Celebrating the 4th of July on the 29th of June

The U.S. Embassy held their Independence Day celebration yesterday as the 4th of July is on a Sunday this year. It is always such an honor to be invited and this year was the best party ever! This was the first year that Ambassador Matthew Barzun has been in office and he outdid himself by offering a charming and lovely afternoon to his guests. He also gave a great speech, partly in Swedish (which was very impressive and well done) in which he said that while we celebrate our independence, we also lift up our dependence on others as a way to create the best way of life for all. He also said that from whom we are celebrating our independence and why are topics left for another day and that all parties are close friends and allies 234 years down the road! It was very nice. Ala Michelle Obama, he planted an herb garden in the backyard of the embassy, the fruit of which will be used in the new American style Diner he is creating in the embassy. I even got to plant a couple of the plants! Finally, we might have a chance for a wonderful burger here in town! He made a cute joke once again by asking the British Ambassador to plant the thyme, as a symbol that time heals all wounds! It was a nice touch.
Seeing the American flag brought in by the Marine Color guard and listening to the National Anthem being sung by the Los Angeles Children's Choir, who just happened to be in town for this celebration, was a taste of home that I appreciated. Tents were set up adorned in the colors of the flag and various sorts of hot dogs, Pringles potato chips, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, cup cakes and quesadillas were on offer! Gallo wine and Sam Adams beer completed the taste treats and the park-like atmosphere of the back side of the embassy grounds created the perfect setting for a 4th of July picnic.
I didn't realize you would be able to bring cameras in so I didn't bring mine. Sorry. It was a delightful afternoon. We enjoyed conversations with several diplomats, many members of our church community and other various people who we run into now and again at these celebrations.
It's fun to feel the sense of America once in awhile especially since Sunday will be just another summer day here in Sweden.
Thank you Ambassador Barzun and all the staff at the US Embassy for making this a memorable and beautiful celebration of our country's national Independence Day holiday!

Midsommar Afton in Stockholm

We deviated from our usual midsommarafton (midsummer eve) activities as we have close friends from the USA in town and thought we would all enjoy doing a "touristy" midsommar! We headed to Skansen along with the rest of Sweden! One of the great things about this midsommar is that it was actually sunny and warm all day! This totally deviates from tradition as every midsommar we can remember has been cold and rainy for at least a portion of the day! The bright Stockholm sunshine greeted us early in the morning, (like around 2.30 a.m.) and after enduring an extremely long entrance line, we were greeted by these beautiful Swedish flags blowing in the warm breeze with the bright blue sky glistening behind them.

The city sparkled in the background.

As we waited in line to buy our tickets, these adorable Swedish children sporting their lovely midsommar kransar (wreaths) caught our eyes.Once inside the park, we were greeted by a parade of folks dressed in all of the traditional costumes of Sweden. We made our way to the midsommar stång (midsummer pole) where hundreds of folks were taking part in the traditional singing and dancing of midsummer. Swedes love to sing about frogs and pigs and elephants as well as the laundry and playing the fiddle and the flute! It's all a bit nonsensical and quite a bit of fun! The rest of the day was spent wandering around the grounds, taking a peak at the napping brown bears, watching the otters swim in their pools and enjoying the various bits of Sweden that surrounded us. The grass-roofed buildings were a highlight as well as the lovely flower beds. In another part of the park, we stumbled upon another midsommar stång. This one was decorated with little people dolls dressed in typical Swedish costumes. By the days end we had had our fill of fun!

Doug and I are not fans of the typical midsommar meal which consists of various types of herring, cured salmon and dill boiled potatoes. So true to form, we fixed a taco dinner with homemade guacamole that all enjoyed immensely! I'm quite sure we were the only folks in all of Sweden who had Mexican food on midsommar!

The Swedish Royal Wedding

Yesterday was a BIG day here in Stockholm!

Crown Princess Victoria married her former personal trainer Daniel Westling.
We were thrilled to be in the midst of it all cheering them on!

The flag says Say Yes!

Given the historical significance of such an event as well as the fact that I've never been anywhere near a royal wedding before combined with the fact that I've lived in Sweden for 12 years, I felt it important to figure out how to take part in this event. Fortunately for us, our friends, Sandra and Robert stumbled upon a great deal the night before the wedding.

Hurray for Sandra and Robert!

They scored tickets for a spot in one of the exhibit tents that were set up along the water front for all the pomp and circumstance that has been going on for weeks now. It was a terrace overlooking the water way where the newlywed couple would come by row boat at the end of their long cortege through town. This was our amazing view for the entire afternoon.Our tickets included one of the best vantage points, tables and chairs, plenty of space, heaters for when the evening chill came upon us, and food and drink. It was a major coup as we were able to truly enjoy the day in the comforts of a beautiful spot. The place had flat screen TV's set up all over the place so that we could also watch what was happening during the wedding and throughout town.
The wedding itself was beautiful and authentic. The clergy were looking grand in their vestments and the bride and the groom were sparkling, as brides and grooms do! When they each answered the Swedish equivalent of "I do" cheers and clapping erupted from the crowd! When sharing their vows, Daniel shed a tear, Victoria shed a tear, Queen Sylvia shed a tear...and OK, so did I! It was very cool to see that amidst all the huge ceremony of everything that was taking place, Daniel and Victoria were genuinely excited about being wed.

When the time finally came for the royal boat to arrive to our vantage point, the excitement in the air was electric. The jet flyover and the canons booming across the harbor created quite the celebratory environment. This boat, the Vasaorden was amazing. The rowing was in absolute precision and it was thrilling to see it come into view..Turned out we had a great perch and I'm pretty sure they both looked me right in the eye and waved! See them waving to us?!It was great being Swedish for a day and we were proud to wave our flags and cheer on the happy couple.We walked home after the events of the day in the midst of a beautiful summer June evening. This is the spot where they disembarked from the boat to greet the crowd and enter the palace for their grand reception.The guards were decked out in their finest and I loved the tassels that adorned their helmets for this special occasion.Here's the spot where Victoria and Daniel greeted the crowd before entering the palace.We shared the day with good friends who enjoyed celebrating with us. All of us were swept up into the joy of the day and we each made it memorable for all involved!The Royal Palace, bathed in the gorgeous long light of a June evening.

I am very happy that I got to be in this grand affair. It was a gorgeous day in Stockholm and I shall long treasure the memory of living here when Princess Victoria finally got her prince.I loved sharing this day with my prince to whom I am very happily married. It was a day to celebrate love and we did so in fine style.

The Royal Wedding

On Saturday, Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria will wed Daniel Westling in what is likely going to be remembered as the event of the decade! The whole affair has been nicknamed Love 2010. The Royal Couple's photograph can be found on anything and everything from plates to napkins to dishrags! The entire waterfront is filled with all kinds of fun exhibitions and activities to honor the lovely couple. Ikea really went to town, coining their own campaign entitled Tillsammans which means together in Swedish. They've set up an outdoor camping area on the waterfront and apparently it's totally booked up until they tear it down on Monday. They've also set up a replica of the Haga Slott, the castle where Victoria and Daniel will reside. Of course, they've decorated it with all Ikea decor and furnishings. It was truly brilliant. One of the better touches was walking into the Royal Library and having the World Cup game between Nigeria and Greece playing live on a flat screen TV! I also loved the fake fireplace playing on a computer screen in the sitting room. The whole set-up was so cozy! Those pillows would look good in our living room. I may have to make a trip to Ikea soon!I was impressed with the dining room. The centerpiece of fresh flowers was as beautiful a thing as I've ever seen.

The place settings for Victoria and Daniel were beautiful. One would be thrilled to be invited to dine with them!

They even had a royal dog bed in the bedroom! Tanner would love that!
He already thinks he's a prince!And the garage was perfect...gilded golf clubs, grill and hub cabs!And of course, our beautiful city was glistening today in the warm June sunshine. Hope the same will be true for Saturday. Sadly, rain is forecast.

Saturday the city will be crazy with people lining up along the route the newly married couple plan to travel after the ceremony in the Cathedral in Old Town. They will first travel by horse drawn carriage through the city, quite close to where we live actually, and finally by boat from Djurgården back to Old Town. I plan to join the madness in hopes of getting a live glimpse of the beautiful couple. Of course, I will set my DVR to catch all the action on TV and enjoy it from the comforts of my own home after fighting the crowded masses in the city!

A Blast From the Past!

Today, in the middle of Stockholm, I met up with two people who graduated from my high school in the same year that I did...1978. The woman, Kim Day (Bastick), who now lives in South Africa, was a very close friend of mine in high school but somewhere along the way, we lost track of one another. Through the magic of Facebook, we re-connected on-line several months ago and it has been great getting some glimpses of her life. The man, John Gatchell, I did not know nor remember from high school. But again, through the magic of Facebook, he and Kim "friended" one another and from there proceeded to begin a brand new kind of real friendship that eventually led to Kim arriving in Stockholm to meet him and get some real face time, not just Facebook time! In our conversation today, John and I discovered that we grew up in homes that were in very close proximity. Our high school was quite large...about 550 kids in my graduating class, so it's not all that surprising that we didn't know one another. What is surprising is that some 32 years later, I am living in Stockholm and another person from my high school is living in Stockholm and another person from my high school, who now lives in South Africa, came to visit!
While it was certainly lovely to meet John and find out more about how things with him and Kim unfolded, it was amazing to reunite with Kim! I brought with me our senior year high school yearbook and we had some fun flipping through the pages. I had remembered that Kim and I first became good friends during our senior year Advanced Composition class with Mrs. Ching! I confess, I couldn't remember the teacher's name but looked her up in the yearbook! I loved that class and loved Mrs. Ching. She was a great writing teacher and it is kind of funny that Kim and I forged our friendship in that class as we both love writing and still dream of writing a book or two one day!
It was truly remarkable to sort of trace the past 32 years and figure out how we both ended up where we did and the twists and turns along the way. We've both had joy and both had heartache. It was so easy to talk. Felt like we just picked the sentence up right where we left it however many years ago. Very special when you experience that with a dear friend.
Kim has a 12 year old son, has survived colon cancer, buried both of her parents and still has sisters who live in Southern California. She ended up in South Africa after going down there to care for one of her sister's after she had been in a terrible car accident while on vacation. She was at a time in life where a change seemed like a good idea and one thing led to another and she got a job offer in Capetown! 20 years later, she still works for the same company.
Anyway...it was very fun to re-connect with people from my high school years. I've moved around so much, and my parents don't live where I grew up anymore so it means I don't really go back to that area very often. Not that many of classmates live there anymore anyway.
After attending my 30 year high school reunion 2 years ago, I have reconnected with a few people with whom I really had treasured relationships. And of course, through the magic of Facebook, I am getting glimpses of their lives on a regular basis.
I loved high school so my memories of that season in life are wonderful. Kim was a special friend to me. We became close friends quickly and shared our lives on a deep and abiding level. It was fun to read together what she had written in my yearbook! I would love to see what I had written in hers!
I am very thankful that she ended up in Stockholm for a visit with John and that we could share this afternoon together. I look forward to seeing what the next 32 years bring to each of our lives!

World Cup Fever

I know that global football, a.k.a. soccer in the USA is not the darling of spectator sport in the States. And admittedly, prior to moving to Europe, I would never have considered getting excited for a football tournament. But our environment does have a way of shaping us. This is my 3rd World Cup while living here in Sweden. We had been living in Sweden for 4 years when the buzz began in the summer of 2002. I paid very little attention to the buzz that year as I was still not a believer. Doug kept trying to convince me that this tournament is a very big deal, but hey, I was raised by an American Football coach. Soccer was portrayed as a communist subplot to take over the world. My interest was firmly planted in the not interested category. But admittedly, as the tournament wore on, I found myself catching on to the buzz. I realized that almost every single person at church was interested. We scheduled a board meeting on the night of one of the matches and almost had a mutiny on our hands! Luckily it was at our house and we let them put the game on! The south Korean team did really well and so the Korean pastor from church was just crazy with joy! The hotel that is attached to our church put big screens in the lobby and between services we figured out that people were running up to check the scores! It was through these experiences that I realized that football really does cross boundaries and bring people together. For one month every 4 years the entire world stops to cheer on their favorites. The pro football players return home and football fans all over the world get game after game of thrilling football.
I know that for people who haven't learned to follow soccer, they think the lack of scoring is a problem. I too think that major matches that are decided by shoot out are a disappointment. As for the scoring, when you learn a bit about the game (Doug has helped me a lot), you realize that it's not just the putting of the ball into the net that matters. It's all about the poetry on the field, the way in which the players move about, creating opportunities for the magic of a goal scored to take place. When you begin to see how a side sets up a scoring opportunity, it is so great to watch them execute it. Sometimes they score, sometimes they don't, but either way it's a thrill to see it unfold. Plus, it's really, really, really hard to score a goal in football and that's why when it happens, it's awesome.
So obviously, now I am a believer. In 2006 we were in Greece when the World Cup began and it was so amazing to see that every restaurant and bar had huge screens set up all over the place so that anyone could view what was happening at any time. We went to a sports bar where a lot of Swedes had gathered to watch what ended up being a dismal game for the Swedes. But the atmosphere was so much fun. And with the US doing so much better now, it's great that we actually have a chance to win a few games along the way. We held a World Cup Final Event at church in 2006 and it was wild. We played a big football game in the afternoon and everyone from 6-65 participated. Then we cooked up hot dogs and showed the game on the big screen. The fans were split about 50/50 and it was such a great atmosphere! We'll be doing the same this year so if you're in Stockholm on July 11, join us for the Immanuel Cup, bbq, World Cup Final extravaganza! I actually had a little football hangover when the World Cup ended last time. Suddenly, after a month long feast, it was all over and there were no more games to watch. I anticipate the same feeling this time, especially if the US and Argentina do well!
This year is unique because Sweden failed to qualify. It's been a source of national mourning here! Still...there is intrigue because the coach for the Nigerian team is Swedish! And TONIGHT is the big game between the US and England. I am really going to be rooting for the home town boys. My British friends aren't even giving us a chance so I hope we whip them! We have some Brits coming on over to watch with us. Should be great fun!
And for the Americans in our midst who think it's boring and silly, just consider for a moment that this is one arena where the world really does come together in a common way to compete on a global stage. This event brings so much joy and interest world-wide that in and of itself, that is enough reason to celebrate and at least seek to understand why the world loves football.