A Lovely Day at Skansen

Skansen - Evonne L.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Today was definitely in my opinion, the coldest day so far on this trip. I was super cold even with wearing gloves and three pairs of pants. This morning we continued to shadow our students, but after that we went to Skansen. We headed to Skansen with five of our host students at VRS and our entire group including the teachers. We took a bus that had around six or seven stops before we arrived at our final destination. Skansen was super fun and it was really cool to see the different animals that inhabit there, since there isn’t a whole lot of exotic or wild animals in our zoo. I liked seeing the wolves because they looked super majestic and we don’t have any wolves like those roaming around in Hawaii. From this trip, I found that since there were a lot more free roaming animals that live in Sweden, the design of the zoo was unlike the zoo back at home. It was a lot more open and it mainly used wood to keep the gates enclosed. In Honolulu however, the cages are open as well, but a lot of the animals are kept behind glass walls or wired fences.

The Spookier Side of Stockholm - Allena V.

On Monday, March 2, in the morning, we had yogurt, raspberries, bananas and bread. We were running a little late to the bus so my host’s mom drove us to the bus station so we would be on time to take the subway. Thankfully, we made it to school on time.

I shadowed Alva, my host, for majority of the day. Their classes were very interesting and in Science, we learned about the heart and lungs. But, most of it was in Swedish so I didn’t understand most of it. At lunch, I was very fascinated by their buffet system and I had a lot of fun at lunch. After lunch, we went to Social Studies and had a very good discussion about abortion. We presented throughout the day which was fun. I was a little nervous but talking to the seventh graders was fun and made me a lot less nervous. After school, we went to Tyra’s house (another host) and played Doodle Jump and Minion Rush. Soon after that, we left the apartment to go to Vapianos. On our way to Vapiano, we took the wrong subway! It was a little confusing but we made it to the restaurant with a minute to spare. The food there was really good and I had a lot of fun. I learned more about people and laughed a lot.

After dinner, we headed for the ghost walk. During the ghost walk, our guide Josephine was funny but also scary. I’m kind of glad we took the ghost for after we went to Old Town the first time because now I’m a little freaked out. We learned a lot about haunting stories and sightings and were scared a lot by Josephine. And, we even went into a creepy dark bone room! A long time ago, the cellar was apart of a church and the cellar was where you buried people. So naturally, we saw coffins in the first room. In the second room, where Josephine had a single wax candle lit, was where they put the bones of people who couldn’t own a coffin for a very long time. Back then, you had to pay to keep your coffin! She told us a little history about the cellar but in mid sentence turned out the candle!!! It was really scary and dark. So many people screamed and were freaked out. When we could finally leave the creepy room and turned the light back on, practically everybody ran to the door to get out. The night was fun but it was also really really really cold. It was 27°F!!! But it felt like 22°F! I wore many layers but still was freezing by the end of the night. I couldn’t really concentrate sometimes because it was so cold.

When we came home, my host and her mom turned on the sauna to warm up and we made some tea. After staying in there for a while, we finally became warm and had no more numb feet. The night was fun (and scary) and I learned a lot of the history of Old Town. I realized many things that night. One, to always layer when going out at night. Two, every place has rich history and it’s very interesting. And lastly, this trip has strengthened my bond with old friends and I have made new friends. I truly enjoyed today and had so much fun! (And thankfully had no nightmares that night) I know tomorrow will bring new adventures and bonding!