...Tenerife, U21 Championships and good friends

Hej!

Warning....this might be a rather long blog! Seeing as how I haven't posted anything for over a month!

And what a good month it has been! I guess I better go in order or no doubt I will miss things out...!

So first after my last post (so end of May..!) I went to Tenerife with my parents, my big sister, her husband and my nephew. Now it might sound like it wasn't set up to be a good holiday, but it really was! The weather was really good almost the whole week, and I really get on with my whole family so it was easy.

In order to get there from Sweden I ended up having to fly to Manchester from Copenhagen, and then get an Easy Jet flight to Tenerife. I haven't ever flown a 'low cost' airline so far before....and now I know why! I am used to SAS seats...with room to at least move your legs once sat down! That plus adverts over the tannoy thing at what felt like 2 minute intervals really made for a not pleasant flight.

Here is a picture of the Family

But anyway, I got there....I guess that’s all that really matters. We found out that the main pool was being serviced while we were there, so we could only use the little pool for most of the week....But this was fine, as James could touch the bottom in most of the little pool so it was more fun to be swimming with him anyway.

My Dad and I also got in a round of golf...one (if not THE) most beautiful rounds of golf I have ever had! My Dad got about 250 pictures! I didn't play particularly well, but I had a few good holes, so I was happy. :)

Then when I got back I had a very nice surprise visit from Sarah! :)
We had worked out with all the stuff in our calendars that we wouldn't get to see each other for 6 weeks if we didn't do it then, so she came over for 4 days and we had a really really good time. Was really hard leaving each other so quickly though...but on a good note next time we see each other it is going to be for about 6 weeks!

I would put a picture of Sarah up...but I will wait for permission first :)

And then on the day Sarah left some of my UK friends came to visit; Chris, Rick and Danny. Chris is getting married in August, so it was the first part of his stag tour...and Rick got special t-shirts made for us all! Very cool.

Here are the boys



And here is the t-shirts! Good work Rick!

The reason they were over was also for the Under 21 European Championships which were held in Sweden this year. We managed to attend 2 games as well seeing a few others on the TV. We went to Sweden v Italy in my local town (Helsingborg) which was pretty good...even if Sweden did lose. The match was actually on Midsummer’s Eve which is a massive day in Sweden. So after the match we went to a friends of mine and did part of the whole Midsummer thing. Mainly it involved a few beers, a few 'Snaps' and a BIG barbeque! All in all a very fun evening.



This is just one set of meat on the BBQ...

On the way home from the party thing we went to get the train...and I realised I had got the times wrong so we had an hour to wait! To be fair it wasn’t my fault...I had found out that the last train was at 39 minutes past the hour...so I assumed that the one before would be an hour before that....but no. It was an hour and 15 minutes earlier. So while we waited we invented a really fun game...'kick the plastic bottle into the bin'. Ok, maybe it was more fun at the time...but we actually spent about 50 minutes doing this! And Chris got it in just before the train came! Perfect timing.

Then we had a really good weekend of sitting in the sun, going out in Helsingborg (until 5am on the Saturday....not sure my friends are a good influence on me!) and generally enjoying the amazing weather.

Monday we went to see England v Germany...a big game for any Englishman! Unfortunately England had already qualified for the next round and so didn’t bother to put out their best team. We still got to see Theo Walcott though, so I was a bit happy at least. It ended 1-1 so not too disappointing.

The boys went home on Wednesday, and I suddenly realised how empty my house can be! But still, I had the semi finals to watch! Sweden v England was a really good game. Half time was 3-0 to England...and I was very happy (and a little scared) as I was watching it with about 200 Swedish people...! But then it got a little scary... 3-1...3-2...and then 3-3! Not good! I was starting to be really glad I hadn't celebrated the England goals too much! Then during extra time we had to walk up (very fast) to the local stadium to watch the other semi-final. So I was in Olympia stadium in Helsingborg for the penalties. Yep...me cheering England, and about 3000 Swedes, Germans and Italians. Strangely I was the only one celebrating the England victory!
The Germany v Italy match ended up 1-0, and was no where near as good as the England Sweden one!
And then we don't talk about the final. So no more to write on that.

And then I have just been working hard, cleaning the apartment (it was such a state after having 4 boys live here for a week!) and generally enjoying the Swedish summer. Its been about 23/24 degrees all week, and I've loved it!

Another UK friend Steve (who lives here in Helsingborg) is a VERY good chef...and has been kind enough to cook for me a few times. The latest time we were talking about how I ask a lot of questions while he cooks, and how it would make a great TV show....so we are going to start recording them and posting them online! Watch this space for more info and also for hints on upcoming recipes!

My Swedish lessons are coming on really well too. I am definitely able to understand much more..and can almost hold a full conversation.

So all in all I have had a REALLY good month since last time I blogged...so I hope you will forgive me.

What I have learned this month:
Following England in sports is both amazingly good...and heartbreaking!
Learning Swedish is really key to fitting in here and being able to socialise
Having friends to visit is really fun!

PS. It can be really fun doing things for other people, as long as seeing them happy makes you happy too! It doesn't matter what it is, everything is worth doing for the right person. :)