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.