Anyone Out There??

[Suzanne]

Is this basically a dead board or what? I'm just curious. I check back periodically to see if there is anything new going on and there doesn't seem to be.

In all honesty, this was my favorite of the Expats in Sweden boards because it was "positive" which is the kind of support that nutcases like me need to do such a silly thing as to move to Sweden. If someone ouu there needs help in updating, typing or whatever, I'm available. I know a little bit about putting websites together and I am pretty good at learning software or programs. I know a lot of people are using LiveJournal.com but I am lousy at posting there with any regularity.

[SlyandKami]

Most of the expats are like you...nuts to have move to Sweden... :-) but for some reason this forum has been quiet for a while since I am Canadian I spend most of my time on the Canadians in Sweden forum...just find it a shame that this forum is so quiet now. As for the Canadians in Sweden site we don't fight betwwenn each other we are always helping each other...BTW we have members from other countries as well.

[Brandy]

Suzanne,

I agree that this was and is also one of my favorite boards to check in on. There does seem to be quite a few changes to it's outlook here, but noone seems to check add any threads anymore.

For it to get lively again we need to add more threads, but I think most of us have been happy to just become lurkers. Our schedules have taken up our time and we don't sit and chat as much online as we used to. I think we are more likely to check in and see what everyone is up to.

So...what have you been up to?...

[Natooke]

I still check the board, once & a while ;D

[Suzanne]

Sorry I'm slow getting back, Brandy. Per has had vacation since I last posted and it's been work, work, work. Painting railroad ties, pulling weeds from the driveway and a little travel here and there.

Things are fine except for the job situation (no surprise there). I do enjoy living here for the most part and am excited that we will be getting a car in the next couple of weeks. Luckily it's an automatic so I don't have to re-learn everything. I have lots of reading and studying to do in the next few weeks between the drivers test and my Swedish. I'm finally getting better but I just feel so weird speaking Swedish.

The other day, I was reading an article in the local paper out loud to Per. Finally he said, "Why don't you read it in Swedish?" I can translate just like that but I think I sound silly.

I'll get over that sometime!

[Sandy]

I'm still here. :-)

[Brandy]

Suzanne, I've been "speaking" Swedish for almost fifteen years now and I just thought about it the other day, it still feels wierd.

We were out sailing and just got back yesterday. When we were in a small little harbour, this guy came up and started talking to me. He was impressed that we sailed there in the horrible weather (It was approaching gale storms right before we arrived...)

Well, we talked for quite a while about this and that and then he asked where we lived, I told him but said that I was originally from the states. He said, you know I wasn't quite sure if it was a dialect from another area in Sweden or if you was an English accent. It was very hard to tell you weren't a native speaker. Honestly, it was only a word or two that made me wonder.

His very nice compliments made me laugh, but also made me think about how wierd it still feels for me to small talk in Swedish.

It made me laugh because on other days, I get people asking where are you from in the states? or they just start speaking English out of the blue because they think I won't be able to understand them if they don't. (on those days, americans ask me where I come from in Europe and don't believe me when I insist that I'm american....)

I think it's these extreme reactions that make it still feel wierd even though I don't have to think about what I want to say - usually. On the same sailing trip, this guy, who knew ahead of time that I was american, told me how fantastic my Swedish was and then proceeded to speak English to me in the middle of a conversation with three others, just so I could keep up. The other three just looked at him like he was nuts. He had no clue.

I tend to think sometimes that no matter how good we get at Swedish, there will always be someone there to try and make us feel inferior, or pointing out that we aren't perfect yet. - Like we don't know that we aren't perfect or like we think we are going to achieve it someday.

My mother in law who is constantly pointing out my mistakes, finally realized that it's as good as it's going to get for me. That I will never sound Swedish born. She was a litttle miffed with me for accepting my ability and not trying to improve upon it any more.

When will she realize that I speak better Swedish than I do English....