I’m so sorry I haven’t written for a
so long time but the time is running out so fast… I’m leaving Sweden in 5 days
and my schedule is entirely full. Anyway I still have 4 or 5 articles to write
so let’s start with the first one today and let’s go back in the time, 3 weeks
ago!
For those of you who don’t know my
dream, my passion and my project are to become a plane pilot, a civil pane
pilot. Thanks to that my host family offered me for my birthday (in October) a
flying lesson around Stockholm. Unfortunately every time we had an appointment
to fly the weather was bad… And finally 3 weeks ago, a Tuesday evening at 8 o’clock
an appointment was taken and the weather was perfect so I took the first flying
lesson of my life.
The instructor was (and still is) a
pilot for Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) the biggest company in
Scandinavian countries. He was a real passionate and it was real pleasure to
fly with him. After a theory part we took off from Bromma airport, the second
airport of Stockholm. Contrary to Paris we were allowed to fly around the
capital and the view was definitively awesome! We flew around Stockholm and the
Archipelago of Stockholm and the pilot let me do absolutely everything! He was
just explaining to me how to act and it was me who was flying the airplane,
from the takeoff to the landing! It was definitively one of the most magic hours
in my life!
After this experience I am 200% sure
that I want to be a pilot and fly my entire life.
I would like to thanks my host
family for this amazing gift; I will never forget that…
Despite the few time left I have in
Sweden I will try to write all my articles as fast as possible.
As
you saw I didn’t write any article last weekend. Not that I didn't wanted to, I just couldn’t. I was actually at a YFU weekend. For those who
don’t remember YFU is the organization which takes care and organizes my year
in Sweden. This weekend was the “Re-entry” camp, a weekend supposes to prepare
us, the exchange students, to leave Sweden, to come back in our countries, to
make a small check-up of our year and other stuff like that!
For the first time since the “arrival
camp” in august we were all the exchange students together, we were about 60 students
plus maybe 10 YFU volunteers and we met in the island of drottningholm, a place
next to Stockholm, where live the royal family. This place was exactly the same
than nearly 10 months ago when we arrived in Sweden. It was a strange but
great feeling to meet once again here, all together but this time to “finish”
the year.
Many of us didn’t really know each
other as we hadn’t really meet for nearly 10 months but this weekend was just
awesome and will probably be one of my best memories of this year! We all lived
the same experience, the same type of adventure so everyone had something to
say, something to share with the others and there were not anymore the language
problem. Now we all speak at least English and more or less Swedish! We were
all different but no one had been alone this weekend, we were all like a big
family, understanding each other, listening each other! Contrary to what I had
imagined before, we didn’t really stay with the people from the same nationality
or the same languages. Everybody was 100% open to the other and it was
something really strong and beautiful to live. It was exactly like if we knew
each other before meeting each other. We all became really good friends.
YFU volunteers
The camp was from Friday to Sunday
and hopefully we had the best weather ever! Around 28 degrees with sun, sun and
sun! We were living in small houses, in the middle of the “nature” with a river
around us, it was just the perfect place to be!
We had some activities like groups discussions
but also a lot of free time which was the occasion for swimming, making some
sauna, watching the Eurovision, playing games, basketball, baseball, volleyball
or “catch the flag” all together! The weekend was just perfectly organized thanks
to all the YFU members and volunteers. All the YFU volunteers’ presents during
this weekend were between 19 and 23 years old, all old exchange students and
really taking care of us, understanding us, they were like friends and it was
absolutely perfect!
The last night we were so sad to
have to leave each other soon that a group of exchange students and I decided
to not sleep to watch the sunset (10.30-11 pm) and the sunrise (2.30-05 am). So
we spent the night on the dock, speaking and laughing all together a last time.
Sunday was the time for cleaning
everything and saying goodbye to each other… It was really sad! We made a huge
circle and one by one made a big goodbye Swedish hug to each other. This is how
the year “finished”… It isn’t really finish, I am leaving Sweden the 29th
of June, will spend 4 days in Berlin with 450 other exchange students from
Europe and then come back in France. I still have a small month of Swedish
holidays to enjoy, spending my time with my friends… just enjoy!
I am not sad to leave Sweden because
I have such good friends here, I know that we will keep in touch and it’s not
that hard to come back, I’m actually pretty excited to come back and see “everyone
and everything” again. But in the other hand I’m gonna miss a lot my school,
the exchange student life, the fact of speaking English and Swedish everyday and
all this human adventure with all the exchange students… Being 60 persons from
EVERY part of the word, being all together but totally understand each other
and feel like a family thanks to our year was something really strong to live!
Otherwise SOME of my really good friends come from Ecuador, Australia, United
States, Canada and I don’t know when I will meet them again… Hopefully some
other live close like Estonia or REALLY close like France and Belgium. We also plan to all meet again in 5 years at the same place... will see!
Otherwise I would like to thanks all
the exchange students and YFU volunteers for this amazing weekend and year! It
was maybe the richest experience of my life which gave me much more than just a
new language and a new culture. I’ve been really happy to get young, active,
understanding volunteers to take care of us, help us and guide us. Now I feel
like it’s my turn to help the future exchange students and keep feeling the
magic of this experience but in another way, that’s why I definitively want to
become a YFU volunteer in France.
3 AM
I
will try to put a video of this weekend that I made and also some great
pictures. Otherwise in two weeks I will travel once again to the North of
Sweden, to Umeå. I will visit an American friend and see during 8 days a city
where the sun never goes down during the summer.
Thanks for reading, I hope
that this article isn’t too much a mess, I tried to express everything I feel.
See you soon!
All the YFU exchange students in Sweden 2011/2012
My video (if the quality isn't good, watch it on youtube):
(I took the movie of the water at 3 AM, check out the light!)
I hope you are having a great weekend,
mine is perfect: long, warm and a lot of sun!
Otherwise let’s talk about the event
of last week: läroverksfejden. You
might probably not know that so let me explain. This event is an annual
competition between the 4 best schools in Stockholm: Sodra Latin, Ostrareal,
Kungsolmen and mine: Norra Real. This competition (100% organized by the
students) is divided in many days and many different categories like soccer,
dance, running, singing, general knowledge…
just a small picture of my school
So last week was the “final day” which
is usually the soccer competition. So for this day all the schools had rented a
stadium, a real one where the police was guarding the entrance and where we needed
a ticket to get in! Every school arrived with his colors and huge flags, I think
that we were maybe 1500 students here, even more! The entire school walked
together from the school to the stadium, dressed in black and white (my school
color), singing, screaming… it was really a huge and great feeling! My school
didn’t win, we arrived to the final and loosed at the penalty. But it was just
amazing to see how the students are free to organize this type of event.
(you can have a look at the small video that I made to have an idea of the ambiance)
Otherwise as I said the weather is
now so nice in Stockholm, warm and sunny! Maybe too much sunny, the sky is now
blue until eleven and starts to be blue again at two o’clock in the morning as
you can see on the following picture. Last night I forget to close my curtains
and the light woke me up around ten past two and I took that picture by my
window. (The sun is up in the sky at 4 o'clock!)
Stockholm in May: 2 in the morning
We can also notice that in the North
of Sweden, there is now light all of the time! Anyway I really enjoy Stockholm
during the summer; it’s so nice with the water, the open flower and the great
number of trees and parks.
In 6 weeks I won’t be any more in
Sweden but I’m totally enjoying those last weeks, I hope you are all having
also such a great time!
I’m sorry I didn’t have a lot of
time to write this week because of the National Exams (The Swedish “equivalent”
for the French BAC). So today I’ll talk about the recent visits that I received
from France.
The first one was three weeks ago
and it was my girlfriend from France who came for the first time. I know that
it can seem totally crazy to have been together for 8 months without meeting
but… we did it! I was a little stress and anxious before the weekend because I
really didn’t know how it could be after 8 months but finally it was nearly
like if we hadn’t see each other since the day before. We weren’t stranger to
each other and it was really nice. It was really short, only 2 days to visit Stockholm
and furthermore we had only rain and snow. Anyway the principal was to be here
together!
The second visit came one week after
the second one, and it was from my family. Victor, Segolène, Marine, Camille, Mum and Dad
came for 5 days in Stockholm where they rented an apartment. Here again I had
the same feeling as one week before with Marie: it was nearly exactly before I left.
It’s actually a hard feeing to describe but let’s say that: before meeting
everybody I expected a big change or whatever in everybody’s behavior and
physical appearance.But finally it was
still (which is really good) the family and the girlfriend that I knew before.
Of course everybody has been growing up a bit but we weren’t stranger. Anyway, I’m
digressing from the original subject. When my family came the weather was much
better than the past days. It was sunny every day and the temperature was
around 15 degrees. The week also happened really fast, we had been visiting Stockholm
together ans just enjoying that time.
Now everybody is back in France, I was
so happy to receive those two visits; we had such a great time. Now the end of
this year is approaching, in 7 weeks I won’t be any more in Sweden but in
Berlin for 3 days with 450 other European exchange students, celebrating my
year before my come back in France. The school is soon over too, I will just
enjoy those last weeks with all my friends, Swedish and exchange students, and
then… lets the life continue! I start to feel slowly this strange feeling
divided between the excitation of coming back and this small sadness that this exceptional
year is soon over. But I know it’s the way it’s supposed to be and I still have
a lot of adventures to leave here in Sweden and also in the following years!
I still have many things to write so
I’ll have to do it soon.
Okay so let’s go back in the time, 3 weeks ago, Saturday 21st of April. My host grandmother received for her birthday, in November, a family weekend in Copenhagen. That’s the reason we went there. The trip began Saturday morning with a heavy snow storm in Stockholm which delayed the flight of 2 hours. Fortunately the weather was much better when we arrived in Denmark. After having drop the luggage at the hotel we met the family for lunch. We were 15: aunts, uncles, cousins, everybody. The weekend happened really fast, it was only 24 hours here but it was really nice! We visited many museums, had some walks and “fika” (* see my first article in Sweden) in the city. We also spent the evening at Tivoli which the amusement park of Copenhagen, it's not a big one but it was actually really funny, we had some great time!
This weekend was small but I really enjoyed it, I discovered a new capital, I’ve been in a new country, I'd like to thanks my host family. However I still prefer Stockholm which is according to me more characteristic of “Scandinavian Cities”. It’s not a big article but I’ll try to write more this week if I have enough time because I still have many things to write about. Enjoy the pictures and see you soon!
Hej everybody,
I'm so sorry but due to a virus my computer had been out of service for some weeks. I will soon write one or some new articles because I have many things to talk about: differents visits from France, Visit in Copenhagen, the arrival of the spring and the time which is running out so fast...
See you soon!
After 8 days in Roma, 4 on the Western Coast, I’m still in Holidays and about to visit Copenhagen this weekend.
There are so many things to say but let’s start with Roma.
As I said I moved there with my class for 8 days, we were 32 students, 2 other “help students”, 2 teachers and this trip was probably one of my best scholar one. We visited so many places like the Coliseum, the casa Romani, the Vatican, Trevis’ fountain, the Forum Romano, the catacombs, St Peter’s church and we’d also been to Pompeii to visit the city destroyed by the volcano a thousand years ago. We also saw the Pope when we were in the Vatican. Every mid-day and every evening we were totally free and it was the occasion to eat with the class, with some friends in restaurants to degust Italian pasta and pizza! I loved this trip because it was my second time in Roma and it’s a city I really like but the most important thing in that trip according to me was the atmosphere and the relationships between everybody in the class. It was the opportunity to discover more and more the class and it was just fantastic! I really “love” my class!!! (Thank you to all of them) Furthermore during this week I also talked a lot of Swedish, I think that I really made some progresses! A last point is that it was the first time that I enjoyed so much going to a warm and sunny place. In Roma it was 25 degrees and a huge sun everyday but in Stockholm it’s now really cloudy and we had a little bit snow some days ago.
Anyway I will never forget this trip and I will never forget my class… never ever!!!
The day after Roma I directly leaved to the West coast with Alex’s family (my Canadian friend). We were in a small fisherman village: Fiskebäckskil. It was actually a really cute place. Melodie from France also joined us for two days. It was a kind of “break time”. Being in the country side, speaking some French and just having fun, talking, having some walks on the beach. It was really nice.
This weekend in Fiskebäckskil was also the Easter weekend so we ate some typical Swedish Easter food. Not that different than Christmas food, the Easter one is also really simple. As well if you spend an Easter to Sweden you will probably eat some (real) eggs, some salmon, some potatoes, some meat bowls, and some lamb meal. You will also probably drink some special “Easter juice” as for Christmas and some “snaps” of strong liquors.
I would like to thanks Alex and Alex’s host parents for welcomed me at their summer place.
I’m now in holiday until Monday and I’m spending some calms days in Stockholm. This weekend I will visit Copenhagen with my host family. I heard that it’s a really nice city, will see that!
I’m so sorry I haven’t written for a
so long time but the time is running out so fast… I’m leaving Sweden in 5 days
and my schedule is entirely full. Anyway I still have 4 or 5 articles to write
so let’s start with the first one today and let’s go back in the time, 3 weeks
ago! 
For those of you who don’t know my
dream, my passion and my project are to become a plane pilot, a civil pane
pilot. Thanks to that my host family offered me for my birthday (in October) a
flying lesson around Stockholm. Unfortunately every time we had an appointment
to fly the weather was bad… And finally 3 weeks ago, a Tuesday evening at 8 o’clock
an appointment was taken and the weather was perfect so I took the first flying
lesson of my life. 
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