Long time no blog

It's not that I don't love you, I just haven't blogged in a few weeks. My apologies. The reason I haven't been is that little worth photographing has come up in our first weeks here at SVF. We're getting involved a little with some of the classes (English, Political Science, Environmental Studies, International Relations, History, The Bible... quite a few classes, actually) but our days aren't quite as filled as they used to be back in March.

But now the days are longer, the trees are greener, and the air is almost warm enough for shorts and t-shirts. We've just been driving all around Southeastern Sweden, Roland's old stomping grounds; this past extended weekend we visited more cities and cites than I think I can remember, meeting some of Roland's old companions and family along the way. Even though I spent the better part of four days crammed into a Ford Fiesta, we did some pretty fun and remarkable things.

Even though our adventure officially disembarked on Thursday, we had dinner Wednesday night at the home of two faculty members here who happen to also be sheep farmers. Apparently in Sweden, you can be a teacher and still have time to keep over a hundred sheep. Either that, or teachers are so poorly paid that they need to keep animals to make end's meat. The whole experience was very Swedish looking: people laying out on the green grass, red barns and a yellow farm house set in an open field with animals grazing where they please, and enjoying an outdoor dinner set on IKEA dishware. And we had beef, not lamb, on the table. Here's a video of one of the students getting a sheep to baah at us:

Thursday morning we set out north, initially visiting the town where arctic explorer Solomon August Andree was born and stopping in at the museum dedicated to the history of him and the surrounding area. Although his name might not ring any bells, he is remarkable in that he attempted in 1897 to get to the north pole by hot air balloon, failed, crashed on North Island, took lots of pictures, then died. He's most remarkable for the pictures part of it, because when he was found 30 years later by some Norwegians, the negatives were still mostly intact. It was fairly interesting, but the fake polar bear mats to sit on, along with the odd looking models (we saw a Yoda look-alike making candy) were amusing.

That afternoon we spent with a man Roland met when he first got to America and studied in Seattle named Brian. He's an assistant professor at two universities, one in Seattle and the other in Stockholm, and is a veritable font of information about basically anything related to Scandinavian historical anthropology, along with geology, history, and art (among many other things as well). He first took us around his farm, which is part of and on an EU historical cite, so it had all the traditional elements of Swedish farm houses, and there were many other interesting things just lying about. When they built a deck a few decades back, they found pottery shards from the 17th century, axe head blanks from the stone age, and lice combs from the 19th century, just to name a few. There were also rock carin graves all around next to the lake, and a road that was so widely used over the centuries that not only were the wagon wheel treads still barren, but also the lane which horses would trot down. We stood on the spot where Danes would marshal troops on during invasions, many a famous Swede have transversed between Stockholm and continental Europe, and that is one of the few roads left from the pre-industrial era.

He also took us around what could easily be mistaken for Iowa to show us a lot of the local history, which included stops at different kinds of folk churches (endearingly referred to as barn churches because of the style) as well as some iron age pre-viking historical cites, and we even got to see what was designed to be a castle, moat and all, to defend against... the Danes? It's on the north end of Lake Vätten, and is really isolated from any kind of conflict, but at one time Denmark used to control what is now southern Sweden, so at one point in history it may have seemed like building a castle there was a good idea. In fact, a lot of the churches are designed to be miniature fortifications, with armories and defensive structures like walls and towers. Who knew Sweden was once so warlike even the churches were designed for battle?

Thursday was also Valborg, celebrated by some as the coming of spring, shedding of winter, and brought in with a big fire. Others choose to celebrate with excessive amounts of alcohol and fireworks, since the next day is European Labour day, hence a day off of work and school. We spent ours doing the former with the parents of a faculty member at Gustavus, who prepared a lovely dinner for us, and then took us to see a choir perform overlooking a still lake with the setting sun the only fire around us (burning was banned because of the dry spell that has been plaguing the region) and a little church service afterward. It was a very nice end to a very big day.

Friday we went to Kosta, a glass blowing workshop, but unfortunately did not get to see any artists at their trade, since it was Labour day after all. It was still cool to see a lot of their work, which has recently been at ASI as well as other places around the world. It was a beautiful day, so we tanned a little as well. We also went to the Emigrants Museum in Växjö, which surrounded the Swedish migratory population and the author Villheim Moberg and his four-book series called the Emigrants. It was cool to see the Minneapolis skyline in the middle of Sweden, as well as find out a little more about where else lots of Swedes moved to, and why they did it. Not only was there a great economic insentive to move, but many also chose to move because of their religious beliefs, which they couldn't express back in Sweden due to the strict dominance of the Church of Sweden (you couldn't even host a public meeting in your house because people thought you were trying to subvert the church). Finally we ended up in Tingsryd after looking at a couple more historical cites, where we stayed in cabins on a lake.

Saturday was probably the most fun of the whole adventure, because Roland's cousin Gunnar led us around the region that Roland grew up in. To Roland's surprise, about 10 of his relatives also showed up, and Gunnar was dressed in the traditional Urshult garb. So not only did we get some really interesting insights to the local area, we also got to schmooze with the family if we wanted to flex our swedish language muscles. In that area of Sweden, the trees can be so thick the forest is dark at midday, and the traditional ways of farming are still very much alive. We went to an apple orchard and later saw a video about the local apple farmers, and they have to use a schythe to cut the grass, and can't use manure on the trees themselves. We saw a lot of things, ranging from the cite of an old medieval wooden church in which only the cross, stone arch, and altar remained, to Roland's old farm, to the rock that folklore says a giant threw at a church but missed, and so much more. In the evening Roland treated us to a great dinner, where we got to meet his family a little better, and also eat meat and potatoes, which was a delicious alternative to my typical Saturday night dinner of plain noodles and a baguette.

Being familiar with the Swedish chef, I had expected to encounter a lot of Swedes who reminded me of that kind him. I had been surprised at how inaccurate that stereotype of Swedes was, until that is, I went far south on this trip. Skåne, the historically Danish part of Sweden (taken by the Sweden in the late 1600s), is known for its distinctive dialect, and I can't tell you how many Swedish chefs I thought I heard during our time near there. I think I can speak Swedish, and I think I can understand it, but any time someone was talking with that accent, I just stood dumbfounded with the image of pots, pans, and vegetables flying about.

That experience was had some on Saturday, but Sunday we made it down to Karlshamn and dipped into Skåne a little as well. We saw the famous sculpture of The Emigrants (the same as in the books and museum) looking out to the Baltic Sea, which lay right next to the school Roland attended before he came to Seattle. We couldn't get in to see any of the classrooms, but it was neat to be standing on the very stones Roland used to sit out and play hookie on. After a brief tour of Lenneaus's house that he was born in and the farm there, we stopped next to the original IKEA, and made our way back. After four days of cramped travel, some people not showering, and having to listen to really bad Swedish radio, we were all itching to get back. Still, it was really fun to see so much and make a lot of connections to not only the things we've learned about Sweden during our time here, but also placing things Roland has mentioned about his life in Sweden and being a Swede together with a picture and feel of the land he was raised on.

Being back here now reminds me of how much free time I have, and also how short of a time I have left here in Sweden. There's only 16 days left for some people here, which means I have a month and a half left. It still seems like a long time, but now I can break it up and see the time disappearing before me faster than before. I'm also realizing home is nearer now than ever, which makes me both excited and sad, since I've loved my time here and want to stay, but also am beginning to want to see friends and once again feel the pleasures of home. Like an xbox controller ;) or food with some kind of spice.

Next week we spend in Göteborg and the surrounding area, with Mark Johnson and a group of other students as we study the local geology and learn about climatology and other equally interesting things. Until then, it's back to reading books and looking at youtube videos.