Hej!

 Hi! So I have failed to update for two weeks. Again. Sorry I suck. For everyone that is going to tell me that I spelled "Hey" wrong, I didn't. That is how you are greeted in Sweden. OH YEA. I'VE BEEN TO SWEDEN. But we will talk about that in a minute. What else have I been doing? Let's see... Nothing. Nothing worth noting anyway. 

     So Sweden. My dad, Tim, and Becky were going to meet one of our distributors in Gothenburg (Gotëborg) and I couldn't convince my dad to stop here and see me. So he flew me over there to see him. Last Thursday I packed up my stuff and hopped on a train to London to stay the night before my flight the next morning. The hotel was not good. Not as bad as our other hotel in London, but still not good. My room was not in the same building as the lobby, it was down and across the street. I had to go find it, figure out how to get in, and carry my suitcase up two flights of stairs. I couldn't even pay for wifi because the signal didn't reach from across the street. So I set my alarm for 5, got up and left as quickly as possible. I took a train to the airport and was off to see my dad. I cried when I saw my dad in the airport. After we got our stuff we hopped on a bus to head to the Barken Viking! Sweden is a very green place. It is also very wet, not much different from here. The Barken Viking is a ship that has been turned into a hotel. The rooms are weird. The doors opened outward (we tried to pull the door open every time we left. 'Pull' in Swedish is 'drag' and 'push' is 'dryck' I think anyway...) and our room was slanted. Everything slanted down toward the back left corner of the room. When my dad would get out of bed (they were very low and he would have to rock himself up) he would almost launch himself into mine because of the slope. Our heads were going downhill. The window was a tiny little porthole that was pretty much blocked by a chain and if you left the window open (and even when it was closed), the rain would fill up the windowsill and start to drip into my bed. We put our stuff in the room and headed out to the shopping center to get some food. We ate at some pasta buffet place and then I think we headed back for a nap. When we got up, my dad and I went down to use the wifi in the lobby and basically sat there for several hours and then went up to bed. Friday was a pretty slow day. 

     Saturday was a late start. When the alarm went off at 8, my dad told me to change it to 9, then 10. We barely made it to the continental breakfast. We walked over to the mall, down by the sea, and then around the shops in the city. I got myself a couple Harry Potter books in Swedish to add to my collection of foreign Harry Potter books (My dad went to Denmark today and found me one in Danish (: ) and a Swedish copy of The Fault in Our Stars. We ate dinner at some place called El Corazon (I think) and then we went to the casino to celebrate my 21st birthday!! At the casino, you have to fill out a card with your address and everything and then they have to scan your passport and take a picture of you. This is why we only have on picture from this and it is because my dad was trying to be sneaky. We didn't think it would be wise to try to take pictures in there. I had three drinks: Tequila Sunrise, White Russian, Sex on the Beach. By the time we left my head was a fuzzy. I played some slots (sorry, guys. I don't understand how you can waste your money like that) and lost 60 (or 80 I really can't remember) kronor. Pushing a button repeatedly is not a fun way to lose money. Just sayin. We went back to the hotel and slept after 2 or 3 hours. Sunday we got up early because it was my last day and my dad and I headed over to the shopping center. Nothing was open but we could still walk around. After we had gone through the entire thing we started to wander the streets that we had yet to explore. And what did we find while we were walking? A line of girls waiting for 1D WORLD to open. What is 1D World? It is a pop up ONE DIRECTION STORE. They are only there for a limited time and we just happened to run into the Gothenburg one. It wasn't going to open for several more hours. We walked for a little while longer and then met up with Tim and Becky. We went to the Gothenburg Museum and it was a little weird. The layout was kind of ridiculous and to see everything you had to back track a lot. Dad and I got through it really fast. We headed to a bookstore so I could buy something for Derek and then hurried to 1D World before I had to catch the bus back to the airport. 

     We had no idea where to go when we got to the bus station. We had to ask a bus driver how to even get into the station and the second we walked in it was time for me to get on the bus. I said bye to my dad (and cried of course. I hate saying bye to him, it happens to often it seems) and was on my own in an unfamiliar country with a language that was not my own. Everyone speaks English really well over there, by the way. I just ended up asking everyone if they spoke English because I couldn't understand a word they were saying. I had a plan to try to get the earlier train to Plymouth to arrive back at my little home away from home at midnight instead of 4AM but when my flight was delayed, I didn't know if I was going to make it. From LHR I had to grab a train to the train station to pick up the other train to Plymouth. I was told that I could get on the earlier train without buying another ticket and was all ready to do so when the screen said the train was delayed. So there I was, in the train station, needing to pee but having no open toilets, having been on all sorts of delayed transportation, and starving. I finally calmed down when I found food and an open bathroom. The second I saw the sign flash the platform for the train, I was running. I have never run so fast with a backpack and a suitcase in my life. Because of the big storm we had here in the UK, the train had to frequently stop and slow down. When I finally got here, I got a cab (which took forever because people kept jumping in front of me) and got back to my little home away from home: my bed. And that was my Swedish adventure. My dad's Swedish adventure isn't over until tomorrow, but I'm so happy that I got to see him. 

     Last night I carved pumpkins with three of the guys in my flat. Mine is a cat named Humphrey. His face is a little low and he has bangs. The bangs were supposed to be a Harry Potter scar, but that didn't work out so well. This week starts my fantastic school schedule of Mondays, Thursdays, and every other Friday. SIMS HERE I COME. I better post this now, Sandra is getting anxious :) I separated this one into paragraphs, mom. Are you happy now? :)

    I just want to say a HUGE thank you to Josette and Teresa for each sending me a box this week. It means a lot :) It also allows me to show my flatmates new stuff. Peeps are a big hit. :) Thanks for everyone at home that takes the time to talk to me and to everyone that has made this entire adventure possible (Mom, Dad, Sandra, Kenna, Derek, Grandmas, Riveras, Flanarys, Johnsons, and all of my other families and friends). Here are some pictures of my time in Sweden, our Halloween decorations (from the Grandmas) in the kitchen, our pumpkins, and people I have skyped. I tried my best to put them in the correct order, but I don't feel like working on it any longer. Also, sorry if they get cut off. I have no control of how much you actually see of each picture and they seem to get cut off A TON. I love you all so so so much!