At this moment I am an exchange student in Malmö, Sweden.  I never really believed I would be in this place until my plane actually left the ground from Kenai, Alaska.  Up until that point there were so many things that could go wrong and so many times I doubted my decision, that to put too much faith in its happening seemed ludicrous.  As far as everyone around me was concerned, I was ready and on my way from the word "Go."  In reality, I was scared to death.  I didn't know what to expect - how could I?  Even sitting on that little prop plane, then in the airport in Seattle waiting for the jumbo jet to fly me overseas to a strange land, I couldn’t help but think how much easier it would have been to just go directly to college like my friends.  But, I would have had a hard time forgiving myself if I passed up this opportunity.

                 A lot of my friends had a difficult time understanding why I chose this path.  Why would I want to attend another year of high school?  Why would I want to leave the country and go someplace like Switzerland?  I tried to explain that while I may be subjecting myself to yet another year at that wonderful institution we call "high school," I would be halfway around the world while doing so!  I could learn another language, experience another culture and start acquiring the skills I will need to be successful in the global community.  As to going someplace like Switzerland, I often had to explain that I was going to Sweden and that they really are two different countries, which just goes to show how uninformed American high school students can be.  I do not want to be thought of as an ignorant and self-centered American, which seems to be a very popular world opinion.   I want to be knowledgeable, aware, and able to make a difference because of it.

                 Participating in our global community requires an understanding of different cultures.  While here in Sweden, I have been learning about the Swedish culture and people and doing my best to understand why they are the way they are.  For instance, Sweden has not been involved in a war in over two hundred years.  So, while I have a father who was in the Vietnam War, a grandfather who was in the Korean War, great uncles who fought in WWII and friends who have joined the military and are probably on active duty right now in Iraq, a Swedish-born citizen has no experience of warfare.  I like that Sweden is so neutral and peaceful; however, this neutrality creates a different sort of people.  Swedish people maintain this neutrality in most aspects of their lives.  Rarely will the average Swede express a radical opinion in unfamiliar company, and even then there is generally drinking involved.

                 Whenever I meet new people, I often get the same questions.  One of these is whether I would like to come back to Sweden to live.  My answer is generally No; not because I don't like Sweden, but because of what I have learned about myself.  Sweden is a wonderful place, but being here has only made me want to see more countries, learn more languages and experience new cultures.  I cannot imagine being tied to any one place, at least not until I have seen all that there is to see, which seems impossible in one lifetime.  Living in a more globally aware country has made me realize just how diverse our world is.  If one looks at an American newspaper and compares it to a Swedish newspaper, or any European newspaper I imagine, one can easily see where the difference lies.  The average small-town newspaper in the United States will have maybe one page of world news, if that, and most of it will pertain in some way to the U.S.  The same size newspaper in Sweden will have a whole section dedicated to world news, with relatively unbiased articles.

                 I am learning things now that I could learn no other way.  This is a grand opportunity, living in a foreign country, but it will only be what I make it.  It is a changing experience to be completely dependant on complete strangers while at the same time independent from all that I am familiar with.  Some changes I can see now.  For instance, I don't feel as if I need a second opinion anymore.  I want full responsibility for all my decisions and I am confident that I can make good decisions.  Other changes I know I won't be able to see until I go home and am confronted with the life and people I left behind.  Some consolidation will be needed, I am sure, between the person I was and the person I will have become.

                 At this moment I am an exchange student in Sweden.  There are not many people who understand completely the implications of that statement and I myself am slowly learning what it means.  It is an exercise in both dependence and independence; it is accepting differences without judgment; it is attempting to meet expectations people may have and relinquishing my own; and it is by far the most terrifying thing I have ever done.  It is leaving what is safe and comfortable for what is new and unknown; it is learning to trust strangers and ones' self.  It is more than I could have hoped for, the near-culmination of a dream, and a jumping off point for the rest of my life.  I would not trade this time for anything.

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