Week 25:
Hello! I shall begin with the weekend! Last weekend we did not do too much. Asa and Tomas went to check on Grandpa's apartment since Grandpa may be moving to an apartment soon! So that was the excitement for Saturday. Then Sunday I actually had a game with my HJ team. It was a home game against Håsta. The game was not that good. Our goalies are mostly '99s and they were playing a tournament up in Umea on the weekend so we had to call up a boy from the younger team. He did well and we also had to call up a player. It was a brother to a player we have on our team. So he got a goal for us and it was nice. I had a goal that did not count since it was a high stick. Andreas was behind the net and he could not get out from behind since there were players covering both sides. So in Sweden they call it "bluebird". Andreas flipped the ball up over the net to get it just in front of me and I hit the ball into the goal but in the refs eyes it was high stick. Andreas and I still counted it since it was a pretty nice goal. Even Oscar (Oscar here you go) said it was a very nice goal even though it did not count.
The week was pretty quiet with school and Innebandy practices. It actually warmed up this week between 2-4 degrees so it was nice to finally be out of the deep freeze! Friday Åsa and Tomas left to go to Gävle to help Martin and Emma move to a new apartment so they will be back Sunday. Until then Maja and I are holding down the fort!
I realize this is a short post but in the coming weeks and months the posts should be longer since there is a week vacation because of the Vasaloppet, a week away, spring weather coming, of course a visit from a couple of crazy Canadian girls and a very exciting trip that I will end my time in Sweden on.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Friday, January 22, 2016
Sunrise and Sunset in Sweden
Week 24:
Hello followers and everyone who just drops in for a quick read of my blog! I will start off with my week review and then I will talk about the sun times and all that fun stuff involving that.
This week has not been very exciting since the weather has not been warm enough to do a lot of outside activities. The temperatures were very similar to last week, which is very cold. However, I did go watch the JAS game on Tuesday night for something to do. They played against Falun which is about an hour away from Mora (closer to Stockholm). The game was very close throughout the whole thing but Falun managed to stay ahead by one goal the whole game, so they took the win. So that was the fun this week.
Now into the times of the sunrise and sunset. I arrived here in August when the length of sun we had was 15 hrs and 50 min which compared to Ontario they had 14hrs and 15min. We had a lot longer times compared to my fellow Ontarians. In August the sun would rise at about 5 am in the middle of the month and it would set at about 20:50 at night. I did not notice it that much except in the mornings since we use room darkening curtains to keep the sun out of the room. If you didn't do this you would probably be up early in the morning. Moving to December during the Winter Solstice, which fell on the 22nd of December...that day in Mora we had about 6hrs and 4min of sunlight. In Ontario you guys had almost 9 hrs of sunlight so a little bit different. Then from December 22nd each week we start to get about 30 min back of sunlight which you start to notice a little bit each week since darkness takes a toll on your body after a while. Each week I usually took a 1-2 hr nap since you just do not feel like you have a lot of energy to do anything else. They do try to eat a lot of oranges during the winter to keep their vitamins up which helps sometimes. I just drink all the orange juice Åsa gets....I love it and I do not like peeling the oranges so that is my way of having oranges. But the spring (about April) we are looking at about 14 hrs. of sunlight in the middle of the month! So a lot of sunlight we will be getting! Then the longest time we get during summer is in June and it is the 20th. That day we get 18 hrs and about 40 min. Toronto will get only 15 hrs. and 30 min of sunlight. So in the winter Ontario gets more sunlight by about 3 hrs and in the summer Sweden (Middle Sweden) gets about 3 hrs and 10 min more. So very similar time differences. In June I am leaving the 23rd so I will get to experience the longest day we have! It will be different since the sunsets at 22:10 so you can do a lot more with your day then you usually get to. This is just some of our times that we see but I will link below a website that if you click it, it will take you to Stockholm times. I will also tag Boden's times. Boden is far north Sweden, they will have about 18 days where the sun will not set meaning they have sun all day...literally all day! So you will see differences from Ontario (lowest of the three I will link) , Stockholm (middle of the three) and Boden (highest of the three) and you can change the months to see the different times each month of sunlight they get! Hope that gives you some info of Sweden's sun compared to Ontario sun!
Toronto, Ontario (43.7000° N, 79.4000° W): http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/canada/toronto
Stockholm, Sweden (59.3294° N, 18.0686° E): http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/sweden/stockholm
Boden, Sweden ( 65.8251° N, 21.6887° E): http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/sweden/boden
PS. If you look at the latitude between Toronto and Boden it is about a 22° difference. A city in Canada on the same latitude as Boden would be Iqaluit, Nunavut. So now you see the difference from where Toronto is compared to Boden!
Hello followers and everyone who just drops in for a quick read of my blog! I will start off with my week review and then I will talk about the sun times and all that fun stuff involving that.
This week has not been very exciting since the weather has not been warm enough to do a lot of outside activities. The temperatures were very similar to last week, which is very cold. However, I did go watch the JAS game on Tuesday night for something to do. They played against Falun which is about an hour away from Mora (closer to Stockholm). The game was very close throughout the whole thing but Falun managed to stay ahead by one goal the whole game, so they took the win. So that was the fun this week.
Now into the times of the sunrise and sunset. I arrived here in August when the length of sun we had was 15 hrs and 50 min which compared to Ontario they had 14hrs and 15min. We had a lot longer times compared to my fellow Ontarians. In August the sun would rise at about 5 am in the middle of the month and it would set at about 20:50 at night. I did not notice it that much except in the mornings since we use room darkening curtains to keep the sun out of the room. If you didn't do this you would probably be up early in the morning. Moving to December during the Winter Solstice, which fell on the 22nd of December...that day in Mora we had about 6hrs and 4min of sunlight. In Ontario you guys had almost 9 hrs of sunlight so a little bit different. Then from December 22nd each week we start to get about 30 min back of sunlight which you start to notice a little bit each week since darkness takes a toll on your body after a while. Each week I usually took a 1-2 hr nap since you just do not feel like you have a lot of energy to do anything else. They do try to eat a lot of oranges during the winter to keep their vitamins up which helps sometimes. I just drink all the orange juice Åsa gets....I love it and I do not like peeling the oranges so that is my way of having oranges. But the spring (about April) we are looking at about 14 hrs. of sunlight in the middle of the month! So a lot of sunlight we will be getting! Then the longest time we get during summer is in June and it is the 20th. That day we get 18 hrs and about 40 min. Toronto will get only 15 hrs. and 30 min of sunlight. So in the winter Ontario gets more sunlight by about 3 hrs and in the summer Sweden (Middle Sweden) gets about 3 hrs and 10 min more. So very similar time differences. In June I am leaving the 23rd so I will get to experience the longest day we have! It will be different since the sunsets at 22:10 so you can do a lot more with your day then you usually get to. This is just some of our times that we see but I will link below a website that if you click it, it will take you to Stockholm times. I will also tag Boden's times. Boden is far north Sweden, they will have about 18 days where the sun will not set meaning they have sun all day...literally all day! So you will see differences from Ontario (lowest of the three I will link) , Stockholm (middle of the three) and Boden (highest of the three) and you can change the months to see the different times each month of sunlight they get! Hope that gives you some info of Sweden's sun compared to Ontario sun!
Toronto, Ontario (43.7000° N, 79.4000° W): http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/canada/toronto
Stockholm, Sweden (59.3294° N, 18.0686° E): http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/sweden/stockholm
Boden, Sweden ( 65.8251° N, 21.6887° E): http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/sweden/boden
PS. If you look at the latitude between Toronto and Boden it is about a 22° difference. A city in Canada on the same latitude as Boden would be Iqaluit, Nunavut. So now you see the difference from where Toronto is compared to Boden!
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Back to School and Cold days!
Week 23:
Hello friends! This week will be a shorter blog but I will write a longer blog next week since I have an Innebandy game and also I can talk more about the sunrise and sunset times here from winter to summer!
So this week on Monday we returned to school but Monday I would have only had math class so I stayed at home instead of going since I would only be going for 55 min. Also Åsa was home but she did not have a car to take me to school since I would have started later in the morning and it was too hard to get everything organized so I just scrapped Monday and went on Tuesday! The rest of the week was a normal week with our Innebandy practices and school. Thursday afternoon is when we have "resource" time for our classes but this Thursday we actually had someone come talk to us about Syria and everything happening over there. He showed a map of the military groups in the country and ISIS actually had most of the country under control. Which when you see that, you understand why people are fleeing their country because who really wants to be under control of those barbaric creatures that some people call human. Definitely not me! So I think it was good for students to understand the situation and realize what is happening.
This week it has been very cold outside. All of you Ontarians could be sunbathing in your balmy temperatures and we are over here freezing our asses off in -20/-25 degree temperatures. That is another reason for not having much to do, I mean if you do not care about frostbite you could have all the fun over here you wanted to right now. However, I am pretty sure a lot of people want to keep their bodies intact so it is best to stay inside. One good thing about the cold is our lake at the front of the house has frozen completely over! I am happy about that and now I am just hoping we get to skate on it soon. I think it will be awesome to skate on a lake that you have right outside your house.
I have not had much else happen to me this week so I think I will end the blog there! I am actually surprised at how fast this year is already going. It is kind of a happy thing but sad at the same time! I look forward to sharing the sun situation over here in next weeks blog! Hopefully I can also share some pictures of me skating on the lake as well. Until then goodbye and I hope this was a good read!
Hello friends! This week will be a shorter blog but I will write a longer blog next week since I have an Innebandy game and also I can talk more about the sunrise and sunset times here from winter to summer!
So this week on Monday we returned to school but Monday I would have only had math class so I stayed at home instead of going since I would only be going for 55 min. Also Åsa was home but she did not have a car to take me to school since I would have started later in the morning and it was too hard to get everything organized so I just scrapped Monday and went on Tuesday! The rest of the week was a normal week with our Innebandy practices and school. Thursday afternoon is when we have "resource" time for our classes but this Thursday we actually had someone come talk to us about Syria and everything happening over there. He showed a map of the military groups in the country and ISIS actually had most of the country under control. Which when you see that, you understand why people are fleeing their country because who really wants to be under control of those barbaric creatures that some people call human. Definitely not me! So I think it was good for students to understand the situation and realize what is happening.
This week it has been very cold outside. All of you Ontarians could be sunbathing in your balmy temperatures and we are over here freezing our asses off in -20/-25 degree temperatures. That is another reason for not having much to do, I mean if you do not care about frostbite you could have all the fun over here you wanted to right now. However, I am pretty sure a lot of people want to keep their bodies intact so it is best to stay inside. One good thing about the cold is our lake at the front of the house has frozen completely over! I am happy about that and now I am just hoping we get to skate on it soon. I think it will be awesome to skate on a lake that you have right outside your house.
I have not had much else happen to me this week so I think I will end the blog there! I am actually surprised at how fast this year is already going. It is kind of a happy thing but sad at the same time! I look forward to sharing the sun situation over here in next weeks blog! Hopefully I can also share some pictures of me skating on the lake as well. Until then goodbye and I hope this was a good read!
Friday, January 8, 2016
Home From Florida
Week 22:
Hello! This week not much has happened. Mind you, weather wise I am finally experiencing the cold temperatures that they have here but still not much snow. Monday the Nilsson's got home from Florida. I think it was a little bit of a shock to them since they had very warm weather while they were in Florida and they had to come back to very cold weather. I was very thankful as they got me a gift which was a "party pack" of Peanut M&Ms and sour gummy worms! For those of you who do not know me I love Peanut M&Ms so it was nice of them to bring those back for me. Tuesday, we stayed at home and that evening Maja had some friends over and they invited me to come out to the "apartment", so I went out to see them and stayed out there for a little while which was nice. Wednesday nothing interesting happened that I can reccall. Thursday I actually braved the -16 degree weather and went out for an hour on the outdoor ice rink and shot some pucks. It was nice but no Swedes have skated on it this week since I do not think they like it being this cold here. Friday(today) Martin and Emma came over for some Fika before heading back to Gävle. Martin was on call this week at the fire station so they stayed at Emma's parent's house since it is close to the station if Martin ever gets a call. Tonight I will maybe go to the JAS match to watch the guys play.
This pretty much sums up the week! It was not much action but it is our last week of holidays so it was nice to just relax! Remember to watch for my posts on Friday's from here on in.
Hello! This week not much has happened. Mind you, weather wise I am finally experiencing the cold temperatures that they have here but still not much snow. Monday the Nilsson's got home from Florida. I think it was a little bit of a shock to them since they had very warm weather while they were in Florida and they had to come back to very cold weather. I was very thankful as they got me a gift which was a "party pack" of Peanut M&Ms and sour gummy worms! For those of you who do not know me I love Peanut M&Ms so it was nice of them to bring those back for me. Tuesday, we stayed at home and that evening Maja had some friends over and they invited me to come out to the "apartment", so I went out to see them and stayed out there for a little while which was nice. Wednesday nothing interesting happened that I can reccall. Thursday I actually braved the -16 degree weather and went out for an hour on the outdoor ice rink and shot some pucks. It was nice but no Swedes have skated on it this week since I do not think they like it being this cold here. Friday(today) Martin and Emma came over for some Fika before heading back to Gävle. Martin was on call this week at the fire station so they stayed at Emma's parent's house since it is close to the station if Martin ever gets a call. Tonight I will maybe go to the JAS match to watch the guys play.
This pretty much sums up the week! It was not much action but it is our last week of holidays so it was nice to just relax! Remember to watch for my posts on Friday's from here on in.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Adventures with the Stenis's
Week 20 & 21:
Hey Everyone, sorry this is such a late post but I have had a lot going on over the break!
Monday and Tuesday we still had school. I do not really get why since we did not do anything with the exception of watching a concert. So the fun started on Wednesday. Christer, Inez, Äjvor and I went to a ski hill about 25 min away from where we live to go on a hike! We got there at 8:30 and the sun did not rise until about 9:10. The first part when we were hiking up the mountain it was not very dark just a little grey. When we got to the top (which felt like forever even to Inez) it was cloudy so it was a little hard to see the amazing view we would see when we got back up a second time (yes, we had to do it two times...). We started down the hill and I thought we were done. Christer took us on this path that went down in the forest then we had the climb back up...I thought I was going to die. After getting to the top we got to see a great sunrise and the amazing view of the different lakes and places! All together the trip took us till 10! That night Inez and I made shortbread cookies since they have not had shortbread cookies here! After we made those we had "Christmas Bingo" which involved all the Stenis family and Patrick (hope I that right :S) who is Nelly's boyfriend! Thursday, the 24th is actually when we have "Christmas" here even though it is recognized as Christmas Eve here too! It was interesting to celebrate it on a different date than usual but it was cool to see how they celebrated it over here! I got to meet Christer's mother and also Åsa's parents! Friday during the day Johan took me shooting. He occasionally hunts moose and deer, so he has a pretty powerful rifle for taking the Moose down! And it packs a little recoil on it aha! That evening we went to the Stenis's friends for supper. We had moose there which was very good. We also had the other typical things with the dinner including potatoes...they are getting old when you eat them so many times. Johan and his friend Pat came to the dinner before they went to a party. They got a guitar and started playing songs for us! Saturday not much happened we watched the Sweden vs. Switzerland game and Sweden beat them 8-3. Sunday the Stenis's took me bowling at Mora Parken which my family will remember since it is where we went bowling at! Monday not too much happened during the day but during the night Johan and I took Kiki's(Johan's mom) mom home, she lives approximately 15 km from Leksand. We stayed for some fika with Grandma and Johan showed me his scrapbook that his Grandma made for him! Tuesday and Wednesday not very much went on just a hockey match with Johan and Pat which we stayed at the outdoor rink for 2.5 hrs, so I got a lot of hockey in!
Thursday rolled around and it was an adventurous day. Johan left for Stockholm since he needed to work a little before New Year's. During the day some of Åsa's and Christer's relatives came. We watched the Canada game and I got teased about that...a lot. We had supper at 21:00. Supper was moose, potatoes and artichokes and it was very good! Then for dessert we had creme brûlée. Around 22:30 we started playing a game where you guess the song, artist or both if you knew both. Asa and I were on a team and I think we did pretty well! Then at about 23:30 Robert (the Stenis's cousin), Inez and I went down to the waterfront to bring in 2016! We did not get home till about 5:00 am. It was a very fun night I have to say! Friday was a chill day, but it is also "National Pizza Day" I was told. Very interesting day that is not an actual day other than it was designated that by the Stenis family! Saturday was laid back with Åsa, Christer and I watching a movie. Sunday I went to a cross-country ski race here in Mora! It was cool and interesting to see because I have never watched one! This rounds off week 20 and week 21! I think I will start posting my blogs on Friday's since I am usually busy during the week!
Happy New Year to all of my family, friend's and followers! I wish you all a year of happiness and good health. I look forward to seeing you in 174 days....
Hey Everyone, sorry this is such a late post but I have had a lot going on over the break!
Monday and Tuesday we still had school. I do not really get why since we did not do anything with the exception of watching a concert. So the fun started on Wednesday. Christer, Inez, Äjvor and I went to a ski hill about 25 min away from where we live to go on a hike! We got there at 8:30 and the sun did not rise until about 9:10. The first part when we were hiking up the mountain it was not very dark just a little grey. When we got to the top (which felt like forever even to Inez) it was cloudy so it was a little hard to see the amazing view we would see when we got back up a second time (yes, we had to do it two times...). We started down the hill and I thought we were done. Christer took us on this path that went down in the forest then we had the climb back up...I thought I was going to die. After getting to the top we got to see a great sunrise and the amazing view of the different lakes and places! All together the trip took us till 10! That night Inez and I made shortbread cookies since they have not had shortbread cookies here! After we made those we had "Christmas Bingo" which involved all the Stenis family and Patrick (hope I that right :S) who is Nelly's boyfriend! Thursday, the 24th is actually when we have "Christmas" here even though it is recognized as Christmas Eve here too! It was interesting to celebrate it on a different date than usual but it was cool to see how they celebrated it over here! I got to meet Christer's mother and also Åsa's parents! Friday during the day Johan took me shooting. He occasionally hunts moose and deer, so he has a pretty powerful rifle for taking the Moose down! And it packs a little recoil on it aha! That evening we went to the Stenis's friends for supper. We had moose there which was very good. We also had the other typical things with the dinner including potatoes...they are getting old when you eat them so many times. Johan and his friend Pat came to the dinner before they went to a party. They got a guitar and started playing songs for us! Saturday not much happened we watched the Sweden vs. Switzerland game and Sweden beat them 8-3. Sunday the Stenis's took me bowling at Mora Parken which my family will remember since it is where we went bowling at! Monday not too much happened during the day but during the night Johan and I took Kiki's(Johan's mom) mom home, she lives approximately 15 km from Leksand. We stayed for some fika with Grandma and Johan showed me his scrapbook that his Grandma made for him! Tuesday and Wednesday not very much went on just a hockey match with Johan and Pat which we stayed at the outdoor rink for 2.5 hrs, so I got a lot of hockey in!
Thursday rolled around and it was an adventurous day. Johan left for Stockholm since he needed to work a little before New Year's. During the day some of Åsa's and Christer's relatives came. We watched the Canada game and I got teased about that...a lot. We had supper at 21:00. Supper was moose, potatoes and artichokes and it was very good! Then for dessert we had creme brûlée. Around 22:30 we started playing a game where you guess the song, artist or both if you knew both. Asa and I were on a team and I think we did pretty well! Then at about 23:30 Robert (the Stenis's cousin), Inez and I went down to the waterfront to bring in 2016! We did not get home till about 5:00 am. It was a very fun night I have to say! Friday was a chill day, but it is also "National Pizza Day" I was told. Very interesting day that is not an actual day other than it was designated that by the Stenis family! Saturday was laid back with Åsa, Christer and I watching a movie. Sunday I went to a cross-country ski race here in Mora! It was cool and interesting to see because I have never watched one! This rounds off week 20 and week 21! I think I will start posting my blogs on Friday's since I am usually busy during the week!
Happy New Year to all of my family, friend's and followers! I wish you all a year of happiness and good health. I look forward to seeing you in 174 days....
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| The table set-up at Christmas Eve |
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| Some of the food! |
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| More food (This side has the Pickled Herring) |
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| A pop they have for Christmas and Easter |
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| Christmas Dinner (Moose) |
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| Johan, Christer and Pat gave some entertainment at the dinner |
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| Johan getting ready to bowl |
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| The score boards...I am not good at bowling |
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| The Bowling Alley |
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| Some pics from Grandma's house |
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| Grandma's house |
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| Grandma's house |
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| The appetizer for New Year's Eve |
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| Main course (More moose aha) |
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| The Dessert-Creme Brulee |
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| The Waterfront was packed |
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| My new friend Martin and I |
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| Ski Race |
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| Start and Finish Line |
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