Time flies! Hubby and I went to visit his family for the first time since Christmas to celebrate his nephews 12th birthday and to have some family time. It was nice to be with family since I am so far away from my own, it reminded me of home. Laughing around the dinner table, playing games and watching t.v. together, going for walks, just talking and hanging out. We are looking forward to going there more often from now on now that we are more settled. I was pretty nervous about the visit because I thought I would be further along in Swedish by now, a few months ago I thought I would be showing off my progress when we visited, but even without understanding most of the conversations I still had a great time and felt included.
Whenever we go to his family’s place I experience a different side of Sweden. I think I experience more “Country-side shock” than “Culture shock,” being from a city and not really familiar with a lot of things out there. Take my amazement over cows and horses for example. His mother points out flowers and asks what they are called in English, or if we have them, and I have no idea. I get excited when we spot a rabbit or a deer when we are driving along winding dirt paths – which scare me a bit with a side effect of motion sickness. I love going for walks and just soaking in the nature:
Yesterday I went for a walk to the water with my mother-in-law and stumbled upon this little fellow:
When I say stumbled upon him, I mean I literately almost stepped on him on the side of the road when he jumped out from under my foot, scaring me quite a bit. Hubby’s mom says he is unusually colored and a lot larger than ones you normally see around this time of year. We moved on and a few steps later I nearly stepped on another one. Then I was on the look out for frogs/toads in the forest.
We celebrated his nephews birthday with a smörgåstårta, which means “Sandwich cake.” A full post about the Swedish treat later this week- today is my first day of SFI and I don’t want to be late!!
Mar 26, 2012 @ 13:17:40
Oh… nature! I absolutely love any chance I can find to be in nature, but it’s hard to comeby these days as I live in the city & have no car. Your pics are beautiful!! Have a great first day in SFI!!! Good luck!
Mar 28, 2012 @ 09:18:19
Thank you! I love to take photos of nature so I’ll be sure to post them to share with you!
Mar 28, 2012 @ 09:36:32
Thanks!
Mar 26, 2012 @ 14:52:34
I love the pictures! What a beautiful country.
Mar 28, 2012 @ 09:18:51
It sure is! I can’t wait to see more of it!
Mar 26, 2012 @ 16:24:53
Beautiful pictures! Have fun today!
Mar 26, 2012 @ 16:43:42
Lycka till i sfi! You are a LOT further along than I was when I started. What part of the country were these pictures taken? Very beautiful there (as everywhere in Sweden).
Mar 28, 2012 @ 09:20:03
Tack, Dan! These are in Varnamo – its about a 90 minute train ride northeast.
Mar 26, 2012 @ 17:59:36
I’m sure you feel like you are not as far along as you think, but I know they are happy that you are putting in the effort to learn their language! Good for you!
It looks like a beautiful place to visit! I’d be going there a lot more often!
Mar 28, 2012 @ 09:21:30
Thank you Lori! I know the effort is important, you are right. We often talk about not understanding how people can move to a country and think it’s okay to not learn the language- so they know I want to and am trying!
Mar 27, 2012 @ 18:48:38
I second Lori’s comment! My fiance’s parents have already known me for years but I also feel bad when I see them and I feel like my language skills haven’t improved. They’ve always been so understanding and I know they appreciate my efforts. I almost hate to say this, but I think our efforts might be even more appreciated because we’re American and Americans are notoriously monolingual
.
Mar 28, 2012 @ 09:23:32
Definitely! I certainly think anyone who doesn’t have a second language at a young age has a harder time picking it up and adapting to speaking anything else.
Mar 29, 2012 @ 03:04:11
Beautiful photos, Meg! Such beautiful countryside . . . maybe that organic reindeer farm wasn’t so far off after all : )
Mar 30, 2012 @ 03:33:43
Lovely photos!
Mar 30, 2012 @ 09:50:05
Thank you!