I have not been keeping up on documenting my life in Sweden lately. I'll see if I can catch up. I moved to Abisko on May 31. So far, life here has been wonderful. So much nature to explore, right out my front door. In this picture, I am standing on Lake Torneträsk looking back at town. Well, the town is quite small, as you will see, but I highlight the key public places. The grocery store is just to the left of the restaurant, and that's about all we've got! Note the beautiful view of the famous Lapporten (U-shaped valley) in the background.
This is the entrance to my apartment building. Note all the bicycles and the "spark" (Swedish), which means kick. People ride these like you would ride a scooter, only on snow. I like them a lot and hope to buy one for next year! Also notice the huge shovel propped against the building - you just slide it along the ground to move a lot of snow at once.
The only restaurant/bar in town is on the first floor of the yellow building below, and the school is the red building (bottom, right). There are 14 students from age 5 to 15. Once you are 16, the closest highschool is a 1.5 hour drive away in Kiruna. Most teenagers live in an apartment alone and come home to their families on the weekend. We use the school for aerobics and yoga, and they even have a small swimming pool!
There are still some Sami people and traditions in town. Reindeer meat is left hanging to dry outside an upstairs window, and everyone uses reindeer hides regularly - ice fishing, snowmobiling, on benches outside. I have to say, they are very warm to sit on! I just bought my very own at our local gas station for 380 SEK (a little less than $50)! The Sami people have herded reindeer for centuries, and maintain their tradition and livelihood today... though with new challenges and new benefits.
The gas station (upper left) also sells fishing gear, reindeer hides, and camping gear. This is where I bought my reindeer hide (today!), and I also bought some ice fishing equipment to participate in the local competition last weekend. I'll make a separate blog for that. But for now, check out this Swedish Pimple (left)!
It weighs 1 kilo! My dad always jigged with these and I even brought some smaller versions to Sweden with me. I had never seen such a huge one in my life! I also learned that "pimpla" means to jig, so now the name of the bait finally makes sense to me! I also heard that it is very similar to a dirty word, so I should just stick to the English.
This volvo in front of the train station is the nicest car that I have seen here! Pretty cool. In town, you are much more likely to see a big tractor or bobcat, ski-doos (as they call them here), or station wagons. You are also quite likely to see moose! These guys were hanging around town a lot over easter. Note that there are 2 moose, lots of people around them, and a dog that continuously harrassed them. They didn't spook until a train came into town, and then EVERYONE scattered. I watched the whole sequence from my balcony and window.
This is not the best video, but I chose this one to show how the moose just walk right through town. This lady happened to come out of her building and start walking down the sidewalk... then she looked up and saw this huge moose walking past her and stepped back. Now I have started to look up more often when I walk through town - you never know what you might run into! I had just come home from the restaurant and walked right past that spot. Then I walked onto my balcony and noticed that the moose was right there all along!
Easter already passed by, but I wanted to highlight some traditions that struck me. To the left, you see the easter tree - a leafless tree with a bunch of brightly colored, fake feathers glued on. It actually looks quite pretty. The women at the station brought a small birch branch inside and glued feathers on it as well. Now it is actually leafing out.
Another tradition - the kids dress up like witches and go around to peoples' houses to get candy or money. Sound like Halloween to you? Me too, but I guess they don't really celebrate Halloween here, so you have to get it in somehow! I think the witches are quite different, though. Two braids, rosy cheeks and freckles painted on their faces, and a bonnet and peasant dress. No black witch hats...
The book bus comes to town once a month! I went in the beginning of April and rented a few movies (Hotel Rwanda, Manchurian Candidate, and American Gangster). They didn't have any books in English, but the lady was very nice and is going to hand pick some English novels to bring up next time. The bus distributes books from the library in Kiruna to a bunch of little towns further north. They stop in Abisko from 5 to 7 pm. It was very crowded!
I have started baking my own bread. Our little grocery store has a lot to offer, but no freshly baked bread. So, I figured it was time to start. I have tried 3 times now, and they have all come out quite well. The first time, I burned my hand really badly. You are supposed to heat up the pot first so that the bread doesn't stick. I used hot pads to pull the pot out of the oven, but as I prepared to plop in the dough, I grabbed the pot with my bare hands. Oops! Hope I don't make that mistake again.
View as you walk from the station down to Lake Torneträsk.
Same spot at 10:30 pm.
View of Lapporten from the kayak.
Crossing the lake really gives you some perspective. Mount Njullia is to the right. The snowmobile track heads directly to Abisko. You can see Lapporten to the left. Made me realize just how small my little town is and just how much open wilderness surrounds me up here.
At 1 am, the sky was actually dark, though we still didn't need
There are still some Sami people and traditions in town. Reindeer meat is left hanging to dry outside an upstairs window, and everyone uses reindeer hides regularly - ice fishing, snowmobiling, on benches outside. I have to say, they are very warm to sit on! I just bought my very own at our local gas station for 380 SEK (a little less than $50)! The Sami people have herded reindeer for centuries, and maintain their tradition and livelihood today... though with new challenges and new benefits.
The gas station (upper left) also sells fishing gear, reindeer hides, and camping gear. This is where I bought my reindeer hide (today!), and I also bought some ice fishing equipment to participate in the local competition last weekend. I'll make a separate blog for that. But for now, check out this Swedish Pimple (left)!
