Update from Växjö ~ Weeks 13 & 14

Okay, well I guess I have gotten lazy when it comes to updating. Once again, it has been two weeks since my last post. However, not much has happened.

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School:

My classes are ending. Yeah!!! I had my first exam on Nov. 8th. This exam was for my social work class. It consisted of a ten page research paper and a ten minute presentation. My topic was the effects of foster care on children worldwide, especially the United States and Sweden. I received a pass with distinction for my grade. Its hard to get used to no letter grades. My second exam was on Nov. 10th. This exam was for my Optional Content Health Class. The exam consisted of another ten page research paper, including field research, and a twenty minute presentation with critical review. Once again I received a pass with distinction. Yeah!! My third exam was a doozie on Nov 14th. This night Mariah stayed with friends until my exam was over at seven o'clock. I have never had a written exam this hard. It was twelve pages all in Swedish, even the instructions were in swedish. The last part of the exam was a 100 word essay about my family in Swedish. I am not sure of my score yet, we get that back on Tuesday. I don't think I did well; I am not sure if I even passed. If I didn't pass, I will retake the exam on Nov. 30th.

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My Birthday:

Since my last update my birthday has come and gone. I had a good birthday. Mariah woke me up singing Happy Birthday to me. She had also colored me some pictures. We had a special breakfast with french toast and the works. We spent the whole day together. That evening she was suppose to spend the night with Paula and Louvis; while I went out with some friends. However, I ended picking her up and bringing her home after we went out. We went to the Bishop's Arms. It is a british pub in downtown Växjö. Kira brought me a birthday cake, but cake doesn't go well with the Guiness I had at the Pub. Mariah enjoyed the cake and I did the next day. Some of my friends that went to the pub are Amanda (a local from Växjö), Ulricka (a local from Växjö and my buddy), Gina (a master student from Illinois), and Kira (from ECU). I am also posting the picture of the cool earrings Amanda suprised me with.

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Mariah:

She is doing good. She had her last piano lesson yesterday. She made the comment the other day that she didn't want to leave Sweden. That she wants everyone to move here. Although, I think she has changed her mind again. This morning she wanted to know how soon we could go home. She has made lots of friends at school. She gets upset when I come to pick her up early. They get sooo excited when we get there in the morning. Her school pictures came back! They are pretty good, I think but I am a little biased. The ones I have added here are pictures of teh pictures so they probally won't show up very good.

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Travel:

We haven't been anywhere lately due to my class schedule and field work schedule. However, we leave tonight to go to Mora, Sweden. It is quite a bit more north than Växjö though it is not in the northern tip. It has been snowing there for several weeks. The reason we are going there is Santa Claus and the elves live there. Here is a link if you would like to check it out. www.santaworld.se and here is a link to the webcam for Mora http://kamera.mora.se/ you can check out the current weather and see the snow on the ground. When we leave Mora, we are headed to Stockholm. Stockholm is in central Sweden and is the capital. We will be back here on Tuesday in time for my class.

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We love and miss you all. Thank you for thinking of us and remembering us while we are gone. We can't wait to see everyone in December. There are only 37 days left in our amazingly wonderful trip of a lifetime. Thank you God, mom, and dad, for this oppurtunity, for your love and support.