Week 2 (cont.)

It's Saturday morning, and we have a busy day planned. But more about that later.

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. 

That afternoon we drove to Gothenburg to pick Dan up at the airport. It was SO wonderful to see his face and hug him. How excited I am for him to see and experience the people and the country I have come to love.

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.

When we were done we helped them store their gear and clean out the food locker for the winter, and then headed home through the Gothenburg rushhour traffic. Dan and I quickly changed, and then Daniel came to pick us up for dinner! How happy we were to see our Swedish boy. He drove us to his family's home, only a few minutes from the Sundbaum's. His mother and father welcomed us warmly, along with his girlfriend Hanna, and Daniel gave us a tour of their lovely home, including the basement where Magnus Apler keeps his hunting trophies; heads with horns, stuffed birds and small animals, pelts with heads, etc. The animals really were magnificent. He and his wife own a company that makes and sells clothing and gear for hunters, so this is his passion. (Sorry - no pictures - I was a little shy to seem like I was gawking.) We had a delicious dinner that began with large split and barbecued crayfish with pesto, followed by moose and deer stew with winter vegetables, and ending with a kiwi cheesecake. Oh my.  It was so hard to say goodbye to Daniel when he drove us home. We just really love that boy.

I know I'm behind with my story, but the Internet connection has been hard to come by, and I've had to use nearly all of my online time to keep up with work and school. In fact, I haven't checked in at all today, which makes me a little nervous. In any case, more soon :)