Swedish Christmas

It’s starting to look like a warm lovely Christmas over here! Red and white paper stars are hanging from every window in Sweden and the advent calendars are being opened every day by my anxious little kiddos.  They are so excited to get up each morning because children’s television in Sweden has a special advent television show every day.  Each morning at 7:15, Fanny and Lovisa are so excited to watch this Christmas series.  Borje says a new one is on each year, every day until Christmas starting on the first of December.  And, kids can buy an advent calendar that matches the one that they open each morning on TV.  Borje says I should write and American version of "Julkalendern" because it really is a very, very cool Christmas tradition!

Stockholm has a ton of lovely Christmas markets and I had a very nice time last weekend shopping at one in Gamla Stan with friends.  They had a gambling game in which you put a coin in a slot next to a number and if the giant wheel landed on your number, you would win a giant candy bar.  My French friend Sam, kept playing.  And three times the wheel landed on the number just after hers.  She might have grabbed a candy bar and ran for it! After wandering the Christmas market, we sat down for a perfect Fika in the coziest café I have ever been in.  Best hot chocolate in Sweden too. 

"Tomten", Santa Claus', for sale in Gamla Stan

I sent off my Swedish Christmas package the other, with a note on it that said, “Do not open until December 24^th!” I’ve always wanted to write that on a Christmas package.  It’s filled with lots of Swedish Christmas goodies for my family at home.  This week, my mom sent me an email that said she’d just sent my Christmas package and that inside are presents for me to take to South Africa so that Tebogo and I can open them on Christmas eve just like if we were at home in Wisconsin, I almost cried of Christmas happiness! She’s the best mom ever!

Today, I was very happy to get a box of Christmas goodies in the mail from my grandma-but I think I gave Fanny one too many.  She was hopping off the walls today.  But it was worth it-she had to try a cut out cookie that wasn't pepparkakor!

Recently, I’ve started helping out a couple of days a week in Fanny’s classroom-just to keep myself occupied without spending money.  The differences between Swedish and American elementary schools are interesting.  School systems are much more laid back in Sweden. For example, kids have recess starting at 1:30 until their parents pick them up around four or five.  And, today I joined seven of the kids on a field trip into the city of Stockholm.  The kids were given a chance to explore a large square Christmas market on their own, with a buddy.  I was surprised we didn’t all have to stick together the whole time and I kept thinking about Pine Lake Camp’s risk management sessions.  The kids had a chance to buy something small to take home-Fanny chose chocolate and a balloon shaped like a mermaid.  I always have an amazing time hanging out with those kids and it can be the only chance I have to speak Swedish beacause every adult in Stockholm can speak fluent English so my Swedish skills are hardly necessary.

Window displays at NK-Stockholm's Harrod's

I am looking forward to one more week of ice skating at Kungsträgården, Swedish class,  pepparkakor, and kiddos Christmas concerts before I head of to Johannesburg!  

Skating in Stockholm with Ellie from England

November

So, over here, nobody really cares about Thanksgiving, which makes sense because it’s an exclusively American holiday.  Fanny wasn’t even that into tracing a turkey with her hand but I think she did it for me anyway.  There was no way that I was going to make an entire Thanksgiving dinner for the family on my own, so I made a pumpkin pie.  Which was a lot harder than it sounds. I went to three grocery stores on my island and none of them had any canned pumpkin.  The three workers I asked all said they had never even heard of it before.  But I had promised the girls an American pumpkin pie! And I already had all of the other ingredients! So, the next day I had to go all the way downtown to the English shop, which also has some American products as well.  I spent about six dollars on a can of pumpkin.  And I was so happy that I found it, that I bought three cans.  I better start baking. 

November near my home.

The kids loved the pie and I’m really thankful for that.  It was a little hard to be away from home on Thanksgiving, but I didn’t cry the whole day so that’s good.  Home also doesn’t feel so far away with Skype.  I’m also so thankful for the opportunity to travel to and live in Stockholm for free.  So even though it can be lonely sometimes, I have to remember that it’s worth it for this amazing chance to see a new part of the world.

A few weeks ago, I got the awesome chance for a friend to come stay with me here in my little cottage. It was so fun to show my friend Emily, who is staying in Krakow, Poland for the semester and whom I know from college, around the town.  We bummed around in Gamla Stan and had a delicious and expensive fika, a Swedish coffee break. We went to the world’s biggest Ikea and had the cheapest lunch in Sweden.  And I finally had some Swedish meatballs.  At nights we relaxed with the Big Bang Theory and caught up on gossip from home.  It was so much fun that next weekend I am going to visit her in Poland for the same thing. 

World's biggest Ikea!

December is going to be a very exciting month for me.  Next Thursday, I am off to Krakow, Poland to visit my friends Emily and Agnieszka, I haven’t seen Agnieszka since she was a foreign exchange student at my high school during my freshman year.  The weekend after that, I will be having a Christmas party with friends and going to the Stockholm Lucia Concert with my host family.  Also, I will be seeing Paul McCartney that weekend! Then, just one weekend after that, I will be heading to South Africa to see Tebogo Moremi and the stars on the other side of the world!

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet

Trick or Treat Smell My Feet

Halloween is definitely not as big of a deal here as it is in America.  The costumes are all store bought instead of being picked out carefully at thrift stores and the kids don’t go trick or treating until November 5^th.  But, I wanted to show my girls a little bit of the American Halloween spirit so on Friday we carved pumpkins, went trick or treating, and watched “Hocus Pocus.” 

Fanny and Lovisa were so excited that day during dinner I was wondering if they had taken drugs.  They ate dinner faster than I’d ever seen, and got into a fight about which costumes they would wear.  They both ended up being witches anyway. Both were cute anyway.  Then, Lovisa wanted to make Zombie fingers out of marzipan and m&m’s and Fanny wanted to make them out of sausages. Susanna said Fanny had been asking to make them out of sausages all day.  After that, I went and hid out in my apartment and 10 minutes later the girls came trick or treating.  And Fanny sang the “Trick or Treat Smell My Feet Song” and I gave them way too much candy.  Then, we went to the au pair’s house who live across the street, Bonnie from Texas, and she gave the girls each a pumpkin cupcake and a chocolate cake ball.  Fanny was so excited about the cupcake that she ate some of the paper.  I showed her that she had eaten some paper and then she and Lovisa couldn’t stop laughing.

We made it back to my house and watched “Hocus Pocus” and ate all of our candy.  Fanny didn’t make it through the movie and Lovisa loved it.  And it was their first movie watched completely in English!

So, Halloween was perfect for the girls but for me, it wasn’t as awesome as Halloween in Wisconsin.  For one thing, not many people dress up, and if they do dress up, they just paint themselves like a disgusting zombie.  I didn’t see any clever or cute costumes.  Philippa, Rachel, (both from England) and I went to one of the biggest clubs in Stockholm called Sturecompagniet.  And not a single person was dressed up.  The club was awesome though, great music and rich people, but we just weren’t drunk enough to have a great clubbing night that night. 

So, I went home early, but there was some construction on the tunnelbana so it took me over two hours to get home.  I sat on the train for a half an hour before it started moving, and that was after a previous 15 minute walk, 10 minute bus ride, and 30 minute wait and ride on the subway.  Then, two people sat next to me and started gossiping in English so of course I listened in.  Then the guy, an extremely skinny, pompous, girly looking Swede said, “I’m actually surprised at how efficient it was to get home.” I wanted to punch him in the face.  Then, we finally got to the end of the line and those two only had to wait six minutes for their bus, and I had to sit in the station for 34 minutes before mine arrived.  Then it took a 20 minute bus ride and 10 minute walk, all in sagging tights, for me to get home. I swear I am not getting on public transportation for at least a week. 

Banks Without Cash

Last week was rough.  For some reason, I was more emotional than normal and frustrating things kept happening.  For example, I was putting away dishes and making dinner at the same time.  I was feeling awesome because I only had to make sausages, mashed potatoes, and a salad.  I was thinking about how easy my job is and how awesome of a job I was doing at it.  Then I went to put away a ceramic jar.  And I dropped the top of it and it smashed on the floor.  ” They got the jar from their summer home.  Fanny hugged me and said, “It’s ok, Kacie” but I still felt like I might as well catch the next boat home for being the worst au pair in the history of the world. 

But, I took some deep breaths, calmed down, reminded myself that the kids are still alive and that’s all that really matters, and finished dinner.  The night wasn’t the best, but other au pairs have done similar things and felt the same way I did.  One of my friends shrunk one of her boy’s sweaters in the wash, and another girl I know gave one of her kids mushrooms, which he’s allergic to.  Everyone makes these little mistakes.

I thought I could recuperate from that night.  But, the next day I went for a walk with my British friend Phillipa and we later met up with Jessica the Canadian in Lidingö Centrum.  It was lovely and the only thing I needed to do was take some cash out at my bank’s ATM.  So, we popped on up to the ATM.  I put my card in, checked my balance, and was so happy to see that I had saved 2,000 crowns that month, which is about $250.  I turned and talked to my friends about how I couldn’t believe it and by the time I turned back to the machine, it was beeping red and swallowing my card. We went into the bank to try to get it back, but the lady said that it was gone forever and that I’d have to get a new one.  She said that since it was in there too long, the machine swallowed it to make sure no one got access to my card.  Phillipa said, “That doesn’t happen in England.” 

Then Jessica, “Not in Canada either.”

And I said, “Or in America!” Since I was already at the bank, I figured I could just take out some cash anyway for the weekend.  But the lady pointed at a sign on the desk that said, “This bank does not handle cash.” WTF? IT’S A BANK! 

We left and outside of the bank I started to cry.   After breaking the jar, I didn’t want to tell my family about another stupid thing I had done.  My friends comforted me and made me feel a lot better.  When I got home, I told Susanna about what happened.  She was sympathetic, I don’t know why I ever thought she wouldn’t be, it had happened to her once before but the bank was still handling cash.  Because our bank isn’t handling cash anymore, she is thinking of switching to another one.  

But, now I have a new card and all is going smoothly.  Susanna even told me I am the most experienced cook they’ve had so far.  She said Börje thinks so too.  I told her, well I know a lot of people who wouldn’t believe that! I am thinking of making cooking my new hobby because of that!

PAUL MCCARTNEY IS COMING TO STOCKHOLM AND I HAVE A TICKET TO SEE HIS SHOW.

Today I fulfilled one of my life’s greatest dreams.  I bought at ticket to see Paul McCartney in concert in Stockholm on December 10.  It’s been a dream of mine since high school to see the cutest (and most talented) Beatle perform but I never expected it would come true in Stockholm, Sweden.  The ticket cost me $180 for a terribly high, and far from the stage nose bleed seat but for those of you that know me and my best obsession, that is a small price to pay to see the best performer and musical artist alive. 

I found out that Paul McCartney was coming to Stockholm today in my Swedish class.  I gasped and couldn’t breathe for a second.  My classmates and teacher laughed at me, but I begged the Brazilian girl to tell me more about the concert.  She told me she was going to the concert with her boyfriend and that it was on December 10^th.  Tickets went on sale on October 14 so I started to pray that there would be some tickets left.  At this moment, our teacher turned on the radio and it was playing “Help”.  I knew that this was a cosmic sign.  For the rest of class I could think of nothing else but how to get my hands on a Paul McCartney ticket.  And, if I hadn’t switched Swedish classes because of the bad teacher and annoying classmates, I never would have found out about the concert.

My teacher gave me bad directions to a ticnet ticket booth where you can buy tickets for any events happening in Stockholm.  So, I set out to find this ticket booth because I wanted to be holding that ticket AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.   I wandered through Ostermalm, and Norrmalm, and T-Centralan. I ended up, after asking four people where the nearest ticket booth is, in a very big shopping center called NK.  It was like the Stockholm version of Harrod’s and I’m sure I didn’t look like I belonged there in my gray hoodie and 18 dollar Kohl’s boots.  After finally finding the ticket booth located at NK Press, I waited in a long line.  Then the cashier just told me that I have to call ticnet.  Or go to ticnet.com. Dammit. 

So, I trekked home in the cold rain though still not discouraged-and of course, had bad timing, missing every bus and train I needed to get back to the woods I live in.  I was going to buy the ticket online, if there were still any left.  On the first site I checked, no tickets. But on the second, I found one. $180.  A little expensive so I had to call my mom and ask if it was ok.  She said “Go for it.”  I am so happy that I did! I’ve been waiting at least seven long years to see Paul McCartney perform! And I can’t believe it’s happening in Stockholm! 

Living the dream!!!

Broken Ribs

This week’s been pretty wild.  And even though Borje broke seven ribs last weekend when he fell off of his bike, throwing things a little off of the normal track, this is the week I’ve started to feel most in the groove of being an au pair.  The kids love me and I’ve mastered the arts of flipping super thin Swedish pancakes and driving the Volvo stick shift. 

Fanny just keeps getting funnier ever day.  I started calling her Fanny Pack, you know, because of fanny packs.  So she started calling me Kacie Pack.  She also says, “Good night, sleep tight! Don’t let the bed bugs bite!” And she thinks it is the best sentence ever to be spoken in the English language.  I love that little kid. I think she is my best friend in Sweden so far.  The other day we were doing a puzzle on the floor and she started climbing on my back.  Susanna said a few things to her in Swedish that I didn’t understand.  Later, Susanna told me that she had asked Fanny to be careful with me.  Fanny said,  “It’s ok mom, because we are such good friends and we love each other.”

I also showed Fanny pictures of my three dogs in Wisconsin.  She loves them.  I told her, (in Swedish!) one day when we were walking home, “I miss my dogs” and she was so sympathetic, holding my hand and saying, “Oh Kacie, Oh Kacie.” with a little whimper of sadness especially for me. Then I told her, “I miss my boyfriend!” And she rolled her eyes and said, “Kaaaacie,” like it was the silliest thing in the world.

Goofing around on the way home from school.

Besides things with Fanny going well, I also feel like my new friendships are finally starting to grow in the right way too.  I’ve been hanging out with a Canadian, a Finnish girl, an Estonian, a few Germans, and a couple of pretty cool Americans too. 

Last weekend, I went to the Archipelago with a few friends.  The Archipelago is a group of thousands of islands just north east of Stockholm accessible by boat.  I was sort of in charge of this little outing, but I wasn’t quite sure where we were going or how to get there.  But I figured if we just got on the boat, we could pick the island we wanted to go to.  So, we got on the boat and the ticket man, who seemed to be very cranky asked where we were going.  I didn’t want to admit that I didn’t know where we were going so I just said, the last stop.  He mumbled, “Ok so you want to go to Finnnakhalmnd?” I said sure and we all paid our 110 crowns.  On our way up the stairs, Meryt, my best Estonian friend, said in a panicked voice, “Is this boat going to Finland?!?!” 

For a good five minutes, we were convinced we were on the boat to Finland, which would take an entire day to get to.  After we got the courage to ask the nice couple in front of us if this boat was indeed going to the Archipelago, we could rejoice because we were indeed on the right boat.  We laughed about our silly, stupid thought that that tiny boat could go all the way to Finland for such a cheap price.

And the guy we thought was crabby?  Well, he was actually really nice.  He brought us a map of the island we were going to and when we got back on the boat after a wonderful day of exploring beautiful Finnhamn, not Finland, he didn’t charge us for the return trip.  We got our Archipelago excursion for half the price.  Yes, I think I am most definitely living the dream.

On the way to Finnhamn

Relaxing in the sun on Finnhamn with Bjorg
from Iceland, Lara from Germany, and Meryt
from Estonia.

Stockholm Nights

Before I came to Stockholm, my research on the city included research on the nightlife here.  Many websites said that Stockholm has one of the best nightlife’s in the world.  There’s the Spy Bar where Swedish celebrities flock, Mosebacke overlooking the city is the perfect place for a cold beer on a summer night, and for God’s sake, we are living in the middle of the vodka belt! I practically thought that vodka would run from the faucets! I was excited to see what kind of clubs the city had to offer!

However, now that I’m here I’m wondering how anyone can ever afford to get drunk.  It is astronomically expensive to get yourself a Friday night cocktail here! For example, last weekend a friend (Jessika, Germany) and I went to this bar called Pet Sounds in Södermalm. One cocktail, though extremely delicious and funnily named a ‘Moscow Disco’, cost me 102 crowns. That is roughly about 15 U.S. dollars.  For one drink!!!

I’m going to tell you a fairy tale.  In a land far, far away…a land of snow and cheese and football called Stevens Point, Wisconsin, there is a magical place. It is a place where all of the students studying and writing hard go to dance the night away. The magical place is called Graffitti’s and a good time is always…well usually…had by all.  Every Thursday, all of the young ladies of the kingdom of Stevens Point can go to Graffitti’s and pay one dollar to drink out of a magical refilling cup for the whole night.  It could be the best deal in drinking history.

I kept thinking about that ‘Moscow Disco’ and how it was delicious, but if I had used that 15 dollars on Thursday nights in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, I could have partied hard for 15 consecutive weeks.  Here, I can’t even get two drinks for 15 dollars! Not that I’m not having fun here…

In front of the obelisk in Sergels Torg

I Love Fanny and Lovisa!

At the beginning of this trip, I asked myself, “What’s more fun, a cabin of nine girls who speak too much English, or two girls who barely speak any English?” So far, I’ve come to find both are equally fun. 

Fanny and Lovisa are so great, and cute, and pretty, and nice.  They love me and I love them.  Sometimes, we don’t understand each other but we make it.  I’ve found that even though I rarely understand what the girls are saying, they are just as funny as some campers I’ve had at camp that cracked jokes in English.  For example, Fanny just got a saxophone and she LOVES it.  She honks on it all the time.  Today, Borje got home from a business trip to Japan and Fanny and Lovisa ran outside to greet him.  Fanny brought her saxophone with her.  She didn’t say hello, she honked at him as loud as she could.  Susanna and I watched and laughed at her from the dining room. 

The other wonderful thing about these two girls is that they are helpful and loving.  Lovisa’s school had a bake sale so I offered to make cupcakes with her.  I found a recipe, put it in the metric system, and we baked together.  She kept saying, “I love this! I love this!” and “I like you!” It was so much fun.  And what made me so happy was that she was really helpful about cleaning up.  She washed dishes and volunteered to take out the garbage.  I was so proud of her. 

I also have a lot of fun taking Fanny to and from school every day.  She is the kind of little girl that notices everything.  She’ll stop to pull a leaf off a tree, to try to catch grasshoppers, or to look for fish.  I’m happy that she’s curious about nature, all I’m saying is it takes me 15 minutes exactly to walk to her school. With her it takes a full half an hour.  But she is so cute, I always want to let her kick pine cones for as long as she wants. 

This week, Fanny stayed home from school “sick”, so I got to hang out with her or a few hours.  I made her some Swedish pancakes and we played a Hello Kitty version of Uno and Fanny was cheating! I had to look up the word for cheat in Swedish, ‘Du  fuskar!’ To which she replied while smiling slyly, “Du fuskar!” Then she beat me at Pippi Longstockings memory four times.  This is the only trouble I’ve had with her, which I really don’t consider trouble. 

Look at these little Swedish cuties! They are dressed
 like this for their school's 100 year anniversary.

After meeting a few other au pair girls by now from all over the world, I’ve really realized that I am lucky to be living in the perfect family.  Lovisa and Fanny are fun to be with and pretty easy to take care of.  A lot of girls are stuck with whiners and spoiled brats.  I’m really loving this easy and fun job!

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old

My first week in Sweden was a little weird.  I was excited to get to Stockholm so I didn’t have to sit on my parent’s couch anymore.  One week of that was more than enough for me.  But, since I only work about four hours a day, I found myself sitting on my bed almost as much as I had been sitting on that couch in Rosholt.  It felt unnatural to not know anyone my own age in the country. 

Every other time I’ve had to make friends, I’ve been in a very easy situation to make them.  College: 200 friends accessible in dorm.  Summer Camp: 20 friends working with you.  Study Abroad: 29 friends travelling with you.  This is the first time I’ve had to work a little bit to meet some people. 

Thank God for the internet.  I met a ton of au pair girls because of Facebook, and scheduled times to meet with them through the website.  When I imagine how hard it would have been 20 years ago to make friends as an au pair without the web, I imagine that I wouldn’t have been so ready to leave all of my friends and family at home for a year.

Not only has the internet helped me make friends in Sweden, it’s the only thing that’s kept me in touch with friends in Wisconsin, and everywhere else they’ve migrated to after college.  I can talk to my boyfriend every day, skype with friends all over the world for free, and receive uplifting emails from my mom.  Our generation of travelers, willing to leave everyone they know behind, is lucky because we don’t really have to leave everyone completely behind. 

I’m happy and I’m finally getting some friends here.  They are so many lovely girls here from all over the world and I love getting to know all of them.  I can’t wait to make some great life friends here. Here’s to you Jessica of Canada, Jessika of Germany, Lindsey of Florida, Lisa of Finland, and Sarah of Germany; let’s have an incredible year. 

Disco Birthday

Lovisa turned 10 years old the Friday after my arrival.  On the day of her birthday, we had Swedish pancakes and she opened her presents in her bed.  She got a computer, but her favorite present of all was an ice cream maker. 

Susanna told me that Lovisa was excited because her party was going to be a Disco Party (Perfect since she got a “Hits for Kids” CD, including Snoop Dogg’s “Sweat”-only in Sweden).  Susanna told me about how she had been searching for a Disco ball.  She told me, “Last year we just borrowed a friend’s but I figured we might as well get our own.”

So, Susanna began her search for a Disco ball.  She invited me into Stockholm with her to pick up the apparently, in high demand, Disco ball.  We went to a store that sold every electronic from headphones to karaoke machines.  From what I could guess of the Swedish conversation, she asked if they had a Disco ball.  The young man working behind the counter found a Disco ball, but it had someone else’s name on it.  Susanna had asked on the phone previously if she could reserve a Disco ball, but the worker had told her that it was against the rules.  She was disappointed.  The man working said he could call another store further in town and they would save her one.  She finally got the Disco ball on Friday morning, taking a second trip all the way into Stockholm.  I didn’t realize Disco balls were in such high demand in Sweden!

Lovisa’s Disco birthday party was so fun.  Borje grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, which Lovisa’s nine guests ate with sauce in a tube called “American Sauce”, it was pretty much the sauce that McDonald’s uses on Big Mac’s.  I thought it was funny, since there is no bottled version of the stuff in the states. 

Later on at the birthday party, the girls were listening intently to one girl at a time while they all gorged themselves on different candy variations of Swedish fish. I thought that since they were listening so carefully to one girl at a time, that they were possibly discussing different games to play.  I asked Susanna what they were talking about.  She said, “Babies that have died.”  Susanna and I laughed and laughed.

After all of that trouble for the Disco ball, the girls didn’t even disco.  They played a Swedish version of hide and seek outside.  I just love that kids all over the world do the same things to entertain themselves. 

I thought I'd never have to drive a stick shift...

Borje was a lot taller and thinner than I thought he would be.  But of course he would be slim, he’s a cardiologist.  He pushed my cart, loaded high with my luggage.  We walked to the car and drove the 45 minutes to my new home.  Our island, Lidingo, is adorable!  The house is green and looks like a dollhouse.

Borje gave me time to take a nap and unpack in my perfect little apartment. I finally have a bathroom all to myself.  After getting settled in, I met Borje upstairs and we went to the grocery store.  And I had to drive the stick shift to get us there.

I thought I had made it through life without having to drive a manual car.  Now I have to learn to drive one in a foreign country.  Borje took me for a ride in the manual Volvo on my first day in Sweden.  I like to think it was my jet lag that made starting the car so confusing, but I think I would have been that bad at driving it last week in Wisconsin too.  Borje is a reassuring and patient teacher but he kept saying, “You’re too fast on the clutch!  This is a car…it isn’t the moon landing!”  I couldn’t stop it from jolting all over the place and I am lucky that I was able to stop myself crying all over the place. He said, "Take it easy, take it easy!"

After my fourth lesson, I was finally getting a hang of driving the stick shift, but I still don’t trust myself to drive the car alone.  But, I keep thinking, if this is the hardest thing I have to do this year, it will be a good year.  I am going to beat the stick shift! Like my mom says.  

Scandinavian Airlines

So here I am, sitting at gate M15 waiting for my flight to Stockholm and it is pretty quiet at this end of the airport.  So, I put on my Dan Barker customized Swedish playlist to get myself pumped up for the journey. 

My mom and I cried when I headed for security.   It made the security guard yelling in the most condescending voice I’ve ever heard seem like an even bigger asshole.  He yelled at people who obviously didn’t’ speak much English, “It’s hard to believe, but if you listen to us you might get through faster!” Maybe this part of the airport just seems quieter now because suddenly I am not only in a long distance relationship with my boyfriend, I am in a long distance relationship with everyone I know. 

But really, if I dig under the part of me right now that is nervous and a little scared, I find the me that knows I am going to meet more than enough cool people to hang out with…and those little girls have one cool au pair, because I’ve got a bunch of tricks in my Kacie Poppins bag.

This airplane was awesome! The economy extra was like first class that I’ve seen in some other planes!! There were hand towels in the bathrooms, recliners on each chair, single screens for each chair and the best thing, was that hardly anyone was on the plane!!!  I had a row of three completely to myself so I had all of my stuff sitting comfortably with easy access on the seat next to me.  I also felt very cool pulling out my MacBook on the plane.  Also, the pillows were actually covered in cloth!!! Miracles, Miracles!!!

I brought my Camelbak water bottle on the plane. But, when I went to drink it, it wouldn’t stop shooting water in my mouth because of the changed air pressure in the air.  It squirted me on the face and shirt, and I just laughed and hoped that no one noticed. 

The nice and adorable steward who complimented me on my laptop bag in Swedish (I think, unless he was asking me very nicely to put it under the seat) gave me a mysterious black napkin wrapped in plastic.  But when I opened it, it was a very nice shoe bag.  Inside of the bag were an eye mask, toothbrush and toothpaste, and earplugs.  I think he has a crush on me.  Anyway, I’ll treasure all of these things as souvenirs forever!!!!!

I watched a few good movies, slept maybe an hour and a half, and when I was waiting for my bags, a blonde American girl from Iowa started a conversation with me.  She was friendly, but a little annoying (maybe only because I was so tired) but her conversation made me happy because I knew I wouldn’t have a hard time meeting friends if I had made one already.

When I got to arrivals, Borje was there already waiting for me.  

Summer

It’s finally time.  In exactly a few days, I will be on my way to Sweden for one entire year.  As I pack and sort and worry, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on my summer.  A summer that I expected to be smooth and fun and easy.  But, my best friend TK was killed by a drunk driver on June 25^th and I met an incredible South African boy that thinks I am pretty wonderful too.

At midnight, on June 25^th, I got a phone call from a friend telling me that a good friend of mine had died, he kept seeing it on Facebook.  I said, “You have to tell me, I don’t have the internet.”  He said it was Theresa Kroes and that she was killed in a car crash.  I wanted to cry but couldn’t, instead my stomach felt sick. I didn’t sleep the entire night.   

 TK was my best friend.  We met on my first day of college and she helped me through the cafeteria procedure and thought I was funny for not understanding it.  That first year, she taught me to make coffee in my dorm room and we watched episodes of Full House every day on her futon.  We spent Valentine’s days together and visited each other’s home towns in the summer.  We share the same middle name, Jean, and my favorite compliment is when people told us we could be sisters. 

Once, I went with her to spend a weekend at grandparent’s cottage on Lake Winnebago.  It was October so it was too cold to swim and almost too cold to have a campfire.  We listened to Michael Jackson the entire drive there and bought Mike’s Hard Lemonades.  Before bed, TK told me there wasn’t any heat in the cottage.  We decided to pull a Little House on the Prairie to keep warm; so we put large rocks in the campfire and heated them up.  We slept with the rocks in our beds next to our feet.  We thought it was so funny. 

TK was so good at the piano, but she never bragged about her talents.  She was excited, nervous, and anxious about the future but she lived completely, happily and contentedly in the present. 

When she died, Tebogo was there for me every second.  I think that’s when I realized it was so much more than a summer fling.  And at the beginning of summer, that’s all I was really looking for.  Meeting Tebogo this summer was bad timing, but I really needed him too.  Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans. 

So, though I am heart broken to not be able to tell TK about my Swedish adventures, my heart soars when I think about seeing Tebogo for the next time.  

Kacie Poppins Loves Mohombi

            If I let myself think about it, I get a little bit nervous about the fact that I am moving to a country where I know no one except people I have skyped and e-mailed with a few times.

 Fortunately, my bestie, Dan Barker, is a Swedish culture lover and expert.  He’s been keeping up with what the Swedes have been doing for years now, paying special attention to their music..  Because of his advice, I’ve been listening to some Swedish jams lately and Abba should not be the only Swedish pop group that people know. 

            Dan gets all of his deliciously poppy music from scandipop.co.uk.  The blog features new pop music on the scene in Sweden.  Dan then sends me links to songs he’ll think I like.  My favorite right now, is “Coconut Tree” by Mohombi and Nicole Scherzinger.

Mohombi, was raised in the Congo before relocating to Stockholm and becoming a sexy star.  It breaks my heart that this song probably won’t make it in America. But do me a favor and check it out here anyway. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6KaJczCiiU&feature=fvst

Also, check out sexy Mohombi at his website.  http://www.mohombi.com/

I'm Moving to Sweden!