I’ve decided to skip over much of the summer happenings in order to take my time relating Ebba’s (the Swedish name she chose for Language camp) 16th birthday, and the many events of July and early August.
We returned from the US with a suitcase full of the treats we can’t find in Sweden determined that it was high time to make good on the party we promised our neighbors when we moved in to Spolegatan 20 two years ago!
With the eldest preparing for her move to Gotland where she’ll study for a BA in Energy Transition, Sustainability and Leadership, the household has been in a mild state of chaos. We reached peak crazy last week with Ebba starting Year 1 of the IB Diploma Program at Katedralskolan, Bryant back to face the fallout of a huge transition at work and everyone fighting colds (maybe covid?) and feeling big emotions.
Why not host a party in the midst of it?! Let’s get all the crazy over at once while all the young people are here and able to join the fun. Other than leaving the cushions out in the rain and having to dry them with fans on party day, preparation went smoothly and the rain cleared.
We served some our favorites to go with the American theme. I’ve been browning the butter and adding flaky salt to the Rice Krispie bars lately and it makes them amazing! Also 3 Musketeers candy because some Swedes mentioned they wanted to try it since seeing it on Stranger Things.
Too bad we didn’t take time to meet the neighbors properly long ago but now it’s easy to see that the ice has been broken and we can be more relaxed knowing the people who live in close proximity, more than just to greet them in passing. Everyone seemed quite enthusiastic about the idea of regular happy hour, at least in the warm months, though we will have to modify the “pink flamingo” tradition that we had going with the Oliver and Berkeley Avenue neighbors.
Ebba seems to be enjoying 11th grade with the freedoms and novelty of a new campus and curriculum. The eldest is putting the finishing touches on her “move to Visby” pile and Nori is making friends with the neighbor cats, Suegas (a brand of Swedish coffee) and Starbucks. Which is great because we know that she will really miss the one who spent a large portion of her Gap Year and this summer hanging out, often as primary care giver.
Plans are in place to build a community Catio in the courtyard so the resident felines (and one rabbit) might safely spend time outdoors, possibly together if they agree! Though probably not with Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Rex Rabbit, now called T because he is too sweet for his official name.
So just as we celebrate our arrival at Spolegatan, we prepare for the biggest transition yet, sending our baby off to college (pause for sobbing) in Visby, Gotland.
She managed to get her own little apartment, 25 square meters, about 12′ by 22′ is our best guess, including bathroom and kitchenette, in a building reserved only for Uppsala University Gotland students. The building isn’t far from campus, 2 grocery stores, the main bus line and other amenities so she should be quite comfortable. Tomorrow we load up the largest rented Volvo we could reserve to make the 8 hour journey, catching the 8 pm ferry at Oscarshamn. The trip shouldn’t be bad except for having to plan around the once daily ferry! In future we might take the train to Stockholm where there are multiple ferry options but this is the most practical way to get there with lots of stuff.
And here are a few August scenes of Lund that I paused to enjoy during my frantic running about town on errands!
Leave a Reply