A Heart for God: Stockholm, Sweden

Well right now I am on the bus on my way to the airport, crying while typing this and feeling sorry for the guy sitting next to me listening to my stuffy nose from crying. I just said bye to Fia and Elin after a wonderful four days in Sweden! My freshman year at Arkansas State, I played soccer with the Swedes. They were at ASU for one year to play soccer and travel before starting college in Sweden. We got really close that year; they were two of my very best friends on the team. They came to St. Louis with me for a weekend and met my family, and we would hang out all the time. I always told them that some day, I would come visit them in Sweden. Three years later, here I am. When I found out that I would be studying in Austria, one of the things I was most excited about was going to see the Swedes. So anyway, Friday night I got in around 11 pm, and Fia and Elin were there waiting for me. Fia cried when she hugged me, and we had the most amazing reunion. We went to a Viking Bar, and tried to catch up on the past three years- so much to talk about! I heard about their boyfriends and what they’re studying and where they live, and told them about my life. We came home late, and crashed at Fia’s apartment. Fia and I snuggled in her bed, and Elin slept on a mattress on the floor. We were all exhausted, and slept like little babies.

Saturday, we made a delicious Swedish breakfast, and then went to explore. We went into the old Stadium that was built for the Olympics in Stockholm 100 years ago. It was pretty awesome. We saw Fia’s school, and her little locker inside. I loved just seeing what their everyday lives are like. That afternoon, we went to a graduation party of Elin’s friend. They had delicious food, and I met tons of Swedish people. I was surprised at how good everyone’s English was! Even the adults could pretty much all speak to me in English, and have good conversation. After eating our brains out at the graduation party, we went to a barbecue with more food. We’d eaten enough, so we decided just to barbecue dessert. So we bought the supplies for grilled chocolate bananas, and for s’mores. So good! The barbecue was at a little country house on the outskirts of Stockholm, right on the water. It was so nice to be in a house, and to meet a lot of nice people. We drank wine and ate dessert and played a Swedish game called “Couk.” (Not sure about the spelling on that at all, but oh well). You use little baton things to try to knock down the “knights” of the other team, and then at the end you have to try to knock down the “king” in the middle, throwing the baton through your legs backwards. There’s a bunch of other rules too, but that’s the gist of it. When we went to leave, I thought it was maybe 9:30 or 10, because it was still pretty light outside. I asked Elin what time the next train home was, and she said 2:30! I couldn’t believe it! My concept of time was so thrown off because it’s almost Midsummer, the longest day of the year. Because we’re so far North, the sun starts to set around 11 pm and then rises around 3 am! So when we got home, it was about 3, and it was already getting light outside! We were headed to bed, and the birds were chirping right outside our window, ready for a new day! Pretty crazy. In the winter it’s the opposite though, and they only have a few hours of light per day. Know for a fact that I couldn’t handle that!

Sunday morning, we ate another delicious Swedish breakfast, and then went into town. We walked around for a bit, and then went to the store and bought stuff for a picnic. We ate up on some rocks that overlooked the city skyline. So amazing! You could see the Baltic Sea, with all of the Scandinavian buildings behind it. After we ate, we walked along the trail by the water, and then took a boat ride across the water. We all had passes for all the public transportation, so it felt like a FREE BOAT RIDE! So fun! On the other side of the water, we sat on a pier and took off our shoes and ate some strawberries, and just talked about life. Those girls are amazing. Sunday night, we went to Fia’s friend’s apartment, and ate dinner with two other girls, Lena and Emma. Emma had just bought a new kitten, who was so teeny tiny. We ate avocado salad with shrimp sauce, played with the kitten, and watched the Euro Cup soccer games. My kind of night!

Monday morning, Fia and I went shopping, and Elin had to work. I bought some stupid souvenirs, like a magnet with ugly Vikings on it, and an oven mitt with a moose on it wearing a Sweden scarf. I don’t know why I always pick out the strangest things, but that’s what makes the world go round I guess! Then we split up, and Fia went to physical therapy for her knee, and I went to meet my friend Tilda to go running together. Tilda runs cross country and track at ASU. She actually lives in the South of Sweden, but happened to be in Stockholm for a few days for a friend’s graduation. So we met up, and went for a 9 mile run on some awesome trails by her old high school. It was nice to meet a few of her old friends, and to run with a teammate! Work outs go by so fast when you just run and talk with a friend, tell stories and catch up a little bit, and then suddenly the 9 miles is done! Pretty great. That night, Elin picked me up with her parents’ car, and we went to Fia’s parents’ house for dinner. It was Fia’s mom’s birthday, so we ate a great dinner and strawberry cake and met her family. After dinner, we watched the Sweden-Ukraine Euro Cup game. Sweden lost 2-1, but it was still fun to watch, and honestly Ukraine deserved to win the game. They played a lot more aggressively, and scored two awesome head goals.

Tuesday (today) was my last day in Sweden. It always goes by so fast. We woke up and had breakfast, and then she and Elin both had to go to work. I went for a run around these beautiful lakes close to Fia’s apartment, and saw like a million swans and baby swans. So pretty! I came back and had coffee with Louise (Fia’s roommate), and we talked about setting up my mom with her dad. We’d suggested it to my mom on Skype, describing him to her as “a good looking, single Swedish man… speaks English… cute accent… has a boat and a country house… kind… two children…” So funny. I went to Elin’s work to have lunch with her. It was her birthday, and we went to a Chinese restaurant for birthday lunch. I gave her a cute card, and we had a great time! In the afternoon, I walked around Old Town and explored the city a little bit. I met a guy from Iran, who had a tent set up to try to get people to rally together to help the Iranian people. He told me about the brutality there, and how little people know about what is taking place. I signed his petition for help from the Swedish government, and he let me into his tent! We talked for a long time, just sitting in his tent and hearing about the problems there and what needs to happen to work toward a democracy. Later on, I bought some strawberries from the farmer’s market, and sat on a giant stair case to eat them and listen to some music and people watch. Sometimes it’s nice to spend a few hours by yourself, and just reflect on life. Seriously, so much has taken place in my life the past few months. I’ve been to so many new places and met so many new people. Sometimes, you just need to sit down and process.

Later in the afternoon, I met a guy named Saleh, who was apparently in love with me. He could hardly speak English, but he knew how to ask if I had a boyfriend and tell me I’m beautiful. He tried to convince me not to fly out of Sweden tonight, but to stay another week and hang out with him. Umm… no. Sorry Saleh. Then his friend came over, and asked me if I spoke Swedish of French. I told him I could speak some French, so we started having a conversation in French. I haven’t spoken it in a while, so it’s definitely a little rusty, but we could communicate. Besides the part about the guys wanting to marry me, the conversation in French was pretty fun! I want to start taking it again, and get fluent. Being in Europe has made me feel so bad for only speaking one language. We’ll see.

Both Fia and Elin met me in the city when they got off work. We hung out for a little while before I had to get on the bus back to the airport. I didn’t think I would, but I started crying when we started to get to the front of the line. It’s so sad because I have no idea when I’ll see them again. I love those girls so much, and we live an ocean apart. They waited for my bus to pull away, and gave me the wolf sign from the curb. Cutie patooties.

June Trip:

-Visit the Swedes- check! (June 8-12)

-Explore Ireland and find a four-leaf clover and a leprachaun (June 13-17)

-Meet Gudula in Germany (June 18-21)

-Win the soccer tournament with Anna Steckel (June 22-26)

-Make it back safely to Graz (June 26^th)

-Pass final exams (June 27^th)