In the past few weeks the dominant theme has been, ”adaptation”. Not only must we adapt to the notion that in the immediate future we shall no longer live here but also to the fact that we must return to the Netherlands. Amazingly it’s quite a step. For both of us it is difficult to conceive of getting the genie back in the bottle. The main coping mechanism is therefore our pursuit of the idea that we will secure here a second home. As decadent as that may sound, it has become a vital precondition in relation to returning to our roots. The issue, in our minds, is quite simply the fact that we cannot just turn our backs on such spatial freedom, the beautiful nature enjoyed here and the whole environmental package.
In a practical sense, there’s also much that needs to be done. We’ve had to schedule the removals people, deal with everything that comes with the buying of a new house, take care of all kinds of registration, the importing of our car etc. Returning to a country where all the formal ins and outs are familiar is at least a consolation and certainly much easier to cope with than when we first entered Sweden.
People here have generally been surprised to hear of our planned move, partly because we seem to fit in so well and partly because they have picked up on the enthusiasm we have radiated during our time here. At the same time, people do appreciate why we have made this decision. These days we view the Netherlands as a super-efficient urban environment to which we are returning for employment purposes, educational opportunities and schooling for the children. By contrast, Sweden is perceived as the place where we can catch our breath and relax.
At the beginning of June we were pleased to welcome Susanna’s uncle and aunt who had travelled all the way from Guernsey in their camper especially to visit us. It was truly wonderful! For their part, they really enjoyed exploring the country and found much here in the landscape and countryside that reminded them of Canada. It is great that now they too, like many other visitors before them, appreciate just why we are so crazy about this country and our unique surroundings.
On Friday 13th June the school broke up for the summer holiday. Rune’s teacher conveyed that she will really miss him and Vidar’s teachers couldn’t really bear to bid him farewell. It was refreshing to witness, once again, both during the end of term festivities and the summer festival, how central music and singing are to the tradition. Having to leave the Backa Friskola and all the lovely people associated with the school made us tearful. Yet, at the same time, there are Windroos (i.e. their Dutch school) parallels. Whilst pupils at the Dutch school are required to plough through a much heavier curriculum, the Windroos team is, in relative terms, more stable and devoted to the important educational demands.
Meanwhile, on 19th June, Susanna rounded off her more than eleven-and-a-half-year work contract with the municipality of Ede.
Friday 20th June saw the Midsummer Eve annual high point in the Swedish calender. What a wonderful celebration to experience. We were all keen to participate as much as possible so Susanna got up early to pick a big bunch of wild flowers on the lakeside so that we could turn the flowers into three garlands.
We had arranged to meet up with friends in Karlstad’s extensive park to help decorate the Maypole and to watch it being erected. Afterwards everyone sang, danced and picnicked. We rounded off the day with a barbecue under an apple tree in our garden.
When it came to 21st June, the longest day of the year, Midsummer’s Day proper, Susanna was determined to get the most out of it. She therefore rose at 3 a.m. to hike through the countryside, see the sunrise and experience the full magic of daybreak. Wild boars scuttled away seeking the cover of the forest and the little roe deer sprang over the roads and verges. Just before 5 a.m. she returned home, briefly went back to bed and then got up again to bake a sponge cake since strawberry cake with cream is all part of the tradition (as is pickled herring but we chose to skip that part!).
Before we knew it, it was time for the planned trip to the Netherlands. After more than 11 months at a stretch in Scandinavia it was the first chance that the boys had had to return and they were looking forward to it, as were we but we were rather more reserved about the stiffling summer heat and crowdedness of the country. As usual, we had a pretty full holiday agenda so that we could meet up with as many friends as possible. Seeing family and friends again was most enjoyable. The pleasant mealtimes, the cups of tea and coffee and all the chats were pleasurable. Rune received a warm welcome from his old classmates. In fact the staff welcomed all of us back with open arms, all of which helped to reinforce the idea that – for the children’s schooling – it will indeed be good to return to Wijk bij Duurstede. The boys loved playing with their friends and cousins again.
At the same time we were also able to arrange all the necessary administrative matters. For instance, we all had to present ourselves at the relevant desk in the town hall to renew Dutch residency, a prerequisite to the house purchase scheduled for mid-August. We also went about purchasing the first furniture essentials from the Dutch Marketplace site.
Alongside the two weekends spent in Wijk it was also brilliant to be able to lodge, again, with our close friends in Wageningen, especially since theirs is a spacious and very green environment. We were fortunate enough to have sole use of the apartment they’ve created in the building in the back garden. Whilst there, Susanna had the opportunity to get to know her future work environment. Naturally, the necessary conditions of employment discussion had to take place with the Wageningen municipality. It all went very well and she got the clear impression that she will easily slot into the work culture there. To all intents and purposes it is a progressive and committed authority and community in which to work. That can only be an added incentive to returning to the country. Naturally it was great to see the old colleagues in Ede again but at the same time it’s good to think that there will be some changes and fresh challenges ahead when compared to the old situation.
Mathijs is also keen to ring the changes by embarking on a parttime B.Sc degree programme by pursuing the same field of forestry and conservation studies as that followed during his one-time OND-equivalent course at the Van Hall Larenstein college (near Arnhem). After at least 10 years of regretting that in the past he had not continued with an BSc course it now seems like a logical time to pick up the thread. One of the preconditions to setting out on that particular course is that he must find work in the sector. From Sweden he has therefore been busy trying to secure a part time job for himself.
Returning to the house in Sweden felt like a homecoming. It was super to unwind after the two rather hectic weeks behind us. By now Rune is getting very excited at the prospect of moving back to the Netherlands. By contrast, we notice that at this stage in his life Vidar is pretty flexible about things. At the same time they both separately admitted, within a mere day of being back, that they feel happy here. Both boys intantly became involved in all the gardening activities and we immediately started swimming again in our favourite lake. On the second morning back in Sweden Rune suddenly found himself standing eye to eye with a roe deer grazing just a metre away from the house. For his part, Vidar burst into song in Swedish whilst gathering blueberries in the wood with his mother. Such total immersion (as soon as we got back) into the simple yet impressive natural environment all around us is thus something that they, too, have come to appreciate.
The final few weeks here have been relatively busy but also invigorating. Friends came and camped in the garden, we spent three nights in Göteborg and for two whole weeks Vidar has been having half-an-hour long swimming lessons each morning with a small group of children in our favourite local swimming lake. We once more visited Caroline, Johan and their young sons near Mjölby. Mathijs decided to combine that with a three-day trek along what is known as the Trans Euro Trail – a route that is virtually entirely mapped out along the most beautiful of exclusively unpaved pathways. Finally, we are busy with our last few farewell meals with Swedish friends, with packing and with arranging all the last matters that can possibly be dealt with from here.
