Letters from Sweden
Long term House of Sweden members Ingrid and Calle moved back to Sweden in June of 2020. They both have been very active in the House of Sweden for many years and both have served as President of the organization.They have been sending us newsletters since their arrival in Sweden. You can read them here.
Newsletter #3 August 12, 2020
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| 12august2020.pdf |
Hello to you all “over there”
Life is moving on, one step at the time. Friday July 31st we picked up the Red Big Truck! Calle loved driving it home, felt the size, power and feeling like a king! With those California license plates nobody came near. And a seat that fit. One thing we know for sure – we can always find the truck in a parking lot! It’s bigger than most cars and is colorful. I still drive our Volvo rental car. We are slowly unpacking boxes and trying to find places for everything. The bureaucracy is beyond imagination! In order to get the truck released I had to: get a road insurance for; request a title research; clearance of road worthiness title; have needed changes installed; clearance of the completed job; then apply for registration & license plate, etc.
We passed the customs control easily, much due to my diligence of numbering each box, listing the complete content of each box and providing a printed list of everything. Thank Odin that was something I did correctly! We each had a suitcase & a carry-on with enough clothing to last us for two months. Remember, I started packing in November and we had we planned on leaving in the early spring for Sweden. I packed all summer clothing! On August 3rd our boxes were delivered! With the help of friends we moved boxes to our storage (to be opened later) & to apartment (needed now) respectfully. We have had a cool spring and early summer, but the weather now is perfect (lagom). Temperatures have ranged from 48ºF-92ºF.
It felt like we moved in after unpacking the truck. Our Macy’s happy chairs fit right in! They are just as comfortable and pretty as we remember from our Julian days. We moved the leftover silver-green sofa-bed couch to the balcony and we are ready for the new furniture to be delivered by the middle of the month. Then we can hang pictures! We’ll take pictures and forward to you.
We enjoy exploring the surrounding area, and our GPS lady guides us to our destinations mostly without distractions from road repairs. We do make unexpected sightseeing trips, and since we are not in a hurry it’s all-OK with us. We were delighted to visit some of Calles relatives in Uppsland Väsby, Borlänge & Falun. Many others are enjoying summer life but not receiving visitors. We talk on the phone. A few years ago we traveled with Christer and Birgit from Borlänge in Norway. Another year we showed them around in the beautiful state of California. This year we stayed with them at their summer place in Smedjebacken, Dalarna. By chance we stopped in a ”collector” shop located close to the Sala Silver Mine and bought a delightful glass ceiling lamp that now brings needed light during evening hours.
We appreciate the time Swedes take in recycling their garbage! We sort our recycles by food waste, to be burned stuff, separate clear and colored glass bottles, plastic items, cardboard paper and finally newspaper into separate large containers located close to the outside parking area. I have yet to find out how to recycle unusable old clothing. There is no bin for these items!
My exercise walks in the Runby forest are just superb! The walk takes me often to Waxmyra koloniträdgård (A group of miniature homes surrounded by well-kept flower/vegetable gardens maintained by the owners with much pride and diligence). Just lovely to admire! We enjoy the summer heat close to 90ºF (30ºC). We must seek the shade in the afternoon. Green leaves cover the Birches, Hazelnut & Aspens and the lawns are mowed at least once a week, no yellow leaves yet! Summer is still present even though days are noticeably shorter. It’s blueberry & chanterelle season! The wild berries are so tiny compared to the cultured ones, but so tasty! During my exercise walks I stop and pick/eat some.
Apple products are great but needlessly complicated. We bought an LG smart TV with an Apple-box to operate all the channels. In it’s wisdom Apple designed the “clicker” unit to be about 1” by 4” by ¼” in size. Calle has a hard time using it, it is simply too small for his fingertips and on top of that you must point & slide your finger to find the program you want to see. If you tremble forget it. But what don’t you do to get an English program to watch! Soon it’ll be my time to learn how to use it as well. I must learn, even when I get so frustrated, when “it” does not do what I want “it” to do. But I do know how to operate the brand new dishwasher, washer & dryer! There are instructions, but we haven’t located the papers yet.
Last evening while I preparing supper I felt as if was back cooking in the RV. We loved traveling in the RV and have the most wonderful memories of the Western USA. We visited many National Parks, hiked the trails, loved visiting historical places and we always found out-of-the-way places along river banks, along coastline or in the mountains to camp. In this kitchen you can reach just about everything without much stepping around much. Our kitchen floor space is about 6’ by 6’. On three sides we have cabinets, stove, sink, oven, refrigerator & freezer. By the window we’ll set up the dining-room table & chairs when we find something that we like. Many of you have been to Julian Vikingagården and know the size of our fantastic kitchen. I have managed to fill every drawer and shelves with “must have” items. There are still boxes to unpack, and more surprises to uncover!
To Calles delight he has received his Swedish personal number and is enrolled in the Swedish healthcare system! Hurrah!!!! You must have such a number assigned to you in order to open a bank account & with most things you do, you list your personal number equal to the social security number in the US. Calle reads all messages on Facebook and tells me when friends share their thoughts with him. Please continue to keep in touch and send him you notices - stories – reminders of life in the US. Use WhatsApp to call (no charge). Everything is done by phone here and we are learning. I have successfully done the banking and bill paying. Can I hear some applause? Calle just realized that we sometimes have no Internet service. He contacted our provider and requested a better and reliable Internet service. Without Internet WhatsApp does not work = no phone calls are connected. Please try calling us again!
Ingrid reads Dagens Nyheter (Daily News) every day and translate notable stories if interest. Mostly it is Swedish local news we find most interesting. Many Swedes gather in large groups without much worry, visit restaurants, bars, beaches, boat docks but not all Swedes do this! Others meet friends only outdoors for fika (chat over coffee), seldom indoors, pay attention to physical distancing, no hugs and no handshakes! We pay attention when we shop and follow the rules. Schools plan to reopen in mid-August for all grades with no restriction but teachers have trepidations. We notice increased air travel and read that SAS is still alive with much financial support by the state.
Hurray, the new red chairs are here, finally!!!! Perfect color next to Macy’s happy chairs! Next is selecting a large carpet and finding a dining-room table and chairs. We spent a lovely day celebrating Calle’s 84th birthday in Vikingagården park with a celebratory picnic.
Happy summer greetings from Ingrid & Calle
Life is moving on, one step at the time. Friday July 31st we picked up the Red Big Truck! Calle loved driving it home, felt the size, power and feeling like a king! With those California license plates nobody came near. And a seat that fit. One thing we know for sure – we can always find the truck in a parking lot! It’s bigger than most cars and is colorful. I still drive our Volvo rental car. We are slowly unpacking boxes and trying to find places for everything. The bureaucracy is beyond imagination! In order to get the truck released I had to: get a road insurance for; request a title research; clearance of road worthiness title; have needed changes installed; clearance of the completed job; then apply for registration & license plate, etc.
We passed the customs control easily, much due to my diligence of numbering each box, listing the complete content of each box and providing a printed list of everything. Thank Odin that was something I did correctly! We each had a suitcase & a carry-on with enough clothing to last us for two months. Remember, I started packing in November and we had we planned on leaving in the early spring for Sweden. I packed all summer clothing! On August 3rd our boxes were delivered! With the help of friends we moved boxes to our storage (to be opened later) & to apartment (needed now) respectfully. We have had a cool spring and early summer, but the weather now is perfect (lagom). Temperatures have ranged from 48ºF-92ºF.
It felt like we moved in after unpacking the truck. Our Macy’s happy chairs fit right in! They are just as comfortable and pretty as we remember from our Julian days. We moved the leftover silver-green sofa-bed couch to the balcony and we are ready for the new furniture to be delivered by the middle of the month. Then we can hang pictures! We’ll take pictures and forward to you.
We enjoy exploring the surrounding area, and our GPS lady guides us to our destinations mostly without distractions from road repairs. We do make unexpected sightseeing trips, and since we are not in a hurry it’s all-OK with us. We were delighted to visit some of Calles relatives in Uppsland Väsby, Borlänge & Falun. Many others are enjoying summer life but not receiving visitors. We talk on the phone. A few years ago we traveled with Christer and Birgit from Borlänge in Norway. Another year we showed them around in the beautiful state of California. This year we stayed with them at their summer place in Smedjebacken, Dalarna. By chance we stopped in a ”collector” shop located close to the Sala Silver Mine and bought a delightful glass ceiling lamp that now brings needed light during evening hours.
We appreciate the time Swedes take in recycling their garbage! We sort our recycles by food waste, to be burned stuff, separate clear and colored glass bottles, plastic items, cardboard paper and finally newspaper into separate large containers located close to the outside parking area. I have yet to find out how to recycle unusable old clothing. There is no bin for these items!
My exercise walks in the Runby forest are just superb! The walk takes me often to Waxmyra koloniträdgård (A group of miniature homes surrounded by well-kept flower/vegetable gardens maintained by the owners with much pride and diligence). Just lovely to admire! We enjoy the summer heat close to 90ºF (30ºC). We must seek the shade in the afternoon. Green leaves cover the Birches, Hazelnut & Aspens and the lawns are mowed at least once a week, no yellow leaves yet! Summer is still present even though days are noticeably shorter. It’s blueberry & chanterelle season! The wild berries are so tiny compared to the cultured ones, but so tasty! During my exercise walks I stop and pick/eat some.
Apple products are great but needlessly complicated. We bought an LG smart TV with an Apple-box to operate all the channels. In it’s wisdom Apple designed the “clicker” unit to be about 1” by 4” by ¼” in size. Calle has a hard time using it, it is simply too small for his fingertips and on top of that you must point & slide your finger to find the program you want to see. If you tremble forget it. But what don’t you do to get an English program to watch! Soon it’ll be my time to learn how to use it as well. I must learn, even when I get so frustrated, when “it” does not do what I want “it” to do. But I do know how to operate the brand new dishwasher, washer & dryer! There are instructions, but we haven’t located the papers yet.
Last evening while I preparing supper I felt as if was back cooking in the RV. We loved traveling in the RV and have the most wonderful memories of the Western USA. We visited many National Parks, hiked the trails, loved visiting historical places and we always found out-of-the-way places along river banks, along coastline or in the mountains to camp. In this kitchen you can reach just about everything without much stepping around much. Our kitchen floor space is about 6’ by 6’. On three sides we have cabinets, stove, sink, oven, refrigerator & freezer. By the window we’ll set up the dining-room table & chairs when we find something that we like. Many of you have been to Julian Vikingagården and know the size of our fantastic kitchen. I have managed to fill every drawer and shelves with “must have” items. There are still boxes to unpack, and more surprises to uncover!
To Calles delight he has received his Swedish personal number and is enrolled in the Swedish healthcare system! Hurrah!!!! You must have such a number assigned to you in order to open a bank account & with most things you do, you list your personal number equal to the social security number in the US. Calle reads all messages on Facebook and tells me when friends share their thoughts with him. Please continue to keep in touch and send him you notices - stories – reminders of life in the US. Use WhatsApp to call (no charge). Everything is done by phone here and we are learning. I have successfully done the banking and bill paying. Can I hear some applause? Calle just realized that we sometimes have no Internet service. He contacted our provider and requested a better and reliable Internet service. Without Internet WhatsApp does not work = no phone calls are connected. Please try calling us again!
Ingrid reads Dagens Nyheter (Daily News) every day and translate notable stories if interest. Mostly it is Swedish local news we find most interesting. Many Swedes gather in large groups without much worry, visit restaurants, bars, beaches, boat docks but not all Swedes do this! Others meet friends only outdoors for fika (chat over coffee), seldom indoors, pay attention to physical distancing, no hugs and no handshakes! We pay attention when we shop and follow the rules. Schools plan to reopen in mid-August for all grades with no restriction but teachers have trepidations. We notice increased air travel and read that SAS is still alive with much financial support by the state.
Hurray, the new red chairs are here, finally!!!! Perfect color next to Macy’s happy chairs! Next is selecting a large carpet and finding a dining-room table and chairs. We spent a lovely day celebrating Calle’s 84th birthday in Vikingagården park with a celebratory picnic.
Happy summer greetings from Ingrid & Calle
Newsletter #2 July 23, 2020
You can read it here or click below to download the file and read it.
| 23july2020.pdf |
Newsletter #1 June 21, 2020
You can read it here or click below to download the file and read it.
You can read it here or click below to download the file and read it.
| 21june2020.pdf |