Sweden - Day 20

Friday 26th February

I went to Borlange again today as it was Joel and Josh's last day. Dale had no lessons and Tom was going ice skating on a pond but I had went with him a previous day to take pictures and it was cancelled due to the snow and there had been more so I assumed it would be cancelled again. They were teaching more swim schools in the morning and then went in the Aqua Nova pool for a while in the afternoon. We also got to go underneath the pool and look through the portholes. We got Josh to swim down to one so I could get this really cool picture of him. I love it! Hampus ( the manager ) also said at the start of the day that they would have to jump off the 5m board which Joel and Josh were scared to do! Unfortunately they couldn't use that board for some reason so they had to do it off the 3m board. Hampus and Robert were jumping off them too so I got a short video of that as the video camera finally worked with the heat next to the pool. Im really annoyed that the video camera hasn't been working for this trip due to the cold. I had some really good footage of us getting to Sweden etc but when checking them on the computer it has only kept one second videos despite me filming for 3 minutes plus.


After we left we went to Falun centre and met Dale as we wanted to get Inga Lil some flowers. We bought some and met Tom and we all went to Kristinegymnasiet to give them to her. Unfortunately she had already left by the time we got there so we had to leave them for her. We think it may have been her husband we left them with though as she phoned us at Carina's that night to thank us for them. Dale then came up to ours to hang out and ended up staying for tea as Joel was going to his as they were going out that night. Josh and I had a night in which I used to sort out some more pictures.

Sweden - Day 19

Thursday 25th February

Most people had booked the day off for suspected hangovers, apart from Dale as he was going skiiing again which I couldn't go to as it was a coach trip again. We woke up late morning feeling fine though which was a brilliant feeling! Josh, Joel and me got a scare around lunch time though as Andreas, Carina and Bengt's son, came round and let himself into the house. We were upstairs in the boys room so he walked into the room. It was nice meeting him as he is the Swedish champion ski jumper! However it was a little awkward as we didn't have that much to say to him and we were all a bit startled, plus Carina and Bengt weren't there either.

Then later in the day we were meant to be meeting Dawn at the Copper mining museum at 3. However when we got there she was no where to be found. Inga Lil was there though and she told us that Dawn was stuck in Amsterdam and would be missing the tour. Inga was also not coming down with us. We joined the tour which was us 5 and three canadians on it. We went down in a lift and had to wear orange capes and hard hats which looked hilarious! The tour shouldn't of been funny but it ended up being a right laugh, although we did annoy the canadians a little bit. I overheard one of them saying of the tour guide "She's done well to answer their questions cause I ain't got a clue what they're saying". One of them at the end also asked if I stayed with the guys and when I answered yeah two of them she said oh dear! haha. I also got this cool picture below of the bucket they used to pull loads up.

At night we were due to have a meal with Dawn. We still weren't sure if she was in Sweden yet or not but we went to the Bishop's Arm's for half 7. They wouldn't let us book a table the day before so when we went in they only had a round table which was meant for 5 which they squeezed more seats on to. It was really busy and was therefore really noisy. There also wasn't anything vegetarian on the menu for Josh to eat. When Dawn arrived just before 8 we decided to go somewhere else. We ended up in an italian takeaway/restaurant which was ok. We discussed our placements and enjoyed giant pizzas :)

Sweden - Day 18

Wednesday 24th February

Today was a long day for me. Got up at 6 to get ready to go with Dale to a yoga class which started at 7. Carina drove me down as she goes to work around that time anyway and she came in to yoga with me when we got there at quarter past 7. Looking back I really should of just went there for 7 if possible as we had to interupt to walk in and it made so much noise getting my camera out of my bag and when the shutter went off when I took a picture so I didn't take too many pictures. There was also an older woman that kept giving me dirty looks whenever I did take a picture.
I then got on the same bus as Joel and Josh and went back to Borlange again. Dale was on another trip I couldn't go to and Tom wasn't doing anything interesting to photograph. The boys were teaching a swim class again so I took more pictures of that, for some reason my camera wasn't steaming up this time which made it much easier! It has been good at Aqua Nova as the manager is really laid back and doesn't have a problem with me taking pictures of other people - especially considering it is a group of young children the boys have been teaching. If that had been in England they would of been really strict and probably wouldn't of let me in to take pictures!

After we got back we got ready to go to out to celebrate Josh's birthday as he was finally old enough to get into Etage. Another great night out and we got a taxi home this time so it was fine to sleep in my own bed this time.

Sweden - Day 17

Tuesday 23rd February

Today I went back to Lugnet in search of Andy. I hadn't been back there since the first week as I felt that the programme they were trying to put me on wouldn't be beneficial to me and would hinder my experiences in Sweden. Plus I was out there to take pictures of the guys on their placements and they were restricting me from doing that. Unfortunately I went to Andy's office and he wasn't there and the door was locked so I couldn't even leave a note. I also texted him later on in the day when I went back to the house for his number, both to make him aware I had been in and to get his email address off him for Nick but I got a message back saying the message had failed to send to the number so I couldn't get in contact with him. By this time it was lunch time so it would not of been worth going to any of the guys placements as they would be finished by the time I got there. I therefore stayed in and went through my pictures again until Carina came home at the back of 4.

As it was Josh's birthday Tom, Dale, Erene and Mats had been invited to ours for cake and coffee at around half 6-7. The boys were meant to be in at 6 so we were having tea before everyone got here. I therefore helped Carina to set the table for them coming and cooked my tea whilst she got ready. 6 rolled by and the boys still werent back so I texted Josh and they had been held up at Borlange as after work they were going swimming with some Swedish girls Dale knew. Everyone else arrived on time and the boys were still not there, they finally rolled in at 8 and we all ate cake and coffee. Josh was then dared to get up and make a performance which he chose to dance/sing to Lady Gaga - Bad Romance. It was hilarious! He proper went for it and everyone was in stiches. After everyone had left we opened a bottle of champagne and he opened his cards from home that he had been given before he came out. It was a really nice evening despite me having to nag them to get home!!

Sweden - Day 16

Monday 22nd February

Today we all took the day off as it took so long to get back yesterday. I did 3 loads of washing as we didn't give any to Carina over the weekend as she was going out too. I also went down to the supermarket and got some more washing powder and fabric softner as I had used the last of it on the first load. I've also been planning to make either a trifle or cookies later this week. The only thing is I went to the supermarket and couldnt see any ready made custard so trifle may have to go a miss. Cookies all the way :)

We also went to Ice Hockey at Leksands. Inga Lil had arranged it and came with us which was good as I hadn't seen her that much during the trip. Bengt and Carina also came so we all got a mini bus there. It was my first ice hockey match so it was a good experience although Bengt said it wasn't a very good game. We were all hoping for there to be a fight but there was only a small squabble which was a bit dissapointing!! Leksands won! When we got back (about 11) we stayed up til 12 to wish Josh a happy birthday. We then realised that with the time difference really it was only 11 so he wasn't 18 yet but we were too tired to stay up so just went to bed!

Sweden Day 14 & 15 (blog 2)

Then that time came around and it kept getting delayed by 15 min, for about 3 hours so we kept having to check the screens everytime incase we got a platform number. Then it got to like half 4 and one of the staff told us to go up as they had organised buses, we went up and went to information and they didnt have a clue about it. So we went back down and they said oh we told them 10 minutes ago and we were like well we were up 5 minutes ago and they didnt have a clue. And of course all the buses that were going to Borlange were fully booked by this time anyway. So we sat around for a while then went back to buses to know if they had heard and they still hadnt by like 5. We got told to wait around the information desk and when they were told about the buses they would make an anouncement in english for us. So we waited til 20 to 6 then decided to go get food and as we got up to get some one of the women staff came and said platform 8 to us. We thought she meant stand 8 for the buses so we asked and she said no train platform 8 and its leaving now. so we had to run and I mean we ran full pelt the 5 of us through both stations, got on the train and no more and it took off. Absolutely mobbed like people sitting in the aisles and standing up at doors. Tom and me had to sit on the kitchen counters in the little kitchen bit where everyone kept shoving their cases in. But we got back, should of been at borlange for 1, we got there for just before 9 and got here at half past 9."

Sweden Day 14 & 15

Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th

Stockholm.

Jesus christ! What a weekend....

I have never had such a stressful weekend. Getting to Stockholm everything was fine, a few delays on the train but nothing major. Absolutely freezing, around -20 when we got there, walked for 20 minutes to the hostel, booked in, put the bedding on our beds. The 5 of us were in a 14 bed room. Originally we went to the furthest end of the room and made our beds and everything there, we then decided if we would be coming in drunk early in the morning we would be better by the door so we ended up switching all the beds. We then went for a wander round the shops, alot of which are the same as England anyway but the plaza was really nice. We had tea, Mcdonalds for Joel and Dale, a hotdog for me and meatballs and mash for Tom. Josh didn't have any as we couldn't find a take out pizza place.

Back to the hostel and we got ready to go out, borrowed a pack of cards from reception and played some cards games whilst drinking more jaegarmeister (I didn't have any after Wednesday night!). We headed out around 11 after struggling to get a taxi to fit us all, although when we did 4 of us sat on 3 seats anyway. Up to Spy Bar, the bouncer checked our ids, obviously only looked at the years as he thought we were all 19 and was letting us in until he saw joshs and even though he thought he was 18 he stopped us going in as it was meant to be 21, so he said 19 would of been okay as it was quiet but 18 was pushing it. We then tried a few more clubs, most of which were 23 to get in. After walking around for ages we got another taxi back to Gamla Stan ( the island our hostel was on) as it was meant to be a student area so the age would be 18 to get in. This wasn't the case though so again we got turned down by a few places. Finally we had to send Josh back to the hostel which was ashame but we couldn't stay outside any longer as it was that cold. The pubs we went into though none of them had a dancefloor which is really all we wanted. At around 2 we gave up and ran back to the hostel. Josh was asleep by then. The rest of us went down to the kitchen and cooked up some pasta. The kitchen was a state though left by other people staying there.

Went to bed, stayed up til back of 4 chatting, up at 8 to leave. Got to the station for back of 9, train was due at 9.45 but it was cancelled. We got rebooked on to the 13.45 train. (see blog two)

Sweden - Day 13

Friday 19th February

Today I went with Tom to Haroldsbogymnasiet in the afternoon. He was meant to be ice skating on a lake which I thought would make good pictures. Dale has been doing that too but he has been on coaches to his trips so I haven't been able to just tag along. The lake Tom was going to they were walking to so I thought I could go along. The snow had been really bad though so when we go to Haroldsbogymnasiet his mentor, Sara, said that ice skating was off and instead they were going sledging. We walked about a half a mile, it was freeezing outside, and I stayed for about half an hour taking some pictures. I then walked back and caught the bus home.


That night we went to Bandy. I wasn't sure what to expect, it was boltic outside so we all wrapped up and trudged down. We managed to get in free by saying we were 17 so that was a bonus! There was around 15-20 guys that Dale knew from his placement there so we stood with them and shouted Falun chants the whole game. It was insane but you couldn't get that atmosphere anywhere else. Falun lost thought which is a pity as there were winning for most of the game.

Sweden - Day 11 & 12

Wednesday 17th February & Thursday 18th February

Today I went to meet Tom and Dale for lunch again but Dale was away on a skiing trip and Tom had a day off so there was nothing I could do. I therefore went back to Tom and Dales and watched Lee Evans and ate pick and mix. Unfortunately I haven't been able to go with Dale alot as alot of his days are trips away which I can't go on. Malin, his mentor is also quite funny about me taking pictures as she says that I can't get anybody else in the picture which makes it very difficult.

That night we went out to Etage, my first night out in Falun, I got way to drunk on Jaegermeister beforehand and therefore spent the whole day Thursday suffering. It was a fun night though so it was worth it :)

Sweden - Day 10

Tuesday 16th February

Today I went to kristinegymnasiet for lunch with Tom and Dale, I then went shopping for something to wear when we go to Stockholm. I didn't venture out to a swedish shop I didn't know I stuck to good old H&M. I also went to find some flowers to give to Carina for letting me stay as I've only given her a box of chocolates so far. I haven't found any that I liked so far though so I think i'll try again start of next week. I also went to a shop that had cute pillowcases in the window which I wanted for myself but when I went into the shop I couldn't find them and everything else is the shop was a ridiculous price, a jumper was £900!!! I then went back to the house as I was knackered.

Sweden - Day 9

Monday 15th February

Today I went with Josh and Joel to Borlange again, its been a bit difficult for me to plan what days to go where because with their placement they don't know what they are doing day to day. Today they were cleaning the inside of a flume. When I got there I got taken through the pool area with Niles to dump my stuff in the staff room. I took my camera with me and we went through to the Aquanova area, the fun pool. It was soo hot in there that my lens and viewfinder on my camera steamed up so the pictures were coming out terrible! (please see above for examples!)

When we went up to the top of the flume though it was a bit colder so I got some better shots. As they were going to be cleaning for the next 3 hours I decided to leave. I went to Kristinegymnasiet to have lunch with Dale and Tom. They had free afternoons though so I went back to theirs and just hung out :)

Sweden -Day 7 and 8 - The Weekend

Consisted of:

Two beautiful much needed lie ins! A BBQ in the snow, watching footie at night (then 3 of the lads went out), watching snowmobile jumping training sunday morning, then coffee and cake at Irene and Matts, then bowling after that with everyone.

Really enjoyed this weekend, even though I have a much more relaxed time out here than the boys it was nice just to have days off and we got to know our families better which was good. Carina and Bengt's daughter, daughter's friend and boyfriend came round for the barbecue and as we saw them again on the sunday morning at snowmobile jump training ( it was the daughter's boyfriend we were watching) it made that less awkward too as we already knew them from the day before :)

After snowmobile training we went up to a viewing tower in a nearby town but unfortunately it was closed :

Sweden - Day 6 (Ski Day)

Friday 11th Feb

Ahhh what a brilliant day!! Woke up dreading the ski trip as I haven't skiied before and thought I would constantly be on the floor! I did fall about 10 times but after a few hours of that I got the hang of it and loved it! I even went down a red slope which I think was the second steepest there. It was awesome :) The weather was beautiful too which helped! Got back about 5, absolutely knackered! We then had a big feast of tacos and fajitas with a few Carlsbergs thrown in ;) and headed for bed, looking forward to the lie in on saturday morning :)

Sweden - Day 5

Today was a partial rest day for me. Went with Tom for his first day at Haroldsboygymnasiet, took some photos of him joining in with the girl's hairdressers games class. I then had a small tour of the place and we got lunch at the canteen. I caught bus back and walked back in. Nobody was home when I got in so I just went and did some work on the computer. I then tried to have a 10 minute nap, but my alarm didnt go off so it ended up being an hours nap! whooops!

It was a good nap though ...

We then had a few beaut sandwiches before spinning classes. I hadn't been to them before so I was a bit worried that I would be dead after 2 minutes but it wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be and I enjoyed it :) We then went to Pitchers, a different sports bar to have a last meal with Nick and Marie before the head home. The service was crap but apart from that it was a really fun night, despite getting constant stick from Dale for being Scottish!

Sweden - Day 3 and 4

Day 3 - Had a tour another tour of Lugnet college and was introduced to more teachers from different departments. I then sat in on a photography class to see how they are taught. To be honest they are taught in the same way as us and the things they were teaching as it is only the equivalent of O levels so what they were being taught I already knew so I didn't really learn anything from it.

I then went down to Kristinegymnasiet to meet Tom and Dale, we went then went shopping for a while and they took me to their families home. We then went to the gym in the afternoon but because of all the rules and regulations I didnt have the right gear with me to just walk around the leisure centre so I had to sit out for a while in the cafe! :)

I then got back to Amanda's at half 9, at which Nick phoned me to tell me that the woman two of the lads are staying with had heard about my situation and offered me to stay with her. A wave of relief washed over me!

Day 4 - Went to Lugnet for half 8 again, met Nick there to discuss my programme at lugnet, then I spoke to Martin the photography teacher who had a look at my pictures and gave me some advice on shooting sports photography so that was useful. I then went to Kristinegymnasiet to have lunch with Dale and Tom as it is free there, we then went to meet Carina ( the woman who I was going to be staying with ) to introduce myself properly and to arrange with her how I would get my stuff from Amandas. We then had a 5 a side football match against some swedish players and ENGLAND WON!!!! 10 - 8 :D :D it also resulted in a swedish player being taken off in an ambulance. I then got taken to my new home and Carina took me over to Amandas to collect my things, it was a bit awkward but she must of felt the tension too and she hardly made the effort to make me feel welcome. At night we went to Dribblers (sports bar) and watched some football. It was a really good night and its made me feel much better about the experiences im going to have whilst out here.

Sweden - Day 2

Monday 8th February.

Today was our first real day in Sweden. For me it started with a 20 to 10 pick up by Inga Lil (our point of contact during our stay) outside the flat. We then picked up Joel and Josh from their placement and drove to Kristinegymnasiet, the college which Dale is based at. Everyone was already there so we went straight into our introduction meeting where we were given maps and schedules etc. I met Andy there, my point of contact from Lugnet Uni. We left the meeting half way through and he drove me up to Lugnet and gave me a little tour of the place. He then took me to the "good canteen" as he called it and we had what I called Brunch because it was at about 11. After that I was left to roam for 2 hours so I walked down to Falun town centre to find my way for the future. As I was walking I had a text from Josh that they were in the town centre so I went to meet him and Joel and we had a wander in search of a cash machine and supermarket for bus passes. We then went back to Kristinegymnasiet as they had to meet Tom and Dale as they were all going elsewhere. I had to leave at this point as I was due back at Lugnet at half 2 as I was sitting in with an English class.

Sitting in with the English class was a bit daunting for me. I'm not a confident person so it was a bit embarassing being sat at the front of the class and introduced! After that was over a small group of students and me went out of the classroom and had a discussion (which is what they were doing). I was quite surprised how well they could speak English. In the hour I was there there was only 2 words that they didn't know how to say.

I then got the bus from Falun to Hosjö. This was very scary! I first got on the wrong bus and then when I did get on the right one I was a typical tourist with my map of Falun out, pointing to where I wanted to go. The bus driver was very helpful though and made sure I got off at the right stop. After getting here Amanda and I went for a food shop, which is quite a long walk! She also showed me where to get a quicker bus in the morning as the one I got today took about twice as long as the other one.

I think today has been quite interesting and exhausting at the same time. I also have a blister on my foot from my Doc Martens but i've learnt alot.

To be honest I'm not quite sure what I'm meant to be doing at Lugnet Uni or why I am based there. They seem to think im on a media placement with them and that they have to give me something to do each day but most days I will be at the other places with the guys.
I am back there tomorrow morning for another brunch and I have to be there at half 8 so an earlier start for me tomorrow. We are then all meeting at Kristinegymnasiet at 3 as the Swedish students who are coming to England later in the year are taking us for a tour of Falun so I am looking forward to that :)

Sweden - First Post

So we have arrived in Sweden. For the next 3 weeks ( February 7th til February 28th) myself and 4 sports students will be on placements across the town of Falun and Borlänge.

The trip here consisted of :-

• A taxi from Wakefield to Leeds (pick up at 3am!)
• A plane from Leeds to Amsterdam
• A plane from Amsterdam to Stolkholm Arlanta (delayed by around an hour)
• A train from Stolkholm Arlanta to Borlänge (delayed by 40 minutes, due to this we missed the second train Borlänge to Falun so instead we got...)
• A coach from Borlänge to Falun (delayed by 15 minutes)
• A minibus to each of our placements - mine is in Hosjö, a 20 minute bus outside of Falun town centre

For my placement I am staying with an 18 year old student called Amanda who also goes to Lugnet Uni which is the school I am based at. In preperation for this I had emailed Amanda during the week before our arrival so I knew a bit about her before I came out.

The first night was an experience. Unfortunately it was quite difficult to speak to Amanda as she doesn't understand that much English ( it may just be because of my accent or because I speak too fast). I also asked all the basic questions right at the start so after that there wasn't much to talk about which resulted in a 3 hour silence in the evening. I also didn't realise that I was sleeping on the lounge couch which is also Amanda's bedroom as she lives in a studio flat so that has been a bit awkward. I should have been more prepared before arrival as I hadn't taken anything to eat but it had previously been arranged that I would provide my own food. This resulted in me having nothing for breakfast the next day as Amanda had hardly any food in her flat either. The first night has been a bit weird but I'm hoping that as the week goes on she may come out of her shell and it will hopefully become more comfortable living here :)