Travel Joy, Again

Mariestad is a fair distance, some 320 kilometers, from our departing airport.  Because of this, just getting to the airport was a major part of the travel.  Christer drove us to the train station where we bought our tickets.  While waiting for the train we got to take a ride on the worlds smallest ferry, moved by the operator pulling a rope and at a cost of 1 krona round trip.  (The girl "operating" it had some big arms. -Eric)  We then caught our train, which was a pleasant one our journey.  The train took us back to Orebro, where we caught our bus.  The last bus ride was crowded and hot, so I feared this would be a 3 hour variety of the same.  Thankfully, though, this was a dedicated airport shuttle, which only had about 10 people on it and was completely air conditioned.  We got to Arlanda airport in Stockholm; security wasn't an issue this time but the food selection was less than desirable.  (Actually there were 2 security checkpoints. The first was normal but then after a few stores there was another checkpoints that just checked our tickets and passports. The airport had very few interesting stores at all, and all the restaurants were basically just cafes. -Eric)  Finally around 6:30 we were taxing down the runway.  I was starving already, and the flight attendants finally came with the food.  It was tuna sandwiches, yuck.  So we starved for the rest of the 2 hour flight, landed, and met Doug at the airport.  We finally got back to the house around 9:30, and were about to settle down when we got a call about a party.  We couldn't turn down the chance to meet more people, (And get some barbecued food -Eric)  so off we went and arrived around 10.  We met about 8 people we didn't know from around the area, and were able to make plans for service later.  Finally around 11:30 we drug our weary bodies home and fell into bed.

Fire and Water

There is a brother in the local Kingdom Hall who is a firefighter, and Christer had arranged for our resident fireman to go take a tour. Eric was kind enough to let us tag along, so Christer, Johan, Eric, and I trekked to the Raddningstjansten. I’ll let him tell you the highlights, but it was really neat. I don’t think it matters how old you are, fire trucks are cool to every boy/man. (And to some women too. Well the trucks were a little different than back home. They were much smaller to start off. The hoses were too. And the seat in the truck all faced forward instead of some or all of the backseats ride backwards. On one of the trucks they have a touch screen computer monitor that the firefighter could push and different compartments would open up, which was totally new for me. No matter what the country was though the basic idea of the truck was the same. Carry people there and go put out the fire. And Blythe is right; pretty much all fire trucks are cool. –Eric) We went back home for a little snack and to get our things, for it was to be a beach day. We packed the lunch and beach supplies, and did the sardine routine once again. It was a 45 minute drive to the island, and we were supposed to take a ferry to the next island, but the driver had left, and then next one wasn’t for a long time. So we had our lunch on the dock, and drove to another beach. The water was cool but pure, and the beach had really nice sand. We swam for awhile, played with a ball in the water, ate some smoked fish, and took in the sun. It was so nice to finally go to a real beach, even if it still wasn’t like home. We went home and had a traditional Swedish meal of meatballs, potatoes, and lingonberries.  There was still daylight left, so we went and played mini golf at a surprisingly difficuld course.   Afterwards we finished watching Phantom of the Opera while enjoying genuine Mariestad beer and ice cream. We were tired from the late night and busy day, so we all went to bed.

International Preaching Pros

Thursday was another Swedish pancake day (YES!), and then we walked to a nature preserve to see the surroundings. We came back for a light lunch and then drove to the Kingdom Hall for service. We were not sure what our part would be, but Christer made some calls and got permission to start the District Convention invitations early. This allowed us to memorize a short presentation and just hand them the invited and smile afterwards, which we of course did. We(10 of us) started our time with a neighborhood across the street, and then drove to a little town 30 minutes away. We worked a little over an hour, and went down to the water for a quick rest and picnic. We drove back to the territory and finished the last few streets, then it was back home to change. We met everyone from service and a few more down by the water. We prepared as a group for Sunday’s Watchtower Study, we did it family style with each person reading the paragraph and asking the question. (For our sakes I think, they did the Watchtower study in English. So they were all using copies of the Watchtower from a printer but we had our English ones. A few times some things had to be explained a little further so everyone got it, but it went well and the group was very fun. There was another young sister there named Denise (I think that’s how it spelled) who was 18, and her older sister Erika (also a guess) who were there so it was nice to hang out with young people for awhile. –Eric) It was really breezy off the lake, but between the fire and blankets it was ok. After that we grilled burgers and sausages, tossed the Frisbee, and sang some songs. It started to rain later in the evening, so we doused the fire and ran the cars. When we were back at home Eveline was playing the piano(she’s really good), and started playing a song from Phantom of the Opera. We started talking about it, and it came up that I had never seen it(I know I know insert shocked look here); right then it was decided we were watching it, even thought it was already midnight. About 1:30 the movie froze (Right after the word “but….” –Eric) and everyone went to bed, because there was more fun to be had the next day.

New Places and New Faces

In Goteborg we had met some young people who were visiting from a town a few hours away, and then by random chance we met their father at the District convention, and he invited us to come and stay for a few days. We didn’t want to miss the opportunity to make new friends, so off we went. We caught a bus to Orebro, the nearest city, and then another bus to Mariestad. The bus took 2 hours and was crowded at hot, but we survived. Christer, from the convention, met us at the bus station and drove us back to his house for spaghetti lunch. We talked for a little bit, and then it was decided we should do something. After a few calls we were out in the car again, on the way to an equestrian escapade. The car was a 5 seater, but we were 6 in total, so Christer and Anna sat in the front, and Eric, Eveline, Johan, and I sardined(yes that’s a verb) in the backseat for a nice 45 minute ride. The horses are an Icelandic breed, a little smaller but very strong. We brushed the horses, saddled up, got our helmets (If you’re cool like me you can wear the riding helmet backwards. –Eric) and protective vests, and rode off into the sunset. Well, the woods anyway. Eveline, the experienced rider, took the lead, Johan and Eric followed. Anna and I were stuck behind Christer’s horse, who had decided he was going to have the day off. We rode all over, trotting and running, and finally called it quits an hour and a half later. I was a little sore afterwards, but it was a blast. We stopped for ice cream on the way back, and went home for supper. We walked out to the harbor in the evening and got the grand tour of the town. (The father and mother went to Gilead when they were younger and got sent to a small poverty-stricken country in Africa. 85% were illiterate he said. But the people they would talk to really appreciated the pictures in the literature. But because of health reasons they moved back to Sweden. Their son Johan is 16 and is going to study to be a pastry maker. And the daughter Eveline is 14. She is very talented in music and singing. She and Anna would play the piano and sing different Kingdom songs or other songs and that was very nice to listen to. The whole family is very spiritual and fun, so these next few days are probably some of my favorite of the summer. –Eric)

Swedish Bethel and the Infamous Surströmming

A Bethel trip is always a memorable and worthwhile experience, and since we were only an hour from the Swedish “House of God” we had to go. Zoltan entrusted us with his car and GPS, and off we went. We arrived around 10:00, and just caught an English tour departing. (In our group touring there was a couple from Germany, a couple from Demark, and us from America. The only common language we had between all of us and the Swedish guide was English. I thought that was neat to have friends from different areas touring together. –Eric) First stop was the tiny dining room, with seats for 100. We then saw the Recording Studio, where the one of the fall issues was being read. We met Berit’s niece there, who was in charge of making sure every word was correct. (When we were in the room and they said we were from America the sister asked if either of us were Tracey’s boy, slightly surprised I said yes I was. Then she said how she and my mom used to be pen pals some years ago. Small world huh? –Eric) They then showed us the translation department, the main function of this Bethel, where 20 Bethelites work in teams of 3 to accurately translate the information from English to Svenska. We also got to see the old printery(all is done in Germany now), the Ministerial Training School, and the Shipping department. We saw a map of the delivery route, and our tour guide Peter said that every couple months he gets the assignment to drive the north route, which takes him about 5 days to complete, staying with brothers and sisters along the way. Finally at the end we got tea and cookies and found my families names in the guestbook from a few years ago. We went back home and had some superb ham sandwiches and leftover pizza for lunch(the bachelor lifestyle is a perfect fit for us:) We were supposed to go on a bible study with Zoltan, but the person was sick so we just relaxed in the afternoon. We had dinner with a few friends in the evening, which was an interesting meal to say the least. First we opened a can of Surstromming, fermented herring, which has a distinctive odor which I’m sure Eric would love to tell you about. (Actually the smell was that bad. It definitely doesn’t smell good but I’ve smelled worse things in my life. A bullet wound though the large intestines is a shocking smell. –Eric)<--Yes I agree it actually wasn't too bad, last years was much worse for some reason, if you're curious that can be found here. We ate a little of it while sampling about 6 different Swedish beers. This was followed by traditional herring and new potatoes, and the main course of steak, chicken, and shish kabob. (Guess who got to grill…. Me! Yay! –Eric) We went back home to pack once again, for there was other adventure in the morning.

Relaxing in Nora

Monday after the convention we were quite tired, so we slept in for once. (Hey don’t make fun, we’ve been very busy. –Eric) Later in the morning we took the rowboat out to the island again, just to get to some exercise. Later in the day Zoltan came home from work and wanted to show us around Nora. He wanted to show Eric the ambulances at the stations he cleans, but they were out on a call when we arrived. We then went to an old iron mine & refinery, where we got to walk through the huge old building where they melted and mixed the ore to make the high quality Swedish iron. The water wheel that powered the whole operation is still working and a fantastic piece of work. (I thought the wheel was amazing. They diverted a small amount of the stream to power it but the stream they are using is very small. The part that they diverted was even smaller. Only about a metre wide and a few centimeters deep, but it powers a huge wheel. The wheel was probably 7 or 8 metres in diameter. –Eric) There are old mine shafts all over the countryside, and we walked to see a few of them. Along the way we found smultron, Swedish wild strawberries with the best flavor you’ve ever tasted. We went back for dinner with Zoltan and Berit, and then met a few brothers down by the dock. We got to take out Zoltan's other boat, a 2 sail 15 foot sailboat. The wind wasn’t exceptionally strong, but that was fine since he let me be at the helm. We circled the island once, and cruised in to a small beach. We docked and all got out for an evening swim. The water was finally perfect, cool and refreshing but not cold. (Well to me it was freezing. –Eric) We splashed around for half an hour, and headed back home. I discovered that I love sailing on this trip, so hopefully I will get to do it again.

District Convention 2010, Strängnäs, Sweden

Early Friday morning, Swedish summer sun already blazing, we got up and rushed through our morning preparations. We grabbed our packed bags and freshly ironed clothes(not sure what got into me) and ran out the door at 6:30. We met Berit and Zoltan at the car and stuffed everything inside and we were off to District. The trip was about 2 hours, so not too bad. Halfway through we pulled into a gas station, and Zoltan asked if we wanted ice cream. He is a chronic jokester/prankster so we laughed it off. After using the bathroom and buying some gum we came back to the car to find him eating ice cream. Hey, I guess its never to early for ice cream. We arrived at the Strängnäs convention center about 8:30. The Witnesses used to own the facility, and then sold it and rent it now as the cost is much better this way. Because of the history the building is set up perfectly for conventions. It holds between 5000-7000 people, but since this was an English convention there were only about 1500 on Friday. We met a few of the people I had previously met from Gothenburg English congregation, but other than that we were pretty lost. I wont got into much detail about the program itself for as not to spoil it for those who haven't been yet. To get enough for an English convention in Scandinavia congregations from all over were invited, most from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, but as you will learn later it was a much broader reach than that. Because of the diversity, the accents of the speakers were alltogether different from one to the next. There were a few that were hard to understand, but most of the time you could adjust quickly to the voice. Friday after the convention we drove to the house we were renting, instead of a hotel. After a warm day this was a special treat cause the house had a pool. It was the four of us plus another couple, Edward and Yuri. Zoltan studied with Edward 10 years ago, so there was much laughing and teasing between the two the whole weekend. Saturday was a good day, except the convention center was boiling hot, so it was a bit difficult to pay attention. By random chance we sat right in front of a sister who we met working RBC in London. She was with a friend from Copenhagen and another London sister, and they all came up for the English Convention. (We made some plans to go to her hall when we get back to London. -Eric) We also went to the Bethel meeting on Saturday, which was much the same as at home, except they did encourage sisters to apply. On Sunday we met a brother that we met in Gothenburg, who we will hopefully get to visit later. The drama was excellent, and very very applicable. The demonstrations were well done throughout, as well as interviews with missionaries form Namibia and Uganda, a branch overseer from South Africa, and a brother who has started MTS programs all over Europe. This was just a sampling of the diversity. All weekend there was a map up by the entrance and a cup of pins so everyone could say where they were from. During the last talk on Sunday they informed us that the total came to 96 different countries! From a crowd of 1700 this was quite amazing, and we also had a group of 60 that were listening to a simultaneous Chineese translation. One brother I talked to said it was like a miniature international convention, which is the best way to describe it.