My Brothers Visit

Nick has come for a visit- which has been fantastic. So far things have been really busy-



Friday
I picked him up and left him at my place to sleep while I was in school. For lunch we went, with some friends to a restaruant on top of the Östersund Water Heater (a very large boiler) and had a traditional Swedish Christmas dinner. The meal consisted of herring, salmon, meatballs, sausages and ribs as well as potatos, pepperkoka (ginger cookies), cheese and bread and of course jul öl (christmas beer, which has a fairly sweet taste). After stuffing ourselves, Nick and I went back to my house and chatted for awhile- catching up. That evening we went to the local school pub, Oscars, and had a few beers. It was quite enjoyable and there were many friends from school there to meet Nick.



Saturday
The morning came rather early- due to the late night, but at 8:00 we got up to be treated to an traditional english breakfast by my neighbour Robert. After breakfast we drove him to the airport to catch his flight home to Croatia for the Christmas break.

We quickly came home to bed. That afternoon Nick, Lina and myself went downtown to do some shopping (window shopping of course) .

For dinner we were invited to Magnus and Ida's for a potluck christmas meal- which was fantastic. We brought Shepards Pie- which was a huge hit. Nick got his first taste of Julmust (which is christmas pop- similar to rootbeer) and traditional swedish schnapps- which is basically a shot of vodka- Nick was expecting something sweet because of the name- he associated it with Peach Schnapps or Pepperment Schapps- least to say, he was a bit surprised when he downed that shot. I did not have the pleasure of trying this tradition as I was driving.

Between dinner and dessert we had a contest- a gingerbread house making contest- which was a blast. It was boys against girls- and through the results, we could see who was more creative. The boys just built a house- the girls built a tent with a chimney, a dog house, trees and bushes, a dog and a reindeer.

Then came the tobogganing (pulke in Swedish). We went to the ski hill on Frösön for some sledding- which was fantastic, lots of fun.

Sunday
We slept in today- the plan was to catch the 8:00 train to Åre (a popular ski resort town) to walk around and take some pictures- possibly participate in some sauna action, but no such luck. We walked to town and hung around abit and then went back home to bed. We were exhausted! The night before we had stayed up really late watching a movie (till three in the morning, The Kindom of Heaven). Lina came over afterwards and we played cards and watched another movie (Four Weddings and A Funeral), played poker and 'finns i sjöan' (go fish, in Swedish). Nick has learnt to count in Swedish as well as some key phrases- hello, goodbye, thanks, your welcome, very good, etc.



Monday
Was a relaxing day- I went to school, we worked out afterwards and then relaxed for the rest of the day.


Tuesday
Kalle, Lina's father, found some cross country skiis that fit Nick, so this afternoon we went cross country skiing. It was a beautiful day for it! Lina's mom made us Lussebulle (buns with saffron) and hot chocolate afterwards.




Wednesday
It is a shopping day- Christmas shopping that is. It was my last day of school before the Christmas break and so, I had class this morning. This evening, Lina's mom is making us dinner and then we are going to the pub for a few drinks. Because it is the last day of school, there should be alot of people out.


Thursday and Friday
These two days were spent hanging out, relaxing, catching up. Alittle christmas shopping was done, packing, etc.

I really enjoyed having him here for the week. It was nice to be able to show him my current life- introduce him to my friends and have him experience a small part of what I am experiencing. I learned alot about him as well during this time. I can't remember when I have spent this much time with him all at once; for the last 6 years or so, a time when one, if not both of us had left the home and venured out on our own, very little time was spent together. This visit was a nice change.