Home!

After a lengthy journey, we are home. The performance went wonderfully and this particular audience of Gilbert and Sullivan aficionados really caught each and every reference. That was great!

We had a very long trip home yesterday and I am glad to be here.

Performance Day

Today is the day for our performance. I am about to leave for the theatre but wanted to post some photos from yesterday. The Battleground tour by horse was wonderful. Our guide, Ed, was most knowledgeable and the weather cooperated beautifully.

Last night, after a wonderful supper at the Farnsworth Inn -- where you can see hundreds of bullet holes from the Great Civil Conflict -- we went on a Ghost Tour, which was also very nice. Gettysburg is a wonderful place to visit -- especially when the weather is cool -- and I highly recommend it. I will say that my knowledge of the Civil War is so limited that I am not getting as much from the historical portions of this tour as I might. I wish I knew more about the specific battles waged. One thing is certain, when you stand in the same place a Union or Confederate soldier stood and look across the field where your enemy and brother stood against you, you really feel for the many people who fought and died for their cause. War is different when your targets are unknown peoples in an unknown land miles from your position, I think. When the enemy is your cousin and you are looking at him across several hundred feet and you know that it comes down to his life or yours -- that is something!

Rehearsal Day

I went for a walk this morning to see the downtown sights of Gettysburg. It was hot and humid and reminded me a lot of Shreveport. After lunchtime, the temperature cooled a bit and was easier to move around in.

The Kline Theater is a lovely playhouse and I think we will really enjoy performing there on Saturday. As you can see from the photos, the group is having a wonderful time. Everyone here is so nice and helpful. They seem interested in the festival and the area we are from -- but they make no cracks about our accents.

Of course, I am prepared for those comments. "That's right! You should be familiar with the way southerners talk since so much of your town was occupied during the Civil War." At least they were occupied for a little while. Lest we forget who won that War!

I am also seeing a lot of "Dutch" and "German" things here. I am not sure the "Dutch" things are really Dutch. I think most may be more "Deutsch" which is German for German.

Tomorrow, I am hoping we can go on a horseback ride around the battlefield. Keep your fingers crossed.

Operation Sweethearts By Air is Go

We made it to Gettysburg and are now settled comfortably into our rooms at the Brafferton Inn. Gettysburg looks quaint. The fun starts tomorrow evening with our rehearsal at the Kline Theatre. Our photo is featured prominently in the Gettysburg Festival brochure -- right next to Kevin Eubanks of "The Tonight Show" fame. WOW. No pressure, just breathe.

Hope to tour the battlegrounds tomorrow and maybe go on a Ghost tour!!

Sweethearts Goes to Gettysburg

Well, tonight John Bogan, Chelsea David and I are preparing for our trip to Dallas and flight to Washington, D.C. From there, we'll travel to Gettysburg for the Gettysburg Arts Festival and a wonderful opportunity to perform at the Kline Theatre. We will be performing the Gilbert play, "Sweethearts" and I can't wait to see the Festival and check out Gettysburg! The Bedouin Barrister rides again!

Stay tuned for the drama, the comedy and the tragedy of a five day tour of duty with such local notables as Dr. John Goddard, John Bogan, Chelsea David, Marissa Brown, John Chambers, and Jane Ryder! It is sure to be Grand Theatre!

HOME!

We made it in last night, after almost 24 hours en route, through Stockholm, Newark and Houston. I am jet lagged today, but it is SO nice to be home. I really enjoyed my time in Sweden but missed my family, my animals and my own bed! I learned a lot on this trip -- about Sweden; about other ways of thinking; and, about myself. The Swedes definitely have a lot to be proud of in their country. As Americans, we, too, have a lot of which to be proud. I am thankful for the opportunities to learn I have been given through this Group Study Exchange and look forward to the chance to share, with the clubs who have sponsored us, all the insights we gained and the friendships we have forged. One of my hosts is even coming to visit me in October -- I can't wait to reciprocate her hospitality and show her a little bit of our beautiful nation. I am also looking forward to journeying around the U.S. and seeing more of what we have to offer. I will write more later, so thank you for following me and keep checking back here for more adventures of the Bedouin Barrister.

Stockholm

We have made a smooth transition to Stockholm and our hostel. At about eight a.m., Joe and I boarded a train from Sundsvall to Stockholm. The train was neat and clean and the ride was wonderful. We arrived at the Central Station amid heavy human traffic and proceeded into the terminal to find a taxi and have some lunch. Once inside, we needed the facilities and found ourselves faced with something totally foreign to American sensibilities -- the pay toilet. Luckily, Joe had some extra coins. I cannot quite understand the European affinity for the pay toilet. I am afraid the use of the pay toilet in America would lead to rather severe and undesirable consequences.

Once at the hostel, we dropped our luggage and started walking to Gamla Stan -- Old Town. We ultimately got a pass for the subway and were able to ride along. Old Town has some lovely architecture, but I am dismayed at the "Bourbon Street" feeling of one of the streets -- performer on the corner, singing American songs and panhandling for money; eighteen curio shops all hocking wares made in China that have the Sweden logos on them; and, very odd looking people walking around desiring other not so odd looking people to stare at them. Some of their get-ups could be likened to a train wreck -- I simply couldn't look away. I wanted to take some photos, but that would give in to their desire for weirdness too much.

Tonight, we have had a good Italian meal and are back at the hostel. Sarah isn't feeling well so we are medicating her with vitamin C and Ibuprofen. I hope it is just sinuses and not something more serious. We leave Monday morning for home and I can truly say, I am ready to see my friends and family.

Day Two in Sundsvall

Well, two presentations down and one to go. The cuties above are Becky and Teo; ages five and three. We have been playing a Princess Crown game and a balloon game and they are winning. Today, our flight around Sundsvall was cancelled due to the weather but we may be able to go tomorrow. We toured a burial mound site and a graveyard and heard the story of St. Olof, who was ultimately killed in Norway, I think.

Tomorrow morning, we have another presentation, and then we get ready for Stockholm. I couldn't find Tony Chaceries anywhere, so I am having to improvise with the corn dip. I hope it tastes o.k. My hostess put on some music, which included ". . . . went down to the Audubon Zoo and they all aksed for you . . . ." Made me a bit homesick.

First Presentation in Sundsvall

This morning, I received an air card from Leif, the chief police inspector here. As such, communication has gotten a lot better. The photos are mostly from our trip in Harnosand, including the Goulash soup we had at our host from Hungary's home, and the egg that won the strength contest on Easter Saturday. I am going to try to attach a "Schnapps" song, too.

Today, we got some of our travel arrangements cemented for a trip to Stockholm. We will leave Sundsvall on Saturday by train and will be in Stockholm Saturday and Sunday and will join the plane in Stockholm for our flight home via Newark on Monday morning. I am glad we now have train and room reservations. The logistics aspect of these trips is always a stressor for me and as anyone who knows me can attest, I am not someone who can simply spend the night at the train station. I am a bit more high maintenance than that. I now have to figure out what to do in Stockholm, as I never gave it much thought because we weren't going to be spending any time there.

This afternoon, we went to the Permobil corporate offices. Permobil is a multinational corporation that designs and builds wheelchairs. We got the chance to drive several of their models and it is amazing what those machines can do. Freedom is more possible for the impaired thanks to those chairs. The man who invented his line, Per Udden, lived near here and he and his wife had nine children. Since he was dyslexic, his mother read all his medical books when he went through medical school. They joke that it was his mother who should have gotten the medical license. Per Udden spent his life trying to make innovations for those who were handicapped and those who were dyslexic.

Tonight, I need to go to the store and get the ingredients for the dish I will prepare for the pot luck -- corn dip. Easy to make, easy to store and scrumptious. Eddie took my idea to make sweet tea and I am not sure they have all the ingredients for the other dishes I know how to make by heart. Also, I looked and there doesn't seem to be a Johnny's Pizza or Podnuh's to be found. Soooo, corn dip or hot artichoke dip are my best options.

Sundsvall

Well, we are now in Sundsvall and I am staying with Erika and Martin Persson and their children, Becky and Theo, ages five and three. I still don't have wireless Internet, so I cannot upload photos and the like or update the blog as often, but at least I have some access. Today, we took a walking tour of Sundsvall which was burned almost completely in 1888 by a spark started anecdotally by a steam engine. After the fire, all the wood buildings were replaced with stone ones and the town is sometimes called the "Stonetown." Neorenaissance architectural styles are prevalent in the old town area.

Most interesting to me, is the fact that Prince "Chulalongkorn" -- completely phonetic spelling-- of the "King and I" fame, once journeyed to this area, after his father had died and he had become king of Siam. He came to eat lunch in a building I was standing in this afternoon and ultimately spent time in this part of Sweden. He was much loved by these people as well. Nobody else in my group may have thought that was terribly interesting but simply knowing the story of Anna and her influence on the real King of Siam, made the presence of his son in this part of the world, very tangible and exciting for me.

We are working on a plan to see Stockholm before we leave, so that is on the agenda for tomorrow. Also, on Friday, we are supposed to have a potluck dinner -- I didn't tell them that Lutherans all over the world are famous for that -- at which we are supposed to bring a favorite dish from our country. Here I am, in Sweden without a Kentucky Fried Chicken or Taco Bell in sight, and I am supposed to bring my favorite dish. I don't suppose Trejo's or Ming Garden delivers this far, does it?

Harnösand

Happy Easter to you all. We have been staying in Harnösand these past few days and have had no access to the Internet. Talk to you soon.

Moving on to Harnosand

I have had a wonderful time here in Umea. I got the chance to watch two criminal trials yesterday. Tuesday night, I learned the Vasterbotten polska and watched as a large group of folk dancers worked on the dance. Live music was provided by a fiddler and there were just as many men as women in the volunteer group. Amazing. The dance was complicated, too, and I had a good time learning it.

Yesterday, we went and toured the Volvo plant here where they make the large cabs for the commercial line trucks. There was a lot of robot mechanization and it seems that if we could design a robot to fix the other robots, man could become obsolete. After Volvo, we tried Curling. Folks, it is a lot harder than it looks on TV. I slipped and slid around a bit and decided that I didn't want to have any first-hand knowledge of the Swedish medical system, so I left the playing to the rest of the group.

Today, we are moving to Harnosand for a few days. I will write more later.

First Day in Umea

Today was our first full day in Umea. We started the day with a walking tour of the downtown area of the town. Our guide, Lars, is retired from the museum and has an archaeology background. His information about the time periods when man was located in the area was wonderful. I realized when speaking with Lars that most of us at the table could state with some certainty when our family came to the United States and from what country or countries they came. I have an easier time with that on my mother's side, of course, than my father's. At any rate, we kept asking Lars when the Scandinavian peoples came into the area and where they came from. His basic understanding was that people came from the Caucasus Mountain area and populated Germany and that the people from Northern Germany ultimately travelled into Scandinavia populating that area.

What is amazing about this is that the people who came into the new worlds they were exploring were doing so without mechanical invention, without maps, without any knowledge of the places they were journeying to or what lay in wait for them there, and without locomotion other than by foot or by animal. When I knew I was coming to Sweden, I wanted to find out everything I could about the places I was going to visit, so I would know what to expect. The original settlers OF ANY CONTINENT had no idea about their destination but they went anyway. Talk about courage!

Another point -- language difficulties. I studied Swedish via Rosetta Stone before I left. I still cannot understand but a few isolated words, when listening to the Swedes speak. In fact, I think I have a harder time because most of the music is in English, everyone speaks English with us, and a lot of the street advertisements are in English. Immersion training in a foreign language is probably better when there aren't visual and audio cues to remind you of your primary language.

This afternoon, we toured the Vasterbotten Museum and learned about the battle staged at Umea between Sweden and Russia in 1809. Russia ultimately won that war, which meant the loss of Finnland by Sweden. Umea also suffered a tremendous fire that destroyed most of the property and homes in the area. When went to the photo archive and saw a photograph taken at the time of the fire in 1888, showing the decimation of the town. They have now planted rows of birch trees down the center street of downtown to prevent the spread of the fire across the street.

Tonight, I went to IKSU, a HUGE gym here. They have every class imaginable and every nook and cranny of the facility is packed. As a closet introvert, there is NO WAY I could ever be a member there. I need the nurturing atmosphere of a small dance classroom and a few students, not one hundred unknown faces jumping up and down. Tomorrow, I am going to learn a folk dance. I pray that there aren't that many people in that class. On Wednesday, I am going to attend a trial with witness examination, and that will be very interesting. Thus far, I have been given a good background on the legal system, but I will enjoy seeing the system in action. On Wednesday afternoon, we are going to visit the Volvo plant. When that opportunity presented itself, I realized that I have never spent any time at the GM plant in Shreveport. I don't even know if they give or gave tours of that facility. At the last large factory we went to here, a forklift came past us at a high rate of speed and I immediately thought, "This is why the lawyers would never let people come into a plant in the U.S. We could have been hurt." If someone had stepped back a few inches, they would've been nailed by the forklift. Everyone else thinks I am just too cautious. Maybe, but I sure wouldn't want to have to defend THAT forklift driver, listening to his Ipod and driving like a bat out of hell. Anyway, I digress. I am actually getting a little bit tired of all the snow. I can only imagine what the Swedes feel about the snow by this time of the year.

The Opera here is showing "West Side Story." I am trying to picture how that is in Swedish. Hmmm.

On to Umea

Today, we have been transported to Umea. Yesterday, we waited approximately two hours to make our presentation in an abbreviated format before the District Conference attendees. I ran the Powerpoint presentation which held a few exciting moments, as I wasn't able to use my computer and, instead, ran it on a Swedish machine where all the Powerpoint language was in Swedish. As an added benefit, the button that causes the presentation to run automatically on the English version IS NOT the same for the Swedish version, as I found out. Great!

In any event, I got the program going and we made it through our presentation. Last night was the Governor's banquet, where we ate at another conference center and listened to live music. The first song they sang was "Amazing Grace," followed by another hymn. I thought that was exceedingly odd, since everyone I have met here professes a great "tolerance" for other religions and, specifically, has told me they are not religious. When I spoke with my host about the presence of these songs in a business-type of conference, he simply said that they didn't really think about those songs being religious. Perhaps it is because they sing the songs in English, so the import of the words is lost to them, but the clear words of those two songs express a belief in a Higher Power at the very least and an outright profession of faith in Jesus Christ at most. I asked my host if they were worried at all that Muslims or Buddhists in the business organization would be offended by those songs and he simply said "No." I don't think the organizers even thought about that possibility.

After the hymns, a female singer began with her portion of the program. One note for those of you used to a lounge environment: apparently, in Sweden, you have to be quiet while the singer is performing. That was kind of oppressive because we were seated at tables, ostensibly to speak to one another, and not in a concert hall. It probably would have been better, at least to my way of thinking, if the singer had sung Swedish songs, either classical or rock. When she sang American and British hits, she imitated what I think she thought Americans would sing like. Not all of us sing with a gravelly voice and wail. TV is a very powerful medium and, whether we like it or not, the rest of the world thinks we are as portrayed. That is why this exchange is good, I think. I have learned that not all Swedes are tall, physically fit and good looking. Most are, but not all. Not all Americans wear a lot of makeup and have big hair, but I happen to like that look. Ha Ha.

We are starting in Umea and have two more cities to see after this. I have been told that I will be spending one time with lawyers and one learning Swedish folkdance. The Vasterbotten polka has been discussed. I am completely excited about that. Law is very difficult to gain anything substantive from because our systems are so different. But, Dance -- ah. If I can bring back a folkdance, that would be wonderful!!!

District Conference

Today is our second day in Lycksele and, this morning, we started at the wood museum. The history of this area and its relationship with woodcutting is interesting. After the visit to the museum, we attended the Rotary club luncheon and heard from a gentleman from Rotary International, attending the District conference held here, from Great Britain, discussing their goal of eradicating polio. His speech was interesting and he had a lot of good insight into the culture both here and in England. The Swedes don't usually give to any philanthropic organizations because they believe they have given through their taxes. As a result, there are virtually no nonprofit organizations here. The argument is that since they pay their taxes and the government gives to philanthropic and social programs, they need not. They feel relieved that they don't have to make a decision about the programs sponsored. I argue that they CANNOT make the decision about what they really care for, because the government is doing it for them. That mindset seems to really sail over most of these folks' heads.

I spoke with a Norwegian gentleman this evening at a special dinner hosted by the District conference and held at a museum next to the wood museum we went to earlier today. He really couldn't seem to understand why the entirety of the U.S. can't just get along and provide for a more societally focused country. He seemed very proud of the fact that Norway requires students to learn English at an early age. I told him that we could institute that sort of program but which language would we choose? If we went with the most people speaking the language world-wide, we should learn Chinese. If we went with proximity, those in the North would learn French because of French speaking Canada, while those in Texas would choose Spanish. There is not ONE language the whole country SHOULD be speaking in addition to English. We have so much ethnic and cultural diversity that I think it would boggle the minds of many in Scandinavia. The Norwegian gentleman discussed a need for tolerance. I pointed out that tolerance requires us to respect ALL those with differing opinions and religious beliefs, including the conservative Christian movement he seemed to be criticizing. I am not trying to be difficult, but if you sit in a country that has a state religion, i.e. Lutheran Christianity, and you do not have the numbers or diversity of immigrants in your country that we do, you simply cannot criticize the United States harshly. The questions should be asked but to judge us as a nation is unfair. Walk a mile in our shoes and see the tightrope we walk between individual rights and fostering the feeling of community. We have our struggles, but I think we are doing alright. Eddie pointed out that many Americans don't travel internationally because, for us, traveling from state to state deals with the same distances that Europeans travel from country to country. I am still thankful for this opportunity to be with and learn from this amazing people, but I am gaining an appreciation for my own society, with all its flaws, as well. God Bless America.

Lycksele

A few days have passed since I was able to post because my last host family didn*t have wireless internet. We had been staying in Skellefteå. While there, we went to a rubber linings manufacturing plant; a wooden bridge and home building factory; and, spent time at the Campus for Wood Technology. Yesterday was great fun, because we got to go out on an icebreaker into the Gulf of Bothnia. Icebreakers are wonderful ships and we actually got to break a fresh path. Lookiing at the ice being cracked was like watching panes of glass breaking with the pieces sliding all over the tops of the remaining panes. Amazing.

We then had a wonderful sleigh ride in the country. The sleigh was small and the horse was named *Utop*. Beautiful. I took a Qigong class led by my house mother the day before. We have had a busy few days and today we travelled to Lycksele.

Lycksele is a smaller town where the District conference for this district of Sweden is going to be held, beginning tomorrow. Today, we went to the Djurpark (Zoo) and I was able to pet a live red fox for the first time. I also touched a live moose named Caesar on his velvety nose! We were the only people at the zoo and were able to observe the feeding of the carnivores. The Lynx were amazing, as were the arctic foxes and the wolves. Wolves look MUCH bigger close up. They are so fast moving through the snow that you are glad they are on one side of the fence and you the other. I always love going to the zoo so this excursion was perfect for me.

Then, we went to LapLab AB, a company that tests core samples to determine the amount of gold, silver and other metals in the mining area. The robotics at this facility are amazing. Since I am borrowing my host's computer, I cannot change photos. I will put up new photos as soon as possible.

Tomorrow, we are going to the wood museum and then, maybe, to the local courthouse. By the way, it was -17 degrees Celsius this morning, when I got into my host's car. In Lycksele, it began snowing several hours ago and it looks like it will continue for the next few days. I am sure glad I invested in the thermal underwear! Talk to you soon.

Skiing!

Today was a wonderful day. I went skiing for the very first time and they called me a "natural born skier." They may have just been being nice but I really had a great time cross country skiing and I only fell a few times. The snow was beautiful and you felt like you are gliding across the surface of the earth. We stopped at a place in the wilderness and shared some coffee and sandwiches for lunch. Then, we went snowmobiling and I got to drive one, too. Driving a snowmobile is a lot like driving a jet ski, only you know that if you get thrown off, the landing won't be as nice. Turning is a little bit more difficult, too. Having jet skiied, I was not afraid of the speed and I think that pleased my friends.

This trip has been a wonderful way to stretch my boundaries. I have become so careful in what I allow myself to do physically that I think I have limited myself. I was so worried about the skiing and thought I would wreck and cause my knee to have problems. I was careful, but I really didn't have any problems at all and I think this is a great confidence booster for me. I know that I limit myself more out of fear of having pain, than actually having experienced pain. As a wise president once said, "There is nothing to fear but fear itself!"

After the skiing and a tour of the town by ski, we came back home and had a sauna. Very hot! It felt like Louisiana in August. The funny thing is that Gunilla's cat, Jericho, a Himalayan, came into the sauna with us and stayed. I told Gunilla that I was worried that he would fry his little brain, to which she responded that he had no brain, so there wasn't any problem.

Tonight, we are having a supper of spaghetti bolognese -- which I love. Gunilla and Roger have made a wonderful place for me here -- and Sissi seems to like me too. (She is the cat in the picture.) We move on to the next stop tomorrow. Another adventure? Maybe!

Vocational Day

Yesterday, I had a FULL vocational day. I started at LundbergAkerlund -- a lawyers' office and then went to see the Norrbotten Theatre, a county theatre with three stages, and tons of people paid to work on the projects and all that goes along with it. Wonderful facilities and, although I wanted to sneak a couple of the more ornate costumes into my backpack, I resisted the urge. I am sure that would have violated a few EU conventions, at the very least. We made our second presentation to the local Rotarians and, thereafter, I went to the Dancing school to watch a "Floor Barre." This was a good bit different from the floor barre I teach but the teacher was excellent and the students compliant. After that, I went to the District Court here in Lulea where I met with a current judge and we discussed policy and how things work in the court -- and Jazz trumpet, which he plays. He loves the jazz of the Big Band era and so we hit it off well.

Last night, we ate at a cafe and then headed to the arena for a BASKETBALL GAME. I don't usually watch basketball in the U.S. but, somehow, it was different here in Sweden. I have attached, hopefully, a little video I shot. First foul comes out as "Firsta foula" here, which is neat. I also did the requisite trash talking to the American players -- three total on the two teams. "Come on! I play better than that! Go home and practice!" That kind of stuff. I am just glad they didn't throw me out. One thing that amazes me -- we were sitting behind the adverse team and we heard the coach, obviously not American, yelling at his players -- In ENGLISH. Not only is English the universal language of aviation, but also Basketball. Who would have thought it? There were dancers at the game, too.

Today, I am under the weather a bit and am taking it easy. I will try to do laundry and get a few things done. Tonight is a big dinner with my hostess, Gunilla's family. Till tomorrow!

Lulea

We have been out of computer contact for the last several days, but I am now back and ready to report on Stora Sjoefallet and the start of our tour in Lulea.

We spent a wonderful day with Lars, our friend from Gellivare, yesterday and drove to the National Park of Stora Sjoefallet. I thought I had seen snow and ice, but I was wrong. The waterfalls that would normally release water from the mountain tops were frozen into falling ice floes. Amazing.

Last night, we had the opportunity to hear from a real Sami young woman and see the wares of her people. The Sami people are fascinating and remind me a lot of our American Indian tribes up in the Northern U.S., including the Iroquois. We learned about the way of reindeer herding now employed and we saw how SHE marked her reindeer's ears. I can't give my animals their medicine and this young woman carves out the ears of her reindeer to make sure they are identifiable. After the talk, Inger, our hostess who just happens to own the lodge, provided us a wonderful meal of local delicacies. For a starter, we had herring, (of course), along with whitefish and arctic char. Also on the starter plate was moose -- yes, moose -- and reindeer, two varieties each. I really liked both, especially the moose sausage. After dinner, we tried "Punsch", which is a smooth liquer. It was very good and we were especially glad to have this since it is reserved for only special occasions.

This morning, we had a good breakfast and then set out by car to Porjus, to the Arctic Couleur Museum. While en route, we saw a female moose walking through the forest. She stopped for a moment, considered us, and then moved along her way, treading carefully through the snow. I know how she felt, considering the number of times I have stepped onto what I thought was solid ground, only to end up up to my upper thigh in snow. At the museum in Porjus, we met an English lady who specializes in photographing ALL types of Arctic light -- not just the Northern Lights. We then drove on to Jokkmokk.

Jokkmokk is unique in that it has had an open air market in February each year for over 400 years. It has never been cancelled and, if you want reservations in Jokkmokk during that time, you have to book one year in advance. In Jokkmokk, we went to the Sami museum and learned more about their culture, including their religion, which is facsinating. After Jokkmokk, we jumped the reindeer to get to the other side of the Arctic Circle and headed into Lulea.

This evening, I attended a ballet class at the local academy. Thankfully, ballet is ballet, no matter where you are and, although I couldn't understand all the teacher said, I knew what she wanted her students to do. Tonight, we had a sumptuous dinner with some representatives from the local Rotary club. Dinner was lovely and the conversation very pleasant.

Tomorrow is our first vocational day here, so I must get some sleep. We are even going to a basketball game tomorrow night, where two American players are the favorites. I will try to keep my trash talking down to a minimum, but these folks probably want to get an authentic American experience and we are just the ones to give it to them. I don't think it will make any difference that the ONLY thing I know about basketball is that you try to get the ball in the basket. I will let you know what happens. Hopefully, I won't cause an international incident. Apparently, one of the group that came last year to Sweden got sent home. But, that is a story for another night. Tack so mycket!

Gellivare

Today was our first presentation day for the Rotary Club in Gellivare, Sweden. We began our day with vocational activities. I travelled with Magnus, my host, to his law office where I met his colleagues and we discussed how Swedish law differs from our own. Then, I met with several of the local prosecutors and got a tour of the police station. Very interesting. At the luncheon, we made our presentation and I am happy to report that my computer and attending cables worked just fine. I hope we didn't bore the folks, too much. Tonight is our last night in the home with this host family and then we move along to a mountain resort for our last night with the Gellivare team. I am sad to leave Magnus and Karin Muchler. They, along with their children, Elsa and Anna, have been so wonderful. Not only do Karin and Magnus speak impeccable English, but Magnus' father is originally from Germany and so, where English and Swedish collide, we will use German to rectify the situation. Karin spent time in the United States and has a wonderful sense of style and is a great cook. I really hope to see them again and that they like me enough to come to the U.S. and visit. Melina would love their girls!!!.

Well, gotta get a bit of rest before tomorrow. Everyone here has been great. My only wish is that I could have my friends from home here to share in all this. God Natt!

Reindeer!!!

Well, today was a day of pure cold fun. We began with a tour of Kiruna, seeing the city hall and the plan for reassignment of some of the city's residents and buildings due to a "sink hole" type problem caused by the mining for iron ore. Then, we went out to see the REINDEER. WOW!!! They are wonderful and I can totally see why Santa chose them to pull his sleigh. We got to feed a few of them lichen, which we got from the trees. The reindeer think of it as candy. They are completely vegetarian and, although I kind of wanted a smooch from a reindeer, I had to settle for a tenuous glance. While they are docile, they are not warm and fuzzy like my Cosmo.

At any rate, we then traveled to the world famous Icehotel. In case you haven't heard about this place, they build an Icehotel from ice floes near the site EVERY year. Guests from all around the world come to sleep on reindeer skins in rooms made completely of ice. We toured the artistic suites of the Icehotel and then had a drink at a real Icebar. I had a Wolfpaw -- a traditional Lappland drink. The glasses were even made of ice. Because you are in a climate that is well below freezing, you could actually keep the glass and return for a refill. BRRRR. The complete hotel melts in late Spring and they build it all again the next year.

We also got the opportunity to learn a lot about the Sami culture -- indigenous peoples who herded reindeer and occupied this area beginning a few thousand years after the last ice age ended. We went to a Sami nursery school and the children were fantastic.

We are now in Gellivare, which is another mining community. We were able to take a tour of the area this afternoon and now we are dispersed into our various host families. I am staying with a wonderful couple who are both lawyers. They have two beautiful children, ages 4 and 7. Interestingly, the "Opa" to the little children is also from Germany. So, we have a lot to talk about. I had a wonderful meal, in the home, of salmon, with some delicious local liquers and I am now getting ready to hit the sack. I hope all is well back home. Sweden is a beautiful country with a beautiful people! Everyone should try to get here and experience this!

God Morgon! Yesterday, the 13th, we went to the Abisko Mountain Lodge for lunch and a wonderful outdoor experience. Since I came prepared for the Great North, I was dressed too warmly for most activities. We hiked up to a small mountain top, which for me was a LOOOONNNGGG way, and I got so hot, I had to take OFF clothes. Once we got to the top, however, it was very cold and I was glad I had all my layers. The snow is deep when you deviate from the trail -- past knee level in many places -- as I and the rest of my team found out. The snow is beautiful -- it looks like God sprinkled glitter across the whole countryside. After a wonderful dinner of salmon with dill and a wonderful sauce, great bread, and some of the best Hot Chocolate I have ever had, we set out for snowshoeing and a hope to see the Aurora Borealis. We hiked back to that same peak we had been to before. Snowshoeing is not much different on these trails than hiking, except the snowshoes make it more cumbersome to move. I had difficulty keeping up that afternoon, much less in the dark of night after having had a full dinner, so it was not great for me. I was hot on the way up and when we got to the top, I nearly froze. My clothes were soaked when I got back to the room and that is probably why I got sooooo cooooold. I probably had on too many clothes to start but I was concerned about being cold. So, just like everything in life, you have to strike the best balance you can. Today, I will not wear as much and see what happens. The Aurora was there but was not spectacular that night. It was just a greenish glow in the clouds. It would have been great to have seen a lot of color, but, by that time, all I wanted was to be inside somewhere.

The people we have met have all been exceptional. Every Swede we have encountered speaks impeccable English and all seem content and friendly. We met a couple from England at the Abisko Mountain Lodge. The man is an acrobat who now does musical theatre in the West End of London and the woman was a dancer who moved into management. There were also two ladies at the Abisko Mountain Lodge who work in England but who are from the Southern United States. Pretty cool.

This morning, the team went ice fishing ---- without me. The last thing our guide said last night as to this endeavor was "Dress Warmly." There is absolutely no way I want to EVER get as cold as I was last night, so I opted to stay at the hotel. I don't like the heat but bone chilling cold is a whole other phenomenon. A Wilderness Explorer, I am not! Today, after lunch, we are set to go to the world famous Icehotel. We then have a more formal dinner and stay in a hotel in Kiruna one more night before moving on to the next team. Thank you so much for following me on this adventure! Ciao!

Travel Diary

WOW -- We are finally in Sweden and it is wonderful. To recap:

We sat in Houston after leaving Alexandria late and missing our connection to Newark. SO -- they sent us through Heathrow after deleting our reservation and booking us two to a seat. At first, I let the other folks handle the issue. After watching the singularly unhelpful folks at Continental's customer service area basically telling us that they couldn't do anything regarding a problem THEY caused, I decided to intervene a bit. I was VERY nice while demanding the name of the supervisor of the gate agent. She looked around a bit like someone who was fearful of losing her job and then divulged his name. I asked her to figure out a way for all FIVE of us to get on the plane and stood approximately twenty feet away from her, catching her eye every minute -- all the while calling poor Dan and demanding that he find me the registered agent for service of process for Continental. We all got on the plane, after "Noreen" got tired of seeing me stare at her, probably. At any rate, the plane was JAMMED and seating not so great.

But, we got to Heathrow and the first guy we come to was FABULOUS. He was an official but was funny and nice. Their equivalent of a TSA agent instructed us to take off our coats by doing a dramatic and totally comedic striptease -- something you would never get in the U.S. but should. Everybody chuckled and it made the "security process" that much easier.

Scandinavian Air officials were, likewise, very helpful and we spent a few pleasant hours at Heathrow. We were then flown via SAS to Stockholm, which was also pleasant. We finally got to Kiruna late last night and were then driven to Bjorkliden which is a ski resort. SO much wonderful snow. I can't wait to explore.

I miss my family and friends. I spent most of the day yesterday thinking, "I wish Dan could see this." or "I wish Melina could see that." I wish ALL of you could see this place. Beautiful.

Countdown to Sweden

The last team meeting has been held and on Thursday, March 11 at the crack of dawn, the team will leave from Alexandria International Airport. Our flight will take us to Houston, where we will change planes for Newark, New Jersey. In Newark, we will board our transcontinental flight to Stockholm and from Stockholm, Sweden, fly to Kiruna, our first destination. We have received the itinerary for Gaellivare, Sweden and it looks great! We will be attending individual vocational events, as well as spending some outdoor time at one of the National Parks. Our meeting with the local Rotarians is set for lunch at a castle! For those who know me well, you know that is right up my alley! I don't think I have ever played a Queen in any plays or musicals but I have been a Disney Princess, so that counts, I am sure. I am still working on the language training and hope to at least be able to navigate a bit. From the email I have received, I feel confident that our counterparts are fluent in English, which is a good thing.

Welcome! Thank you for joining me on this wonderful journey. Rotary International has set up a program of Group Study Exchange where young professionals are selected to represent their area and profession in an exchange with other like-minded professionals from another country. Participants cannot be members of the Rotary Club and must pass a selection process, including an interview. It is an honor to be selected and I am grateful for the opportunity to represent North Louisiana and the legal profession on this Group Study Exchange in Sweden from March 11 through April 12, 2010. This blog will provide readers with information about my personal experiences preparing for and conducting the exchange. Please drop by and leave comments -- nice ones, please -- telling me about what is going on at home and sharing with me any experiences you have had in Europe, particularly Sweden.