Hello everybody! Since I've written in swedish quite often on this blog in the past few months, I've decided to write this post in english so that everyone can read it. There are a few interesting updates that I wanted to inform you about: December and January have been to intense months, I've had a lot of things to do, but at the same time they have been wonderful :) But let's go in order!
1. After my amazing trip to Amsterdam, I spent ten wonderful days with my best swedish friend Isabelle! When I first hugged her at the station when picking her up, it felt unreal that she was there but at the same time it felt as if we had never really been apart. And even if I had to go to school during the mornings, in the afternoons and during the weekends we spent lots of time together and had the chance to do lots of shopping for Christmas. We spent days just walking around, visiting some random places, exploring the city and just admiring its incredibile beauty. I often complain about Rome, because the public transport doesn't work or there's too much traffic, too many people and so on, but it's when I explore the hundreds of places I haven't been to yet that I realize how amazing it is. Anyway, tasting the different types of hot chocolate and tasting every kind of sweets were also part of the many things that we did in those days. Besides, I had the opportunity to speak swedish, which made me very happy (as I happen to love the swedish language). Many funny things happened during these days as well: we saw the actor that plays Littlefinger in "Games of Thrones" while we were having a coffee, but we decided not to bother him because he seemed pissed off by tourists asking for selfies. While we were trying to take photos together at "Pincio", this beautiful place where there is a panoramic view of the city, we started talking with a nice guy and he offered to take some pictures for us.
We also went with my family and Laetitia, our German exchange student, for a little tour in this small village called Calcata and situated just outside Rome. Nature was soo stunning as well as the food and the old houses: I've never seen such a magical place!
2. CHRISTMAS! Was soo mysigt (which means "cozy" in swedish, I just think it's a cool word,so I use it sometimes and mix languages). We didn't do anything special, just ate dinner all together, opened up our presents and spent some "quality time" together. It's just nice every once in a while to spend some time with your family, and do nice activities together, such as cooking, that make you realise how much you really love them. It was a great Christmas for two reasons mainly: firstly, Laetitia was with us and this made it even better, because she's so cute and funny and I love her like a sister! Secondly, I started being a bit nostalgic about Sweden, because last year's Christmas was amazing, and I started thinking all about it, thus not in a sad/melancholic way, but in a happy way: I knew that I couldn't go back in time and get the chance to do it all over again, but what I did know was the fact that those cheerful memories would always be there for me to remind of the best year of my life (and above all, the best Christmas ever). Besides, my family and I started considering the idea of spending next Christmas in Sweden, so now I can't wait for December 2016 to arrive!
3. NEW YEAR'S EVE! We spent one week in the mountains in the north of Italy, where we have two small apartments. After packing our bags, we left Rome on the 30th of December and headed towards the region of Trentino! The town is called Madonna di Campiglio, and it's situated in the middle of the Italian Alpes. I've been going there every year since I was born and every time I go back there I'm super-happy! The town is small and cozy, even if it has grown a lot in the past few years due to tourism. There are many italians of course, but also lots of foreigners. However, this year there was no snow when we got there, and it was the first "warm" winter in like 60 years! Therefore, during the first couple of days there wasn't any snow in the town center, and on the slopes there was artifical snow (it was quite sad for me not finding any snow, considering that I have been living in northern Sweden for about 11 months) Luckily, at the beginning of January, many snowflakes started falling from the sky and it became colder as well!
4. THOUGHTS ABOUT PAST AND FUTURE: I have never been a fan of New Year's Eve actually, never wrote "new year's resolutions" in my life, nor posted pictures on social networks wishing everybody a great year. However, this year I pretty enjoyed it. We didn't do anything special, just danced for a couple of hours in the town square during a "concert" and then watched a movie, but it was fun and cozy. And this year, for the first time, I seriously started thinking and I figured out that 2015 had been the best year of my life so far! The past ones were great as well, but this last one was even better for many reasons: I lived abroad for one year and embraced the experience that changed my life, I changed and became more open-minded and mature, I learned so many things (such as how to cook lasagne and how to survive the scandinavian winter!), I met incredibile friends and suddenly realised how great my life is and how much I love the people around me. It's weird, I'm not really able to describe what happened to me in 2015, but I now that I've become a different person, a better one. In the past, the years had all seemed to me boring and repetitive. I had never thought about about changing, about doing things differently. Anyway, I hope 2016 will be great and possibly even better than 2015! On one hand though, I am bit scared because this will be a year of changes: I will graduate, go to university, probably move away from home, and so on. What will my life look like in September? What will I study? Who will I meet? Where am I going to live? All these questions pop in my mind every once in a while and I start wondering. On the whole, I'm trying to be optimistic about the future! We'll see how it turns out ;)
