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| Well hello there... It's been a while, now hasn't it? Life over the past few months has been interesting and slowly my time here in Sweden is coming to an end.
I think I will start off with a few pictures that have been taken since February...
This first picture is of me and some of my fellow au pairs here in Sweden. Sadly, by this point everyone except for me has gone home to their respective countries. These girls (plus Sara who isn't pictured) filled up most of my free time here in Sweden. This picture was taken on our Valentine's Day celebration and was followed by a night full of dancing and meeting charming people.
Starting at me and heading clockwise: Me, Kathrin from Germany, Maibritt from Denmark, and Sini from Finland.
The boys have all come to adore taking pictures and making videos of themselves on my computer.
Angus (6 years old) and I.
If this blog ends up being full of pictures of the little boys, I am terribly sorry. It is just that the thought of leaving them in a few days is already causing me to miss the terribly and going through all these pictures is making me feel quite nostalgic so bear with me as I pick and choose which pictures to post. :)
Lucius (2 years old)
The next few pictures are of a bike ride that I took with Sini. Her and I bike for hours; we got lost and side-tracked while we were searching for our way to the Øresund Bridge. I ended up seeing bits and pieces of Malmö that I hadn't seen before and enjoyed every bit of it.
Sini eating the ice cream we bought and looking adorable.
I thought the swan looked beautiful in it surroundings.
Right next to the water.
In the end we eventually managed to find the bridge.
Øresund Bridge
In March, the au pair who will be taking over after I leave came to visit and meet the family. It made me feel a bit better about leaving to see the girl who would be caring for them after I was gone.
Lucius and Marius sleeping at the park.
I did mention he liked the Photo Booth on my computer, right?
In April, some friends and I made a day trip to visit another beach town. The town was called Ystad. Sadly, we did not realize that all the shops, restaurants, and basically the whole town would be closed due to a national holiday. The trip to Ystad was spent mostly sitting down by the water and eating strawberries.
Not the best walking-for-hours shoes.
Sini and Tiina from Finland
The town of Ystad.
The beaches of Ystad.
Now, April turned out to be a rather interesting month for me because I came to know two very interesting people: Daniel and Victor. Had I not met these two my life for the past few months would have been extremely different. Since I have met them I have spent quite a bit of time with both of them and Daniel... well, Daniel has become my boyfriend.
Daniel and I.
This picture was taken on Valborg. Valborg is a big Swedish holiday that involves large bonfires.
Valborg.
Lucius.
A day in the life of a little boy.
In May, my grandparents came and stayed for a few days and it went extremely well. There whole trip here we were quite busy trying to see as much as possible. We spent a lot of time walking all over Malmö, we took a train up to Helsingborg, a ferry over to Helsingør (in Denmark), ended up in Copenhagen for a short period of time, and managed to spend a day driving and discovering the Swedish countryside. They were also able to meet Daniel (they approved of him too!) and my Swedish family.
Gramma and Grampa in front of Stadsbiblioteket.
Turning Torso.
Pildamms Park.
While they were here, I managed to get a whole new perspective on Malmö via a tour by boat.
View from the boat.
In Helsingør we went to visit Kronburg castle which is know as Elsinore in Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Kronburg Castle.
On our day trip through Skåne, Daniel took all of us to see a fascinating place called Ales Stenar (Ale's Stones). It is a giant stone monument about 1,400 years old and in the shape of a ship.
Ale's Stenar.
Walking.
Can you see the ocean?
I do have a thing for trees.
One of my absolute favourite parts about their visit was when all of us went on a little hike up a little mountain and when we were on the peak we could look around and see in every which direction for ages. I was quite happy that both of my grandparents were able to make it up and that Danny was there with us.
The view from the top.
Sunset in Malmö.
At the end of May, Danny and Victor moved away from Malmö and headed to spend their summer back in their hometown of Varberg. Of course, I had to continue to see them... So for the last few months I have spent quite a few weekends up there.
So you know who they are: Victor and Daniel.
And of course I had to try and get involved in some of this arm wrestle action.
Mind you, he was a very strong old man.
The coast from Varberg.
Sunset.
As summer came along, I ended up spend a lot of time Angus; taking him to swimming lessons, the park, and walking all over the place together just the two of us. With my time here coming to an end, there is nothing that I could have appreciated more.
Angus with a mini-Jani.
He refused to move the tiger ears for a whole day.
Angus and Lucius.
Wow. I think that is it. I am finally done with uploading pictures. I became way to nostalgic while going through and looking at everything.
I guess it is finally time for me to divulge my plans for the next few months. As many of you know, there were many ups and downs since January involving working different au pair jobs and such. First Poland fell through, then so did Milan, and now I have finally decided that I will just head back to California for about a year to work and save up money while applying to colleges.
However, I am not going to be in California until the end of September. My last day here in Malmö is on Sunday, August 9th. After that, I will be heading to Varberg for a few weeks to stay with Daniel and his family. On September 1st, I will then fly to Glasgow, Scotland (where I will be meeting Daniel and Victor; they are moving there for university) and I will stay there for a few weeks. While I am in Scotland I plan on visiting some friends of mine in London and possibly in Liverpool... we will see how things go, but if you will be in the area send me a message and let me know.
My year in Malmö didn't go exactly as I thought it would. Things were definitely a lot different from when I was attending school. However, I could not be more happy about and grateful for the few people who I have met who have stuck by my side through the year. I would also never trade the opportunity of being a part of Angus, Lucius, and Marius' life for anything. Those little boys have come to mean the world to me as I have watched them grow up over the last 11 months.
I am a bit anxious about heading back home; there seems to be a lot of changes going on. As with everything though, I will wait and see and take it as it comes. | | |
| Hello everyone!!
I know... I know... I haven't updated in a veryyyy long time. Life here keeps going and I keep forgetting to update. This will mostly be pictures, but they are pictures from November all the way up until recently.
I went to Poland and had a great time there, but unfortunately, I decided against working for their family. A year ago, it might have been a good opportunity for me, at this point in my life though I do not think it is such a good idea. I think if I had gone to Poland I think I would be giving up much of the independence that I have found during my time in Sweden. I think I have a pretty good idea of where I will end up next year, but I am keeping it under wraps until everything is official.
The first snowfall in Malmö.
This is a picture that I took from my dining room window. It was the first and one of the very few snowfalls that I experienced in Malmö. Winter here has been very grey. Temperatures have managed to stick around 3º celsius, but the wind chill factor makes it much colder.
Merry-Go-Round.
This picture was taking during the Christmas season in Malmö. Everything was decorated and there were Christmas lights everywhere. It was very pretty. The whole city smelt like home-baked Christmas goodies too because there were little stalls set up all over selling fresh cakes and roasted almonds.
Liseberg in Gothenburg.
Liseberg is the largest amusement park in Scandinavia. It is located in a city called Gothenburg; a few hours north of Malmö. I made a trip here with the Mom in my family and the three boys. Angus and I went to Liseberg together while the mom and the twins stayed at the hotel. Since it was around Christmas, Liseberg was completely decked out in all kinds of Christmas gear. I took Angus on the first kiddie rides he had ever been on and he really enjoyed it.
My brother and I.
As most of you know, I spent Christmas and New Year's Eve in California. I am not sure though when the next time I visit will be. And about the picture above... yes my brother and I think that we are very cool. Hihihihihihi.
A week after coming home from California, I went on yet another little vacation to Austria. The class that I had attended school with, while I was an exchange student, was finally having their maturaball. A maturaball is the big formal ball that every class has the year of their graduation.
Sadly, I do not have any pictures from the occasion. However, while I was in Austria I also made a little trip to Italy to visit a former exchange student to my family.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Did you know (according to the sign standing in front of the tower) that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is the most famous tower in the world? I really would have thought that the Eiffel Tower was more famous.
A river through Pisa.
Lucca.
At one time; long, long ago... these walls had been the frame of a coliseum in Lucca.
Duomo di San Martino
This is one of many, many, many cathedrals in Lucca.
On a bike in Lucca.
This picture was taken as I was riding a bicycle around the walls of Lucca.
This one is for my mom.
I am sorry, that I don't have the energy to write out all my stories. I hope this is enough for now. I can't promise anything, but I will try my best to update on a more usual basis.
Something to look forward to... In May my grandparents will be coming to visit for about 5 days. :)
Sasha
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| All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost.
++ J.R.R. Tolkien
Life in Scandinavia is still going quite well! Since I last wrote I have been to Copenhagen... twice, made some new friends, and spent plenty of time bonding with the boys and the rest of the family.
I haven't got much time now because I have to head to bed soon, but I will try and give you a bit of an update.
On The 10th of October Copenhagen held a Night of Kultur. I had the choice of going out with some newfound friends that night or heading over to conquer Copenhagen alone. If you know me well enough, you should know which one I chose.
Disneyland anyone?
For those of you who do not know me at all.. I chose to go to Copenhagen. That up there is a picture of Copenhagen's Central Train Station all lit up in the night. It made me kind of nervous arriving completely alone in Copenhagen in the night, but in the end I managed (just like I always do) to find my way around.
What made my night completely amazing though was this. I had been looking for a place to go to when all of the sudden I hear these people behind me talking amongst themselves and it turns out that they were looking for the same place! So of course I just had to strike up a conversation and see if we could help one another out. Then one thing lead to another and next thing you know I had found myself a group of people to amble my way through the Night of Kultur with. It was load of fun and I really hope that I am able to meet up with some of these people again in the future.
Today I ended up back in Copenhagen again because it was Kristoffer's (the dad's) birthday. So all of the little ones took the day off from school and we headed over to the zoo. The Copenhagen zoo is the biggest zoo in all of Northern Europa! And just so you know... it cost only around $14 for entry there whereas at the San Diego zoo it costs $34. I thought that was pretty wild! Did you catch the pun?? Wild... Wild animals... I found it funny.
Butterfly.
The butterfly room freaked me out a little bit because there were ants everywhere! All over everything! Can you see them in the picture? They were crawling all over that piece of fruit!
Penguin.
???
If anyone can tell me what animal is pictured there, that would be great. All I know is that it is somehow related to the bison. It was one of my favourite animals to see though. I really though it was adorable.
Polar Bear.
One Last Butterfly.
Now for those of you who do not know, I am leaving first thing tomorrow morning to go to Warsaw, Poland. I am hoping that it will be a wonderful experience! I am going there to meet a family that I hope to au pair for following my year in Sweden. They have two little girls; Marta who is 3.5 years old and Andzia who is 7. When I am back in Sweden (on Sunday) and have some time, I will be sure to upload some pictures.
Before I go, here is one last picture of Angus. I was trying to teach him how to cross his eyes.
Angus. | | |
| So here I go to see the world
With my eyes and with my soul
And too much love, so little hate
++The Kooks; If Only
Lets start at the beginning.
On Sunday I decided that I would set out on foot to buy some postcards. I hadn't the slightest clue that this walk would lead me to the far corners of Malmoe and expose a whole different side of the city to me.
Love is love is love.
The first unusual thing that I came across was the sound of music. I heard the sound of Scissor Sister's "I Don't Feel Like Dancing" and I decided to follow it and see where it was coming from. I walked down a few blocks and then turned a corner and smack in front of me was the Malmoe GBLT (gay, bi, lesbian, and transgender) Parade! Now, for the eyes and ears of a few certain people reading this, I will leave out all the knitty-gritty details, but lets just say that I was rather happy to see such openness in this city. The part that I loved the best though was that there were so many children involved. There were parents of all orientations marching down the street with their children and waving around their rainbow flags.
After staying and watching the parade for a bit I decided to continue my walk. I just picked a direction and kept on walking until I cam across something interesting.
After a while I spotted a park. I almost walked past it, but something drew me in and I decided to let my walk lead me through the park.
Sometimes life is almost like a fantasy.
This park was amazing. It had something to do with the way the sun was shining and the wind was blowing, but the minute I passed through the trees I felt almost as if I was in some sort of paradise. There was something in the ways the leaves were falling and how they were reflecting the light. I stood there in awe for a few minutes and spun around well listening to my music. It was perfect.
As I continued onward, I realized that this little park had the ability to make you forget that you were in the middle of a rather large city.
Finding peace within the chaos.
One thing that really made me smile while walking through this park was a man I came across who was sitting their fishing. I swear it was as if I was taking a walk through the countryside. It felt good to feel like I was away from all the hustle and bustle of Malmoe for a bit.
If we are facing the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. ++ Buddhist Proverb.
When I finally arrived at the other end of the park I had no idea where I was. I decided to follow my Californian instinct though and try to find the sea. For those of you who do not know, Malmoe is situated on the Baltic Sea.
As I was walking along in the direction that I assumed the sea was in I came across a very large grassy area and I decided to walk along it. To my surprise, this lead me right to the Baltic.
Don't let your eyes fool you.
When I finally saw the sea it really did look infinite. For some reason though, I could not get the thought out of my head that just because I can not see the land across the sea, that does not mean that it is not there. When I look out across the Pacific Ocean, I know that it goes on for thousands of miles without hitting any land and I feel like I am looking at something infinite. When I looked out across the Baltic though, the feeling was nowhere near the same.
The Øresund Bridge.
Can you see the bridge in the background of the picture? That bridge is the longest combined road and railway bridge in all of Europe. It connects Malmoe, Sweden to Copenhagen, Denmark. That is the bridge that brought me into Malmoe and will one day take me out of here. Until that day though, it will just be a bridge to the next town over.
One of the things that Malmoe is most famous for, other than the bridge, is the "turning torso."
The Turning Torso.
Personally, I did not find it as... striking? as I thought I would. In my head I had picture this building as massive. This is because in all the pictures of it all the surrounding buildings seem dwarfed in comparison. Reality is though, that there just aren't that may tall buildings around and so this one looks uber tall when really it is not. If you are into architecture though, this is considered a work of art.
After that, I just worked on making my way back to the house, by this point I had been walking for hours and had been exhausted and very hungry. On the path back to my house I came across a wonderful fair of sorts in Lilla Torg (Lilla Torg is one of the squares in Malmo). There were many crafters there who were showing off there work. By crafters, I mean people who made jewelry, hats, scarves, plates and things of the like. So I browsed through all of it before finally trying to head home again.
The House.
This is our house. We are the second window up, so on the third floor.
Tuesday was also a day of seeing new places. On Tuesday, Kristoffer had an errand to run in Copenhagen and he asked me if I would like to tag along.
Copenhagen, Denmark.
It was a very quick, little trip into Copenhagen, but I am planning on going back on the 10th for the Night of Culture. Right now though, I am getting very tired so I will just post the pictures.
Rådhuset På Rådhuspladsen.
That would be the Copenhagen city hall.
H.C. Andersen.
That would be me with Hans Christian Andersen. I hope you know who he is because right now I am too tired to explain.
Now this I found interesting.
I found this so interesting. In Copenhagen, they have glass walls dividing the platform from the subway. Can you guess the reason? It is so that no one is able to kill themselves by jumping in front of the subway.
Doors opening.
I find it sad that the world has come to a point where they have to try and prevent such things from occurring. Can't people just find reason to be happy??
And the world spins madly on. ++The Weepies.
I took this as we were crossing the Øresund Bridge. I found it so amazing that there were windmills in the middle of the sea. That was something that I had never seen before.
Blood, blood, blood.
This is for my dad mostly, but also anyone else out there who didn't believe me. I have eaten a bloody steak! I mean a really bloody one. One where blood is spurting out when you cut it! Talk about a first for me.
Then finally, last but not least.
The twins.
Night everyone. Emails are always welcome.
yellohmaple@hotmail.com | | |
| 
This whole trip started with me realising that I forgot my wallet with all my credit cards and identification at home. What can I say.. I am Sasha. Ich bin eine Vergesserin.
Goodbye America...
The flight to Austria was not a terrible one. I got rather lucky on the plane and had a window seat plus a whole row to myself.
...And Hello Austria.
Austria was a wonderful time. I was able to visit everyone that I wanted to visit. I spent time with my Mama and Papa, and Alex. Alex... oh boy did he change. I was shocked to see him. In case you don't remember, he was my little brother in Austria. He is not so little anymore. He is now just as tall as me, has such a deep voice, and is riding everywhere on his motorbike.
Most of the time though, I was staying with a friend of mine in St. Valentin. I made that choice because St. Valentin is closer to everyone and everything and much more central than Koenigsweisen.
I really felt back at home though when Mama, Papa, Tante Thea, and Christian took me to see the ruins of Prandegg from the year 1200. I mean... What on earth could make me feel more like I was back in Austria than old ruins surrounded by rolling green hills??
Prandegg.
After spending nine days in Austria I caught a plane on Sunday the 14th that flew me up to Copenhagen, Denmark.
Landing in Copenhangen.
Once I landed in Copenhagen I searched the terminal for my new "family". The new "family" is: Kristoffer (the dad), Karina (the mom), Angus (just turned six this week), and the twins Lucius and Marius (they will be two in December).
I met all of them at the airport, but Karina had to leave for work so it was a very fast hello and goodbye at the airport. She is a flight attendant. So Kristoffer, the boys, and I all took the train home from Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden.
Malmo.
I must say... I absolutely love it here. I find it quite odd, but I still haven't felt the least bit homesick. The city is massive, but there are still plenty of parks and greenness everywhere that it is okay. Also, somewhere around here there is water and a beach... I just have yet to find it. That leaves me something to do for next week.
This week though, I got to know the boys and their schedule. In my free time I walked around, managed to find the gorgeous Malmo Library, and get a library card. Woo hoo for geeky Sasha!!
Malmo's Library.
On Wednesday, Angus had his birthday party and his whole class was invited over. Talk about chaos. There were about 20 five and six year old running around the house screaming.
The Aftermath.
On Friday, I was walking around and saw a large group of people around my age standing in the middle of the street. They were protest about global warming and there were lots of police there too. It was a very organized protest, the police were just there in case something went wrong. Anyways... I decided that it would be a good chance to meet people. So I walked into the middle of the group and started talking with some boys. Turns out though that the small group of people I got a long with were just making a stop in Malmo on their move to Norway!! Go figure. Just my luck.
I really have got to find a way to meet people. I will go nuts if I don't find friends soon.
Then on Saturday, we had another party for Angus where we invited the whole family over. It was a good chance for me to get to know everyone.
Angus.
The Twins.
Now I am off to bed. Sorry if this writing is not the best from me, but I am tired and have been rather sick all week. you can expect another update within the next week.
With love,
Sasha
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