Since We've Been Back

Hej!

A lot of time has passed since we've been back, and a lot of things have happened. Rachel has continued working on her new house, Kara is hosting some of our new Swedish friends from Alingsås here in Minnesota in October, Steph chaperoned her son's band on a school field trip to New York City, and Jennifer has been learning Tae Kwon Do with her grandsons! We were all so lucky to meet the Swedish inbound team when they visited Minnesota in April, and we are all still in contact with many of our host families and friends we met overseas.

As for me, besides recently celebrating my 30th birthday (yay!) I've been spreading the great word of sustainability based on the lessons learned there in Sweden. The high point so far has been completing a report that outlines opportunities in Minnesota for sustainable communities and green building based on what we learned in Sweden. The report, "A Tale of Green Cities: Exploring Opportunities for Minnesota through the Natural Step Process and Sustainable Communities in Sweden", was sponsored by the Blandin Foundation and was released today by Dovetail Partners in their e-newsletter. Click here to download the report.

I'm really excited by the opportunities for Minnesota presented in the report and hope that it will lead to some examples similar to the great places we visited in Sweden! Please pass the report around as you like.

A special thanks to the Rotary District 5960 and our clubs who sponsored this great trip, my fellow teammates, our host-families, Rotary District 2360 and hosting clubs, and to all that provided information on the report. Without you, none of this would have been possible.

I hope this finds you all well! Ha det bra!

-Alison

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

March 31st - A bittersweet three days left!

March 31, 2009

First of all, thank you so much to Stefan, Inger, and Viktor; I had a wonderful time at your home learning about your family and your summers, experiencing Swedish curling, and hearing new music. I can’t wait to use the beautiful Swedish crystal boat!

We met our newest (and last!) host families today. Karl-Ake, who I’m staying with, has arranged some special visits for me specially relating to architecture and building construction! His daughter Camila has already taken me on a great walking tour of Göteborg, and big dork that I am, I think I loved riding the public train the best!

Last night, Anders arranged for us as special night in Göteborg. First we went to a delicious vegetarian restaurant called Freddy’s, and then went to Artisten to see a live music show called Smask . It is basically a musical event that is a satire on the Swedish version of “American Idol,” only they make up their own funny versions of songs. Last night’s event was for the University of Goteborg’s Music Department, and the winner there competes at a national competition. Once we finally arrived at the Artisten (Kara, Steph, and I were in the wrong place and ended up frantically sprinting through Göteborg clutching coats, bags, and IKEA purchases), the show was great! The people who won sang a song called “America”!

As Stephanie said, the farewell party tonight was amazing! Thank you so much to everyone that came– I know many others wanted to be there too and we were all sad that Rachel couldn’t make it because she wasn’t feeling well. All of you were in our thoughts!! The food was fantastic (of course!). There wasn’t nearly enough time to talk to everyone, but it was so great to be able to see you all again! I feel like you’re part of my family now, and I’m really looking forward to keeping in touch. I hope we really can see each other soon!

So… it’s definitely a bittersweet symphony that we’re leaving. I’m going to be so happy to be back to Clint and my cats and my friends and family, but I also feel like I’m leaving some very special people behind. This has been an amazing experience, and would not have been possible without the great people involved with Rotary. Thanks again; this has certainly been a life-changing experience. And I plan on coming back! Jag tycker om Sverige!

So we’re not quite finished here in Sweden yet… so stay tuned for a few more days – we may just find out what the Swedes do for April Fools Day! - Alison

Our Farewell Party was AMAZING!!!!

Tuesday, March 31 – What an AMAZING evening!!!! I enjoyed the afternoon sitting around with Anni, each of us “playing” on our laptops as I put the final touches on our slideshow for tonight. This is Anni & her husband Jan and 10 year old son John (sorry if the spelling isn't correct....)

We had a going away party at Kvibergs in Partille – all of our host families and others who were involved with our GSE visit were invited to attend.

It was so much fun to see many of the people who have touched our lives during our adventures here in Sweden. There have been so many people in so many communities that we have enjoyed getting to know and can’t WAIT to have them visit us in Minnesota or to return here to Sweden some day…. Bo, the District Governor, may be visiting in April for our District Conference; Erik from Alingsas is planning to visit in October of this year to learn more about farming and I’ve promised him a tour of RWSC; Vivianne from Alingsas has planned a trip in 2011 so we know that seeing us again will keep her young and energetic; and Jens & Jessica (my hosts in Uddevalla) with some friends are planning a motorcycle trip in 2014 --- so, we’ll be sure to mark our calendars!!! We appreciate all of the open invitations to return to Sweden and you never know when the opportunity may present itself!

During the past few weeks, we have taken THOUSANDS of pictures and enjoyed putting together a slideshow of photos from our stay to share with our new friends at the Farewell Party. We each also got an opportunity to say a few words about our stay and, honestly, it was really difficult to keep from becoming emotional.

I also have to mention Alison’s thoughtfulness and humor - - she bought us each a small Dala Horse to remember our trip by. Four of them were painted the same colors and mine was a bit different to commemorate my “love” of wearing our uniforms everyday!!

I also received another un-expected gift that really touched my heart - - Jens & Jessica brought me a copy of Stieg Larssons first book in English!!! I’ve been looking for it every since I heard about him early in our trip…he was a relatively young Swedish author who died in the middle of writing his fourth book. He trilogy has sold more than 5 million copies world-wide. Thanks again – that was SO THOUGHTFUL!!

Thanks again to everyone that has touched our lives in some way during this trip - - we will NEVER forget you or our time here!!!!!

Steph

Last few days in Molndal

Monday, March 30th - Two visits today. One to AstraZeneca - Alison's host, Stefan, told us about their pharmaceutical operations in Sweden and on the site in Molndal where they do mostly R & D work. Their facility in Molndal is HUGE and the architecture is amazing! This is just a portion of two builidings on the site.

Our second visit of the day was to IKEA. There we met with the Social and Environmental Coordinator to hear about their business practices PLUS we had a little extra time to do some shopping - even though we have an IKEA in Bloomington at home, it's still more fun to shop in Sweden!

Tuesday, March 31 - We had an early start this morning at the Molndal Stadhuset where we learned more about the structure of government in Sweden and how things work. In the entryway of the building, they had this awesome photographic layout of the town of Molndal.

At lunchtime, we gave our last official presentation in Sweden.

Tonight, we have a farewell party where all of our host families have been invited to join us one last time before we leave on Friday.

Thanks again to everyone that we have come in contact with during our time in Sweden - - it has been a trip of a lifetime and I, for one, will NEVER forget the things I have seen or the people I have met during my stay!!!!

Tack så mycket!! Steph