Sept. 21-26

This has been a low key week because I still have this cold that gives me a sore throat and stuffed up nose. I went to school on Monday and Tuesday but on Wednesday, I stayed home and tried to get better. I had a cooking class that day but I missed is because I felt was better if I didn't cough all over the food. Thursday I was feeling a bit better, which was good because I went to Johanna's house after school. She went on exchange last year to Canada and right now her family is hosting Stephano, but after Christmas, went he goes back to Brazil, I will be living with Johanna's family. Hakan was on a business trip in the States and Marita and Anna were in Gotenberg at an international book fare to meet their favorite authors. So it was nice to visit Johanna instead of staying home alone. Friday after school, I hopped on a bus and went to visit Lena, Hakan's sister, and her husband Kennit, out in the country side. They have a very nice house and I got my own little guest house to sleep in. Saturday, we went out into the woods to help Kennit set up a moose hunting post which consisted of making a pile of fire wood and marking out a path to it. He is in a hunting club and how they hunt moose is by waiting at different posts set up in an aria frequently visited by moose and hoping one will walk by. We also set up some salt licks for them. while hiking up a path, we came across some yellow kanterell mushrooms and picked them. We stopped for a rest in the beautiful view of a lake. Afterwards, we grabbed some food and towels and set out to their homemade sauna in the middle of the woods. It is beautifully made, almost hanging over a small steam of really cold spring water. Lena taught me how to sauna like a Swede: Sit in the hot, humid sauna at 70 degrees Celsius then run into the steam. Even their dog, Bullet, joined us! We had supper out there, a chicken stir fry on the fire. After supper, we went for a walk and I found brown kanterell mushrooms. They were everywhere and we filled my hood with them! It was a very good day! Sunday was a more relaxing day; Lena and Kennit had two friends come over for lunch. We had a moose roast and the kanterells. After a walk in the woods with their dog Alice, and Bullet, the friends gave me a ride home because they were on their way home to Stockholm and it was easy to pass through Hudiksvall first. Sunday night, everyone came home so we had alot of catching up to do. Marita and Anna brought back a poster for me of all the best edible mushrooms in the forest and Hakan brought back some Skittles and chocolate bars from the States. It was a really fun week, but the excitement wasn't over...

Last weekend was a relaxing weekend and I really felt I needed one because I feel like I'm getting a cold and I'm really tired. So Saturday, we went to the seaside to buy some fresh salmon which is the best salmon I've ever tasted; baked with creamy feta cheese and yogurt sauce and lemon and fresh herbs. I was so tired that I fell asleep on the pier. Then we went to a store to buy some plants and I took a nap on a pile lawn furniture coushins. That night, Anna's friends, Sofia, Karin, Matilda, Elin, Sandra, came over for an early supper then we went to a movie called 'Flickan som lekte med elden'(The Girl who played with fire). It was a good movie but very hard to follow(since it was all in Swedish) and not as good as the first movie The Man who hates Woman. It was a good night but I was dead-tired afterwards. Sunday, I felt better, so I went to church. It is a Lutheran Church and quite different from my United Church, for one thing, it was built in 1672! The building is magnificent and it's having its steeple worked on so I couldn't go up there to check out the bells, which ring automatically ever 30 minutes. The interior is all beautifully paint right up to the vaulted ceiling. The service was pretty boring, to tell the truth, even if I could understand what the priest was saying, she talked in a monotone voice. We had communion; after blessing the bread and the wine, we knelt by the alter and got a cracker to dip in the wine(it was real wine-not grape juice). After the service, I talked to some of the priests and deacons and got invited to go across the street to a building where some of the congregation was having fika(coffee). A lot of the people there wanted to talk to me-the exchange student, which was nice. I spent the rest of the day organising my things, learning Swedish, reading a book and enjoying one of the last summer-like days.

week of September 14th to 18th

Monday, I gave a presentation to my Rotary club at noon so I slept in and prepared it.(I missed my piano lesson...Oops) The presentation went very well, I wore my Rotary jacket and had a power point presentation showing pictures of me and Canada. Here's a picture of it. They were very impressed when I included a few sentences in Swedish. In the afternoon, I biked to school to find that my music teacher was home sick, so I didn't have any classes that day. So I went to Jarryd's house instead, he's the Australian boy, then we went to an aerobics class at the gym and met Anna and some friends there. I am terrible at aerobics, stumbling around all uncoordinated and all the instructions were given in Swedish so I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing! I decided then that my goal for this week would be to find out when the swimming pool is open. Wednesday, I joined the grade 2's(gr. 11) music class because I felt they needed a wind instrument to help them play Blame it on the Boogie. The group welcomed me in and the teacher transposed some music for me. I had the song stuck in my head for the rest of the week! In my cooking class that day, we made pancakes and apple pie with vanilla sauce. I was stuck making the vanilla sauce and I don't even like vanilla! But I still got to eat everybody else's food. Besides that, it was a pretty normal week until Friday night; Anna, Jarryd and I made pizza, sang and danced to Abba, watched a movie and ate Skittles which I got in the mail from home. My Skittles were very popular because they don't have them here. It was a fun night!

Stockholm

Early morning, Saturday September 12th, we, Marita, Anna and I, caught the train to Stockholm. Our first class seats came with a breakfast of a sandwich, yogurt and tea, which I was really glad because I was barely awake when I got on the train. It was a 2 and a half hour trip so we arrived in Stockholm by mid morning.The train station is enormous and I was grateful to have someone experienced, Marita, with us who knew how to get out of the station then find a taxi and get to our hotel. Our hotel was really nice, right in down town with a beautiful view of the ocean. once we got rid of our luggage, we hit the town shopping right away! I bought 2 pairs of jeans and some really nice leather boots. My credit card doesn't work here which was nuisance because I had to borrow money. We met up with Anna's friend, Edit, who is a lot of fun to shop with. That night, we got all dressed up and went to Kungliga Dramatiskateatern(the Royal Drama theater) to see Rikard Wolff singing tango. He is an amazing singer, he fills the room with his voice and makes it look easy and natural, he is a good actor and dominates the stage. I got to tell him so, after the show while he singed my program. He spoke and sang all in Swedish except for one French song, but even though I could understand most of what he was saying, he was fascinating! Afterwards we went for a late diner at a very nice restaurant. I had chicken and scalloped potatoes. Under the restaurant is a bar with the longest bar table in Sweden. It wasn't very impressive but here's a picture of Anna and I standing in front of it. While in the restaurant, Marita got a call from her sister, Inger, who was in bar just down the street from where we were, so we joined her. She was there with a friend, her son Erik and his friends. Erik had just gotten back from Florida to start university in Stockholm. He is very nice and easy to talk with. here's a picture of us. Sunday, we discovered the old part of town. It reminds me of Veux Quebec with all the fancy old buildings with cute little shops all squished together to make narrow, crowed streets. We saw the changing of the guards ceremony at the castle, which was complete with marching band, flag party, rifle drill cannons,and lots of marching around, looking impressive and calling commands. The guards there are much more interactive than the ones at Buckingham Palace(and not as funny looking). It's not mush to look at, but inside, the castle is magnificent and lavishly decorated like you just stepped into the middle ages! I wanted to open every closed door and check behind every tapasty for hidden passage ways but even the walls look to expensive and elaborately decorated to touch and the crystal on display is too exquisite and delicate to stare at too long else it might shatter. The castle is enormous but only a small part was open to the public and I would love to spent days discovering the rest of it(the royal family doesn't live there any more so I wouldn't have to worry about running into them). We caught the train back home that afternoon so that Anna and I could go to school the next day. 2 days isn't long enough the fully experience this beautiful city and I can't wait to go back to Stockholm!

A night with Elvis

So this book release party was for a book about the story of a very special theater group that started here in Hudiksvall, called Glada Hudik-Teatern. What makes this group so special is that all the actors are mentally handicapped, most with Down Syndrome. They are playing a musical called Elvis and it's a great hit. Ever since their first performance, all their shows have been sold out! The audience loves them because they always do something random and unexpected on stage and it's hilarious! On the left is a picture of me and Per Sonerud who is the music manager for many bands and he owns a record company. On the right is one of his musicians, Sigge Hill who plays old time Rock and Roll, and lives in Hong Kong half the year and is a great entertainer. Toralf Nilsson is the actor who plays Elvis and he is 42 but still acts like a kid, saying the most random and unexpected things whatever pops in to his mind. He really likes girls, and it was a good thing I was warned about this ahead of time because when he saw me... "Julia, you are beautiful. Your eyes, they are beautiful. I am crazy...to you!" And when his broken English failed him, he complimented my beauty in an endless stream of Swedish. All night he followed me around or pointed me out to groups of people saying "Det ar Julia, Hon ar snygg. (that's Julia, she's beuatiful.)" or peeking around people to wave at me and when I looked at him, he hid his face in his hands or under his shirt. His behaviour was so cute and rather embarassing but anyone who know him would know this was normal for him. He even acted this way for the Crown Princess of Sweden! Here's a picture of Toralf and I. Another actor I met is Theresia Widarsson who is a really nice person and an amazing singer but she developped scizoferenia after a hard childhood. She has the potential to be world famous singer and wish luck. It was a nice night with alot of famous Swedish people to meet, a live band playing, several speaches and praises for the accomplishments of the theater group and compliments about their new book. We each receive a book and i got mine signed by Toralf and Theresia. We went home around midnoght because Anna, Marita and I had to pack for a weekend in Stockholm then wake up early to catch a train at 7am!

Sept. 7-11

So I’ve been in school for three weeks so for and I guess my schedule is pretty much decided. I only have 2 or 3 classes per day but I’ll be put in more once I understand the language more. So my days at school are blurring together. Tuesday, in jazz class at school we practised improvising. I was given a key and told to play for 8 measures. So I did, I didn’t know what I was doing but I played something that went along with the chords and jazz beat that was being played in the background. Everyone had a turn improvising and it was fun. During my trumpet lesson that day, I got some more practice and instruction in improving. That night, I was invited for supper to Tomas’ house, my Rotary counsellor, where I met his wife and his sons Magnus and Kristofer who are 8 and 9. They are a very nice family and assured me that I am always welcome to come back and drop by for a visit. Wednesday at school, I had my first cooking class. It actually wasn’t at school, it was with a group from my school but at a special restaurant school downtown. The 9 of us get this kitchen with stainless steal appliances and wear colourful aprons (the big floppy hats are only for the full time chef students). We made mayonnaise and then used it in shrimp sandwiches. I didn’t even know you could make mayonnaise and I was quite amazed as I beat the egg yokes with oil and watched it turn white and then it actually tasted like mayo! It was a lot of fun, too bad we only have cooking once a week. Thursday, after school we had a Blaspopperna practice and they are very happy to have an other trumpet player in the band because the are bringing in older trumpet players to play with me. They are in their 20s and are very good. That night, Elin's friend, Gustav, came over for a visit. He is very nice. We had fika, watched TV and chatted. I got help with my Swedish homework. Friday, Anna and Elin's old babysitter came over with her husband, Magnus. She was here so often babysitting, that she's like part of the family and now she's expecting a kid of her own! That night, Hakan came back from Finland and we all went to a VIP book release party. It was such a unique and unusual experience that it needs it's own blog entry...

Weekend of the Autumn Market

Last weekend was a very relaxing weekend after Friday night. The Autumn Market was in town which is an annual event that dates back hundreds of years. A street in town is blocked off and people set up stands along it selling all kinds of things. People from all over the aria com to buy things are just walk through it. There is a park set up with games, rides, candy, food, toys and entertainment. Saturday afternoon,(I slept all morning) I went to the market and met some friends and we wondered through the crowds of people. I bought some candy, some earrings, a bear sausage, and a blue leather purse which was a bargain; for only around $15! That night, Anna`s grandma came over so we had a nice dinner of a slow baked roast of moose meat. It was delicious, it tasted like no other meat I`ve tried, not even chicken! Sunday, I woke early enough to go mushroom picking with Hakan before lunch. We were looking for the prized brown kanterelle mushrooms which are hard to see because they look like brown leaves but when you find one, you find a cluster. I really love wondering through the forest and found lots of mushrooms. Right now they`re lying on the garage floor dehydrating so we can use them in soups and stews later. That afternoon, I went to the market again, with Anna and Hakan. I bought an alpaca wool sweater from Peru, it purple and black with little alpaca patterns across it. Here`s a picture of Anna and I in the Market. I tried the traditional kolbular which, directly translated says coal bun but is really a pancake with pork bits fried over a flame and served with lingon berry jam. Here`s a picture of me and the meal. I like lingon berries but I can`t say I`m fond of the whole thing.

week 2 of school

I have survived the second week of school but the Monday almost killed me. As I mentioned in my previous entry, on Monday August 31, I was exhausted from a not so busy day. I only had two classes at school that day, one at 8:00am and the other at 3:00pm so I had 6 hours in between with nothing to do but go to a Rotary lunch at noon. It was probable the waiting that exhausted me, which I spent walking around town and reading a book. Tuesday was better because my first class didn`t start until 12:30 so I had some time to sleep in and recuperate. After school I had my first trumpet lesson. It went well, I have a new teacher in Blaspopperna, Lars, who is very good with a lot of brass instruments. He really knows what he`s talking about but he hasn`t spoken English in 6 years so he kept things simple. Anna has him as a tuba teacher and she says that sometimes his instructions get to technical and she dosen`t know what he`s talking about. Wednesday, Hakan was in Finland and Marita was somewhere else in Sweden so it was just Anna and I at home for supper that day. I didn`t stay long because Stina, a lady I met at the Rotary lunch on Monday, picked me up for a visit at 6:30. She is very nice and has two daughters; Maya and Hanna, and a son; Kale, with whom I got along very well. We went to the stables so Hanna could ride her pony, Humla(bumblebee), and I had a ride too. Here`s a picture of me riding Humla next to Hanna. Afterwards, we went to their house for fika(coffee or tea break) which is where I met Kale who was very interested in where I come from. Since he learned everything he knows about North America from movies, TV and computer games, I didn`t mind setting him straight on a few things. So all in all, it was a very good evening. Thursday, I had a Swedish class, and Stephano from Brazil was there too. Jarryd from Australia was supposed to be there too but he didn`t show up. The boys have been here since January but still need to learn Swedish so I`m glad they`re in my class. After school, Anna and I had a Blaspopperna practice from 4:30-6:00 and we got some fun new music to play like The Pink Panther and a Congo dance piece. That night, Hakan came home so we went to a Thai food place for supper to celebrate. After supper, Anna and I went down town to see a concert being put on by young people. One of the bands playing had a lead singer who was a friend from my class, Cajsa, and there was a lot of other people from my class there to cheer her on. She was incredible! Singing to heavy metal, she had a lot of energy and performed very professionally! After the performances, I talked to a band from out of town. They were all my age or younger and already touring around Sweden doing performances, they were very good! Friday was a very good day. At school I had my first art textiles class. It was a lot of fun, we are designing fabrics and patterns and experimenting with colour schemes. After school, Anna and I went shopping for the dance that night. I bought two dresses, a party one and a casual one but my credit card didn`t work so I had to borrow some money(I think I have it all sorted out now). After supper, Anna`s friend Fanny came over and we got ready to go out. Here`s a picture of us right before we left the house to go to a friend`s house, Nico`s. There was a whole bunch of us and we crashed at Nico`s house for a while with drinks, snacks and music. Then we went to a bar where there was a dance. On the way there, the autumn market had arrived so there was a lot of people still out and we met a couple of friends. Anton is a nice guy, or maybe it was the alcohol talking but he wanted to show me off to everyone he recognised:`Hey guys, this is my Canadian friend!`It was fun. The dance was fun too and the bar was crowded. Anna accidentally dropped her glass on the dance floor and it shattered. When we got tired of dancing, we went back to Nico`s. Anna and I stumbled back home at 2:30am. It`s a good thing everything is so close in a small town, I like being able to walk everywhere.

My new life

This week was full of new experiences and first impressions of my new life here, which Monday will prove because I was totally exhausted. It wasn't a busy day, in fact it was a very slow and relaxing day, so my exhaustion can only be explained by me finally realising that I had completely immersed myself in this strange school, new community, different way of life and country far, far away! I've been in a dream here, for the past month, and now I'm realising and waking up and it's utterly exhausting and a bit overwhelming. My life is starting to organise its self and I'm doing less floating around in a dreamlike state. I have piano lessons scheduled for Monday, trumpet lessons on Tuesday, Swedish cooking classes on Wednesday, Blaspopperna band practices on Thursday, Swedish lessons on Thursday and Friday and art classes on Tuesday and Friday. At school, I have the classes and lessons listed above and at least one other music course such as rock/popular music, jazz music, music theory and choir. I can attend other classes like Swedish and social studies if I feel like it. This is like the best school schedule I could hope for and it will be even better when I can understand what people are saying! The people here are very nice and friendly and I am meeting several new people each day. I'm having a very hard time remembering their names, especially those with strange names like Per, Lars, Cornilia, Nicolina and Anton. And there's Pelle, but I can remember that name because he's my music teacher. I've noticed that Swedish people are shy and don't talk to me much because they are embarrassed of their English. To tell you the truth, I haven't talked to someone in English and not understood what they were saying (unless the subject matter is unfamiliar to me). There might be a word missing here and there that they don't know, but I always understand what they're trying to say. I even had a conservation with a 9 year old and we understood each other. I like living in a small town. Anywhere I want to go in town is within walking distance. When I'm with a group of people, we always come across other people we know. It's such a nice community, hence the nick name for this town; Glada Hudik (Happy Hudik). The social life here is not much different from in Canada. We like to get together and hang out at some one's house, or wonder around town, or go to a concert. Hudiksvall has alot of musical talent so there's quite a few live bands playing or free musical entertainment. When we turn 18, it's a big this to go to the bar, parties and dances. I went to one of these parties and dances at the bar on Friday night, and I can tell you that it's much more fun a lame school dance, (which they don't have here)! An other thing I've noticed is they don't have such a big problem with drugs here and kids definitely don't come to school high. So I guess as a result, more kids smoke and there's something like chewing tobacco which is unique to Sweden and very popular at school. It's a little pouch that sits under the lip and releases the drug straight into the blood steam so its more healthy than chewing tobacco but it's still addicting. So I'm establishing a new life for myself here and reaching some of the goals I set out for this year: I'm getting a grasp on the language, I'm becoming involved in my interests and improving my musical talents, making myself known in the community, fitting in to the Swedish way of life and making new friends. Now that I've been here a month, I'm getting a grip on things and it's like my year has really begun!!

The weekend of fish and mushrooms

Last weekend, August 29th and 30th, I had a lot of fun outside because it had been raining a lot the previous days. On Saturday, Per invited me to go fishing with him and some of his friends at the same place we were last weekend. There were 7 of us including David, a university student from France, a university student from China, Sara, a fellow trumpet player and her brother and sister. We fished from the raft you can see in the picture where David is getting off and Sara and her sister are in the background. The raft is fully equipped with patio furniture, port-a-potty, anchor and steering wheel connected to the boat engine. It's an ingenious little craft perfect for fishing from. I caught 3 fish but the first of which was too small and I threw it back. Together we caught 20 or so fish which we brought to the island to cook. We cooked them on a grill or on sticks and had them with salt, potato salad, hot dogs and pop. Then we headed back to Per's house on the main land. At Per's house, we had the option to go swimming in the lake but his mom was setting out cake, pie and cookies so only me, Per and Sara's brother opted for a swim. The water was freezing so it didn't take long for us to get cold and wet and head back to the house. When we got there, we found everyone in a little gazebo sitting around a table full of food and it all looked so cut that I had to take a picture! You can see in the middle of the table there is a sandwich cake, a most delicious invention; layers of flat bread with tuna past filling and cottage cheese on top with marinated fish, shrimp, caviar, fruits and vegetables. It was a very nice day indeed! That evening, as the last Saturday in August, it was the Evening of Lights where we recognise the end of summer and the coming of winter by putting candles along the shore, around islands and lakes and outside houses. We took a drive around town to see all the flickering little lights in the night. Sunday we went mushrooms picking, which is something my family here do this time every year. We were looking for the yellow kanterell mushrooms that look like little yellow trumpets, and even though they are brightly coloured, they're not that easy to find. We were also looking for mushrooms that had pores under the cap instead of gills and a fungus that looks like little yellow fingers. The forest is full of mushrooms and I had a lot of fun tramping through bushed with a basket of mushrooms and a book on identifying them. The biggest mushroom I picked had a cap the size of my hand span and a stem 8 inches tall. The look almost surreal, like from a fantasy land, but the most interesting ones are poisonous. This is a picture of a red fly-mushroom which is very poisonous but the vikings used to eat it in small amounts to get high! By the end of the day we had enough mushrooms that, when fried, shrunk down to fill 2 large frying pans. Here's a picture of me in the forest with my basket of mushrooms, holding a large kanterell mushroom. That nigh, we had a very nice dinner of baked ribs and mushrooms.