So for readers who may not have read my past blogs or have forgotten, I am a part of the Outdoor Living and Learning Community (LLC) with DIS. This means that every week we have an activity as a group, and live on the same floor in Sollentuna (about 20 minutes to Stockholm Central). For all DIS students who don’t live in a Homestay, DIS had the ingenious idea to offer Visiting Host families, meaning that we don’t live with the family, but we can spend time with them as often as we like. After a few weeks of exchanging schedules, trying to figure out when we could meet up since the first week I arrived, I finally got to meet mine! And may I say, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to temporarily adopt me. (I know they like me too because Maria, my visiting host mom, e-mailed me saying that their eldest daughter commented that I was like “one of the family.” Yes, that is a direct quote. Yes, that made me very happy.)
So my visiting host parents, Maria and Christian, picked me up around 11 AM last Sunday. I had the pleasant surprise of meeting Maria’s parents as well, since they had all gone away for the weekend. When we arrived, I met their two daughters, Clara (11) and Ella (13) , and Christian’s mother. We then walked to Maria’s sister’s house to pick up their youngest Jakob, who is about seven. So I got to meet more of the family than I had anticipated!
We had fika (of course!) If you don’t know what fika is, I’ll fill you in quickly. Fika is basically a coffee break, but there is so much more to it than that, so read up on some of my peers’ blogs such as Abby’s and Caleigh’s if you have time!)
Afterwards, my visiting host sisters showed me this app called musical.ly (similar to dubsmash, but with so many more possibilities). We made a dance to Can’t Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake and did a silly short comedy skit. They then took me to a place where they make apple juice from apples you provide, and my family had a lot of apples!
Next, they took me to a horse barn (since the eldest enjoys riding horses):
And finally, we returned home for a tasty dinner and played Just Dance!
I think my favorite moment though was when I offered to teach the youngest how to moonwalk since he loves Michael Jackson and robot dancing. The entire family participated, and the room was full of laughter at each person’s attempt. Looking back on it now, my memory plays it like a cliché ‘happily-ever-after’ scene in a movie, where the room is literally glowing from sunshine and happiness. (Not sarcasm, just giddiness.) My Swedish family was so welcoming and loving, I was happy to hear that they wanted to spend more time with me too. Moral of the story: if you decide living in a Homestay isn’t for you, I’d still recommend signing up for a Visiting Host family. You just might be surprised what happens.
Stay tuned for more and be sure to check out other blogs!
-Liz
Sounds like a very good time. Someday I’ll be studying abroad out there! Just a few more years and I’ll be out there on my own experiencing and exploring all the different things I’ve never seen before. Loved the blog, it gave me a great smile reading about there’s more than sitting in front of a computer screen imagining the different places to go to. Thanks!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Best of luck to you on all your adventures ☺