that_show_jumping_girl: February 2014

Hej hej mina vänner! (jaja, I still love swedish :D)

wow, it’s been an awful long time since my last post.. my apologies.. it honestly feels like it’s been years instead of weeks. It’s january now, which means i’ve been at college for a little over two months and I don’t even have the proper words to describe how it has been so far...

But first, I believe a ‘Happy New Year’ is in order! Happy NY to you all, may all your dreams come true while you stay happy and healthy :))

Ok, school.. While writing this, I’m sitting on a comfy couch with my feet up, sunshine on my face and some good music in my ears. Sounds like chill time at home? I agree.. yet it’s at school, in the cafeteria. (pictures below)

I really have to say, all experiences I’ve had so far here at school, are incredibly good. It’s been over 8 weeks and I still can’t believe how much i’m learning every single day. At the end of the week, it feels like my head is as full as it could possibly be. I can’t really put my finger on what exactly is so.. filling.. but training is for sure a big part of it. I loved my weekly riding school lessons and I highly appreciate the times Lauren or Sloane helped me the past year, but I never experienced riding like this. Like this means; the same horse every day, always supervised by qualified trainers, flatwork and jumping.. For the first time, I can actually work towards goals as a combination, not just as a rider. I can work on longterm focus and better yet, all the field experience is backed up on paper during classroom hours (riding theory etc.) Riding wise, this school makes you understand what you do with your horse and why, in so much more depth than a regular riding instructor’s explanation. Obviously, that is the whole point of this college, but nonetheless, it’s really nice.

Apart from my school pony and all the riding, the atmosphere and people at this college are completely different from previous experiences as well. It’s such a delight to be at a, fancy-talk, educational institution, where everyone breathes horses. They all understand, teachers and students.. makes life quite a bit easier ;-) I love my new friends and even tho we’re not all the exact same age, I feel like we learn a lot from each other.

It’s not all sunshine and roses tho because it’s still life, and life is never easy ;-)

The last year-and-a-half, I lived a complete different life than I do now. I used to say; Americans are great, but their relationship values with friends and family are different than our western European values. Americans seem to be easier.. not as deeply involved in each others lives. I always thought I was just observing this as a fact, without being influenced by the US way.. I thought my European upbringing could not be easily affected. Turns out I was wrong, something I should have seen coming because I know I’m not the kind of person who loves spending every minute of spare time with the same group of people. I’m a wanderer, a traveler.. That was perfect the last year-and-a-half because the people I worked with, changed all the time. When we were together, it was great fun but if not; no problem better luck next time.. Now however, I’m back in a college situation with non-changing classmates and Dutch friends with European values. Our upbringing here, makes us, up to a certain point, answer to our friends. That is, explaining our choices and behaviour to our friends. It is exactly that, that I kind of lost in America. It’s not like Americans don’t care.. It’s just a different set of principles. (I hope I’m not offending any Americans now haha) And I’ve been having a hard time adjusting back to the smaller, closer environment of friends here. I still tend to spend most of my time with people who are little less.. ‘close’.. who seem to care a little less about how often we talk or spend time together, just because it makes me feel more.. free.

It’s weird really, I can’t really explain. It’s a little tricky tho, because you don’t want to become ignorant. That is why I’m really grateful for my new friends here who force me to actually ‘care’ more about our friendship and who THANK GOD, seem to understand I don’t mean to offend them when I act a little more.. American ;-) I love you all, and I appreciate this more than I could tell you, u know who u are.

Anywaaaays…..enough serious talk. College is Fucking Fantastic, here are some pics, enjoy and be jealous!