Finally the trees are getting leaves and the grass the right colour. Last year we took our first dip in the lake at the first of May (when Karin Greber was here and took the great front picture of this blog) but this year it was much to cold for a dip. I think people were still able to fish on the ice in the beginning of April. Anyway, with the sun, the start of the soccer season and nights that get shorter each week people move out of their houses and into the outdoor lifestyle. This is typical for the Nordic countries and typical for Ulricehamn.
Many foreigners find the winter a difficult season in Sweden with the short days, little outdoor activities and many activities happening at peoples homes. If you don’t know a lot of people, winter is a period of silence and little activity. Expat-firms often suggest that if you are able to choose the time of moving up north you should do so during spring or summer. Refugees obviously do not have that luxury. Sometimes I think we should keep this in mind a bit more. How easy is it to find friends and get to know new people in a new country or in a small town? It is also typically Swedish to join a sport club instead of going down to the local pub on the corner to watch the weekend Rugbygame. It is probably a healthier alternative to join a sport club but if you don’t have kids in the right age I am not sure what you should do.
In a small town like Ulricehamn the local paper is a way in to find out what happens locally. Sometimes we joke about how local it is (last summer a cat was stuck in a tree which was recorded by the paper) but I think it really has an important function in bringing people together and creating a feeling of pride and local spirit. Whether it is a story about a good sport result, a new entrepreneur, a price winning gardener, a local political debate or the weekend’s auction it all show us that even in small towns creativity and ideas are spread. And, for the nationalistic Swedish Democrats who use the paper to spread their ignorant views about people from other countries I wonder if they ever opened a door during the winter months and tried to get to know any of the foreigners in this town.
With a foreign husband I seem to meet some of them as they find each other and often help each other and if I would use a term, which comes to mind for this group, it would be obstacle-movers! The risk all they have to come here, they learn a new language, try to understand a system and culture often very different from what they are used to, they experience recruiters with little intercultural skills and often find that the only way in is to start your own business. I think most people in Ulricehamn see all this and understand and support the newcomers here. Together we create this town and together we enhance each other and make this to what it is. A place we all call home!
Spring – here I come!
PS: A special welcome to Sandra, Joost, Roos, Lars, Niels, Hein, Susanne, Mick, Merel en Emma who are all on their way to spend their May holiday in Sweden and with us!!
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