In Which Dreams Become Reality

The first time I came to Sweden, I was 16. And I know it’s true. Everything from the “glory
days” does tend to take on a certain golden glow in memory. I was prepared for that.

But I am here to tell you, people. IT’S JUST LIKE I  REMEMBERED IT. The sun is shining, the lilacs are blooming. And everyone has a huge hedge of lilacs, so the air is just full of lilac. The flags are still blue and yellow. The houses are still red and white. The pear-flavored ice cream is still yummy, and the coffee, and the chocolate, don’t even get me started. We walked down the road and ate kebab for our first meal in Sweden, and yep, you guessed it. It’s just as good as I remembered. And they ACTUALLY SANG Den blomstertid and En vänlig grönskas rika dräkt BOTH the first time we went to church.

But you know, this time, I get to share it with the people I love most. And it makes it ever so much more so. Even if the boys roll their eyes when I point out the flag waving above the lilacs, and make them smell the lilacs, and point out the differences between the different varieties of lilacs…

Swedish landscapes: pastoral, idyllic... should I go on?

And this time, Kristina was waiting on the platform when we got off the train in Knivsta. If you know our exchange student from 2 years ago, you know that we were more than happy to see her. If you don’t know her, I’m sorry.

We got off the plane in Sweden and found all but one of our bags, and found the train station, and even found the right train. And on the 8-minute ride to Knivsta I was looking out the window and just getting happier and happier. And if you’re sick of this, feel free to skip this post. But when the train stopped at Knivsta station and Kristina’s smiling face popped in the door, well, that was the cherry on top of the icing on the cake. To coin a phrase.

We walked down the steps and under the tracks and there’s our house, just that close. It’s a good-sized two-story house, plenty of bedrooms and a garden and a swingset. Perfect for us. And Magnus and Becky Ijäs, our brave friends who are allowing us to use their house for the summer, were there to meet us and even offering to make us lunch. But I turned them down, 'cause I've been waiting 12 years to have kebab and I wasn't waiting any more. So we walked down the street to Panorama and ate kebab.

Kebab isn't anything like shish kebabs in America. It's slow roasted meat shaved off the spit in thin slices, served with a cold cucumber-sour cream sauce and assorted veggies. Not even a Swedish tradition - it was brought here by the many middle-eastern immigrants. Kebab is similar to gyros which can be found in larger American cities, but I've never had kebab in America. Even the kids thought it was great, and they fought over the leftovers later that day.

We had a nice couple days with Ijäses. They showed us the ropes and gave us survival tips. Becky was amazingly calm and organized. They left Sunday morning with all five kids in tow. I think if I had guests two days before I left we would have missed the plane. And I was not even close to that patient and organized even without guests. I was impressed.

Everyone's got their own godis bag!

As soon as I could I took the kids under the railroad tracks and down the block to the grocery store and introduced them to the wonders of lösviktgodis, or bulk candy. Sweden has really good candy, and it's mostly sold in bulk bins by the kilogram. So it's a great way to try all the different kinds without spending a bunch of money. Although we did spend a bunch of money the first time! Since then we've made it a tradition. Each kid gets 20 crowns on Saturday that they can spend on lösviktgodis. It's supposed to last all week... Guess if it ever does?

After we got our godis we walked across town to visit Kristina in her apartment. We had an easy dinner of pasta and salad to save Becky the trouble of making dinner.

That evening we lucked out and got to sit in on the last "Sunday School" class of the year. The call it Friday hour and get together Friday evenings, which is a nice excuse to visit during the week. It was special to see the kids eager to show what they'd learned during the year. And my kids thought the big bags of candy they got at the end were great, too. I think we'll have to be very diligent about brushing teeth!