American au pair in Stockholm: Sälen skiing trip for New Years

Cross Country Skiing. Where to begin. The first evening we were in Sälen, my host family decides that they want to cross country ski and that I need to try it. Before I even get both skis on, I fall. Great start. All I could hear in my head was my host family saying, "I thought you said you had skied before?". Of course they were a little more supportive than that. But it's embarrassing when you are out-skiied by a 5 and 7 year old. Gabriel and Ella kept looking at me like, who is this chick and what is she doing? Everyone in the family is a pro at XC, then there's me, who can barely stay standing on my skis, let alone move. Then they say, "We are just going to down this small hill". Small hill, right... This "small hill" was Mt. Everest to me. After about 20 minutes I made it down the hill. Not without falling each time when I wanted to stop though. Because my self esteem wasn't small enough, they had to take me on the children's rope tow (which I had never done), which I of course fell on. There are now new au pair requirements in regard to winter sports. Later, when we get home, Andreas decides to tell me, "Well, actually you're supposed to XC ski in a track". Which we didn't. He also said, "and you're not actually supposed to go down big hills". Which we did. So not a great first time XC skiing, but I did it! The next day Johanna and I went out in an actual track and went about 3 km, and I only fell maybe 5 times total. It is really fun after you get the hang of it though, and as long as there are no hills!

Gabriel and I ready to hit to Swedish slopes. Downhill skiing this time, thank goodness!

Ella and Gabriel flying down the mountain. They beat me down every time. Did these kids come out of the womb on skis or what?

Johanna and Ella outside the lodge.

Gabriel and I in Sälen.

Steak and lobster for dinner on NYE. One of the best meals I have had in Sweden so far!

Taken from about halfway up the mountain (Swedish mountains are relatively flat compared to Oregon and Washington mountains). That is Högfjällshotellet (our hotel) at the bottom of the mountain

The flats we stayed in. It is called "ski in, ski out", meaning that you can just walk outside your door, put on your skis, and ski down a smaller mountain to get to the chair lift. Do we have this in the US?