As the end draws nearer..

Just a brief update of what I've been doing lately, turning 19, school, playing in the snow, building snowmen, walking outside in -22, buying more 'Swedish' clothing, fika, taking photos, going to see Harry Potter, visiting exchange students (on both coasts), checking out Liseberg at Christmas, going to Trollhättan, going to an ice hockey game, continuing to improve with my Swedish, and my final Rotary presentation about my year... And getting philosophical about my year!

Time keeps passing in the blink of an eye, I don't know how all of a sudden, there's one month left. Departure date keeps drawing nearer and nearer and while I'm definitely excited to get home and see everyone again, the reality of it is, I will no longer be an exchange student. I will have been an exchange student. No longer in a foreign place becoming home, a strange language becoming familiar, a group of people in the same boat from all of over the place becoming best friends.. The year of an exchange student is incredible, everything is an adventure, as soon as you think that everything is normal, there's another trip, another weekend, another day at school, realizing that you are in fact 17000km away from home, and that this is still all NEW.
All of the adventures from this year have been amazing, and all though the year is almost over, I hope the adventures don't end, I think my year as an exchange student has begun to prepare me for life, university next year, and everything else that's going to come afterwards.

The thing I think I'm going to miss about this country is how incredibly beautiful it is! Especially with all of the snow.

Alex