Today was a fun and interesting day... I had my morning ritual of waking up and eating a bowl of cereal. Then I checked Facebook and dozed off for about 30 minutes until Karin called me to tell me they left their camera at the house and a guy from My's class would be coming by to pick it up. After I waited for him, I texted Kelsey to see what she was up to and she asked if I wanted to go for a run, so I got ready and biked over to her place and then we went for a 35 minute run. After our run we went out on her back porch and sat there and then decided to jump on the trampoline for a little bit. Then I biked back home and made another salad with an apple for lunch. After I ate, I texted Kelsey so we could bike downtown to some of the stores so I could buy some different shoes to wear when it's chilly at night.
After biking around a little while, we biked to the softball field because I told Ingrid I would catch for her at 3. I caught for a little over an hour and then biked back to the house so I could quickly shower and get ready for the Cabaré that My's 9th grade class was putting on at 7 tonight. Pontus and I were supposed to be in charge of dinner tonight but we both got home too late so I'll have to cook another night (oops!). For dinner we had genuine fish sticks (supposedly the ones we have at home our processed and these are not), mashed potatoes (or chunk potatoes, whichever you preferred.. i chose the mashed), and creamed spinach I guess? The dinner was good, and then we had to head to the cinema for the performance.
Kelsey and I were warned by Rebecca and Gabby that the play was a little risque in parts... but most of it was completely and utterly inappropriate and Kelsey and I were dying laughing (even though we couldn't understand it because it was in Swedish). I took a lot of videos with my camera so I'm trying to figure out how to upload them to Facebook... keep an eye out for them, they are funny! Anyways, I'm back at the house now and not sure what I will do for the rest of the night, but most likely just relax! :)
Today was a very exercised filled day! I woke up a little before 10 this morning and had my usual bowl of cereal... then I laid around a little longer reading my kindle. Around 11 I texted Kelsey to see if she was awake and she rode her bike over here and then we rode our bikes to a discount store in downtown called ÖoB where I bought some conditioner, tweezers, and a 3-pack of juice. I was looking for a loofah but they didn't have one. After the store we rode our bikes down to the harbor and took some pictures. When we parked our bikes to walk a little, a couple men started speaking to us in Swedish so we just kind of acted like we didn't hear them... but then when we came back to get our bikes they started talking again so we just got on our bikes and pedaled away fast.
We got back to the house around 1:15... we ended up biking a little over 6 miles. I then made myself a lunch consisting of an apple and a salad. I then read my book some more and uploaded more pictures to Facebook. Then around 2:45 I decided to go for a run, which was a little over 3.5 miles. After that I changed into my practice clothes and then helped cut up all the vegetables for the salad to go with dinner. We had swedish meatballs which I thought were really good with plain macaroni noodles and then some brown gravy. I watched them put the gravy over their noodles so that's what I did, although some of them put ketchup on their noodles.
We had to eat fast because we didn't sit down for dinner until 5:30 and our practice was at 6, so once we finished we biked down to the field for practice. I explained an outfield drill to them that Coach Majeski told me would work good for practicing the drop step. We spent awhile working on those drills in groups of 2, and then we split into 2 big groups and hit pop ups. Everyone looked so much better catching the fly balls after working on those drills, so thanks Coach Majeski! :) We then split into infield and outfield and they are still so shocked when I "throw myself" at the ball (that's what they call it when I dive for balls). Practice ended up ending around 8:15, and then we had to stay and help pry open some rusted shut doors to a shed over by the old baseball field and then empty out the contents into the dugout. I'm pretty sure we were all standing in poison ivy the whole time, so now I'm all itchy from that and the mosquitoes.
During practice I learned some more Swedish. I don't know how to spell them but I can spell how it sounds: Excuse me = eshecta may; you're welcome = vasha good; bye = heyduor; please = snella; good job = bra yobot; good eye = bra erga; one = et; two = tvuor; three = trea; four = fida; five = fem; six = sex; game = much; ice cream = glos.... I'm working on becoming fluent in Swedish by the time my 4 months are up!
Anywho, I'm in for the night now... will probably shower soon and then just relax. Instead of putting pictures on my blog I am uploading them to Facebook so don't forget to check those out either! :)
This morning I woke up kind of early to go to the soccer fields with Kelsey and Ingrid to watch Ingrid's 8 year old daughter Freja play in her soccer games. She had 3 games, one at 10am, one at 11:30am, and one at 1pm. There were only two 15 minute halves so the games went by fast, and the little girls were so cute running around talking Swedish. During one of the game breaks, Ingrid insisted that Kelsey and I "fica" or "ficar", which means to have tea or coffee and a small Swedish cinnamon bun.
After the games, we went by the store and Ingrid let Kelsey and I fill up bags with "exotic snacks" which was just chocolate covered nuts, chocolate covered banana chips, white chocolate strawberries, and more of the same stuff like that. They dropped me off after that, but then after making myself a sandwich I rode my bike shortly after back to their house. Kelsey and I played JustDance2 on the Wii with Freja and her friend Thea. We then ate a dinner consisting of mushroom and cheese quiche with salad around 4:15.
After dinner, Kelsey and I wanted to ride our bikes to the candy store in downtown so Ingrid had her oldest son Assar lead us so we wouldn't get lost. It was about a 25 minute bike ride to the store and we were eating Assar's dust he was going so fast. After we filled our bags with candy we biked back to the house and I relaxed for a short while, then decided to bike back to Ingrid's so Kelsey and I could go for a run/walk around town.
After the run I biked BACK to the house to shower and wait for the "family meeting" at 9 so we would know what all was happening this week. At the meeting I was informed that on Tuesday I will be making dinner with Pontus before we leave for the Caberet that the 9th graders are putting on.
I need to have Karin show me how to work the laundry machines so I can do some laundry tomorrow. I asked for some hair conditioner earlier and she gave me some cool menthol kind which made my head tingle... but that saves me from buying some at the store I guess.
This week should be interesting and busy busy so stay tuned for the details :)
Ok yall, sorry I wasn't able to post about my day yesterday but here it is...
I had to wake up at 7:30 AM to get ready for my first games in Stockholm. Ingrid and Kelsey picked Wilma and me up at 8:30 AM and then we picked the rest of the girls up at 8:45 AM at a store. We were all able to fit into a big van because a few of the other girls rode with their parents.
We arrived at the softball field in Stockholm around 10 AM and we all changed into our uniforms in the dugout (yes, that is what they do). We then circled up and played games until it was time to warm-up at 10:45 AM.
I played 3rd base for the 1st game and was 4th in the line up for both games. I went 4 for 5 hitting in the first game. After the first game, we were able to walk over to some picnic benches by the baseball field and eat our packed lunches while watching the baseball game. My packed my lunch for me. I caught the second game (which I haven't done in, oh, 5 years or so) and went 3 for 5 hitting. I had 2 triples and an in the park homerun! We won the 1st game 13-3, but lost the 2nd game 15-14 in the bottom of the 7th.
After the games we loaded up the van and drove home, arriving at about 6:15 PM. We all had to shower and then meet up at 7:30 PM at Skolparken, which is a really nice park in downtown Enköping. A culture event was taking place in the park and the team was getting paid to pick up trash after the event. Well, the event didn't end until 10 PM and then we had to stand around and wait in the cold until 11:30 PM for all of the food tents to pack their stuff up so we could pick up after them. It was good bonding time for some of the girls though, and Kelsey and I learned some more words in Swedish!
After finally getting home (and not having eaten dinner), I made some chocolate milk and ate a few cashews after Skyping with my family, then hit the sack.
Pictures and videos from yesterday will be uploaded on Facebook as soon as I get some time today :)
Well... today hasn't been as exciting as the past few days, but it was pretty relaxing.
I woke up around 10:15AM, had some cereal, and then went for a run. After I got back, I showered and got ready and waited for My and Rebecca to come get me and take me to their school to watch some of the 9th graders play their teachers in a game of soccer. The teachers won 9-3, but they said that was better than last year when the teachers won 12-0.
Afterwards, I came back to the house and made myself a swedish sandwich, and then read for awhile. Kelsey messaged me and said that her and Ingrid were about to hit some balls in their backyard and I could come over if I wanted... so I got directions and biked my way there, except I kept getting lost and I probably turned around about 5 times. I finally started heading the right way and ran into Kelsey and Ingrid's son heading to the store to buy some jam for their pancake dinner, so I decided to ride with them to the store to waste some time, and it started raining on us. I biked back to the house after that and wasted time until it was time for dinner.
I helped chop lettuce, cucumbers, and peppers for the salad. The salad they make is really good, I don't think there's any dressing on it but it has tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, green and red peppers, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and lettuce. Micke grilled some steaks to go with the salad, and there was boiled potatoes and bread to go with it. They had some kind of paprika sauce for the steaks and then their homemade sauce which is just sour cream, goat cheese, and onions. So the dinner was really good tonight.. even the potatoes, which for those of yall who know me best know that that is a big deal for me :)
So now I'm just relaxing again... I might bike to Ingrid and Kelsey's house in a little to hit some and try on the uniform for tomorrow's games, unless they bring the uniforms here when they come to switch out the cars for traveling tomorrow.
Stay tuned for more excitement to come! :)
Today, I started my day with a bowl of cereal, and then fell back asleep :) At 11:15 AM, Kelsey came over and we went for a run. My showed me the way to the track and field path last night and thankfully I remembered the way, but we thought we got lost once we were in the woods on the trails, but we found out way back.
After we finished our run, we grabbed our bikes and rode into downtown Enköping (which I'm proud to say I remembered the way to also!). We found a small cafe called Cafe Magnifik to eat lunch. We were trying to read the menu on the wall but couldn't, so I pulled out my swedish-english dictionary to at least make it seem like we were making an effort but it was useless, so we asked if they spoke English and they said yes. We both got a chicken salad and it was actually very good... the dressing I got was called "rhode island" and I'm pretty sure it was very similar to the white sauce at Miyabi's.
Anyways, after we ate we rode back to the house (where I almost wrecked into Kelsey and knocked her into a stream) and watched TV until Karin's 9th grade class came over at 3. It's culture week at their school so they all brought over American desserts that they made, including...
blueberry tart, blueberry pie, strawberry clump cake?, chocolate chip cookies, blueberry cupcakes with lemon frosting, chocolate cupcakes with chocolate/raspberry frosting, chocolate cupcakes with chocolate/coffee frosting, vanilla cupcakes with meringue, vanilla cupcakes with some kind of frosting, brownies, strawberry/chocolate tart, and carrot cake. The blueberry tart was my favorite, it was really good. There were 24 students and around 15 different desserts. We all went outside and sat down while the different groups presented their desserts and gave us all a piece. They were cut into small pieces, but even so I tried to just take a bite of each piece. After we tried them all we voted on our favorite and the boy who made the blueberry tart decided to leave the leftovers for me since it was my favorite haha.
I then read while waiting to go to practice (and managed to fall asleep AGAIN)... we arrived a little early to help out some girls with their hitting who had to leave before practice ended. At practice I found out I would be playing 3rd in the first game (unless the shortstop froze up and then her and I would switch positions) and I will be catching the 2nd game. So Ingrid wanted me to stay after and catch her for a little while.
After practice we rode our bikes home and dinner was waiting for us. A tradition on Thursdays is to have pea soup and swedish pancakes. They told me to put mustard in my pea soup, and I actually really liked it. And then when I asked for the butter for my pancake they said NOOO we do not use butter on our swedish pancakes, so I had to put cream and homemade blackberry jam on my pancake and roll it up to eat it. They informed me that one day for breakfast we can have american pancakes with butter and syrup.
So that has been my day.. I should have another eventful day tomorrow so keep checking in! :)
You can check out some pictures and videos from today on Facebook.
I forgot to mention that the bathroom I use in the house has a motion activated light, and it only stays on for a few minutes and then cuts off to save on electricity... well the past 2 nights while showering, the light has cut off on me, so I have to stand in the pitch dark in a shower and wave my arms around frantically and wait for the sensor to catch the motion and turn back on.
I thought yall'd enjoy that :)
Today was very eventful...
First of all, I woke up around 10:30 am and had some cereal, then I laid back in bed and kept dozing off (jetlag). At 12 a girl from the team named Emelie came by the house so we could go bike riding around and she could show me all of Enköping, buutttt I didn't have the key to unlock my bike wheel so we ended up walking instead... which took an hour and a half. But it was a nice day and I took some pictures so I enjoyed it. Afterwards, Kelsey called me and asked if she could come over because we were both at the homes alone, so she came over and I made another swedish sandwich with cheese and butter. When she left around 3, I laid back in bed and kept dozing off again (pitiful, I know).
A little before 5pm My and I rode our bikes to the softball field so the 2 of us and Kelsey could help the little girls practice. They were soo cute, there were only 4 of them and they had a ball. Then from 6-8 our team had practice... the ages range from 13-50, it's very different. But the practice was laid back and fun... I dove for a ground ball at one point and they were shocked and said now they will have to practice that.
After practice we rode our bikes back to the house and had frozen meals for dinner. Then My and I went for a walk with their dog (part chihuahua and part poodle) named Lude? (i think) She showed me the way to the track and field pathway so that Kelsey and I can go for a run tomorrow and hopefully not get lost. And I just got back from that... so my plans for the rest of the night are to shower and rest :)
OH! I forgot to mention the fact that before leaving for the softball field I completely fell halfway down their staircase (I blame the jetlag and the fact that their stairs are slippery wood and I was wearing socks). I tried to grab for the railing, only to remember as I was falling that they haven't built in railings yet for the stairs. I hit my knee really hard and my back hit the edge of one of the stairs, but my pride was hurt the most considering everyone in their family was home and heard the fall.
SO... that's been my day so far... I hope yall enjoyed it :)
Hey! I'm a day late getting started on the blog because I couldn't get it working yesterday, but I will catch yall up now.
My plane ride from Chicago to Stockholm, Sweden took FOREVER! close to 9 hours.. and I was so uncomfortable in my seat and stuck between two people. I didn't want to bother the man next to me and ask him to get up everytime I needed to so I just sat there and tried to sleep in an upright position. I was so glad when we finally landed, but I had to go through customs before claiming my baggage and the lady thought I was Swedish because I said "hey" which is perfect swedish for "hello/hi."
Micke (the dad) and My (she's 16) picked me up from the airport and took me back to their house, then they had to leave for school/work. Karin (the mom) came home on her break soon after to show me around and made me coffee and a sandwich (which is different than our sandwiches).. you only have one piece of bread and you spread butter on it, then you slice the cheese yourself and put that on, and then you can put meat on top if you want. You do not add another piece of bread to the top. So after she went back to work I showered and took a 3 hour nap. Everyone got home around 3-4 pm so I talked with them some and listened to them speak in Swedish around me. We ate dinner at 5:30 which was sort of like spaghetti except the sauce was like ground beef, with ketchup added, and i think milk? It was good, though.
Later that night Karin took me by their plumbing business to show me around, and then we stopped by Ingrid's house (the coach) to visit with her and Kelsey (the other american on the team with me). I was able to skype with my parents and boyfriend last night which was nice. I've got my first practice tonight so I'll update on how that goes later.
