Re-entry Camp

Our re-entry orientation was remarkable. 

Seeing so many familiar faces in the very camp grounds where it all began with many of the same amazing leaders who prepared us for what would be waiting for us outside... You do the math.

This post is very long over due, but if you were to get a peak at my schedule for the next month you would understand.  The time I have left in Sweden is precious and little so I have to make the most out of it all with the people I love.  The camp was really the gateway to the rush of events and plans that I had for the month of June.  This camp served as a way of helping us savor the time we have left and to prepare us for the emotional separation we will suffer upon departure.  To say goodbye to a whole country cannot be taken lightly.  

The camp started on a Friday and ended on a Sunday afternoon, giving us three days to find the words to say goodbye to our class of exchange students.  Again, I've only met these people a few times and I know some of them better than others, but lock me in a room with any one of them and you can feel free to throw away the key.  I love them to death and I will remember the conversations and laughs we have shared.  Upon arrival, my group of students meeting at the station dropped our things and went straight to lunch.  Walking into the building felt like going through a time machine.  I looked around me to the water and the docks to the fields and buildings and I remembered how my eyes had soaked up everything 9 months ago.  I remembered how it all made me feel and my first impression of Sweden.  Nostalgia to the max, let me tell you.
 

I was greeted with screams and a small swarm of my favorite German girls in the world <3 It was magical to meet them again.  Everyone I saw was so different!  Just about everyone understood and spoke Swedish - some to a degree that absolutely blew me away.  Suddenly the shy ones were gregarious and outgoing when it was Swedish they were speaking.  There were different haircuts and styles everywhere, sometimes at a near unrecognizable degree.  This time around, I got to know a few new students that I wouldn't have been able to a few months ago.  It just goes to show what an exchange year will do to you.  

We were all split into discussion groups for most of the day, but we always had down time for group energizers and activities.  We had a cake decorating contest - which my team won, of course, because of my fantastic YFU spirit speech - and an epic game of Mafia at 1 a.m. that I was SO close to winning.  Meal times are second only to the quiet discussions we share in the small hours of the morning.  Bonding time like you wouldn't believe.  The last night, I stayed up the entire night with a few friends.  We talked and shared, confessed and pondered.  A magical night.  One of the best moments was our giant hug circle.  In this hug circle, everyone gives a long, hardy hug for goodbye.  The difference between the hugs that were given during the first hug circle to the second were notable.  The hugs lingered and tears fell, hair was tucked away and sweet words were murmured.  My heart felt like it was about to burst with every pair of arms I felt around me.  By the end of it I was a bit misty.  

A big thanks to my leaders for the work they put into this and the fun they had with us.  Our leaders are wonderful and thoughtful and inclusive.  They know just how to harness our YFU spirit and excitement to make for memorable times.  What would we do without their wisdom and guidance?!  To quote the speech I made about my cake - the volunteers are the legs that the YFU horse runs on.  So weird out of context, but just enjoy that little nugget of love.  

Pictures are worth more words than I can type, so let me share a few that have been shared on the group FB page.  I of course forgot my camera again, so I appreciate all the pictures that were shared!
These pictures are not at all in order but enjoy!

It's tradition to throw the camp leaders in the water!

Freezing water.  We dove in after cooking in the sauna

A segment of the hug circle

Laughing with Greta darling <3

The fantastic trio are at it again

My new Frenchie friends <3

Jeanne <33333

There were some casualties when we threw the leaders in....

Group discussions

Paul from France walks up to me with arms stretched, "You're going to remember me forever now" and then picks me up to throw me in the water, but not before I take him with me!

My fantastic discussion group

The aftermath hahaha

Henrik <3

Likely the best selfie ever

Mama bear 

The classic Jonatan pose

I mean I guess Nadya was cool too :) <3

Henrik and I went to prom together <3

My page for the YFU yearbook