Sofie Carlsson
English 10
13-01-07
Moving Around
-How it Changed my Life
I’m sure I wouldn’t have been the same person as I am today if I wouldn’t have experienced so much when I was small. Already when I was under one year old I and my parents left for Israel during one and a half year. We moved back to Sweden and then, when I was 7 years old it was time for a move again. This time we moved to Holland. When I was about 9, 10 years old we moved back to Sweden, we had then been living in Holland for approximately two and a half years. We lived in Sweden for about four years and went to international schools to keeps our English going. Then in 2004 we moved to Lithuania, and its here I’ve ended up.
I don’t recall any memories from when I lived in Israel, it’s all form what I have heard from my parents and what I have seen on photos and videos. My dad came there to work as a military, for the FN. My mother and I came with since he was only going to live there for about a year. They say we lived in a white house with a big green garden where there were lemon trees, avocados, oranges, and grapes growing in the garden. It was certainly very hot and sometimes it could even reach up to 45 degrees Celsius as the most. At these times my parents used to either go to the grocery stores, or go for a drive in the car for a while to cool down. Actually I don’t think that the fact that I lived in Israel affected my life, but I would really want to go back and see where I lived and so on.
When we moved home the only memory I have is that I’m at my grandmothers’ house and the telephone rings. At that time I was only four years old. She picks up the phone and gives it to me after a few words in the phone. It’s my father and he tells me that I have got a sister. I didn’t believe him which is very strange since I had already picked a name for her. Julia. I picked the name Julia since there is a Swedish song that I used to sing when I was small and I had always loved that name.
As said I moved to Holland when I was seven years old. I was going to go to an American international school, but I couldn’t say a word in English, in fact I couldn’t even tell apart on yes and no. I had a really hard time in the beginning, but after half a year I could already speak pretty good English. The school was huge; over 2000 people went to the school if not even more. In the beginning it was hard to get friends, but there were quite many Danish people that I used to play with during the recesses but as I got better at English I got more and more friends. The only problem was that everyone moved all the time, and that was probably the most hard part about living there apart from doing all the homework every night, which was a lot more than we used to have in Sweden. While we lived in Holland we would often go to France, Belgium, and Germany on the vacations since we live at the border of all three countries. I really enjoyed driving around in France since we would go and look at old castles and military gears such as old tanks and aircraft carriers. The hardest part was when it was time to leave. I had learnt so much and I actually loved the school and all the people in it. But then I realized that I was finally going to go to a Swedish school again which lightened the situation a bit.
When we had moved back I went to an international school called Atlas. It was a quite small school and my grade consisted of ca 18 people. I immediately got friends and I was actually the best at English in that grade. In that school everyone ad to learn Spanish since a great minority were from Spain in that school. Unfortunately I don’t remember a single word today, you forget fast. However, I went to that school for about four years, until I was 13. Then I moved to another school which was call Engelska Skolan, which means The English School. I went to the English school for one year and then it was time for another move. Lithuania.
Moving to Lithuania was the hardest thing I have ever done, and sometimes I really regret it while sometimes I feel happy I’m living here. Lithuania hasn’t really changed my life, but I have learnt a lot of thing about how different societies work. Lithuania is quite different in every aspect except perhaps the nature. It’s hard to explain why, but it feels like Lithuania is a step behind if you would compare it to Sweden. There are many things I like about Lithuania, for example the old town because the architecture is so nice, and the traditional food here is quite god too.
I came here to Lithuania in 2004, I was 13, 14 years old and I went to 8th grade. There were only three girls in my class which was a very big difference since there were 32 people in my old class. In the beginning it was sad that there were so few people, but I soon got used to it and I had a really great time and I would actually say that the first year was the best of these three, so far. During the summers I have gone home to Sweden, to our summerhouse. We have spent the whole vacation in our summerhouse and I have had a chance meeting me friends. Last year, years 2005 to 2006, there were actually six people as the most which was the double of the first year, and this year it’s six again.
These moves have of course affected my life and I think it was mostly fun to move around and see a bit of the outside world. I have of course experienced a lot more than any of my friends have, and I think this will help me in my future life. Right now I’m longing to move home to Sweden and begin the new school, and I’m now choosing if I’m going to take an international direction or not, something I probably wouldn’t have considered if I hadn’t learnt English in the way I have. In the future I want to see more of the world and I have probably put more demands on my future since I have already seen so much of the outside world. If you would ask me, I wouldn’t want to change my past one single bit.
English 10
13-01-07
Moving Around
-How it Changed my Life
I’m sure I wouldn’t have been the same person as I am today if I wouldn’t have experienced so much when I was small. Already when I was under one year old I and my parents left for Israel during one and a half year. We moved back to Sweden and then, when I was 7 years old it was time for a move again. This time we moved to Holland. When I was about 9, 10 years old we moved back to Sweden, we had then been living in Holland for approximately two and a half years. We lived in Sweden for about four years and went to international schools to keeps our English going. Then in 2004 we moved to Lithuania, and its here I’ve ended up.
I don’t recall any memories from when I lived in Israel, it’s all form what I have heard from my parents and what I have seen on photos and videos. My dad came there to work as a military, for the FN. My mother and I came with since he was only going to live there for about a year. They say we lived in a white house with a big green garden where there were lemon trees, avocados, oranges, and grapes growing in the garden. It was certainly very hot and sometimes it could even reach up to 45 degrees Celsius as the most. At these times my parents used to either go to the grocery stores, or go for a drive in the car for a while to cool down. Actually I don’t think that the fact that I lived in Israel affected my life, but I would really want to go back and see where I lived and so on.
When we moved home the only memory I have is that I’m at my grandmothers’ house and the telephone rings. At that time I was only four years old. She picks up the phone and gives it to me after a few words in the phone. It’s my father and he tells me that I have got a sister. I didn’t believe him which is very strange since I had already picked a name for her. Julia. I picked the name Julia since there is a Swedish song that I used to sing when I was small and I had always loved that name.
As said I moved to Holland when I was seven years old. I was going to go to an American international school, but I couldn’t say a word in English, in fact I couldn’t even tell apart on yes and no. I had a really hard time in the beginning, but after half a year I could already speak pretty good English. The school was huge; over 2000 people went to the school if not even more. In the beginning it was hard to get friends, but there were quite many Danish people that I used to play with during the recesses but as I got better at English I got more and more friends. The only problem was that everyone moved all the time, and that was probably the most hard part about living there apart from doing all the homework every night, which was a lot more than we used to have in Sweden. While we lived in Holland we would often go to France, Belgium, and Germany on the vacations since we live at the border of all three countries. I really enjoyed driving around in France since we would go and look at old castles and military gears such as old tanks and aircraft carriers. The hardest part was when it was time to leave. I had learnt so much and I actually loved the school and all the people in it. But then I realized that I was finally going to go to a Swedish school again which lightened the situation a bit.
When we had moved back I went to an international school called Atlas. It was a quite small school and my grade consisted of ca 18 people. I immediately got friends and I was actually the best at English in that grade. In that school everyone ad to learn Spanish since a great minority were from Spain in that school. Unfortunately I don’t remember a single word today, you forget fast. However, I went to that school for about four years, until I was 13. Then I moved to another school which was call Engelska Skolan, which means The English School. I went to the English school for one year and then it was time for another move. Lithuania.
Moving to Lithuania was the hardest thing I have ever done, and sometimes I really regret it while sometimes I feel happy I’m living here. Lithuania hasn’t really changed my life, but I have learnt a lot of thing about how different societies work. Lithuania is quite different in every aspect except perhaps the nature. It’s hard to explain why, but it feels like Lithuania is a step behind if you would compare it to Sweden. There are many things I like about Lithuania, for example the old town because the architecture is so nice, and the traditional food here is quite god too.
I came here to Lithuania in 2004, I was 13, 14 years old and I went to 8th grade. There were only three girls in my class which was a very big difference since there were 32 people in my old class. In the beginning it was sad that there were so few people, but I soon got used to it and I had a really great time and I would actually say that the first year was the best of these three, so far. During the summers I have gone home to Sweden, to our summerhouse. We have spent the whole vacation in our summerhouse and I have had a chance meeting me friends. Last year, years 2005 to 2006, there were actually six people as the most which was the double of the first year, and this year it’s six again.
These moves have of course affected my life and I think it was mostly fun to move around and see a bit of the outside world. I have of course experienced a lot more than any of my friends have, and I think this will help me in my future life. Right now I’m longing to move home to Sweden and begin the new school, and I’m now choosing if I’m going to take an international direction or not, something I probably wouldn’t have considered if I hadn’t learnt English in the way I have. In the future I want to see more of the world and I have probably put more demands on my future since I have already seen so much of the outside world. If you would ask me, I wouldn’t want to change my past one single bit.
