Accustomed to the 30 to 40 degree fall weather in Stockholm, Sweden, senior Louise Åström is now adjusting to the Calabasas sun. Moving from a huge city to a suburban area may seem intimidating, but Åström is enjoying the quintessential American lifestyle. She is very eager to further delve into what life in the United States entails.

While her normal mode of transportation consists of subway and bus rides, Åström is experiencing LA traffic for the first time. Lucky for her, she only has a year to deal with the bustle of the city chaos. An aspect of LA that Åström is especially enjoying is late nights at the mall after 8 p.m., which she was not allowed to do in Sweden. Meeting outgoing Americans and making friends quickly is also a nice change from the shy Swedish people that used to surround her.  Åström is happy her American friends join her in singing and dancing to Swedish music, which helps to expand the cultural horizons of American students. Her favorite part about CHS is attending football games and pep rallies.

“I love the school spirit with the football games and pep rallies,” said Åström. “We do not have anything like that in Sweden.”

On top of the incredible experience of living in a different country, Åström will also be graduating from CHS this school year. Even though she has mixed feelings about not graduating from the school she attended for 11 years in Sweden and is now unable to wear the white “studentmössan,” Swedish for graduation cap, Åström is still looking forward to experiencing an American graduation.

“Not being able to celebrate graduation with all my friends is hard,“ said Åström. “But after thinking about it, what is one day compared to one year full of experiences?”

With a love for traveling and experiencing other cultures, Åström looks forward to finding out what else her year at CHS will bring. Having stepped out of her home country to experience a completely different lifestyle, Åström is experiencing the average life of an American teenager firsthand.