A Summery Summary

“Stockholm i mitt hjärta, låt mig besjunga dig nu!”

”Stockholm in my heart, let me serenade you now!"

Or so begins one of the most popular songs about Stockholm, the stunning capital of Sweden. Let me serenade you, indeed! Sweden in the summer is not a thing to be missed. I arrived here on June 9^th, and my few weeks here have been incredible. Everything is either green or blue, the water is warm and the air is warmer (other than of course when it rains!), the Swedes young and old are full of joie de vivre – but Swedish, which means strawberries and cream.

I started by visiting Dalarna over the weekend, where I gazed upon the mighty Dala Horse in Avesta, which stands 13 meters (approximately 42 feet) high. I danced on a dumptruck with ecstatic Swedish high-school graduates as it took us all the way through town. I took long walks along the 'adventure trails' of calm Lidingö, and joined the hyperactive crowds for concerts and carousels at Gröna Lund. I sang along with Swedish tunes at Allsång på Skansen, and squealed like any Swede over Måns Zelmerlöw. During midsummer in Örebro I danced around the maypole with all the others, even when rain threatened our festivities.

In late June, I travelled with Lisa (my wonderful Swedish exchange-sister) and Max (my wonderful Swedish boyfriend) to Gotland, where we stayed four days (along with Lisa's sister, Elsa, and boyfriend, Trevor). We camped in a tent just a few hundred feet from the ocean, we walked along the famous wall of Visby, we ooh-ed and aww-ed at the ancient stone raukar – and we stopped at one or five yard sales (loppisar) while driving from coast to coast!

And in just six weeks the Swedes have taught me to swim...though I still can't eat fil, or sill, or shrimp-flavored cheese in a tube. What I can do is appreciate summer the Swedish way. I can say “Let's go swimming!” when it's only 55 degrees in the water. I can say “There's no way we're watching a movie, the sun is out!”

I've also made contact with a few Vasa members here in Sweden, in the Stockholm area. Their meetings don't start until September or October, but whenever they do, I'll be there, as our own Valhalla representative – a Viking from Vegas! As a Gilman Scholarship recipient, I must complete a follow-on project when I return to the US, and my project is to create a Utah lodge, perhaps also partnering with the new Swedish group "Young Vasa".

But in the meantime, I'll keep on living the Swedish summer life and keeping in touch so you all can, too! I'm sending my love from Sweden!

Med vänliga hälsningar,

Solveig in Stockholm

Stockholm i mitt hjärta

Listen! :D This is the incredible song which always opens 'Allsång på Skansen'.



I am the worst blogger in the world, I know! Sometimes I wonder why I even bother...but I suppose I will march forward and continue trying to show you dear Utahns that I am alive. I was planning on eventually starting from the beginning (five weeks ago, my arrival) and giving you all every important detail...but, well...that's a long time ago. So the least I can do is start documenting now rather than putting of now for the sake of before. If that makes sense.

So anywats! The most recent event of importance would probably be Allsång På Skansen! Allsång På Skansen is a marvelous program, where hundreds and hundreds of Swedes gather at Skansen (the historical museum and animal park) and sing Swedish songs together! For eight weeks in the summer, on Tuesday some famous artists gather and sing their big numbers and then some traditional Swedish songs. And this last Tuesday, the 12th, Lisa, Trevor, Max and I joined in the fun! I had to make up for my lost Swedish prepubescent years, ya know? ;)


See? That's Max and me on the left there, and that's Måns, the fantastic Master of Ceremonies for this year. Lisa has a fantastic picture of me and him (okay, his back) that just screams 'fan girl', but I haven't gotten that from her yet.

For those of you (everyone basically?) who haven't ever watched Allsång på Skansen, I would recommend it! You can watch the one that I went to here.

Trevor is wearing a bright turquoise blue shirt which makes us pretty easy to spot. You can see us (by the white dance platform) several times, such as when the dancers climb onto it, and pretty much any time the cameras show the dancers. After 'Någonting att äta, någonting att dricka', when Måns himself also walks up to the platform, you can see us smiling behind him (as pictured above!). Then comes the last song, Veronica Maggio's 'Välkommen in', where at one point you can see me (on Max's shoulders) as a blurry little figure tossing my head around in the background. Haha!

If you're going to watch nothing else of it, then check out this one number below: Veronica Maggio with 'Jag Kommer'! It's sort of been the theme song of this summer, constantly on the radio and in our heads. We're not visible in this video but it's still fantastic!

5, 6, 7, 8!

The blog lives! Let's begin! First off let's start with a little refresher.

This is me:


This is my Soul-Sister, Lisa:


Oh, and that's her boyfriend, Trevor, my friend of some five years or so, who is also here in Sweden with us this summer!

This is my garden (yes it's relevant! When I figure out precisely how, I'll let you know):



This is my boyfriend, the Marvelous Max:

And he doesn't like that picture, so don't tell him I put it there. Oh, hi Max! ;) (He's Swedish.)

And...we're all in Sweden! YAY!

And I've got to go to bed right this instant. I know, I know, I've already been here for two weeks, and this is all you get? Well there's much to be done, and tomorrow we're getting up early to head out for Midsommar in Örebro. But I promise that when I return, I will give you all a recap. Mwah! <3 Much love from Sweden!

Chip in and help me get back to Sweden!

Hey everyone!

Check out my ChipIn page and see if you can make a contribution, even one dollar, to assist with my costs for my study abroad year in Sweden. It will only take two minutes of your time!
Thank you!


http://solveiginsweden.chipin.com/study-abroad-in-sweden

ALMOST!

Just one final left, then home, and then TO SWEDEN AGAIN! The blog will live!