Catch up over the last few days…
Sunday July 27:
Today was a
lazy Sunday around town today! I took my time getting ready and eating
breakfast this morning, its much colder here today and a little rainy.
Oskarshamn is a small town so during the weekends most of the shops are closed,
but DJ, Naomi and I made it to this bakery in town, which won best bakery in
Sweden in 2009. We each picked a pastry to split; it was hard to pick a
favorite out of the three! One was a small cake-like chocolate ball with thick
chunks of sugar on top, the other an almond type of pastry made with a flakey
type of bread, and the third a raspberry cream tart! Ohhh yummy!!
Saturday July 25:
Today we
woke up very early, had a quick breakfast and headed to our 8:30AM bus to
Kalmar to visit the big Castle there. It was a fun and full day. We spent about
3-4 hours at the castle and we were lucky enough to catch the 11:30AM tour in
English so we got to hear all the amazing stories behind all the beautiful
pieces of the castle. Some of my favorites had to do with the Queen; in her
bedroom they had an original piece of furniture, her bed, which was stolen from
Denmark quiet some time ago. Our tour guide had us look at the woodwork and
detailing on the bedposts, they were carvings of these beautiful women, but
they all had their noses cut off. He told us that when the stole the bed from
Denmark during the war that they cut the noses off, as they believed then the
ones soul was in their nose, and they were very superstitious and didn’t want
any bad energy from the Danish people due to the bed having been stolen. The
beds were also very short, as they slept sitting up all through the night
because they thought that the “liquids” in the tops of our bodies were
different from the bottom and they couldn’t mix by laying down or else you
would die in your sleep. It’s crazy, right? Can you imagine how uncomfortable!
We also went into this beautiful room, which was for the Queen whenever she had
visitors, it had a special desk for her and the room was full of original
wooden carved panels almost up to the ceiling, which took about 4 years to
create due to the detail. What was really special was that when the doors were
shut they blended right in with the walls as they also had wooden paneling, and
there were no door handles on the doors. So how does the Queen open the door
when she is ready to leave? Well their would be young men who were a type of
apprentice who would stand there all day long and wait for her to clap her
hands so they could open the door for her. As opening doors was seen as a
“task” and not something that the Queen was supposed to do. We also went into
the Royal Dining room where the King would host 8 hour long dinner parties and
if you were invited you could not say no, and they ate and drink for 8 hours
straight! They also invited spectators to stand around the table and watch
everyone eat all night long. Doesn’t sound like any kind of fun to me! I got to
take a picture sitting in a replica of the Kings throne, which was very fitting
I must say! We ended the tour by walking through the chapel, which was filled
with intricate painted detailing, beautiful chandeliers and extravagant wooden
seating made just for royalty, my eyes didn’t know where to look next it was
all so stunning.
We ended our
experience at Kalmar by going into the town and eating a late lunch/early
dinner (I had fish and chips again) it’s just so amazing here I couldn’t pass
up the opportunity! We were at lunch for almost 3 hours! It’s a very different
feeling at the restaurants here, the service is great but they are not rushing
to turn tables here, it’s very a very relaxed feeling, and I almost find my
self feeling anxious inside like we should hurry up and finish but then I
remember that there is no were to rush off to, so it’s certainly a change in
mindset!
Friday July 27th:
During class
today we had a local guest speaker who lives here, named Henrick, he works at
one of the Universities here and he is also the director for the entertainment
at the hockey games. He shared with us the in’s and out’s of Sweden, we learned
that children don’t start school here until they are 7 years old, and that
Sweden has one of the highest literacy rates. We also talked a lot about the
cultural differences between Sweden’s and Americans; we were introduced to the
Law’s of Jante within the Scandinavian communities. The Laws of Jante are sort
of an “unwritten rule” of these cultures and are, in my opinion, about having a
big does of humility. They translate into thinking that you are not better or
greater then anyone else, it’s not about being timid, but more about not being
overconfident and especially so verbal about it. We also talked about the
meaning of Lagom, which is translated as “having just the right amount” here in
Sweden the winters are long and dark and the potatoes won’t last all winter so
they’ve really learned to live their entire lives with this practice about only
having just enough, not to little and not to much. There is a book that Henrick
referenced about “the middle milk” that I want to find and read as this thought
process is very intriguing and very different from the American way of
thinking.
I went into
town with Julia, Naomi and DJ and we walked through more of the shops and
through this area in Oskarshamn which is called old town and it’s a street of
these original home in the town, they are all very cute and unique. We had
lunch at this restaurant near the Harbor, I had the fish and chips and it was
to die for! The fried crispy outside layer with the flakey fish was the perfect
combination.
In the
evening we went to the local pub where the staff members here at Lovewell were
“the band”. Swedish beer, great live music and a really entertaining group of
people called for a late night out!
Thursday July 26th:
Today we
went to the museum of Axel Petterson (Döderhulten) who is a famous artist from Sweden;
he carves people and depicts scenes from his life here all through carving
wood. The detail on each piece was really remarkable. Some of them are rather
funny too, we learned about one of the more personal carving that Döderhulten
did for a neighbor that he hated every much, an old woman that lived next door
to him, he removed her door knob and replaced it with one of his carvings (a
carving of a certain male body part)! So you can see that he had a sense of
humor as well as great artistic abilities.
Wednesday July 25th:
Today we had class in the morning, and then were able to do some more shopping
and exploring in town, I walked a little further out today to see all the
different shops. We were also allowed to go into the classes with the younger
kids who are here as apart of the Lovewell summer program, they are practicing
for their big show in about a week and a half, and I sat in for the girls dance
routine.
They are
putting on a play about Jack the Ripper in London and the women that he (she) murdered, the twist being that Jack the Ripper is the wife of a predominant doctor, an OBGYN, and she
kills the women (mistresses of her husband) because she is unable to have
babies. This is a theory of Jack the Ripper that the students researched, and it's said that the murders were done with very expensive tools, one that only the wife of a doctor might have access to. It sounds dark, I know, but it’s going to be really great and seeing
the process of these young kids working together coming up with every idea,
every word, every song, ever dance is really amazing. There are a few children
who are on the autism spectrum who are here this year and are really thriving
in this creative atmosphere.
Later on in
the afternoon around 3:30 we went down to the beach area and watch some of the
staff who are here perform at a little outdoor concert right on the water. The
weather was perfect; the Swedish band was even better. I was brave enough to
stick my toes in the Baltic Sea, and it was absolutely freezing… the Swed’s
were in the water swimming and laying out in bathing suits…one of my classmates
went all the way in as well… I’m a wuss the water was way to cold! After all
the outdoor fun we went to watch another outdoor performance, which was later
in the evening, the children in the Lovewell program were the opening act for a
Swedish singer. The concert was right outside of the Fredriksberg Mansion a
beautiful location! After the performance we headed down to the Harbor
Festival, it was the first night and we wanted to see what it was all about. It
was a typical fair/carnival atmosphere, had a ton of games and rides and great
band. They also had tents full of candy- that is very common here; there is a
candy shop on every corner. We also walked over across from the harbor where
one of the longest benches in the world resides! It was a full and fun day!
Toes in the Baltic Sea! (More pictures coming soon)
