Away from home, missing your family and FOOOD can be really tough! But Sweden has been amazing. I found so many lovely people, families who offered me love, a place to go to when I needed to talk to someone, and gave me amazing home cooked food. One of my best memories from Linkoping are from the times I spent with my new family here. I met one of my best friends from Sweden Bengt, at Ryds skogen. I learnt so many new things from him and he is such a huge inspiration. I look up to him and wish to grow old like him! He taught me about orienteering, something I had never done or heard before. He tried to teach me frisbee but we ended up catching autumn leaves in the frisbee. Oh! that's a game I would recommend.
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| Trying out orienteering !! |
You see, he jokes about his age saying, 'I am as old as India' (because he was born in 1947, in case you didn't get the joke) and the energy he beholds is amazing. I was always inspired to see how he structured his day beautifully and spent quality time in the forest, sometimes reading, sometimes teaching me ice skating, skating, cooking Swedish food, or teaching me Swedish! He made my stay in Sweden fun and memorable. Being a huge source of encouragement, he always made sure, I do not doubt myself. Having somebody like Bengt by your side to support you through your journey in a new place, is a blessing that I will always thank for.
You will not believe how enthusiastic he is about supporting my dreams. Let me narrate this to you. So during March 2016, almost 7 months of beings friends with Bengt, I was mentioning my wish to plant an oak sapling for my boyfriend's birthday. He made sure he was with me through the entire process- from finding the saplings to getting the saplings to planting it! Finally we ended up planting not just one but two oak saplings: one for Nikhil, and another for me and Bengt, a sapling in the memory of our friendship that will grow stronger with time. Now that I am back in India, Bengt takes care of them and sends me pictures of the plant! I never imagined I will find such an amazing friend in Sweden. Oh, these are the times I feel lucky about myself.
One day, we literally cycled 15kms away from Linkoping in the night because I thought we could see Northern Lights. Off course we didn't see northern lights, but it was a wonderful short trip nevertheless. I cannot imagine having lived in Linkoping without him - all the things I learnt from the new experiences.
Oh, did I mention about my Swedish grandparents and how I met them? So, one day during the autumn when the sky was shining bright and the weather was amazing, I just took my cycle to Valla forest by the University to cherish the moment, enjoy the breeze, soak in the sun! As I sat down there an elderly couple with their dog walked towards the benches I was sitting. I happened to smile at the beautiful lady, and she gave a warm smile and in no time we were having a conversation and fika! They wrote down my contact number and told me they would invite me for dinner. After sometime, we said good byes and left the place. At that moment, I thought I may not receive a call from them because may be it was not an important thing for them to remember. But guess what, three days later I receive a call from them inviting me for dinner! That was just the beginning of my good old memories with this couple who became my Swedish grand-parents. On the Diwali of 2016, I and my friends invited them for dinner - a mix of Indian, and European cuisine! We had great time talking, cherishing the food and company. And then we were dropping them to the bus station. My friends and I could see them holding hands and walking together to the bus station on a cold Swedish autumn, we were just whispering how cute they looked together! I was always inspired by the love they shared and look up to them.
I have the habit of googling everything, one day I ended up googling my Swedish grandpa's name. There was a Wikipedia page dedicated to him. I read the whole article, and found out that he was the Governor of Norrbotten county, up north in Sweden. This humble couple was so grounded that not even once did they brag about any of this. During my next visit to their house I happened to mention how surprised I was to find a Wikipedia page about him, and to find out that he was the GOVERNOR!!! He smiled and went inside and brought a box full of memories from their stay as a Governor at Norrbotten. I am so proud of them! The way they treated each other, spoke about each other, I still draw inspiration from them. On Lucia, they took me to one of the best Lucia performances in the Linkoping town. I watched them cherish the traditions and noticed the happiness they felt in showing the traditions to me.
It was truly an honor to have them as my guests for my graduation ceremony. They were with me for all the pictures, smiling and encouraging me throughout the ceremony!
On my birthday, I invited my friends for an Indian dinner party with lots of Indian food!! I took a lot of effort cooking rotis, daal, cabbage palya (sabzi/kind of curry) for 15 of my friends. I taught them to make round rotis and they all tried making it. My best memory of this day is all of my friends singing birthday songs in different languages. They sang birthday song in Swedish, Icelandic, Greek, and German! This was the most beautiful birthdays!!
These are the connections that really matter in life, moments of learning, sharing, caring and being cherished.
You will not believe how enthusiastic he is about supporting my dreams. Let me narrate this to you. So during March 2016, almost 7 months of beings friends with Bengt, I was mentioning my wish to plant an oak sapling for my boyfriend's birthday. He made sure he was with me through the entire process- from finding the saplings to getting the saplings to planting it! Finally we ended up planting not just one but two oak saplings: one for Nikhil, and another for me and Bengt, a sapling in the memory of our friendship that will grow stronger with time. Now that I am back in India, Bengt takes care of them and sends me pictures of the plant! I never imagined I will find such an amazing friend in Sweden. Oh, these are the times I feel lucky about myself.
One day, we literally cycled 15kms away from Linkoping in the night because I thought we could see Northern Lights. Off course we didn't see northern lights, but it was a wonderful short trip nevertheless. I cannot imagine having lived in Linkoping without him - all the things I learnt from the new experiences.
Oh, did I mention about my Swedish grandparents and how I met them? So, one day during the autumn when the sky was shining bright and the weather was amazing, I just took my cycle to Valla forest by the University to cherish the moment, enjoy the breeze, soak in the sun! As I sat down there an elderly couple with their dog walked towards the benches I was sitting. I happened to smile at the beautiful lady, and she gave a warm smile and in no time we were having a conversation and fika! They wrote down my contact number and told me they would invite me for dinner. After sometime, we said good byes and left the place. At that moment, I thought I may not receive a call from them because may be it was not an important thing for them to remember. But guess what, three days later I receive a call from them inviting me for dinner! That was just the beginning of my good old memories with this couple who became my Swedish grand-parents. On the Diwali of 2016, I and my friends invited them for dinner - a mix of Indian, and European cuisine! We had great time talking, cherishing the food and company. And then we were dropping them to the bus station. My friends and I could see them holding hands and walking together to the bus station on a cold Swedish autumn, we were just whispering how cute they looked together! I was always inspired by the love they shared and look up to them.
I have the habit of googling everything, one day I ended up googling my Swedish grandpa's name. There was a Wikipedia page dedicated to him. I read the whole article, and found out that he was the Governor of Norrbotten county, up north in Sweden. This humble couple was so grounded that not even once did they brag about any of this. During my next visit to their house I happened to mention how surprised I was to find a Wikipedia page about him, and to find out that he was the GOVERNOR!!! He smiled and went inside and brought a box full of memories from their stay as a Governor at Norrbotten. I am so proud of them! The way they treated each other, spoke about each other, I still draw inspiration from them. On Lucia, they took me to one of the best Lucia performances in the Linkoping town. I watched them cherish the traditions and noticed the happiness they felt in showing the traditions to me.
It was truly an honor to have them as my guests for my graduation ceremony. They were with me for all the pictures, smiling and encouraging me throughout the ceremony!
On my birthday, I invited my friends for an Indian dinner party with lots of Indian food!! I took a lot of effort cooking rotis, daal, cabbage palya (sabzi/kind of curry) for 15 of my friends. I taught them to make round rotis and they all tried making it. My best memory of this day is all of my friends singing birthday songs in different languages. They sang birthday song in Swedish, Icelandic, Greek, and German! This was the most beautiful birthdays!!
These are the connections that really matter in life, moments of learning, sharing, caring and being cherished.
Sweden is the land of 'Thank you' - Politeness!!! This is where I learnt to say 'thank you' more often and really mean it!
