One of the things that my family loves about Sweden is driving through the beautiful countryside. When in Burma, we were primarily constrained to the confines of Yangon and only got out once in a while with a taxi. Coming to Sweden, it was one of my priorities to get a car so that we could independently explore this country, and get lost on their … Continue reading Country Churches of Sweden
Now, which side of Knackbrod do you butter? Choose your side, pick-up your arms and take to the field of battle to defend your choice!! But be sure that your arms are period appropriate, so only halberds, battle-axes, maces, swords, and bows will be allowed. Oh, if you happen to have a horse you can use a lance too. This past weekend, we were lucky … Continue reading A Knights Tale at Hovdala
The cold ocean met the land as a thick fog blanketed the surrounding pastures where the sheep grazed contently under the fog-shrouded sun. The land rose dramatically out of the sea and rolled on further into Sweden. Upon the peak of the seaside precipice a monolithic stone Viking ship marks the site of King Ale’s final resting place, at least according to local legend. 59 … Continue reading Ales Stenar
The sun streamed in through the easterly windows with a blinding brilliance, especially for 5:45am. Accompanying the sun came the morning cry from M demanding to be released from his crib. It’s May 1st, which is important to us for three reasons. First, solidarity with the workers of the world!! Second, it is the Almhult Disc Klubb’s season opener tournament. Third, the cows too were … Continue reading Once Upon a May Day
From Almhult, Vaxjo lies about 60 kilometers northwest and happens to be the closest decent sized town and where we tend to go when needing a bit of “city life”. Today was a dreary day, so the prospect of entertaining our two young boys inside or around the gloomy playground here in Almhult did not appeal. A nice car ride plus a few local attractions … Continue reading Two Stops in Teleborg
S lives across from us and before we moved into the apartment building she was the youngest resident at 81 years. S is awesome. I really don’t know her, but she is awesome. She is the only person in the apartment that speaks any English so at least we have been able to get to know her a little bit, but its the details of … Continue reading Her name is ‘S’
The Swedish daycare/pre-school (dagis) system is pretty cool. Once a child reaches 12 months, they are eligible to attend, though it’s not like you can just show up and drop your child off. First, Sweden really values parents being home with their children, which is why they have such a great paternity leave plan. Between the two parents, it is possible to take up to … Continue reading Dagis
M has just been accepted into a ‘dagis’, or daycare, facility starting on Monday. He will be attending 1/2 days five days a week. And with this, my run as a full-time hemmapappa is coming to an end. The original plan, the plan that I agreed to when still in Burma and contemplating the move to Sweden, was that I would stay home with M … Continue reading Sowing the Seeds of Regret
Last night I found myself in the basement of a building in downtown Almhult with thirteen other expats watching the film “To Kill a Child”. This was all part of the three hour required Swedish driver’s Risk Education course. As a non-EU citizen residing in Sweden, I have one year to procure a Swedish license, and it looks like the task will be daunting. Sweden … Continue reading To Kill a Child
There is a problem with leading a nomadic lifestyle. Well, there are many problems, but the one on my mind today deals with art. My wife is something of an artist, photography, and I am an appreciator of art. Traveling has exposed us to many diverse art forms and we have collected a decent collection. From Bangladesh we have multiple rickshaw art paintings and some … Continue reading Art in a Shipping Tube
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