The kids of the mountain

Life remains crazy busy for my second week of exchange! One of my latest hobbies has become skiing/snowboarding. Vallsberget is a ski field which is probably about a 10-15minute drive from my host family's house, and I absolutely love it! It is so wonderful to be able to go out skiing whenever you feel like it - so different from Brisbane. You have to make a full holiday out of it for a chance to experience the snow. 

So I have been able to experience both snowboarding and skiing in the past couple of days! The first time, I had a day out on the slopes with my friends. It was great because Ida has a job there, which meant I could borrow some equipment for free! Pretty awesome stuff. Snow boarding was an absolute blast and I'm honestly so excited to hit the slopes again so I can pick up some more speed and get a better hang of it. Of course, the day isn't complete without fika. At the bottom of the slope there is a nice cafe with a warm fire to keep the place heated. I recommend their pancakes. 

Now, I want to tell you about the hardest thing to master on these slopes.No, it's not going down them. It's going UP. At the ski fields they have a T-lift (or at least, that's what I think it's called). For the skiers out there, it's a complete breeze. you lean on the bar and up you go. To the snowboarders...good luck. Somehow, you have to grab a moving bar, hop over it so that you are somewhat straddling it while keeping your board in the correct forward position. I can't say I did this very gracefully. In fact, one of the times, I managed to literally get dragged about 10 metres on the ground while trying to get on the thing, and they had to stop the lifts for me. Awkward. 

I also got the chance to go skiing with my host dad and his granddaughter, Ebba! This time was at night, so the slopes were completely lit up by massive lights. I took a picture with my phone to try show the contrast between the slopes during the day and night. Sorry for the bad quality. Skiing seems to be reasonably easy to pick up, however, I struggle a lot when trying to move on the flats. It's a slow travel. I'm sure I'll improve with practice though!

Watch out Australia, I'll be a pro by the time I return.