After a long, dark, depressing winter- Swedes attempt to make the most of the spring. One way of showing seasonal appreciation which is typical Swedish is to take your family out in the woods for a hike and a picnic. I joined my au pair family and some family friends for this very type of excursion.
Our group of three mixed families got dressed up and ready to go and were in the cars around 11. It was funny for me to see everyone getting so bundled up. I had on a long sleeve shirt and jeans with a jacket and thought I was ready to go; while everyone else was wearing long johns and three shirts and warm fleece sweaters. One thing that really made me chuckle was the Norwegian who had packed a large hiking bag to bring along- equipped with the warmest of winter jackets, and a hiking helmet.
We crowded ourselves into two cars and started our venture into the Swedish countryside. The father of my au pair family told us on the way out that he and his family used to do this kind of thing every weekend in the spring for the majority of his childhood. I think it is so cute- just imagine these Swedes going out with all of their wilderness equipment and food ready to take their children into the woods and show them how to enjoy and appreciate the spring. It wasn’t too long of a drive; and very soon we were shuffling back out of the vehicles and loading our arms with picnic supplies for our hike. I really love walking around in the Swedish woods, it’s so peaceful! We hiked around for about 2 kilometers enjoying the scenery and talking about a ton of things.
Along the way I learned an old Swedish superstition that if you walk underneath the roots of a toppled-over tree, you will get trapped underneath the tree forever. Gruesome, hm?
When we finally reached our picnic
destination, the adults began preparing a fire pit whilst the young children
went shrieking and playing around in the woods. After a combined effort we go
the fire started and soon our korv, (almost like bratwurst), were pleasantly
roasting on the fire. Being around this kind of grilling session confused me-
it felt a lot more like the fall than the spring.
After I was sure that the fire was taken
care of- I went and joined the little kids at a game that they were playing. It
was a lot like tag but there was a base and… well I was thoroughly confused but
the girls really appreciated that I wanted to play with them, it was cute. One
of the best things about being around little kids is that I can actually speak
to them in Swedish. One would think that perhaps it would be more difficult to
speak to that age group but it’s almost like they know who to ‘dumb down’ their
language enough to speak with a novice speaker.
Very soon I had a few more friends to add for my forever growing list of Swedes.
We feasted on the most delicious pasta salad and korv, and had saft, (Swedish Juice), hot chocolate, and coffee with kanelbullar (cinnamon buns).
Even though it has been sunny and somewhat warm the past few days, by the end of our picnic my hands were freezing and the sky had become rather cloudy. Before I knew it, little white specks were floating down and landing on my nose and my plate. SNOW! It was quite bazaar, it really didn't feel like it was cold enough to snow, but that's Sweden for you! That weather didn't last for too long thank goodness, and I hope I won't see it for a few months at least.
When we finally packed everything into the cars and were heading home, I sat dreamily in the back seat and wondered how my family would enjoy doing this kind of thing. Not only am I making a list of friends and people I meet here- but I'm also making a list of traditions I want to bring back with me.
'Till next time
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