Åsa

I work for a family with 3 children, 4, 6 and 10 years old. Josh, who is the youngest, goes to preschool until 1pm every week day. He is a guy with a lot of energy and knows what he wants. Maria, who is 6, is a very sweet girl who dances ballet and loves to read. Christopher, who is the oldest, likes to have control and his biggest hobby is Lego's. Yvonne (Mom), is running a campaign for the school. She works a lot from home. Matt (Dad), is traveling a lot, is gone most of the week but comes home during the weekend.

I have enjoyed noticing the differences between life in Sweden and the U.S. Kids in the U.S. have more activities at an earlier age than I had as a kid in Sweden . I had a lot do after school as a kid as well, but not until I was 8-9. Maria who is 6 has ballet 2/week, takes piano lessons and has Brownies. To me that seems a lot for a 6 year old, but here it is normal! Over all I would say kids do a lot more stuff than we do at home in Sweden . They also express there feelings more and with stronger, clearer words then I am use to.

I have also liked learning about American holidays. It was almost Halloween when I came here, I knew it was bigger here than at home but I didn't think it was that big! The kids told me it is the second biggest day after Christmas. It was very fun to see...but I am glad it is not that big in Sweden , yet. We do not have Thanksgiving in Sweden , so I thought that was very interesting, and I tried a lot of different food I haven't seen before. I have also told my family about how we do things at home. On Christmas, for example, I made a dish that we eat on Christmas. Also at Easter, I told them how we celebrate. It is very different from the American way so they found that interesting. I have been teaching Maria songs in Swedish, and sometimes the kids ask how we say different things in Swedish which is fun.

There have been other things that are very different. In the beginning when I started driving here, I thought it was crazy and hard to turn right on red light, now I am afraid that I will do it when I come home! Leaving your shoes on while inside the house is another thing I was not use to. It is a lot of small things that are different from home but that I am use to now.

I have changed a lot during my time here and I am sure that I am doing a lot of things that they at home will think of as American. I will try to bring home some of the food, especially Mexican. I will also, I hope, bring home the American energy to do things. I have a very active life here and I love it. But the best thing that I will bring with me home is 'new eyes'. There are a lot of wonderful things I am going to miss when I go home, but I am also looking forward to seeing with 'new eyes' a lot of good things at home that I have taken for granted!