Wow, it’s been five years since I last updated this page. Oops! Much has happened since October 2017. Let’s break it down into two sections: work-related and private.

Work-wise, I’ve been doing the same thing for the past five years but been promoted and changed consultancy firm once. I’ve moved on to enormous projects and have gained quite the reputation and am very confident in my role as a project manager. I love doing what I do!

In private, I’ve worked a lot on my own writing and am currently on the third draft of the first book in this trilogy. I haven’t touched it in a year though, since I decided to focus on my beach volleyball career. I’ve progressed a lot in the past year and like where this is going. It takes a lot of time.

At home, I still have my two fur babies Cleo and Ramses and they are better than ever. Ever since Mikael came into the picture in January 2020, our family has been complete.

//Alexandra Bemm.
(2022-10-23)

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It’s been a month since I got the title “Assisting Project Manager” at a big and global consultancy firm in the construction sector. All those years at university has finally paid off! I really like my new job, but I still find it hard to understand that I am so grown up that I have a desk job. I am working in a wide range of projects and that’s what I want to do now, try everything and then decide which direction I want to take. Super fun stuff!

Because of this new job and the adjustment to a life based on routines, I have not read as much as I would have wanted lately. I am currently 6 books behind my Goodreads goal. Sad. A contributing factor to less reading is the fact that I am writing my own book now. It is not going as fast as it did this summer, but I have lots of ideas and know exactly how I want to move forward. I just have to find peace and quiet and write.

I feel like a whole new person! Maybe this is what it feels like to be a grown-up for real?

//Alexandra Bemm.
(2017-10-14)

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In June 2017, I graduated from Chalmers University of Technology with a MSc in International Project Management (BSc in Civil and Building Engineering, 2015). I am currently searching for a job fitting my degree and until I have that contract signed, I am working as an attraction operator at Liseberg and part time as a high school teacher. Both are very fun jobs, but I can’t wait until I have a real 9-17 job.

I read a lot of books, have been reviewing some lately and that has triggered my old interest in writing. When I was young I wrote short novellas all the time and it was always a dream to write and publish a book of my own at some point. Now, I feel like I am at that point and have therefore started writing my own fantasy book.

When I am not reading or writing, I am playing beach volleyball or cuddling with my two cats, Cleo and Ramses, or playing Guild Wars 2.

//Alexandra Bemm.
(2017-07-07)

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Here we are, almost a year later. I swear from now on, I will update this at least every six months!

As of just now, I have a master of science in international project management, I am also one week away from being done being a teacher. A full academic year goes fast! I truly enjoyed being a teacher, I learned a lot about myself, I reconnected with my bachelor of science and got to know some amazing kids. It was a great experience and if I don’t find a full-time job as a consultant right away, I can definitely see myself doing it for another year because I have so many improvements and ideas for another year.

I am still playing beach volleyball and I have been coaching again for the past semester. It was fun. And I have also read a lot, and working a few days here and there at Liseberg. Always the multitasker. Right now though I have a short “summer vacation” until I start working full-time at Liseberg on June 23rd. After those two months, well, I guess only the boob wizard knows (that is a reference to the crazy game ‘Exploading Kittens’, hilarious game).

//Alexandra Bemm.
(2017-06-09)

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I update this page not often enough… I have been home for more than a year now (it’s funny how I measure time in how long I have been between travels). Plan A didn’t work out like I planned, so I applied for a master program at Chalmers and was very surprised when I got accepted three weeks into the program. I did well even though I missed a lot. Much better than in my bachelor. One year of graduate courses and I got good grades, maybe I finally found something I will be good at and enjoy? But since I can’t be sure, which I probably never will anyway, I am trying other things. A part of me always wanted to be a teacher, so now I am trying it out to see if it is worth adding more time in school after I get my MS to become a licensed teacher. This new job is as a substitute teacher in 3 courses at a high school in a neighboring city. I have only done preparatory stuff yet but I am really excited to meet the students next week and start classes in two. Wish me luck!

//Alexandra Bemm.
(2016-08-17)

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Whoa! Those 9 months flew by like I’ve never seen before. I am back in Sweden after the best year of my life so far. Cal Poly was an amazing school, I have met amazing people and learned so much about myself and everything else. I graduated with really good grades, I now have a BS, but I am not sure what to do with it. Right now I am having fun at my work as an attraction operator at Liseberg, the amusement park in my hometown. Plan A right now is to go back to Cal Poly in 2016 to get my MS, but if that won’t work out, I might move to Australia for a while? Or stay here in cold Sweden and work and settle down? I don’t know, I feel confused about this whole graduating-thingy, it came upon me too fast and I don’t know what to do. I am getting old, but I am not ready to be old yet.

I will take one day at a time, and now I can do that with my amazing boyfriend Jesper while we try to figure out this thing called life together <3.

//Alexandra Bemm.
(2015-07-28)

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Almost four weeks ago I started my second life-changing adventure in a very short amount of time. I once again left Sweden to go abroad for a year. In 2013 I was an au pair in Carlsbad, CA (a suburban city in San Diego county) and I loved that life. I loved it so much that 13 months wasn’t enough. I returned home to Sweden in February this year and was home for seven months before I moved back. Not to San Diego, but a small city on the central coast of California, called San Luis Obispo. For those who don’t know, it is home to Cal Poly (California Polytechnic State University), one of the best-rated state universities in California. I can’t do anything else than agree. I love it! It’s different from San Diego, smaller, not as close to the beaches, not as many palm trees, but I am still very happy to be here.

I’ve already made a ton of friends, my three American roommates are amazing and my classes are going well so far. In Sweden I am a building and civil engineer major at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. Here in California I am an exchange student doing my third and senior year. It is a bit scary thinking that I will have my Bachelor of Science degree when I return home in July, but I am thinking about getting a Master of Science, but that’s way in the future and just plans for now.

This year is all about the American college experience, trying new things, travel and having fun. I am already a bit sad that I have to leave, so I try to live in the here and now and enjoy every single day <3.

//Alexandra Bemm.
(2014-10-08)

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I am Alexandra, a satisfied-with-life 23 year-old. I am in my prime and am so enjoying life right now. I’ve been home in Sweden for more than six months since I spent 13 months in beautiful San Diego, CA. I am having a great time back home even if I, of course, miss my life under the palm trees. But in no more than 54 days (September 12^th) I will be moving back to Cali to be an exchange student this time at a university called California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly. I am now completely done with all of those preparations, I’ve bought my one-way flight ticket, I have a dorm room on campus waiting for me, I’ve chosen all my courses for the first semester, my visa is approved and I have all my legal documents ready. The only thing missing is my packed suitcase. I am excited, to say the least! To get a chance to move back to the Golden State is… just golden!

My plans for the summer changed in the last minute. Instead of working with old people’s home service I got a job at Liseberg, the amusement park in my hometown, Gothenburg. It is the best job I’ve ever had (except for my au pair job last year)! I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to work there. I love my colleagues and with happy guests it is not hard being happy back.

Liseberg and my CalPoly preparations are pretty much everything that happens in my life at the moment. But there is nothing wrong with that :).

//Alexandra Bemm.
(2014-07-19)

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For three months I have now been back in Sweden. My life is back to normal and San Diego is like a distant dream. I miss it a lot! But I am so glad to be back home too, I’ve had my worries about not getting a job for the summer and be able to pay rent and flight tickets back to the US. But it worked out in the end. I will work with home service and go home to old people (most of the times) and take care of them. It will be like the au pair job, except with old people instead of with kids.

Since I got back on February 4th I have started studying again at Chalmers University of Technology. My bachelor thesis is almost done (first draft deadline in a week), and the exam for the class Structural Engineering is closing up a little too fast. But I am sure it will be fine.

I have experienced a day of snow, the amazing Swedish spring and even a day or two of summer warmth. I didn’t realize while I was in California that I missed the Swedish seasons. But this time of the year is simply one of the best things there is. Everything is light green, flowers everywhere, surprisingly many days of blue sky and many days when jackets aren’t needed. I love this!

I have also been reunited with the guy I fell in love with right before I moved to California. It was like 13 months never happened.

My last but big piece of news is that in four months I will be going back to California to be an exchange student. I will not be in San Diego, but 4-5h north, in a University town called San Luis Obispo. I am right now in the middle of course registration and applying for an apartment. I can’t apply for the visa just yet, I haven’t got my DS-2019 papers, but as soon as I do that process will begin too.

Life is good, even here in “cold” Sweden :).

//Alexandra Bemm.
(2014-05-02)

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My new life as an au pair has almost come to its end. I’m not 21 years old anymore, but 22, and getting closer to 23 as every day goes by. I have seven more weeks in this incredible hostfamily of mine before I leave this amazing place to go to a probably even more amazing place, Hawaii. After my 12 months of work I will have a whole month in this country, when I can do whatever I want. I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii, so that’s where I will go. 2.5 weeks on Oahu, Maui and Big Island. I still can’t believe that I’m actually are going there! I really look forward to it, but at the same time, that will be the last thing I do here before I go home to Sweden again.

My feelings are so mixed right now it’s ridiculous. I really don’t want to leave, but at the same time it will be really nice going back home. I have had a really amazing year and I am so glad I decided to do this. Such a great experience and my English has improved so much! Even if my hostfamily is Swedish, my first instinct when I wake up suddenly, is to speak English. People tell me all the time that I look like a real California girl with my tan and sunbleached hair. They tell me I act like a California person when I complain about the “cold” weather. It will be really weird going back. To leave all the palm trees, the blue sky, the beaches and all the cute animals (not the spiders though, couldn’t say goodbye to them too soon!).

I am so grateful for my hostfamily who has taken care of me so well, and the kids… I couldn’t have imagined getting better kids. They are 7 and 11 now and they are the sweetest kids ever. So well behaved, so adorable and lovable. It will be a hell saying goodbye to them in less than ten weeks when I leave for Sweden…

Most au pairs are stressed at this time of their au pair year because they feel like they didn’t do everything they wanted to. But since everyone told me in the beginning how fast the year would go by, I’ve already done everything I want to. Florida would have been nice, but that is so close to Sweden, so I can do that whenever. I’ve seen Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, everything there is to see in San Diego, San Francicso, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Houston, Phoenix. I have tried to surf, I’ve played a lot of beach volleyball with amazing people and tried a lot of restaurants. What’s left is Disneyland and Hawaii. It feels so good to have that feeling, that I can go home with no regrets.

So this is how my close future looks like. On January 15^th I will leave for Oahu. Jan 20^th-28^th I will be on Maui and until Feb 2^nd I will be on Big Island. I will be back in San Diego at 8:20pm on Sunday Feb 2^nd and my flight for Sweden leaves on Monday Feb 3^rd at 6:15am. I could have gotten a better flight home from Cultural Care, but I think this is actually good. I will have about 34h of travel time with a 9h “rest” in San Diego, so I will feel like crap when I come home. But it’s better to rip the bandaid of quickly instead of slowly.

//Alexandra Bemm.
(2013-11-26)

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My new life as an au pair has begun. I am still 21 years old, I still have the same interests as before; reading, watching movies, working out, playing beach volleyball, hanging out with friends and trying new things. The big change happened four weeks ago when I moved from my safe bubble in Gothenburg, Sweden to California. I am living in the USA!! I still find that rather hard to understand. But it’s amazing here, I love my new life.

I am living in a small town (the burbs) called Carlsbad, about 30 min north of San Diego. My host family is partly Swedish, which has both its good and bad sides. The good, I am never misunderstood. The bad, I don’t speak as much English as I was hoping I would. And that is why my blog is only in English.

The kids I am taking care of are a boy the age of 6 and a girl the age of 10. They are both adorable and surprisingly neat. They are still children though, stubborn, tiny energy packages and totally absent-minded. But I love them and now I know for sure that I will have the greatest year ever!

//Alexandra Bemm.
(2013-02-04)

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I haven’t done anything with my life yet… But that is about to change, A LOT! During my 21 years I have been living in Gothenburg, Sweden. I have a pretty okay life here. An awesome apartment downtown, studies at Chalmers University of Technology, beach volleyball and two cats. I am scared of what will happen when I finish my studies. I am going to have to settle down, get a job and be a responsible adult. I don’t think a 22 year old is ready for that.

So, In January 2013 I am gonna leave everything behind, take a break in my studies and go on my biggest adventure yet. I am going to move to USA, more specific Carlsbad in California. I am going to work as an au pair for a year. The family seems great (they are actually part Swedish) and I can’t wait until I meet them.

2013 is going to be amazing!

//Alexandra Bemm.
(2013-01-01)