It’s been a while since you’ve last heard from me. So, just a quick summary. Our road trip ended in New York City. I hung out there for a few days with Karin and Björn and then flew back to Sweden. I got done with my Bible School and moved back home, saw my little brother graduate from High School and received a bunch of freelance opportunities. So, I’ve been working a lot more than I was expecting. Right now I’m back at Scandinavian Photo (selling cameras and gadgets), but I also do some freelance design and photography for Crossnet and working on a new version of Markmiljö’s web site.

I’m also editing a lot of photos from the trip. They will end up in a huge post here, in Swedish, with stories and details from my month in the U.S. While you wait, please enjoy my newest Flickr set named Swdsh smmr.

Hi folks! A few weeks ago (April 3rd-8th) I brought a group of nice people from Hillerstorp on a skiing camp to Trysil, Norway. We had four amazing days with sun, great skiing, crazy stunts, a lot of fun, night activities, worship sessions, Jesus, and friends. I’ve been to MANY camps during my days, but this was by far the most successful one (and I’m not saying that cause I planned it).

Anyways, the entire set of photos can be found here. Credit to Karolina Johansson for some of the photos.

I recently bought a really old, but super nice, Nikon FE2 from one of the members in our church. It’s a film camera from the 70’s I think and I’m using a Nikkor 50/1.4. The man who sold it to me is named Hasse Paulsson and he as a huge collection of cameras that are currently being displayed at my job, Scandinavian Photo. When I bought the camera Hasse also told me that he had some friends in Chicago. Guess who? Charlie and Sharon Peterson of course, Kaj’s parents.

Anyways, I hope you’ll enjoy these filmphotos aswell. The first roll was shot in late March, portraits of my friend Pelle. You’ll find more photos here.

So, it’s been a while. My first four weeks in Hillerstorp has been exhausting in many ways. I’ve been having a really hard time getting adjusted to life here. I don’t like living all by myself in a big, fancy apartment. My days are really slow and boring until I meet someone or start working, which is usually in the PMs. Hillerstorp is also a huge contrast to what I’m used to. There’s nothing going on here really, except for people going to and from work, stuff in the different churches, and perhaps some soccer or innebandy practices. It’s a classic dilemma for us working with youth ministries; when you’re free, your friends work. When they’re free, you have to work. I miss my friends from school, but most of all I just miss having people around me, and not having to do something to find someone to hang out with.

My tasks in church are most of the time a lot of fun, but challenging. The youth group here is not as strong and gathered as I was hoping it would be, so that’s the greatest challenge that the pastor (Paul) and I are facing. This past Sunday we managed to gather a group of 13 teenagers for some tacos and games. Unfortunately, I was at home ill and couldn’t participate. I probably picked something up during the days before. The weekend was spent at a small place called Töcksfors in Värmland (it’s where Tommy Olsson is from) visiting two classmates, Clara and Elin. It was a lot of fun, but exhausting both physically and mentally.

Ett bus som ballade ur… | Rebecka from Olesund

Life at “folkhögskola” is one of a kind. I’m pretty sure that a pause from it was needed this year cause it can be really exhausting too. But, most of the time it’s just insane and so much fun. The picture above shows my friend Rebecka who ended up soaked after trying to prank the guys on our floor.

Några härliga män på resa mellan Sunne och Karlstad.  |  Niklas, Jonatan, Jocke, Erik, Gustav from Olesund

Another thing that I miss was the community at our school. This photo is from one of our trips during the first month. We would go to a few churches over a weekend and take care of some services for them. Traveling as a group, with people you knew and loved, made it very easy to approach the youths you met. Having friends with you was a great support, something that I miss in Hillerstorp.

Well, having said all this, I’m now approaching the coming months with hope. I think this is an experience that will enrich my life and strengthen my faith. I don’t believe in destiny or chance, I’m sure God has a plan for my months in Hillerstorp, and I’m excited to see how things unfold.

Some photos from my new apartment in Hillerstorp.   |  Soffgrupp from Olesund

So, I’ve now made it to Hillerstorp. A small town located 70 km south of Jönköping. My internship for this spring will be in “Nya Frikyrkan“, and I’ll be focusing on youth ministry.

I got here this Sunday and I am beginning to get settled in my new apartment. So far this week I’ve been planning a lot in different groups, gotten to know the pastor Paul, and hung out with some of the youths in church.

Here are some more photos of my new place (click to enlarge):

Gott häng runt kaminen |  Mys framför elden from Olesund

One of my promises for 2009 was to increase the amount of posts in this blog. During mine and Isak’s trip I felt like people actually wanted to know what we were doing. When I got back to Sweden my life didn’t become dull, but I didn’t think my stories would interest anyone. However, reflecting upon the blogs I read myself, I realize that I appreciate private, everyday posts just as much as fascinating adventures from friends on the road.

So, from now on I’ll keep this site up to date. Not primarily for your sake, but for mine. It’ll give me an opportunity to develop my English and to reflect upon what’s going on in my life.

To start with I’ll briefly tell you what’s been going on so far. From December 29th to January 6th I stayed with some friends in Undersåker, 15 minutes by car form the best skiing resort in Sweden: Åre. I got eight days in the slopes in a row, which is a new record. The conditions were phenomenal with between 20-40cm of fresh powder for three or four days. When the slopes were closed I mainly enjoyed getting to know my friends better and finding some new ones. On New Years eve we met up with a bunch of cool people and had a marvelous dinner in an old, cold warehouse (photo above). More photos from that night here.

Right now I just arrived to Götabro, my school. In four days from now (on Sunday) I’m moving to Hillerstorp where I’ll be interning this Spring semester. More on that to come…

A different kind of Christmas celebration.  |  Micke & Mange from Olesund

A very Merry Christmas to all of you out there. I’ve made a promise to keep this blog updated during 2009. I’ll start of soon with a writeup from this past year.

But for now, take care of yourselves and each other, remember Jesus. Eat a lot. God Jul.

Americans in SVT

Earlier today SVT made an interview with some of the Americans that are currently studying at SVF. It was the local news team called “Smålandsnytt” who asked them about the election and such. It seems like they all made it back from fall break alive, cause they did a great job on TV.

Channel 4 also made a short clip about this. Featuring Kelly, Kaj and Meghan!
TV4: SVF and the Election

Today I launched my new blog. It has gone through some major improvements when it comes to usability, but also received a new look. Hopefully it’ll be easier for you to use it, cause it certainly will for me.

Another great thing is that I’ve got a new job. From now on I’m working at EFK-UNG as their web developer. My main task will be to re-design their site, www.efk-ung.se, but also to keep some of their other websites (Frizon, StepOut) up to date. Our office is located in downtown Örebro, but most of the work will be done from my school outside of town.

I look forward a lot to work with these sites, and also to get to know my new workmates who all seem to be really nice people.