swedenusa

Time just rushes by. I can´t believe we are going to the US in just two weeks. It feels like we were just there. I have a picture of snow and cold. As if time is standing still over there. It will be weird to come there and notice that it is warmer than here. It is about 1,5 years since I lived there and as that life fades in the distance I remember it more and more romantic. Better and brighter and funner than it really was. I like it though. It is as it should be. Our minds are perfectly created to remember the best of times!

Tomorrow early I am going to Stockholm for a conference with work. I won´t be able to see relatives, which is sad. Unless someone can come downtown Stockholm for a quick fika on Thursday evening…

Many of you have commented on the gingerbread flavored ice cream sandwich episode a few months ago. Here is an update;

 I got a package in the mail the other day from my nephew Jaeger. He is a pretty sharp kid (with great penmenship) He sent a “care package” and inside was a freeze dried ice cream sandwich! I was so excited to tear it open and taste it!

So I though I would try it in front of the camera…

Here is what it looked like;

Words cannot describe the experience;

Last weekend was the Eurovision Song Contest. An annual event 52 years running. Every year is full of anticipation and the newspaper run front page news about the “stars” that are up to compete. Every year is full of surprises and strange entries from various countries.

Last year I phoned in to place my vote on Russia. We can´t vote for our own country. Russia placed second but the song was on the radio all summer. This year I really enjoyed Ukraine. Yes… I did vote and guess what… Ukraine placed second. I thought it was such a funny performance. The guy is a well known comedian in Ukraine. Click on the picture below to see and listen to the performance.

 UKRAINE

The winner this year was a slow song from Serbia. Sweden placed somewhere towards the last place. A big uproar followed in the papers. Foul! The countries only vote for their neighbours. That is unfair! People get so upset because Eastern European countries did much better than Western European countires. Hey people! We were really bad! You have to have catchy songs, fun performance - true entertainment! I voted for Moldavia and Ukraine.

Serbia                                   Sweden

Click on the pics to see the performances.

Oh, and then there was the angry people that thought Ukraine was worthless mainly because of the silver aluminum foiled look. Check out Sweden… that would be an aluminum silver look too!

Sam has been helping out at the Red Cross second hand store in town. A couple of months ago some high school students asked Sam if he could be part of a fashion show. It would feature the clothes sold in the second hand store.

As it turned out Sam didn´t have to be in it since they had plenty of high school students that wanted to show off on the runway. Sam is in the background taking a picture.

My niece heard about the fashion show and wanted to be in it. She and her friend spent a lot of time and effort to be part of it. For a second hand store fashion show planned by high schoolers I thought it was a great show.

They had two showings and quite a few people came out to watch. it was a beautiful day and I had a wonderful time with my niece and her friend.

This is them having a fika after the show.

During this Winter and Spring I have been participating in a series of classes with work. It is a major event and a lot of money, planning, and effort has been put into this.

Participating in this is several different service providers in the city including staff from the county hospital. The thought it that we will get to know each other and be able to work across borders to best serve the clients.

To get to know each other they have placed the education 1 hour outside of town in hotels where we all get room and board payed for and we have activites at night.

Last week we all gathered at a hotel and conference center namned “Gyllene Uttern” or the “Golden Otter”. There is a view of lake Vättern and the island in the center.

This is a Thursday morning as we all arrive for the morning coffee before getting started with lectures. It was a great Spring day. Just a little bit too cold to sit in the shade! I thought it looked so funny how everyone packed themselves around a few tables just to sit in the sun.

 I suppose I should write a little bit about the education… CBT, CRA, RP, and MI. I think that just about covers it all!

Any questions? Didn´t think so!

Now to more pictures…

I went for a walk with some coworkers and got some nice pictures. I finally get to share some of the flowers that covers the ground in our Swedish forrests.

I just love the little cabins, the waterstreams, and my friends skipping rocks on the lake!

Here is the view from my hotel room. I love this lake it is so pretty! You can even see the northen tip of the island.

Well, It was April 30th…and that means it was time for valborgsmassoafton here in Sweden. Basically it is a community bonfire with games, hotdogs and “fika”. Oh yeah, and singing, they love to sing over here! Anyway, we went with some friends from our church to a place about 20 miles outside of Jönköping.

Our first order of business (after a fika) was to participate in a “tipsrunda.” Basically, it is a trivia contest + nature walk. Who knew those 2 things could go together?

So, attached to that fence is a paper with a question on it, then we write the answer on our score card and continue down the path. Anyway, I am spending all this time describing this to you so I can brag that we WON! 3 of us got the highscore and walked away with the prizes!

Here we are showing off our loot!

If you look closely you can see another bonfire across the lake…

Here is ours.

Not the biggest…but we did have fireworks!