Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Transition
Just got home from school. It's a Tuesday afternoon and I can't stop thinking about the day I'll be leaving. Today is the 9th, and I'm leaving the 26th, so in 17 days I'm going back to Sweden. As for now I can't stand that thought. It's different from when I left Sweden. Back then I knew that I would be coming back and I would still be living the same life around the same people. But now, to leave LA and all of my friends behind, without knowing if I'll ever see them again is so difficult. My eyes are tearing as I'm writing this. Even if I would come back and visit my host family, which I certainly will as soon as I can, I might not be able to see my friends. First of all because they are all leaving for college in different parts of the country, and second of all, it's thank to the school I've been seeing them regularly. I wish I could stay here longer, because there are some people I've just met that I wish I could get to know better. This year means so much to me, I've learned so much thanks to everyone around me, and most of all, I've got to know myself better. I've learned to appreciate everything in a new way and I've dared to do things that I never thought I would, just the fact that I left home for a new destination was one of them. When I get home I will look at my life through new eyes. And I know that life goes on, it's just a little bit hard to accept sometimes.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The beginning of the end
Ok, so today is the 27th of May. Exactly a month until I land at Arlanda Airport and meet my family again. Until then I have a full schedule and a long list with things I want accomplish or do/visit before I go home. So on this post, I will frequently write how it is going. If I succeed or not.
I'll get back to you soon.
Xxxx- Anna
I'll get back to you soon.
Xxxx- Anna
The Month of May
Merry Month of May
During this month, which is soon over, it's the 27th today, the heat has become more and more profound. The weather, which tends to know when the weekends come and usually changes into thick overcast or windy and cloudy, has made me taking a day of school every now and then to ride my bike to the beach or stay home and relax by the pool. One Wednesday, even though I was planning on staying home from school, I woke up early to go running, ran around my neighborhood for about 3 miles and jumped in the pool when I got back This is the ultimate start of the day in my opinion. Then, without taking a shower, I jumped on my bike and rode it to Santa Monica beach. I got there at 9.00 am, was watching all the surfers struggle in the big waves until 12.00 pm, when I packed my stuff together and went to the Urth Cafe to have a delicious panini sandwich with artichoke, mushrooms, cheese, some kind of pesto and peppers. Having had enough sun already, but eager to improve my tan even more I went back to the beach after lunch and read my book for an hour or two. I was surprised how much activity there is at the beach on a Wednesday and how many people are there (either surfing, tanning, hanging out, playing volleyball etc.). What do they do for a living that makes them able to spend their time like that? How do they get money? If I could figure out a way of living that included waking up every morning and walking down to play volleyball at the beach, I would definitely do it. I have to add though, being 5 hours under the Californian sun, with my Scandinavian skin and without any sun screen on, was not a great idea. At first my skin got red, then it got better and looked like a really nice tan, and after about a week I started to peel on my upper back and shoulders. But oh well, since then I now tan with sun block. Wise, huh?
More is to come.
During this month, which is soon over, it's the 27th today, the heat has become more and more profound. The weather, which tends to know when the weekends come and usually changes into thick overcast or windy and cloudy, has made me taking a day of school every now and then to ride my bike to the beach or stay home and relax by the pool. One Wednesday, even though I was planning on staying home from school, I woke up early to go running, ran around my neighborhood for about 3 miles and jumped in the pool when I got back This is the ultimate start of the day in my opinion. Then, without taking a shower, I jumped on my bike and rode it to Santa Monica beach. I got there at 9.00 am, was watching all the surfers struggle in the big waves until 12.00 pm, when I packed my stuff together and went to the Urth Cafe to have a delicious panini sandwich with artichoke, mushrooms, cheese, some kind of pesto and peppers. Having had enough sun already, but eager to improve my tan even more I went back to the beach after lunch and read my book for an hour or two. I was surprised how much activity there is at the beach on a Wednesday and how many people are there (either surfing, tanning, hanging out, playing volleyball etc.). What do they do for a living that makes them able to spend their time like that? How do they get money? If I could figure out a way of living that included waking up every morning and walking down to play volleyball at the beach, I would definitely do it. I have to add though, being 5 hours under the Californian sun, with my Scandinavian skin and without any sun screen on, was not a great idea. At first my skin got red, then it got better and looked like a really nice tan, and after about a week I started to peel on my upper back and shoulders. But oh well, since then I now tan with sun block. Wise, huh?
More is to come.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
The Month of March
I knew something was wrong, I posted the April month today but missed the one about March. The month of March did pass fast, but it wasn't without anything worth mentioning happened...
The 4th to 9th of March, just days after my family left I went to San Fransisco with Mark and Teresa. They are good friends of ours, Mark is playing tennis with Josh and Theresa and Mary Sue are on the same soccer team. We were going there to visit their daughter Jena, who goes to the Dominican, a college in San Rafael, just north of the Golden Gate bridge. Mark had some kind of work to do, a meeting or seminar to go to, and Theresa and I met up with Jena and we all spent some time together and I took the chance to see another great city.
From Wednesday, the day we arrived there, up until Monday, we explored everything from the Fisherman's Warth, the Golden Gate Park to Little Italy and Chinatown.
Mark, Theresa and Jena are all vegetarians/vegans and I got introduced to a broad variety of that kind of food and I started to love it! After I got home again I've been trying to, as often as I can, chose vegetarian alternative such as soy milk instead of other dairy products, tofu instead of meat, and more fruits and vegetables.
Later this month I had nose surgery after an incident that occured at a soccer game. I can tell you the whole story. My team was playing Santa Monica High School, which is the best team in our league. The game had already been post-poned once because of bad weather, so that day, despite the pouring rain and the bad conditions we had to play. After the first half the score is 1-1 and Santa Monica is getting a bit frustrated as they are not winning as easily as they had expected. They begin using tougher body contact and play with elbows high etc. The accident happened on a goal kick as I was going to head the ball coming towards me in the air. Looking around I see a girl next to me, almost as tall (which is very rare considering I'm a head taller that almost everyone on my team). As the other girl realizes that she can't get to the ball after I already headed it she throws up her elbow in my face whereupon I fall down to the ground with an intense pain in my face. Two things I want to point out here, neither the girl nor the referee took any notice of me getting hurt. I would have thought that either the girl would've said sorry, if it was an accident, or the coach giving her a card, preferably a red as it must have looked pretty ugly. Finally though, the referee blew the whistle and paused the game. In front of me there was a puddle of blood and my white jersey was colored red. I could barely feel the pain in my face anymore and got help to walk of the field so the game could continue.
Later that evening I made the first in a long serie of visits to the doctor, who at that time said she couldn't decide whether anything was broken etc. because of the swelling. But as soon as the swelling had gone down, if I experienced any difficulties breathing or I could see a change in appearance I should go back to the doctor. But as for now it didn't look like there would be a problem, she said.
Three weeks later, when I still couldn't breath through the right nostril I went to the doctor, who told me straight out that my septum (which is the internal divider of the nose that separates the two nostrils) was deviated and the frontal bone was fractured. This meant that for me to be able to breath properly again surgery was necessary. Luckily my parents were here at the time and they made the decision and allowed the surgery. Otherwise, Mary Sue said later, she doubted that she would've given her permission but rather make me wait until I returned to Sweden to have surgery. The whole procedure of pre-surgery meeting, the surgery by itself, the post-op meeting and the check up meeting was really tiring. But after all, the nose looks like it did before the accident and it works the same too. Thank God!
On Friday, the 27th we went to Mary Sue's partner Susan's new restaurant opening. The restaurant is called Street, and was crowded with important people. I brought my camera, which I've become profoundly fond of and I spoke with one of the photographers who were there about additional lenses etc, which might my next step in my "photo-carrier".
On the 28th of March it was Earth Hour, which means that everyone was supposed to turn off all electronics etc in your house between 8.30 and 9.30 pm PCT, to show they care and wants to conserve the environment. Personally, I went with Josh and Kieran to the restaurant MetroDiner, but I still did what I could at home and turned off all my electronic devices. While we were eating the light were suddenly swithced off, and I realized it just turned 8.30 pm. Even the neon light on the outside went dark. We sat with about ten candles lit on out table the rest of the meal. It was nice and gave me a little bit of faith in the fight against the climate change.
The 4th to 9th of March, just days after my family left I went to San Fransisco with Mark and Teresa. They are good friends of ours, Mark is playing tennis with Josh and Theresa and Mary Sue are on the same soccer team. We were going there to visit their daughter Jena, who goes to the Dominican, a college in San Rafael, just north of the Golden Gate bridge. Mark had some kind of work to do, a meeting or seminar to go to, and Theresa and I met up with Jena and we all spent some time together and I took the chance to see another great city.
From Wednesday, the day we arrived there, up until Monday, we explored everything from the Fisherman's Warth, the Golden Gate Park to Little Italy and Chinatown.
Mark, Theresa and Jena are all vegetarians/vegans and I got introduced to a broad variety of that kind of food and I started to love it! After I got home again I've been trying to, as often as I can, chose vegetarian alternative such as soy milk instead of other dairy products, tofu instead of meat, and more fruits and vegetables.
Later this month I had nose surgery after an incident that occured at a soccer game. I can tell you the whole story. My team was playing Santa Monica High School, which is the best team in our league. The game had already been post-poned once because of bad weather, so that day, despite the pouring rain and the bad conditions we had to play. After the first half the score is 1-1 and Santa Monica is getting a bit frustrated as they are not winning as easily as they had expected. They begin using tougher body contact and play with elbows high etc. The accident happened on a goal kick as I was going to head the ball coming towards me in the air. Looking around I see a girl next to me, almost as tall (which is very rare considering I'm a head taller that almost everyone on my team). As the other girl realizes that she can't get to the ball after I already headed it she throws up her elbow in my face whereupon I fall down to the ground with an intense pain in my face. Two things I want to point out here, neither the girl nor the referee took any notice of me getting hurt. I would have thought that either the girl would've said sorry, if it was an accident, or the coach giving her a card, preferably a red as it must have looked pretty ugly. Finally though, the referee blew the whistle and paused the game. In front of me there was a puddle of blood and my white jersey was colored red. I could barely feel the pain in my face anymore and got help to walk of the field so the game could continue.
Later that evening I made the first in a long serie of visits to the doctor, who at that time said she couldn't decide whether anything was broken etc. because of the swelling. But as soon as the swelling had gone down, if I experienced any difficulties breathing or I could see a change in appearance I should go back to the doctor. But as for now it didn't look like there would be a problem, she said.
Three weeks later, when I still couldn't breath through the right nostril I went to the doctor, who told me straight out that my septum (which is the internal divider of the nose that separates the two nostrils) was deviated and the frontal bone was fractured. This meant that for me to be able to breath properly again surgery was necessary. Luckily my parents were here at the time and they made the decision and allowed the surgery. Otherwise, Mary Sue said later, she doubted that she would've given her permission but rather make me wait until I returned to Sweden to have surgery. The whole procedure of pre-surgery meeting, the surgery by itself, the post-op meeting and the check up meeting was really tiring. But after all, the nose looks like it did before the accident and it works the same too. Thank God!
On Friday, the 27th we went to Mary Sue's partner Susan's new restaurant opening. The restaurant is called Street, and was crowded with important people. I brought my camera, which I've become profoundly fond of and I spoke with one of the photographers who were there about additional lenses etc, which might my next step in my "photo-carrier".
On the 28th of March it was Earth Hour, which means that everyone was supposed to turn off all electronics etc in your house between 8.30 and 9.30 pm PCT, to show they care and wants to conserve the environment. Personally, I went with Josh and Kieran to the restaurant MetroDiner, but I still did what I could at home and turned off all my electronic devices. While we were eating the light were suddenly swithced off, and I realized it just turned 8.30 pm. Even the neon light on the outside went dark. We sat with about ten candles lit on out table the rest of the meal. It was nice and gave me a little bit of faith in the fight against the climate change.
The Month of April!
The first of April was a Wednesday and in the evening we had our soccer banquet in the Veteran's building in Culver City. It cost $5 and they served Tito's Tacos (which is not quite my favorite, so I brought my own sandwich). We all got diplomas for being on the Varsity team, and another one for making the CIF playoffs. Additionally, I got an award for "Goal of the Year" which was on a header in one of our last games. That goal meant we won the game and also that we made the playoffs. Something I want to point out, too, is that this was about the third game after my accident and I had just had my nose surgery, that's why my coach chose the goal as the most outstanding. They thought I was very courageous when I decided to throw myself on a corner to head the ball and score despite the fact that that act broke my nose a couple of weeks earlier.
My teammates had all signed a big photography of the team, just for me, which I will put up on my wall when I get home to remember one of the absolute best parts of my year abroad!
Saturday, the 4th of April was Kieran's birthday. He got breakfast in bed, two waffles with whip cream, strawberries, syrup and chocolate sauce around the edge of the plate saying "Happy Birthday Kieran". He turned 11 and is now a Big boy.
At about 10 am. his friends started showing up for his party and soon they were all heading of for the bowling alley to start the party. While they were gone I blew up all the inflatable toys for the pool where the boys were going to be playing when they got back, there were at least ten hammers, rings and rafts. I also relaxed on one of the rafts for an hour or two, just enough to burn myself a little.
I decided to experiment with my camera when the boys were back, they had had their In 'n Out burgers and were playing in the pool. I think I got a few really good pictures!
That night I went to the movies with Andy, Adrian and his date. We watched Fast and the Furious. Afterwards he asked me a question which made me loose my breath, a question that made my brain collapse. The question was "Do you want to go to prom with me?" II was really surprised, and since I wanted to go to prom, preferably with a date, to get the ultimate American High School experience I figured this was my chance.
On Sunday we went to Utah, flew into Salt Lake City airport in the afternoon. Our final destination was Deer Valley, or Park City. The skiing conditions throughout the week were good, the first two days were sunny so the snow got warm and slushy in the afternoon and the amount of snow outside of the slopes quickly decreased. On Wednesday it was so cold, windy and snowy that Kieran and I could only stand half a day before we gave up. That day another family came to make us company. This worked out perfectly since the house we stayed in was enormous, with 3 stories and 5 bedrooms. Other luxuries included were a hot tub, a jacuzzi, a pool table, a projector, a flat screen TV, two fireplaces, a piano, a sauna, a great kitchen etc. I was amazed at the size and standards in the house since it's only used as a second or third house by the man Joaquim, a friend of Tracey's (who we stayed with) who's a dear friend of Mary Sue's.
The three first days I was snowboarding and the two last days I skied. On Friday we all went to Snowbird. It had snowed all Thursday, so when we got there Friday morning we skied in 15 inches of untouched snow. It was great and had a more alpine feeling that the other ski resorts. I can surely say that it was the best skiing experience I've ever had!
After a week in Utah we got home in time for egg-hunting on Easter morning. Kieran and I went out in the garden to search for the 18 eggs we had colored the night before and 24 plastic, hollow eggs containing money. Then we had to go inside the house and look for our easter-baskets. I found mine upon the fridge, it contained green tea, dried mango, zig zag, gum and different kinds of chocolate, yummy! I was thinking about my family at home, hoping they had a successful Easter!
During the second week of Spring Break I really worked on my tan and I was on a strict diet, with the easter candy as he only exception. Temporarily I lost about 7 pounds, but it soon came back as I lost my motivation... I was keeping a note book in my pocket writing down everything I ate which helped me be more aware of everything I put in my mouth, but this, too, got a bit boring after a while.
The tan was thanks to days spent by my pool and a bike ride with Salina to Playa Del Rey. On Tuesday night I went with Andy to to Westwood and Andy took me to an ice cream place someone had recommended. From there we took the bus back.
A couple of days went by after that without anything exciting happening, until Friday, when I went with Andy, Austin, Carl (who was driving), Jimmy and his girlfriend to 6 Flags, Magic Mountain. It's a huge, extremely popular amusement park with the scariest rides I've even seen. The drive there was about 45 minutes and I had bought my ticket online the night before for $35 instead of $60 at the entry, in these times I'm trying my best to save some money. We went on all the big roller coasters and such, which I was really proud of myself for, even if they made my stomach turn or my head feel dizzy.
Comming back to school after two weeks of Spring Break, we realized we were almost done with the month of April already, which made me think about how long time I had left before my departure home again - about two months.
"I'm living life as it should be."
Throughout the rest of the month I took a few babysitting jobs every now and then, both at our neighbors family and at a family who's friends are friends of Mary Sue and Josh's. They are British and both parents are actors and they just moved here to try to get a job. Their house is right at Santa Monica beach, a really great location. Their kids, Freddie and Martha, are really sweet and never make any trouble. I was talking to them about my plans, or dreams rather, for next summer. I want to go to either France or England and work as an au pair for a family with young kids that need someone to take care of them during the day and maybe have some free time at night to go and explore the city etc. This would mean I could make money while I do what I like the most, traveling... They thought they might know a few families that would be interested, so I'll have to follow up on that!
Another thing worth mentioning is that I'm usually not the kind of girl that wears dresses, but recently, as I've gotten a tan and because of the hot weather I've bought 4 of them and I've already worn them all. they make me look more feminine. And what's good is that I will be able to wear these when I get home to Sweden again, and hopefully no one will have the same. Yeay!
The "Month of May" will be up soon, unfortunately its already the 15th!
My teammates had all signed a big photography of the team, just for me, which I will put up on my wall when I get home to remember one of the absolute best parts of my year abroad!
Saturday, the 4th of April was Kieran's birthday. He got breakfast in bed, two waffles with whip cream, strawberries, syrup and chocolate sauce around the edge of the plate saying "Happy Birthday Kieran". He turned 11 and is now a Big boy.
At about 10 am. his friends started showing up for his party and soon they were all heading of for the bowling alley to start the party. While they were gone I blew up all the inflatable toys for the pool where the boys were going to be playing when they got back, there were at least ten hammers, rings and rafts. I also relaxed on one of the rafts for an hour or two, just enough to burn myself a little.
I decided to experiment with my camera when the boys were back, they had had their In 'n Out burgers and were playing in the pool. I think I got a few really good pictures!
That night I went to the movies with Andy, Adrian and his date. We watched Fast and the Furious. Afterwards he asked me a question which made me loose my breath, a question that made my brain collapse. The question was "Do you want to go to prom with me?" II was really surprised, and since I wanted to go to prom, preferably with a date, to get the ultimate American High School experience I figured this was my chance.
On Sunday we went to Utah, flew into Salt Lake City airport in the afternoon. Our final destination was Deer Valley, or Park City. The skiing conditions throughout the week were good, the first two days were sunny so the snow got warm and slushy in the afternoon and the amount of snow outside of the slopes quickly decreased. On Wednesday it was so cold, windy and snowy that Kieran and I could only stand half a day before we gave up. That day another family came to make us company. This worked out perfectly since the house we stayed in was enormous, with 3 stories and 5 bedrooms. Other luxuries included were a hot tub, a jacuzzi, a pool table, a projector, a flat screen TV, two fireplaces, a piano, a sauna, a great kitchen etc. I was amazed at the size and standards in the house since it's only used as a second or third house by the man Joaquim, a friend of Tracey's (who we stayed with) who's a dear friend of Mary Sue's.
The three first days I was snowboarding and the two last days I skied. On Friday we all went to Snowbird. It had snowed all Thursday, so when we got there Friday morning we skied in 15 inches of untouched snow. It was great and had a more alpine feeling that the other ski resorts. I can surely say that it was the best skiing experience I've ever had!
After a week in Utah we got home in time for egg-hunting on Easter morning. Kieran and I went out in the garden to search for the 18 eggs we had colored the night before and 24 plastic, hollow eggs containing money. Then we had to go inside the house and look for our easter-baskets. I found mine upon the fridge, it contained green tea, dried mango, zig zag, gum and different kinds of chocolate, yummy! I was thinking about my family at home, hoping they had a successful Easter!
During the second week of Spring Break I really worked on my tan and I was on a strict diet, with the easter candy as he only exception. Temporarily I lost about 7 pounds, but it soon came back as I lost my motivation... I was keeping a note book in my pocket writing down everything I ate which helped me be more aware of everything I put in my mouth, but this, too, got a bit boring after a while.
The tan was thanks to days spent by my pool and a bike ride with Salina to Playa Del Rey. On Tuesday night I went with Andy to to Westwood and Andy took me to an ice cream place someone had recommended. From there we took the bus back.
A couple of days went by after that without anything exciting happening, until Friday, when I went with Andy, Austin, Carl (who was driving), Jimmy and his girlfriend to 6 Flags, Magic Mountain. It's a huge, extremely popular amusement park with the scariest rides I've even seen. The drive there was about 45 minutes and I had bought my ticket online the night before for $35 instead of $60 at the entry, in these times I'm trying my best to save some money. We went on all the big roller coasters and such, which I was really proud of myself for, even if they made my stomach turn or my head feel dizzy.
Comming back to school after two weeks of Spring Break, we realized we were almost done with the month of April already, which made me think about how long time I had left before my departure home again - about two months.
"I'm living life as it should be."
Throughout the rest of the month I took a few babysitting jobs every now and then, both at our neighbors family and at a family who's friends are friends of Mary Sue and Josh's. They are British and both parents are actors and they just moved here to try to get a job. Their house is right at Santa Monica beach, a really great location. Their kids, Freddie and Martha, are really sweet and never make any trouble. I was talking to them about my plans, or dreams rather, for next summer. I want to go to either France or England and work as an au pair for a family with young kids that need someone to take care of them during the day and maybe have some free time at night to go and explore the city etc. This would mean I could make money while I do what I like the most, traveling... They thought they might know a few families that would be interested, so I'll have to follow up on that!
Another thing worth mentioning is that I'm usually not the kind of girl that wears dresses, but recently, as I've gotten a tan and because of the hot weather I've bought 4 of them and I've already worn them all. they make me look more feminine. And what's good is that I will be able to wear these when I get home to Sweden again, and hopefully no one will have the same. Yeay!
The "Month of May" will be up soon, unfortunately its already the 15th!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The month of February
Hello my fellow readers ;) (Let me at least pretend as if was anyone reading it except me and my closest family). It has now been over a month since the last post was published and a lot has happened since then. February passed really quickly with the last games of the soccer season (of which in one I got a nose injury), a couple of holidays, and last but not least my family was visiting from Sweden.
Fabian came here on the 16th and the rest of the family got here two days later because from the beginning Fabian had planned to come earlier and leave earlier as well to get home in time for a big ski race called “Vasaloppet”. After further consideration he decided not to participate due to lack of preparation and training this season, which gave him more time here! During my family’s stay here we spent a lot of time together, the first Saturday we had a big party with all of the birthdays of January, February and March. That was a fair amount of people; Frank, Julie, Jack, Cirrus, Sofia, Fabian, Mary Sue and Anne. They all got their name on the chocolate birthday cake! I took a couple of days of school so I could go with my family on their tourist-trips. We went to Zuma Beach, one of the largest and most popular beaches in LA County (crowded in the summer time). We bought sandwiches at an Italian deli and sat down and had picnic at the beach.
We also went bike riding to the beach, Marina Del Ray and Venice Boardwalk. We certainly did plenty of shopping at stores and outlets. I had told Sofia in advance to bring an almost empty suitcase for a couple of reasons; first of all so that she could have room for as much clothes as possible that she would buy here, and second of all some of my clothes and things I don’t use very often, for God knows how I will ship all of my belongings home when it is time for my return.
The last weekend of their vacation here we went up to Palmdale to visit Julie and Jack. Fabian went ahead of us, on Wednesday so mom and dad, Sofia, Kieran and I went together after school on Thursday in the car we had rented (a Toyota Prius, a very comfortable, quiet but a little bit small hybrid). During the four day weekend we went shopping even more, visited Fabian’s old high school and went walking in the mountains every morning except Sunday when we (my family plus Kieran and Julie) went on a memorable trail ride on horses. The ride was in the late morning and lasted for more than two hours in the beautiful terrain and enchanting scenery. We all agreed later on that it was a better adventure than Universal Studios or even Disneyland (which we had considered to visit before).
This pictures is from our little "photo session" in palmdale, using whatever we could find, we got some pretty pictures.
On Monday and Tuesday I went full days in school to catch up with what I had been missing (which was surprisingly little, despite the large number of days I had been absent). I’m so glad my family could come and visit me, because when they had to leave again I realized how much I had missed them before. I loved having my siblings sleeping in my room even with the few hours of sleep I got every night (for some unknown reason).
I loved waking up in the morning to be as generous to my family as Mary Sue and Josh have always been to me, to make them breakfast as I usually eat it to introduce them to my morning habits. I loved having my mom help me on the days when I was stressed and late to get everything together and pack my lunchbox whereupon my dad would drive me to school eager to learn all the street names in the neighborhood. It was hard to say good bye at the car rental/transfer station as they headed for the airport. It was the same car rental place where we had said good bye, crying, to Fabian about four years earlier, but it was soon to get easier; I had to go straight home to pack for my trip to San Francisco which was a great opportunity for me to get my mind on something else!
Fabian came here on the 16th and the rest of the family got here two days later because from the beginning Fabian had planned to come earlier and leave earlier as well to get home in time for a big ski race called “Vasaloppet”. After further consideration he decided not to participate due to lack of preparation and training this season, which gave him more time here! During my family’s stay here we spent a lot of time together, the first Saturday we had a big party with all of the birthdays of January, February and March. That was a fair amount of people; Frank, Julie, Jack, Cirrus, Sofia, Fabian, Mary Sue and Anne. They all got their name on the chocolate birthday cake! I took a couple of days of school so I could go with my family on their tourist-trips. We went to Zuma Beach, one of the largest and most popular beaches in LA County (crowded in the summer time). We bought sandwiches at an Italian deli and sat down and had picnic at the beach.
We also went bike riding to the beach, Marina Del Ray and Venice Boardwalk. We certainly did plenty of shopping at stores and outlets. I had told Sofia in advance to bring an almost empty suitcase for a couple of reasons; first of all so that she could have room for as much clothes as possible that she would buy here, and second of all some of my clothes and things I don’t use very often, for God knows how I will ship all of my belongings home when it is time for my return.
The last weekend of their vacation here we went up to Palmdale to visit Julie and Jack. Fabian went ahead of us, on Wednesday so mom and dad, Sofia, Kieran and I went together after school on Thursday in the car we had rented (a Toyota Prius, a very comfortable, quiet but a little bit small hybrid). During the four day weekend we went shopping even more, visited Fabian’s old high school and went walking in the mountains every morning except Sunday when we (my family plus Kieran and Julie) went on a memorable trail ride on horses. The ride was in the late morning and lasted for more than two hours in the beautiful terrain and enchanting scenery. We all agreed later on that it was a better adventure than Universal Studios or even Disneyland (which we had considered to visit before).
This pictures is from our little "photo session" in palmdale, using whatever we could find, we got some pretty pictures.
On Monday and Tuesday I went full days in school to catch up with what I had been missing (which was surprisingly little, despite the large number of days I had been absent). I’m so glad my family could come and visit me, because when they had to leave again I realized how much I had missed them before. I loved having my siblings sleeping in my room even with the few hours of sleep I got every night (for some unknown reason).
I loved waking up in the morning to be as generous to my family as Mary Sue and Josh have always been to me, to make them breakfast as I usually eat it to introduce them to my morning habits. I loved having my mom help me on the days when I was stressed and late to get everything together and pack my lunchbox whereupon my dad would drive me to school eager to learn all the street names in the neighborhood. It was hard to say good bye at the car rental/transfer station as they headed for the airport. It was the same car rental place where we had said good bye, crying, to Fabian about four years earlier, but it was soon to get easier; I had to go straight home to pack for my trip to San Francisco which was a great opportunity for me to get my mind on something else!
Friday, January 23, 2009
I know I haven't posted any posts recently, that's because I've been pretty busy. Hopefully that trend will change soon.
Anyway, just 30 minutes ago I experienced my first earthquake ever. Almost immediatley the information was updated on the Internet and told us that is was a 3.4 Richter magnitude, which isn't very much, but when we looked at the map we saw that it happened litterally right under our neighborhood, wit a depth of 7 km.
At the time of the earthquake we were sitting down having dinner, and it struck us with surprise. The windows were shaking and the ground vibrated. My first reaction was shock, and my intuition told me to search shelter under the dinner table, since that's what we've learned in school. But everything happened so quickly that it was over before I reached under it, and I sat up again with a fast beating heart.
After this earthquake it is easier to understand the panic people get in situations like these. If it would have went on for a longr time I don't know what I would have done. Anyway, I'm fine and it was an interesting experience!
Anyway, just 30 minutes ago I experienced my first earthquake ever. Almost immediatley the information was updated on the Internet and told us that is was a 3.4 Richter magnitude, which isn't very much, but when we looked at the map we saw that it happened litterally right under our neighborhood, wit a depth of 7 km.
At the time of the earthquake we were sitting down having dinner, and it struck us with surprise. The windows were shaking and the ground vibrated. My first reaction was shock, and my intuition told me to search shelter under the dinner table, since that's what we've learned in school. But everything happened so quickly that it was over before I reached under it, and I sat up again with a fast beating heart.
After this earthquake it is easier to understand the panic people get in situations like these. If it would have went on for a longr time I don't know what I would have done. Anyway, I'm fine and it was an interesting experience!
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