The Lindahl News: Abroad Edition

Did you happen to see Wes recently back in the Chicago area?  He had to go back to attend to business at North Park University.  I did not go with him. First order of business for him? Bring treats to work for fika. It was a pretty intense time at work, but he knew the motivation was there to persevere: soon he'd be visiting the family.  Just take a look at the smile on his face!       And see how much the youngest has grown? He's Wiggle Pants now! Meanwhile, back in Sweden... I tried to not be a bit jealous. And thankful for Facetime. My plan was to keep busy.  Armed with a borrowed sewing machine and fabrics from IKEA, I'd like to think I got a bit of a jump on Christmas presents. Sorry, I can't show them here!  At short notice, Thursday became Game Night at our apartment! It was such fun to see Americans and Swedes playing card games, word games and learning good 'ol Rook!  App...

  Forests, wild creatures, princesses, bears, trolls...all were subjects for this Swedish artist and illustrator, John Bauer. Imagine the delight in discovering he was from the Swedish city I'm currently living in! Born in Jonkoping on June 4, 1882, and living here until he went to a private art school in Stockholm, John showed much promise as an artist at an early age.  By 1903 he received his first commission as a fairy tale illustrator. He married Ester Ellqvist in 1906.  By 1912, he was Sweden's only fairy tale artist and was known by his "mood landscapes, populated by trolls with kind and inquisitive eyes, delicate little princesses and plucky little boys." And let's not forget his beautiful Lucia! (Sadly, his own life didn't have a fairy tale ending as he, his wife and their family were drowned  in Lake Vattern as their ferry sank. He was only 36 years old.) This past week, the students took a field trip t...

On our way back home, we stopped to "moose" around! Smaland has a large moose population, actually, but I wanted to see one (or more) up close and personal. Yes, they can be a problem for drivers in their cars in the area and we noticed the continual fences that line the sides of the busiest roadways.  Hitting a moose while driving is not good!  Of the 300,000 moose that populate Sweden, 30,000 are estimated to reside in this province of Smaland. (Another interesting fact is that the US population of moose  - 300,000 - is the same as the country of Sweden, with 200,000 of those moose living in Alaska.) So, safari , here we come! We chose to drive our car through the preserve instead of taking the little choo choo choice. But first, we get out of the car to pose with the moose.  Luckily a step ladder is provided for those who need one.   And then we head to the viewing habitat.    It wasn't long before we spotted our...

Lovely Lund has it all: history (founded by King Sven Tveskagg more than 1000 years ago), a university that is currently #2 in size (Sweden) with 47,000 students, and an open-air museum (Kulturen) that has preserved streets, cottages and town houses in the Medieval area of the city. Oh, and a palace, too!  Come along on our walking tour of this city we explored last Sunday. First destination:  Lund Domkyrka  Because it was Sunday morning, we were there in time for the 11:00 church service. We enjoyed the prelude, special music and hymn singing, but cut out once the sermon began.   Once again, Google Translate, to the rescue (almost!) Next stop on foot: The Bishop's Palace Birthplace of Lund University in 1666. Don't you just love the round turret with the crenels and merlons on top? A hop, skip and a jump from here is the "White House" of Lund University completed in 1882.  The school motto is "Prepared for ...