Sweden, Denmark, and The Dinner Table

Posted by Kalie on September 24, 2009

Sorry for the break in updates!  Freshers’ Week has kept has kept me very busy!  Here’s a quick synopsis of my time in Sweden and Denmark.

• I arrived on Saturday, September 12 at the Copenhagen airport.  There I met Samantha, my hostess for the week.  Last year we had two classes together, but really only talked for the two hours we were in line waiting to vote in the Presidential elections.  She is studying abroad at Lund University this year.  She has dual citizenship in the US and Sweden.  Her father came to the US from Sweden, and two of her aunts and her grandparents still live in Sweden.  From the airport we took a train over the ocean to Malmö, where we stayed with her aunt Alexandra.
• September 13 – Samantha and I, along with her friend Kimala, went to AbbekÃ¥s.  It is a beautiful town (a little smaller than St. Edward) right on the ocean where her grandparents live.  Us girls walked around the town and to the ocean, once during the day and once at night.
• September 14 – Samantha and I traveled to Lund, the city where she has her classes.  A highlight of the day was sitting near a pond and feeding the ducks right out of our hands.
• September 15 – We were back in Malmö again and spent the day seeing the city.  We walked to the ocean and the Turning Torso, an architectural marvel.  That evening we traveled once again to AbbekÃ¥s.
• September 16 – We took a bus to Ystad, the town where Samantha’s cousin Mattias goes to high school.  Mattias is from Greenwood, NE, and is also studying in Sweden for the year.  We discovered that he knows of my aunt and uncle in Ashland – it truly is a small world!
• September 17 – Samantha and I left for Copenhagen.  Once there, we went out and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe (I had to add yet another HRC bear to my mom’s large collection).
• September 18 – We woke up early to get the most out of our trip to Copenhagen.  We did a lot of walking and site-seeing, including the Changing of the Guard, several cathedrals, the Little Mermaid statue, and some shopping.
• September 19 – I said goodbye to the Scandinavia region and hello to Scotland!

  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  

  
  

I’ve covered Sweden, I’ve covered Denmark, but…the dinner table?  Yes, the dinner table.  Every night I stayed in AbbekÃ¥s with Samantha’s grandparents and cousin, we would eat dinner (delicious, homemade Swedish dinner!) and then stay at the table and play pitch for hours, most nights until it was time for bed.  A quarter of the way across the world at my house, we also would spend hours around the dinner table talking about anything and everything after we finished eating.*  Many of my fondest memories were conversations had at the dinner table, with both friends and family.  I don’t know where I’m going exactly with this train of thought, but it was comforting to know that the kitchen table in AbbekÃ¥s was just as inviting and had the same effect as the one back home.  It makes me wonder, does the table affect the people, or do the people affect the table?

*I have to make this disclaimer.  We no longer have our usual table in the kitchen due to the remodeling.  My parents bought a new one, but I haven’t seen it since I’ve been gone.  Guess we’ll see if it has the same effect!

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