Drag racing, parents coming, Midsommar and more

I haven't talked much about the crazy-long sun schedule over here in this part of the world (thanks Jennie!) so I'll give you a little taste of what it's been like living with days that have almost 20 hours (give or take) of sunlight. Right now, the sun is setting somewhere between 11:30- 11:45 pm and rising in the 3 am hours. It's definitely been my biggest adjustment. It never quite feels like bedtime at night and when you wake up to go to the bathroom during the "night", the sun is usually already on its way up. Throws you off completely. The blind and curtain situation in Sweden has also been an adjustment- mainly for the fact that they either don't have blinds or just have sheer curtains hanging from the windows. Not enough coverage, in my opinion, for days with seemingly endless sunlight. My window is currently covered with 2 sheets and a blanket, one because the boys who lived here before us probably broke the only coverage the window had and two, because the sheer curtains just weren't cutting it for the no blinds situation. I'm waiting for the curtain rod to give way during the night at some point.

11:30 pm

Saturday, a few teammates and myself had to work at the drag racing arena located here in Tierp. It's probably the nicest thing in Tierp. It has stadium seating, a portion that is going to be turned into a hotel at some point, and a place for the local catering company to set up and serve people food. It was an interesting experience to say the least. Since the roomie and I clearly don't speak Swedish, we were assigned to keep the tables clean, aka pick up trash and beer bottles, while the other girls sold ice cream, cinnamon buns, coke and popcorn. I'll just say it was 5 hours of non stop moving while also being hit on by drunk, but usually nice, Swedes. The arena was hosting a large event for drag racing this past weekend. Quite a few other countries had their racing teams here for the competition. I don't have an interest in any type of racing but it was an experience nonetheless and interesting to see how it works over here in Sweden. The crowd looked exactly like the type of crowd that would be at a NASCAR event back home. I think it's the NASCAR of Europe. Forgot my phone, so no pictures to show unfortunately.

Another game down in the books. We played against Gavle on Sunday, who is a team only 30 minutes away from Tierp. Some of the girls on the team live there but play for Tierp. Overall, it wasn't that great of a game, but we did finish really well and ended up beating them 6-0. Another team who were frustrated by the score and started playing dirty towards the end. Really not a fan of that. Good to get another 3 points and a high scoring game, though. We only have 4 more games until our 2 week break starting July 1. Our last 2 games are our most important because if we win them both, we will be first in the league. We play the current top team in the league (we are second) for our last 2 games, once at home and once at their home. I think it will be a good match up. Better teams make you play better, on most occasions.

I was talking to my parents the other day about how I am so happy/thankful to be here but that there are just certain things from the US that I really miss. Example number one: the food. Being in such a small town hinders the choices I have for things similar to those in the US, but even having more options in the bigger cities, I still really miss my favorite places to eat. I would say I ate sushi and Mexican food a few times out of the week. Every week. They do have sushi and Mexican food here, but it's just not the same. I will have to try them in other countries to see if they taste as good as they do back home. I also really miss Burrito Brothers, Chipotle, Yamato's and any bbq restaurant. Clearly I'm a typical American eater. The bakery and candy selection over here comes pretty close to making up for not having all my favorite American meals though! I miss my family and friends of course and my sweet doggie. I'm blessed to have such good people in my life.

It's really crazy to me that in 2 weeks I will have been here for 3 months- the half way point! It's like college: doesn't seem fast at the time but it's flying by. It'll be over before I know it, which is even harder to believe. I still have a hard time believing I'm here, living in Sweden, doing what I love on a daily basis. I guess I just never pictured this actually happening. I'm enjoying all the new experiences and doing my best to make the most out my time here. Hasn't been hard to do so far. Sweet little Donnie d and Lisa will be arriving in Sweden in just 6 days. I'm so excited for them to get here and just a week after they do, we're going to Ireland. Good times ahead :)

This weekend is a national holiday here in Sweden, called Midsummer's (Midsommar) Day. It's a huge deal, as big a deal as fourth of July is to us Americans. It's celebrated the Friday after the summer solstice. It's a big enough deal that we have no games scheduled this weekend. It's pretty much a day of partying, drinking and of course, the word invented here in Sweden, smorgasbord- buffet meals of salads, meats, cheese, chips, and any other hors d'oeuvre type of meal you can think of. It sounds like a great time and I'm really excited to experience such a celebrated day while being in another country. Getting to experience these types of situations is one of the main reason I want to travel. It's so fun to see how other countries celebrate traditions they cherish so much while also getting more of an appreciation for your own traditions and celebrations back home. Best of both worlds.