Almost 4 Weeks In (about 5 minutes) Pt. 1

So...This is a brief account of what has happened thus far...

I arrived totally lagged of jet in the JFK airport and was quickly whisked away to a totally sweet 1 1/2 star hotel. For the next 36 hours, the AFS volunteers proceeded to beat into my head; the need for communication with AFS, and how vital it was to not go on facebook. They also didn't feed us anything for the first 1o or so hours we were in the hotel...Pretty shitty.
Anyway, after accomplishing absolutely nothing in pre-camp (except meeting the other U.S. exchange people going to Sweden) I left for Sweden. After an 8 hour plane ride, most of which was spent blacked out from some sleeping medication, the groggy Americans landed in the Stockholm airport at 6 A.M. local time. At the airport we met the Kiwis (New Zealand folk) who all talked like racecars and said every other word in slang. So, basically, I didn't understand a single word. Even though we speak the same language. Except I did receive a complement on my ACCENT! Super juiced on that one!
At the odd hostel/summer vacation place we were staying at, I got to meet 1 metric assload of people from all over the world (NZ, Italy, Brazil, Iceland, Thailand, France, China, Switzerland, etc.) who were in a similar situation to myself. It was a big relief to meet all these people, because I found that I'm actually a relatively outgoing person, and found it pretty easy making friends, even if I could only speak broken English wiht most people. I did feel super lame though, because I (with the other Americans/NZ) was one of the only people there who couldn't speak another language. The camp was also nice because I got to FINALLY talk to some Swedish people, who could actually tell me what life might be like for the next year. I got super excited when I found out that at the end of the school year there would be a period of time where all I was going to do was party. It's a special thing where small groups of friends will get together, rent out a club, and throw a themed party! This happens around 3-4times a week for more than a month! FUCKING SICK! Then, I was thrown into the life of the Olofssons...

My Mom, Inga-Maj, is everything I could have hoped for. She is loving, a great cook, supportive for almost anything I do, and is hell-bent on getting me to learn Swedish. My Dad, Jan (pronounced "yawn"), is basically a big kid. He curses every other word, loves Tower of Power, makes sure I don't spend too much time in the house, and is just a total goofball. My brother, Jacob, is basically a calmer reincarnation of my host dad. He was the one I spent the most time with in the first few days and was really friendly and patient with my slow adjusting. My sister, Stina, is very nice, inviting, and VERY sarcastic. Sometimes I'm not sure if I bother her or not, but I think things are going well. She was very kind and inviting the first week and a half of my stay. She was essentially a Godsend because she lat me be a total leech and introduced me to some cool people who, at the moment, are the only people I really hang out with outside of school.

School (Ruddbeckskolan) for me resides in a part of Sollentuna (My town) about 15 minutes away by bike. There are about 2000 students all of which sort of seem to fit into five general categories; Goths, Slutty Secretaries, Nerds, Skaters (indie), and Other. The way people dress here is pretty different. People get HELLA into the whole fashion/style thing. They really seem to think that what you wear defines who you are. Also, most people dress much more formally. Girls ALWAYS wear makeup, and about 50-60% of them wear high heels just about everyday (even when it's cold and rainy).
When people say that Swedish people are reserved, they are not kidding. Almost everyone in the school is NOT friendly in the least. I've tried to start conversations, but they just about always turn into an awkward interview. Especially with the guys. I don't know if I'll ever have friends in school who are guys. Only about 4 in my English class will even acknowledge my prescence, and they are super tight and funny. I mean, I'm not complaining that the girls are easier to chat with, it's just the exact opposite of what I'm used to.

I'm going to dedicate this paragraph of silence to the women of Sweden. The white pixels you are about to look at is the best way I can describe the awesome, jaw-dropping, erectifying (don't even know if that's a word) perfection of the Swedish female, who's very presence seems to brighten all colors, lightly sprinkle the air with specks of gold and cloud your vision with vivid imagery of nymphs and Goddesses bathing in slow-motion (Herbal Essence commercial-esque?)..or something like that...


















OK, I'll write about the other stuff in the next entry