Author: Gian Reinardy

I had a really yummy salad, while my friend enjoyed a oven fired pizza!

Busy weekend! Saturday like I said I cleaned allllll day, went to the gym, then came home and went out with my friend for her birthday! We ate at a super cute little outdoor café that is right by my house. We went at around 8 so we could have a late dinner and then watch the gorgeous sunset.

Sunday was a big day, I went down to Copenhagen and picked up a special guest….MY GRANDMA!!!! She surprised me and came to visit all the way from America!

It has been completely surreal having her here. I feel like I am in a dream or something. I like to pretend that I have my two separate worlds now, “America” world and my “Sweden” world, but with my Grandma here now it feels like the two are mixing together and it truly is a bizarre experience.

Today, we woke up early and went for a long walk along the sea. Then enjoyed some yummy breakfast and went out to explore the town! I treated her just like it was my first day all over again showing her the fortress, downtown, the spa, etc. She was stunned by the pure beauty of it all, just like I was and still am.

I am so forever grateful that my host mom, Bea, so strongly encouraged me to have a family member come. At first, I was against it, not for homesickness reasons or anything like that (truthfully I have “reverse homesickness” now as I call it and am dreading leaving 🙁 ), but because I did not want my separate worlds to mix.

I was being selfish almost now when I think about it. I have a whole different life here. Different house, family, hobbies, activities, different everything and I wanted to keep it that way. Sweden is now such a special part of me I wanted to keep it all for myself. I was scared that if my family came and saw it, somehow it would ruin it for me. Make my dream life here forced into reality again.

Now though I am SO HAPPY to have someone come and experience everything. Someone back home who will understand when I go on for hours talking about just how clean the air is, or rant about how crazy shy Swedes can be, or how magnificent the fortress truly is, or how the sea in the morning can simply take your breathe away, and do not even get me started on the food!

Coming home is going to be very hard for me. I have changed a lot over here, and trying to adapt back to my American lifestyle is not going to be easy. I like to joke that I am feel like I am on a permanent vacation here because I have so much more freedom and time. Back home is my reality, where I have a job, homework, chores, responsibilities.

Knowing now that there will be at least one person back home who “gets it” is so comforting to me. When I am having a bad day, or really just missing Sweden it is so nice to know that I will be able to turn to my Grandma for support and she will be able to understand what I am going through.

Grandma relaxing on the patio after a long day of sightseeing. I think she is going to walk more in this next week than she ever has in her entire life!

After a busy morning, we are both exhausted and just relaxing the rest of the afternoon. Tonight the family is gone, so I will make a cozy dinner for the two of us 🙂

Tomorrow I will take her to see Gothenburg for the first time. I think I am more excited than she is about this! I really hope that she finds it as amazing as I do.

Swedish Word of the Day: “äventyr” – adventure

This Friday I had the amazing opportunity to go visit our “sister school” in Kungsbaka which is just a few towns over. I met with the principal at 8:30 and she drove me there personally herself. However, little did I know that she had planned a morning detour first! We spent over 2 hours driving around the Swedish countryside. She showed me really cool small towns, an old castle, a nuclear power plant, and even and old cemetery that is now a nature preserve. It was so cool and honestly so nice of her to take the time out of her day to show me all of that.

We arrived at the school around 10:30. This school is super cool in the sense that it specializes in Fashion, Hair, and Makeup! The “classrooms” looked more like design studios and hair salons filled with tons of sewing machines, stylists set ups, etc. I got to sit in on a design class where each girl gave a presentation about a dress they had made that week that was inspired by a Disney movie. Some people choose things like Red Riding Hood, Milan, and even Ursula form Little Mermaid. These girls were seriously talented too. At only 17 they could make clothes that looked straight off a couture runway.

After the presentations we all had lunch, then the Kungsbacka principal gave me an official tour of the whole school. By the end I was so jealous that I did not end up here, but I do love my Varberg school and I mean it is pretty cool getting to say that I am a police in training 😉.

Today I have been running around like a mad women preparing for a special visitor that will be coming tomorrow. Later tonight I am heading out to celebrate my Swedish friends 18th birthday – should be fun!

Swedish Word of the Day: “kannel” – cinnamon

Today it reached a whopping 27C! The hottest it has been since my arrival to Sweden in dreary January. After a seemingly never ending Spring, Summer is finally here.

I woke up bright and early at 6 am (thank you to the family of birds that live right outside my window who feel the need to be my personal alarm clock) and instead of being lazy and laying in bed, I decided to start my day off right with a lovely morning walk. I followed my usual route which goes along an old railroad path and ends down at the beach. It was so gorgeous out this morning I simply could not stop smiling. The sun shinning on my bare arms, the air smelling of salt water, it was pure heaven.

When I got back home at around 7 I took a shower then made myself this super amazing breakfast which I will call “Carrot Cake Oatmeal”. I was craving carrot cake oddly enough, so I decided to experiment a little and came up with this. SO GOOD! I defiantly know what I will be having for breakfast tomorrow 🙂

I may or may not have already taken a bite out of this before I remembered to snap a picture for you guys. Whoops!

I decided to have my breakfast outside in our backyard this morning which was wonderful. Once done with breakfast Bea and I went for another long walk. Thank god my foot is finally feeling better or I may just have gone crazy if I could not enjoy this beautiful day.

After walk number two I raced off to the train station to head to Goteborg. I shopped for a long time and by 2:00 I was feeling tired and in desperate need of some food, so I went to my favorite little restaurant Paprika! Here you can make your own salad, wraps, and Panini’s. The best part is it is relatively cheap (for Swedish standards at least). I took my lunch to go and enjoyed it outside while waiting for my train home.

Quinoa, corn, cucumber, peppers, cottage cheese, shrimp, tuna, beans, and pineapple all on a bed of lettuce.

Once I got home, I headed off to the gym for a quick X-fit class, then it was off to have a picnic dinner! Mei Mei had soccer practice which ended at 6 and Olivia had a game at the same place at 6:30, so Bea and I decided to bike on over, bring a little cooler with some food, and go watch them play. It was a great evening. For the food the girls had chicken legs, while Bea and I had tuna sandwiches. We also munch on some chopped veggies. Yum!

And of course who could forget dessert….some fresh strawberries!

I did not think it was possible for me to fall anymore in love with Sweden, but wow with this nice weather I truly feel as though there is no better place on earth.

In sad news, today makes the one month countdown till my last day here 🙁 – gotta make the most of them!

Swedish Word of the Day: “le” – smile =D

Just got home and thought I would do a quick blog update before I collapse in bed. Busy day today! Classes started at 8am (this is super early for me as I normally do not start until 9:15 – rough life I know). I had Swedish then Math. In Math everyone was freaking out because they take their national exam tomorrow which means I get the day off 🙂.

I had a great lunch outside at the local café next to my school then went back for my final class of the day. We got assigned a new project (yay!) where we can pick and ethical issue in the world and write a short paper on it or do a skit. I opted to write a paper and for my topic I choose World Hunger.

Once school let out, I went to the market which was in town just to look around little bit. They are starting to get more and more fresh produce and today they had strawberries that looked heavenly. After wandering around for an hour or so I went home had a snack then took of for the gym. I was super sore from my spin class yesterday though so I just did a short workout.

At around 4:30 my friend came picked me up and we went to a “Mary Kay makeup party”. For those of you that do not know what those are, it is basically a gathering held at someone’s house where they tell you all about the different products, let you try them out, then pressure you into buying a bunch of stuff you do not need. This one was no different, but I still had fun trying out all of the products with my friends.

After we were done with that we all headed down to the river to a little Fika which consisted of cucumbers, carrots, and some dips. Not your traditional Fika which normally has some sugary sweet, but I prefer this healthy version much better! The weather was great and even though it was past 8 oclock it was still completely light out. In a few weeks it will be light almost 24/7… I do not know how I am going to survive!

Now I am super tired and ready for bed. Foot is finally starting to feel better, so I think tomorrow morning I will go for a short walk, have some breakfast, then head off to spend my day in Goteborg! I have a bunch of last minute shopping to do and I will probably meet up with some of my friends who live in the city for a Fika. Fika -ing is a daily occurrence here in Sweden if you have not noticed and is something I really hope to bring with me back to the states! I mean who doesn’t love a good excuse to just take an hour in the afternoon, sip on some tea/coffee, and relax?

Swedish Word of the Day: “sniglar” – snail

These past 5 months I have spent living in Sweden, I have learned so much. When I say this I do not mean in school or academic wise (which if we are gonna be real I have learned absolutely nothing), but rather in terms of life lessons.

My amazing host mom, Bea, has taught me how to cook, hang dry my clothes, work a compost, and my personal favorite – clean a toilet. Not only has living in Sweden taught me how to do tasks, but also it has taught me a few key lessons that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. The most important one being how important it is to take time for yourself.

Last night Bea, Mats, and I were sitting around the kitchen table relaxing and digesting our delicious pizzas when we started talking about my life back home. I told them about my crazy schedule which often involved getting up at 5am to workout, a full day of school, followed by a few hours of nannying, soccer practice, and somehow trying to squeeze in the never ending mounds of homework. Each day it was the same craziness over and over again. Always moving, always busy, it got to the point where I felt like I was not even living anymore, I was just cruising through my days in autopilot.

My weekends were not any better, I often worked Fridays 2pm-1am, Saturdays the same or even worse if I had a double shift (9am-9pm), and Sundays from 9-5. The few hours of free time I did have on the weekends I spent doing homework or sleeping because I was just so exhausted.

Do not get me wrong, I was not depressed or even unhappy really. I was just living the life I knew to be “normal”. I liked being busy, always having something to do. Americans in general are like this I think. We are constantly running from one thing to another. Always busy, always working on something, trying to get ahead, all racing toward a finish line that does not exist.

That line really hits home for me. What is the rush? Why do we feel the need to constantly be busy, constantly moving, it is not healthy or good for us. The sad part is that we do not realize it. Like I said before I was fine living my super busy life. It was all I had ever known, even as a kid I was always bouncing from one sport practice to the next, always doing something. When I came to Sweden this all changed. I suddenly had A LOT of free time on my hands and to be honest, in the beginning I had no idea what to do with it.

My first week I almost had a panic attack because I just did not know what to do with myself which I think is pretty sad looking back on it. I had been so busy for so long that I had forgotten how to relax and take time for myself.

I began taking long walks, just letting my mind wander thinking about anything and everything. I spent an entire rainy day curled up on the couch with a cup of tea and a great book simply because I could. I found new hobbies/passions such as cooking, blogging, and researching all I can about health. I began to try new classes at the gym, working out not to lose weight, but because I wanted to, because our bodies deserve it, because it made me happy, because it made me love myself.

When I began taking time for myself, even just an hour a day, I noticed how much it changed me for the better. Thankfully, I have never had to battle some things that many teenagers my age today face such as eating disorders, depression, and drug addictions. I have always been a pretty happy girl, but now I have taken it to a new level. I realized that by taking a small piece of the day and dedicating it to yourself you can become so much more in tune with your body and mind. You become a more relaxed, happier, and healthier person.

Everyone deserves a break. Everyone NEEDS a break. Not just once in a while, or once a week, I am saying we all need a daily break. Whether it just be 10 minutes at night reading a book you like, or going for a short walk to clear your head. Life is too short to be constantly racing toward this never ending finish line. I hate to break it to you, but the only time you will ever cross it is when you are dead. There will always be a tomorrow filled with more work, more tasks, more appointments, more, more, more. So rather than keep racing, I urge you to stop, step back from reality, and spend a little more time on yourself, you deserve it.

Swedish Word of the Day – “stanna” – stop

Homemade pizza from tonight. SO GOOD! We make our own fresh dough, then I topped mine with olive oil, heaps of veggies, basil, red pepper flakes, and salt/pepper. I love homemade pizzas because they not only taste better than those from restaurants, but they are so much healthier and you get to put on exactly what you want! I made Bea promise that we will make these at least one more time before I go. (PS yes – I did finish this entire thing. It was bigger than my head!)

Okay I know I have been getting lazy with my posts, but as my time here winds down and the weather gets nicer, I want to make sure I make every minute count! Which means I would like to spend as much time away from electronics as possible, but I also do really love my blog and want to be able to look back on this when I grow up so I will dig deep and find motivation to push through these final few weeks and keep on blogging.

This weekend was my last “lazy weekend” so to say, as literally all my remaining weekends are jam packed with graduation parties, trips, and of course Swedish Mid-Somer!

Saturday I woke up had a yummy breakfast then headed out to the market in town. As the weather gets nicer, the market has gotten bigger and bigger! Now the square is filled with at least 50+ venders selling anything from socks to jewelry to homemade bread to produce, etc. The market comes every Wednesday and Saturday. After I was done shopping I came home had some lunch, then worked in the garden for a few hours. At around 3, Bea and I headed to her cousins summer house for some Fika. Summer houses are super common here in Sweden. They are basically just super small cottages where people come to spend the summer and are located along the coast. Beas cousins house was beautiful. Small and quaint with a huge garden and outdoor patio, it was perfect.

After our Fika we headed home where I spent the rest of the day relaxing on the balcony reading my book. For dinner we grilled out at ate out on our patio. Once I was stuffed with fishcakes and veggies, I went for a long bike ride with my friend to watch the sunset. I swear Swedish sunsets are the best in the world.

Today, I went to a spin class and a yoga class in the morning. After that I was exhausted, and except for a short walk with Bea, I spent my afternoon laying on the couch watching some hockey. Perfect Sunday afternoon if you ask me. For dinner we had homemade pizzas as you can see from my picture above.

This will be a big week for me, Tuesday I have the kiddos to myself, then I will go to a cosmetic party at my friends house on Wednesday, no school for me on Thursday as my class will be taking the National Math exam, and finally on Friday I will be touring a sister school of ours a few towns over. Cannot wait!

Swedish Word of the Day – “lat” – lazy

I woke up at exactly 4:03 am this morning to some lovely birds chirping outside my bedroom window.

Managed to fall back asleep for a few hours then finally rolled out of bed at 7.

This was my yummy breakfast of plain yogurt, topped with homemade granola, flaxseeds, raisins, and a banana. I also had a cup of green tea to go along with it.

Then I got dressed. Here is another example of your typical swedish teenage attire (paired with white converse of course)

Off to school I go! Started the day off with gym which I did not participate in because of my foot. In gym today they went on a long run all threw Varberg so I just ride my bike alongside them. After gym we had math which was un eventful. They are busy preparing for the huge national test next week. Once math was done it was time for my favorite part of the day – lunch!

We are at Namaste an Indian restaurant in town and I got a vegetable curry. Sooooo good.

After lunch we headed back to school only to find out that for “Etik” we were going across the street to see an art exhibit in town. It was super futuristic and involved lots of lights. Above are a few pictures from it. I was suppose to have an English class after this but the teacher said the weather was too nice out and said we could all go home! That’s Sweden for you.

After school I went to a spin class, my new latest fitness obsession. The sweat you can get from these is unreal!

Came home from that, took a shower, and then helped make dinner which was salmon patties. We had these with a nice huge salad and some steamed broccoli outside on our patio. It was the perfect way to end the day.

Tomorrow I plan on doing some major shopping at the market and helping Bea out in the garden. The weather looks gorgeous!

Swedish Word of the Day – “uppgift” – task/assignment. In school we always hate hearing this because it means homework, I think it’s funny though because it has the word gift in it I always think of presents. So the teacher is basically just giving us presents in my mind. Ha – if only.

As an exchange student, you are force to pay for everything even just the basic everyday items and it really has been an eye opening experience for me. At home if I needed toothpaste, contact solution, deodorant, etc my parents would paid for it all I had to do was through it in the cart. Now living on my own I am forced to buy these necessities for my self which has made me quite the frugal person because everything in Sweden is SO expensive!

Now instead of dumping the shampoo and conditioner on, I have taken to using the smallest amount in order to make it last. I am super careful to only use as much mostierizor as needed, and make it my mission to not loose bobbi pins so I can re-use them.

Here are a few examples of price comparisons between Sweden and America for some common necessities.

Contact Solution –

  America – $5.29

Sweden – $10.27

Pen –

 America – $1.25

Sweden  – $5.12

Makeup Remover:

America – $6.99

Sweden – $12.05

These are just a few examples, but I mean look how crazy that is! Most things are double, if not more the price. Shampoo, deodorant, Q-tips, etc are all also crazy expensive here. Not only the basics, but items such as clothing, food, and other non essentials I find to be more expensive here in general as well.

Sweden beats America at many things, but America definitely has the whole “poor quality, but so cheap you buy it anyway and most of the time it works” thing on lockdown. I seriously am missing good ol Target right about now. Oh well, only 58 days left!

Swedish Word of the Day: “billig” – cheap

Nothing like a beautiful rainbow to brighten your mood after a long rainy day.

Swedish Word of the Day “regnbåge” – I bet you can guess this one. If not Google translate has become my best friend these past few months, go look it up yourself!

Hope everyone had a great weekend – I know I did!

Saturday morning I went to the flea market sale with the family. It was pretty big success, we sold a lot of stuff and the weather was really nice. A lot of people said that the weather was so nice out that it did not work in the flea markets favor because instead of coming and spreading their afternoon at the flea market everyone would rather be out walking, biking, and enjoying the weather!

After the flea market I headed home and had some lunch, before my friends picked me up for a fun girls night.

We had a barbeque outside with hamburgers (I had a salad that was just as tasty). We spent the evening hanging out on the patio, talking, and just enjoying each others company. It was really nice to just chill out and relax. At night we watched the Euro Vision Final which is actually a huge thing here in Sweden. All 20 countries performed their top songs and then a winner was picked based off of the countries votes. This year the winner was Austria.

I cam home pretty late and slept in this morning. After a nice lazy breakfast with the family, Bea and I headed off to watch MeiMei and Olivias soccer games. Mei Meis team kicked but and won 14-1 (that is the team I help coach)!

Once the games were finished, we headed home to enjoy some of Beas famous fish soup. Yum. Plans for the rest of the include, reading, cleaning, and maybe a little bike ride. I am still trying to rest my foot as much as possible, so it can be better for the Euro Trip!

Dinner tonight will be smoked Mackerel. I am very excited to try mackerel as I have never had it before – it smells amazing so I can only imagine that it will taste as good!

Swedish Word of the Day:  “mors dag” – Mother’s Day! Although in Sweden Mother’s Day is technically celebrated on May 25th, I thought I would choose this word today so I can properly wish my mom back home a Happy Mothers Day! I truly have been blessed with the best mom ever. She puts up with all of my craziness and is always there when I need her. Kind, caring, loving, the list goes on and on. Most of all, I want to thank you mom for trusting me enough and making my dream of study abroad come true. I can only imagine how hard it was for her to let me go and live halfway across the world alone for 6 months, but I have learned and grown so much from this experience and it has forever changed me for the better. Mom, I love you SO much and although it makes me sad that I cannot be home and give you a giant hug today, I know that we will be reunited soon! So thank you, for being the best mom I ever could have asked for, I hope you have an amazing day and while I know I do not tell you this enough, just remember that I love you – forever & always.