Jönköping, Sweden
November 4th- November 11th
Theme of the Week: Mental Health
Lars and Anita
Ana (Mexico), Melanie (Switzerland), Danielle (Florida)
11-4-18 Sunday
After the show Saturday night, the cast went to a facility to shower before the 40-hour travel day. As the buses pulled up, there was a bar fight with extreme physical violence. We waited in the bus until it was safe to go and shower. As we walked to the showers, we saw blood all over the ground. It was crazy!! Then when the bus drove away, a rock was thrown at the window and it shattered. We stopped for a while to try and fix the window and heal Dashel's damaged face. We drove 6 hours from San Luis Potosi to Mexico City. Then we got on a 10 hour flight from Mexico City to Madrid, and I sat next to Liam on the flight.
11-5-18 Monday
We had a 5 hour layover in Madrid. We shopped, got some food, and sat in coffee shops. Then we hopped on another plane that took about 3 hours from Madrid to Copenhagen. I had not slept the entire time until that second plane ride. I didn't even remember takeoff or landing. Once we arrived in Copenhagen, we drove another 5 hours to Jönköping. We met our host family at 9:30pm. It was an exhausting travel day, but I didn't experience jet lag. My new host family is an old couple that lives in the cutest little apartment in Sweden! It is such a big adjustment from Mexico. It's different food, language, architecture, cleanliness, toilets, mannerisms, time zone, salutations, water pressure, weather, and transportation. I really appreciate all of the little luxuries that come from a developed country. We had dinner, and the we all went straight to bed.
11-6-18 Tuesday
Today I went to a school called Raslatsskolan. This school was built for kids who are immigrants and refugees from countries around Sweden. I did a "Take a Stand" workshop with the kids. I asked them questions about mental health and other issues in their community. Every time I work in a school, I am validated in how much I want to be a teacher. We had to discuss the issue of mental health because of our sponsors. In the middle school classroom, the students would not speak AT ALL. They were afraid to talk and share their opinions. It was an interesting experience becuase most of the time we do this activity, students will share and think for themselves, but that was not the case in this school. By the time we got back to the university, it was dark outside. We had to take public transportation which was a cultural experience in itself. We had a Swedish fish dish for dinner and talked for 2 hours after we were done eating... also another cultural difference.
11-9-18 Friday
Today Ellen and I recorded the backing tracks of the show for the Swedish Medley in the morning. Then the acoustic group went to the hospital and sang our set for Hospice patients. I always imagined really old people who were close to death when I heard about Hospice, but we sang to young kids, teenagers, adults, and elderly people. It was eye opening to see that struggle in all ages of life. Then Leah, Mattias, and I went to get some coffee before we needed to be back for cast meeting. We missed the bus and were 15 minutes late to the meeting. Evelyn took us aside and explained how disappointed she was in us for making the entire cast move the schedule around for us. Then my vocal mentor came to me and said word by word... "As the vocal intern, it is unacceptable for you to be late, and the cast director wants to have a conversation with you." At this moment, I was terrified and I just wanted to cry!! THEN, Kyra jumps out at me and surprises me! The whole thing was a joke! Leah and Mattias made me late on purpose so that she could surprise me! I cried when I saw Kyra because I was so happy to see her, and I was so relieved that I wasn't in trouble. It was such a roller coaster of emotions and I was completely shocked. Then Angelis, Kyra, and I went to her hotel and had some coffee while we got to catch up on life and reminisce about camp! Kyra gave me my birthday present that my family had gotten me... A POLAROID CAMERA!!! Then my closest friends from the cast organized a birthday celebration and also surprised me! We went to a place called Bongo Bar downtown. We definitely experienced Swedish culture there... Ahahah!! Then everyone had such a hard time getting home with public transportation. It was an adventure!
11-10-18 Saturday
First Show Day in Europe!! In the morning, Ellen and I worked with Swedish Medley soloists. It was a very stressful day for the show team, and they laid all of that pressure onto their inters. I lead the vocal warm-up today for the first time! I was so proud of myself because the previous interns waited 2 weeks before they started, but I lead it on the first show day! I wanted to push myself to get over the nerves and just go for it! I feel like my best self when I am pursuing my passions and this internship is really showing me what those passions are! We went from a 90 minute rundown in Mexico to a 2 hour show, an intermission, completely new songs, and the Swedish Medley. There was so much that needed to get done in rehearsal to make sure the cast would do their best. Unfortunately, rehearsal went terribly wrong, and the cast had no idea what they were doing. Michael, the show manager, cried after rehearsal explaining how bad it went. After all the stress of the morning, the actual show was pretty great. I don't know how, but everything came together in the end! After the show, I saw one of Amy's cast members. I also saw Kyra and we went out for some fika. It was so nice to catch up with her and talk about life. We haven't seen each other in two years, but it's like no time has passed! She's the best friend ever!
11-11-18 Sunday
Host Family Day! Lars and Anita took us to their cottage and we had some fika. It was the stereotypical European ascetic. Then we went to a museum that had a lot of moose hide!:) After that, we drove to an outlook on a hill that had a view of Jonkoping. Today was Father's Day in Sweden so Anita made a cake for Lars. We had another fika while we were doing our laundry. Anita sings in the choir for her church, so we went to the evening service to watch her. The whole sermon was in Swedish. Now I have officially been to church services in three countries with three different languages! That's pretty cool. Then we had ANOTHER fika with the old people of the church. Ana, Melanie, and I watched a horror movie when we got home! It was a fun host family day!
11-7-18 Wednesday
Today Ellen (From Belgium), Rodrigo (From Mexico), Oliver (From Denmark), Angelis (From Bermuda), Camryn (From Colorado), Tyler (From Arizona), and I went to a hospital and performed three acoustic promotion sets. We sang in the pediatric and oncology departments. I love going into hospitals and bringing the joy of music to people who are really in pain. It is such a rewarding community service that I will continue to do in life beyond Up with People. I discovered that my favorite Ikea candy, "Daim," is actually European, so I bought some and it reminded me of home! Outside, the fall colors are vibrants, and the leave are starting to fall. I have missed weather like this and I am very grateful for it.
11-8-18 Thursday (19th Birthday)
I woke up this morning to my roommate, Melanie (From Switzerland), waking me up by singing happy birthday in Swiss German. I had an out of body experience when she did that. I thought, how did I get to this point in my life where I am waking up in Sweden, turning 19, sleeping in a random house, rooming with a Swiss, and it's a reality! How cool is my fricken life! Then the acoustic promo had another performance today in a Swedish high school, and they are a tough crowd. Now that I am the vocal intern, I have a lot of opportunities to sing in the acoustic performance, and I was proud of the things that I accomplished. Mattias (From Utah), Leah (From Pennsylvania), Tyler (From Arizona), and I went to a Swedish coffee shop for Fika!! It was so much fun to have some free time and be normal teenagers getting coffee. Then we went for a walk along the beach. It was freezing cold, dark, and you could not tell the difference between the sky and the water. Then Nasya and I went to H&M and bought some winter clothes. I splurged a little bit, but I needed a new look and it's my birthday! All day long, I was feeling the love from my cast members. Everyone was coming up to me and sharing what they loved about me and how important to them I was. I just love my cast, and the people in it! Then we had a school show in the afternoon that was extremely stressful but once it was over, everything was good. While the cast was taking the stage apart, Ellen and I worked with soloist for the Swedish Medley. She gave me so much opportunity to give feedback to the singers, and I felt like a legit vocal coach and it felt AMAZING!! I know that I want to do this for a living!! She was so impressed by how I was helping people get the right sound and using techniques I learned from Melissa to help people. It was such a great birthday. When we got home, my host family made a delicious Swedish dinner and they sang happy birthday to me in Swedish!! HAHA it was great! Then I finally had wifi again and I received over 100 birthday notifications on social media, and it was so nice to feel all of that love from friends and family that I haven't talked to in 2 months. It made me extremely homesick for about an hour, and then I got over it. It was a lovely birthday in SWEDEN!
Today Ellen and I recorded the backing tracks of the show for the Swedish Medley in the morning. Then the acoustic group went to the hospital and sang our set for Hospice patients. I always imagined really old people who were close to death when I heard about Hospice, but we sang to young kids, teenagers, adults, and elderly people. It was eye opening to see that struggle in all ages of life. Then Leah, Mattias, and I went to get some coffee before we needed to be back for cast meeting. We missed the bus and were 15 minutes late to the meeting. Evelyn took us aside and explained how disappointed she was in us for making the entire cast move the schedule around for us. Then my vocal mentor came to me and said word by word... "As the vocal intern, it is unacceptable for you to be late, and the cast director wants to have a conversation with you." At this moment, I was terrified and I just wanted to cry!! THEN, Kyra jumps out at me and surprises me! The whole thing was a joke! Leah and Mattias made me late on purpose so that she could surprise me! I cried when I saw Kyra because I was so happy to see her, and I was so relieved that I wasn't in trouble. It was such a roller coaster of emotions and I was completely shocked. Then Angelis, Kyra, and I went to her hotel and had some coffee while we got to catch up on life and reminisce about camp! Kyra gave me my birthday present that my family had gotten me... A POLAROID CAMERA!!! Then my closest friends from the cast organized a birthday celebration and also surprised me! We went to a place called Bongo Bar downtown. We definitely experienced Swedish culture there... Ahahah!! Then everyone had such a hard time getting home with public transportation. It was an adventure!
First Show Day in Europe!! In the morning, Ellen and I worked with Swedish Medley soloists. It was a very stressful day for the show team, and they laid all of that pressure onto their inters. I lead the vocal warm-up today for the first time! I was so proud of myself because the previous interns waited 2 weeks before they started, but I lead it on the first show day! I wanted to push myself to get over the nerves and just go for it! I feel like my best self when I am pursuing my passions and this internship is really showing me what those passions are! We went from a 90 minute rundown in Mexico to a 2 hour show, an intermission, completely new songs, and the Swedish Medley. There was so much that needed to get done in rehearsal to make sure the cast would do their best. Unfortunately, rehearsal went terribly wrong, and the cast had no idea what they were doing. Michael, the show manager, cried after rehearsal explaining how bad it went. After all the stress of the morning, the actual show was pretty great. I don't know how, but everything came together in the end! After the show, I saw one of Amy's cast members. I also saw Kyra and we went out for some fika. It was so nice to catch up with her and talk about life. We haven't seen each other in two years, but it's like no time has passed! She's the best friend ever!
11-11-18 Sunday
Host Family Day! Lars and Anita took us to their cottage and we had some fika. It was the stereotypical European ascetic. Then we went to a museum that had a lot of moose hide!:) After that, we drove to an outlook on a hill that had a view of Jonkoping. Today was Father's Day in Sweden so Anita made a cake for Lars. We had another fika while we were doing our laundry. Anita sings in the choir for her church, so we went to the evening service to watch her. The whole sermon was in Swedish. Now I have officially been to church services in three countries with three different languages! That's pretty cool. Then we had ANOTHER fika with the old people of the church. Ana, Melanie, and I watched a horror movie when we got home! It was a fun host family day!
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