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Almost sunk by the Love Boat from Finland

If that title doesn't grab you, then I don't know what will. And honestly it's the best description I can think of for our boating adventure last night.

Everything started out fine...you know the story, "A three hour tour...a three hour tour!" - We decided to take the new boat out after work on a sunny Thursday evening. We are still getting daylight here almost until 9.00 PM, so plenty of time to take a ride into Stockholm and back...so we thought.

We managed to get the boys in the boat and soon we were on the way. Now, a little background. Both Elizabeth and I are quite familar with boats and have grown up "on the water" so that is not a big concern. The biggest challenge we faced on the sandy bottom rivers and lakes of Alabama/Georgia was running out of cold beer. The Stockholm archipeligo is a very different animal - It is vast in terms of size with 10s of thousands of tiny islands that lead eventually into the Baltic Sea. Getting lost and hitting rocks are two of the biggest concerns. However, we managed to avoid both and within 25 minutes were having hot chocolate in the shadows of Stockolm spires.

Just about the time Elizabeth congratulated us for a good first outing, our boat lost power and ... well...DIED. Now any of you that have owned boats know the best 2 days with a boat are the day you buy it and the day you sell it. Unfortunately we combined both into one and our timing could not have been worse.

We came to a quick halt in a huge channel that is used by all boats including the Finnish and Norwegian cruise ships coming into Stockholm. We realized we were right in the path of one of these monsters which I can only describe as a water version of Godzilla. In terms of scale, they are at least 50 times as tall as a normal boat and about 1,000 times as long.

We immediately realized the boat was not going to crank back up, so we paddled...like hell toward the nearest shore. Just when we felt danger was passing the #!@¤ cruise ship turned straight for us. It seems in an almost unbelievable stroke of bad luck, our boat died and was now helplessly listing right between the Godzilla the cruise ship and its docking point.

Then if that wasn't enough, the jackass captain started to blow his horn which sounds like the trumpet that might be used to call up the 4 horses of the apocolypse. Now, my fear is starting to fade and I am just losing my temper. But then I realize that Captain Nemo is more than willing to run over a family of four if it means keeping his schedule.

So with the help of the nice longshoreman and my broken Swedish, we get towed along the bank until we are out of the Monster's path. After almost falling in the Baltic (which I might remind you was frozen solid one month ago) a few times, we stabilized and tied off. Soon a very nice Swede came by in a ferry boat and towed us to the nearby Slussen.

Ultimately we got the boat started and manged to get the boat back in its slip and the Swede Family Witherspoons back home.

When we stated this blog we promised to share experiences including mishaps and after two years of living here I can tell you this was certainly one of the top picks for the latter.

Our sunny Egyptian holiday!

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Dwight visits the Artic Circle

Check out the article from Dwight's hometown newspaper which highlights his trip...

http://www.demopolistimes.com/news/2010/mar/07/profile-2010-dwight-witherspoon/

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WINTER

It is official. It has snowed on everyone's birthday this winter. Starting with Dwight's on the 19th of November, Davis' on Nov 27, Elizabeth's on Jan 16th and finally William's on Feb 17th. I hear Sweden is experiencing record setting winter season with consecutive days under freezing and snow fall. And how lucky we are to experience this! Here are a few photos from our Polar nights in Sweden.

Aspen Extreme or Dumb & Dumber - you decide

First of all, a very Happy New Year to everyone and apologies for the lack of entries! This blog was originally designed as a forum to share our experiences in a new country. After almost 2 years it is still an adventure, but the "experiences" aren't as new and in fact Sweden has become our home away from home.

But I digress. Mark your calendars my friends. Today is an important date. My birthday? Easter? Midsummer? Nej...much more important. Today is the anniversary of two hillbillies leaving their home-state of Alabama and moving to Aspen, Colorado.

Yes, it was on this date 17 years ago that Scotty (not “Scott” as his now professional colleagues call him – if they only knew!) and I packed up everything we owned (and everything we couldn't pawn off to our friends) and started driving to Aspen. How did it come to this? Why would two guys who had never lived anywhere outside this little southern state drive half-way across the country?

It would be really cool if I said skiing, and that was partly true, but never underestimate the power of a woman. Yes in fact my main man Scotty and I were casually dating a couple of Auburn co-eds and they asked if we wanted to follow them to Aspen for an extended ski vacation. I think it took us about 4 seconds to look at each other, look back and them and say "affirmative."

As it happens we had a friend from Auburn who had also moved to Aspen a few months earlier, so we knew we had a floor to crash on. We called up our buddy Jeff and told him to expect us in a few weeks. In the meantime the "girls" decided that we should change plans and go to Vail --. I hope they had a good time in Vail. We never saw them again…who the hell would move to Vail when you could live in Aspen? I hope they had a nice time.

Next thing you know, the car was loaded and we were headed for the Rocky Mountains. If you are starting to picture a couple of cool guys like the movie, "Aspen Extreme" I can tell you that is way off base. For a better movie reference, you should think "Dumb and Dumber" because I can tell you...we didn't have a clue.

Chronological order of events:

-> Left Birmingham and headed for Aspen

-> Got lost in St. Louis. Put the SUV in 4-wheel drive and drove UP the grassy overpass to get to the interstate (you can take the boys out of Alabama, but not the Alabama out of the boys)

-> woke up in Kansas. 8 feet of snow on the ground. Coldest I have ever been. Starting to think this was a colossal mistake.

-> American motel. $19.95 per night and appropriately priced. Never did get my pillow back.

-> Drove into Aspen. Majestic mountains. Snow. Gorgeous...looked at each other, "we are never leaving."

-> Moved in with "Weird Family Robinson" - three surfers from Florida: One is nicknamed "Krusty the Clown”. He saves the environment by not showering and subsists on beer and bean burritos. Those of you that knew Krusty are now laughing. I think he is a professional parachutist in Arizona as we speak. Second member of Robinson family is Andy. Andy has hair down to his waist and is studying Sanskrit as a “hobby.” He is the only guy in the history of world to readily invite Mormon Missionaries into his house and debate religion with them until they wished they had never knocked on the door.

-> Bought snowboards. Accidentally got on a black diamond. Almost died. Walked down the mountain snowboard in hand. Even tourists making fun of me. Improper ski clothes. Frozen head. From Alabama.

-> Snowboarding starting to improve. Still falling a lot...sore, but getting better.

-> Finally get our own place

-> Landlady chases us out of our "own place" at midnight 2 months later. She was NOT happy. - Moved in with more weird people.

-> Continued snowboarding. Getting better.

-> Spring arrives and we are now really and truly never going home!

-> Head off to Moab for mountain-biking. Get lost in desert.

-> Grateful Dead for Chinese New Year in San Francisco. Pictures made at Height-Asbury. (hint - don’t trust shady-looking people in Berkley, CA

-> Decide to climb shale face of Aspen, Mountain. Here is another hint. No one should EVER climb anything made of shale. Almost died again. I blame Scotty.

-> Summer is amazing. No....AMAZING.

-> Still have the snowboard bug. Hiking glaciers...continental divide. We would literally hike one hour with our boards to get a 5 minute ride. We decide dudes from Alabama are more hard core than others.

-> Lost in the backcountry. Dudes from Alabama are not always the sharpest knives in the drawer. Ski Patrol not happy. Again...Scotty's fault.

-> Bought Ski Patrol case of beer. Everything smoothed over.

-> Scotty met future wife

- Dwight met future wife

-> Future wives had no clue what they were getting into. Bless them. :-)

Ironically when Scotty sent me a note that today was our anniversary (awwwwww), I looked out the window and saw it was again snowing. Scotty lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado today. He gave the east-coast a chance, but after a brush with fate decided to live his dream and moved back to the mountains with his family. Good for him.

And I am living in Stockholm...two feet of snow on the ground. And yes I am thinking...Alabama is a long way away.

Davis Skateboarding

Davis skateboarding - he is only 2.5 years old!

If this does not make you want to come visit Sweden...WHAT an amazing day!

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Fellow ex-pat says farewell!

We welcome our first guest blogger and fellow ex-pat to the Swedish Spoons blog. Joe, Kristen and their family came from Atlanta four years ago to Stockholm. She was one of the first people I met in Sweden when we arrived 15 months ago.

Each year, in the Spring edition of William's school newsletter, the editor asks a family who is leaving to write a farewell article. Dwight and I thoroughly enjoyed Kristen's story and thought is would offer an interesting perspective to our blog readers. We will miss the Fosters and wish them well as they settle into their new home in Charlotte, NC.

Four fabulous years for the Foster Family

By Kristin Foster

It is a beautiful day today. The sun is shining and the sky is blue. The wind took me by surprise when I stepped out in a sundress and sandals and I had to hurry inside for a quick change of clothes. Who knows? It might just snow today. Stranger things have happened than a snowstorm in May. I distinctly remember my first Spring in Sweden when a late snow snuck up on us just as the Masters Golf Tournament was being played in sunny Georgia, our home state. I think it says something that my first thought when I sat down to write this article has to do with the weather. It is just about impossible to talk about life in Sweden without discussing it. We praise it and complain about it. My Swedish friends seem to feel responsible for it. They nostalgically recall years of winter wonderlands and perfect summers. Even I remember the weather of 2005-2006 as picture-perfect. The movers came last week to assess our packing needs. It is starting to feel real. In six short weeks we will be back in the US and our experience in Sweden will be over. Admittedly, I am ready to be closer to family and old friends. I'm ready to settle-in to a more "normal" world where people stay put. That said, I would be lying if I didn't say that I'm starting to get a bit emotional. We have formed friendships that will last a lifetime. We have skied and danced around the midsummer's pole quacking like a duck. We've cruised the archipelago and kayaked on Edsviken. We've ice skated, rode horses, played rugby and danced. We've travelled through Europe, drank good wine and ate delicious food. We've sledded and drank hot chocolate out of thermoses. We've donned kilts and Starboy costumes. We've lit fires on dark November afternoons and snuggled in for the day. We've learned songs about pepperkaka. We've developed a fondness for kardemum kringla and strong coffee. We've given our children a chance to be independent: riding bikes to school solo and walking to "town" alone to do the recycling. We've slammed schnapps at a Julbord. We've seen a moose and picked mushrooms. We've opened our minds to new ways of thinking. Life as an expat is amazing but not always easy. As a community we have shared an experience that most won't understand. We deal with the lifestyle much like we deal with the weather. We pick it apart, criticize it and wish for something different. In the meantime, we have a great time in spite of ourselves! We will miss this community more than words can say. I'm even starting to think that I will miss the weather. O.K... maybe that's pushing it!

Crunchy or Smooth?

My dad used to have a saying; "never trust a man who won't take a drink."

Now if you know my dad, you know he is not much of a drinker himself. Although he will have an occassional beer, but that is usually after arriving at my house after having battled Atlanta rush hour traffic (if any of you have never been in Atlanta rush hour traffic, it would make the Pope drink, take my word for it).

No, the point of his saying was not that a raging alchoholic should be trusted implicitly. Rather the point is there is something non trust worthy about a "tee-totler."

Think about the old American Westerns. If you walk into the saloon all dirty and dusty and I slide you a whiskey down the bar...and you DON'T drink it, then you are a man with something to hide. I should fill you full of lead on the spot lest you shoot me in the back.

Same with peanut butter. I can tell all I need to know about a man by offering him the simple choice: crunchy or smooth?

If you say smooth, that is 1-2-3 strikes and you are out! Who eats creamy peanut butter? I bet Brutus ate creamy PB.....so did Lee Harvey Oswald and it's a well known fact that The Grinch and Bear Bryant were creamy PB eaters. (By the way, the Entire New York Yankess baseball team eat creamy PB).

No, real men eat crunchy and its that CRUNCH that makes a man a man.