Östersund III

At the end of the day of dancing, Tom and I took a walk to the grocery store. It was good to get some non-dancing excercise to burn off some adrenaline. Also, it gave us the opportunity to talk about how things had gone. I had also started thinking about my upcoming departure, so it was nice to have company.

We got back to the cabin and made meatballs. There's nothing particularly special about frozen meatballs and boiled potatoes. Add some light beer and good company, though and they are the perfect end to a long day, not to mention months of training. Elaine joined us just as the meatballs were ready. She had had dinner with Harry and Roo, but those meatballs are pretty tempting.

We tried taking a little nap, but that didn't last very long for any of us. We each took off on our own to the evening program. It turned out to be a sort of dance themed variety show, with an emphasis on generations. It was interesting, and made me feel like I had really chosen the correct dance form! I love folkdance!

The evening dance was played by the Russindalspelmannslag. That is, the Raisin Vally fiddlers. They gave themselves that name because of the wrinkles on their faces! I'm not joking. They were a really excellent gammaldans band and they did get a ton of people dancing who were not part of the daytime events. That floor was packed! I had a fabulous time. I danced with good dancers and I think we all enjoyed it. Seattle girls don't know what waiting to be asked to dance is until they've been to a dance in Scandinavia. Stop complaining, you've got it good!

Earlier, I had asked Tom to do the last dance with me. At 11:27 he ran out and said 'Ingrid, this could be it!' So we danced. He taught me one of the diplom dances on the fly. I didn't do it right, but it was a happy ending to the day. But then, the day wasn't over.

A couple of musicians took the floor and about ten couples, including me and Tom stuck around. The rumor was that they were from the group Nätt och Jämt. It was beautiful dancing. And then we walked back and told jokes with the DC crowd. Perfect. Just perfect.

Tevling

Tom danced with both Elaine and me today. Based on my experience, that is a lot of pressure. He seems to have handled it well.

We all got up, dressed, and out the door before the coffee break. We have been waking up earlier, but three people in a small space trying to cram themselves into folk dress takes a little longer. We weren't in a hurry either.

Tom and Elaine danced just before lunch. They had time to warm up in the practice room to the other diplom dancers and watch some of our friends dancing before they went on stage. Then, with yellow armbands proudly displayed, they stepped onto the dance floor in the only group of five couples dancing diplom. They did a lovely job, but I have to confess that I was focused on taking pictures of them dancing and didn't actually watch them dance.

We ate lunch and then, as Tom put it, it was all about me. We took some horrible turns in the warm up room, remembered to smile, and headed out to the gauntlet. The dancers before us came off, and the very entertaining MC called our names. There is always huge applause for bronze dancers, but it was especially comforting to hear it after my name. I had started shaking as soon as we walked onto the floor.

We had a plan: Face the judges and the musicians, but not the audience. Smile. Relax. Stop shaking! We danced and it was wonderful, but terrifying. All I remember is thinking 'listen to the music' and 'smile'. Somehow (ask Tom) we stuck to the edges of the floor. We were smooth when we needed to be smooth, bouncy when we needed to bounce, our hands were in the right places at the right time. We danced three times through the Lillhärdal, Tom tells me we made it exactly once around the floor each time.

When we were finished, I could hardly breath. In my application I had written that my mother made my bunad, so the MC called me up to show off all of mom's beautiful embroidery. I couldn't think straight my heart was racing so fast. We'd done it!

We headed back out the way we came, but this time it wasn't a gauntlet. It was a crush of friendly faces. Friends from Högs Gille and Furudal, friends from the US and Swedes I've met elsewhere. I've never heard so many kind words in such a short time! I could only hope the judges felt the same way. Later, I was looking down from the balcony and Leif looked up, caught my eye, and gave me a thumbs up. It's reassuring when the coach pats you on the back, even if it's from across the room.

Östersund II

The fish balls were great. They were even great the next day. My eating habits on Friday were, however, terrible. I didn't really eat breakfast. There wasn't really time after my turn in the bathroom since the dancing had already started. I also didn't eat lunch. Martha had shared a sandwich with me at the coffee break, and by the time dinner rolled around again, I devoured the remaining fish balls without blinking.

We watched a wide variety of dancing on Friday. From friends to strangers to everything in between, all of the dancers tried their hardest. Some of them were really amazing, some barely met the criteria, and some will be holding their thumbs (the Swedish equivalent of crossing fingers) until Sunday when the awards are given. I enjoyed taking pictures of the dancing - it's not easy! Martha danced on Friday afternoon and things seemed to have gone well.

Tom, Elaine, and I headed off to the grocery store after the dancing. My plan was to get money out of the ATM. In retrospect, I think I used the wrong machine, but regardless, I wasn't able to get any money. This combined with not eating all day and dancing for the judges on Saturday, did not put me in the mood for dancing on Friday night. So, I didn't go.

Not going to the dance was clearly the right choice. It took me nearly an hour just to iron my bunad. Oy! By the time everyone was back from the dance, I was feeling a little more settled. Tom and I shared a few beers and unwound; it was exactly what I needed to prepare myself for the big day.

Östersund I

Back at the campground, the social scene had continued in full swing. Many people had taken a full day dance course and adjourned to a party in one of the cabins. In attendance were several Americans, the most influential dancers in Sweden, and the cutest puppy I've seen on this trip. I think his name was Issa and he spent the entire time I was there passed out on the floor not moving.

Tonight was the first evening dance as well, so the party wrapped up around 8:15. We (Tom, Elaine, Martha and I) arrived fashionably late and in good company. The music was excellent, as was the dancing. It's possible that I did less than ten dances, but I felt out the floor and had a good time. Did I mention the music was great?

After the dance, Tom and I raided our stores of food. We came up with onions and potatoes cooked with fish balls from a can, with some milk and bullion to stretch it. I have been writing and haven't tried it yet, but Elaine reports that it is tasty. If it's anything but tasty, I will report back with some additional adjectives!

Föllinge dagan

We arrived at our campground apartment. I unloaded my stuff, grabbed my fiddle and backpack and headed back toward the reception. Martha was waiting for me and we had a special treat coming our way.

First we walked to Vicki's cousin's apartment. Ester is very kindly letting Martha stay there for the weekend. We drank some water and lay on the floor, trying to cool off. At a quarter past nine, Martha called Mats Andersson. He had a meeting in town and he and his wife, Karin, were on their way to pick us up. We had been invited to spend the evening and the next day at their house!

We met them around the corner from Ester's apartment. Somehow, we managed to fit our instruments and overnight bags into the vehicle. We piled in and headed North to Föllinge.

The Anderssons live in a house that is just large enough for a family of seven. The five children range in age from almost 6 to 14. The two girls are the oldest. They have several chickens and a few rabbits. Right now. There was a horse for a while. One of the chickens is sitting on 13 eggs. Elise and Carolina tell us that they should hatch any day now. Mats is not so sure.

When we arrived, all of the children were still awake. We had some food and beer. I met the children (Elise, Caroline, Pär, Anders, and Olle). We talked for a while. When it was approaching midnight we were directed to the beds we would be using. I haven't sleep that soundly in a long time.

After breakfast, the fiddles came out. Something just feels right about sitting around an established fiddler's kitchen table, playing a few tunes, while his wonderful children dart in and out of the picture. We couldn't play too long though, we had a lunch date with the children. At the lake!

Again, everyone (except Karin and Olle) piled into the car. Martha says we headed east to the lake; I'll take her word for it. It took two trips in the row boat (motor powered) out to the sandbar to get everyone and everything there, but we made it. The weather was perfect. Hardly a cloud in the sky with a good breeze moving through.

Everybody swam. The water ranged from quite cold to just a little cold depending on where you went in, but it all felt great! Anders taught me how to skip rocks. Martha got a fishing lesson from Mats, no fish though. Mats used Scandinavia's greatest invention, the Engångsgrill (single use bbq grill that is perfect for just about anything), to cook us a delicious lunch of hamburgers and chicken sausages.

We managed to tear ourselves away from the beach before we got too fried. Two boat trips and a car ride later we were back at the house. I got a tour of the animals from Elise. I snuck up to the sewing room for a quick look at the dräkt Karin is working on right now. Then, back into the car and back to Östersund.

I am extremely grateful that I was included in the trip to Föllinge. I can't imagine a nicer way to have spent today! The whole Andersson family is great. I hope that I get to see them again some day, somewhere.

Lodjur

The plan was to have Elaine and I drive most of the way to Östersund, or at least divide the drive into thirds. After all, that was the point of our driving lessons. Shortly after leaving Furudal, Tom took a left onto the road we would follow most of the way to Östersund. He pulled over and it was Elaine's turn. She did a great job! Smooth, no surprises, the only exciting thing (traffic wise) was a couple of ditch clearing tractors that took up most of the left hand side of the road. Oh! and she got to pass another driver.

Then it was my turn, when we reached Kårbölle. I managed to get the car into gear (on the fourth try, but it was up a hill) and maneuvered through the left turn that was on the travel plan. Less than a quarter mile after that turn we saw what looked like a dog on the side of the road. It stepped up to the road, looked both ways, and loped across in front of us. Not to worry, I hit the brakes, not the lynx. Yep, we saw a lynx running across the road! So. Cool.

Does anyone know what lynxes eat? I'm guessing house cats, but there must be more on the menu than that.

I drove until about forty-five minutes outside of Östersund. We stopped for a much need grocery store and bathroom break. Tom took over driving and we managed to find the camp ground. It was very well labelled which was a good thing, since we didn't have a local map or directions!

Farewell to Furudal

Let's start with saying I have a love/hate relationship with goodbye's. It won't surprise many of you to know that I love to feel like I belong somewhere, and sometimes it takes leaving that place for me to fully recognize that I belong. That said, It hurts that much more to take an instant of belonging and compare it with an uncertain future without the support of my cherished friends. The last night at Furudal was one of those goodbye's.

The campfire was crowded. More people came than had been there all week. We grilled hot dogs until there weren't any left to grill. C-G and Brita made pancakes, served with jam they made with berries picked in the Furudal woods. Everything was delicious. Have you ever tried to make pancakes at a campfire? It didn't look easy, but it sure tasted good!

Eventually, Martha broke down and started in on the evenings musical entertainment. She played for a while with some others and eventually it got down to her and Chris. I knew I would join them eventually, but I was enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by friends; wrapped in their warmth I felt safe and clear-headed.

Suddenly, there was a cry from the crowd! It was time for fattigman. Martha had asked earlier if I knew anything about fattigman and I had replied, 'Yes, It's a Norwegian cookie.' Of course, even I can be wrong sometimes. This fattigman was a highly entertaining children's game/song led by C-G and Brita (have I mentioned that I think they're awesome?).

Once the rich man became poor, we all sat around the fire again, and I arrived at that eventually from above, joining Martha and Chris with my fiddle. We played some great tunes. We played them at a blistering, undanceable speed, but they were hot! We even took requests from some of the locals who came down to the fire to join us. (Three young men!)

We played until the mosquitoes were winning and then turned in for the night. In the morning each group of dancers got one more round of classes. We washed our last bits of laundry (in the direct Swedish sun, it hangs dry in about two hours), presented our dances, and crammed everything back into the suitcases. We were on our way to Östersund!