Åre Wild Camp Part 1 [Arriving to the House] (Sept 1-5)

There are two ways to get to Åre from Stockholm. The first is by train and the second is by plane. You would assume that the train would obviously be the cheapest. That is not the case. It was cheaper for us to fly there, so Val (MX), Jade (FR), and Amy (CA). We all met at Arlanda Airport quite early in the morning to meet up and go through security, which surprisingly went fast for an airport that size. We then flew for a couple hours and then had about another hour drive to the cabin we were staying at. Since we fly we were some of the first ones to arrive. 

Once arriving at the house it became a slow and steady stream of more people arriving. This was really exciting for the most of us because it was the first time meeting each other, but it felt like we had known each other for forever. This could be contributed to the wonders of social media and instant messaging (at this point we had all been messaging for around 3+ months).

That night we had a very traditional Swedish Fall dinner (will be in explained in a later post) of crayfish and cheese cake. After eating, cleaning, and listening to the rules/schedule a few of us decided to go exploring.

Visiting my Host Farfar/ Först Slott (Aug 28)

My farfar (or father's father) lives a couple hours south in Södermanland. When there we had lunch and I met one of my host sisters for the first time. Afterwards, we went to visit one of the many slott (or castles). Slott I visited is called Gripsholm Slott. It was a royal residency for a long time and is now a museum. 

Afterwards, we went back to my farfar house to go hiking up the mountain near his house. While hiking I learned many plants names in Swedish. 

Music Festival in Södertälje (Aug 27)

One of my things on my exchange bucket list was going to a concert. I got my opportunity in Södertälje. I found out about the all day event from the Texas student Katie. Music festivals here in Sweden are very comparable to county fairs and/or state fairs. There is "junk food" (not as unhealthy or as good as the states), rides, and other assorted things such as games and bouncy houses. You also can't forget the main event of multiple musical performances throughout the day. The main big-ticket artist we saw for free was Danny Saucedo. I would compare him and his style to the typical teenage heartthrob for thirteen years old.

Some funny stories/ highlights from the day included are, but not limited to:

1. Getting donuts (was the first time for Maria Laura, Brail) and sitting down in a seating area only to be yelled at in really fast Swedish by this man. He eventually figured out we didn't understand and said in English "You buy food to sit here." We then understood that you had to buy food from his stand to sit there and moved as quickly as we could out of there.
2. Seeing Pokemon things everywhere because people were obsessed with Pokemon Go at the time.
3. Going through a fun house and nearly making Katie fall down from spinning the floor too hard. (it was a circular rotating floor)
4. Riding some good old fashioned fair rides.
5.  Finding a book about Hilary Clinton because why not.