Norway, France, and in Between

It has been an exciting and important month since my last update.

In two months I will be packing my bags and I will be preparing to make my return.   The closer July 26^th approaches, the more I find myself thinking about home. When I arrived I was so caught up in the excitement of my new life that I didn’t have energy to think a great deal about what I was leaving behind.  I am now beginning to think about my life back in the US, how it will be the same and different, and how it is going to be to leave Sweden. It sort of feels like I just packed my suitcase one day and left one life and started another, even though I spent months preparing to leave for my exchange. I have grown so accustomed to my life here in Sweden, the people that surround and support me, the landscape, the food, the language, that coming “home” again won’t simply be comforting because I will be leaving behind another home. I am going to have to have to reacquaint myself with my former life.  It kind of saddens me to think that I won’t be able to speak Swedish with everyone or eat boiled potatoes nearly everyday. (maybe not the last part of that.) I am hoping that after having left for a year, I will be more appreciative of what I have in Northfield. Most importantly, it will be wonderful to see family and friends. I am disappointed I missed my sister’s graduation from college.  

I enjoyed peaceful Easter break out in the country with my host sisters and host parents filled with picnics, fika, jumping on the trampoline, running, and it was warm enough to sunbathe before it got colder again. At the end of break I took the bus to Oslo to visit fellow Northfielder Anya Zach. She was kind enough to show me around Oslo and we stayed at her relative’s house. I think that was almost more fun than going into the city. They lived a bit outside the city in a small village in a valley with views of looming, forest-filled mountains. The family had four energetic daughters between the ages of 7 and 18 and I was very touched by their hospitality towards me. It was wonderful to see a familiar face again after ten months.. As exciting as it is to venture away from familiar places, it was comforting and fun to be able to see a friend from home, reminisce about AP World Literature, compare our experiences in Scandinavia, and think about our return to Northfield. Anya was a great hostess and I feel grateful that she took time to show me around.

As soon as I returned, I had a weeklong marathon of choir rehearsals to prepare for our spring show called vårblandningen. The concert featured the choir and the orchestra accompaniment, including drums, bass guitars, a clarinet, flute, cello, viola, violin, trumpet, and piano. We sang traditional Swedish songs, heavy rock songs, a Coldplay song, a John Lennon song, a Lady Gaga song, a Beyoncé song, in addition to about thirty other songs. It was an eclectic mix and the theme had to do with songs you remember. My host sister sang “Imagine” by John Lennon as well as danced with a group of friends to a mix of popular songs. Her level of commitment impressed me. This choir meets only once a week and sometimes it feels more like the quantity of pieces is more important than the quality, but observing the people who cared deeply about the performance made me take it more seriously and give the choir more respect than what I initially gave.  In the end, I think we pulled off a pretty respectable two-hour show. Sometimes there is a place for an inviting, non-selective, and open place to sing favorite pop songs.

The morning after our three performances, I went with the group to southern France for a week. We were able to keep costs low by staying at a monastery in the mountains and living in youth hostel quality rooms. We performed at several schools and ate lunch there. It was interesting to interact with French people. I expected them to speak English better. I am realizing how good at English my Swedish peers are. They begin English as soon as they start school so by the time they are my age they good or even nearly fluent. The temperature was around 80 degrees the entire time. We toured parts of Nice, Marseilles, Toloun, Avignon, and also spent an evening in Monaco. It was an exhausting but lovely trip. We were busy from morning until late at night each day.  Seeing a new landscape, ancient architecture, exploring Provence,  getting to know the members of the choir and orchestra better, trying crepes and real French baguettes, and passing fields of red poppies made for a memorable trip.  It was the final tour of our beloved director and as we completed our final performance most people began to cry. I was touched by how our love of music allowed us to come together in such a profound way.

I will soon be off for a few days in Stockholm before a busy graduation week with my classmates in the aesthetic track. After that, it will be less than a month before I head off on a two and a half week tour of Europe. I enjoy all the traveling I have had the opportunity to do in the last few months but with each trip I take, the more I realize just how much like home Sweden feels and how cozy my house in the forest is.