Sunday, May 20, 2007

Sandvikengården & Arvika Host Family Time

Hej! It's Cassie here...It sounds like I'll be doing most of the posts while we are in Arvika! Today is Sunday and we have now been with our host families for just about 24 hours, we left Sandvikengården on Saturday but before we did we were able to enjoy some of the scenerary and activities at Sandvikengården.

Fiday morning we all went for a canoe ride after breakfast. I (Cassie) sat on the bottom of the canoe while Pete and Eric took me around the lake. I must say they did a pretty good job, and I didn't get too wet! After we got back from the trip around the lake we called Lotta (one of the team members on the Sweden GSE Team to Nebraska & Iowa). Lotta along with her two children and mother came out to pick us up and brought us into Arvika. Here we did a little shopping and enjoyed walking around the city center. We also were treated to Fika at Lotta's house. Here Pete demonstrated his cello skills...I must say this was very impressive. Friday afternoon we all met our host families at a BBQ at Sandvikengårdens. We had a lovely meal and it was very nice to be able to meet and interact in such a relaxed atmosphere!


Pete helping to guide our canoe in the right direction!

Joe and Kristi enjoying a morning canoe ride!

Pete, Cassie & Eric out on the water.

Someone's summer home on the lake we were canoeing.

On Friday, our team was able to meet up with Lotta, one of the team members from Sweden that came to Nebraska in April. Here's Lotta with her children Lina and Anton.

Pete showing off his cello skills!

Saturday was a relaxing day...morning brought rain - good thing we canoed Friday. The afternoons were spent individually with our host families. I'm not really sure what each of the team members did, but I came home and unpacked a little, shared family pictures, had a delicious dinner and then went for a walk. The remainder of the evening was spent talking with my host family.

Sunday: Kristi & I enjoyed a late morning church service with our host families. This is the first time I've been able to make it to church while in Sweden. Though it wasn't a Catholic Mass, I did enjoy myself and still felt touched by the holy spirit! After church, we picked up Eric and Pete and went out for a little miniature golf. I think all involved had a great time! We parted ways for dinner, but met up again all host families and team members for fika at Hilde & Håkan's house to review the upcoming weeks schedule! Looks like we are in for another full week...two days of vocational visits and at least three presentations!


The non-Rotary team members enjoyed an afternoon of minature golf with Kristi and Cassie's hosts. Here we are getting our gear!


Left to right: Lotta, Josephine, Lina, Kristi, Hilde, and Eric.

Here is some of the team enjoying an afternoon of miniature golf in Arvika with our hosts. (left to right: Kristi, Hilde (Cassie's host mom), Eric, and Lina (Kristi's host sister).

Pete was so excited to see ice for drinks at Hilde & Håkan's house! We really haven't seen that much ice, this was a special treat for us!


Kristi and her host-sister, Lina.

Ready or not...Arvika here we come!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pete,
Did you bring your cello or was it someone else's? I would be impressed if you were packing your own! Miss you! Jen, Joan, John, and Mark

Unknown said...

Cassie, we were finally able to catch up on your blog entries and are so happy you're having a blast. Just wanted to let you know we are praying for you every day and are looking forward to hearing more once you get home!

Love you,
The Welsh Clan

Counties We Are Visiting

Counties We Are Visiting
We will visit the three counties west of Stockholm