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
This conversation took place between K and the sweet old lady who lives on the first floor of our apartment building. K was climbing the stairs in full winter gear carrying a twig with green leaves he found on the walk home, which he intended to put with his pine cones; and this lady had just opened the door to her apartment. Sweet Swedish Lady: … Continue reading A Conversation
As a family nomadic, 2012 saw us split our time nearly evenly between Burma/Myanmar and Sweden. My wife and I sat down and put together a list of the Top 12 and Bottom 12 things about each country according to our experiences. (There is no particular order to the list.) Burma Top 12 Friends – as a family nomadic it always seems we are working … Continue reading 2012 Lists
Action figures have slowly been creeping into our home over the past year. Somehow they just show up. One day all of a sudden there was some large overly muscled masked blue man playing with K’s toy animals. I do not know the character, nor how he got in our home; but my wife believes that he was given to K at a birthday party … Continue reading Spider-Man on the Catwalk
Christmas Eve found this family still in Almhult, Sweden…alone with no family or friends over, but very merry still. This was K’s fourth Christmas and M’s second. Since K has been around, family has become more of a focus for us. One of the joys, and challenges, of living abroad is being away from family. Before we had kids, this did not bother us too … Continue reading Twas a Merry Christmas (God Jul) Indeed
I had that awkward internal debate in my head yesterday. It went something like this: -Wow, M is sleeping an extra long time for his nap. -Ah how nice, I can relax and catch up on more mindless internet stuff. -But it really has been longer than normal…could there be something wrong. -No, he is fine. Look more status updates on Facebook. -Do you think … Continue reading Silly I know…but perhaps I should still check on him.
Bringing light into the dark of winter: Saint Lucia Day in Sweden. Yesterday was the celebration of St. Lucia Day. Being a Hemmapappa, I had no exposure to how this holiday was celebrated, though K had a huge feast at school and a visit from the St. Lucia representative. The above link takes you to another blog, Fika after Fifity, that has a very nice … Continue reading Bringing light into the dark of winter: Saint Lucia Day in Sweden
While the following event did take place, the exact details of the conversation to be described is purely a work of fiction (though it is how the conversation took place in my head.) Scene: Recently weaned M is being put to sleep by Poppa, tantruming K is being bathed by Momma…the phone rings. Momma: “Hello.” Swedish Official: “Hej Hej, is this … Continue reading I need to buy a what?!
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