Hej all,
Wow time has flown by. I can't believe that it will soon be April!! Lately we have been very busy with hosting guests and such.
Recently I have taken on the task of learning to ski. One of our friends has graciously offered to teach me how to ski. So almost every Saturday for the past few weeks, we make the 1 hour trek south to the ski resort know as Kåbdalis. As most of you know... I am not the most coordinated person, so me plus really slick things attached to my feet will most likely end in with a major wipe out and I have never down hill skiied in my life.
So here I am surrounded by people who have been skiing all of their lives and surrounded by kids who can be no more than five years old flying past me on the big hill, which doesn't help with my nerves. After going down the barn hill, aka baby hill, twice, my friend/ski instructor, Fredrik, tells me that it is time to try the big hill. I have never been so terrified in my life. The cause of my terror can be broken down into 3 parts. 1. I still couldn't turn let alone stop, 2. the ski lift isn't like the ski lifts at home, it's an upside down T that pushes you up the hill and if you lean back and try to sit on it you will fall and 3. I am not a big fan of embarrassment.
So after much convincing and reasuring that it is impossible to die while going down the hill and that no one will laugh at me, we made our way to the lift. Finally it was our turn, we got up to the lift, Fredrik put my side of the upside down T behind me, told me to hang on and off we went. I soon realized that it wasn't as scary as it looked and rather enjoyed the ride up. Once we made it to the top, we skiied over to the hill that I would be attempting to go down. It looked so much bigger than it did from the bottom of the hill. After a few more instructions and more reasuring, I faced my skis downward and took off like a rocket....unfortunately, I still hadn't mastered turning or stopping, so when I got scared, I just bailed and rolled down the hill. Let me tell you, I was so embarrassed. Fredrik quickly came to my rescue, helped me up, gave me some more advice and told me to try again. So I did, and it went the same as before, but this time I was even more embarrassed. So once again Fredrik came and helped me up and told me to try again. So I faced down the hill again and took off...as the Swedes would say...it ended in an epic fail. By this point I was super embarrassed bacause I thought everyone was laughing at me and I was frustrated bacause the little kids were showing me up. So I took off my skis and sat there trying to patch the wounds in my pride and regain composure. This time Fredrik skiied down and sat down next to me. He could tell I was frustrated, so he gave me some helpful advice. He told me that the only way you learn is to make mistakes, everyone falls, but not everyone gets back up. Most people just get angry and quit, and I don't think you are a quiter. It will come in time. Even the greatest skiers fall, but they learn from their mistakes. They get up and laugh it off. He also told me to clear my mind and forget about the other people on the hill, you're new at this, so you have to start somewhere.
It was then that I realized that it is okay to laugh at myself. Everyone on the slopes knows what it's like to just be learning how to ski, so there is no point in being embarrassed. With this in mind, I attached my skis back on to my boots, and with some help, got back up. I faced down hill again and took off. My skills hadn't changed, so I ended up falling and tumbling down the hill, but this time I was able to laugh it off and get back up and try again.
Let's just say that I'm still not the greatest skier in the world, but it turned out to be a good day full of laughs, epic fails and some pretty interesting bruises.
If it hadn't been for my friend/instructors encouraging words and persistant ways and unwilligness to let me give up, I'm pretty sure I would have given up, but it's a nice feeling knowing that someone is that dedicated, willing to help and spend their day trying to teach an Amercian how to properly ski. Who knew that a 17 year old Swede could be so wise.
In the end I learned that it's okay to laugh at yourself and laugh with others at yourself. I also learned there is no need to be embarrassed when you are trying something new. I will always remember those words of encouragement and share them with all my friends who are struggling with being able to laugh at themselves.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The not so little thing called market...
Hej all, Wow...it has been a long time since I last posted....so here we go!
For the past few months, nothing very exciting has happened. We stuck to our normal routine which consists of going to school, talking with students, hanging out at the house, knitting, and chilling with our highschool friends. And before we knew what hit us, 30,000 plus people bombard our peaceful town for a crazy fun-filled 3 days! This bombardment is more commonly known as Jokkmokk's vintermarknad (winter market) which celebrates the Sami culture and arts. It's the market that puts Jokkmokk on the map and it's been happening for over 400 years.
Monday Feb. 2 was when the market week began and it starts out with historical market, which is suppose to show what market would have been like 100 plus years ago. It was here you could find people dressed from head to toe in fur selling reindeer meat, hand made mittens and socks, and various hand made crafts. This market is very small...it took about 10 minutes to walk through it and see what all it had to offer.
On Wednesday the 4th, the opening ceremony for market occurs. It takes place in the middle of town and lots of people gather to hear what the important people of Jokkmokk have to say and then watch the show that starts the market. This year it was yoiking, which is a traditional Sami style of singing. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. After the ceremony, which takes about 45 minutes, every one heads home, or continues to set up their stands.
Thursday the 5th was a free day for us because there was no school due to that fact that it was turned into a make shift hostel to accomadate all of the people that come to market. There are only 2 or 3 hotels in Jokkmokk, so for 250 crowns a night, you can rent a space on the floor of the school. So this was my first day of market wandering. It was pretty intense. There were so many people and so many things to look at. After wandering around for a bit, I headed back to the church to make bread for the fika that we would be selling the next night. After finishing the bread, I decided to brave the cold and go back out to wander around somemore.
For the past few months, nothing very exciting has happened. We stuck to our normal routine which consists of going to school, talking with students, hanging out at the house, knitting, and chilling with our highschool friends. And before we knew what hit us, 30,000 plus people bombard our peaceful town for a crazy fun-filled 3 days! This bombardment is more commonly known as Jokkmokk's vintermarknad (winter market) which celebrates the Sami culture and arts. It's the market that puts Jokkmokk on the map and it's been happening for over 400 years.
Monday Feb. 2 was when the market week began and it starts out with historical market, which is suppose to show what market would have been like 100 plus years ago. It was here you could find people dressed from head to toe in fur selling reindeer meat, hand made mittens and socks, and various hand made crafts. This market is very small...it took about 10 minutes to walk through it and see what all it had to offer.
On Wednesday the 4th, the opening ceremony for market occurs. It takes place in the middle of town and lots of people gather to hear what the important people of Jokkmokk have to say and then watch the show that starts the market. This year it was yoiking, which is a traditional Sami style of singing. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. After the ceremony, which takes about 45 minutes, every one heads home, or continues to set up their stands.
Thursday the 5th was a free day for us because there was no school due to that fact that it was turned into a make shift hostel to accomadate all of the people that come to market. There are only 2 or 3 hotels in Jokkmokk, so for 250 crowns a night, you can rent a space on the floor of the school. So this was my first day of market wandering. It was pretty intense. There were so many people and so many things to look at. After wandering around for a bit, I headed back to the church to make bread for the fika that we would be selling the next night. After finishing the bread, I decided to brave the cold and go back out to wander around somemore.
Friday the 6th is markets BIG day...when I say big I mean so many people that you can hardly walk around. None the less my day started out with the church service held at the old church. It was a very beautiful service in which the choir sang, John 1:4-5 was read in 12 different languages and Tom Rutschman gave a sermon in 4 languages, Swedish, English, Spanish and French. After the service we headed home and hang out and warm up. Around 3 we headed down to the lake to watch the famous reindeer race. The race consists of 10 volunteers, preferably from a country other than Sweden. Then they attach a sled to semi-wild reindeer, the volunteer lays on the sled and the they race around a track. It was pretty intertaining. After a while we decided that we couldn't stay and watch the end because we were so cold...maybe the fact that it was -20 celcius had something to do with it. So we headed home to warm up before we had to work at the folk dance later that night. Around 8:45 we made our way up to the folk dance to sell fika, snack, to the dancers. It was a pretty good night. I got to do some traditional Swedish line dances and talk to lots of interesting people. We finished selling fika at 1 and went home exhausted.
Saturday was another big day at the market. Once again there were so many people you could hardly walk. It was this day that I decided that I was going to go on a dog sled ride. It was awesome, for 80 swedish crowns you could ride on a dog sled around the track that had been made on the lake. The ride was really short and the dogs were insanely loud, but it was definitely worth it...I mean how many of my friends can say that they have been on a dog sled ride before. After my ride, Bethany and I decided to wander around the market a little more. After sufficiently freezing ourselves, we made our way back home to thaw before having to go work at the folk dance again. Once again we spent our night at the folk dance selling fika and chatting with all the interesting people.
Sunday was our day of relaxation. After church we decided to go out for pizza to celebrate the success we had in selling fika. Market was finally over, people were leaving and our town was finally going back to it's normal quiet self. All I can say is that market is a very interesting and one of a kind experience and I am really glad that I was able to take part in it.
Saturday was another big day at the market. Once again there were so many people you could hardly walk. It was this day that I decided that I was going to go on a dog sled ride. It was awesome, for 80 swedish crowns you could ride on a dog sled around the track that had been made on the lake. The ride was really short and the dogs were insanely loud, but it was definitely worth it...I mean how many of my friends can say that they have been on a dog sled ride before. After my ride, Bethany and I decided to wander around the market a little more. After sufficiently freezing ourselves, we made our way back home to thaw before having to go work at the folk dance again. Once again we spent our night at the folk dance selling fika and chatting with all the interesting people.
Sunday was our day of relaxation. After church we decided to go out for pizza to celebrate the success we had in selling fika. Market was finally over, people were leaving and our town was finally going back to it's normal quiet self. All I can say is that market is a very interesting and one of a kind experience and I am really glad that I was able to take part in it.
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