Oh Sweden

So I just realized that it has been FOREVER since I last posted anything! So to get you all caught up to date. We left Nampong, Thailand on the 4th and once again prepared for an incredibly long trip, this time to Espoo, Finland. We arrived in Espoo on the 5th and while the rest of the cast headed to thier host families, a fellow cast member and I boarded a plane to Stockholm, Sweden. We arrived in Stockholm and there we spent the night will UwP alumni! In the morning we boarded a trail to Vimmerby, Sweden where my cast member and I were to start our Advanced Team work. Advanced team is where students are chosen from the cast to go ahead of the cast and set up the cities that they are going to. Anyways, so we got to Vimmerby and I have been in a wonderland since. The area of Sweden that I am in is almost identical to Minnesota! It is crazy because everywhere you turn there are apple trees and pear trees and woods and lakes! It is so beautiful here and I feel like I am back home. One of the first things I did with my host mom was go for a walk in the woods behind thier house and we walked to this lake that was so calm you didn't want to touch the water cuz you were afraid you would shatter the glass that layed on top of it! Also, the town of Vimmerby is only about 8,000 people and so it is a very quaint town and when we walk down the streets it feels like you could be part of a fairy tail! In the summer, however, Vimmerby is full of tourists because Astrid Lindgren (the writer of Pippi Longstocking and many other children's books) grew up here and she themed most of her books off different places around Vimmerby! So everything and everyone here almost revolves around Astrid and Pippi! It is crazy!! I am having so much fun here planning things for the cast to arrive and I am really enjoying finding host families, figuring out the Community Impact Projects, and completing everything before the cast arrives. Every day that brings me closer to when the cast will come, gets me more and more excited! I can't wait for them to experience Vimmerby!