The Danish

I unfortunately don't have pictures to post yet, but I wanted to jot down a few things I have noticed about the Danish...

• They really do make the best cheese danishes ever!
• The drivers are crazy! They speed worse then Chicago drivers I think
• More people bike, my theory behind this is the crazy driving
• Pepperoni pizza is pepperoni pizza not peperchinis
  
• There language is really hard to understand. I cant make out words, a whole sentence sounds like one word to me. It is funny because some words are just like Swedish with a different pronunciation, but unless there written down, I have no bloody idea!
  
• The beaches are amazing!
• Danish guys are very different then Swedish guys. Looks, personality, mentality etc.
  
• They love to drink!
  
• Copenhagen has a small town feel but a big city atmosphere, really mind boggling.
• Denmark is flat! Ok.. well I think that is good enough for now, oh I get to go to this awesome music festival this week and here is the link just to see what great bands I get to see this week:
  

http://www.roskilde-festival.dk/uk/music/bands/

Midsommar

This year I spent Midsommar with my family in Kil and in Sunne.

This is me being very "Swedish"! It was fun to dress the American up after a few shots of snapps
For Midsommarafton I spent the day with my cousins, Henrik and Sara and with their mom and her family. It was really nice. They have a little "sommar stuga" summer cottage there, complete with an out door shower and port-a-poty (a toilet). The weather was warm, and sunny with only a few rain drops but nothing to bad and the food was great!

We slept in a tent big enough to hold 12 people
I even got to take a good Swedish Bath!

Midsommardagen we were in Kil as well but at our friend Roger's new house for a BBQ and lots of Snaps ( Swedish liquor you drink with sill) which I found out I am not a fan of at all, but then we danced around the Poll and sang a few songs of course at my request :)

Midsommar is such an important part of a Swedish summer so I am so happy I got to spend it here this year!
Skol!

Days of Goodness!

So the last couple days have been filled with friend goodness!

I moved into my friends apartment for a little until I leave Jönköping, and these guys are two of the most amazing people I know. We always have so much fun when were together! After the move since it was such an amazing night we had a BBQ at one of the most amazing spots in Jönköping that I have ever seen and watched the sunset (which is at about 10pm). After we headed back to Eric's where Hanna met up with us and the 3 of us talked for hours about, well everything! I love long meaningful conversations that help you really get to know your friends!

The next morning we walked over to the beach for an amazing breakfast, some beach Vollyball and to spend some more time with friends. When the weather is nice, you have to enjoy it!

That evening Eric, Johan, Julius and I journeyed out to Nyhem for "Nyhemsveckan". This is where all the Pentacostal Christians (and other Christians) meet every year for a week to hear sermons, about how people have found Jesus, listen to some great Christian music, and eat cheap yet delicious hamburgers! It was really an amazing place to be. Before we got there though, we stopped in what I like to think Heaven looks like, a great big candy store! It was filled with all types of yummy treats and of course I wanted to buy it all, but instead I bought a little of almost everything so I could try it of course!

Times like these are the ones I will miss more then anything. I feel so blessed to have met so many great people that I can spend my time with!!!

Goodbyes....

Well it's that time now when everyone is leaving and heading home, some are staying in Europe and enjoying the summer that Sweden most defiantly does not currently have a few are staying in Sweden for Midsommar (like myself) before continuing their travels. Goodbyes these days are bitter sweet. We are all going to miss our time here in Jönköping, and all the amazing people we have met, but at the same time there is an excitement to continue our journeys and travels, to see our families, and our friends back home, and to not worry about exchange rates any more (well at least for a while).
I think that I can speak for just about everyone on this exchange when I say.. Jag älskar Sverje och jag är tacksam för denna upplevelse!!

What is Sara doing this Summer?

To all those that have been wondering... what is Sara doing until she gets home... well here it is, my itinerary for the Summer! And if you are planning on meeting up with me, I would be very very happy :)

June 17: Sunne, Sweden for Midsommar with the Family!

June 22: Jönköping, Sweden. For some final Friend time ;)

June 27: Copenhagen, Denmark. I will work the Riskilde music festival! Woohoo! I will get to see so many great bands for free! Yay

July 6: Back to Jönköping for a day to re-pack and pick up all my stuff.

July 7: Stockholm, Sweden. I will drop off all my stuff with Marcus and spend a little time with him!! I miss him.

July 8: Milan, Italy. I get to meet up with my friend Laura on the 9th before I take an overnight train to Rome!

July 10: Rome, Italy

July 13: Barcelona, Spain

July 16: Madrid, Spain

July 18: England! For a nice week with my mates and hopefully a EBC reunion.

July 24: Back to Stockholm for a god nights sleep and a nice shower!

July 25: Fly home to Chicago. I land into ORD at 12:20

Today is Sweden's National Day!

But what exactly is it supposed to celebrate?

I just found out about this national day this year while studding in Sweden, I had no idea one existed and well come to find out many Swedes don't know either and what is even funnier is that no one celebrates it, they wait until Midsommer!! So I looked up some info about this day on a website that gives me Swedish news in English and this is what it told me!

What exactly does this day celebrate? "A more difficult question to answer than you might expect. Unlike other countries, which have anniversaries of independence or revolutions to commemorate, Sweden has never been occupied and has never got rid of its monarchy.

If you ask a Swede, they'll probably mumble something vague about Gustav Vasa.

The day does indeed coincide with the anniversary of Gustav Vasa's election as Sweden's king in 1523, marking the end of the union with Denmark and the start of a new period of closer unity within Sweden. This day was celebrated from the 19th century as a national day of commemoration.

June 6th was also the day in 1809 on which Sweden adopted a new constitution, something it did again on the same date in 1974. From the 1890s, the Skansen open air museum in Stockholm started organizing patriotic celebrations on June 6th. In 1916, the day became The Swedish Flag Day."

Sunrise

I love Sweden! I know I have said this at least 100 times in the last week, but it is true. The sun is up by 4am every morning now, so many times I get to see it rise. I love that it doesn't really get dark during this time of the year, It just feels great! This could almost be sunset over lake Vättren but it was taken at about 3:20 in the morning on my way home from a good bye party in the city.