What a week it
has been here in Gothenburg, Sweden! We arrived on Monday with a very short
travel day (length of 45min) from Alingsas and had a day full of internal
activities – such as creating a cast book, having a religious debate and just
soaking up our time together as we all know it is coming to an end so soon.
When Marisa (from Germany) and I met
our new family they began speaking in German to us because they were expecting
two people from Germany – well obviously that did not quite work out J But by the time we ate dinner we were all speaking in
English and the week was off to a great start. Throughout the week we enjoyed
delicious, typical Swedish meals both in the early mornings and later evenings.
We spent a lot of time talking and I became very accustomed to the public
transportation system in Gothenburg (all of Cast B did more or less). We
created great bonding moments as we sprinted to catch the train (a typical
Swedish thing to do I have found out) and went out to the club together on
Saturday night. My host sister, Helena brought me to one of the biggest candy
stores I have ever seen and thankfully we had to leave to catch a train before
I could buy anything! She loved the show and ended up applying for UWP as well
so yay for me recruiting! On Sunday we had a relaxing day of baking Santa Lucia
buns which is something I experienced in PRWS (Waldorf school), but now I am in
Sweden, the heart of the Santa Lucia holiday so that was super fun. It became
the first of December today so Advent has officially begun in Scandinavia and
the Christmas season is in full swing! Christmas sure does put you in the best
mood as the carols ring in your ears and family meals with candles and
Christmas decorations bring that longing in your heart to be at home by the
fire with family. But hey I have family around the world now and if that is not
literally spreading the Christmas spirit I am not sure what is J
In UWP this week we were busy but
had so much fun stuff happening all the
time that we did not even notice how fast the week flew by. On Tuesday we had
almost an entire day of regional learning in Gothenburg where we had time to
explore the city, shop and even have a fika (coffee date) if you wanted. It
felt so nice and because of that time during the day to see the city – I have
fallen in love with Gothenburg. It is not too big and not too small, it is
beautiful, efficient and just all around a great place to live in my opinion.
On Wednesday I had study abroad and the facility we were in was one of the
coolest I have seen in my entire year of study abroad in UWP. We had free
cookies and tea and coffee all day and I got a lot of work done as well. Each
evening there was about 6 of us who took the same train and we had so many
nights of laughter that our stomachs hurt, but a good pain if you know what I
mean. On Thursday I did CI at a place that is for young people with cancer. It
was a great CI where we did a lot of work, but also had a lot of time to talk
to each other, share stories and continue to soak up every second we have left
together. We can all tell it is crunch time and that we don’t have any time to
lose. If only we had realized that 1 month into the tour, but alas it is human
nature J After CI we all made our way to Liseberg, a beautiful
amusement park and the most famous Christmas market in Sweden. We spent the
evening walking around and seeing the beautiful lights, talking to Swedish
Santa, drinking glogg (a very typical Christmas drink here in Sweden) and
ending the night with a gorgeous Ice Show that was put on by an UWP alumni
(they are seriously all over the world and you never know when you will find
one). On Friday we had our show at Liseberg in the theatre and it was a
fantastic show. A very packed and enthusiastic audience and yes it was full of alumni,
who may have helped the energy, but we were also on fire! My biggest surprise
of the night was when I saw Robin in the audience along with his band members!
I was so excited to see one of my closest friends again! He visited last week
for like 5 minutes, but this time I actually got to talk to him and he brought
me one of his newly released albums. I was so proud to see that he made it
happen, because I cannot even count the times we talked about his band or went
over grammatical errors in his lyrics or I listened to him test a melody. I am
so happy there is now a finished project and it is so good! After a late night
public transportation adventure, Jordan and I made it home to our respective
host families to get a wonderful 10-hour sleep. Then I awoke and again went on
a solo public transportation adventure to arrive at the appropriate facility. We had a pretty intense
5 hours of closure activities, a lot of tears were shed but to balance it out
there was also a lot of laughter.
We
all ended the day or week hugging each other a little bit tighter and smiling a
little bit longer at each other before parting. As the last week approaches,
the week full of “lasts” day by day we linger in the facility longer before we
are forced out to our host families, simply because we don’t want to say
goodbye knowing that each day the goodbyes get closer and closer to the REAL
FINAL goodbye. The day’s get harder and harder for me as well and the pit in my
stomach continues to grow as the reality of the end starts to seep into my
brain and eventually to my heart. I burst into tears at random and I have the
whole last year flash through my mind in such vivid memories as if it were
yesterday! I cannot believe how fast time flew by and I still cannot believe it
is ending. It is almost hard for me to comprehend that almost the entire year
of 2013 I have been in UWP and living a life that people dream of living. It
always comes around to how blessed I am and how each day I become more grateful
for the opportunities, experiences, friends and gifts UWP gave to me. I will
forever be grateful for this program. This thanksgiving I was thankful for UWP
and my family and friends back home who support me in all I do. Without them
UWP would not be possible and without UWP – the last year would not have
happened and I would not be the same person I am today.
Off
to an amazing and unreal last week in Denmark! Lets make it a good one Cast B
because for real this time it is now or never!
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