Danielle in Sweden: London

Tuesday; London Eye and Mamma Mia

This day was our last full day in London and we planned a lot for today as well. Like the day before, we split up in the same groups. Ylva and Karin wanted to go to Tate Modern, an art museum and David, Jonas and I wanted to ride the London Eye. It took quite long to stand in the queues (first for to buy tickets and then for actually riding it), but I found it okay. Then we finally could go into one of the gondolas, which rode the whole way round in about 20 minutes. The view was amazing. I recognized some of the buildings where we were on the days before and just enjoyed to have such a wide horizon. In the end of the ride, we had a little time until we would meet not just Karin and Ylva, but also Karin's brother Frederik and his wife Elisabeth with their three children for a Turkish lunch. So we walked slowly to our restaurant with a little detour to Tate Modern. We didn't see that much of the exhibition, but what we saw was quite... abstract. By the way, at the moment they have an exhibition of Paul Klee, who is Swiss (just wanted to mention that and feel cool :-P). Anyway, we met the Blomqvists who travelled to London at the same day as we did, but would stay a whole week. Once more in my life as exchangestudent I got asked why I actually chose Sweden, what I like most in this country and how it is different from Switzerland. I'm sure I will get asked this a hundred more times under my year. I don't know if you already know it or not, so I will try to explain it. Why did I choose Sweden? Well, it was clear for me, that if I would go to an exchange year, I would go to Sweden. Since we once visited my mother's Swedish letterfriend in 2005, I was kind of fascined by this country. I always wanted to learn the language and come to Sweden again. In my primary school some of my classmates even thaught that I have Swedish roots (I haven't), because I always wanted the Swedish footboll team to win, whenever they had a game. Therefore I signed in myself in the AFS program one and a half year before my departing, so that I surely get a place in the list (there's a list for every country with a counted number of places and if it's full, you have to choose an other country). What do I like most in Sweden? This question is always quite difficult to answer. I like a lot of things in different ways which I can't compare. I like for example that I don't have any pressure in school, or kannelbullar (a kind of cinnamon muffin), or when I get a compliment for my Swedish, or many many other things I experience here. It's the whole adventure I like. Everything makes a part of it. What are the differences between Sweden and Switzerland? Well, even if many people don't think about two different countries when they hear theese two names, there are a lot of differences. You can find them everywhere; in the manners, the schoolsystem, the food, and so on. You best travel to Sweden and Switzerland yourself and build your own opinion. ;-)
Okay, now I digressed a little bit... Back to the topic. It was funny to meet some hostrelates and have lunch toghether with them. When we were finish, we took leave from each other again. The Blomqvists wanted to go to Tate Modern and we went over the Millenium Bridge and then further to the museum of London. It was a really great exhibition, which showed London from the stone age until today. We were quite long there and had a look at all the things they found from previous times. Because we ate quite much for lunch, we just went to "Pret à manger" (a cafe, where you also can buy fresh food) and ate a salad or sandwich. Then it was time for theater. We watched "Mamma Mia" live on stage and sat in the highest tier of the theater. It was a lot of fun to watch it and hear all the famous songs from the very popular Swedish music group ABBA. The actors and actresses earned a lot of applause from us all. And so we finally made us ready for our last night in England.