There is so much to say, and i'm not sure where to begin. i am well, and i write from erik's house in sweden. i had a safe and uneventful flight here on malaysian airlines, which comes with strange meals and flight attendents who wear traditional dresses and green eyeshadow. erik was waiting for me when i arrived in the beautifully scandinavian-designed stockholm airport. we ran to catch a train out to uppsala, and his mamma picked us up in town in their blue volvo station wagon. She is very kind and we're communicating in small ways through her english and my poor swedish.
My first impression of Sweden as the train passed through the countryside was that it really is as "Swedish" as I could have imagined. Does that make sense? The houses really are wooden and painted yellow and red, and flowers abound, and birch trees dot the landscape, and there really are berries everywhere! The Brattbergs home is so darling, with lots of light wood and white walls and books and houseplants. Everything is small, and European. We had a late breakfast when we arrived of delicious "ekologisk" (organic) yogurt, with homemade current jam and museli. And Erik made an awesome round loaf of bröd (bread) yesterday and we also had that with butter and good cheese. And coffee of course.
After lunch we took a walk and not 100 meters from his house are these wide open fields of wheat and pastures where sheep graze and several acres of community gardens.....which just made me drool and i loved seeing what is growing here. unfortunately, i didn't see many (ok, any) tomatoes, but there were lots of potatoes, dill, lettuce, onions, greens, flowers, and herbs. There are countless paths everywhere, and bikes abound. Klas, Erik, and I walked to the grocery store before dinner, and I knitted while the boys cooked a delious meal of salmon, asparagus, and boiled small potatoes all smothered with a buttery leek sauce. Siri came over after dinner so now i've met everyone in the family. More than ever I can't wait to improve my swedish, and I feel it will come quickly as it is all around me.
A few more interesting notes....there are little playgrounds everywhere, and wild apple trees, and the soil is dark black, and the sun set around 11 last night! There will be more news and some pictures to come. Today Erik and I will bike to town and see Uppsala! For now, coffee calls. I love and miss you all!
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4 comments:
glad you're safe and having a good time, hannah. sounds like you are really going to enjoy it! :) --seth
good to hear you arrived safely are settling in. That yoghurt with current jam and muesli sounds so good. It's cool that you pointed out the way Erik's neighborhood suddenly shifts from very residential to very pastoral. It's quite striking and I remember it well.
Hannah,you're the man!
Thanks so much for allowing us to see Sweden through your eyes.
Such a treat.
btw: I really believe one little
German striped is going to make it. Cannot wait to see those lovely colours.Exciting.
Thanks once more ,love Janke.
hannah!!!! what a joy to hear these little blips of extreme detail!!!! I LOVE IT! i miss you so much and think about you all the time and now i am SO glad to have a few snippets to imagine you with. i can't wait to write you and hear from you more...keep blogging! We've worked until 9pm for the past WEEK straight. we've had two huge bowls of wild berries soaking with sugar in our fridge to make pies with for a week trying to get to the task of actually making the pies! we're pathetic. or just insanely busy. it's high tomato season here and high melon season too so we are eating well. and eating only those two categories. :) i will be imagining you all day tomorrow while i harvest for the csa. what's the name of those german red dishes you're collecting? i bought a few red plates at the thrift store today, i'm not sure if they're the same. i love them! okay, well, i just wrote you an entire personal email on your blog. hope that's okay! love you so much, becca
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