 Hi! I'm Linus, a happy Swede from the city of Gothenburg,
Sweden's second largest. Back home I lived with my parents, my younger brother
and sometimes, so it seemed, my friends lived at my house too. My personal
interests are hanging out with friends, playing soccer (or as we call it
'football'), skateboarding (even though it hurts) and skiing in both the Swedish
and the Norwegian mountains. My personal favorite is to go on vacation to warm
places which I certainly can't do back home. Well, problem solved!
Five years ago my family and I visited Florida. That's
when I decided that some day, I'm going to move there. A few years later, I
applied for the Rotary exchange program and by a coincidence, look where I
ended up! I now live in the town of New Port Richey, 40 minutes outside
Tampa and it fits me perfectly. I live with a great family that takes care
of me and introduces me to the American lifestyle. For instance, going
fishing, having shrimp boils, going to church, watching American sports, and
of course eating American fast food! No Dunkin' Donuts back home, that's for
sure. ;) The only thing I don't get of their culture so far is 'the American
sarcasm'. I have to work on that. But at the same time, I think they believe
'the Swedish humor' is pretty weird too...
I go to the River Ridge High School, a great school with a
lot of students. And I can tell you, if you have ever seen an American high
school movie, well that's what you get! Same jokes, same people and the same
cheerleaders! My welcome at school has been great. For a month now I've felt
like a king walking in the hallways hearing comments behind me about a
foreign exchange student that is both cute, funny, and apparently looks like
Tom Cruise. Next week I'm trying out for the school's soccer team and show
all Americans what a European left foottie is all about!
My impressions of America before arriving here were that
they eat a lot of fast food, everybody drives pickup trucks, cops eat
doughnuts, the cheerleaders date the quarterbacks, they use the 'red cups'
that are seen in movies, and they sue anyone at any chance. I will see which
is true and which is not.
I want to thank Rotary for giving me this opportunity and
give big creds to my Rotary district, contact persons Laurie and Marcelle,
and my two host families the Wunderlichs and the Mills that have welcomed me
with big arms.
This really is 'the land of opportunity' where I get the
opportunity to speak better English. But more important, it gives me the
opportunity to have the greatest time of my life.
Hejdå! (Bye bye!)
/ Linus 'Tom Cruise' Ljungblom |
Linus Ljungblom