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 27^th:

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 26^th:

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 25^th:
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)