Half Way

Today is the day everything starts going down hill; it is my half way mark. It is crazy to think that my time in Sweden is half way over. Last night, my parents forwarded an email to me from Beaufort Academy about my senior year schedule. Sooner or later I will be back in South Carolina doing my old thing and Sweden will just be a memory.

Some photos from this week!

Swedish Pancakes with Samantha!

YUM

Sami

One of my closest friends here in Sweden. She lives in St. Augustine, FL which is only three hours away from Beaufort! Weekend road trips are in our future!

Okay, so I realized being gone for a year means I will miss a bunch of things that happen and I am okay with that but I am pretty disappointed that Beaufort Academy had snow day on Wednesday! I am in Sweden where it snows all the time but there is no such thing as 'snow days' here. You go to school if there is a blizzard.

Snow in Beaufort? What?

LOL, at the fact that on Sunday the high is 21 degrees celsius.

Oh, my phone service is 'Hallon' which means raspberries in Swedish!

Yesterday, I went for a walk around the lake near my house. During it, Lucy, who is practically my little sister, Snapchatted me the snow in Beaufort. (Lucy, if you are reading this you have yet to reply to my letter. I am hurt.)

"Snow" on a dock in Beaufort.

Snow on a dock in Sweden 

Plus the water is frozen.

Which reminds me that I am going ice fishing this Wednesday!!! YAY

My amazingly sweet Swedish friends surprised me with a gift to celebrate my half way mark. It was really thoughtful however really sad because I do not want to think about me actually leaving them. Thank you Kelly, Karin, Sandra and Linda! You da bomb. That means you guys are the best. (They have some trouble with American phrases.)

Swedish chocolate. There are so many flavors and I want to try them all.

This is Kelly's favorite.

As you probably noticed, Linda and Sandra are on their phones. We are addicted to this game called Flappy Bird. 

***DO NOT GET IT.***

It is so hard and so frustrating but you will want to play it none stop.

They also got me a snowflake charm. It is so pretty. I am in love. I can not wait to put it on my charm bracelet when I get home!

After school, I went over to Michael and Nadia's for tea time and Swedish help.

Leona!

She is the cutest little girl.

Eliot trying to eat the rock hard ginger bread house we made together two months ago.

My tea cup!

The selfie I took as I walked home. 

It is so cold and windy in Sweden.

When is summer coming???

I would like to thank everyone who has helped me get to where I am today. I am having the time of my life in Sweden and owe it all to y'all. A huge thank you to my parents, David and Marianne Blake, for supporting me and giving me unconditional love. I miss y'all like crazy! <3

Australia Day

Paddy invited some exchange students over for Australia Day. His host family and he cooked many Australian dishes!

Hamish (Newbie), Sophia (Oldie), Paddy (Newbie), Grace (Newbie), and Sam (Oldie).

If you look in the background you can see Paddy's amazing host dad sporting Australian attire!

Hika!

Täby Gang Addition

Our Newbie, Patrick Halpin from Australia, arrived on Sunday, January 19th! He is apart of the 'Täby Gang' and we are all so happy to have him...well mostly Daniel because he couldn't take being the only guy for much longer.

Sunday afternoon, we all got to meet Paddy during a fika at his host family's house. The night before, Kate slept over. She went on my laptop and I noticed her smiling so I knew she was up to something; she told me I would find out later. Well later came during the fika. Paddy went on Facebook to show us something and he slowly turned to me and asked why I liked every single one of his photos. Yep, I didn't know how to explain that one...hopefully he will understand when he meets Kate.

Paddy with his host family at the airport; Ebba, Charlotte and Fredrik Wetterlundh.

(I took these photos off of Facebook)

Paddy has never seen snow before so he is super excited.

On Tuesday, Paddy, Daniel, Sam and I played in the snow after school. It was a time for us to bond with Paddy. We came to the conclusion that he is a great addition to our 'Täby Gang'! However, he has a lot to learn. This Saturday is Aussie Day. Paddy has invited all the Rotary Exchange Students in Stockholm over to his house to celebrate...rookie mistake.

Snow Night!

Saturday night, Kate, Hika, Sam, and I played in the snow!! It was Sam and Hika's first time sledding. I love playing in the snow! If any Swedes are reading this then hit me up.

(I only used my flash a couple of times because it was blinding. The photos are edited so you can actually see them...they are a little grainy)

They are ready!

Kate was the first one down!

Kate and Hika

Hika and me

Sam and Hika

Me going up the hill!

Kate and I about to go down together.

This might be a bad idea.

Regretting it?

Never.

Sam

Kate

Sam

Sam

Kate

Kate

Kate almost fell into the bushes 

My perfect snow angel!

We were bored of the hill at the Leijonhufvud's so we ventured to the park!

Kate and Sam

Kate

Hika

Bullies.

They swore at us...

After freezing to death we got warm again by jumping into the hot-tube well kind of...

Swedish Snow Challenge: Complete

Kate and I slept over which was really strange for me because the Leijonhufvud's house used to be my house. I was really tired so when the other girls watched a movie, I went into Sam's room to go to sleep. Sam kicked me out of the bed; MY BED. Well, I guess technically it is her bed now but is it really...?

I have Wilhelm's, one of the Leijonhufvud twins who is in Australia on exchange, phone numbers. Sometimes his friends try Facetimeing him but it goes to my phone. I normally do not answer. Today, I got a phone call from an unknown Swedish number. It was one of Wilhelm's friends. He was very confused, I then told him could contact Wilhelm through Facebook. However, I do not know if I would call this boy a friend of Wilhelm's because he had no idea Wilhelm was on exchange.

Cross-Country Skiing

Jonas and Lena took me cross-country skiing this afternoon! It was my first time on skis! I only fell three times!!!

I love my Swedish hat Louise knitted me!

On our way!

Getting ready!

I had a lot of laughs today :)

Jonas went off on his own after he gave me some lessons. Lena and I slowly were making our way around the trail until I fell. Jonas happened to be behind us and came to help. However, he didn't really help at first...I just pulled him down with me. It was hilarious.

Drinking hot tea was the perfect end to a great experience!