Sverige

So, lets start with pictures first!

This would be my grandfathers second couzin Ann-Christin and me. :)

Ann-Christin, Trude, og Ivar.

On our way to the cemetary, we walked through a beautiful park. This is just one of the pictures that I took of the wonderful scenery.

This building in the background that looks like a tower in a castle or something...ha...regulates the water pressure (or something...hehe)

Also on the way to the cemetary. Just a cute path that I saw with the fall leaves falling and the "Maple City" lightpole. Can you see it, it kinda blends in with the back trees.

The picture above is of the Norwegian flag and below of the Swedish flag. :) My two countries.

Ann-Christin, Sture (her father), and me.

The grave of my "future" fourth cousins great grandpa. ha. Its a long chain...but I think this is the easiest to understand. Or, I could say that this is the grave of the father of my grandpas second cousin. Ha, even more confusing, yet the same thing. :)

So, in this particular cemetary, there are spots that have circles of graves. Sture is in one of these. If you look closely you will see that...there are two large stones nearest the camera. To the right of the stone on the right...is Sture's. Does this makes sence? Sorry so confusing. I'm not quite sure how else to explain it.

So, the church of the cemetary. Maybe the same size as Imacculate Conception.

The picture above and below are pictures I took of pictures. :) They aren't the best quality. I had figured out how to zoom in with my camera and make clear shots after the fact. I am still learning different ways to use my camera, maybe by the time I leave, I will know all the ins and outs. Anyway, so, above is a picture of Alice, my great grandmother, on the left with Floyd (?) and the mother of Alice, Anna Maria Nilson, and Oscar. I am not so sure if the story is correct though, because I knew who Floyd was. And as far as I remember, looked nothing like that. Ha. Either that or he changed a BUNCH after he got older. ha. The picture below though, is amaizing! It's my dad. Naw, not really, but as soon as they fliped the page in the album and I saw it....I was like "Whoa!" I dont think this picture of the picture (ha) does it any justice and now your probably gonna think I'm nuts. But if you were to have seen that photo in person, you would have had the same reaction. (Okay, not so sure who is reading this, ha, but if it is someone in my family back home......then THEY would have had the same reaction. ha.) Anyway, this picture is one my grandpas secound cousin.

Ivar, Elsy, and I. Elsy is the wife of Sture.

Different generations...somehow. ha. So, once more...Me (me, hehe) Ann-Christin (second cuzin of my grandfather), and Elsy (mother of Ann-Christin, wife of the cousin of Alice, my great grandmother)

This is the grave of Knute Hansen (Ivar's Father)

Oh my goodnes!!!!! I got to go to Sweden yesterday and visit some old relatives of mine!!!! I was so excited, and it turned out to be a wonderful time. Let's start from the beggining. So, yesterday we woke up, had some breakfast, and left the house around eight oclock. We hopped in the car, and four and half hours later, and three stops, we were there. I was so excited. When we arived, we had a delicious dinner that they prepared for us. We talked, me in english, Ivar and Trude in Norwegain, and Elsy and Ann-Christin in Swedish.....somehow, we were able to understand each other. :) Quite well, if I might add. I never knew that Swedish was that similar. After we ate, Ann-Christin took us to the gravesite of her father, and that was really neat. We got to see the church too. Everything there reminded me of home. After we had been in Sweden for a while it started to look more and more like home. The fields got bigger, and the mountains got lower. ha. and the trees more scarce. It made me appreciate Norway so much more. Now I am glad that I was placed in Norway because it is soo different from the America. I dont think that it would have been as great to go to a country that is identicle to you home. I did this exchange to experience change in culture and lifestyle....and right now, in Norway, that is what I am getting. I love it. Actually, I can understand why Bishop Hill is Swedish, because its the same type of invironment. It was a great place for them to settle. Anyway, what else....k...so, after we got back from the cemetary we looked at photo albums for a while and it was awsome to be able to see all the people and who they were and match faces to stories. Elsy had said that she remebers going to America and seeing my grandpa and his family. :) It is neat when people can tell you stories of people that you know back home. It was really neat. I keep saying "neat". Opps, sorry, but I dont know any better word...thats what it was....it was "neat." :) Elsy had made some little deserts. So, after we looked throught the albums, we sat down once more and talked over coffie and Kula (?) cakes and other deserts. They were so kind to us!!!!! Thank you guys. And......THANK YOU IVAR AND TRUDE for driving that whole way for me! So, now for the real shocker. So, we were driving back home and right when we were about to pass back into Norway, I realized that I had forgoten my passport! So, Trude and I waited at the "customs" place or whatever, while Ivar drove two hours back home to get it and back. HAHA. Just kidding. Naw, nothing like that happened at all. Actually, it was quite shocking. Going into Sweden we just kept driving. No stop, no check points, no nothing. On the way back in I was asleap, so I am guessing that the same thing happened. :) It was kinda the same thing like when we go to Burlington. Differnt laws, differnt rules, yet....no problem. :) ha. Anyway, after we were in Norway for about half an hour or soish, we stoped at the grave of Ivar's father. I think it was nice to be able to share the same experience with them, that they just had with me. It was a day of cemetary visiting. :) hehe. By the time that we had gotten there though, it was dark. Many of the graves had candles next to them, so the whole entire cemetary was all lit up. I tried to take a picture of that too, ha, but it didnt work so well. All the lights show up, but the stones don't, so it just kinda looks like random lights everywhere....not so cool. :) The church for this cemetary appeared to be what I think Americans accosiate with the Russians. You know, those "onion" toped roofed buildings. (Whats funny is that in Norwegian, it is actually called løk lignende tak wich is onion look alike roof. ha.) Okay, we gotta speed this entery up...I gotta go to class. :) So, we drove the rest of the way home, I called my parents and told them about my trip....and then I went to bed. Later for now!