning other languages, but also keep studying Swedish!

I think everyone should get the opportunity to live overseas, and if you ever decide yes, and exchange is for me, I HIGHLY recommend do go with Rotary, it is such a great program! It was honestly an experience I would never trade anything for!

Grattis på Födelsedag!!!

So this week has been my 'birthday week' and my friend Kristen (from Canada who is living as an exchange student in the upper part of Sweden) has shlepped all the way down to skåne to see me!!! :) So these pictures show a little bit of what we have been doing this week!! The one above was when we visited Copenhagen Denmark, it was really nice to be able to just walk all around the city taking pictures of the nice buildings!

This picture is right outside of a town in Denmark which was suggested to use that we see before we leave Europe... and it defiantly was something that I won't forget, no matter how hard I try. Christiania is a 'free' town, where you have no cost of living, or building rent... pretty much poverty central, it was actually kind of sad to see, but it made me very grateful for what I have back home.

It was mostly an artsy town, that had very much graffiti, and very 'hippie like.' Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures in this town, so this is right before entering.
Monday: I had yet another Rotary meeting, except this time I WAS THE SPEAKER... and I gave a speech about my life, and my year as an exchange student... oh did I mention that I gave this entire 35 minute speech all in Swedish!! ( A language that I have only been studying for about 11 months!!

And then my birthday!!!! :) My host parents surprised me by inviting my Rotary contact person, and his wife, whom are 2 of my favorite people that I have met in Sweden to far! Peter, and his wife Ana, are actually going to visit me in Paxton Nebraska in October! I am so excited that I have met them, and even more excited that they want to see my life in USA! I just want to say it was one birthday I will NEVER forget!
Yes... this is how my night ended! FULL MOON OH YEAH!! This full moon, and every other full moon, reminds me of my dad and our night bike rides, which I am looking forward to coming home too, in about 1 month... yes 1 month only I have left... I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!! I think they time has really gone TOO fast, I would love to stay longer... but then YOU ALL WOULD JUST GET POSTS ABOUT EUROPE! I will be continuing to blog about all of my other adventures, starting with my European tour which begins in 1 WEEK!!!!! Germany- Poland- Czech Republic- Austria- Italy- France- and Belgium!!

Fast rides!

So this is what I got picked up in today for my Rotary meeting... WOW! A ferrari!

When he told me I was going to be picked up in a ferrari, I didn't think much of it... but this car was FAST!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love being an exchange student??

A little bit more?

So this is another picture from the Ice Hotel, these are the cups that they use at the bar... yes made of ice!! You can only drink hard alcohol in them, or else the ice will melt! And no I did not buy an almost 30 US dollar drink! Crazy prices... but it is the Ice Hotel!!

Another view from the entrance of the Ice Hotel!

25 hour train rides really get to you... after the first like 2 hours!!!

This is another (very athletic ) town we visited, called Abisko, very popular national park for skiing and in the summer, hiking of even biking! I think I will for sure go back there!!
This is just a small map of how far up in Sweden we actually went!! haha.. yea very long trip!!

A trip above the Arctic Circle!

So last week I got back from a week long trip to a small Village called Kiruna, in Sweden. It is about 100 Km above the Arctic Circle, and is known for the famous Ice Hotel. Which is from the picture above. From where I live in Sweden, (Helsingborg) it took us 24 hours by train to get to Kiruna! What a trip!! So the first day we arrived we went straight to the Ice Hotel, and that night I was so tired from the long trip that I went straight to bed....but not before I got a beautiful view of the Aurora Borealis (The Northern Lights) This entire trip, was one that I will defiantly never forget, Kiruna was one of my favorite places I have been to in Sweden. It was such a great trip, with many long lasting memories and some awesome friends I made during that week, from all over the world! I am so thankful that Rotary let us go on this trip, and let us have the opportunity to meet all the other exchange students around Sweden!

So Kiruna is known for the mining for iron, and we actually got to go 700 meters down into one of these mins, it was quite scary actually, but lots of cool information! This is a picture in front of one of the machines.

The other things we got to do on the trip besides what I mentioned above is... we actually went out on a frozen lake (that was so frozen deep, you could drive a train across it!) we split into groups, and learned to start a fire on snow, we got to drive snowmobiles, and we did some team races! We also went sledding, and a tour of the town of Kiruna, before we had to say our goodbyes!

This is another awesome picture from the Ice Hotel, it was amazing to see how much detail was put into every different room!

This was on of the days that all of us exchange students (may I mention this is only half of the group, there was about 60 of us exchange students this week) went to a small town called Narvik, in NORWAY! I have to say, that Norway has some amazing nature, and beautiful mountains. It is defiantly a place I will want to come back to in the future!

The Lappland gates in Norway. Just another great view!!!

A Visit from Home!

So last week, I would have to say was the best part of my exchange ever! Above... answers that why? question. My mom, brother and sister flew all the way from Nebraska into Copenhagen Denmark, to spend the week with me! I have to say after almost 8 months without them, it felt really good to huge them again!

During this week, I tried to show my family a little bit of the culture here, and also my day to day life! We took a short tour around Skåne (where I lived) I took them to the bigger city of Malmö, also the twin city to Helsingborg which is in Denmark Helsingør.

This picture was taken, while we were on the ferry (more like cruise ship my mom thought) on our way to Denmark, yes there was a fancy or elegant restaurant on this ship, where you could ' take a load off' and have a nice dinner. Ours included pea soup ( a typical swedish soup) with shrimps and lobster, our appetizer was a big variety of salmon! I think this was one of my favorite times with my family! Just as I was shocked too see how close Denmark and Sweden were, my family got to share in that amazement!
This was my family's first lunch in Sweden, and just as I did when I was first here, they wanted to 'try it all!!' So we had, TONS OF BREAD, some caviar, raw salmon, crayfish salad spread, a red beet salad spread, anchovies, big varieties of cheeses and olives. Oh, and surprisingly my mom liked the 'overly strong European coffee' Glad she got to also bring some home with here!
Oh how I had missed my mom so much, and now I miss her again, all I know is that I only have a little less than 5 months left, and I sure will enjoy what little time I have left here, and then be excited to go back home to my family... then in months to come, I will want to come BACK to Sweden! I was just glad I got to spend that week with my family! It made me happy that there first time abroad was to see me!! & I am really glad I got to show them where I have been living for the last 8 months!

Love you guys, and see you soon!
Our trip around Skåne this picture was taken in a small yet beautiful town called Mölle.

So whats new you ask??

So whats new? My mom, sister and brother are coming in 8 days! There will be a big post about that! I am very excited to see them! Also I have booked my tickets to Kiruna which is very far up in the north of Sweden, and there I shall go see the Ice Hotel, which I am sure most of you have heard about! Also I have changed families, and this has been a big difference! But it has all been good so far! I know have to host sisters at the age of 15, and 13, and also 2 host parents, who are great cooks! There other daughter is on exchange in Japan now! So this picture above is from when we visited my host aunt. She lived very far away, in the middle of skåne somewhere, and she had 5 cats, and 1 dog. Here is a picture of the dog, and beside it a fire stove thing, which she had only 2 of these that heated the whole house! It was a little cold! But very cool way, of saving energy and money!
This is my new house in Laröd, which is about a 20 minute bus ride to Helsingborg.
Another picture of the kitchen.
And this is a picture of my new room!
This is a picture of when I just visited my old host family, and took the dog for a walk. As my new house family has no pets, so I was very happy to get to go on a walk with Isa, my old host dog! :)

New Year's Ski Vacation~ Sälen Sweden

So these are a bit late, and yes I feel bad for delaying this post but I have been super busy! Its Christmas break, and here's whats new! Well besides spending Christmas and New Year's in a foreign country, you have all of the goodbyes, to the older and (wiser) exchange students who are leaving after New year, and some before Christmas.. and as of tomorrow I will be living in another family! Yes I have spend 5 months in this family that I am now, and tomorrow I will change, if you post a comment below asking if I am nervous, I will for sure answer YES! I mean I have been living with this family now for 5 months, I know where everything goes after you clean, I know the house chores, I am used to the family now, and then what happens.. "Oh hey Dakota your moving here soon!" It kind of just runs in and hits you in the face, like a baseball bat.

So right now I am staring down at 6 full bags, (yes 6, how did that happen when I only came over with 2??) I am smelling carrot soup, ( my fav that my host mom is making me for my last dinner here) And thinking, I wonder what there going to be like?? Awesome I am sure! :D

Another upcoming event... 6 weeks, and my mom, brother and little sister will be visiting me in Sweden!! Of course I am highly excited for that! I miss my family so much back home! So it will be really nice to see them for a week! Plus its the first time any of them have been over seas! How cool is that!

Its so weird for me to think I am the first one in my family that has gone to a different country.. and for a year! It doesn't even seem likes its been 5 months!! Time flies!!

So above is the first of many pictures from my ski vacation in Sälen, which is in the North of Sweden, please be aware it was my first time skiing (xc) and I kicked butt! It was so much fun! I got a hang of xc perfectly, but was to afraid to try downhill! It was fairly cold up there, about -15 to -20 everyday! Wait one day it got -9! I so felt like I was on the beach that day!! NOT.. but its not bad when you have the right kind of clothes to wear!
So here was a downhill ski place, I only got to take this picture, because it was right next to the store where we bought food for the week.

The view.. No I didn't get to see the Northern lights, but this was the next best thing!

And again, it was so beautiful, this weekend really made my think of how lucky I am to be able to be here, and have such great parents back home, and here (my host parents) I really am thankful for all the adventures I am have been able to do here, and hope to return someday with my family, especially my dad, who I think would love this place!

OH hey dad, and in the summer they have extreme mountain bike trails and event going on! Plus canoeing too!!

God Jul

Everything looks a little different with some snow on it! This is a picture from behind the bus stop, in spring it might have some nice flowers, lots of leaves on the trees, but after you have an intense snow storm for a full day and through the night, this is what it looks like! Kinda nice huh? Well as I was walking home from a friends house, I thought it would be a great picture, and reminded me of my dad! & as you can probably tell its still snowing a little! Which means we are defiantly having a white Christmas over here in Sweden! God Jul everybody! (Merry Christmas)

The Gingerbread house my host sister made, along with the advent candles, and the nice background (through the window) A little touch of snow can really light the Christmas spirit! Even if you are 5,000 miles away from home missing your family! For me the snow makes it all worth while! Hopefully when we got up to the North after Christmas for some skiing, I will get to see the Northern lights! Wouldn't that be something?!?
These pictures are from the Christmas decorations in the city, this is 1 of the christmas trees but the main christmas tree is still the best, maybe because it is so huge!
And here is is, the main Christmas tree, located right in front of the Kärnan Castle.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!

GOD JUL!

Copenhagen Denmark

The bridge from Sweden to Denmark, it actually goes under the water too!! It takes like maybe 30/45 minutes to cross this bridge! It is over 13,000 feet long!!
Now in Copenhagen Denmark! This is like the city center clock tower, quite similar to the one in Helsingborg Sweden which is my town!
This is the Queens Castle, their were 3 castles all next to each other, one for the queen, one for the king, and one for the Prince. On this picture there was a flag waving above, that indicated that the queen was home while I took this picture!!! But she was not so nice to invite us in for Fika :( But whenever the flag is up, it means that the Queen/ King/ Prince is home.
The Tivoli, it is one of the World's great amusement parks. During Christmas season (when I went) there was great display of Christmas decorations, and hand made candies!
The Little Mermaid- I didn't know that a Danish man wrote this story. But this statue just had gotten back from China, so we were in great time to see it!