Home Again

Home again!





Hej! Just wanted to let you all know that we had a safe return to the US, and although Kara had her baggage searched at customs, she was still able to keep the 2 kilos of flour! I spent the weekend showing Clint all of the great things I brought back from Sweden and talking his ear off about the great people we met and things we learned. It still amazes me how much we did! My first night back I dreamt in Swedish, which was a clear sign to me that I should continue to learn the Swedish language. :)

Sweden lives on in my household! This morning for breakfast we combined our typical American peanutbutter toast with some Swedish-made honey and Rum Butter Preserves, and even had cheese with my new Swedish cheese-slicer on Britt’s serving platters! I plan on implementing fika into my days as well, although I’m pretty sure the coffee won’t be as strong. I also hung up my Lights of Alingsås calendar in my kitchen. The next task will be to tackle the thousands of photos I've taken!

Today we all returned to work. I’m pretty excited about the possibilities that Dovetail will bring to our communities based on the sustainable initiatives we learned about in Sweden. I’ll keep you updated!

It has been great to be home, and my life feels much richer now because of the great experiences we had and the wonderful people we met. I miss you all and hope you’re well! We’ll probably have another post about our District’s conference in a few weeks, where we'll hopefully meet up with the Swedish GSE inbound team and maybe Bo as well! If you're coming to the US or Minnesota, please let me know; I would love the chance to catch up and also return the hospitality. :)

Har det bra!

April 2 - Last day in Göteborg

Who knew Egypt and Heaven were in Sweden?
Today was our last day here, and the team had a great time at Fiskebacke School while I received a personal tour of Göteborg from my host Karl-Ake! Yesterday I was able to visit a prefabricated housing plant yesterday, and also take in some of the history of the local countryside, including a short visit to Egypten! Today Karl-Åke also gave me a historical and architectural tour of Göteborg, including a wonderful lunch at the FiskeKyrka (Fish Church), a stop at the beautiful wooden MastHogget Kyrka, and a fika in Heaven 23 – the top of the Gothia Massan Tower, 23 floors up (Göteborg’s tallest building). We also had an impromptu stop at the Gamlan Majgrabbar, where some Swedes gave me information on "the capital of Maine"!

Tonight I rejoined the team (except for Rachel, who is nursing a pretty bad cold but thankfully has reported feeling a little better) for a delicious home-made dinner at District Governor Bo Westling’s house. Then Anders took us to the opera Katja Kabanova at the Göteborg Operan. We especially enjoyed watching the orchestra, as we sat in the first row! What a great day to be our last!

Tomorrow we leave Sweden, and I think I can say that none of us will ever forget our experiences here. It has been absolutely wonderful. We’ll try to keep you all updated here upon our return. We still have our District Conference coming up in a few weeks, and we all have learned sustainable things that may change our work or our communities.

Lycka till med alt, och tack så mycket! Vi ses i Minnesota! :)

Unemployment, Swedish style

A few days ago I had the chance to visit a local Arbetsförmedling (employment services) office. Thank you to Sven and Tottie for setting this up! Like the U.S., Sweden has seen an increase in unemployment due to the world financial situation, but the severity of the problem varies by region. Western Sweden where we are has not been hardest hit, but the headline in today's local newspaper was about layoffs at Volvo trucks, a significant employer here. Last year there were between 8,000 and 9,000 people who were unemployed in the Gothenburg area; at present the figure is closer to 15,000.

An unemployed person in Sweden usually receives unemployment benefits equal to 80% of his or her last salary, up to a maximum of 680 SEK ($85) per day, or 4760 SEK ($595) per week. Standard unemployment benefits last for 300 days, or 450 days if a person has children at home under age 18. If a person has not found a job during this period of time, then reduced benefits (65% rather than 80%) can be extended up to 150 more days, during which time the person is required to engage in a REALLY intensive job search.

After that, if a person still has not found a job, then he or she would apply to a different social service agency to receive support for basic living expenses.

By way of comparison, unemployment benefits in Minnesota are usually around 50% of a person's recent salary, up to a maximum of $566, and standard benefits last 182 days. The appeal process is also different in some interesting respects, but probably not such exciting reading here! I look forward to filling everyone in on the details at Minnesota UI Appeals -- see you all soon!
-Kara