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Adventkyrkan i Växjö: Adventist Church in Växjö

This past Sabbath was wonderful! I finally located the nearest Adventist church in Växjö. I tried attending previously but ended up taking the wrong bus and being that there is a limited bus schedule on Saturdays I missed the entire service. This week was different however; I was resourceful and planned my entire trip online using the Swedish bus webpage (no translation in English). I was a little weary at first but I stepped out with the assurance that surely God would help me find the place. I spoke to the church clerk earlier in the week and she let me know that service started at 10:00am. On Sabbath morning I set out for church at 9:15am...yes, its true folks...I was determined to make it to church ON TIME this week! Unfortunately, I didn't properly understand the Swedish bus schedule and missed the bus by a few minutes. Uh oh, here we go again I thought...I would miss the whole service but I kept on waiting...and waiting...and waiting...and waiting...mind you, it was FREEZING outside...minus 4 degrees Celsius. I waited over 45 minutes in the freezing cold before the bus finally arrived. I thought of just going back home in my warm bed bus something told me to keep going.

By the time I got to the correct bus stop to get off at it was 10:30am. Even though Swedes are notorious for being on time and service was due to start at 10:00am I proceeded anyhow. While walking up to the church I noticed there were only 3 cars in the parking lot and nobody outside, still I kept going on. When I arrived inside there were only 4 or 5 jackets on the coat racks and no one in sight. Hmmm...I thought to myself that this must be normal attendance for such a small town. I hung up my jacket and proceeded into the sanctuary. IMMEDIATELY, smiling faces approached me and started speaking in Swedish. Great I thought...just what I needed...all alone at church with no interpreter. But to my astonishment, as soon as the greeters saw the puzzled look on my face they began speaking English...thank God!

I met a few more people and the church secretary told me that today was a special day and that service normally starts at 10:00am but that today was family day so service was starting at 11:00am. Praise God...I made it to church on time! As a matter of fact, I made it to church EARLY! Yes, for those of you who know me this is an astonishing feat...lol! By the time church began there were more than 50 members present. Almost every single person greeted me, including the babies...guess I've got the magic touch...lol! Service was beautiful, they had a piano and violin accompaniment for hymns and several families presented the different days of creation. Even though the entire service was in Swedish I still managed to receive a blessing. I recognized a few songs O Store Gud (How Great Thou Art....originally written by a Swede) and one of the special musics was a song in English (God & God Alone).

After church there was a potluck service and I sat at a table with families from the Philippines, Congo, and Romania. Another interesting fact about this church is that there are hardly any Swedes at the church. The majority of the members are immigrants from African, Asian, and Eastern European countries. It makes for a wonderful cultural mix and I'm able to meet many more friends from around the world. I've already been invited to spend Sabbath evening with the family from the Philippines and I'm sure there'll be more invitations in the future.

Alla hjärtans dag: Valentine's Day in Sweden

Valentine's Day in Swedish is Alla hjärtans dag, literally translated "All Hearts Day". Here in Sweden Valentine's Day is celebrated similarly to how we do it in the US but Valentine's Day is still a fairly new holiday here in Sweden. Around town many florist were selling bouquets and almost every candy shop, bakery and retail store was having a Valentine's Day blowout sale. I went to the train station to buy some tickets for my upcoming trip to Copenhagen and the desk agent even gave me some candy hearts. My favorite Valentine's Day gift, however, came from someone who doesn't even live in Sweden. Yes indeed, my wonderful boyfriend Randy, sent me a package filled with goodies (a self portrait, a puppy and a card) and believe it or not, it arrived EXACTLY on Valentine's Day. How sweet is that?

On Valentine's Day Eve the mayor of Växjö invited the international students to the castle for a reception and fika. We were able to walk all over the castle on a self-guided tour and they gave us free tickets to an upcoming symphony and break dancing competition at the Växjö Konserthus. Stay tuned, I can't wait to see Swedish break dancers and I'll give you all the updates!

Weekend in Stockholm!!!

The VIS (Växjö International Students) organized a trip to Stockholm this past weekend. It was awesome! I live in the southern region of Sweden near Copenhagen so Stockholm is about a 5 hour drive north. Once we arrived in Sweden we checked into our hostel (my first time ever in a hostel!!!) and took a walking tour of the city. Many of the buildings are hundreds of years old so it was quite beautiful.

We had a tour of the Stockholm City Hall including the Blue Hall where the Nobel Prize Banquet is held. In the banquet hall is contained Scandinavia's largest pipe organ consisting of 10,000 pipes and 138 stops. Adjacent to the Blue Hall is the Golden Hall where over 18,000,000 pieces of gold were used to construct the ceiling and walls depicting Swedish history.

We also had free time on our own and I was able to take in a lot of the sights and sounds of Stockholm. After the tour of City Hall I was fortunate enough to catch the Changing of the Guards at the Royal Castle. It was pretty exciting and the Swedish guards yelling at us in Swedish to move back was even more thrilling...lol! I also caught a free organ concert at Storkyrkan featuring music from Bach, Vivaldi, and others.

Even though it looks as if I may not have a chance to make it to the Ice Hotel in Kiruna (too expensive and too far) I did get a chance to visit the Ice Bar in Stockholm. It's located inside the Nordic Sea Hotel and costs about $25 for the entrance fee and a drink but if you're smart like me you don't buy a drink and therefore dont' have to pay the entrance fee. Its a room completely made out of ice, including the ceiling. They give you a special overcoat and gloves to wear because even the glasses are made out of ice.

We rounded out our journey to Stockholm with a trip to Skansen, an open-air, living-history theme park. We were able to listen to and participate in culture which reflected Sweden in the 18th & 19th centuries. Stockholm was wonderful and I can't wait to visit again!

Swedish Preschool

This week we had our first of many school visits. This week we were able to visit a Swedish preschool. In Sweden preschool generally starts between 1-2 years of age because each family (yes family, father and grandparents included) is allowed 16 months of paid maternity/paternity/grandparent leave. It can be equally divided or the mother can take the majority of the time off. And yes, I didn't make a mistake...it is PAID time off...for 16 MONTHS!!! I think I might have to move to Sweden when I have start having children...lol!

At the preschool the children are divided by age groups but the particular school we visited had theme rooms (art & crafts, music, make-believe, reading room, sleeping room, etc...) as well separate class rooms. The oldest class of children, the 5 & 6 year-olds (primary school doesn't begin until 6 or 7) performed for us in the music room. Myself and a few other of my classmates were chosen to participate with the kids in a song as well. Too bad it was all in Swedish so we were barely able to follow along but it was still loads of fun.

We ended the day by asking questions of the head teacher and taking a self-guided tour of the facility while the children were on the playground. Next week we have two more school visits, one at a Montessori program and another one at a public primary school. Stay in touch..there'll be more to hear and see in the coming days!

Castle on Campus?!

Hey everybody, its been over a week since my last post and SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED! I'll try not to bore you with all the details but here's the last 9 or so days in a nutshell:

This past Saturday night we had our official Welcome Dinner for the new international students. They served us traditional Swedish food (AGAIN!) and treated us to a night of Swedish entertainment. For those of you unaware, Swedish entertainment basically consists of eating lots of food, getting drunk, and singing Swedish drinking songs...yeah, it was rather awkward...lol! Each country was also given the opportunity to do a traditional song or dance and of course the Americans had to participate...we sang none other than "Take Me Out To The Ball Game". Even a few Canadians snuck in and sang with us. Later that night there was an official after party at one of the student pubs. So far, I'm thinking my friends Pepe, Elias, and Jose Antonio from Mexico are going to be well known by the bartenders...lol!

During the week a friend and I walked to the town center from campus and along the way we found out that there is a CASTLE ON CAMPUS! Its gorgeous and even though its only about 100 years old it feels so majestic. You can even book a night there so for any of you interested in visiting me here in Sweden I've got a castle lair with your name on it. We also gave ourselves a self-guided tour of the Lutheran Church on the edge of downtown. Its so beautiful inside and there is even a HUUUUUUUUUGE Pipe Organ....no dad, you can't play it...I already asked...lol!

I also made it to my first Ice Hockey game EVER! It was soooooo exciting seeing the Vaxjo Lakers play. I thought it was going to be boring and I just decided to go because some kids from my class invited me but I had the time of my life. I have to honestly say, their fans are up there with the ranks of the RaiderNation. At first everyone is reserved and is sitting quietly but once the lights are dimmed and the players prepare to enter the rink the crowd goes wild. There's a man with a huge bass drum that sets the tempo and the crowd chants along with the drum. My international friends and I have NO IDEA what they were saying so we made up our own cheers. Unfortunately we lost 1-2 but I have plans to go again so hopefully I'll get a chance to see their victory chants next time.

On Thursday evening it started to snow again! I was sooooo happy but this time there was approximately 3-4 inches of snow so the excitement faded fast. Something about tromping through the snow to class is not so much fun anymore...lol!

Once last thing folks! I inadvertently gave you all the wrong mailing address for me. This is my correct address and the exact phone number you should dial if you wish to reach me. Hej dä!

Rhianna Aaron
Stallvägen 24:87
SE-352 56
Växjö, Sweden

Cell Phone: 011 46 76 566 2119