I've been home for a while

Well, little has happened since Thanksgiving. Let's see, where should I start?..... ok, here it goes.

The next morning was a brisk and lovely morning, I slept in a bit, until about 9:17, and after my breakfast, I walked my 9 minute walk to church. There was definitely a chill in the air and I knew that if I had been in Minnesota that a snowfall would be just around the corner. Ok, so maybe I won't be quite THAT detailed, when i told Jen that I was going to update my blog she said, "WAHOO!!! Good job! Is it going to be 5 pages long since it's been so long?" I said, "I hope not! I'm tired." So, you're going to get the shortened version on my last couple of months (don't be TOO excited)

My last month is Sweden was simply, wonderful! I couldn't have asked for a better experience. My host family couldn't have been more amazing, I still think about them all almost every day. As the month went on I was all of a sudden getting the questions, "are you getting excited to go home?", "what are you most looking forward to when you get home?", "are you going to come back soon?" and several other questions that I didn't really want to answer. I wasn't ready to go home yet, I was just getting comfortable, just getting to know people on a deeper level, making great friends and gaining family members. I really didn't want to think about those questions, but my answers where, "don't know if I'd use 'excited'.", seeing my dog & new nephew." and "hopefully." 3 months is NOT a long time to live somewhere and even after being home for over a month now, I often think about when the next opportunity will come for me to go back. I don't know what I miss the most, if it was all the walking I did, if it was the great bus system, if it was the church or if it was all the wonderful, kind people that helped make me feel more welcomed than I feel I deserved... maybe I miss it all equally, yep, I think that's it.

Anyways, Tuesday morning, December 22nd, Birgitta drove me to the airport and as we hugged, wished each other "Gud Jul" and then as I watched her drive away, it hit me that I was going home to be with my family for Christmas. I landed in Minneapolis and Jen, Jeff & Brad were at the gate waiting for me. It was really good to see all of them, even though I had practically just seen Jen ;) We got home and Mom & Dad were there to help welcome me back. We went inside and there was my baby! Riley hadn't forgotten about me, she was so excited she peed a little bit :) ... I think I might have too, but I don't remember the details, whatev. Brad, Jeff & I went out for dinner and had a good time. I was home and was ready for Christmas.

I went to Mom & Dad's on Christmas Eve and after dinner I fell asleep on the couch, since my internal clock thought it was about 4 in the morning. I was dreaming about Santa, or Reindeer, or Snow, or something when I was abruptly jostled by an adorable little 4 year old! Erika, JJ, Kaleb & new baby Alek had arrived and Kaleb needed to give his uncle a big hug, even though I was sleeping, it was the best way to be woken up! After a big, stronger than when I left, hug, I got to hold Alek for the first time after getting to just see him via Skype. He was/is ADORABLE! (and so much more real in person).

Ok, Christmas was great, New Years was fun. I'm pretty tired after a long weekend and should get to bed, because tomorrow morning I will be a full time student at Bethel University. yep, once semester of classes/practicum and one semester of student teaching and I will have my teaching license, which I will elaborate on later, but i MUST keep this under 5 pages.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am a few days late on this but i figured better late than never.
So, Wednesday the family got here, it was great to see their smiling faces as i met them at the airport and after we hugged we were off, and didn´t stop until they left at 4:30 on Sunday morn. We had Wednesday night and at 6:00am on Thursday we were on the train to Stockholm. We had really nice weather (well, sunny and a bit chilly) and enjoyed the day walking around and enjoying the city. We stopped for lunch at a little cafe and as my dad paid the bill the waiter wished him a Happy Thanksgiving! it was a nice reminder of the holiday that was being celebrated back home. We ended the day by getting back onto the train at about 8:00pm and got back to Göteborg at a little after 11:00, we were all very exhausted.
Friday started out with breakfast at my place. I drove the rental car over to get my parents from the Jannerlands, where they were staying. oh, and driving was pretty fun, i havent done that in 2 months! Aaron joined us for breakfast and we all had a nice relaxing start to the day. After breakfast we stopped by the church so i could show them where i have been working and they were also to meet a few of the folks i spend so much time with in the office. We toured Göteborg for the rest of the day and ended by going to Liseberg, which is decorated for Christmas this time of year.
Saturday we took a boat to the island Hönö and checked out a Christmas market that they have every year, it was quite nice. We ended the day with dinner at the Jannerlands house and then made Fiskebäcksbröd (Fiskebäcks = the town/area. bröd = bread.) At about 10:30 a few people started arriving for fika. more and more people kept coming and then a little before 11, Aaron and Stina came to celebrate the end of their "Aaron and Stina day" aka 6 month anniversary of dating. However it wasn't long before Aaron began to tell the story of the day and how he picked Stine up at 4:30 am and then took her to Venice, Italy for the day. while there, he proposed to her and she said, "yes". So the little fika that the Jannerlands thought they were having was actually a mini engagement party, it was a lot of fun!
The night ended around 12:30 and my family left after a few hours of sleep and went on their way to a day in Amsterdam.
I called them at 1:15am on Monday morning to make sure they got home ok and everything was good. I was exhausted and went to bed.
Good Times.

Timmer

Where am I?

Last night as Andrew and I were waiting at the bus stop I heard something coming down the street. Normally just hearing something coming would not catch my attention since there are many cars, buses and other vehicles here, however this sound was different. All of a sudden from around the corner I saw a 4-wheeler/atv (whatever you want to call it) ..zz....z......zzz........ ooh, i just fell asleep for 5 minutes, too bad since it is 11:00 am..... ok, umm..... where was i? .....aw, yes. Depending on where you live this might not be an abnormal sight, but when we were standing at a busstop in downtown Göteborg and the only street that went past us was an entrance ramp to the freeway, I was really surprised! What kind of place do I live in? 4-wheelers on the freeway!? now that is just a little crazy.

The Fam is Coming

Today at 3:25 my family lands at the airport in Göteborg, Sweden. I am going to meet them and am pretty excited for it. I do wish that Erika, JJ, Kaleb & Alek could have come too, but i guess Mom, Dad & Jen will just have to do :)
Tonight we are having dinner at the Natanaelsson house and I am really hoping that the combination of losing 7 hours and having a full stomach doesnt cause anyone (my dad) to fall asleep at the table (actually, that would look kind of funny). It should be a great time, but hopefully not too late because tomorrow morning at 6:00am we are getting on the train to Stockholm and will be back in Göteborg at about 23:00 tomorrow night, good times.

Julstugan är här .... and gone, but it was fun.

Last night as I the church and turned on my iPod, I selected my "Christmas!!" playlist! Now, I usually don't start listening to Christmas music until December 1st because I don't want to be sick of hearing all the great songs before the big day actually arrives. However, I was told last week that "Julstugan" is kind of "the official start" for Christmas music to some people, and I have chosen to be one of those people. I LOVE Christmas music!
So, are you wondering what "Julstugan" is? well, the translation is "Christmas Cabin". Does that explain it for you? no? oh fine, me neither. Julstugan is actually a fund raiser for the youth group at the church. It is held every year and is a great time for the church and the community to come together in fellowship and fun. Throughout the church there are tables set up to sell items such as poinsettias, baked goods, hand knitted hats & mittens and other donated items. There are also many items that are raffled off, I was feeling very confident that I was going to win the Nintendo Wii with my one ticket since I was donating my time here, but then I saw that someone had purchased 10 tickets and I knew my chances of winning were very slim. I am still waiting for my phone to ring with the good news that I am the winner of a Wii, but I don't think it will happen. oh well. This event is very fun for everyone involved, but it is also very successful. This is the only fundraiser that the youth has each year, I think I heard someone say that last year they raised nearly $40,000 over the two days! yes, that is DOLLARS, not CROWNS, WOW! Hopefully they made the same this year.
I know you are probably just DYING to know what the first Christmas song that played on my iPod was, (it was a really good one and you should probably go check it out) "Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!" by Sufjan Stevens. One of my favorite lines is: "Chestnuts and fire, holly and hay, Jesus and Mary, what a great day!" His Christmas album is simply wonderful!

Gud Jul!!
Timmer

Small Group

This past Thursday my small group met for the 2nd time. the week before we met at Anna-Maria's apt and had a great time enjoying fika and just getting to know one another. This week however Anna-Maria had to work, so she couldn't make it, but Johan, Iris and Abby came over to my place and we cooked Köttbullar (pronounced "schut-boola" = meatballs) together using a recipe that I was given and then translated, did you know that you can upload complete documents into "Google translate"! I didn't, until last Thursday :) it was fun, we had a good time and we able to spend some time going a little deeper as well. God is so good and it is great to see His hands moving and mixing things together, oh, i forgot to mention that there were also 4 countries represented last Thursday, Sweden, the UK, Germany and me. And now that i'm on the subject of multiple countries....
Last Sunday night, Nov 9th, we had a more contemplative service, a time of song and prayer. We sat on couch cushions on the main stage and were very relaxed. It was great to hear the sound of 20 or so voices echoing throughout the entire sanctuary, simply beautiful and kinda gave me the chills. At the end of each service we spend time in prayer. With the piano, we sing short prayer, then whoever wants can say a prayer, then we sing, then someone prays, then we sing, then someone prays, etc... do you get it? well, if you don't, i'm sorry, because it actually quite powerful. During this prayer, i still had my chills from earlier, but then those chills got chills because after a few "rounds" we had heard prayers in Swedish, English, German, and Chinese. It was so touching to hear prayers in so many languages, just plain cool!

Yep, anyways, things are still moving along and The Well is starting to get a good solid 'core' of folks that are here are a weekly basis. It's almost like we have a 5 week old child that is starting to walk.... or something like that.

keep praying!
T

The Land of Volvos

I think I once heard that 25% of cars on the road in Sweden are Volvos, this might be hard to believe, until you see it with your own eyes. Let's say you take a walk down any street, I will guarantee that soon there will be a Volvo past you, followed by another and then maybe even another. Yes, they are everywhere! There are a few good reasons, however, for this Volvo craziness:
#1. Volvo is a Swedish company.
#2: Volvo is based here in Gothenburg.

#2 brings me to my point for today. I went on a tour of the Volvo factory, Andrew and Johan were there too. It was a good time. we rode on what is called "The Blue Train", it is just a few small carts with seats that are pulled by a little golf cart type thing. We got to see almost the entire process of how a car is built, from seeing the rolls of metal being cut to seeing the cars be started for the first time. Now, I'm not that into cars or anything, but it was pretty cool. We went to fika afterward, good times.
After fika, I went to the Central Station, downtown, and bought 4 tickets to Stockholm. My parents and sister, Jen, are coming to Sweden on Nov 25th for a nice, short visit. On the 26th we are getting on a speed train at 6:00am and cruising across the country in 3 hours, by car it can take 6, to Stockholm. We will have a nice day of touring the capital city and then at 8:10pm, we'll get back on the train and head west, back to Gothenburg. I am very excited!

Wednesday was a nice day

Jan & Lynn are an older couple from the international church (Fisherscreek International Church) that I met at the retreat my first weekend here. Jan is from southern Sweden and is still learning English, but is very good, especially since he gets many private lessons. Lynn is from Wales and has been an English teacher at the University here in Gothenburg for several years. They are a funny couple, in a good way. They have been together about 4 years, I believe, and even though they have grown kids, they seem as if they are in their 20’s when they are near one another.

A few weeks ago I went to the Swedish church (Fiskebäcks Missionskyrka) and Jan was singing in the gospel choir. I got a chance to talk to him during fika afterwards and he asked me if I’d ever be up for getting lunch or going for a walk or something. I like to eat and I like to go for walks, so I said, “sure, that’d be great!” We exchanged phone numbers and planned to meet in about a week and a half.

He called me on Tuesday to make sure I was still able to meet and he said he’d call me tomorrow after lunch to tell me a specific time. He, and Lynn, picked my up right around noon. It wasn’t the nicest day, cloudy, a slight wind and about 5 degrees (upper 30’s) but we had a very nice time. First, they took me to the University’s Botanical Gardens. I was a little hesitant since so many of the leaves have fallen off of everything but I figured it would at least be a nice walk and there would be good conversation. The gardens were beautiful! There were still plenty of plants that had their leaves, some were very colorful, and there were quite a few flowers still going strong, but after about 45 minutes we were all starting to get a little too chilled.

We got back in the car and they were going to bring me to lunch at “the best place in town!” Jan likes to cook, and he is very good. Lynn likes to bake, and Jan has told me she is also very good, both are kind of “foodies”, so I figured when they say that we’re going to “the best place in town” it is going to be good. We got to a place called Gunnebo’s Slot, which was built by a English guy back in the day. He came to Sweden started two businesses: 1. a logging company and 2. a mining company. He did OK for himself. Anyways, they place now is pretty nice, there is a horse stable, and organic garden and a restaurant, which we ate at. The food was pretty good, “nothing to write home about” except that I am, but whatever. It would have been much better if the fish didn’t have so much mustard on it, very spicy mustard, woof! After we ate we enjoyed tea and dessert.

It was a great day but it wore me out. I was in bed by 8:00.

Sad Day.

Yesterday morning as I sat down to put on my socks I noticed something on my foot. There was actually something on both of my feet, it looked like a very faint letter “Z”. I instantly knew what it was; it was what is left of the tan line I got from wearing my Chaco sandals (everyone should have a pair) this past summer. It made me question if I had lost the rest of my tan, so I took my shirt off and went to stand in front of the mirror, what did I see? I saw white, a lot of white! My entire tan is officially gone. No more farmer’s tan from all my time out side under the sun this past summer, nothing. My hair, what hair I have, is showing less signs of the sun, it is getting darker every day and my beard is practically black; but that could be because of its length, who knows.

This morning’s weather report said the sun is to rise at 7:36 (am) and will set at 16:14 (4:14 pm) and that there will be 4 minutes 35 seconds less daylight tomorrow, 4.5 minutes less, in ONE DAY! Yikes! Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to enjoy the 8 hours that the sun is up, hiding behind the clouds.

Its official, summer is a distant memory.

Time Flies.. CONTINUED

So, I talked a lot about Halloween, but not so much about All Saints Day. Whoops, guess I just got in a reminiscent mood or something.

Saturday, October 31^st started out like any other typical Saturday….no, wait, it didn’t. I got up and went to church, on Saturday morning. **short detour** do any of you work in a church? How do you get used to the schedule? I am always so messed up as to what day it is. Typically we take Monday off, that throws me off for the whole week. But going to church on Saturday morning, that REALLY messes with the whole, “weekend/week” clock. Oof! **detour over** I was a little hesitant because I knew the service was going to be in Swedish, so I sent Aaron a text to see if he was going to be there and if he could translate for me, he was, good. The service was to remember those that passed away this past year, there were 5 members of the church that had died and each of their names were read and then put up on the screen. It was especially heart wrenching when Gustav, the pastor, came to the last name, Mrs. Fredrickson, because she had just recently passed away on October 25^th and her family was in the front row. Her husband, Sven-Erik, is an old, active guy that runs marathons and rides his bike everywhere, year round. He is about 85 years old, has white hair and thick black rimmed glasses, Aaron says, “he looks like Geppetto, from Pinocchio!”, and he does! but it was hard to see him hurting. I've gotten to know him just a little bit at a few Wednesday morning prayer meetings, and he is a very gentle and loving man, so to know that he is hurting, hurts. I think it was gave a sense of closure for his family at the service though, i saw some smiles afterwards as they were talking to people.

The rest of the day was pretty laid back, until 19:00 (7:00 pm) when the Jannerland's had a party at their house. now, i know you're probably thinking that this was a "Halloween" party, but you would be wrong. it was a party for "anyone that knows the Thompsons". If I haven't mentioned it, Aaron's parents were here for 2 weeks and it is their 4th time visiting, so they've gotten to know a few people in the area. It was a nice evening with dinner, laughter and even singing. there were around 30 people and was definitely a good time. I almost had forgotten about the all the parties that were about to start back home as i was getting home at around 1:00, but i got online to check my email and see if i could Skype with anyone (I'm usually on a few times per week sometime between 4pm & 6:30pm CST - Skype name: tim.olson6 - hint hint, wink wink) and ended up talking to my sister and parents and heard all about their plans for the night. good times!

**I'll post some pictures later**

Time Flies

I know I’ve said it before, but I can’t believe that I’ve been here this long, 5 weeks! Wow! Ok, I’ll probably only say something like that just 2 more times, sorry. Let’s see, what has gone down? ….

This past weekend was Halloween. Now, I know for many of you, this was just another day where kids come to your doorstep, ring the door bell and say “trick or treat!” You either acted scared because they had on a scary costume or your heart melted because they were so darn cute. Oh, and then you gave them loads of candy. Sounds like fun, and I’m sure it was. Last year was my first time handing out candy, and it was great. For those of you who didn’t read last years entry, "Best Costumes Ever!?..." I was a giant chicken. My favorite trick or treaters for the evening were silent as I opened the door, granted, I as I opened the door I abruptly squatted down and just stared out the 3 kids and their dad, or some sort of father figure. After about 30 seconds of silence the biggest one, probably too old to be asking for candy, and dressed like Jason (from Friday the 13^th?, I think) simply said, “whoa” and then the youngest one, dressed like Freddy (from Nightmare on Elm St) said, “trick or treat”. The 3^rd kid, dressed like a ware wolf, never said a word. Yep, it was great! One of the most non-scary costumes, a chicken, caused 3 of the scariest costumes to go speechless!

Ok, so anyways, this year, well Halloween isn’t that big here is Sweden, so no kids running door to door, no parties, too bad. However, they do celebrate All Saints Day which is considered to be the more Christian side of Halloween. It is a day to remember anyone who has passed away over he past year, more of a day of mourning.

Well, i learned more about both All Saints Day and Halloween than i knew before, very interesting what writing a blog teaches you :) I had a good costume planned for this year too, oh well, just have to make it for next year.

The ‘fugees!

Almost two weeks ago, Aaron & I went to the refugee center in Kållered. While we were there we met people that came to the country with very little warm clothing, if any warm clothes at all. We hung out with them in a small room, that IKEA donated furniture for (see attached photo) for a few hours having fika, drawing and sharing stories. When it was time to leave, a few young boys were going through the “hats & gloves” box trying to find something to wear on their little 6 year old hands, one of them left with men’s gloves that were just too big and the other left with bright pink, “piglet” mittens. Both boys did find gloves which is good because it was more than what either of them had, but they weren’t ideal. We have challenged our churches, Fiskebäcks Missionskyrcka and Fisherscreek International Church, to go through their closets and find warm clothes to donate. We were hoping to get enough clothes for one car load to the center, but after telling the congregation about this opportunity on Sunday, by Tuesday night we had enough clothes to fill about 3 Volvo station wagons!!! and more clothes are still coming; it is truly amazing at how much the people in this church are giving! I’m truly amazed!

One of our main goals with “The Well” (the service I’m here for, young adults) is to get people to “be the church, inside and outside of the church walls”. I think this is a great start and a good sign of what we are all capable of.

Keep praying!

Timmer

Already Wednesday!

I can’t believe that have already been here for one month! Wow, where does the time go? (…………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………… actual reflective pause as sit and I think about all that I’ve done this past month …………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………)

I guess I can believe that it has already been one month, I’ve done quite a bit of stuff…. and have drunk more coffee than I have in my entire life!

So, as I’ve been giving updates every so often you may have notice something has been missing. What did I come here for? I came to lead a small group. Why haven’t I written much about these, “small groups”? I’ve been here for 1/3 of my time and I haven’t really even mentioned them. WHOOPS! Just kidding, it has been on purpose. Over this past month there has been a lot of planning, because (I think I mentioned it, but if I haven’t) I am in charge of starting all the small groups, not just leading one. I was given a stack of books and a few prayers. Now, it isn’t as bad as I make it sound, Aaron and Sara are both very helpful and the whole time they’ve told me that if I don’t think I can handle it, to ask for help, and I have asked for their guidance on a few things here and there. …Anyways, we had a meeting 2 weeks ago and anyone who was interested in small groups was invited, we had about 10 of 20 who were able to make it and we actually got 3 groups started that night. We set a very relaxed schedule for the groups to meet. Each group decides when they meet and where. This will provide the flexibility that so many students need in order to participate in a small group.

My group, which I am not leading, is meeting tonight for the first time at Pizzeria Roberto’s, a little restaurant here in Fiskebäck that serves Italian food and Thai food, it’s a strange combo, but pretty darn delicious! I had a few guys get in contact with me this week that were interested in joining a group so tonight I think we will be 7 or 8 people, and hopefully be able to divide into 2 small groups, we’ll see.

Well, things are definitely moving in the right direction and it is very exciting to see more and more people wanting to be involved one way or another. Keep praying!

Timmer

I moved!

i know, i know, you are probably thinking, “what? Where did he move to? I thought he already moved to Sweden?” well, it is quite alright if you are thinking that, but here’s the deal; I moved out of Aarons small, one room stuga which I’ve been sharing with him for the past 2 weeks and into a house. A couple from the Swedish church, Thomas and Birgitta Natanaelsson, have graciously opened their home to me. My walk to church each day is great! It takes about 10 minutes and the path is paved they whole way. There are trees along most of it, but one section is open and goes past a new playground. Now, I don’t think I’d ever see this playground in the States, why? Well, because it is made of logs! The first time I saw it I just thought, “lawsuit waiting to happen!” Yep, they even have a spinning log that I’m sure was made for Lumber Jack training, it is amazing! Well anyways, my walk is nice. Monday night the three of us were having dinner and conversation at around 6, and before I knew it, we were finishing coffee at nearly 9:00. They are both extremely kind, warm and easy to talk to. They said they want me to feel at home while I’m here and I definitely do. They’ve even given me a bike to use, oh and I have my own entrance to the house too. It is great!

and......

So, let’s see…..... I left out a few days…....... What did I do....?
Oh, ok, so on Monday, October 12th at about 4, Aaron Andrew and I went to the Central Station in Göteborg and boarded a train. We rode it for about 20 minutes to a tiny little town and transferred to a bus. We rode the bus for about 30 minutes and came to a town called Marstrand. This is a nice little town and is a popular tourist destination, especially in the summer. Part of why it is popular is because it is a central location for sailing, Volvo’s “world race” makes a stop every year, another reason is for the Fort overlooking the town, it is beautiful (see photo). But we were not here to sail or sight see; we were here for a church staff retreat. One of the pastors grew up in the town and now has her parent’s old house which has been remodeled into 3 separate “apartments”, one on each level. She rents out 2 and keeps the top level as a place to get away to. So, we ‘got away’. It was quite nice; there were 7 of us there for one night. We all helped with dinner, played games and watched a movie, basically just relaxed and hung out. Tuesday morning after breakfast we had a time to share anything we wanted; thoughts, dreams, concerns, prayer requests, etc. It was a very refreshing time. That afternoon we took the bus back to the city and back to our now normal lives.

Settling in

Well, here i am again, not writing as much as i would have hoped. oh well, i'm sure you are doing fine with that, if not... too bad, ha!

This has been a good week, I'm an uncle again, the weather has been great, and we had our first small group meeting last night. but let's see. i don't think i've written about last weekend so i'll start with that.

Friday was a nice day, sunny and about 10 degrees C (around 50 on a fahrenheit thermometer). We did alot of walking around the city and were just really able to enjoy the day. Once the sun decided to go away and night fell upon us Andrew (a fella that went to seminary with both Aaron and Sara, lives in Connecticut and is now here to help with music for the same time period as me) Sara and I went to a concert at one of the Lutheran churches in town. It was a choir concert and it was very good. the nice thing about it is that it was free. This night happened to be Gotherburg's "Culture Night", very similar to an "art crawl". there were many productions going on around town, most art studios were open to the public and the place we explored after the show was the Gothernburg Art Museum, i liked it.

Saturday, I slept in and relaxed. it was the first time i really had much time to myself and i felt very relaxed. at around 16:00 (4:00pm) i took the 23 minute bus ride into Gothenburg and met Sara and Andrew at Liseberg (the largest theme park in Scandinavia!) and we explored and enjoyed a few rollercoasters, it was the last weekend that it was open. good times! That night we went to another concert, this time it was a Gospel show at a church, Andrew really enjoys gospel music and since he plays the piano, he enjoys it even more. It was a decent show, and the most amusing part of the night for me was how people stood up to get involved with the music. Ok, so, you know how in the states when you are either in church or someplace where you are following the worship leader and someone stands up, soon after almost everyone is standing and worshipping together. well, the funny thing about this night was this: it was about the 3rd song and about 6 people stood up as a group, then across the sanctuary about 3 more stood up... and that was it. i looked around and was kind of waiting for more people to stand up, but nope, nothing. the only thing i saw was one lady in the 3 row stand up, walk up the isle and tap the lady in the front row on the shoulder. Apparently since she was video taping the choir it didn't give her the same permission to stand with the other people in her row and this lady asked her to sit down. Gotta love the 'Stoic Swedes"

That gives a good idea of what Friday and Saturday were for me, but now it is 14:55 (2:55pm) and I think i need to go get lunch. yep, i'm hungry, my stomach is starting to get trained to the eating schedule around here, which is: (no matter what time you wake up) eat breakfast, fika @ 10ish (even if you've just had breakfast 30 minutes ago), 12 or 12:30ish is Lunch, 1:30-2:30ish is fika again, sometime between 5&7 is dinner, 8 or 9 is fika again and then if you're still up between 11 & 1 you'll eat fika again, only at this time of day it is called....(i can't think of the word) and translates to "night food". yep, always eating. so should i be hungry? no! but am I hungry? yes, STARVING actually. so..

later.
Timmer

Today, as i walked out the door on my way to the church, i was greeted with a sign that winter is drawing near. There was a crisp feel to the air and a thin layer of frost on almost everything, it was gorgeous. The sun was beginning to show itself over the trees and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was a perfect way to start my day!

I'm an Uncle..Again!!

At approximately 2:50am local time my phone rang. I was expecting a call so i was sleeping lighter than normal, it was my sister jen, she said there was a new baby boy born 15 minutes ago but he didn't have a name yet. she said she'd text me as soon as they had a name. a few hours later, my phone buzzed and i found out the new baby's name is Alek James! he was born Sunday October 11th, 2009 at 7:36pm. He weighed 7lb 11oz and was 21.5" long! I wish i was able to be there to see and hold him, but for now i am thankful for the internet! (i took a picture of my computer screen! ) i can't wait to see him in person!

congrats Erika, JJ & Kaleb!! love you guys!

My first week....it was rough!

Last night I jumped in the Atlantic…for the second time in a week. Have I already gone crazy? … Maybe, but I think I am still the same as I was before coming here (take that as you will). Sorry, but I’m going to start at the beginning.

One week ago today Aaron and I drove to a retreat center called Bokanäs (check it out at www.bokanas.com) about an hour and a half north of Gothenburg. The International church was having an annual retreat weekend and we had to go early and make sure everything was set for the weekend`s activities. The weekend started with a welcome service at 8:30pm on Friday and was followed by Fika, (which I heard best described for Americans as “Fellowship”). I instantly felt very welcome and soon was talking to many new faces, I even had one little kid grab onto my leg a few times because he thought I was his dad. At about 10 a few of us younger adults went outside with the youth, about 15-20 kids between the ages of 7 & 18, and played tag in the dark, it was great! The rest of the weekend went a little too fast, but it was very nice. Saturday started with devotions at 8 and was followed by 3 hours of free time where we were able to enjoy the facilities a little bit. Yep, a church retreat with the following:

1. A breathtaking view of the ocean and many islands
2. out door hot tubs
3. a very large and brand new sauna which overlooked the ocean and islands

It was very nice. At 12ish, we met for lunch, which all the meals for the weekend were potluck style, very delicious! There was a lot more sitting, talking and laughing. It all felt like a family reunion, well, at least one of mine, since so many family things are held at a church and are potluck J The day ended after an evening service and as most people went off to their rooms, there were a few of us that went to the Hot Bästu (that is a hot sauna for those that don´t know). But this one was different than the one were in before, it was in it`s own building and it had a bridge going to it, and it was floating! So, there were about 8 guys, a few father & son combos, in one sauna and a few ladies in the other. After exactly 10 minutes we were told my Johan ( who was from Holland and had more sauna experience than the rest of us said that it isn't good to be in longer than that) that it was time to go. We all filed out of the sauna and onto the wet, slippery deck and into the cold wind and sprinkling rain. About 2 meters from the door the railing opened up and still single file, we began to dive into the VERY COLD ocean! IT WAS EXHILARATING! I did this 4 more times! I slept like a baby that night and we went back to Gothenburg the next day, after a short service and lunch.

Sunday night after we returned from the retreat with the international church we had to go to the Swedish church, Fiskebäck's Missionskyrcka, for our service call “The Well” (the part that I am working with). We had close to 30 young adults and one 55 year old Syrian man. The service started out with a few worship songs, parts in Swedish and parts in English. Ante, the Swedish youth pastor, went to the podium and started his sermon in Swedish, but thankfully Sara was beside him to translate as he went. The service ended with a time of Communion and prayer, and then everyone soon went downstairs for Fika. It was fun to meet so many new faces but I know it is going to be hard to remember all their names*.

After church, at about 21:30, Aaron, Sara and I were graciously given a ride to the ferry by Filip, a 23 yr old man with a heart for hospitality*, meeting new people* and God. We got out of Filip’s Volvo, yes almost anyone that drives here does drive a Volvo (1 in 4 actually), and got on the ferry to the island of Hönö (“Ö is pronounced oo”) in the Archipelago off the coast at Göteburg “Gothenburg” (pronounced Yo-ta-burry). Once we landed we got in taxi and drove 5 minutes to the island of Öckerö (pictured) where Sara’s family has a vacation home, it was her grandparent’s place until they both passed away. We spent the next 2 days relaxing, hiking and baking, yes I’m finding out that most Swedes do in fact bake on a regular basis and I might be learning how to as well, whether I want to or not ;). We also helped Sara’s dad and brother take their boat out of the harbor for the winter, a cool thing to see since I don’t do that stuff on a regular basis. Tuesday afternoon Aaron and Sara sat me down so we could finally talk about what exactly I will be doing here. All this time I thought I’d be helping out and leading a small group, which I will be, but I also found out that I am in charge of small groups, yep everything. Aaron and Sara will help as I need it, but they are really trying to spread the idea that they don’t have to do everything in the church, which they currently are. I am very excited for this, even though it might be a challenge to find leaders since, in general, Swedes don’t like to take “leadership roles”, they like to just let thing happen.

The rest of the week went well. I’m starting to get a somewhat regular schedule down, worked in the office at church and am getting to know rest of the church staff, they are all very warm and kind people.

I am now up to date, sorry I haven’t written much this first week, I think it’ll get a little better as my schedule is more regular. This weekend should be fun, a lot to do, I’ll tell ya all about it, I promise!

OOH! I almost forgot! Last night Aaron and I went for a walk with Andrew, who came from Connecticut to help with music, down by one of the harbors and as an introduction to Sweden, we jumped in the ocean in the buff! The water is MUCH colder when you don’t sit in a sauna for 10 minutes before jumping in. WOW it was cold, and it didn't help that as we were trying to dry off it began to rain a bit… and the wind was blowing that rain almost horizontally. Good times! J

Hej Då!

Timmer

*I’ll explain more on this subject later.

In Sweden

I landed in Gothenburg at 4:45pm on wednesday, it was 52 degrees and cloudy, but looked pretty nice. as i walked through customs i looked around for Aaron and 2 others that he said would be there to greet me, i didn't see him anywhere. I scanned the airport lobby for a few seconds and then i saw a young man holding a piece of notebook paper with "tim olsson" written in green marker. I asked him if he was with Aaron Thompson, he said, in broken english, "AaRRon could Not maKe it." and then he started walking towards the door. i thought, hmm, this is different, but Aaron is a pastor, so maybe something did come up. As we're walking out to the car, i ask him what his name is, and he simply said, "johanes" (or something like that) and kept walking. in case you're wondering i was carrying my bag and pulling both suitcases, he still only had the sheet of paper. we got across the street to his car, oddly enough it was a volvo, and as i was putting my first bag into the trunk, i was grabbed from behind in the form of a bear hug. i was a little startled but i somehow knew it was aaron. He and Sara (a friend and co-worker, he calls her his "personal secretary") had asked Johanes, who works with them as well, to get me while they watched my reaction. However, they didn't get into the airport lobby in time and instead had to run up to us at the car. it was pretty funny, even though i don't think i made it seem as if i found it as amusing as i did, probably because i was a bit tired. good times. we got back to Aaron's place and hung out while he and Sara cooked dinner. we sat, ate and laughed, it was such a nice way to start my stay here in Sweden.

i slept for 12 hours and when Aaron woke me up at 11, i took my first ride on Swedish public transportation. we had to go get groceries because he was having his girlfriend, Stina's (sp?) parents over for dinner. he made a wonderful chicken dinner with carrots, potatoes and salad. he even made chocolate mousse for dessert.

So far this trip has been great! i've slept more and eaten better than i do at home, no complaints here :)

well, its after 2:00am here, i should get some sleep.

hej då!

Timmer