Hej! It’s hello in Swedish pronounced similar to hey in English.
This is my fourth day in Sweden and I am on a high does of life right now. The day after my arrival I woke up to the Swedish sunshine in my IKEA-looking hostel staring out of my window and seeing the city wide awake. I went to get some tea that the hostel offers for free and I sat next to Ron Weasley aka Derek. He was the guy who looked exactly like Ron Weasley when he helped me with my luggage after a long day of flights the night before and by the time I woke up, he looked differently. It was a mixture of Ron Weasley and Justin Timberlake. He is great and funny. What I noticed about him was that he had confidence but not so much with his eye contact. I say this because at first when I talked to him he would talk to me about what to do in Sweden and all of a sudden his eyes would wander around not able to focus on my eyes or face and in this case his eyes would wander to my chest and I must say it was a little uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a really nice funny man with a ligth heart and very easy to talk with. Sometimes I notice myself doign the eye wandering too, so it’s okay. I have something to work on.
As I’m sitting on the breakfast table I was slowly meeting the poeple at the hostel in the kitchen. THey were all gethered at the tables chatting and making jokes. I was just reading and listening to the 6 boys as they were drinking their cup of tea. There was one of the boys who I thought was really handsome and beautiful. Instantly I was drawn to him and of course I closed up and became shy and didn’t introduce myself to him. He was sitting across from me and I looked over to him and he sort of glanced back.
“You’re the California girl eh?” What? Do you mean that you heard of me from your friends already? Coooll! I calmed myself down and answered melloncholy.
“Yea, I’m Queeny.”
“Hey, I’m Zak.”
There were 6 of them that I met; Derek aka Ron Weasley, Zak, Dylan aka Tom Cruise, Greg, Neil, and Colin. There were all from the UK and Ireland, but no Scottish. Thank goodness for that. I always have a bad romance with Scottish people. They were planning to bike in the city an then watch a futball game for the day while I’m sitting here with no clue in the world of what I was going to do for the day.
“Invite me please, invite me please!” I said in my mind as I was sitting there desperately wanting to spend time with people. I was alone in a new country and fresh on the soil. They didn’t invite me that morning. Darn.
I was afraid to go outside, so i just walked wherever I can see and didn’t think about a destination. I just had to remember how to get back. Once I came back at the end of the day before sunset, the boys were back at the hostel and we chatted at the kitchen and they invited me to go out to the pubs and clubs.
“Yippee!” I got invited I got invited! I’m not that desperate I swear.
Here we are getting to know each other in the kitchen. I was nice because these guys are actually funny. I mean they are not funny only because they are cute and with a lovely, brilliant, grand accent, but they actually made me smile and I had a great time with them. We traveled together and experienced a new place. What better way to have fun and get to know people than traveling.
We were waiting for the train and I was put on a mission before I came to Sweden. My friend Sylvie is going to give me a mission every week to find someone or something in Sweden and record those moments. The first mission was to fine someone in Sweden who was born in the year of 1983. Ron Weasley, one of the guys, was born in 1982 and I thought it was close enough. he was perfect for the camera and I knew Sylvie would love it even if he’s not born on the same year. If you look at my vlogs, the video should be under Mission 1: 1983. It’s hilarious.
After we got off the train, we went to find a place to dance and have some drinks, let’s just say that the Swedish club lied to us and the guys had to pay 100 kron each to find out that there was no one there and it was the size of my room. There were also 5 Irish girls who tagged along because when you are in a different country and you hear or see people from the same country you instantly have something in common.
I taught one of them how to salsa dance and we all went home at around 2 in the morning. The next day 2 guys were missing and didn’t come home because they got along with two of the Irish girls.
“How was it?” One of the boys asked during breakfast when all of us were gathered and curious of what kind of fun they had.
“A Englishman does not kiss and tell gentlemen.” With a slight smirk on his face, he tells nothing.
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| At H&M. Isn’t he handsome? |
Later that morning, they invited me to go bike riding around Stockholm city center and then go to a pub to watch the Liverpool vs. Manchester City game. The center of the city was the most amazing view I have ever seen. Before the bike ride, all the pictures I’ve seen of Sweden was all a blur and didn’t know how it would look like, but this view, this view of the city was my dream. It fulfilled everything I have ever dreamed of since I was in high school. The boys wanted to immerse themselves into the Swedish culture so they wanted to go to H&M to buy some clothes to make them “look” Swedish. We spent almost and hour and a half trying on clothes and waiting. Who knew guys can take so long to shop? In the evening, they were more dressed up than I was with their collared shirts, fancy shoes and the “Swedish Hair” to go to the pub for dinner and the game. I had two wines and I was completely flushed. My tolerance for alcohol is never going to improve.
Then the sad part comes. Nothing lasts forever. The worst thing about traveling is saying goodbyes all the time. My first few days in Sweden was very memorable. I wouldn’t know Sweden without those friends if I didn’t meet them at the hostel.
My third morning came and I waited for them to say goodbye and it was bittersweet. Saying goodbye means that I am off to go to my apartment that awaits me at Sodertorn Univeristy. Saying goodbye means that the friends I’ve made will not be with me anymore and I would have to figure things out on my own. All in all, it was really fun and I hope many of these adventures happen all the time.
From Stockholm, Sweden
Dandelion Traveler
dandeliontraveler 