Coming Up

The weekend wasn't very interesting here.

This week has so far been quite nice.

Yesterday I had biology for only 45 minutes because it was a review class, and my chemistry class was cancelled. The snow is making things very pretty, but is also making classes harder to get to. I then had soccer in the evening. Next week is the last week so we are having a tournament against the teachers. This week all I can say is I wasn't playing worse then I was playing last week.

Today was also good. It started with Unghäst at 7 30 AM. Tigris was much better with the bridle, and with picking out his feet. He was also much better with lunging, we tried side reins today. The other horse that was in the ring with us was having a melt down with the side reins. The other horse, Fresco, was rearing and twisting around so the the lunge line got twisted around his head. I made sure that Tigris kept moving so that he didn't focus on Fresco. We then tried having my weight on his back. We started just making his feet move with me hanging on his back, and worked into doing small circles. We got him moving forward in small circles and then we got me up on his back quickly so that it was almost like we were getting me up on the fly. This worked while Hans was holding me but then Hans let go so that I could hang on Tigris' back. To this he exploded again. It was a smaller explosion than last week, but he still did a little bucking and bolted around a little. We then went back to just having the weight on his back and moving around a little. Right after Unghäst I had Ridning. We did jumping today because we have a jumping test next week. Ruzzin was much more loose and willing to go forward today then she was last week.

A few people didn't come to class today for riding, because of the snow, so I got to ride another horse today as well. In the afternoon I rode a horse named Wera, pronounced Vera. She is a horse that you really just need to sit on and think about yourself which was really nice. I got to really focus on how I was sitting on the horse and my position. The instructors were really happy with my ride on her because I could focus so much on my position and it really improved. I also did the whole ride with no stirrups so I worked a lot on my legs.

After my ride they said that if I ever had time off that I should come and ride some horses because there is almost always a horse that needs to be ridden. I gave them my phone number so that I may be able to ride more often!

More photos to come!

Let it Snow

So I have been looking back at old posts and I really need to start reading what I am typing before I post it. I will try to be more aware of grammar, it is flying out the window as I am so focused on swedish studies. I have had some interesting experiences lately; Lady Gaga concert, my 2 year old exploding, eating chinese, Dressage test, and restarting swedish lessons! I'll start with Lady Gaga.
My friend Alice was supposed to go to the concert with one of her friends for her birthday. Her birthday was last week on Wednesday so as a present she got to go to Lady Gaga. Her friend unfortunately backed out a few weeks ago so Alice asked me to accompany her. After classes on Friday of week 46 we left for Malmö. We had dinner at a little café in the area called Gustav. Gustav is also the area in which H&M is so of course we went in there. I got some super cool bright green lace tights! After this we went back to Centrall so that we could catch the bus to Malmö Arena. At the concert I was pleasantly surprised by how good a singer she is live. The show was, of course, extravagant and she wore all her strange costumes. She was actually quite inspirational when she was speaking between songs. The theme for the concert was be your inner little monster and cherish who you are. Her next album is going to be called Born This Way which embodies what she was trying to push throughout the concert. That you are who you are and you should be happy with that person. She was also very big on anti-homophobia which I think is great.

The next night we went out for dinner in Ystad. Again it was in celebration of Alice's birthday but it included Ida and her family. We went for chinese which was an interesting experience for a Vancouver-ite. The food was good, and the chinese are no better at swedish than english.
On Tuesdays, as you know, I have Unghäst and Ridning. This week I started the day with Unghäst at 7 30 am. Unfortunately people were outside my room until 1 am as the girl across the hall just got a boyfriend which needs to be discussed late into the night, of course. I overslept and ended up waking up at 7 40! So I sprinted up to the barn and managed to be grooming my 2 year old, Tigris, by 8 am. When I finally got into the ring to work with him he was great with the lunging, and again with the mounting block. We are showing the 2 year olds the mounting block so that they get used to it. We put it on both sides of them and step up on it, making as much noise as possible so they learn not to be scared. After the mounting block we try to put some weight on the back. This is done by one person holding the horse and giving me a half leg up so that just my arms and chest are on the horses back. This allows the horse to have some weight on their back without the full weight of the rider. on the left side he was great, then we switched to the other side... We took one step on when I was on the right side and he just exploded. He reared up, bolted, reared and then proceeded to bolt around the ring and buck. It was quite the show. After we finally caught him when he calmed down we tried again, this time he didn't explode but he didn't walk forward, just backward. Backward was better than nothing so we took it. Next time we will get him to go forward.
Here is a photo of him:

He only has one good side... His left eye always has white around it so it looks like he is scared

At least his right side is cute! He is a little cutie boy, my mum thinks I should nickname

him Tigger!

I then had Ridning, which was a dressage test. It didn't go as well as I would have hoped because I had not had breakfast yet or anything, plus it was cold.

Yesterday I had swedish again for the first time since break, I am so happy to be back at it because I really enjoy working at swedish. This week has been a great week for me and swedish as I am starting to really feel that I can have more input in conversations and I am getting along a lot better with people because I can communicate better! This week I am feeling so much more confident with myself and my swedish. I have a 12 page booklet of homework for tomorrow that I am actually excited to finish.

Today was a full day again. I had chem, and directly after that I had djursjukvåd. Djursjukvåd is my vet course. Once that was finished I went with Alice to the smådjur klinik (small animal clinic) so that she could interview the vet there. The vet who works that is actually from New Jersey, New York. He wasn't there though, he is on vacation until next week. This was okay because then we went straight to Tigger to do some more work with him. We worked with lungeing as well as the mounting block. Before we got in the ring though we went for a long walk around in the snow. He is super cute and curious about everything, and hides behind me when he is scared. He also likes to hide his head in my chest when he is a little nervous like a small child, very cute. From this I went straight to Buggikurs. Bugg is the jive but swedish. I am not very good at following, but it was really fun. I was dancing with a guy who lives in the same building and we both couldn't remember too much from previous weeks (it doesn't help that I wasn't there last week). We had fun figuring out what to do! Directly after that was Innebandy. I had about 5 minutes to go home, change, and get back to the gym.
My innebandy skills are getting much better. I am starting to not play as much field hockey and do it properly but I am incorporating more of my field hockey skills (other than only using one side of the stick) into how I maneuver around people. I had a great few games and made some great plays that got us goals!
I am now sitting in my room, looking at photos that I have taken the past two days and I will share a few with you:

 

 

There is snow here!! It's great!! It's also supposed to snow for the next week as well!

Everything is so pretty doused in white.

Enjoy!

So I am having a nice leisure day as on Wednesdays I no longer have any classes until night time. Today is also a friend of mine's birthday! So Happy Birthday to her. The weekend was pretty normal, I was taking care of Jamarra and I think I'm finally starting to get through to her but she is very inconsistent under saddle right now, but she seems to like being ridden so yay for me. Monday I had soccer in the evening and I think that sport is rejecting me. I feel as if I am getting better, I am starting to get the ball to people better but I am still having difficulty traveling with it. I also was getting quite the beating! Indoor soccer is much more aggressive and hands-on than outdoor soccer, but keeping that in mind I still feel like I was getting the most beating there. I was hit in the face with the ball (by my own teammate, mind you) and I also tripped on the ball and fell backwards, hitting my head on the ground, and later when we were doing shots on net I was nailed in the back of the head (same place I fell on earlier). On top of that beating I was slammed into walls and elbowed a number of times, on top of being kicked in the hand. Of course that last sentence about my beatings comes with indoor soccer, just saying it was more than my head getting hurt. After that I also decided that it would be a good idea to go to the gym with my friend to do a little core work out right after being beaten up by soccer. I didn't stay too long because I got a headache and I didn't want to push it.

Tuesday was a lot more relaxed. Unfortunately I missed my stalltjänst, work in the barn, because I overslept and my head was still a little sore. I then didn't start until 1 PM which was Unghäst! I met my 2 year old, a young gelding by the name of Tigris. That went a little interesting because he was being very testy with Hans and I, Hans being my instructor. The horse kept bolting forward and then stopping and turning towards us so that he didn't have to move forward. I had the job for most of the time to be sprinting around the circle with him chasing him with the whip so that he would continue to go forward. I then had Ridning, I was feeling a little dazed so it didn't go quite as well as I had hoped, she was being a little stressed as per usual but my temper was a little shorter because I was sore so I had to walk a lot to make sure I stayed calm and worked properly.

Today is an easy day, I have choir tonight and I have to take in Sydney and muck but I don't have history because it was cancelled.

Here is a photo of Bollerup in the mornings, it is getting darker and foggier!

Enjoy!

Back to School

So here I am back at school. This week has been such a blur!
I missed a couple tests by going to Luxembourg a couple days early (which I did inform my teacher and mentor about so don't worry mum!) so this week has been a little busy studying and making sure I went to all my classes and evening activities. I am finding it very difficult to fall asleep before 12 or 1 AM here so I spend much time at night doing my catch up with friends on facebook or skype, and of course studying.
So far this week I have started a few things but I'll do a review of the whole thing. Monday I had my regular biology and chemistry classes and my soccer (fotboll) at night. The change this week is that my soccer is now indoor as it gets dark at 5 PM here and practice starts at 5 30 PM. I very much enjoy having soccer inside because it means that there is more time playing because we go 4 on 4 so everyone needs to be engaged in the play the whole time. I am starting to not be a complete fool when I am playing and am actually beginning to make some smart plays.
Tuesday was my normal waking up at 6 so that I could make my first class, which was stable work. Fun times, mucking out at 7 30 AM. Next came Unghäst. We looked at all the 2 1/2 year olds that we will be working with this year. We brought them in 2 by 2 to watch them running around and then put them back. By the end we had seen all the 2 year olds that are to be broken we had the chance to say which ones we liked and then the instructors told us which ones we would be good on. The instructors thought that two different horses would be good for me but I would have to try them out. Later was riding when we did jumping. Ruzzin is still really stressed out when other horses are going faster then her. The only time when she is calm and I can really ride her is at the very end of the lesson when everyone else was walking. My last class was again working at the barn. We were taking horses in from the fields but as there are 3 different barns to be working at me and 2 other girls went up to the breeding barn. There we brought in the foals and the mares with their foals. An afternoon hour full of cuteness!
Wednesday was pretty boring as I no longer have my swedish lessons, we are trying to fix that. Also I have dropped photography as I am not in the least bit as interested as I thought I would be.
Thursday I had chemistry, and then my vet class. The days are usually not very interesting. The lecturer for my vet class was the small animal clinic vet who is from New Jersey in the USA. It was fun. At night I was supposed to have unghäst again but there were no times left available. Then I had my dance class. I thought it was going to be different but it turns out that it is a partner dance called Buggi. It was really funnily fun. I then was supposed to have Innebandy but it was cancelled so my friends and I went to the gym instead; I did 300 situps, 300 jumps on the rope, 2 minutes of forward plank, 30 seconds each side of side plank and some other core exercises. I am stronger than I thought I was so I am talking to my brother as I type to get more interesting variations on core exercises.
Today, Friday, was supposed to be a more interesting day as well. I was asked to be in a BBC documentary about the swedish school system. A woman from London was supposed to come and film us talking about the school. Unfortunately the film crew got stuck in Stockholm so filming will be delayed until January/February of next year. I then had a test on Biology which as I said before, I had missed due to leaving to Luxembourg early.
I then rode Jamarra and ate dinner. Starting to relax for the weekend.

No pictures today but
Enjoy!

Höstlov

Again I haven't been on in a while, since my break. For the past week I have been in Luxembourg, but I also spent some time in Antwerp in Belgium. I now have many photos which if you are a friend of mine on facebook you can see, but I will be posting some photos here. Luxembourg was great, really cool history and architecture. My first day there we went to ride Ida's pony (the friend whose house I was visiting in Luxembourg) who is a 25 year old 13.2hh pony. Here is a photo of her:

Dianne

Cute little pony who is old enough to have her stubborn opinions and stick with them when you are riding.

The next day we went into town and it was really cool, we walked around and did some shopping which was nice. I am starting to have a better wardrobe. All I need are some better tights! Here are some photos with explanations: 

    This photo is of the cathedral of Notre Dame                 This house is built into the rock face, it's really 

                                                                                           cool how many of these you can see in the 

                                                                                           valley!

This is a photo of one of the streets in Luxembourg

My friend Ida is the one in the Bollerup jacket,

 it is one that I am also getting once the packages get here

The next day Ida's uncle came to visit her family for a day and he was from Bruxelles which really helped me the next day, but back to Sunday. As Ida and I went out on Saturday night, fun to see the town at night, we stayed at her friends place. We quickly went home before heading off to Ida's brothers hockey game. His team won 3-0 against the other team. On the way home we went for a drive across the border into France, so I was in France for about 5 minutes that day as well. After this Ida's mum thought that I hadn't done enough touristing, which I agreed with so we went to the American World War 2 Memorial. Here are some photos:

This is what you see when you first walk in, unfortunately it was getting dark and my camera did not quite register how beautiful the trees were. The colours on the trees were so vibrant with oranges and red! Here is what it says on the side: "In proud remembrance of the achievements of her sons and in humble tribute to their sacrifices this memorial has been erected by the United States of America."

These are the crosses of the soldiers. There is one cross for every soldier buried in the cemetery, each one with their name and placement in the army as well as the day that they died. This memorial has 3000 soldiers compared to the 17000 that they started with, the soldiers not buried there were brought home by their families. The crosses are arranged to all lead to General Patton who was extremely dedicated to his men during the war.

As I have mentioned I went to Antwerp. I got a ride with Ida's uncle up to Bruxelles so that it would be cheaper to take the train. I arrived in Antwerpen on Monday at 5 PM. I visited my Aunt Charlotte at her home in Antwerp. There were so many great photos that I took those few days that I was there but I'll put up some street views and a few others:

This is a very traditional Antwerpen street, with all the little balconies

This is a photo of the Cathedral in Antwerp

More Photos are on facebook, I couldn't decide which other I would put up here 

because I took over 80 photos in Antwerp

After a few great days of touristing (and of course a little shopping) I headed back to Luxembourg on the train. I arrived back on Thursday at 5 PM and we went straight home for dinner. On friday we had a pretty relaxing morning and then Ida and I went to a movie, Due Date, with a couple of her friends. We had dinner at her friend, Elise, house for dinner and then had another night out on the town. We were at Elise's house until about 11 the next day. Ida's mum's birthday is this coming Saturday but as Ida was home last week they decided that they would celebrate her birthday while Ida was home. Again we felt that I needed more touristing so we decided that I should go to my fourth country that week and went into Germany. We went to a city called Triers and here are a few photos from that adventure:

There were so many cool buildings, I think that in Germany I saw the 

most varied and interesting architecture that I had seen all week.

Here is the oldest building I saw, the Porta Nigra, which I need to do a little more 

research on to give more information on it but it was old and interesting.

Thus ends my week, again all the photos are on facebook which you can see if you are a friend of mine. I had a great time, hope it was fun to read and I will be updating again regularly as I am starting with the 2 1/2 year olds this week!

Enjoy!