What the hell’s a Tomtar??

It’s Christmas Eve in Sweden, the day they traditionally celebrate Christmas here. And  like the day after Thanksgiving back home, tomorrow (12/25) is apparently the biggest shopping day of the year here. Feels kinda weird. Doesn’t really feel like Christmas to me. Felt like just another day today. Yesterday of course felt like the Christmas season. I got up and took Reese for a long work around the Karolinska Institut across the way. It was cold out, but not flippin’ Minnesota cold! Yikes!  Anyway, it was cold, but at least the sun was out. From what everyone wasKristy and I took the Tube into the heart of Stockholm, and it was wall to wall people doing their last minute Christmas shopping. We needed to take care of some business like pay the rent, buy bus passes, and look for some kind of wireless internet service. We also hit some stores to look around. Bank closed early for the holiday, so Kristy couldn’t pay rent. We checked into the internet connection, but most places required either a Swedish phone number, a minimum of a year’s service, or way too much money. We decided that I did not need internet that badly, as I usually spend only an hour or so on the internet a day, give or take? So I’ll just leach off of hers when she’s not working, check my gmail, take a peak at Facebook maybe, and look at CNN for the latest news. As most of you can probably guess, I spend the rest of my day working on my abs, and admiring myself in the mirror. “Who’s that handsome devil?”. Anyway, no luck on paying rent, no luck on internet, but we got our bus passes. And maybe more importantly, we ate lunch at Max. Max is basically like McDonalds or Burger King here in Sweden. Not sure if they are outside Sweden too, or what. But Kristy and I had been determined to try it, as we had seen them all over the place. So today was the day. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon, and all I had had the entire day was a cup of tea, some water, and about 8 Advil. I was starving. It was ok, but we were both a little disappointed. Kind of like they accidentally got the shipment of burgers meant for the local elementary school. We probably wouldn’t go back there, but it filled the need at that moment. Kristy ended up getting sick to her stomach from eating there, so I have now dubbed it “Max-atives”. We picked up a couple of packages from the Post Office, and then headed to the liquor store near our place to pick up some beer and wine to take to a dinner party we’re heading to tomorrow night, and to also thank Robare for taking care of Reese on Sunday while we were gone at KP’s bandy game. Fortunately Kristy brings her durable giant bag with her everywhere she goes. She got it  at IKEA! We were so happy to see that they had IKEA here in Sweden, by the way. Terrific!! Anyway, we put two boxes of wine, a 12 pack of bottled beer, and a 12 pack of Carlsberg beer, the 16.9 ouncers. I thought I was going to die carrying that thing to the bus stop, and then from the bus stop to our apartment. 

Today, did some laundry, and then we took the bus down to Gamla Stan to look for Tomtar. Kristy wanted to get one for the people who invited us over for dinner tomorrow night. They are mythical (??) characters who are supposed to protect your house, among other things. Of course that’s the Tomtar that I’m referring to, not the people who invited us over tomorrow night. Rather than have me explain what Tomtar are, research it yourself. The people who invited us over for dinner and drinks tomorrow are Miska, and her partner Camilla. Miska is an Assistant Coach and Player on Kristy’s bandy team. She and Camilla put Kristy up for the first couple of weeks that she was here, and were very generous to her. She wanted to say thanks, so she got them the Tomtar, some wine, and various other gifts. Kristy is very generous, but you knew that already. Anyways, back to our story. We got the Tomtar in a shop in what is known as Old Town. Really cool area with narrow cobblestone streets. It’s a tourist trap for sure, but it has a lot of charm, and a ton of history. After the shop, we wandered around, and came upon an old church that was just incredible inside. Probably the most interesting church I’ve ever been in. I was just happy that I didn’t burst into flames when we entered to tell you the truth. We left the church and walked by the King & Queen’s residence. After that, we found a little cafe to have a coffee and some lunch. Then we strolled down to Stockholm  City Hall, the Stadshuset.  City Hall does not usually conjure up any spectacular images in my mind, but this place was incredible. It is also where they hold some sort of ceremony for the Nobel Prize. At this point, I wonder if I should maybe do a little more research for the reader. But then I remember, I don’t have limitless internet to gather facts, and you foo’s do! Google. After we wandered around and took more pics, we caught the bus back to the apartment. We took Reese Bonkers for a long walk, and then came back again. I did some more laundry, and then we opened the packages we have received from friends at home. My Ma sent us a bunch of stocking stuffers, most of which will come in very handy here. I just feel bad that she spent $45 mailing $50 worth of stuff to us. :D  Thanks Ma!  Nina & Eric Cook also sent us a package of essentials. I didn’t understand why Kristy was so excited about peanut butter until she told me that a jar of peanut butter here is approximately the same price as a barrel of crude oil. Thanks Nina & Eric, whoever you are!   Now we’re kickin’ it on the couch, not looking at the TV we don’t have, and having a couple of those Carlsberg beers we lugged back. Mmmmm, God Jul (Merry Christmas) to all!

Let Me Back Up To The Beginning Of This Journey....

This should have been the first entry on this blog. Eventually I'll have pictures and everything, like a grown up blogger!

Phew! I’m finally in Sweden! 

I knew I’d get here eventually, and feel that sense of relief, but it was a hell of a trip getting to this point. Lot’s of sleepless nights, and stressful days leading up to our departure.  So many little hassles with getting Reeses paperwork in order, and working out all of the little last minute details of getting ready for a trip of this magnitude. Luckily, I have the best family, and lot’s of great friends to help us out. My little sister Debbie is kind enough to watch our place while we’re away, and patient enough to take my stressed out arss to the airport on Thursday morning! :D  Can’t thank her enough. Lot’s of other offers from family and friends to help me out too. 

My last day at work was Monday December 15th. It was a chore in itself just getting ready to leave work for 3 months. Not only trying to clean up ongoing work issues, and trying to avoid any new one’s, but re-assigning my firms to my co-workers and trying to gather helpful information for them, and making my firms aware that I would be gone, and letting them know which of my co-workers would be assigned to their firm.  And when I notified people at RBC, and at my Correspondent firms, it created a lot of responses.  It was really nice seeing some of the sentiments coming back at me from all of these people. But at the same time, I felt like they all warranted a response, which just consumed more of my time.  I felt like I had things pretty cleaned up and under control when I left. I hope so anyway.

So I spent Monday night through Wednesday packing, doing last minute errand's, running to vet appointments, doing laundry, cleaning, and prepping the house for our extended leave. Wednesday night I actually felt like I was packed up and ready to go for the most part, with just a few things to do in the morning. Got that stuff taken care of, and was ready to go on Thursday morning. Then I watched the clock and started freaking out as I waited for my Sister to show up to give me a ride to the airport. Then when she did show up and we took off, I watched the clock and freaked out some more. What about traffic, what about the volumes at the airport considering this is just a few days before Xmas. Things went surprisingly well with traffic, and when I got to the airport, it was manageable. I decided to hire one of the guys walking around with the cargo carts to carry my stuff since I had a dog kennel, two big hockey bags packed to their limits, a backpack, and a dog on a leash. We got to the United counter, and there were only a few people in line. I was thinking that maybe I had been worried for nothing, and things might actually work out easier than I had imagined. So, I get up to the United desk and this guy starts helping me out. Everything seemed to be going OK. Then he says he needs to find out if it’s too cold outside for the dog to fly in cargo. What??  On all of the information we got for getting Reese to Sweden, nowhere was a temperature issue mentioned. I started freaking out thinking about scenario’s of what I was going to do if they said Reese couldn’t go. My first thought was that if Reese and/or I couldn’t go right then, Kristy was going to be devastated....that Reese was not coming. :D  I was really flipping out, but keeping calm assuming things would work out somehow. AN HOUR after I stepped up to the counter, I was finally told that Reese would be allowed to go. I was soooo relieved, but at the same time felt like this was just the first of many obstacles that Reese and I would have to overcome. But, trying to take them one at a time.  So I slipped Reese a sedative, hidden in a Snausage, and sent her off with the United people, praying for the best. I assumed she would be well cared for, and they would not let her go if there was any danger. Flew to Chicago happy that the first obstacle had been cleared. Now, I had watched the news in the morning to see if there would be any weather issues that might affect our flight, and of course, the weather terrorists were all over the news talking about how there was a line of storms pushing up to the Northeast that were going to bury every place I needed to be in ice and snow, potentially throwing up another obstacle to get over. Got to O’Hare, and fortunately had more than two hours to figure out the confusing signage at the airport, and make it to the SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) desk. There I got my ticket, and asked about Reeses status. The woman told me to check back in when I got to the gate. Got to the gate, watching the weather out of the corner of my eye, and praying it would hold off until after we took off. My cousin Eileen was kind enough to call me and tell me that if anything did happen where I was stranded at O’Hare, that I could stay with her. So I had that going for me. But at the same time, I just wanted to be in Stockholm on time, both for Reese and I, and because I knew Kristy would be distraught if her puppy didn’t show up on time.  OH, and her Fiance’.  I always forget that part. :D  Anyhoo, I checked with the woman from SAS at the gate, and asked about Reeses status.  She had her assistant contact one of their baggage guys at the gate, and they verified that Reese was there, and ready to go. She also mentioned that she saw Reese, and she looked very calm and content.  That made me feel soooo much better.  The weather held, and their wasn’t even a flurry before we took off. Another crisis averted.  

So, one 8 hour flight later, and a sore arss from an uncomfortable and cramped seat, we landed in Stockholm.  I got off the plane and got to the Special Baggage area to wait for Reese to show up. I figured that my bags would be fine, and she was more important than my terrible wardrobe anyway.  So, she finally comes through, peering out through the bars, and I feel like one more obstacle has been overcome. Then, unfortunately, I had to take her over and wait for my baggage to show, which took forever. And to be sitting there with a dog that had been stuck in this kennel for 12 hours, and hadn’t been feed, watered, or let out to go to the bathroom as far as I knew, felt terrible. I had been instructed not to let her out, or give her anything inside her kennel until I went through Customs. I would have liked to have gone through customs with her, assuming Kristy was waiting on the other side, and then come back in for my bags, but with todays security, that wasn’t happening. It was excruciating, and I felt horrible for Reese as she whined in her kennel.  Finally, my bags showed up, and I carefully maneuvered the two carts I had loaded everything onto into customs. Paranoid that something in the documents wouldn’t be right, I felt a little nervous as the Customs agent looked over her paperwork very carefully, and then went to scan her chip. Everything seemed in order, and I was incredibly relieved to here the agent tell me “she’s OK, you can go through”.  I should mention at this point that we had been warned that if Sweden didn’t like the paperwork, they could either quarantine Reese, ship her back to the U.S., or even destroy her. We were told that this probably wouldn’t happen, but there was the possibility. So, Reese and I were finally safely in Sweden. I started pushing her down the long winding hallway, and came around the corner to see Kristy anxiously awaiting our arrival. I could see the tears of joy from 20 yards away, as she saw us, and ran past the barrier ropes to see Reese.....and me.  I was so happy to see her after 2.5 months, and was so happy that she and Reese were together again. We quickly moved to an exit so Reese could get outside and do her business. We also got her some food and water. A train ride, and three different buses later, we were finally safely in Kristy’s apartment. If I wasn’t tired to the point of retardation, I would have insisted on a beer. Instead, Kristy feed Reese and I, and then took us on a long walk to a really cool park reserve. Got back to the apartment, gave Reese a bath, took a shower, and it was lights out.  Woke up at 9:00 local time, and went for another long walk. Came back, ate, and now I’m writing. It’s almost 4:00 in the morning here, and we need to get some sleep to try and get on schedule, but I wanted to finish this up. Lot of people wanted me to send updates.  Hopefully, future updates will not be so long winded or disjointed.  :D

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. I’ll be seeing some of my Bandy brethren when they make the trip to Sweden in January for the World Championships, which I look forward to.  To the rest of you, take care.

Thom

It's day five here of my Swedish adventure, and actually, I'm feeling right at home. Of course, I had the easy part. Kristy had the hard part in coming here alone, finding a place to live, finding her way around the city, making friends, and learning the language. All I have to do is follow her around (on the bus pass she bought me), and get to know her friends, teammates, and coaches. And that part has been pretty easy, since they have been VERY nice, and most speak very good english.
When I arrived Friday we went for a long walk around the park to try and keep me awake, and to get Reese a little walk after being crated for about 12 hours. Also, the sedatives I gave Reese at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport had not quite worn off, so it was good to get her some fresh air, and get the blood flowing. After the walk, I slept for a few hours. We woke up about 9:00 PM local time, and I was up. So we decided to go for a walk around town.
Saturday we took the bus to what was supposed to be a Christmas market. We were a little disappointed, because we expected more goods to purchase, and less food & drink stands. It was still good to get out and explore a little though, and we did have a drink they call Glogg. It's a warm berry drink, which can be served with alcohol, or without. We wanted with, but got it without. They also serve it with raisins and almonds, which you drop into the drink. It's very good. We headed back towards home and stopped at a grocery store on the way. Interesting that it looked more like an old warehouse from the outside, but was a pretty standard grocery store. We headed back to the apartment to drop our stuff off, and then headed over to Kristy's teammate Elin's house for a "baking party". There I met Elin, her boyfriend Robare, and Maria, a teammate of Kristy's from Norway. They were all very nice, and we had a lot of fun. After a while, the girls went to make cookies, and Robare and I talked. Poor guy probably was forced by Elin to hang out with me. I learned that he is on the AIK men's Bandy team. In our course of conversation, he mentioned that they might want me to come out and play goalie for their second team. I mentioned that I might suck. We'll see what happens.
Sunday, Kristy had a game in Kareby, which is about five hours southwest of Stockholm. We had to get up at 4:00 in the morning, which wasn't hard for me since I was already up for the last 3 hours not being able to sleep. We had to be at the Solna Centrum bus station, which is about a 20 minute walk, if you walk quickly. I had a hard time keeping up with Kristy, but we made it just in time to catch a ride from her teammate. Got to their home rink where we boarded the bus for Kareby. It was a beautiful bus ride, from Stockholm and it's lights, to when the sun finally came up and we drove along Lake Vattern, which is a very large inland lake. It almost felt like we were seaside. We passed some ruins along the way that almost looked like the remains of old stone castles. Once we got to the rink at Kareby, AIK tied Kareby 2-2 in a light rain. Although AIK dominated the game in my opinion, they just couldn't hit the net with their shots. The tie was like a win for Kareby, and they celebrated like they had just won a championship game. Also, AIK is the defending champion in Swedish Women's bandy, so they are the team that everyone wants to beat. The tie was disappointing, but not the end of the world, and AIK kept their undefeated streak at 17 games. The trip was fun, because it allowed me to get to know the girls and coach Oscar a little better, and helped me learn some names. During the trip I was constantly amazed at how the bus drivers could maneuver these big buses through the narrowest gaps, and as we pulled into the driveway for AIK's home rink, I was once again reflecting on how skilled they were....right up until the bus hit the corner of the building, blowing out one of the huge windows right next to where we were sitting in the back, and right where Elin had just been sitting. We got off the bus at that point, but as Kristy unpacked her bandy gear, I watched the driver try to get the bus unstuck from where it was, and break three more windows on the bus. It also did some damage to the corner of the buildings roof, which I'm sure the bus company will have to pay for. What an exciting way to end the day!
Monday night I took my bandy gear with to Kristy's practice, and worked out with the team. I was horrible, and my body just can't handle playing. :( My shoulder, which was seperated about 3 years ago while playing golf (don't ask), and needs to be fixed surgically, gave out on me quickly. Also, the spot where I had surgery for an abdominal tear in September is still giving me issues. I think I'm probably just getting too old to play goalie anymore. Still, I liked practicing with the girls. They just need to learn that they need to go easy on me. :D

That's all.