Kram (for you)

<3

Tonight is my final evening in Sweden.

(As cliche as it sounds) It feels like yesterday; I arrived in Arlanda on a warm August day, slightly lost and unsure as to what was in store for me.  I spent the first couple of days unpacking my things, figuring things out, trying to establish myself in this new country, with strangers I had just met.  Today, so many thoughts crossed my mind.

What I mainly thought about was how much I'm going to miss the people here.  You don't realize how close you become with your friends until it's time to go.  That's life, but that doesn't mean it's easy saying goodbye.  This week has been a never-ending chain of goodbyes, hugs, and kisses.  I'm going to miss you, my wonderful international friends who have allowed me to join in on this 10-month adventure in the mysterious land they call Sweden.  Together we traveled and explored, shared meals, celebrated holidays, calculated and studied, complained, laughed, compared accents, misunderstood one another's spoken English, and became a family of mismatched, non-blonde haired nor blue-eyed starving students.

Though I never had a large group of Swedish friends, the ones that I did become close to are very special.  It is through these friends that I managed to understand the culture and appreciate the Swedish lifestyle.  Kanelbullar, lussekatter, semla, kladdkaka, lucia, falu röd stuga, easter, korridorfest, glögg, and indiska, With these friends, we learned from one another, we laughed at our similarities and differences, and vi var pigga och glada.  

Though I'm finally leaving the place where I first envisioned myself, over two years ago, it's time for my new adventure, and ultimately, home.  My dear friends, thanks for this fabulous year, and this Canadian girl cannot wait to see you soon :) 

Puss och kram