Sunday, August 7, 2011

A close to summer break

Today marks the last day that I have summer break. It's been a long one, I've technically been on break for nearly 2 months now. I flew to the States back on June 17th, which is when I mark that my summer began. Now it's August 7th, and tomorrow is the first day back at SFI. I think I am actually looking forward to going back and feeling like I'm doing something with my days. I just can't sit around without having a purpose!

The past two weeks J has been back at work and I've been filling my days with various odds and ends. The main thing I have been doing (like a good little Swedish student) is study every day. I've been moving through the first two chapters in my course D textbook, but also I've begun and completed the book I mentioned previously, Mio min Mio. I got really hooked there at the end of this past week! I really enjoyed the fact that I was reading a story (albeit not too difficult, but I learned many words!) in Swedish and understood it and could just cruise along. The other important fact: it kept me interested. I think this is a strategy I'll begin to use in the future. I'm sure we'll be seeing more simple Swedish books on our shelves in the future! It's a fantastic way to learn a language and get a feel for it.

This last Tuesday my friend M and I decided that it was just too beautiful outside for a co-study session, so we suited up and headed for the beach! Of course we visited two beaches here in town first, both of which were packed with people (especially noisy children) and decided we wanted something more peaceful. So we headed out to the shores of Vättern to a tiny little town by the name of Brevik. There's a secret little beach there that you have to walk through a long field and through a little bunch of trees to get to it. It's well worth it! There were people there, but not even close to the amount at the other two lakes. And there was sand to lay on (although not much at all). Vättern's water was so beautiful and clear. It is the deepest lake in Sweden, which probably lends itself to the clarity of the water. Although I didn't take any pictures that day, here is a shot of the beach we went to.


Today it's raining and completely cloudy. You know, that overbearing grayness. But today it seems to fit. And the rain is so peaceful. I believe I'm enjoying it. The temperature reminds me of autumn though, it being slightly chilly and rainy. It makes me somewhat dread winter, as I feel like I've just begun to even be able to enjoy summertime here. Alas, I live in the North now. I'm sure I'll enjoy it when it comes anyway. Last winter I was so enchanted with all the snow. Let's hope this time around I am just as enchanted.

In a couple of weeks I believe we'll be traveling to Stockholm to visit some friends who live there. I've been there once before, and we visited Gamla Stan, Vasa museum, and Skansen. The typical touristy place. Does anyone have any suggestions of other things that are "must sees" that I may not have come across yet? Or any good food/restaurant suggestions? Gotta take advantage of being in a city with a multitude of culinary delights! ;-)

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