It is summertime and we fill our house in Ulricehamn with Dutch friends and our summerhouse in Vegby (small town outside Ulricehamn) with even more friends. I love summer in Sweden and always enjoy showing family and friends the beautiful place we live in. This is, when the sun is shining or at least when it is somewhat dry. There is nothing better than a canoe trip on the lake or a bicycling trip on a sunny day as the surroundings are amazing here. However, when it keeps on raining Ulricehamn does not have a lot to offer. The swimming pool is closed, there is no museum open and the library is closed Friday to Monday morning. We have been to the science museum Navet in Borås and to Gothenburg which is great but I wish there was more to do in Ulricehamn. The bowling alley stays open but some kids are just too young to enjoy it. I guess I shouldn’t complain. Rain is better than drought and so far summer has been quite all right. We have filled the summerhouse with games, DVDs and some extra raincoats. However, there must be some business opportunities for anyone with a bright indoor idea!
I had two weeks of holiday in June and spent it on Rhodos with the family reading books in the sun. During two weeks I read six novels and four children’s books (I love reading for the kids) and one of the books I read was “A short story of Tractors in Ukrainian” by Marina Lewycka – a funny, crazy and tragic story. The book starts out like this;
"Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blond Ukrainian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside."
This family drama is also a story of emigration, fulfilling dreams or chasing them. Somehow I always fall for books where people take a leap into the unknown or take charge of their own destiny (whether or not they do the right thing which you can ask yourself in this book).
Some people who are about to take a leap into the unknown shortly is the Dutch family moving to Ulricehamn now in August. A family of five plus an English bulldog is moving here and starting up a new life. For years they have dreamt about a life in Sweden, taking Swedish lessons and spent their holidays in Sweden. With a job in Gothenburg they now have the possibility to fulfil their dream and I wish them all the best. This summer we also had some other Dutch families from the emigration fair visiting the region and having a look at job possibilities (part of the emigration project I´ve been working on). So far our Emigration project is still under scrutiny but I believe we have to keep a very personal approach in this if we want it to work. Emigrating to another country, starting a new life, building up a new social context and achieving a sense of belonging takes time and demands more than a newsletter, a list of real estate agents or a description of the Swedish school system. I know – I have done it!
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