Early Impressions

Sept 15/06


I am sitting in the Helmia Arena parking lot waiting while Kirk meets with Johan P. The arena sits right next to the Fryxellskaskolan where Mitch is at his first day of school. Duncan is at his second day of school in Stöpafors. The schools here are incredible. Mitch’s school is 2 years old and is designed to be a healthy school. There is no plastic used in its construction to ensure good air quality. It is made of mostly wood and concrete. Some floors have a rubber surface. The window blinds go up and down automatically to control the temperature and amount of light in the rooms. The school has no gym, but is next to the arena mentioned earlier, a recreation complex containing a gym and an indoor soccer field and, outside, a fabulous track and field facility. Top notch facilities for this small community. When we drove in, we noticed small groups of four kids on their bicycles leaving the school grounds on their bicycles on some sort of assignment. No adult supervision along, just 4 kids on some sort of a mission. Pretty neat.

One interesting thing about the schools is the amount of space designed for each class. For example, Duncan’s class of 20 kids (all the grade 5 and 6 kids) in a school out in the country has a room a little larger than the average Canadian classroom, plus a cloak room and another small room with computers, books and a couple of round tables in the middle. There is a cushioned seating area at the back with room for 8 to sit comfortably. There are 4 such rooms in this school: one for the preschoolers/kindergarten kids, a grade1/2 room and a grade 2/3 room. There also was a space for special needs students where two students were working when we went through. This school, containing maybe 80 students, also has a kitchen where lunch is made for all the kids. The kids help with this too. In the gym, which is about the same size as the one in Duncan’s school back home, the walls have wood boards on the walls with 1” spaces between – this must help to absorb some sound. The ceiling was very high. The kids are required to shower after PE and there is a Sauna in the change room. In the school yard is an area with 2 hockey nets that will obviously be a rink in the winter. Duncan’s teacher, Bibbi, had time to meet us and show us around Wednesday afternoon since all the kids are bussed to Sunne Wed. afternoons for skills training such as needlework, woodwork etc.

Mitch’s class also has its own area in the school. There are 2 classrooms: one larger and one smaller. There is also an alcove with their large lockers - maybe 30 of them - with plenty of space. There where also a number of other small rooms of various sizes, a teachers work room that puts anything I’ve seen in Canada to shame, and a couple of washrooms. This was all in its own little wing of the school on the second floor with a similar area underneath. We also saw the art room, the biology room and the chemistry room in this middle school – all fully equipped. There never seemed to be great throngs of kids clogging the halls – no sardine cans for Swedish kids! There was also a noticeably different tone to the school – much more positive and laid back. The students seem more cooperative and involved, less insular.


Sunday (söndag den 17 september 2006)

Woke this morning when Jan called to say he had just shot a buck and did the boys want to come and see it and help him clean it? In the rushing around we realized we had 2 moose out under our apple trees having their breakfast. What excitement! Get the camera! Shhhh! We took some pictures and then the men rushed off to check out the action next door. I may go over too as I am restless here after all the excitement. I must say I am ambivalent about the whole hunting thing.


Wednesday 20 september

Boys to school – Mitch by bus, Dunc by bike. H and K hang out, work on svenska, vacuum, walk to Holly and Jan’s. Hol is not home from Canada yet. Get home and pick black currants. K rides to meet Dunc's late bus from Sunne – D is sewing a moose in Slöjd (crafts). K drives into Sunne to coach hockey B team with Mitch – still unclear how it all works. Hol calls at 5 pm They are home at last - H and D go to see. Hol has brought things – herbs, maple syrup. Peach jam Canada pins, etc. K and D drop in on way home – quick visit then home to dinner. Weird hotdogs – too soft and mushy. Hol and Erik come for a visit later – some translation of school handouts for us – more later.

We travel to Sweden

It's been a while! Took us longer than expected to get an internet connection here. We could have had access earlier, but our computer would not recognize the Swedish dial tone. Where to start...

We flew from TO to London Sept 11. The trip went like clockwork. No problems in the TO airport - security was not too crazy. We couldn't get the duty free booze we were hoping to bring for the Swedes, but that was just the way it was with the tighter security dictating no liquids or gels in carry-on bags. We had a lovely overnight flight across the Atlantic on British Airways with no major turbulence, great service and fairly spacious seating. K and D managed a little sleep. M was too excited and H was up all night with him. We crossed the ocean in record time and then queued up to land in London. After circling interminably, we finally were allowed to land. We had 80 minutes to get from one terminal to another (by bus) and go through security again. It was hot and sticky and people were anxious, but after getting through the long line (the only extra security measures beyond Canada's was the need to take off shoes and belts), we rushed on to our gate and then were again loaded on a bus and to wind our way for a second time through the convoluted bowels of Heathrow to our plane to Sweden. Suddenly, we were surrounded by Swedes and the Swedish language. This was the beginning of the real adventure!

The flight across the channel was scenic as it was daytime and relatively cloud free. We were impressed to see a wind farm in Denmark (?) visible from 36,000 ft. The trip computer was also telling us it was -57 derees C which the boys thought was pretty impressive. Soon we were flying over Sweden and tracing our route closer and closer to our destination. We saw the big lake we would be living north of (Vanern), and then we were heading down to the Arlanda airport. We went through customs smoothly, picked up our waiting luggage, and then went on to the train platform which is downstairs in the airport.

We had minutes to catch the next train or wait another 3 hours for the next one. We tried the computerized ticket booth, but couldn't understand why it wouldn't seem to register the fact that we had 2 children as well as 2 adults so Kirk rushed off to find someone to answer a few questions. (turns out kids with adults travel free on this train and for very little on others.) We managed to get on the train with our 7 pieces of luggage with seconds to spare. After packing our stuff wherever it would fit, we settled down for the half hour trip into Stockholm. Another rush to get on the next train ensued. Once again we managed to squeak on the train with seconds to spare after 20 minutes trying to figure out where to go and how to buy tickets. Thank goodness Hol had printed out a couple of train schedules for us before leaving Kelowna. We knew which train we were trying to catch and when it would leave, so it was just a question of getting tickets and getting on the right train.

Once again we packed our luggage in somewhere and then settled down to watch the lovely Swedish country side pass by for the next 3 hours as we headed to Karlstad. An hour in Karlstad passed rapidly as we found a pay phone to call JC (10 SEK or about $1.50 for 30 seconds) and some icecreams. Then we were on the train to Sunne, our final destination. This commuter train stopped at all sorts of little stations on the way and when we finally crawled off the train an hour later in Sunne, bleary eyed form travel and lack of sleep, we were overjoyed to see JC's smiling face. He had a colleague with him to help ferry our luggage home and two of the biggest pizzas we had ever seen in the front seat. A twenty minute drive further north took us to our home for the next 6 months in Stopafors. We were met by Eva and Bo who were there doing last bits and pieces to make sure the house was ready for us. We are lucky to have these wonderful people as neighbours and liason with our landlord. They stayed long enough to get us settled, and then were gone. We had very interesting kebab pizza and pizza salad with JC. Then he ran down to the little store at the junction of the highway and our road for some basic food supplies for us before saying good night.

In all, we left Uxbridge at 9:30 am central time and made it to our destineation in Stopafors at 6 pm Swedish time which would be a total of 27.5 hours of travel. Time to sleep.

We are off

We are definitely on our way. We've had a blur of house renos and clean up for 3 weeks after our last post and finally left PG Aug 26/06. In the end we renovated the kitchen and laundry room, and painted numerous bits and pieces including the entry and hallway, the bathroom ceiling, the basement floor, the stairway down to the basement, the front and back doors and garage door, and of course, the kitchen and laundry room. After packing away personal things that would be in JS's way, we packed our bags, did a final cleanup. We took one last trip out to the lake to build 2 fences to discourage intruders and had a few last visits, then suddenly, we were gone.

First leg of the trip: PG to Sheridan Lake Aug 26/06
- length of stay at lake: 20 hours
- activities: swim, RELAX AT LAST ie. sit and enjoy the veiw, read, BBQ dinner, sleep in, pancake breakfast, swim and boys try out bellyboat.

Second leg of trip: Sheridan Lake to Kelowna
- length of stay in Kelowna: 3 days
The whole Clan except for 2 brothers-in-law were together in Kelowna. Lots of visiting and running around after 4 toddlers. The teenagers went golfing and H and K went to see a draftsman for info re. drawing up some plans. Had a visit with the Yeomans, and a birthday cake for all those who weren't together for recent and upcoming BDs. We swam and ate and enjoyed the company and, all to soon, it was time to pack up again and start the next leg of our trip.

Third leg of trip: Kelowna to Uxbridge, ON
- length of stay in Uxbridge: 14 hours
Flew to Toronto from Kelowna uneventfully. Left our dog and truck with Nana and Grampa. Grandma and Grandad, trailer in tow, picked us and our mounds of luggage up at the airport. We were treated to a show of how bad the traffic in TO can be as we crawled along the 401 for miles when a truck stalled in one of the lanes. Had a late dinner at Lick's in Ajax and then on to Uxbridge and sleep.

Fourth leg of trip: Uxbridge to Balsam Lake and back
- Length of stay at the lake: 4 days
We did a little of everything at the cottage: when the sun was out we swam and water-skied; when it was windy, we windsurfed. Then it got cooler and cloudy, but that didn't stop us. We still went to Coby for the obligatory icecream cone and library visit. Later, with the sauna fired up, we did more windsurfing, tried some snorkelling, paddled around the island on the windsurfing boards minus sails, and tried some wakeboarding.
KJ and WJ and baby SJ joined us and GMa&GDad for part of the time. KJ treated us to Ontario syle smores, and WJ whipped up some fabulous duck appetizers and deep fried wild turkey ( the one that was almost a prize winner). We of course, had to have a couple of feeds of Ontario's fabulous corn We played a board game and saw our first baby snapping turtle. The men helped prepare the duck blind in the marsh for this year's hunting season. Then the long weekend was over and it was time for GMa and GDad to return to their busy volunteer schedules and for us to head on the next little leg of our journey.

Fifth leg of trip: Uxbridge to Ottawa and back
- Length of saty in Ottawa: 2.5 days
Here we are in Ottawa. It was a 4 hour drive from Uxbridge. We sampled wild blueberries and muffins from a road side stand (very expensive but tasty) and stopped for a picnic lunch at a town park on Sharbot Lake. The fact that we are on a journey finally sank in as everyone else was heading back to school. Once in Ottawa, we checked in to our hotel (Les Suites - we highly recommend it for its proximity to the sights and its ammenities) and headed out on foot to tour the parliament buildings, the locks and the area around them. Today (yes, I've FINALLY made it to today) we went to the War Museum. We thought we would go through 2 museums today, but it was not to be. We spent the day at the War Museum with a break in the middle to go the Bytown Market for an ethnically diverse lunch and a trip into a fabulous cheese shop. We wanted the boys to see the WW I and WW II parts of the exhibit, as we hope to go down through western Europe later on in our travels. The boys were fascinated and would not be pulled away until we had seen the whole thing. Now back in the hotel, the boys have gone to the pool, sauna, weight room with their dad, and here I am...finally done for the day!

Goodnight.

Work, work, work...

We have been working like crazy trying to get our house ready to rent while we are away. Painting and kitchen renovations are taking up much of our time right now. The boys have been playing a little hockey to get back on their skates and are busy practicing piano in prep for their exams in less than a month. Mom is working for the next few weeks and Dad is going nuts with plumbing and various other unexpected delays. Much still to be done.

We're going...

We have finally booked our tickets!!! We will be going from TO the second week of September and will fly to Sweden's capital. Much to do in the mean time - the kitchen is torn apart and half painted. We will begin on the new floor tomorrow. Lots of rain here at least means we are not tempted by other summer pursuits. Having fun in our "outdoor kitchen" under a tarp on the back deck. We are finding the BBQ much more useful than previously believed: made pancakes this morning.

Testing, testing...

Just checking this out...