A Swedish Vacation

DAY 33, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH

Today I spent the morning finishing up homework I have to turn in this week since I won’t have WiFi where were going in Sweden. My host family is leaving this afternoon to spend the rest of the week and weekend in Sweden with family friends and I'm going with! I left the house at about 12 to go to a field study for my criminology class- we met in our normal classroom to watch a film. Our professor brought pastries and coffee and tea which was really nice. The movie was entitled “R” and was about a Danish prison, Horens. The film was loosely based off of an inmate's experiences who is now an actor in the film. In class we have been learning about the stark differences in the U.S. prison systems and the Danish prison systems- usually highlighting where the Danes have it right. However, this movie definitely revealed some not so great things in Danish prisons. After the movie I headed home to finish packing and turn in the last assignment I needed to get done. We packed up and got in the car about 4:30 to drive to Sweden. We went across the ferry between Helsingør, Denmark and Helsingborg, Sweden and drove in total about 3 hours to the family friend's house we were staying in. The house is in a rural part of Sweden called Simmarydsnäs, you can get an idea of where it is by the map below:

The house/cabin we’re staying at is owned by my host parents’ family friends and is basically in the middle of the woods and rural land. The house is very small, cute, and homey. It is painted what my host mom called "swedish red"- almost every single one of the houses we passed in this countryside area is painted that color because the red paint has some sort of preservatives that helps maintain the houses since they are built from wood.

The family whose house it was were there when we arrived- Carl, Ingalise, Isaline, and her friend Marie. Ingalise and my host mom grew up together as children and have stayed close ever since. After arriving around 8 we sat down for dinner, a couple rounds of up and down the river (or as they call it “screw the dealer”) and flødeboller. We went to bed shortly after.

DAY 34, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH

Being at this cabin really reminds me of being at like a grandmas house, not a whole lot to do so just time to hang out, eat, play games, and go for walks. After we woke up and had breakfast all together, we went for about a 5 mile walk through the Swedish forests. The forests really reminded me of forests in fairytales (which make sense because many fairytales originated from Sweden & Denmark).

After the walk we stopped at the lake that the cabin is near before getting back to the house to hang out, read, do a puzzle, play games, and eat dinner.

DAY 35, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH

Today we woke up and had breakfast before going on an even longer walk than yesterday. We headed out for a 12K (~7.5 mile) walk with everybody.

It was quite long but the weather was great and the scenery was beautiful.

We stopped at the half way point to eat some packed lunch and drink hot cocoa.

Once we got back from the walk we relaxed with a nice bonfire. We foraged for some good sticks so we could cook Snobrød (loosely translates to twist bread). This is a bonfire tradition in Denmark (like the way s'mores are for us)- you cook the bread by wrapping the dough around a stick and cooking it over the fire. The bread is tasty but just normal bread, not a sweet dessert or anything.

We also had some hot dogs/sausages that we cooked over the fire. A delicious and ~hygge~ way to finish a long walk. Once the sun started to set and it got colder, we headed back into the house to relax before a good dinner. After dinner we played another round of up and down the river and just chilled some more. All of this free time has gotten me to read some of the books I've been gifted on my kindle over the years that I haven't ready yet: 2.5 books down, many more to go (s/o mom and Julia). I finished off the night with an only slightly embarrassing fall down the stairs but luckily I came away with only one very bruised but cheek #coordinated #smooth

DAY 36, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16TH

Today right after breakfast we all packed up and cleaned the house to leave. We headed to another family friend’s cabin in Sweden about 2 hours away. This second house was a literal 1800s cabin- no plumbing, all wood, outhouse etc. The house literally looks like it could be a colonial Williamsburg exhibit.

This house was owned by another one of my host parents' family friends. In total, once we got there along with the family we stayed with the previous nights, we were 4 families all connected through my host mom- one person in each couple grew up with my host mom and they have all remained close friends since. In total it was 8 parents and 8 kids. After arriving we had a lunch- Smørrebrød of course- and then went for a very short walk just in the area around the house. After walking we came back and sat outside and had coffee/tea and fastelavnsboller (the pastry with cream in it & chocolate on top traditionally for the Danish holiday in February). After that, Ingelise & Carl (whose house we stayed in the previous nights) headed home. Then while the boys (all the other kids + my host bother) all played a game I went on a longer walk with all the parents- about an hour long walk. We relaxed before dinner which was chili con carne which is actually pretty popular in Denmark, I think it's their main form of tex-mex flair in their diets. After dinner they put out a variety of cakes for dessert- it is apparently much more common/traditional to eat cakes in the part of Jutland where my host mom and all her friends grew up. Once we finished with all the food, everyone gather to play a game called werewolf. If you’ve never played werewolf but you’ve played mafia it’s a very similar concept, it's a very interactive game where everyone has roles and plays together. They forced everyone to play in English which was really, really nice and definitely made the game super enjoyable for me. We played for a few hours until midnight, with lots of laughing and fun. At about 12:30 we went to sleep, I slept in a hallway on super uncomfortable bed but it's all about the experience folks!! We survived. Good thing my host mom waited to tell me about the mice they have seen around until the morning (I’m not even exaggerating for dramatic effect here people).

DAY 37, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH

Today we woke up around 8:30 with the plan of heading out after breakfast. Before eating, though, my host parents and I and one of the other parents played a quick game of sequence (an old family favorite of ours so I know that game well!!). After breakfast we did a quick pack up and good bye before heading out around 10:15 to go home. We drove off and took the ferry home and got back around 1 PM. Once getting home I IMMEDIATELY showered and then just worked on homework and relaxed the rest of the day!

All in all it was really nice to get away for a few days and spend time with my host family's friends, it was definitely an experience I could never have had living on my own and it was fun getting to see some of the Swedish forests and countryside!