Clarion Collection Hotel Bergmastaren Falun

I concluded my 2 month adventure with a 2 day visit to Anna's aunt Birgitta in Leksand, which is in the traditional Dalicarlian region of Sweden. I should note we had a small delay on the train ride up to Leksand since the train hit a moose, which apparently isn't that uncommon here. Birgitta has been the best host up here taking me around and cooking us the best meals (in fact I have to get ...

... we were unable to open the door. Thankfully, because there was a power outage and if we had gotten in the elevator we would probably be there the rest of our vacation! We managed to lug all of our 4 suitcases down the stairs and out to the Europa mobile and head out to Lennart and Lilo's house looking forward to a good Scandinavian home cooked lunch. Only to arrive and find out they too had no electricity. All of us disappointed headed out to a ...

... do you find a single gravesite in 100 acres? Well, me with my pigeon Swedish managed to confer to the attendant (who knew no English) that I needed to find the Frejd Family grave. We did find it and it was quite an emotional moment for me. I Had not been there for 43 years, since the day we buried my Father. Having relived all the memories of family and childhood we set out for Oslo, of course on the wrong road. Thank goodness one of us was smart enough to turn on ...

Today most of us disperse and there is a sadness in the air. The Swedish Summer Gathering has been a total success in getting many of the Nordic/Baltic brethren together. We had a total of 38 come. On high attendance was 34 on the Sabbath. Several had never known of each before, but they sure do now. Our mix of sermons and seminars was not only good in content, but the amount of time we had for meetings, socializing and just enjoying nature ...

... are gifted in lifting other people's spirits. We were blessed to have Anthony and Marguarita Miles from Oslo provide special music at three of the meetings as well as piano accompaniment for hymns. We sang five hymns at each of our meetings. Most of the people attending here cannot attend any kind of church service throughout the rest of the year. We tried to make this concentration of ...

... Jesmina Alloua, who has been a great friend over the years met us at baggage claim and helped us get on the shuttle to the Radisson Hotel near the airport. There we also met Johnnie Lambert and Elisabeth Helmig from Germany who flew up special for this event. Andy Lee, who now lives in Warsaw, Poland, flew in from Moscow and well had a marvelous Swedish breakfast. After breakfast, back on the ...

Via hällregn (som en dusch!) som medgav en hastighet på ca 70 km/ h på en finfin 110-väg nådde vi till slut Falun. Hälsades välkomna av Alex & Lina som dukade upp en strålande middag med jordgubbsdaiquiris, ingefärsgrillade scampi och hemmagjord mockaglass. Sedan blev det dags för en spelomgång i " Ticket to ride" där det gällde att bygga järnväg kors & tvärs över Europa enligtett intrikat regelverk. Mycket roligt även om värdinnan hade den dåliga smaken att vinna :-) Nu läggdags!

Nu har förberedelserna pågått ett tag. Böcker om Kina skall läsas, ett antal googlingar på platser som kan vara av intresse. Mycket kretsar kring allt jag hoppas hinna med vid sidan av studierna. Det visar sig väl så småningom vad tid jag har för allt annat. Snart börjar studierna här hemma på högskolan, och då får jag väl den första känslan för vad det är jag gett mig in på, - att lära mig kinesiska.

I went to Sweden to visit a friend of a friend! We had a great time - I was staying with him at his University Halls and made loads of really great new friends from all over the world. It snowed, it rained, it flooded - and then it for so hot we were sunbathing! I had a fantastic time visiting the local museums, getting drunk, getting to know more about traditional Swedish culture and came home with many great memories.

I've been hanging out with Anna and her family up in their hometown of Falun located in Darlana, which is the origin of many of the most famous swedish cultural traditions and is undoubtedly the most traditional region of sweden today. The day started off with a quick exit by her sister to the hospital in the morning (was it something I said?) and then I went to visit this cool copper mine. In fact this copper mine was appartently ...