Norway, what a great country

Just a few updates today – joint post from Cassie and Eric

We checked into Sandvikengården outside of Arvika last night. It is a church camp/conference facility (check out the favorite links to see more about this great place). We’re right on the water and all of us have a few days to spend together on our mid-tour rest.

Today we went to Norway for their National Day which celebrates their constitution and independence from Sweden. It was great to experience this day and to compare it to our 4th of July. The celebrations included a children’s parade (which they call ‘train’), laying of flowers at one of their national memorials and seeing everyone dressed in traditional Norwegian attire.

We’re just posting a few pictures tonight as we’re battling internet connection issues. Hopefully more to come tomorrow.

Our 'cottage' at Sandvikengården. Left to right: Pete, Joe, Kristi and Eric (Cassie is taking the photo)

Cassie in front of the very large lake.

A choir that sang the Norway national anthem and other memorial songs in front of a war memorial.

A children's drum corps in Norway that started the parade.

Two things to note here: The clothing (everyone was dressed in traditional clothes) and the flags (they were EVERYWHERE!). It was exciting to see people so excited about their national day.

The marker at the Norway/Sweden border.

Final day in Karlstad

Today was our final day in Karlstad. We started off with a tour of Karlstad’s Fire and Rescue and 112 Center (equivalent to our 911). Have you ever seen a Volvo Fire Truck? We also got to take their boom into the air – If I recall correctly, it goes 30 meters (about 90 feet) up. Then the firefighter allowed us to take control and play with the controls. It was great fun, until Joe started rocking the basket. Needless to say, we all made it down to terra firma safely.

Following that, the fire truck taxied us (yes, we all piled into a Fire Truck) to the harbor for our rib boat tour of Lake Vänern. The best way I can describe a rib boat is that it is like one big jet ski with saddle seats. We flew across the water and had lots of zero-g time. It was an awesome experience. Then we had lunch in Kristinehamn, a town about 20 miles away, and saw a Picasso statue on the shore.

Even though it was a beautiful day, the water in the lake is cold so we had to wear these nifty red jumpsuits. I felt like Ralphie's brother from The Christmas Story.

Karlstad has been a lot of fun and again, we have met many great people. Tomorrow we’re off to Norway to celebrate their constitution day then we have a few days off. We’re staying at cabins so I don’t know what kind of internet access we will have.

The boom fire truck that we went up in.

A view from the top

32 Meters up!

Cassie, Henrik (our fireman guide) and Joe operating the bucket.

That would be Pete and Kristi down on the ground. I took this from the top level the boom was extended.

The team infront of our taxi to the harbor. From left to right -- Pete, Cassie, Kristi, Joe and Eric.

Here's our boat!

Like our fancy red jump suits? It was nice to have these on becuase the lake trip was a bit cold. Left to right: Cassie, Eric, Kristi, Joe, Peter (the boat captian) and Pete.

This is the best photo I had to show how fast we were going. Check out Pete's hair...

And, of course, our illustrious leader, Joe enjoying the ride

The Picasso Statue

Last Night in Karlstad

Hey it's Cassie here...I wanted to take this time to post some pictures. I know I haven't done any yet. Eric did a great job summarizing the day for all of us, so I'll share a little about what I did tonight. After we left the church in town, Mats (my host dad) took Pete and I on a little tour of PEAB (Mats' company), and then we took Pete home. Once we got home and had a chance to relax we ate dinner (salmon and cuscus...not sure how to spell it!). Mats, Oscar (Mats' son), Simon (Oscar's friend) and I met up with Pete, Jari (Pete's host dad) and Olivia (Jari's daughter) at the local "fun plex" where we took in a little bowling and some video game simulated golf. Below are some pictures from our night!

This is Jari

Pete found a new mode of transportation in Sweden!

Pete taking his hand @ a strike! Check the form!

And THIS form!

Pete and Mats waiting their turn while bowling.

Here's Cassie trying to get a strike!

Pete golfing

Karlstad history and culture

Today we had a guided tour of Karlstad. The town was founded over 400 years ago as a port center to collect taxes. Karlstad is also home to a Selma Lagerlof, a local author who won a Nobel prize for literature. Our tour guide, Kiki (short for Christina), was dressed like one of the townspeople from the mid 18th century.

This afternoon program provided us an opportunity to visit the Swedish National Church. Until a few years ago, the church was part of the government and you were automatically a member if you were born in Sweden. The national Parliament was responsible for all church decisions. This has changed, and now you have to agree to be a member of the church. The church is not state funded anymore. The Sweden National Church is Lutheran. Sweden is very open to different religions and beliefs; however, most people are still Lutheran. The church plays an important spiritual and social role in the community.

A few interesting differences between US and Swedish churches:
1) The Swedish National Church is responsible for cemeteries. The national government charges all people a .25% cemetery tax on income to cover the cost of plot, opening and closing the grave and transportation. The family is responsible for all other arrangements.
2) The state collects a tax from all the church members and provides it to the church. While church membership is optional, the parish we visited today had 21,000 members out of 24,000 people that lived in the parish.

This evening was spent with our host families. It has been nice to stay with people and learn more about the typical Swedish society. My host family took me to their country house about 20 minutes outside of town and then we had a nice driving tour of Karlstad.

I did learn that reality TV is alive and well in Sweden. They have a local reality show called the Farmer Looking for a a Wife. This sounds similar to The Bachelor in the US. They take girls from across Sweden to different farms for several weeks to learn about farm life with the farmer. Once a week, one person is kicked off the show until the farmer has a wife. I guess it is a very popular show, with 1.5 million Swedes tuning in – not bad considering there are only 9 million people living in Sweden.

Swedish meatballs for dinner tonight – yum!

The 'sugar castle' that was built as a wedding gift for a very wealthy family. It is now condo's/apartments.

Our team with Kiki, the tour guide. It was windy outside. Left to right: Joe, Kiki, Pete, Kristi, Cassie and Eric.

The church in downtown Karlstad -- one of the old buildings to survive the 1865 fire that took out most of the town.

My host family cabin in the country. It is very nice -- sleeps six. It was built in the 1850s.

My dinner tonight -- Swedish meatballs with pasta boiled in milk (tasted like mac and cheese).

Karlstad Vocational Day - From Cassie

Hej! Cassie here...I know I haven't posted anything yet, but this is really the first time I've had the opportunity to post anything. I'm sorry, but I won't be posting any photos...Pete has my memory card reader! Today I went to an advertising agency (Partners Reklambyra). It was very interesting to see how a Business to Business Ad Agency works and I tried to compare it to how HDR works with our advertising. There were some similarities...more on the values and working for the customer and always putting the customer first, and different things like that. But it was hard to really compare it since they only do advertising and it's all for outside customers...unlike HDR, where we focus more on how we will promote ourself to our clients and prospective employees. I did enjoy myself and was given an assignment while I was there. I was asked to find some advertising competitions that focus on the B2B advertising industry and to also see if I could find somewhere a listing of United States B2B rankings (similar to what HDR gets from ENR). Fortunately before I left the company today I was successful and I think I gave Nils (my host at the agency) exactly what he was looking for! When I have a chance later, I will add some pictures that I took of the agency!

End of our Vocational Day @ The Bishop's Arms

Hey all, Today each of us had our vocational day. I think we all learned even more about our respective vocations! I'll let others elaborate if they wish. Here are a few pics from the pub tonight.

Joe & Kristi after a long vocational day. We were ready for a drink & some food!

So was Joe!!! Here he was having a snaps with his host, Magnus Bergek.

Kristi & Cassie helping Joe finish his meal!!!!

Hey, It's Pete. Since Eric posted a few down below, here are a couple of pics I also took yesterday when I went on a ride to a nice coastal area of Lake Vänern with my host family. This is a popular area in the summer for residents to sunbathe on the rocks by the water.

Västerås to Karlstad

Today we left our Västerås families and transferred to Karlstad. It is a smaller town about two hours away next to Lake Vänern – the third largest lake in Europe. Karlstad is the City of Sunshine – let’s hope our good weather continues. Tomorrow morning we have a breakfast presentation followed by vocational days.

A few pictures snapped today while I was walking with my host family.

Karlstad's city center.

A view of one of the rivers that is across the street from my host families house. In the distance is the Stadshotellet.

Final days in Västerås with a Stockholm rendezvous

A few more photo's from Stockhom and Västerås.


A photo ouside my bedroom windown take at 2 a.m. last night. Notice the twilight -- I can tell we are in the north -- it reminds me of my trips to Alaska.

A fun picture of "The Team"

Tina (The Sweden GSE Coordinator) and me -- she let me borrow one of her husbands coats since I left mine with my host family.

Kristi trying on some Swedish sunglasses.

Outside the Royal Palace in Stockholm.

Joe in front of the Skultuna pub -- where we had the Rotary meeting.

Cassie and Kristi with King Karl the IX -- authorized the Skultuna brass factory.

Stockholm Weekend & Farewell Party from Västerås!

Hey, it's Pete and it's late. So, I'm sorry that, YET AGAIN, I have posted these pics in reverse chronological order. But there are so many pictures and so little time to post them all!!!!! Oh well, we will do the best we can. Here are a few for now and the rest of the group have many more. It's late on Saturday night and time to pack up for Karlstad. It has been so much fun, yet hectic at the same time. We are wrapping up our time at Västerås and heading to Karlstad tomorrow!

This weekend was most exciting for our team. We were treated by the Rotary District 2340 to a weekend in Stockholm! We took the train from Västerås Friday early afternoon and spent the afternoon wandering around and shooting plenty of pictures. Saturday morning was spent on a bus and boat tour of the city which was most informative and provided plenty of opportunities for pictures.

We would like to give a HUGE thank you (TACK!) to the Västerås Rotary Clubs for their hospitality! We had a wonderful stay here and were made to feel like we were home! Saturday night was spent at Tina's house for a dinner party! All host families were there so it was a great, great time. Again, we cannot thank all of you enough!

This is Tina, our GSE Coordinator's house. She hosted a farewell party for us tonight after our Stockholm trip.

Here's our group after dinner outside Tina's house.

Pete with his gracious hosts, Thomas & Annette Wistrand.

Here's another picture of our dinner party tonight.

Just after the bus & boat tour we were fortunate enough to catch the end of the "changing of the guard" ceremony at the royal castle.

This is old town Stockholm! There are so many buildings with these tiny walkways!

Here's Pete just outside the Royal Palace.

The Grand Hotel: Most dignitaries stay here. They hang their guests' country's flag each day.

Drottninggattan is the main street in Stockholm with all the shopping, bars & restaurants.