Family in Stockholm

As promised, I've got some photos for you. My dad and mom arrived on a Sunday morning at the beginning of April and stayed in Sweden for two weeks. I was lucky to have a chance to feel the comfort of family in a place I've come to love so much.

I had to work the first week my parents were here, so they spent their first several days visiting my classroom and showing themselves around Stockholm and the surrounding area. During the second week of their trip, we rented a car and drove west to Karlstad, the area of my Swedish ancestry. We stayed at a cottage on Lake Vänern and spent our days there chatting, reading many books, eating lots of soup, snacking on licorice, drinking tea, sitting by the water, and walking through the woods (mindful of the ticks, of course). We also were able to share a cozy meal on a rainy afternoon with some of my dad's Swedish family.

I suppose this visit is old news now, but the memories are still warm and bright in my mind and I wanted to share with you some images from our time together.  

Our cottage for the week.

Down the stairs from the cottage: a sauna.

View from the wrap-around porch.

Dad, making potato-leek soup on our first evening at the cottage.

Sunny living room.

...with a cozy fireplace.

Another view of our lovely lakeside sauna.

We headed north in our rental car to explore Sweden... and found ourselves in the land of the dalahäst!

Before...

...and after.

Carl Larsson's house.

Swedish countryside.

Barn near our cottage.

Hiking through the Lake Vänern woods.

Signs of spring!

Last sunset from our porch.

 

The Familiar

Trudging through the snow this evening, I think about how annoying it is that my socks are sliding off my feet inside my boots. I ponder what leftovers I will have for dinner later on. I notice the purple-gray color of the sky. I think about doing laundry. I am not thinking about how desperately I miss my friends, or how to get back to my apartment, or how much I feel like an outsider.

I feel at home. 

After living here for six months and becoming familiar with my surroundings, I have the luxury of focusing on the small things. This is not to say that I don't still feel like an outsider on a regular basis-- without the language, without the cultural knowledge, and without a smart phone, I still play the part of "confused American" quite well from time to time.

So, some news! I’ve decided to stay on another year. My reasoning:
•  I’d like to explore more of this part of the world, and another year in Stockholm will allow me to do that.
•  My job is fantastic. My co-workers are great, my principal is supportive, my kids are awesome. Of course, there are some things I would change about my work. But overall, I’m pretty lucky.

•  Fika.
•  I’m just beginning to form real relationships. I’ve been surrounded by friendly folks since my arrival here, but I’m finally developing meaningful friendships with some wonderful people.

•  I'm determined to learn Swedish.
•  I like the idea of putting down roots somewhere. My Meadville/Edinburgh/San Francisco/Honesdale adventures all felt very temporary, and while I don’t know how long I’ll stay here, it’s nice to know where I’ll be for another 18 months.

My holiday break, by the way, was lovely. It was full of friends and family, food and happy fat cats. Here's visual proof:

I apologize for not being committed to this little writing project. I have received several pushy/curious e-mails from my few faithful readers expressing concern over my lack of blog posts. Warranted or not, this made me feel important. Since you made me feel important, I am back at it, with all sorts of important things to say. Prepare yourselves!