Swedish acknowledgements.

Well, it's time to leave for Melbourne (Friday), and don't get me wrong: I can't wait to get back. But I've had such an amazing time abroad with so many people. They need a soppy emotional acknowledgement blog post.

First of all, I'll say this. It's been such a pleasure to meet such smart, educated, motivated, ambitious people. It takes a certain mindset and decision to decide to spend a semester abroad in a different country. It's been amazing to talk to people about so many different countries and even visit them together.

I'll start with my two favourite ladies. I introduced these two to each other and they ended up the best of friends; Lindsey and Marion. You girls have been fantastic, I'm going to miss our partying and our gossipy fika sessions. I'm proud to call you my friends and confidantes.

Next... Lucas! Mister tall Canadian so proud of his corner of the world! We got along so well and I'm so glad to call you my travel buddy. Paris, Poland and Malta were fantastic with you and we must stay in contact! I'm so thankful you convinced me to go to Italy when I was on the fence about it, because it ended up being yet another fantastic trip for me. Thank you. Keep being you!

Next would be Rachell and Christin. You ladies have also been great for gossip, partying and downtime; thanks! The semester would be quite different if not for you two.

Next are the American lads, Max, Zach and Jake. I'll admit that my impression of Americans wasn't the best to begin with. But the way I got to know you three, it's helped me turn that around for the better. You guys keep it up!

Other Canadians, Josh, Meryn, Kyle: thanks for being there, really. Especially Meryn when I was homeless for a couple days. Arnaud and Julien! My French buddies! You guys kept things lively and I'm glad I could finally tell you apart by the end of the first week.

Italians! Giovanni, Marta, Andrea etc, I've loved being able to talk to you guys! You always included me and I loved being around you in Lapland. You were another reason that I ended up going to Italy. You inspire me to keep up my not-quite-fluent Italians.

And the fellow Aussies! Amy, Steven and Billy; you kept me grounded with conversations about home. Thank you for the company in such a strange little country.

At this point the Örebro group just widens and it gets impossible to thank you individually. People I saw on a regular basis, always asked me how I was, where I'd been, my next trip, and complaining how I was never around! I've loved getting to know each and every one of you. Don't forget the crazy little Australian girl.

Special mention to the Scanbalt Balalaika and Vodka Tour! We were such a great group of people and you made the trip even better. Tour manager Zane, you were brilliant, keep it up! Alex, Luke, Owen, Manon, Emily, Mitch, Romain, Andrew.... Well I could keep going. I still can't believe how much we drank that whole week.

That's enough emotional for me, I think. When we all separate and go back to our own lives, we'll still remember all those stupid, funny, ridiculous, delirious, drunk moments and smile for years to come.

If any of you are interested, I wrote a memoir about my waitressing experiences in Melbourne (November 2011). It's available at Amazon in both paperback and Kindle. 

If it wasn't for waiting, I never would have gotten out to Sweden and met all you lovely people. I've also been told that the way I tell stories is entertaining. The first day I started writing I served a woman with multiple sclerosis; it's all written down here in this monster.

Again... thank you. Thank you for this wonderful part of my life. Take care.