Party at Kulturestallet

June 8^th, 2007

A typical Swedish breakfast is a bowl filled with Buttermilk tasting yoghurt, corn flakes on top and lingonberry jam. Today I came to the realization that my visit to Europe is not only important for me to see their cultures, but for me to represent the United States the best that I can, although most of the people I have met understand that the policies in the US are not representative of all the people, they still do not expect much from us. I have made a conscious effort to be very aware of myself and how my words and actions might be understood.

We visited a small town today by the sea, and a restaurant called Hello Hello! - which was a very kitschy place, with a very funny owner. We sang birthday songs for 2 people in the restaurant and he found out that I was from America and asked me in front of the whole restaurant “So what do you like about Sweden!?” and I said “Everything, Especially this place” as I tapped the table. And the man smiled and said Excellent! And clapped for me…

Later this evening was Ulla’s birthday celebration. Her friends prepared the food, Ulla made her cake, and we all had a beautiful time together. I felt that this dinner was very important for everyone to bond with each other.
The girls showed me how to play a Swedish lawn game outside called “koob” – its easy enough that everyone can play, but it definitely takes skill in aiming. You have to knock down your opponent’s blocks and eventually knock down a large king piece in the center of the field by throwing a block, but standing backwards and looking through your legs. We then had cake a played pictionary… I couldn’t have had a better time. They really know how to bring people together.