Day 41 – Coming Home

Traveling today has meant that it’s a very long day for me. As I am writing this right now, I am sitting on the plane back to Chicago. This morning when we left Umeå, we had a delay with our flight by almost 45 minutes!! We truly thought that we were going to miss our connecting flight from Stockholm to the United States. Once the plane arrived in Stockholm, we had to book it to terminal 5. We landed at terminal 4 it was a run and an experience of the lifetime. Not only did we need to get from point A to point B in like 40 minutes, we needed to get our boarding passes, pass through security, and border patrol. Somehow we managed to make the flight and we were extremely happy. If we had not made our plane, we would have had to get on another flight today or we would be finding another flight back to Chicago even if we had to make a connection in another country. But we are on the plane safe and sound waiting anxiously making sure we get back home! We are all very excited to get home and to get back into our classrooms.

Day 40 – My last day!

Yesterday was my last day in the classroom. In the morning the students were in the gym practicing their Lucia play that they are getting ready for on December 13^th. The students spent the entire morning practicing singing their songs and walking out to where they needed to be. With about thirty minutes left until lunch, the 5^th graders had physical education and the 6^th graders had time to work on their homework.

I ate lunch with the students for one last time. The lunch menu had chicken tacos and it was a fabulous meal. I sat and had an interesting conversation with the 6^th graders. They did not want me to go and they were still asking me questions about the United States. The students enjoyed having lunch with me. And after lunch, they were explaining to me that I needed to stay away from the classroom. They would not let me go into the classroom to get Katarina’s laptop because I was helping her with some lessons! So I decided to go sit in the teacher’s lounge for a bit and talked with Katarina. While we were talking the students came in asking me which movie I would like to watch. My choices: How the Grinch Stole Christmas or Where The Wild Things Are. When we were sitting there I did not hear my first option, which was The Grinch, I decided on Where the Wild Things Are. I could not figure out what the students were doing when they were asking me all these questions. Finally I was allowed into the classroom where the students planned a surprise party for me on my final day! There was the Saffransbröd, gingerbread cookies, and lemonade laid out on the tables and they were all set up to watch the movie. After the movie ended, the students gave me a present that they made. It was very thoughtful of them and they all gave me hugs. They told me that they did not want me to leave. They had the idea that everyday I get on a plane and travel back and forth from Sweden to the United States. In the morning in Sweden I could teach them and then in the afternoon in Sweden, I could be teaching the students in the United States. I told them that I wished I could do that, but unfortunately I had to get home to my students in the United States. They all got really sad but told me they could not wait to hear from me!

After the students left for the day, I was talking with Katarina and Frida about the experience of being in the school. I have created a life long friendship with the students and staff at Linblommans skola. Everyone in the school has been very grateful that the students had an opportunity of speaking more English and having a teacher like me in the classroom! 

Day 39 – The Cultural Adventure

Snow, Snow, and more Snow… The snow has finally started to come this week and each morning I wake up to a little bit more snow. While we were driving from the university to Yvonne’s apartment it was snowing, when I got up this morning there was even more snow, and this morning on my walk to school it started snowing again. The snow is very beautiful as it is falling from the sky. It even makes the dark nights seem just a little bit brighter outside with the reflection off the snow.

Last night, I had another cultural experience. As I told you yesterday we were having dinner with Lennart and Yvonne. We went over to her apartment where she cooked us a fabulous dinner and the five of us had class with Lennart. We talked about our experiences being in the schools, the positives, and suggestions for future students who are studying abroad from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. As we were talking we were discussing the differences in the school and we all had different perspectives. Lennart explained that I had a different view of being in the school rather than the other girls because I was in the experience by myself. As a person, I learned a lot about being placed in another school. The more I thought about my experience, I am extremely glad that I took this opportunity to study abroad. It gave me a perspective on how students feel when they move from another country, state, city, or neighborhood. This experience reminded me of something I once went through and I did not realize it until we were talking last night.

When I was younger, my family lived in Canada for a few years because of my dad’s job. I started kindergarten in Canada and a few months later we were moving back to the United States. When my parents moved us back to the United States for my dad’s job, I finished off my kindergarten year in the U.S. When I first started kindergarten, I did not know the pledge of allegiance because it is not something they say in Canada. My teacher called my mom in concern that I was not saying the pledge. She must have thought I was being disrespectful or something. My mom later explained that I did not know the pledge because I had lived in Canada for two years. Later my teacher taught me the pledge and the problem was solved. I was once one of the students moving to the United States from another country. Now I am an educator that has experienced living in another country not only once (even though I do not remember it much) but I have now experienced it twice. I have lived in Sweden for six weeks, been in a Swedish classroom, and have realized that students are going to move from various places throughout the school year. I understand what it is like being in a classroom where English is not the primary language, but I am teaching the students how to talk English. I have learned how to use my surroundings to understand the Swedish language that they speak. The students have learned from me and I have learned from them. They taught me not to be scared but to be strong. I believe this experience had helped me not only as a future educator but a student as well. The students and staff at Linblommans skola have welcomed me into their school and their classroom. I am very grateful for this experience. I have a perspective that is extremely helpful when I will be working with other students who have moved from a different country, county, city, and “feel” like the outsider moving into a new school. I have a new insight into this perspective and have learned how to work through the challenges that have created a valuable learning experience for me. I was pulled out of my comfort zone and I am very grateful for this experience. It would not have happened if I did not have the support of everyone around me. I am proud of the experience and how I have embraced this challenge. Not only has this own semester helped me become a stronger teacher but this experience has also helped me tremendously to understand what student’s experience.

Making Saffransbröd with
some of the students.

After we finished talking, Yvonne explained that it was time for dinner. Dinner consisted of REINDEER, potatoes, salad, and bread. We started the night drinking Glögg (a Swedish Christmas drink) while we were discussing our experiences and realizing what we have learned in these last four weeks being in the classroom. Then Yvonne served us dinner. We started with passing the potatoes, then the salad, the bread and then the reindeer dinner. The dinner was fabulous! I never had reindeer before, I would never even try deer at home, but I tried reindeer. I have tried a variety of Swedish foods and I am told to try even more before I leave! We were very thankful last night the meal that Yvonne made for us and letting us come over for dinner.

Today, the students listened one of my favorite Christmas books. We listened to The Polar Express online since they do not have the story here and I did not have enough room to fit it in my suitcase. Afterwards, we were talking about some of the Swedish Christmas traditions and some of the American Christmas traditions. I even showed them a few video clips of the Christmas parade that we watch on Sundays and they showed me video clips of the Donald Duck Christmas shows that they watch on Christmas day. They even learned more about Lucia and who she was. It was a wonderful day sharing some of the American Traditions and the Swedish Traditions for the holiday season.

 

My baking sheet of
Saffransbröd. 

After lunch, some of the sixth grade students were making Saffransbröd (Saffron Bread). This is Swedish traditional bread that they eat during Lucia. I also got involved in making the bread. The students made the dough and I helped shaped them in to an “s” shape and add raisins to the bread. You can say I was getting my heads down and dirty making some Saffransbröd. We were back making the bread today and tomorrow the students will get to eat the bread during school. It was quite an experience; it reminded me of making bread rolls by kneading the dough and shaping it into a shape. From making the dough to baking it in the oven, it took about two hours to complete the whole process. It makes me want to go home and bake a bunch of my favorite cookies and treats for Christmas!

Day 38 – Wednesday, December 7, 2011

We are half way through the week, which means that I have about two more school days and three days left in Sweden before we head back to the United States. I cannot believe how fast this week has gone and I cannot believe that today is already Wednesday. This morning was a little bit different for me. I did not have to arrive at school until noon, but I decide that I would come in at 10:00 when the other students arrived. Katarina explained that the students would be working on a math pretest in the hour before lunch, so I did not have to come in till noon. I explained that I would love to come to school in the morning. She told me that I could bring my computer to work on my paper for Lennart since we would be watching the students take their exam the whole hour before lunch. So while I sat watching the students, I was working on comparing and contrasting the schools in the United States and the schools in Sweden. My paper for Lennart is slowly approaching the 10 pages, but I cannot wait for the paper to be completed.

After lunch, the students were working practicing for their play that they will be performing next week called Lucia. I am really sad that I will be missing the play, but it was excited watching the students work on the play. Lucia is the church feast day dedicated to St. Lucy and it is observed on December 13^th. This is a modern day celebration that is associated with Sweden and Norway. Other countries observe it as well. In the United States it is celebrate where there are a larger number of people of Scandinavian ancestry. Click on the link to learn more about Lucia: St. Lucy's Day

Tonight we are having dinner with Lennart and Yvonne at Yvonnes place. She is making us a dinner while Erika, Amanda, Kim, Sara, and I talk with Lennart about our expreince of being in the school. Since we are unable to attend the day class since we are still in the school this week, they have offered to make us dinner… I wonder what we will be having….

Day 36 and 37 – My Last and Final Week

Our Christmas Wreaths!

Yesterday, I do not know where the time went during the day. I think it makes my days go by so fast when I start school in the dark and end school in the dark. I started off my school day doing something I had never done before. I taught ART class to the students. Even though we were making handprint Christmas wreaths, I still had to have a lesson plan ready to go! So on Monday morning we started the day off with make Christmas wreaths. I started working with the fifth graders in the morning, then the 5^th and 6^th graders had social studies, and right before lunch the 6^th graders made their wreaths. The students began their morning with five sheets of green paper and a strip of red paper. They had to fold the green sheet in have and trace their hands. After they traced their hands on the green paper, the students cut them out, created their Christmas wreath, and finished them with ornaments or Christmas bows. They turned out really good and the students loved their wreaths. I just wished that I had a little more time where they could have added some sparkle to their wreaths, but we ran out of time. It was fun to see what they did to their wreaths and how excited they were afterwards.

After art, the students went to lunch. I ate with the teachers in the teachers lounge and then I went to work more on lesson planning. After lunch, it was time for English! Today was the day the students had to finish their state projects! They turned out really good with the materials that the students had in the school to work with. The students even learned a lot about each state and they will continue to learn about the states in their free time since they are posted up on the walls of the classroom. Even Katarina was amazed at all the facts that the students learned about each state.

Our State Projects

Since the students were done at 2:00 p.m., I also had the opportunity of making my way downtown Umeå. Since I travel by myself to the school, I did not know if and when Amanda and Erika were going to end their school. For the first time ever, I met them on the same bus that takes us to Umeå. We decided that we were going to go shopping for our last minute Christmas presents for our families. We spent about 4 hours shopping downtown before making our way back to our rooms. When we got back we decided to make pasta for dinner, since we have a ton to eat before we leave!

Today was a little different for me. I started my morning out at Kasamark Skola. Kasamark Skola is located more in the country. One of the students that I work with at Linblommans Skola, her mother works at Kasamark Skola and asked Katarina if I could go over there and talk to the students. We agreed, so I went and taught 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders about the United States. It was different being in another school all morning, but I experienced another school in Sweden. This school, the students are bused there in the mornings because they live more in the country. It was nice to talk to the students in another school. They were very excited I was there for the morning hours.

After I finished my morning at Kasamark, I went back to Linblommans Skola and spent about an hour there. The students were taking a math test with Frida, and Katarina said that my day was over at 1:00 p.m. since I spent my morning at Kasamark. So, Katarina offered to drive me downtown to catch the bus back to Umeå.

So I sit here writing my blog, deciding foods that I am really craving for back at home, and writing my 10 page paper for Lennart.

4 days and counting!

Days 33, 34, and 35 – Trip to Åre ☺

The view from the patio of the cabin.
This is what we woke up to every
morning! Absolutely AMAZING!

This last weekend in Sweden has been truly amazing. I cannot believe how fast the weekend has gone by and tomorrow will be Monday. We spend the weekend in Åre, Sweden. We were kind of sad that we never had the opportunity to travel to another country, but we were about 650 kilometers from the Norwegian border!

Here is how our weekend in the mountains of Åre came about: We were talking with our supervisor, Lennart how we wanted to spend a weekend in the mountains or travel to another country when we went to the Elk farm. Later that evening, Lennart sent us information about spending a weekend in Åre. He explained to us travel arrangement getting to Åre and prices for hotels in the area. Eventually as we started getting more interested in traveling, Lennart was kind enough to rent out his son’s cabin for the weekend in Undersåker, Sweden. It was about 14 kilometers from the cabin to Åre. The more we all thought about how to spend our last weekend in Sweden, we decided that we were going to go to Åre and spend our last weekend there.

The train station in Undersåker. This
is where we got off and go on the
train as part of our travels to Åre.

Traveling to Åre was nice. On Thursday night, we took a night train from Umeå to Ånge, where we had to wait three hours for our train to take us to the Undersåker train station. Once we arrived in Ånge, we were nervous that we were going to have to wait inside at the train station and stay awake the entire time to watch our luggage from 1:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. As we were getting off the train, one of the ladies that was checking the tickets, told us that we could wait on the waiting train. It was a single car that waited three hours for it to connect to the train that would take us to Underåker. We did not have to worry about getting on another train after we boarded the waiting train, which was really nice. So we all slept on the train and about 4:00 a.m. we started moving and we knew we only had about 3.5 hours left on the train before arriving to our destination. All of us agreed that taking the night train was the best thing ever, and being able to sleep on the waiting train was even better. So around 7:30 a.m. we finally arrived in Undersåker, our next task was to find where we were staying. Luckily there was a newspaper guy dropping of newspapers and he helped direct us in the proper direction. We walked about 400 meters to the house, in the snowy, cold weather. Once arriving at the place we were all amazed at the sight we were seeing.

The back of the house. You can even see
the little bit of snow that we presented
with upon our arrival that lasted all
weekend :)

The city of Åre.

The cabin house is located on a lake in Undersåker and across the river were mountains. As the morning sun began to rise, we could start to see the mountain that Lennart explained to us before we left. It was still a little cloudy and snowy, but we were able to see something truly amazing. After finally settling into the house and deciding what we were going to do for the day, the girls and I decided that we were going to call a taxi and go to Åre for the day. As we were walking around Åre at 10:00 in the morning, we realized that most of the shops did not open till about 11:00 or 12:00 and that the ski lift we ALL wanted to go in was not open because there was not enough snow on the mountains to go skiing. We were quite upset that we were not going to be able to go to the top of the mountain. So on a Friday morning in Åre, we were walking around trying to decide what to do. Finally, some shops were open and we went in to look around to see what they had. Eventually we made our way to the information center of Åre asking for site seeing ideas since the mountain ski lifts were closed for skiing and even mountain biking.  http://www.are360.com/sv.aspx.

The outside of the Church in Åre. It is
extremely small. The building to the left
was the bell tower and the building to the
right is the Church.

Inside of the church.

So after talking with the very helpful ladies at the information center, we walked to one of the oldest churches in Sweden. The church was erected in the late 12^th century at the Saint Olaf Pilgrim’s Route. The church was made entirely with stone and remains the only stone church in the Scandinavian Mountains from the Middle Ages. The Åre Old Church has room for 150 seated people and is still active today for church services. It is open year round to the public where you could listen to an automated voice who explained the church and view the interior of the church. The church was amazing, not only is it made out of stone, but there were not lights in the building. Their way of light is through candles because in the Middle Ages, they did not have electricity to produce light. The interior design and the details were amazing.

Chocolate Factory.. YUMMY!

After visiting the church, we decided that we wanted to warm up with some coffee. So we went out in the stormy weather and walked around till we came to a shop where we could get lunch and coffee. I only had a sandwich and some water to drink for lunch, but some of the girls decided to get coffee and lunch. Finally after lunch, we started walking around in the shops to get ideas for gifts that we could bring back home to our families. Before the day was over with, we decided that we wanted to visit one last place. The place was called Åre Chokladfabrik. The famous Chocolate Factory of Åre, Sweden. We went in, sampled some of the amazing chocolate, and decided to buy a few bags of chocolate. Åre Chocolate Factory has handmade chocolates that are sold throughout Sweden. There are over SIX MILLION chocolates manufactured in the chocolate factory year round and it is all done by hand. And might I add, they tasted AMAZING, well at least the ones we got to sample! Finally, we made our way home, made dinner, and rested for the evening.

Undersåker Waterfall.

On Saturday, we decided that we were going to visit a waterfall in Undersåker, find a way to the top of the mountain to see the beautiful sights, and shop for Christmas and birthday presents of our friends and family. We had so much to do and so little daylight to accomplish everything!

Undersåker Waterfall

We started out our day by going to the Undersåker waterfall. The sight was truly amazing. I have seen waterfalls in the summertime in Canada, but this one did not compare to what I have seen before. The snow and ice of the running waterfall made it feel as if it was not real. It was so breathtakingly amazing! We spent about an hour out in cold weather, and we did not care how cold it was because the scenery was absolutely amazing. We even walked around so that we could have a straight on view of the waterfall and just watched as it was coming down!

Working our way up the mountain.
I know this is what it looks like as
a downhill view, but it was really
steep!!!

After the Undersåker waterfall, we made our way back to Åre. Once we were in Åre we started walking around slipping and sliding everywhere we walked. Because it had snowed the day before and all they have are snowplows that do not do much, the roads and sidewalks were really slippery from everyone walking around on them. Erika, Amanda, Kim, Sara, and I decided that we wanted to see the view from as far up as we could go up the mountain. So we started our adventure walking up these HUGE slopes, where we felt like we were going to slide down at any moment. It was a way to get our workout in for the day! About half way up the mountain, Kim and Sara decided that they were going to head back down and start shopping but Erika, Amanda, and I were determined to get as high up as we could. So we kept walking... then it happened, we finally reached the top of the mountain, well not the exact top, but as far as we could go without taking a ski lift. We were so excited to see the sight, which was also breathtakingly beautiful. All I kept doing was taking pictures, but pictures never do justice until you have visited the sights that I have seen. After spending about 30 minutes on the top of the mountain, we decided to make our way back down to start some shopping. We had to be careful getting down because everything was becoming slippery from the cars driving on the road that we had to take. At one point we were sliding so much, we start to run and could not stop ourselves from running. We all got our workout in and are extremely sore from walking up and down the mountain in the snow.

A view from the top!

On top of the Mountain as far
as we were able to go!

After spending a few hours shopping, we met up with Kim and Sara to eat dinner. We walked around and ended up eating at a small little restaurant called Broken. The food was absolutely amazing. We all loved our meals and enjoyed eating together for one of the last times in Sweden. After our eventful day, we headed back to the place we were staying at in Undersåker.

Sunday we spent our day traveling back to Umeå. We left the amazing weekend in Åre around 10:30 in the morning, got on two different trains, and the we ended our adventure on the bus. We finally made it back to Umeå safely around 7:50, were Lennart was kind enough to pick us up. Plus he wanted to get his cell phone. He was kind enough to let us borrow the phone for the weekend since we had to travel by taxi all weekend. Plus he was checking in with us ALL weekend.

Right to Left: Amanda, Erika, and I with the
waterfall in the background!

Through my traveling adventures I have noticed that I things I used to be nervous about I am not so nervous about anymore. I used to dislike calling people or picking up the phone unless it was certain people that I knew I needed to talk to. But I have had a lot of practice calling cab companies and talking with people to find directions. We have had to ask a lot of people for directions or advice on places/sights to see. People are extremely nice here and are always willing to help. Even if you stop some on the street to ask them where you are or places to visit, they are more than willing to help! I have also noticed that I am becoming PRO at traveling by every form of transportation as possible. I have traveled by train, bus, taxi, airplane, and bus while visiting Sweden. (Watch out dad, I might be better at traveling by train than you are. ;) Just kidding, I know you will still be pro since it’s your job working with trains.)

Undersåker Train Station

This is the last week of living in Sweden. As much as I am enjoying the adventure, I am ready to come home. We do not want to leave the schools, the kids, or the scenery of Sweden, but unfortunately, we are all starting to miss home. This week will be our last and final challenge before we head back home to the United States. We are looking forward to finishing up this week, having dinner with Lennart and Ywovvne, and packing up to head home.


By the time that I get this posted, it will be 5 days and counting! 

Day 31 and 32 – This week –

I must say I do not know where the week has gone by, actually, I do not know where the month and gone by! I feel like it was just yesterday I was starting my adventure here in Umeå. This week the students were finishing up their pen pal letters and their United States state projects are almost finished! They are turning out really good and the students love that they are learning about the states.

I also taught 4^th graders about the United State geography along with some of the holidays that we celebrate and the sports that we enjoy watching. They loved being able to talk to have the opportunity of talking to me in English. I even learned some new Spanish word, but I do not know what they mean or even spell them. You will have to ask me some Swedish words that I know since being over here!

Working on our state projects!

I know this blog is really short, but we are packing for a weekend in Åre. Everyone suggested we travel there, so we are taking the adventure to Åre on this cold evening. We are traveling by train to get there and it will be about a 7-hour train ride and we have a 3-hour wait in the train station. With that being said, it is the weekend for me out here. I will not have internet or my computer all weekend long, but when I get back I will update you about our awesome adventure!

9 days and counting! I didn’t know December would sneak up so fast!

Day 30 – Things I am missing from home…

After today, it means that I have one more Tuesday to spend in Sweden! I cannot believe where the time has gone by! I figured I would create a list of some of the things I am missing from because I will soon be closer to those things!

1. I miss my family A LOT!
2. My friends
3. My kids at school and work, and my colleagues too! I can’t wait to share my experience with you when I get home!
4. Cell phone – I may have brought my phone and used it like twice to call home, but it’s very expensive to call home and send text messages everyday, so I never used it. I thought one week without cell phone reception was hard in Up North Wisconsin. Try having it for six weeks in the Up North Sweden!
5. My bed and my blankets – it is way too cold in these rooms and the bed feels like I am sleeping on foam from a pit. Oh wait I am sleeping on hard foam and my blankets do not justify my nice warm bed at home!
6. Being able to drive. It has been very nice to take the bus and to walk everywhere. Remember walking and the buses are their primary forms of transportation. It takes me 10 minutes to get to school in Lake Geneva. Here I have to take a bus for an hour each way to get to school. My hour-long bus ride in Sweden is a two-hour walk to the school or a fifteen-minute car ride.
7. Being around to help set up all the Christmas decorations. Yes they are getting ready for their Christmas here in Sweden, but it is not the same as being at home. I didn’t even get to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas the day after Thanksgiving this year because I didn’t bring the movie with me!
8. I actually miss having a t.v. It is much different when all you have is a computer as your source of technology. Watching a few shows online (if they come through the server of being in another country) is not the same as cuddling up on the couch watching t.v.

Here is just a list of foods that I am missing from home….

1. Coca Cola is not the same here! There is not as much carbonation or sugar in their drinks!
2. A nice juicy cheeseburger from a good restaurant
3. Chipolte, Mongolian Restaurant food
4. Panera Bread
5. My mom’s amazing rice hot dish
6. My dad cooking our steaks on the grill
7. Homemade chili
8. Chicken fajitas
9. Wisconsin cheese – it is NOT the same here. I tried a cheese that the students at Linblommans skola suggested and it tasted just like a block of parmesan cheese but it did not even taste very good on the pasta.
10. Nachos with either cheese or salsa
11. Sunchips
12. Spaghetti – O’s
13. OREOS!!
14. Reeses
15. Being able to go out to dinner and not spending $30 dollars on a meal that doesn’t even leave leftovers. 

P.S. Mom and dad if you are reading this… I hope you remember my list of foods that I would to have when I get home! Love, your daughter.

11 Days and Counting until I am on a plane home!

Day 27, 28, and 29 – I don’t know where time is flying!

Umeå University

On Friday, I could not believe how fast everything is going. Friday marked having one more Friday in the classroom, and today (Monday), now means that there is ONE more Monday left of our adventure and being in the classroom. You must be wondering where I am figuring in one more Friday, if I still need to get through this week and next week, since I leave on December 10th. This Friday we have the opportunity of taking a bus to Åre. It is a town in the mountains and we have rented a house on a lake for the weekend. Our supervisor here in Umeå has been so grateful enough to set up our trip to Åre for the weekend. We are trying to get an early morning bus (its about a 6 hour ride!) but we have heard it is a beautiful city! We are sad that we could not get to the other countries, like Norway, Denmark, or Finland but it was just a little too expensive for us to travel for such a short time on the weekend.

Is this how the man invented skis?!
Look at all the skis to the right ->

Skis that date back to the early
1800s

This past weekend kept us busy as well. On Saturday, we went to Gammilia. In Gammilia is a big museum which is called the Västerbotten Museet. We got to se the oldest skies in the world, walk around an open air museum, expect that everything was closed up. The area where the Västerbotten Museum is located is called Gammlia. Nowadays, since Umeå grown, it is actually the center of town. Right next to the museum is open-air museum Gammlia. Here you can check out old buildings from around the county. For the open-air museum, Gammlia, has different kinds of houses from Västerbotten since its inception in 1921 until 1990. Most of the buildings have its origins in the farming community; houses, sheds, barns, bakery house, barns and mills, among other things. In the Swedish Ski museum, it was a museum about the skiing history of the Swedish. It marked from the Stone Age to Stenmark and to 2011. We saw skis from the first time man used skis to the updated 2011 verisions. Along with the history of skis, were exhibits about Anja Paerson and Per Elofsson, both from Umeå who have won numerous skiing medals from World Championships to the Olympic Games. The ski museum was very cool learning about skis and snowshoes that were once used to travel through the snow. Then we looked at the Sami people and the culture, learned about Umeå’s past, present, and future. (www.vbm.se)

A type of house they used to live in.

I heard Gammlia is better to visit in the spring/summer time and next weekend when they have their Christmas Market here in Sweden, but unfortunately we will be up in the mountains. After walking through the Museums, we decided that we did not want to stay much longer, since the sun goes down around 2:00 p.m. After we left the museum, we went downtown Umeå and ate at a fabulous restaurant. We then went shopping in some of the shops looking for those last minute presents to bring home for Christmas. Most of our Christmas shopping is being done in Sweden rather than at home because it is so close to the holiday.

Today in the school I had a wonderful day again with the students. In the morning, the students attended art class where they continued to work on their rooters that they started last week. It is very interesting that you can use newspaper and wire to create a rooster-looking animal. Today, most of the students were decorating their roosters with colorful feathers. After art class, the students were working on their Europe test. The students had to memorize 40 European countries and their capitals, so while the students were working on their European test, I was watching the students work and working on homework that I need to do for the schools. After two classes of the European test, the students went to lunch. I did not eat with the students today. I ate in the teachers lounge and then I went back to the classroom to continue working on my work that I need to get done for the schools. After lunch, the students had English! Yay!! This is my favorite part of the day. The students were extremely excited to come to English because they two that they had two tasks to work on today for me. The first task was to finish their pen pal letters and the second task was to start working on their State project! I explained that they needed to finish up their letters by Wednesday this week because I want them to finish up their State projects by Monday, so they can share what they are learning about the States with the class. I am very proud of the hard work the students put into writing their letters to Mrs. Anderson’s class and how hard they are working on their State projects!

Teaching the 5th graders about
how to write a Pen Pal letter!

Writing a Sample Pen Pal letter! Notice I do
not have a SmartBoard to work with, I had
to write on the dry erase board!

After school, I was in charge of detention. Students received detention for not going to class or showing up for the day tardy. These students spend between 10 to 40 minutes in detention depending on what they did to deserve detention. Many of the students were finishing up their pen pal letters to their friends in the States and were working on their State projects. They were all excited to ask me questions about their pen pals and asking me questions about the United States.

Reading our Pen Pal letters from our
New Friends in the United States!

After finally getting back to my room about 3:45, Amanda and I went to on an adventure to the post office on campus. Amanda had to mail out a letter to her students in the United States and I sent out a few post – cards to family and friends. Who knew that the post office on campus would be so busy around 4:30 in the afternoon? We didn’t because we waited in line for about thirty minutes before we got our letters in the mail.

Another type of house they
used to live in during the early
years of living in Umeå.

Lennart, our supervisor, stopped by tonight to check in on us, to drop off our evaluations, and to talk to us about Åre. We are very excited to go to Åre, apparently there is a huge chocolate factory there and we will be on top of one of the tallest mountains in Sweden. We do not think we will be able to go skiing because there is no snow here in Sweden, but we might be able to see Norway from the top of the mountain!

I cannot believe how fast time has flown since we arrived in Sweden a month ago! I can admit that I am starting to really miss a few things from home, but after talking with Amanda and Erika, we can now say that we had the experience of living in another country for 6 weeks. Even though it has only been 6 weeks, we can still say that we lived in another country. Well, for me, I have now lived in three countries, The United States, Canada, and Sweden! I never thought that would ever happen to me before!

Well, Good Night everyone! I must rest up for the rest of the week, catch up on my e-mails, and continue to write my papers for school! 12 days and counting until I am on a plane back to the United States!