A new beginning..Part 1

i shall start this blog with a warning: i am not a writer. i don't feel like i have ever been good at it and i don't necessarily enjoy it but as i have left everything that i know and completely jumped out of my comfort zone in a new world, i feel this may be the best outlet for me and easiest way for people to follow my new life. how's that for a run-on sentence? please don't expect my writing and grammar skills to be top-notch and i won't mind being corrected if you feel the need. with that being said, let's get this blog started.

most of you that will read this already know how i got here. to sweden, i mean. i met a great boy and he whisked my heart away and took it to sweden. i always wanted to visit here (my father's side of the family immigrated from sweden), and i finally did june 2012, but i never in my right mind thought that i would actually move out of the good ol' US of A. it's exhilarating, scary, fun, nerve-wracking, and difficult. all of those things i expected. i also expected it to be much colder and much darker (don't get me wrong, it's cold and dark) but it's bearable! and i don't hate it. it's nice to go on long walks and explore this new place.

i left kansas city on december 19th, 2012. after a small panic attack that morning, my family took me to my final meal in kc until may 7th. we went to oklahoma joe's. best. sendoff. ever. we checked my too big bags (both weighing in just under the requirement, at 49 lbs each. that was a close call) and sat and people watched and chatted for about 45 minutes. then came the goodbyes. i have never experienced a child leaving but i can only imagine it has got to be similar to leaving my whole family and all of my friends behind. we cried a few tears. once i made it through security, i just sat there and wept. i guess i needed to feel a little sorry for myself. then i made myself remember what i was getting ready to experience and who i get to be with. i felt much better after a few deep breathes and i boarded my flight to chicago.

the flight to chicago went as planned. no delays. no scary moments (except for the landing. that is the worst part of flying. always). i made it to my next gate with 3 hours to kill. at this point, i was so glad airports had bars. one glass of wine is enough to make me wind down a bit. i sat next to a girl who was in college in chicago. she was going to london simply because she never had before. the guy across from me was going home to cairo, egypt. i wanted to ask him so much because i would love to visit egypt someday but i just sat and listened. until they asked me where i was headed and why. both of their faces dropped. straight from a movie, right? i seem to get that a lot any time i tell our story. finally, it's our time to board the international flight to london!!

here is when things stopped going as planned. i got to the counter and the lady tells me there is already too little space and that they need/want to check my bag. they reassured me my bag will get all the way to gothenburg, sweden without any issues. i was a little weary about it and didn't really want to but i didn't feel i had a choice. i get to my seat and am immediately relieved to find an american girl of about 21 sitting in the seat next to mine (she didn't get up once throughout the 8 hour flight. win for me!) i sit down, notice that my seat light is on. something clicked in my head to reach up and turn it off. surely, it is one of those lights that you push to turn off, right? wrong. i am pretty sure my middle finger of my left hand got a second degree burn. the pain started immediately but i tried to pretend that nothing had happened. i am sure anyone that looked at my face knew that i was in pain as it went beat red. we begin to taxi to take off and i am getting light-headed. my whole body started sweating, my hearing is just a ring in the ears, my vision is slowly fading. i laid my head on the seat in front of me for what seemed about 20 minutes while the symptoms subsided. i was not about to tell the stewardess that i was going to pass out and delay this flight. stubborn, yes. stupid, probably. the thing is is that i have passed out several times in my life and by-golly i know what to do now. after all of the hooplah that had just happened in my body, i was fine. the skin on my finger swelled quite a bit and filled with fluid. to this day, that part of my finger is still numb to touch but it is finally looking normal again. great first international trip alone.

the rest of the travel day went quickly and smoothly and suddenly i was in gothenburg waiting for my luggage. two out of the three bags showed up. the bag that i was forced to check in chicago never showed up. at that point i was too tired and ready to see my man. i didn't care so much about that bag anymore. i filed a report and was the last person through customs. customs in sweden is a joke. they have drug sniffing dogs at the baggage claim. that is customs here. that's all. nothing else. they stamped my passport, after a few questions and a little joke from the swedish official about how great swedish men are, i was finally just a few feet from my new life. i walked around the corner and am greeted with the best greeting anyone in the world has ever gotten. i mean, 20 swedes with flags and hugs and coffee and tea and cookies, can it get any better than that? i was told it was just going to be petrus and his mother. this was completely unexpected and completely wonderful. i wanted to cry but all i could do was tell everyone i lost a bag and burnt my finger. i am now that weird, awkward american girl. luckily, they all ignored my weirdness and embraced me into the family.

on the way to lysekil, (pronounced lish-e-shil) we stopped at mcdonald's. my first meal in sweden was mcdonald's. i will never forget that just based on the fact of how strange, funny and ironic it is. i haven't eaten it since. i am not complaining about that either!

so there is my travel story. that is all i am going to start with. it is quite long and hope that isn't too boring. i am just glad to finally be here. i'm glad to have such supportive family and friends back in the states. not one person made me feel bad about leaving and i had two whole weeks of send-offs from my amazing friends. i appreciate that more than any words can say. i am glad to have such a wonderful swedish family that has taken me in and spoke english to me when most of them don't feel comfortable with it. finally, i am so very glad to have petrus here as my anchor.

until next time...