Jan. 19 - Mjölby Curling Club

My final night with the Landelius was spent watching the kids @ curling practice.  (Lars is one of the coaches....such a fascinating sport.)  I did try pushing the stone - without the teflon-soled booties they slip on over their regular shoes...imagine how slippery the ice gets with teflon!

 My first attempt went barely 10 meters, and the second maybe 20.  It is much more difficult than it looks.  The stones have a very small surface area that comes in contact with the ice, which is kept just barely at freezing point.  The stone is so heavy, with the weight condensed into a small area in the center, making it freeze slightly into the ice between throws.  Even the foot brace didn't help much; you're supposed to use only your legs to push it off on its way down the lane.

 The ice is made smooth first with an ice machine, like a small Zamboni.  A light spray of water, from a pack that is strapped to the back, is applied next, making the ice pebbly, with different size bumps, but still very slippery.

 The ice is perfect when it grabs the stone just a bit and allows the broomers to sweep enough friction to melt it ever so slightly.  (Here's one of the best sites I could find about how curling is played & scored - http://www.curldc.org/about/basics.php)

 The final step is to push a light, large push mob across the ice, picking up small slivers which could send the stone off by a few millimeters.

Axel, looking out into the future of his curling success!  (Emma is really good at sports, too...they are both talented kids + Emma's height helps much.)

Jan. 30 - Stats

It's difficult to balance immersing yourself in a culture, allowing it to teach you what you came to learn & link back to US devised tasks, like blogging.  I often feel torn, wanting to share with friends who write, saying they enjoy reading about my year away from the US, but knowing the two to three hours it takes each blog entry to load pictures, adapt them to fit best on the page & then try to write something somewhat interesting to read could be spent interacting with Sweden, or Italy, or India.

Blogspot stats sure are an inspiration to keep writing...to find a way to continue to share experiences.  It's a neat phenomenon to have family,  friends, & friends of friends, following my journey.  As of 8:40 p.m Swedish time, January 30, 2012 people in ten countries have viewed IndiaH2oJourney:

United States

India

Russia

Sweden

Germany

United Kingdom

Netherlands

Hong Kong

Latvia

Australia   Thank you for making time in your daily lives to peek into mine!

Jan. 14 - WINTER! Aaahhh....

We spent a very relaxing end of the week hanging out at the house...chatting away in English & laughing late into the night, enjoying snapps!  Sofie & Lars live in one of the family farm homes, made even more stunningly post-card Swedish by our first real snow! 

I thought we may not get enough snow for me to enjoy while in Sweden - it had been nearly 10º C some days - but my wish came true & we were able to head out to  a Nordic ski area in the woods near their home.  Cold felt really, truly wonderful!  I trudged through the woods for the entire time they were skiing - except for a little hot cocoa break with the kids!

 Axel was a pro on this fancy snow slide he got for Christmas!

Weak winter sun shining through tree trunks, pale yellow ball.  This photo was taken around 3:00 p.m..the sun never climbs all the way into the sky but scoots 30º or so above the horizon line in a nearly flat arc.

Jan. 6 - Linköping - Landelius Land

It was wonderful to arrive in Linköping  station having been there before, both with Kaitlin & Alec in 2010 & to change trains on our way to Jördö before Christmas @ the farm...I knew just where to go, headed off the platform...and nearly missed connecting with my cousin Lars, who had seen me as I stepped off the train!  Moments like this - realizing I've been at a train station in Sweden more than once within two years is such a tangible point for me to feel so fortunate.

We'd planned only a week together, though my cousins had offered as much time as I needed in Sweden; after a day of seeing the sun rise and set across the same fields my grandmother's grandmother had left to move to America I hoped the week would go by very slowly.  (Sweden is just north enough for the winter days to be quite a bit shorter than in  Minnesota.  The sun also rises & sets over the horizon extremely quickly, creating a 360º bowl of rainbow colors which surround the hundred year old family farm house I was staying in with the younger of the Landelius family.

 Wind turbines stand tall in the flat, fertile fields...there were three installed when we visited in 2010 - there are now at least seven within eye-sight from the farm.  The farmer's get part of the electricity from each turbine & then sell the rest to the city.  Lars said that Linkoping, the closest large city, about 20 km away from the farm, creates all of its energy from alternative sources, including burning garbage, allowing the city to be "off the grid" more days out of the year than they are on.

My second night with family was spent visiting the elder generation of Landelius cousins, who align with my generation of the family tree, Sune & Solvig. 

 Axel lights Christmas tree decorations which are like sparklers!  SO cool...wish we had them in the US.

 Emma on her phone...Facebook calling.  (She is sitting with her head on the embroidered table cloth I gave to Solvig for Christmas...I hoped it would fit their massive table for family dinners.  It was so sweet on the day I left she made sure I walked into the other room to see it spread out, all pressed, in their home.  Quite the set of connections...a US relative giving Indian gifts which look Scandinavian!

 My immediate cousins - Solvig & Sune Landelius

 The "four" generations of ladies - even though we represent three generations there are still nearly 20+ years between each of us.

The Landelius younger generation - Axel, Lars, me, Emma & Sofie.


Dinner - like all Swedish meals - was prepared perfectly, presented beautifully & filled with yummy, healthy food!

 Riced potatoes in the center, salmon with asparagus & lemon in front, with dill butter sauce in boat to the side, homemade rolls & salad completed the main course.  (There were two kinds of cake & ice cream for dessert, too!)

We had read through the artifacts the family holds from Emma Landelius, my direct relative, when we visited but I'd not taken any photos of the actual documents, nor spent time reading them...we had so much less time.  So it was particularly special to sit for a longer time and read through the letters, cards & family tree materials Solvig & Sofie had gathered over years of research.

 Post card sent home from Liverpool, England, Emma's last port of call before leaving Europe.

A God Jul - Merry Christmas - card Emma sent to her father from Minneapolis.  Sofie translated it for me - she asked about neighbors who are still living in the area and shared that she was busy getting settled on Lowry Avenue!

Jan. 5 - 1 klas

Can't resist posting in real time while hurtling through southern Sweden in a magnificent 1st klas coach (they call them vagen - wagons), even though I've yet to catch up blogging about the holiday extravaganza I've been fortunate enough to experience since arriving in Sweden.  While these moments are becoming a bit less common as I get used to calling home somewhere other than Minnesota, I'm most certainly feeling quite global tonight: wearing borrowed hiking boots from friends who I met through Kaitlin's exchange program in Sweden, some of my most aged blue jeans from US, a long, tailored kameez (Indian tunic), Bangladeshi & West Bengali bracelets women wear when they are partnered, my favorite scarf from a friend in Chandandagar, Houghly district, WB, all topped off with a simply stunning, cream-colored hand knit sweater on loan from a friend in Karlskrona to stave off the encroaching, long overdue cold temperatures!  OH & riding in a Swedish train with internet service, seats wide enough to easily sleep in, fresh brewed coffee, fruits & snacks, a huge bistro car with pizza, sandwiches, both soft & hard beverages & glass doors which whoosh like the sci-fi movies from my childhood.  Quite the ride - both the train & my reality.  Very humbling.  Incredibly rich in learning & connections.  I am so fortunate.

(Just wish they'd read announcements in Swedish & English...or, better yet, that I knew Swedish!)

Information on the Swedish train system...
http://www.sj.se/sj/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=120&l=en

Dec. 14 - Learning the Tube

Detailed directions to & from Ska Edeby were a gift from Maria, waiting for me when I awoke two hours after she left for work, my internal clock stubbornly refusing to jive with the Swedish one on my bedside.  

The Swedish train system is renowned.  Known also as an underground art gallery, with each station having a theme, it surpasses its functional beauty with precision timing & immaculate trains.

An art installation at a central Stockholm station. There are five windows with simulated tunnels dug into the wall & representations of global landmarks.

Living so far outside a major urban area would pose a problem in most places I’ve lived or visited...we’d certainly have many hours added to our time, requiring multiple transfers, should we want to travel from the far suburbs to inner Minneapolis.   They simply wouldn’t find that efficient in Stockholm.  Buses from even her remote area run hourly, with transfers to the next leg arriving every 15 minutes.  Save that first bus, which carries you just over a kilometer, making a short walk easier than waiting for the bus should you miss the hourly pickup right outside your door, I never  had to wait more than ten minutes to make the dozens of train and bus transfers in my first week.  Large signs pronounce the next arrival down to the minute & calm voices call out each new stop well in advance. 

Maria & I planned to meet after she got off work, so I left early, arriving at the Odenplan tube station about two hours before we were going to connect.  The station opened into a broad street, decorated for the holidays, with shops & restaurants lining each roads off the intersection.  A large church loomed beautifully over the entire area, from a slightly raised vantage, so I climbed towards a thick wooden church door, getting my bearings before sliding into the sanctuary’s silence.

A small church model was in the children's niche in the back of the church.  Many sanctuaries in Sweden have a children's play space for during the ceremony.  (The top of the steeple was about 20 feet high.)

It was fun to see an elephant in the creche set!

Our 2010 European trip taught us to expect a calming combination of splendor & spirituality when we visited spaces of worship in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark Switzerland & Sweden.  We never became jaded, no matter how many we visited, & my time in this first of several churches in Stockholm brought me immediately back to strolling through silent serenity with Kaitlin & Alec.


My first solo venture into the city ended with a relaxing cappiccino in a cafe/deli that filled their dessert case with beautiful treats, including marzipan pigs & tomte, the Swedish version of Santa Claus.

Dec. 14 - Swedish Sun

Arriving a week before Winter Solstice assured I would be experiencing short days in Stockholm.  Minnesota, too, has a much shorter day in the winter, so I didn’t think much about how it may be different.  Many Swedish days are like Minnesota - grey mornings, the sky the color of a nuthatch feather - but the nearness of the sea creates a theatrical fog which may last almost to noon.  It is the winter nights that teach one much about Sweden - deep palettes of vibrant colors stretch across the horizon in thin streaks as the sun begins to set near 2:45 p.m., leaving the city brights with lights by 3:15 & the countryside so dark even a flashlight beam weakens within a few feet.

Cityscapes

 Camera time stamp = 4:22 pm

 Seascapes

 8:23 a.m

 1:15 p.m

One week after Solstice - no photoshopping :-) - dusk on the Baltic Sea