Family Reunions
One of the big changes during exchange that every student experiences is leaving your family back in your home country. This does mean taking a lot more responsibiltiy for yourself, despite having host families who are there to help out. It is part of what makes exchange such a big impact on someone as it teaches us to become more independent and represent ourselves as who we believe we are as a person. However, my family did decide to pay me a visit during my Summer holidays here in Sweden to see how everything has been going, and so here is what we got up to!
My family (mom, dad and little sister) arrived in the small town of Piteå in their rented car filled to the top with luggage from their travels before arrived in Sweden. This was their final - and of course, most exciting - stop of the whole trip. It was very exciting to see them all again after 6 months of only skype calls and occasional facebook messaging back and forth. We began with a quick tour around the town and had a typical Swedish 'fika' at my favourite cafe. We then had the evening at the house that Gunilla and Henrik had been so kind to lend to my family for the week. Here we celebrated reuniting and had some late birthday celebrations for my 18th where I recieved some lovely gifts.
Piteå also has its own archipelago, and so Henrik took us out in his boat the following day to show us around. We visited his family's personally owned island, and then continued on to another island to have a picnic. Travelling on the boat was quite cold as the wind blasted past, so my sister and I huddled together, covering ourselves with the blankets given to us to shield us from the breeze. It was a really lovely day out with beautiful weather and such a cute island to enjoy lunch at. We then had a big dinner where I had invited some of the closest people to me during my exchange including host families, counsellor and friends. Overall I believe the dinner went well, and it was a great opportunity for my family to really meet the people who had been a part of my life in Sweden. We were out at Gunilla and Henrik's Summer house for the evening which created a lovely setting as we could fit everyone around their table while having a lovely view of the water.
Day 3 consisted of some travelling! Here we quikcly stopped off in Luleå to check out one of the larger towns in the north of Sweden. Luleå is quite a bit larger than Piteå and is about 1 hour away. We then continued on to the famous Storforsen. This is a massive - and yes, I really do mean massive - waterfall situated in the north of Sweden. The water tumbles down with such force that the spray from the water leaves the walking path constantly soaked. When a rock gets trapped, the water pushes it against the ground until it begins to form its own hole due to the pressure, and eventually the hole can become large enough to fit a whole person which is pretty cool! There were walking tracks everywhere which was really nice and let us spend the day there discovering more new interesting places and views.
We were also able to fit in a trip down south the following day to a town known as Skellefteå. Here we tried out a cool activity centre, Boda Borg. This place is really popular for all age groups as it is a puzzle centre which is actually placed within a mountain. There are all sorts of different rooms there with both physical and mental challenges to work through. We definitely didn't get through everything, so I will have to return sometime this year to try again with some of my Swedish friends. Apparently it is decorated for halloween and is really fun to check out then, so maybe that's where I will be going for halloween. Vi får se! (We will see!)
Finally, they couldn't leave without at least one trip to Pitehavsbad. Right next to the beach, this place is great as it has so many activities. I chose to visit here particularly for my sister as there is a big indoor pool there with numerous slides. My parents also seemed to enjoy being kids again and taking the slides for a test. I can't even begin to count how many times we must have ridden down all the slides. There are also saunas and spas there to be used which is a nice bonus and fun to try out. My family also had some professional photos taken during their time in Piteå as a nice memory of their time visiting me. The photographer was really fun and took a range of nice photos outdoors to really capture the Swedish atmosphere. I'm sure my mum in particular will be very happy with this momento of the trip! We were also able to squeeze in a dinner with one of my other Swede friend's family - Julia! Her family and herself had been unable to attend the original big dinner as they had been overseas, so we decided to make up for it during another night. This turned out really great, and I'm sure my family were happy to meet another group of people who have been so lovely to me during this exchange.
Overall, I'm sure my family had a very lovely time in Piteå, and it was great to show them around the place. Now it's back to exchange life, and I will be back in Australia again to see my family and Australian friends in just 6 months! Half way done. Wow.
My family (mom, dad and little sister) arrived in the small town of Piteå in their rented car filled to the top with luggage from their travels before arrived in Sweden. This was their final - and of course, most exciting - stop of the whole trip. It was very exciting to see them all again after 6 months of only skype calls and occasional facebook messaging back and forth. We began with a quick tour around the town and had a typical Swedish 'fika' at my favourite cafe. We then had the evening at the house that Gunilla and Henrik had been so kind to lend to my family for the week. Here we celebrated reuniting and had some late birthday celebrations for my 18th where I recieved some lovely gifts.
Piteå also has its own archipelago, and so Henrik took us out in his boat the following day to show us around. We visited his family's personally owned island, and then continued on to another island to have a picnic. Travelling on the boat was quite cold as the wind blasted past, so my sister and I huddled together, covering ourselves with the blankets given to us to shield us from the breeze. It was a really lovely day out with beautiful weather and such a cute island to enjoy lunch at. We then had a big dinner where I had invited some of the closest people to me during my exchange including host families, counsellor and friends. Overall I believe the dinner went well, and it was a great opportunity for my family to really meet the people who had been a part of my life in Sweden. We were out at Gunilla and Henrik's Summer house for the evening which created a lovely setting as we could fit everyone around their table while having a lovely view of the water.
We were also able to fit in a trip down south the following day to a town known as Skellefteå. Here we tried out a cool activity centre, Boda Borg. This place is really popular for all age groups as it is a puzzle centre which is actually placed within a mountain. There are all sorts of different rooms there with both physical and mental challenges to work through. We definitely didn't get through everything, so I will have to return sometime this year to try again with some of my Swedish friends. Apparently it is decorated for halloween and is really fun to check out then, so maybe that's where I will be going for halloween. Vi får se! (We will see!)
Finally, they couldn't leave without at least one trip to Pitehavsbad. Right next to the beach, this place is great as it has so many activities. I chose to visit here particularly for my sister as there is a big indoor pool there with numerous slides. My parents also seemed to enjoy being kids again and taking the slides for a test. I can't even begin to count how many times we must have ridden down all the slides. There are also saunas and spas there to be used which is a nice bonus and fun to try out. My family also had some professional photos taken during their time in Piteå as a nice memory of their time visiting me. The photographer was really fun and took a range of nice photos outdoors to really capture the Swedish atmosphere. I'm sure my mum in particular will be very happy with this momento of the trip! We were also able to squeeze in a dinner with one of my other Swede friend's family - Julia! Her family and herself had been unable to attend the original big dinner as they had been overseas, so we decided to make up for it during another night. This turned out really great, and I'm sure my family were happy to meet another group of people who have been so lovely to me during this exchange.Overall, I'm sure my family had a very lovely time in Piteå, and it was great to show them around the place. Now it's back to exchange life, and I will be back in Australia again to see my family and Australian friends in just 6 months! Half way done. Wow.
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