Helsingborg, Sweden

After a very interesting train ride, nearly twelve hours of travel and after very little sleep, my mother and I arrived in Helsingor, Denmark. It was there where I had a very happy reunion with my 'sissy' Alicia. It hadn't been too long since I had seen her last but regardless I was overjoyed to see her again. We took the ferry across the seemingly tiny body of water separating Denmark and Sweden to my hometown for the year, Helsingborg. Alicia took my mother and I to the top deck of the ferry so we could look out at the darkened landscape. The lights from the city sparkled off of the water, and I immediately fell in love with this city. I have never lived on a large body of water before, so this will be very exotic for me. We drove home and quickly went to bed, we were dog-tired after all, and it was about 2 a.m. when we actually reached Alicia's house.

The first day in Helsingborg was quite an adventure for me. I hadn't seen too much the night we came in, but during the day I saw a lot more city than I thought I would! It is a very interesting city, Alicia started to give mom and I a tour and she showed us the important parts of the city but then she lets us loose for an hour because she had to go to a meeting. Mom and I were drawn to the water of course. We sat on a stone wall and watched the ferries from Denmark go back and forth for practically the whole hour. It was mesmerizing. We met back up with Alicia and she took us to an Arabic cafe. I hear that we will be eating there a lot, and I'm happy about that, the food was delicious and the interior decor was also interesting. After lunch we took a car ride and saw more of the region. I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that I'm living by the sea. It is so different than at home, it almost feels like I'm in Florida or something. We drove back to Helsingborg and met Alicia's brother, Martin who had just come back from visiting a friend in Texas. We all went to dinner together to a cute American wannabe restaurant called Barefoot (or something of that nature). It had delicious food and a great view so I was very happy. (Of course I was happy before too but this is the cherry on the cake)

The second day we took the ferry back across the sea to Helsingor, Denmark. We were going to visit the castle of Kronberg! This castle supposedly serves as the real life stage of Shakespeare's play, "Hamlet". I thought this was so cool, especially because my AP English class practically spent a good half-year in intensive study of this play therefore I could put this castle into full appreciation. It was a fantastic museum. Of course, I couldn't read any of the literature on the history but it was still great to look at the pictures, sculptures, tapestries, old furniture, and the architecture of this building. One of my favorite stories that I learned from this castle is that there used to be a tax claimed by the Danish Kings for sailors and merchants traveling through the body of water that we had crossed earlier this day. The funny thing was that this tax had been collected for hundreds of years, then all of a sudden when an American ship refused to pay the tax, it seems like the Danish just.. agreed. There's no told record of a fight, no protests, just "oh, well.... okay then". Go America! (haha)

The third day in Helsingborg, it started to rain. That's why we decided that we should spend this day mostly in a car. We toured the country side of the providence (Skane) on our way to Molle. Mom got her fix of seeing the different crops and the different styles of farms and landscapes. We traveled to a scenic lighthouse just outside of Molle, it happened to be the brightest lighthouse in Sweden. Even though it was not the best weather for sight-seeing the area, it was still beautiful. There were also people taking the weather to their advantage by climbing down the muddy, rocky, slick cliffs.

That night Caroline made the most delicious Swedish dinner. We had potatoes, salmon, pork, and all different kinds of herring. It was so good! I also had a chance to meet one of my new employers! He was very nice, and I am more excited to work for them now than I ever was before. He took us to what is going to be my home for the year, and I am very pleased. First we stopped by the stable where they keep their horse and what happens to be quite close to their home. It was magnificent! I can imagine spending a lot of time there. It was a classic European stable, flowers in the windowsills, a club house for people to hang out, and it felt homey to me. The smell of horses is more comforting than I thought! (Who would have guessed it?)

I'll explain more about the house when I actually begin living there and get a better feel for the place, but I think I will really enjoy living there.

Goran took us back home, and then Alicia took me out to meet some of her friends. We went back to that Arabic cafe and sat with blankets and talked. It was really fun! I'm happy to kind of get a feel for what I will be doing this year, and now mom has seen it so I think that it might be easier for her to let me stay here a year.