What's up October!?

Well, I think it is definitely time for a new update! October is coming to a close and it has been a gorgeous Autumn. While a little warmer than usual, the leaves have painted the town in an urban design. The nature has actually been so exciting this month. Frost is back bringing a chill to the air, so jackets are back. The moon decided to show off some new colours with a blood moon earlier this month, and the northern lights are back and dancing in the skies! This is one of the parts I will miss about Sweden when I leave, how beautifully different each season is, and its power to change a town so dramatically. I have put a photo of the same church from Winter and the current Spring to really show off these changes. (At the end of this post! Along with a shot of the northern lights and a beautiful rainbow).

Host dad cooking up some burgers at the barbeque

So, other than the weather, let's talk about some of the other stuff going on in Swede land. I have moved to my third and final host family! I have 4 younger host siblings and host mum and dad. They are so sweet and I feel very comfortable around them. Having younger siblings has been fun and definitely interesting. the youngest is a gorgeous 10 month old girl named Signe. She is such a sweet little one in the house and I love watching her learn new skills as she grows. The second youngest, Albin, is also very present with never ending energy, and then we have Adam who is very wise for his age. The closest to my age is William, and he is very active with sports. It is a busy family, and I'm looking forward to spending the rest of my exchange as a part of it. We have plans for a trip to Kåbdalis very soon (a ski resort) which should be fun! I've also been involved with meeting their friends and family, enjoying many meals with different company.

I have also attended a district conference with my fellow exchange friends. Ava, Jordan and Sarah came up to Piteå on Friday evening before the conference, giving me a chance to show them around my lovely town. We stopped off at my school, the best pizza store in town, max (yes, food is of high priority) and they even met some of my friends who were having a band rehearsal and invited us to watch. Free concert? Sounds pretty good to me! The weekend was spent up in Luleå where we met many rotarians from all over the north of Sweden. We had a short speech, and were then guided around the town to see some of the major sites. It was so great to catch up with these 3 girls again. I wish I could see them more often. Unfortunately, Jordan has left Sweden now, but I hope to see her in America one day.

Preparing backstage before the performance :S

School is busy as ever and the teachers are now expecting me to complete the assignments in Swedish as my knowledge picks up. I have been writing an arrangement for 'You're the voice' which the class will be performing, and then recording some of my original music with some help from Marcus. Our class also had a workshop this week where we put a performance together in just 4 days. It was a very unusual performance with quite interesting dynamics where the audience is actually wandering through the performance and watching from all different angles. The whole evening was recorded, and I'm excited to see how it all looked! We had a total of 3 performances, and it was fun to see how the audience members reacted each time. Some were confused while others tried to fit in with the atmosphere of the performances. It was so great working with my friends to put it all together. They are all so much fun and lovely people!

So, I think those are the main events for the second half of October. I have been catching up with friends a lot in the afternoons and making plans with what I would like to do before the end of my exchange. The Kåbdalis trip is soon, Sankta Lucia and Halloween celebrations are on their way, and I have been invited up to a small town known as Arvidsjaur for a weekend. So that is a few things to look out for in my future blog posts!