We weren’t supposed to stop in Sweden, at least not this early during our year-long journey. However, our son’s graduation happened to fall in an inopportune time, and we soon had to return to the U.S., to attend his graduation. Of course, no matter where we were in the world, we wouldn’t have missed this happy occasion. Since our return ticket had been originally booked to leave from Moscow, we wanted to visit Russia. We found out that getting a visa to Russia was very difficult, taking 10 weeks to get from the States. Joanne called our friends in Sweden, while we were in the Santorini Island, and found out that it would only take 10 days to get the visa from there. It was set then that we would stop in Sweden, at least 10 days before departing for Russia. The timing of our arrival also happened to coincide with a long holiday weekend in Sweden, and Ellinor and Tomas asked us to come and visit them during that time.
After taking care of the visa application at the Russian Embassy in Stockholm, with our travel agent in tow (Ellinor had selected a travel agency in Stockholm for us and we had already been in contact), the next day, we took a 5-hour bus ride to Monsteras. We arrived 20 minutes ahead of schedule and saw three teenagers at the bus depot. When I asked if they knew where the Gustafsson’s house was, a young man nodded and pointed to a red house with a flag. After only a 3-minute walk from the bus stop, we knocked on their door. After happily hugging each other, they told us that they had hoisted the Swedish flag to welcome us. We were honored and told them that no one had ever raised the national flag for us before (later, we learned that the Swedes raise their flag for many occasions, their birthdays, King’s birthday, and apparently a visit by good friends).
Gustafssons had a lovely home. Tomas, being a builder, had done a beautiful job restoring the house that had originally been built in 1890’s. We told them that this water fountain in their backyard reminded us of how we had met. We had first met them in Thailand when all of us had spent a day together, visiting Koh Phi Phi (pronounced as “Pee Pee”) Island. We told them what pee pee means in English, and we had a good laugh.
We felt very special when we found out that they had raised the flag for us. What we didn’t know was that we also had a house in Sweden. They had us stay in their ‘little’ guest house in their backyard.
After we unpacked our luggage, we jumped right into their country lifestyle in Sweden. Strangely, we felt as if we had come home; in this far away place, fitting in snuggly with the Gustafsson’s family. In fact, we were so welcomed, we felt that we were a part of their family (photo - Joanne and Viktor).
Monsteras is a quiet little town in southern Sweden that is surrounded by beautiful nature. There is a landmark in the middle of Monsteras that commemorates a hometown sailor and a poet who was inspired by the beauty of the scene that unfolded before his eyes, one summer afternoon, as he looked out over his window after passage of a storm. The poem is sung world wide and is called ‘How Great Art Thou”. The poet’s name was Carl Boberg.
This was the scene as we got off the bus. It was totally peaceful; all that we could hear were the birds and the wind. The next morning, when Ellinor took us for a walk around town, we saw a young man with a fishing pole. He told us a typical fisherman’s story, and claimed that he had seen a very large fish in the lake, which he was trying to catch, and stretched his arms out wide. He said he would catch it and then release it.
We stopped at a church nearby their house. Ellinor told us that this was where she and Tomas had gotten married. Both of them, as well as their families, were from this town or nearby, for generations. Once we were inside the church, a kind lady turned on a recording with music in the background that explained the history of the church. When I asked her whether I could take a photo, she told me to wait a minute and proceeded to bring out two vases filled with fresh flowers and placed them on the mantle.
In their house, there was an antique/original stove that came with the house. Tomas explained that the stove still works, but it’s not for everyday use (of course, they have a modern stove for that). Above the stove was a row of cups with their names written on it; “Gaster” means ‘guest’ in Swedish. The house was kept warm with triple pane windows for the harsh Swedish winters, but this family had even warmer hearts.
The next evening, Joanne cooked a Korean dinner for the family. While in Stockholm, we had been trying to think up a good gift for the family, and Joanne asked me to search for a Korean market. We couldn’t believe it when we found out that there was a market located just one block away from our hotel. We got a lot of the materials there, but we then had to go to a large department store’s gourmet grocery and with difficulty, managed to get the fresh cut meats. We asked the Gustafssons to invite both sets of grandparents as well, to this Korean dinner. We served beef bool-ko-ki, spicy pork bool-ko-ki, jhap-chae, ssam, ghim, ssam jhang, rice, and the meal was complete with two kinds of kim-chees. To our delight, the entire family told us that it was the best meal that they had ever tasted. In addition to that, the kids told us that they had never seen their grandparents enjoy and laugh so much during the entire dinner. We capped that evening with a good-bye waltz and cha cha with the grandparents.
The next morning, Ellinor and Tomas took the kids and us, in two separate cars, to Kalmar where Tomas was raised. This bridge connects Kalmar with Oland Island.
This is in front of the wishing well in the courtyard inside the Kalmar Castle. Both Joanne and Ellinor said they felt so comfortable with each other that they felt as if they had known each other for a long time.
Kalamr Castle was a medieval fortress that was built to defend against the Danes of the south.
We were told that on any sunny day, people in Sweden want to sunbathe. Although the sun was out, the temperature still felt a little nippy to us. Despite that, we found all of these people laying about trying to get a suntan.
We crossed the bridge to Oland Island where Ellinor and Tomas said we could taste the best ‘body cake’ in this restaurant.
The ‘body cake’ is a traditional Swedish food made of mashed potatoes, in the shape of a meatball, filled with seasoned meat. You pour sour cream/yoghurt sauce over it and eat it with linganmberry sauce (tasted like cranberry sauce). After eating three of these balls, we were full.
After the lunch, they took us to the Ottenby Natural Reserve where many bird watchers were gathered, with telescopes and binoculars, to watch different kinds of migratory birds. We found this large rare bird with his golden shoes.
Tomas and I, with the two boys, took a spin around town with Tomas’ souped up 1970 Buick convertible Skylark. We had fun burning and screeching the tires as we took a joyride around the beautiful country roads. I didn’t know Tomas was a buff for American muscle cars.
On our first night of arrival, Viktor, the younger son, showed us his collection of model airplanes, which he had assembled and could fly. Every morning, he had been eagerly checking the wind conditions, waiting for a calm day when he could finally show us his hobby of flying remote controlled model airplanes.
After flying the loops and maneuvers that Viktor deftly displayed for us, it was time for a picnic. Viktor’s instructor, Helmut who is originally from Germany, joined us.
This is where Tomas and Ellinor go for a quiet walk or a picnic. Of course, it was less than 10 minutes away from their house. Everything was close by. Even the family’s summer house was near there. I commented that they didn’t have to go very far, to go on a vacation.
We didn’t know that the town of Orrefors was close by. Without knowing that Joanne admired Orrefors crystals, Tomas and Ellinor planned and took us to see the Orrefors factory’s showroom.
Playing baketball is an activity that I haven’t done since my son went away to college. The Gustafssons were all avid fans of NBA basketball and my legs got thoroughly tested while playing basketball for three straight days. Not only that, Joanne and I got caught up watching the NBA playoff games on their giant plasma TV, which Johan recorded. Our ritual for three days was to jump in the pool after a hard game of basketball, and then after dinner all of us would soak our tired bodies in their Swedish sauna and Jacuzzi. I called this the continuation of our ‘full moon’ festival, which we started in Thailand, when we first met. Later, I confessed that my wish, while tossing in a coin in the wishing well, was that the Gustafssons could join us in LA to watch the Lakers play at the Staples Center.
This family’s “chocolate game” is played by taking turns of rolling one dice and whoever gets the number six has to put on, as quickly as possible, a winter hat and mittens, and then after cutting the chocolate into small pieces with a fork and knife, trying to eat as much chocolate as possible. That is, only until the next six is rolled. In return, we taught them the Korean game of ‘yoot’. Tomas had to cut two pieces of dowel into half, then we found 4 matching screws, hex nuts, etc from his tool box, to use as our “men”, and finally we drew the game board on cardboard. We all had such fun that Viktor wanted to play more of this game of ‘yoot’.
We became a part of the family every night, helping to cook dinner and eating Ellinor’s very delicious meals; Joanne had to ask her for some of these recipes. Every evening, we started the dinner with a toast of our wine glasses; ‘skol!’ – the Swedish ‘cheers!’
On our last day before leaving Monsteras, even the cherry trees got into full bloom, for us to remember this sweet Swedish town and the Gustafsson family. On the evening after we left Monsteras for Stockholm, Ellinor said that it started to rain. She later wrote an email to us, saying how much they missed us, and that the falling rain meant that even the ‘angels must have been crying’. We can’t wait to be with them again, next time in Los Angeles.
After taking care of the visa application at the Russian Embassy in Stockholm, with our travel agent in tow (Ellinor had selected a travel agency in Stockholm for us and we had already been in contact), the next day, we took a 5-hour bus ride to Monsteras. We arrived 20 minutes ahead of schedule and saw three teenagers at the bus depot. When I asked if they knew where the Gustafsson’s house was, a young man nodded and pointed to a red house with a flag. After only a 3-minute walk from the bus stop, we knocked on their door. After happily hugging each other, they told us that they had hoisted the Swedish flag to welcome us. We were honored and told them that no one had ever raised the national flag for us before (later, we learned that the Swedes raise their flag for many occasions, their birthdays, King’s birthday, and apparently a visit by good friends).
Gustafssons had a lovely home. Tomas, being a builder, had done a beautiful job restoring the house that had originally been built in 1890’s. We told them that this water fountain in their backyard reminded us of how we had met. We had first met them in Thailand when all of us had spent a day together, visiting Koh Phi Phi (pronounced as “Pee Pee”) Island. We told them what pee pee means in English, and we had a good laugh.
We felt very special when we found out that they had raised the flag for us. What we didn’t know was that we also had a house in Sweden. They had us stay in their ‘little’ guest house in their backyard.
After we unpacked our luggage, we jumped right into their country lifestyle in Sweden. Strangely, we felt as if we had come home; in this far away place, fitting in snuggly with the Gustafsson’s family. In fact, we were so welcomed, we felt that we were a part of their family (photo - Joanne and Viktor).
Monsteras is a quiet little town in southern Sweden that is surrounded by beautiful nature. There is a landmark in the middle of Monsteras that commemorates a hometown sailor and a poet who was inspired by the beauty of the scene that unfolded before his eyes, one summer afternoon, as he looked out over his window after passage of a storm. The poem is sung world wide and is called ‘How Great Art Thou”. The poet’s name was Carl Boberg.
This was the scene as we got off the bus. It was totally peaceful; all that we could hear were the birds and the wind. The next morning, when Ellinor took us for a walk around town, we saw a young man with a fishing pole. He told us a typical fisherman’s story, and claimed that he had seen a very large fish in the lake, which he was trying to catch, and stretched his arms out wide. He said he would catch it and then release it.
We stopped at a church nearby their house. Ellinor told us that this was where she and Tomas had gotten married. Both of them, as well as their families, were from this town or nearby, for generations. Once we were inside the church, a kind lady turned on a recording with music in the background that explained the history of the church. When I asked her whether I could take a photo, she told me to wait a minute and proceeded to bring out two vases filled with fresh flowers and placed them on the mantle.
In their house, there was an antique/original stove that came with the house. Tomas explained that the stove still works, but it’s not for everyday use (of course, they have a modern stove for that). Above the stove was a row of cups with their names written on it; “Gaster” means ‘guest’ in Swedish. The house was kept warm with triple pane windows for the harsh Swedish winters, but this family had even warmer hearts.
The next evening, Joanne cooked a Korean dinner for the family. While in Stockholm, we had been trying to think up a good gift for the family, and Joanne asked me to search for a Korean market. We couldn’t believe it when we found out that there was a market located just one block away from our hotel. We got a lot of the materials there, but we then had to go to a large department store’s gourmet grocery and with difficulty, managed to get the fresh cut meats. We asked the Gustafssons to invite both sets of grandparents as well, to this Korean dinner. We served beef bool-ko-ki, spicy pork bool-ko-ki, jhap-chae, ssam, ghim, ssam jhang, rice, and the meal was complete with two kinds of kim-chees. To our delight, the entire family told us that it was the best meal that they had ever tasted. In addition to that, the kids told us that they had never seen their grandparents enjoy and laugh so much during the entire dinner. We capped that evening with a good-bye waltz and cha cha with the grandparents.
The next morning, Ellinor and Tomas took the kids and us, in two separate cars, to Kalmar where Tomas was raised. This bridge connects Kalmar with Oland Island.
This is in front of the wishing well in the courtyard inside the Kalmar Castle. Both Joanne and Ellinor said they felt so comfortable with each other that they felt as if they had known each other for a long time.
Kalamr Castle was a medieval fortress that was built to defend against the Danes of the south.
We were told that on any sunny day, people in Sweden want to sunbathe. Although the sun was out, the temperature still felt a little nippy to us. Despite that, we found all of these people laying about trying to get a suntan.
We crossed the bridge to Oland Island where Ellinor and Tomas said we could taste the best ‘body cake’ in this restaurant.
The ‘body cake’ is a traditional Swedish food made of mashed potatoes, in the shape of a meatball, filled with seasoned meat. You pour sour cream/yoghurt sauce over it and eat it with linganmberry sauce (tasted like cranberry sauce). After eating three of these balls, we were full.
After the lunch, they took us to the Ottenby Natural Reserve where many bird watchers were gathered, with telescopes and binoculars, to watch different kinds of migratory birds. We found this large rare bird with his golden shoes.
Tomas and I, with the two boys, took a spin around town with Tomas’ souped up 1970 Buick convertible Skylark. We had fun burning and screeching the tires as we took a joyride around the beautiful country roads. I didn’t know Tomas was a buff for American muscle cars.
On our first night of arrival, Viktor, the younger son, showed us his collection of model airplanes, which he had assembled and could fly. Every morning, he had been eagerly checking the wind conditions, waiting for a calm day when he could finally show us his hobby of flying remote controlled model airplanes.
After flying the loops and maneuvers that Viktor deftly displayed for us, it was time for a picnic. Viktor’s instructor, Helmut who is originally from Germany, joined us.
This is where Tomas and Ellinor go for a quiet walk or a picnic. Of course, it was less than 10 minutes away from their house. Everything was close by. Even the family’s summer house was near there. I commented that they didn’t have to go very far, to go on a vacation.
We didn’t know that the town of Orrefors was close by. Without knowing that Joanne admired Orrefors crystals, Tomas and Ellinor planned and took us to see the Orrefors factory’s showroom.
Playing baketball is an activity that I haven’t done since my son went away to college. The Gustafssons were all avid fans of NBA basketball and my legs got thoroughly tested while playing basketball for three straight days. Not only that, Joanne and I got caught up watching the NBA playoff games on their giant plasma TV, which Johan recorded. Our ritual for three days was to jump in the pool after a hard game of basketball, and then after dinner all of us would soak our tired bodies in their Swedish sauna and Jacuzzi. I called this the continuation of our ‘full moon’ festival, which we started in Thailand, when we first met. Later, I confessed that my wish, while tossing in a coin in the wishing well, was that the Gustafssons could join us in LA to watch the Lakers play at the Staples Center.
This family’s “chocolate game” is played by taking turns of rolling one dice and whoever gets the number six has to put on, as quickly as possible, a winter hat and mittens, and then after cutting the chocolate into small pieces with a fork and knife, trying to eat as much chocolate as possible. That is, only until the next six is rolled. In return, we taught them the Korean game of ‘yoot’. Tomas had to cut two pieces of dowel into half, then we found 4 matching screws, hex nuts, etc from his tool box, to use as our “men”, and finally we drew the game board on cardboard. We all had such fun that Viktor wanted to play more of this game of ‘yoot’.
We became a part of the family every night, helping to cook dinner and eating Ellinor’s very delicious meals; Joanne had to ask her for some of these recipes. Every evening, we started the dinner with a toast of our wine glasses; ‘skol!’ – the Swedish ‘cheers!’
On our last day before leaving Monsteras, even the cherry trees got into full bloom, for us to remember this sweet Swedish town and the Gustafsson family. On the evening after we left Monsteras for Stockholm, Ellinor said that it started to rain. She later wrote an email to us, saying how much they missed us, and that the falling rain meant that even the ‘angels must have been crying’. We can’t wait to be with them again, next time in Los Angeles.
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