Sundsvall Bound
Trip Start
Aug 20, 2008
1
5
20
Trip End
Dec 18, 2008
Sundsvall,
Midnight Sun Coast,
Sweden
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
To Kristen,
There is a deep gratitude and thanks in my heart that you were the one seeing me off as I venture out on my first adventure of being on my own. You have been through it already, and you know how it goes. I'm proud that I know you and that you are my friend. There is a reason I met you in my life and that is to see how strong a person really can be. Yes I've seen you break down, but you are someone with a very strong heart and can handle any problem that gets thrown at you. Whether it's your own or other peoples. You've shown me a strength that very few people have. Now I am on the train to sundsvall and you were the one to send me off. The friend who loves to take pictures as much as I do and is snapping them even as I get on the train. There is no one I'd rather of shared these memories with than you.
9:00pm
What an interesting first night in sundsvall Sweden. It's really weird how it's hit me I'm going to be here for four months. It seems so longs when I think about it sometimes, then there are times when it is a very short period of time
Train To my next adventure!
. I showed up in Sundsvall with a deep breath when the train stopped and I was finally here. Here is home for four months I thought to myself. As I left the train, I stood breathing hard after carrying my luggage 50 ft. My luggage is bright Hawaiian flowers so my mentor would easily find me I was hoping. Not long after, someone came to me and introduced themselves as Pari, she had a car so I was happy that I didn't have to carry all of my stuff to my apartment. That just sounds weird that I have an apartment to go home to. My first experience of living on my own and I choose to do it in a foreign country. What was I thinking? Any who, my mentors drive me to where the apartment building is and they don't know which building it is. They didn't know which room is was either as well as I. We find the right building and haul my luggage up 3 stories to an empty apartment. They said I would be living with a German exchange student, who was a guy. It seemed really weird to me to be living with a guy for four months, I really hope he is clean and not rude. As we walk around there is no furniture anywhere. It is a pretty good sized living room, that right now looks like a dance floor. Only one light worked in the whole apartment, there were panels missing on the side of the kitchen walls. The bathroom doorknob was on the floor, and there was furniture. So Pari said we'll talk to Janet tomorrow about the furniture and the fixing of the apartment. I thought to myself, "What the hell am I going to sleep on?". Another guy from Pakistan was with us helping a bit and he took me down to the grocery store to buy food and supplies. I was so confused, it was very odd having a man following me around while I picked food. He showed me how to do my laundry. It was all very overwhelming at one time.
This was the first time in my entire life that I ever felt truly lonely. It was a very weird experience for me because I knew everything that was going to come and that I'd miss the people I love but, this was different. The fact that I'm not able to just call whenever I want, To send a text message when I'm thinking of someone, or drive over to someone's house with in an hour; all this is totally different when you're half way across the world. I knew it was going to happen to me though, so why is it still such an abrupt change. Right now as I sit in my new bed and empty room, I think to myself "Wow my life has slowed down a lot just now.". The guy who went grocery shopping with me helped me carry my bed up to my room. He left and I sat in my room. Thinking Now what's next? That's how my life is always though, just going through my schedule of stuff to do. Here my life is not planned out for me what I'll be doing tomorrow or next week or what practices I need to go to or what work I need to go do. This is such a crazy experience, I was walking to go buy toilet paper and was thinking how the heck did I get myself in Sweden? Then I was thinking about how awesome Green River is to give me this opportunity. That at Green River is where the past two years I've got to see new things and experience new perspectives. It's weird how your mind works when you're all alone and it begins to wander off. This town looks like a place I will really enjoy though. There is basketball court and soccer field right below my building. I am really worried about how cold it is going to get! I've never ever been in weather that cold, let alone live in it for 4 months! This has already been a very changing experience for me. For the past two years, I've tried to help new international students transitions and get involved in school. Now I am that international student. It's so crazy putting yourself in a whole new atmosphere and culture and how the roles change. How when I get to the check out at the grocery store and she tells me how many kroner to pay; and I have to ask for it in English. In Mexico, I could still at least understand numbers and currency exchange. There has been an wave of emotions for the past 3 hours. Scared, mad, sad, excited, and hopeful ALLLL together! "Everyday is the start of something beautiful". That's a song I am listening to that leif gave me before I left. It's a CD by Matt Nathanson. Great timing. Nothing has ever felt so comforting. I've set up my digital frame in my room and as I stopped unpacking and placing stuff in my new home I paused to watch what I had put on it. This is where I had a tiny break down. I forgot that I had placed Josh Groban "You raise me up" as the background music. As a wave of memories came flooding back, I couldn't help but cry. There is so much in this life that I've been privileged to do. Everyone in those pictures just helped that little bit to get me where I am now, in Sundsvall Sweden! It even makes me tear up just typing about it. I had felt so prepared to not be homesick because I know I am going to miss everyone but for that little moment I got to reflect on where I am and why I'm here. Tomorrow will be the start of something beautiful, Pari will be here to pick me up to tour me around Sundsvall as well as buy me a desk and room décor from the thrift store. I'll be registering and then participating in student intro activities, life will begin to go fast again. But for this evening, I've stopped the flying and pulling of luggage and catching the trains. I've looked at pictures of my trip so far and reflected on the people who have made me who I am today.
