Before Samantha Conjour moved to Stockholm, Sweden, she doodled a note on the whiteboard in her room for Jakob Windt to read when he arrived in the United States. While living in the house, he never erased the message. When Conjour returned after three years, the whiteboard still displayed “good luck.”

In the beginning of Aug. 2014, Conjour and her family moved from River Vale to Stockholm, Sweden, and Windt moved from Gothenburg, the second biggest city in Sweden, to the Conjour house. Now PV sophomores, Conjour and Windt were entering seventh grade during the moving experience.

The Nilsson family, neighbors of the Conjours and workers at The Volvo Group  with the Windt family knew that the Windts were moving to the United States and the Conjour family was moving to Sweden.

Conjour’s mother Mona exchanged numbers with Windt’s mother Anika and began to chat about the moving process to Sweden and the United States. The families decided that the Windts would rent the Conjour house as the Conjours moved to Stockholm.

The Conjours to Sweden

Conjour and her family lived in Baltimore, Maryland, prior to living in River Vale.

Samantha Conjour’s father Alex worked at Wallenius Wilhelmsen, a shipping and mailing company located in Stockholm, Sweden. He had been traveling back and forth between the United States and Sweden which overall made the family decide to move to Stockholm.

Conjour, along with her parents and sister Julia, lived in Stockholm for 3 years.

“Before moving to Sweden, I was nervous to make friends and I did not know if the school was going to be different,” Conjour said. “Since my dad traveled there often, we knew everyone in Stockholm spoke English as their second language. From the age of 14, they could speak English fluently.”

She played soccer while in Stockholm and all of her teammates spoke English.

For her younger sister, however, her soccer teammates were not fluent in speaking English and she had trouble communicating with the players.

“It took awhile to get used to hearing Swedish while walking around,” Conjour said. “I know basic conversations. I can get by going to the grocery store or ordering at a restaurant.”

Conjour went to British International School of Stockholm for the 3 years she lived in Sweden.

“I starting taking International GCSEs which is a 2 year curriculum,” she said. “After the 2 years, I had to take exams and send them off to be graded. Then, you get a certificate and move higher to the Advance levels.”

Her grades were based on tests and her participation in class rather than receiving a letter grade. The homework levels were similar to the amount given at PV.

For her first year of school, there were 11 people in her grade. By the third year, there were 16.

While living in Stockholm, the Conjour and her family traveled throughout Europe due to the proximity of all the countries.

“I’ve visited around 16 to 17 countries,” she said. “At the top of my head, I’ve been to France, Italy, Germany, England, Ireland, Scotland, Estonia, Latvia, and Iceland.”

On July 13, Conjour returned to her original house in River Vale. She hopes to visit her friends in Sweden this upcoming summer.

The Windts to the United States

Windt’s father Johan worked at The Volvo Group in Gothenburg, Sweden, and was transferred to Rockleigh, N.J

When Windt was 6 years old, his family moved to Belgium. They stayed there for two years before moving back to Gothenburg. After returning, they stayed in Sweden for 5 years before moving to the United States.

Windt lived in Ellös, Gothenburg, and for school, attended Ellös Skola.

“School at Pascack Valley is more organized and strict,” Windt said. “In Sweden, you are able to leave school at any time you desire. You can walk out after class if you ever wanted to.”

When arriving in the United States, the Windts moved into the Conjours’ house. Windt understood and spoke English in a month because he had learned the language in Sweden.

“The first month, I just sat quietly,” he said. “I was able to understand what people are saying in English before I moved here, but talking to others was the hardest part.”

Once the Conjours returned back to the United States, the Windts moved to a different house in River Vale.

“When my friends in Sweden went to high school, I have lost contact with a few of them, since the schools are spread throughout all of Sweden,” Windt said. “[However], I still have contact with most of them through Skype and Snapchat.”

Windt enjoys traveling throughout the United States. One of his favorite places he visited was Key West, Florida, where he went this past New Year’s Day.  

“Next year, I am planning on moving back to my house in Sweden,” Windt said. “We were supposed to move after two years, but we extended the time to another year. I’m going to miss my friends here in the United States.”