The Swedish Countryside

Today we left Stockholm to travel north (the location was described to me as either the top of the bottom third of the country or the bottom of the middle third... sort that one out yourself!) to a place called Östhammar which is very near the coast.  

We are staying with Yohan (or Johan... I'm not sure) and Helen (not sure about the spelling but it is pronounced Heneeen... strong E) and their two sons. 

It is about an hour and a half north of Stockholm, and has a similar feel to Tornio in Finland, but at the same time not the same.  It is beautiful here but less vivid; less bathed in bright sunlight even though the sun is shining.  That has its advantages and disadvantages, though.  Here, it is maybe not quite so remarkable nor so effortlessly picturesque, but it is more believable and I imagine it will be easier to sleep, since it will be darker outside.  

Not as dark as Stockholm, but still dark.  

There is SO much nature here.  Everything is green and growing and flowering! Maybe even more than in Finland, maybe just different than Finland. 

Helen LOVES to Garden.  She grows grapes, American blueberries (apparently they are different here), these things that look like mini strawberries, flowers, vegetables, seasonings like Oregano and basil and tons more!  This is their back yard. 

This is the view of the back yard from the left side of the garden looking out.  

These grow wild.  They are just so pretty!

Helen told me that there is a law in Sweden that says the woods cannot be owned by anyone, so people are free to walk through them and pick wildflowers and berries!  

One thing in particular I have found interesting about Sweden as compared to America, is the difference in perspective on time.  When we say something is very old in America, we mean two, maybe three hundred years.  Here there are churches everywhere that vastly out-age our entire country. When they speak of something old, they mean five hundred, seven hundred, even nine hundred years ago!

Also I found out tonight, in the midst of a heated agreement with Yohan (I'm choosing the Y spelling because I like it better) about things from politics to religion (basically everything you're not supposed to talk about with strangers) that Sweden has a very liberal point of view on most things.  

Yohan and Helen lived in the states for 2 1/2 years and they really I think feel that the Swedish healthcare system and childcare systems are far preferable to those in America.  The universal healthcare system they have here sounds pretty good, but I don't really think it could realistically be implemented in the US because our system is too screwed up to be fixed, in either a right or left wing direction.  

The biggest thing I have realized today is that a week or two in a place is enough to see it, but not enough to understand it.  I don't understand Swedish life any more than the Titanic understood the tip of the iceberg (hahaha aren't I funny... please be amused, I'm really proud of that one) But seriously, you really do have to spend more time in a place to know it.  

I'll just have to come back one day and stay longer. 

Like I said at the beginning, I feel like this is just a first step!