Hej, Hej, Hej, We're Back!

We returned from our 3 week Swedish vacation at around 10 p.m., July 10, California time. It's good to be back home!
Three weeks later, Heather, ready to fly over the Atlantic Ocean



We missed our original flight (3:15 p.m., Chicago time) home when we were scheduled to arrive at 5:20 p.m. due to a computer glitch that delayed checking in at customs. Heather and I waited for Jorgen who was still in line, for over an hour by the baggage claim carousel. He did not need to stand in the line checking in non-US citizens when he could have stood in the line with us for returning US citizens since he is married to me (found that out after a family ahead of us was able to check in when one spouse had Swedish citizenship and confirmed it from one of the airport employees dressed in a dark suit and sporting an official looking badge from a lanyard). Heather started crying, face red and eyes watering. I thought she bumped herself on the cart or something. She said that she was afraid that we would not be able to go home. I reassured her that we will be able to go home, no matter what. Finally, Jorgen came though the doors, but it was around 2:30 p.m. So we rushed (with four luggages on two carts) passing the final customs clerk to turn in our customs declarations forms and after a nod of approval, headed to the United Airline counter to check in our baggages. Jorgen feared losing our luggages, since they were not re-tagged. I glimpsed at the tags just after a guy who worked at the check-in area placed the luggages on the moving belt. I told him that in Stockholm, SAS had already tagged it to San Diego, although we were stopping at Chicago first.


It was nearing 3:00 p.m. and we finally made it to terminal 1, but there were long lines at the security checkpoint (the familiar routine where you remove your shoes, jacket and place these and other belongings in a basket). Jorgen was ready to remove his laptop and video camera from his backpack. There a very, very, very slim chance that we would make it to gate C24 amidst the commotion. One rude security woman threw away our 2 water bottles, my Lancome body lotion, and Heather's sun-block. Yup, I forgot to take them out of carry-on and place them in one of the big luggages. Fortunately Heather's Barbie perfume that we purchased from a duty-free store in the Stockholm airport was in a large sealed transparent bag. The security clerk was eyeing this suspiciously and did not confiscate it. I would have made a fit if she took it from me. I would have screamed "This will make CNN international, and local headline news, with your faces plastered and the caption, O'Hare security heartlessly takes little girl's perfume with store receipt that had already with sealed in a transparent bag." I would even go far as to claim that I am going undercover as a passenger to see what extent security would go through. I forgot this is O'Hare and not the Arlanda Airport in Stockholm.

It was already 3:15 p.m. when we exited the checkpoint and rushed to the gate. Oh well. Then my husband was able to secure a 5:44 p.m. flight, but we would not be able to sit together. In the meantime, we took it easy and ate some yummy kung pao chicken and fried rice (after abandoning McDonald's and Quiznos).

I was able to have Heather trade seats with a passenger so that he would still be sitting by the window and that she would be sitting next to me having the "B" seat (Heather switched her "F" seat with the gentleman's "A" seat on the same row). It just feels good to back home. We had a lovely time in my in-laws Allgunnen, Hogsby home, Sweden for nearly three weeks. We spent four days in Stockholm prior to that, sight-seeing. I could tell that Heather enjoyed spending time with her grandparents, their relatives, and in general, enjoying life in the country, It's a wonderful experience for her to live life out of Southern California. Not too many children have this opportunity. It's good for her to experience and appreciate life from another culture, a culture that is part of her heritage.

Going Back in Time...
June 17, 2009, arriving in Stockholm. We spent four days there before staying with our in-laws in Hogsby (We took a train from Stockholm and bus during the last leg. My in-laws picked us up from the bus station in Hogsby)
Note that Heather still has her two front teeth.

Heather and I at Skansen zoo/park in Stockholm.

Not too far from the Royal Castle in Stockholm.

Jorgen won this huge box full of 25 generous sized bars at Grona Lund amusement park also in Stockholm.

Here's the familiar cliche, I just don't know where to begin.

This was my second trip to Sweden. I would describe both visits as a beautiful change of scenery and lifestyle, comparing them to the seemingly hectic life in Southern California suburbia, where there is a stop sign and soon a traffic light after driving out of our street. My last visit was ten years ago during the Christmas holidays at my in-laws' home in a small town near Gothenberg where my husband lived during his childhood. They moved to Hogsby a few years ago so that my mother-in-law would be closer to her sisters. My in-laws last visit to our home was nearly five years ago, when Heather was a year and a half. She does not, of course remember her grandparents from her father's side vividly from their last visit, but is constantly reminded of them of a picture of the three of them displayed intentionally in a curio in our living room. She remembers her grandfather saying "yo-yo-yo", one his trademark expressions that he still says today and I told her on occasion that when her grandmother was trying to feed her, she said "Heather, you must eat". Then five years later, her grandmother at the kitchen table said the same thing on occasion, but this time deliberately repeating the past with a twist of humor and a big smile. Both the English of my in-laws are limited. However, my mother-in-law speaks better English than my father-in-law and got even more better when she spoke more with Heather during our stay in Sweden.

This time, I kept a little diary of a day by day recollection of people (the relatives we visited or who visited us when we were at my in-laws), places (sightseeing, shopping malls, local grocery stores, Heather's experiences such as her pony rides, cherry picking at her grand-aunt's yard, and her splashing at the neighborhood lake), and things (such as my in-laws finally being connected to the internet, yummy Swedish food at restaurants and at my in-laws house, and Daim ice cream, now one of my new favorites, that I ate at Grona Lund amusement park in Stockholm, at Oland Animal and Amusement Park located on an island off the coast that is part of the city of Borgholm, and during a drive back to my in-laws' home in Hogsby). For the most part the weather was very pleasant. We encountered consistent sunshine and heat during our first week and durig the next two seeks sporadic sprinkles and rains with intermittent sunshine.

Heather's first pony ride (assisted by her grandma) near the home of the sister of my mother-in-law. She was so proud and ecstatic!

View from atop a lookout point in Aborda Klint, Hogsby. This area is also a ski resort during the winter. There is also a restaurant with buffets on certain days.


Heather, grandpa, and grandma enjoying Lake Allgunnen, Aborda Klint. Earlier, grandma took a swim. Heather after drying up and having a snack, returned to the lake, a second time.




Heather, Grandpa, Grandma, Jorgen enjoying the sunshine



Jorgen, Heather and I had a wonderful experience in Hogsby, a town part of the Smaland province in Sweden. It was nice to briefly (3 weeks) get away from our suburban lifestyle in Southern California and to appreciate what life offers on the other side of the planet. Sometimes we take for granted the conveniences such as the nearby Vons' market and shopping malls, the internet, and other things and it was nice to slow down the pace and literally smell the flowers, or in our case taste the wildberries, blueberries, cherries which abound just by walking in the vicinity of my in-laws' yard. I mean they own a real yard surrounding a home in all directions, what I would describe a country yard, where children can play, or in this case where Heather was able to run around and feel unencumbered by our typical suburban yard with no privacy. My in-laws' home is not really isolated for the closest human neighbor is about 50 feet up a hill and the other neighbors are many tall trees and vegetation. My mother-in-laws' sister, Ingalil, owns two ponies and some chickens lives a 15-minute walk (along a nice walkable trail that is ample for a pony with a carriage) away.

The house of Aunt Ingalill, Jorgen's aunt.

She lives in a house that my mother-in-law lived in during her childhood and also with a yard that does not compare to that owned by in-laws. I would qualify Ingalill's yard (front, side, back) and house as an estate. She does not have hired help, she herself maintains the property very well. When my mother-in-law asked Heather if she would like to visit the ponies at grand-aunt Ingalill's, she immediately would put her shoes on before she could say "Yes!" Heather enjoys going to Ingalill's not only for visiting and/or riding one of the ponies via saddle or carriage, picking cherries off the huge cherry tree, or playing on the grass, but I could tell she likes grand-aunt Ingalill for her sweet and cheerful disposition.

Our three-week stay (June 21 through July 10) did not seem quick nor long. Hogsby is approximately a 5 hour drive from Stockholm. Instead of taking the train to Stockholm Arlanda airport, my father-in-law and mother-in-law were very kind to drive us there. We left my in-laws' home around 2:30 a.m. I took a 3-hour nap and woke up Heather which was quite a challenge for her because she turned in at around 10 that evening. Jorgen drove on our way to the airport. i intermittently woke up to admire the landscape or cityscape along the highway. It was quite a change of scenery after getting accustomed to the forestry along the country roads in Hogsby and the surrounding towns. After bidding us "see you later" (which is actually true, because we use "Skype" and our computer to communicate with them now that they have a laptop and internet), Jorgen's father drove him and his wife to their Hogsby home. I hope that they do well on that "long" drive back. I wonder how they will react returning home after getting used to Heather's giggles and energy. My husband just spoke to them via "Skype" and they became so elated when Heather appeared on their web cam screen. My in-laws finally got connected to the internet days (my husband spoke with a local provider to get them connected) before we left Sweden. Now Heather's grandparents from a little town in Sweden seem just like they are right in front us! Hej hej!