After yesterday, I declined to join the students for a spinning class early this morning, and opted to sleep in. It felt good to be a little leisurely, and Malin was kind enough to offer to drive me to school mid-morning. I feel so at home at Pär and Lena's house, that making myself coffee and puttering around was really comfortable. Lena has not been feeling well, so I think she was still asleep, or at least in bed, herself.
Once at school I found Gunnar and we spent some time looking for a place for a quiet chat. I think the school facilities are well-used, as he knocked on and peeked into room after room, only to find it occupied. We ended up sitting at a table in a hallway which wasn't perhaps as quiet as he had hoped, but was fine. I think that Pär and Lena Carlson had both instructed me at least 3 times to "just say no to Gunnar" at this meeting (Peg said the same thing before I left.) Gunnar is known as the "idea" or "big picture" guy in the program, and I think everyone else struggles to make the things that he dreams up become reality.
Gunnar asks the hard questions. "What role do you want to play in this program? How would you like your time here to be different? Would you like your stay to be longer or shorter? What ideas do you have?" All good questions. I love my job with the program, but do at times wish I had a bigger role in some of the academics involved. While the previous coordinator was a student at SRJC, I think my role might be a little different as an instructor. Not that I keep my mouth shut about my opinions regardless of my actual role. I think they're beginning to realize that. We'll see what happens as time goes on, but for now, I love working with the students and the families.
After our chat, we walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch. As is typical, I had two choices, one meat and one fish. I chose the meatloaf and Gunnar the fish. Each came with boiled potatoes and a brown sauce. As always we helped ourselves to the salad bar, where Gunnar made sure I knew that I had to take some Lingenberry jam to go with my meatloaf. Naturally! The only thing that wasn't delicious were some red beans I put on my salad that turned out to be kind of nasty, like they had been marinated in something sour. Oh well, everything else was lovely. Gunnar said, "Do you eat meatloaf in America?" "Yes!" I said, "In fact we think of it as rather an American food." "You Americans," he said, "think everything is American. You're also wrong about most things. For example you think that the first day of the week is Sunday when the rest of the world knows it's Monday!" He says these things with a twinkle in his eye, and I don't argue. I'll leave those arguments for Steve when he comes in November.
While walking back to school we talked of his retirement, which may happen in the next couple of years, and how the program will need to change when he is no longer involved. He will be sorely missed. No one else has his vision, or his connections with the business community which give the students such wonderful opportunities to learn from them. The other teachers know this is coming as well, and are concerned with how to replace him and his energy.
The students were ready to do their first run-through of the presentation they will give at SRJC in the spring. They are really good, and I think the audience will like this year's focus on the cultural interchanges between America and Sweden. They talk about the Vikings, emmigration, settlement in America, and the traditions that have passed back and forth between the cultures. Really good. The most difficult thing for them in terms of pronunciation is the distinction between our V and W sounds. In Swedish it is all the same. For this reason there is a "Woodoo Tattoo Parlor" in town, and the students tend to call them the "Weekings" rather than the Vikings, as we would say. Dan still talks about the wonderful way Jenny referred to the wolwos she would see on the road :)
I began my interviews after the presentations. The students are a little different as a group this year. No one seemed nearly as nervous as last year. They had many of the same questions that some had asked me in private, and most had some idea of what they were looking for in a host family. There are a few with issues that will require some special placements; two who can't be in a home with cats or dogs (I can't think off the top of my head of any of our families who don't have one or the other), a few with dietary restrictions, and two girls who cannot under any circumstances encounter a snake. This means not being placed in a family that might even consider taking a walk somewhere where that could be even a remote possibility.
When the last interview was over I packed up my things and went to find Åsa - I got to go home with her! I couldn't wait to see her farm, her husband Christian, their dog Olivia, their cats, and of course their amazing alpacas. Woohoo! It was raining hard by the time we arrived, but she suited me up in Christian's jacket, socks, and wellies and we trudged out to find the "girls"
who were in the lower pasture. She has six females and two 3-month old babies that were adorable, and one of them was rather curious about me. They are shy creatures by nature, so I knew to stand still and not spook them with any sudden movements. So beautiful. And when you are close you can hear the little sounds they make. I can't describe it, but you can hear a version of it at http://www.gentlespiritllamas.com/html/alpsounds/baby-mom.htm
We went searching for the four boys, who we found in an upper pasture. Larger and somewhat more majestic, they were happily eating grass in the rain. Åsa said they don't eat as much as sheep, but enough to keep it in check on the farm. When we went back to the barn, the girls were just deciding to come inside for the evening. I helped Åsa herd them into a smaller pen so that she could
administer a special kind of tea to the eyes and ears of two of them who were having some sort of infection issue. For each one she used a rope to gently bring them close, then fitted them with a harness of some sort that went over their head and kept their mouth closed. Then a short lead was attached which I held while she bathed their eyes and ears with the tea. They are really calm by nature, and barely struggled. Of course I think that Åsa's calm and loving nature g
oes a long way towards engendering trust.
We let the girls out in time to be joined by the boys, then gave them hay along with a special food for the still-lactating mothers. Åsa says they sleep in the "koosh" position (a word she swears in English,) and they all seemed content to eat and rest out of the rain.
Back in the farm we stripped off jackets and boots, and prepared dinner. A salad of lettuce, shaved carrots and cucumbers, and some kalamata olives. In the oven was a beautiful, deep-dish quiche of leeks and cheese. When she brought out the ost hovel (sp?) to slice the
cheese, I mentioned that it was the one thing I still wanted to purchase before I went home. "Oh!" she said and ran into the garage. She came back a minute later with a beautiful ost hovel and handed it to me. "No! I wasn't asking you for one!" "I know," she said. "But I bought these as gifts for people on my last trip to England for an alpaca conferences and ended up with two extras. This one is yours! And it has a handle made from reindeer antler." Wow - I loved it! So generous these Swedes :)
After a delicious dinner and delightful conversation with two kind and intelligent people, I snooped a bit in their library, with Christian at my side, tsk tsking at my lack of recognition of their famous Swedish authors, and enjoying some similar tastes in other authors. Such a cozy room with a wood burner, comfy chairs and lots of blankets for what must surely be many evenings of quiet enjoyment of good books. Then it was time for Åsa to drive me back to Brämhult where the Sundbaums live. We got only to the end of the road in the rainy dark before we encountered a very large cow wandering in our path. A quick call to Christian with instructions to call the farmer neighbor and report that his cows had once again escaped, then on our way. We talked and laughed while Åsa tried to teach me what she assured was a famous Swedish saying that I was to surprise Pär and Lena with when I got home. It took me forever to get it and we both laughed at my terrible pronunciation and bad inflection. She also thought it was hilarious that I called her seat warmers a rosta bulla (sp?) because I happened to know the words toast and buns. Apparently that was a concept that was new to her - toasted buns. Good to laugh :)
Such a delightful and unforgettable day in Sverige.
On Thursday one of the students from the second-year class organized a visit for me and 4 of his classmates of a big Swedish women's clothing company (Gina Tricot) that has a brand new building across the street from the school. It was fascinating to hear about the different ways that they have to market their clothing to the various Scandinavian countries. The women in one country never buy clothing that has the brand name showing on the outside. Another wears mostly black and animal prints. Another never buys anything but "basic" clothing until just before Christmas. Really interesting.
After that I had my interview with the last third-year student. It was so great to get to know each of them both formally, in an interview, and informally while eating, curling, geocaching, etc. Lena and I tried to take some group photos, hoping to get one that will work well on the poster that we put up to try to get host families. 
On Friday we had an amazing day.The Sundbaums have some friends who own a sailboat that they keep in a small harbor near Gothenburg (Almösund,) and they needed to sail it about an hour north to where it would be stored for the winter (Wallhamn.) And they invited us to come along! What a treat. We drove to where the boat was and spent a little time getting it ready. Then Ragnhild served us fika before she got off the boat to drive the car to where we would end up in the boat. The rest of us, Pär, Dan, me, and Torbjörn (the captain) sailed off under a sunny sky. So lovely. Seeing the islands off of the west coast of Sweden from the deck of a sailboat was just a little magical. When we arrived at the destination, Ragnhild got back on the boat and served us a really nice lunch, including a delicious mushroom quiche sort of dish that she cooked in her little oven that swung back and forth with the tide.
